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Before the Securities Act of 1933, a common scheme involved pitching a pie-in-the-sky idea (e.g. a magic CGI smartwatch [1]), paying your self and cronies an absurd salary for a few years, and then calling it quits before rolling again.

No doubt, this still happens. But grandma was quarantined.

[1] http://observer.com/2014/08/indiegogos-scampaign-problem-lat...



These vaporware ideas still happen with Kickstarter & Indie Go-Go projects, except people aren't even buying equity, just a promise.

At least with owning equity there are some legal maneuvers for shareholders to go after mismanaging executives.


My favorite example of this is "Solar Freaking Roadways!". It reminds me of the "Monorail!" from The Simpsons. While there doesn't seem to be ill intent in the former, that doesn't matter if the solution is untenable. A fool and his money...





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