The company Artesian Builds manufactured customized, sometimes very expensive gaming PCs and promoted this with giveaways on Twitch. However, a single appearance by their CEO Noah Katz two months ago ended the company’s rise. Now Artesian Builds even had to declare bankruptcy. The remaining stock is to be sold. But some customers are still waiting for their PC – they have already paid for it a long time ago.
What a terrible 59 seconds that was!
- The CEO of the company, Noah Katz, held a raffle two months ago where brand ambassadors could win a gaming PC. This was streamed live on Twitch.
- A winner was drawn, the small Twitch streamer Kiapiaa. But Katz excluded her from the giveaway on camera. He found the streamer had too few followers on social media and – the worst part – no PCs from Artesian Builds had been sold through her link. Therefore, Katz announced the “cleansing” and made a redraw. During the appearance, he seemed as if he had caught a fraudster red-handed.
- The streamer found it outrageous in a tweet on March 1, 2022, that she was excluded from the giveaway, she had won fairly and adhered to all the rules. There had never been any mention of these new conditions on how much one had to sell. Kiapiaa felt belittled and defamed – both herself and her viewers (via twitter).
Katz’s appearance (left) was seen as impossible and “disgusting”:
This was the consequence of his appearance: This one appearance and the complaint from the streamer afterwards, that she was treated unfairly, completely ruined the company’s reputation:
- There was a wave of outrage on Twitter.
- Previous supporters distanced themselves from the company.
- Apparently, many orders were also canceled.
Ultimately, the backlash was so severe, that the company had to cease operations. There was apparently no money left to buy components for the ordered PCs.
The CEO Noah Katz then laid off 50 employees and announced he would seek to rescue the company.
1.37 million US dollars in orders are still pending
Here is the result now: Last Friday, April 22, 2022, Artesian Builds declared bankruptcy in California. There are still over 3 million dollars in liabilities, with about 1.37 million US dollars in unresolved orders.
A “Restructuring Officer” is now said to be working to sell the company’s assets to bring money into the cash register, it is said.
Some customers have been waiting 6 months for a very expensive gaming PC
Who is the victim now? The approximately 50 employees of the company were already laid off months ago.
Now the customers who have already placed orders with Artesian Builds and transferred money are having problems. The English-speaking site PC Gamer reports that two customers from Artesian Builds contacted them, who ordered gaming PCs for around 5,000 dollars, but have not yet received them:
- Due to the shortage of semiconductors the situation with new gaming PCs has apparently been tense for months
- One of the customers was told in February 2022 that they were still working on orders from October 2021.
- Other customers, however, were successful in having their credit card payments refunded through their banks.
As PC Gamer reports, the company was already in significant trouble before the disastrous live stream, as staff members of the company had anonymously informed them. CEO Katz had already been looking for new investors before everything collapsed.
We at MeinMMO have already dealt extensively with the escalating and bizarre details of the situation. It is said that Katz lived in an apartment above the company’s office, but rarely appeared for work:
The story of the boss who ruined his company on Twitch in 59 seconds is getting crazier
