Quote:

People solicit investors (stockholders) for three reasons. (1) They don't have the capital required to launch themselves, or (2) they are not sure the concept is going to be successful and they want to hedge their bets, and (3) They are looking to cash out at the top of the growth curve.



Since I either try an shut down or save troubled businesses for a living (depending on who pays me), I generally agree with this, and would add to it the fourth concept of personal friendships. Lots of people will try and hook onto college buddies for business investments, partly because they know the "climate of amicability" is a lot longer than taking on some VC money, and because they know a "friend/investor" is less likely to demand the cost of capital return that the private market generally requires, i.e. 20% annually.

Since I doubt Manning is as educated as he pretends to be, I doubt he has a good handle on most basic business concepts, like keeping your landlord happy by paying the rent. I once struck up a conversation with a porn agent and floated the idea of offering financial planning services to their whores. We both gently laughed this idea away as a total waste of time...for every Sommalier Samson there are 200 washed-up, broke Sophia Lynns.