"Friends"

[riflearm2]

Do you all ever get people who reach out wanting to start a business? They either want your expertise, work ethic, or money to help their "idea" (which many times has already been done countless times by others or is a longshot of being successful)? Before 11 a.m. today, I had two calls from two different "friends" or people who previously worked for me wanting to see if I would be interested in meeting with them to discuss.

One of them called weeks ago when he heard I was hurt, and I ignored the calls. But I made a mistake and answered his call this morning in which he initially made it sound like he was just calling to check up on me, but in reality, he was inviting himself to my house to make the pitch about the three ideas he has.

I am sick of being used. Since 13 years old, I have been used for my giant dong. Over the last five years, it has been for my expertise, work ethic, and/or money. I just want people to like me for me!

 

[-CarlHungus-]

I had a sort of colleague...distant interactions in the remote past but a respected doc....

reach out about being a limited partner in a medical marijuana start up in WV. He sent me the pitch deck and it didn't look great but I was still intrigued.

I forwarded it on to an internet friend in an investing forum (much smarter than me on start ups) and he ripped it to shreds. He said steer clear. I probably wasn't going to do it, but it sealed the deal.

That is the only time it ever happened to me but I'm not in the business world. I do very little speculative/start up investing and just stick with simple real estate funds and index funds. I am in a little bitcoin mining farm start up but in retrospect I probably should have just put it in VTSAX after all.

 

[riflearm2]

Medical marijuana projects are a nightmare in NY. The commission that led it screwed up most of it and put startups out of business. The state has numerous lawsuits, and the new governor is giving them all money to appease them and fast-tracking their approvals.

I've had countless ones over the last few years . . . a website that allows for better dating (virtual concierge who will come up with date ideas, reminders of special days, planning exciting dates), a ton of auto-related ideas, and this one:

An old colleague/friend who I socialized quite a bit with while in DC was a big Trump fan before Trump started in politics. The kid would read his books, adopt his thoughts (wouldn't shake hands due to germs), etc. Eventually, he also adopted his business practices.

He came up with a cool idea/product that he wanted me to partner with him on. I've never trusted him in that regard (always the kind of guy with a new idea that always seems sketchy), so I passed, but I watched from afar as the idea came to reality when he found a manufacturer and began marketing it and selling a high number (5000 is what he claimed to me) in pre-sales. Then, it went downhill fast. Those who pre-ordered and paid kept getting the run-around. His "company" (I believe just him) started sending those who hadn't received the product emails saying that delays in design/production, international shipping cost increases, and the economy forced them to be insolvent. They claimed the founder (my buddy) lost all of his savings and his house (he lived in San Francisco, and I doubt he owned property there), and that those who ordered and paid would not be receiving anything. People started following his personal social media pages seeing him bike through Europe, etc. (probably with their money) which didn't help. Websites have posted about him over the last couple of years, and a quick search shows multiple lenders suing him, so I am sure it went sideways, but I wouldn't put it past him that he pocketed most of the money knowing this would happen.

 

[-CarlHungus-]

Medical marijuana projects are a nightmare in NY. The commission that led it screwed up most of it and put startups out of business. The state has numerous lawsuits, and the new governor is giving them all money to appease them and fast-tracking their approvals.

The guy who looked at the pitch deck was involved in a company based out of ?arizona I think? and he said they were super busy and doing way bigger number than WV had projected, but at the end of the day due to overhead and regulatory costs take home from investment wasn't worth it.