Investment Red Flags

Investors should always be on the lookout for red flags – whether they are investing online or through traditional brokerage channels, in private or public entities, in startups or established businesses. And they should always demand transparency from those they entrust with their capital.

In an effort to mitigate capital loss and avert needless regulations, I began publishing a series of articles to help everyone – from the most sophisticated to the most novice of investors – identify warning signs.

I hope you find the following to be as enjoyable as they are useful.

1. Tip Number One: “website evolution” – If a company changes directors, advisors and employees faster than most of Hollywood switches spouses, it is usually a GIANT red flag. Tip Number One introduces investors to a useful tool to identify undisclosed management changes.
2. Tip Number Two: Recycling Yesterday’s News – Why you should be leery of companies that try to make trivial or dated matters appear newsworthy.
3. Tip Number Three: Of Course Size Matters – Investment size, that is.
4. Tip Number Four: Become A Player – Play before you pay. Just like you wouldn’t buy a car without taking it for a test drive, you shouldn’t invest without first playing with the merchandise.
5. Tip Number Five: Be on the Lookout for the Unremitting Storyteller – A fun, yet important, read on how investors can tell if a company is being supported by substance or propped up by a story.
6. The Interrelationship Between Failure, Fraud and Execution
7. Tip Number Six: The Only Time a CEOs Clothing Should Matter (spoiler alert: it is when he/she is wearing an empty suit)
8. Five Telltale Signs that a Startup May be About to Implode
9. When to Pivot, When to Fold – What Every CEO & Investor Needs to Know
10. Tip Number 7: Watch Out for the Serial Fundraiser
11. Don’t Mistake FLINTtech for FinTech – Make sure you are not investing in “Flintstone technology”
12. Invest Like A Superhero
13. Mitigating Fraud in Crowdfinance – free comprehensive investor education webinar
14. Before Investing, Make Sure that the Emperor Has Clothes
15. You Know A CEO Thinks His Company’s Stock is Overvalued When….
16. At What Point Does A CEO’s Salary Raise Serious Red Flags With Investors?
17. Investment Red Flag: A Chef in a CEO’s Clothing – Be leery of the chef in a CEO’s clothing, for they are masterful at cooking the books
18. When a CEO’s Moonlighting Should Raise Red Flags with Investors
19. Failure to Launch 
20. When Does Company News Become Irrelevant (and when is it a red flag)?