Stop trying to whitewash this, this is a scam, just because he was the former Kingmaker of the SV startup scene doesn't mean he isn't a scammer and this isn't a scam.

Referring to the company as analogous to security theatre is not a compliment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_theater

it is a little “word softening” though, we might be better off calling a fig a fig

It's literally not, though. The whole point of "theatre" is to emphasize that it's not real.

If you call something "counterfeit currency", the word "counterfeit" isn't "softening", it's negating.