What caused PayMongo’s crisis? Insiders tell us

Terence Lee co-reported this story.

PayMongo has been investigating allegations that Francis Plaza, the startup’s CEO, harassed an employee.

The sequence of events leading to the investigation, however, has laid bare the infighting among the Philippine fintech firm’s founders as well as questionable decisions made by a young leadership team.

More than that, it has exposed the lack of governance and checks within PayMongo on top leadership conduct, hiring decisions, and even workplace relationships, blurring the lines between personal and professional, Tech in Asia has found.

In what was an open secret within PayMongo, Plaza had engaged in romantic relationships with two employees of the startup on separate occasions, multiple sources told us.

There was also CFO Jay Olos who was fired for harassing employees, we previously reported.

Meanwhile, Luis Sia, another co-founder and PayMongo’s former chief commercial officer, was romantically involved with a direct report, which affected his work performance, a source familiar with the events told us. This led Plaza to ask him to leave, the person adds.

Sia, in an email response to Tech in Asia, categorically denied “hearsay” that he had been in a romantic relationship with anyone at the firm.

“While I departed my operational role in March, I remain heavily involved in the company through my role as chairman of the Board. Both officially and in my talks with those involved in this decision, it is false that this change was ever brought up as a result of performance-related issues,” he said.

He adds that PayMongo’s average monthly payment volumes, the key metric tied to his growth team, had increased “exponentially” during the time he led those efforts.

See also: Fallout at PayMongo: alleged harassment by CEO, founder departures, growth woes

The absence of investors on PayMongo’s board was also notable at the young startup, which has raised over US$45 million to date. Before February, the firm’s board in its US entity consisted of only PayMongo’s co-founders – Plaza, Sia, Jaime Hing III, and for a while, Edwin Lacierda. The board’s first – and only – investor joined around the time of the startup’s series B fundraise.

In contrast, some VC firms demand board seats at their portfolio companies from as early as pre-seed and seed rounds. That said, there are other investors that play an active role guiding and giving advice to founders in their networks without pursuing board seats.

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