Forget What Legal Says
If you’re ever the CEO of an organization and you find yourself typing an email to the entire company advising everyone to “forget what legal says,” then something has gone horribly off the rails. Yet that is precisely what the now-former CEO of Linqto, Bill Sarris, did given the opportunity to make a couple of million bucks unloading overvalued shares of Ripple onto unsuspecting retail investors.
“Take no prisoners” and “This is guerilla warfare” are also things he put in writing.
Whoops.
Even leaving aside that it’s always a bad look to compare white-collar work to warfare, this is pretty gnarly stuff coming from someone who looks uncannily like Carl Fredricksen. (But don’t get me started on Up; I’ll start weeping.)
Here’s the thing: Legal is Legal for a reason. Their job is to keep you out of court and out of jail, both of which are worthwhile objectives. Does that mean they always say things you’re excited to hear? No! Because some laws are stupid and people are too litigious. But does that mean you should just ignore or forget what they say? Also no! (This is where our CLO Taylor is hoping I read my own Unqualified Opinions.)
One of the things we say around the office is that everything is a present value/future value problem. And one of the reasons Permanent Equity has been successful to the extent we’ve been successful is because we’ve mostly done well trading lower present values for higher future ones. The reason this is relevant here is because if you ever find yourself forgetting what legal says, it probably means you are trading a higher future value for a lower (but perhaps more expedient) present one. And while that might feel good temporarily, it might not feel so good if that trade lands you in jail, fined by the SEC or – as Mr. Sarris is being – sued by your customers.
So don’t forget what Legal says. Instead, get a good lawyer – like Taylor, who also makes great coffee, so you get some benefit from the expense of employing one even if you don’t take their advice.
Wait, what?
– Tim
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