{"id":16154,"date":"2012-10-03T17:37:58","date_gmt":"2012-10-03T15:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tfu.de\/how-to-safely-avoid-dubious-offers\/"},"modified":"2012-10-03T17:37:58","modified_gmt":"2012-10-03T15:37:58","slug":"how-to-safely-avoid-dubious-offers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tfu.de\/en\/how-to-safely-avoid-dubious-offers\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Safely Avoid Dubious Offers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Topic: Dubious Offers from Others<\/strong>: It\u2019s interesting to note that many founders have already received offers about which they\u2019re unsure whether they\u2019re legitimate or not.<\/p>\n

Of course, there are plenty of gray areas<\/strong>. But if something doesn’t look legitimate, it probably isn’t. On the other hand, just because<\/strong> something looks legitimate doesn’t mean it actually is. Keep your eyes open, and if in doubt, feel free to ask the TFU team. We’ve seen quite a bit over the years… <\/p>\n

A few rules of thumb:– If something pretends to be something else, it\u2019s not legitimate.<\/strong> <\/em>For example, letters that look like they\u2019re from the Federal Gazette but turn out to be \u201coffers for publication\u201d; emails supposedly from banks.<\/p>\n

– If something seems too cheap, be careful\u2014there\u2019s a catch.<\/strong><\/em> No one gives anything away for free; the much higher price may ultimately be hidden in the fine print. You might also receive a retroactive bill just when you\u2019re so deep into the project that you can\u2019t back out anymore. <\/p>\n

– when something is available \u201cfor free,\u201d or when something illegal is touted as desirable,<\/em><\/strong> they\u2019re trying to scam you.<\/strong> <\/em>Clear examples include, for instance, emails from bankers who want to transfer millions to your account, as well as \u201cgreat deals\u201d from your extended circle of acquaintances who are also happy to deal with illicit funds.<\/p>\n

– If something yields a high return but the risk is supposed to be low,<\/strong> something can\u2019t be right.<\/strong><\/em> In a market economy, it is absolutely impossible to find a risk-free investment with a high return. The rule is: high return, high risk\u2014 <\/strong>low risk, <\/strong>low return.<\/strong> This is ALWAYS true. WITHOUT EXCEPTION. <\/p>\n

– When two transactions that are not actually related are bundled together, it\u2019s usually to your disadvantage. <\/strong><\/em>In this case, the total cost is almost always too high. For example: You sign an affordable consulting contract, but then you\u2019re required to purchase one or more insurance policies from that consultant. Would you have needed them at all, and if so, wouldn\u2019t you have wanted to get independent information? <\/p>\n

– Especially important for young entrepreneurs: If an investment offer doesn\u2019t clearly state the costs involved, it\u2019s an attempt to mislead you. <\/strong><\/em> \u201cCosts\u201d don\u2019t just mean a monetary payment. Costs also include the equity shares being demanded or the conditions attached to an investment. Anyone who promises you money for your company\u2014whether as a direct or indirect investment\u2014expects something in return, and that should be laid out on the table from the very beginning. Always be cautious when the conversation initially focuses only on the great things you can achieve with the money and not on the \u201cprice\u201d you\u2019ll have to pay for it. At some point, you\u2019ll be dazzled by the possibilities. Then, when you eventually learn about the \u201ccosts,\u201d they might not seem so bad after all. You might end up giving up more shares than you intended. Or you might agree to a management team that you no longer get to choose yourself\u2014but are still expected to pay for. <\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Topic: Dubious Offers from Others: It\u2019s interesting to note … <\/p>\n

weiterlesen …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sparring","tfu-how-to-safely-avoid-dubious-offers"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tfu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tfu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tfu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tfu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tfu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tfu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tfu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tfu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tfu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tfu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}