Indian-Origin Founder, 16, Accuses Customer Of Trying To "Destroy" His Startup And Reputation

A16-year-old Indian-origin entrepreneur has accused a customer of attempting to "destroy" his startup and reputation. In a tweet, Om Patel, the founder of BigIdeasDB, accused a customer of harassment and intimidation following a brief technical glitch on his startup's platform. The issue, he said, was resolved within minutes.

Patel explained that the conflict began when a user faced login issues shortly after subscribing. According to screenshots shared by Patel on X, the customer, identified as Adam, sent an email at around 9.45 pm accusing the platform of being fraudulent and demanding an immediate refund. The email alleged that the content was fabricated, claimed the login redirected to localhost, and warned of reputational and financial action if the money was not returned. Patel claimed he pushed a fix within four minutes of receiving the initial complaint.

Despite the fix and a "no questions asked" full refund, the customer allegedly called the product a "complete scam" and threatened to ruin Patel's future by posting negative feedback on every Hackernews article and Reddit post related to the company.

"I offered a full refund immediately. no questions asked. problem solved, right? wrong. even AFTER processing his refund, he continued with threats and hostile messages. some people think they can bully you because of your age," the tweet read. 

See the tweet here:

someone just tried to destroy my startup and reputation

over a 30-second bug fix

despite immediately fixing the issue, he

> called it a "complete scam"
> threatened chargebacks
> threatened to contact stripe to "remove our integration"
> said he'd spam "every hackernews… pic.twitter.com/DD6LqDXrwa

— Om Patel (@om_patel5) December 30, 2025

In the same post, Patel offered advice to other founders on handling difficult customers. He emphasized the importance of staying professional, keeping thorough documentation, offering refunds when necessary, and not being intimidated by threats.

Who is Om Patel?

Om Patel, a 16-year-old Indo-Canadian entrepreneur, is the founder of BigIdeasDB. In a September 2025 interview with Indieniche, he described his venture as a platform that helps entrepreneurs and founders find validated startup ideas by analysing real user complaints from sources such as G2 reviews, App Store feedback, and Reddit threads.

Patel began learning to code at age 12 during the COVID-19 pandemic. He launched BigIdeasDB in early 2024, and the platform has since generated over CAD $23,000 in revenue (approximately Rs 15 lakh).