I worked for a startup like that. But they tried to pull the wool over the eyes of their backer - forgetting they had a person in the office who audited activity. The backer pulled out when all they had to do was admit it might take another month to achieve the quality they wanted. The next backer demanded they move location and the remaining staff worked for free for a month (I was told years later). It closed down after a month.

I think I was sacked because my wife wouldn't let the IT manager play his records at the Christmas Party. Though I did tell the backer's auditor how it was rather than lie like the rest of the staff. He did thank me for being honest.