Ask VH: What’s dumb money?

Q: Everybody is telling us to raise smart money. What’s the difference between smart money and dumb money?

“The best assumption to make is that your VC’s primary value add is the cash they are investing. Then you’ll always be surprised on the upside.”

— Marc Andreessen

Summary: Smart money is money plus the promise of help that’s worth paying for, dumb money is money plus hidden harm, and mostly money is mostly money. Weed out the dumb money with diligence. Evaluate supposedly smart money with the smart money test.
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Hillary Clinton Asks Her Dumb Little 'Questions' About Iraq [Congressional Testimony]

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The FTC Will Never Ask You For Money Because You Won The Lottery. We Promise. [Scams]

Apparently, some group of geniuses has been calling people and pretending that they are from the FTC. They start out with some nonsense like "Hi, I'm calling from the Federal Trade Commission to tell you that you have won $250,000…" They try to tell you that you won the lottery or some other bogus prize, and that you should give them money in order to collect your winnings. There are so many things wrong with this picture (not least of which is the fact that the FTC doesn't collect money from consumers, period) that we don't even know where to start. The FTC says: The FTC is the nation's consumer protection agency. It investigates fraud and provides free information, but it never collects money directly from consumers. FTC staffers don't have any involvement with this sweepstakes scam. [lien] [EN]

Money Myths, Madness, and Mayhem - The 85th Edition of the Carnival of Money Stories

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It Can’t Hurt To Ask

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Michael Jackson – Money Lessons From The King of Pop

Yesterday, fans of Michael Jackson bemoaned the loss of a great musical icon. But what was more interesting to me was how much debt he had at the time of his passing. Estimates range from $0 million to $0 million. I have done as much search and research about it. So here’s my “Saturday Morning Live” money lessons from the King of Pop. Invest in “proven” things that pay you a dividend for a long time – One of Michael’s best investment ever was investing $5 million in 5 for the rights to a catalog of music that included 1 Beatles songs. Those rights, as well as concerts, endorsements and music videos, would generate more than $0 million over the next two decades. That is what I call passive income. (hey – much better than rental properties!) I just had a an interview with the Silicon Valley Blogger and one of the things we talked about was how so many people in Silicon Valley are just looking for “the next big thing”. [lien] [EN]

How to Save Money at the Beach With Credit Cards

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Money Strategies For The Recession

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Ask For A Raise At The Right Time [Raises]

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