For example, one of mine is, the commercial makes me cringe—either it’s woefully out of touch or low quality or I know it’s bullshit. This is a red flag to me because some companies totally understand who they are, who their customers are, and the impact of great messaging. Because content is design. And caring about design is one of the things I look for. That’s a personal preference.<p>I’m interested in learning what other evidence people see in the wild that makes them pause and why. Maybe it’s quantitative, maybe it’s a gut feeling. What is it?
- Company owned by Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg, or anyone who thinks those two represent good management.<p>- Anything to do with cryptocurrencies, NFTs, etc.<p>- Repeated ethical and legal violations, e.g. Uber, Wells Fargo, pretty much every Wall Street bank/fund.<p>- Companies with no customers or revenue where the founders only talk about pitch decks and funding rounds.