Mountain Lawyer
@Wildlaw406
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Partially domesticated. Full contact legal nerdery. Here for RE, SMB, metacognition and outdoors everything. Robbing banks for fun and profit.
Montana
Joined November 2013
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
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Practicing law in Montana is wild.
Client 1: "Our main home is in Bel Air, and we've done the Vail and Telluride ski-home thing, and love our places there, but we want to be here full time now because it's so much more authentic."
Client 2: "We're short on cash, but we can give
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Surprise twist: Client 2 actually has a higher net worth than Client 1.
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@LegalLumberjack
I had an attorney on the jury for my last trial. I thought she’d be good for my client and opposing counsel would strike her, but turns out he knew her and thought she would be good for his client. She did not, however, end up being good for his client.
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@AdrianAnnMiller
Dirt (and equipment) rich and cash poor is a very real thing for farm and ranch families.
It can definitely get to be a feeling they have more than the reality sometimes, though.
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Stupid things happen when novices are told to put rental properties in LLCs without additional advice and guidance about maintaining a separate business entity
Dealt with this one over the past few days
👇
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My law partner and his wife are traveling through southeast Asia for the next two months
Before he left, people kept asking him how I (his law partner) felt about him taking two months off
Are you kidding? I feel great about my law partner being able to live a full life
It's
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What being a plaintiff's attorney has taught me about liability protection (AKA why my rental properties are all in my name and I’m not at all worried about that).
A thread for RE investors and SMB owners.
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Another week, another crappy operating agreement written by an attorney who has no excuse.
It's a two-member LLC (each w/ 50% ownership), and yet there is no deadlock provision and several things that require a vote of a "majority in interest."
How TF do you get a majority in
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My favorite stupid business decision of 2024 so far:
A large-ish national property manager (that is, a business involving a lot of statutory compliance and litigation) didn't bother to hire a decent attorney to review their form contract and give them basic biz advice.
The
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@hankgreen
As my epidemiologist sister-in-law noted at the beginning of COVID, “It takes a year to get a year’s-worth of data.”
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Quick note for MT folks: abortion rights are protected under our state constitution. Our judiciary has been under attack, soon our constitution will be, too.
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Review of colonoscopy:
4/10 ⭐️ Not something that would make anyone's list of top-ten-most-surprisingly-fun-experiences.
They pump you full of narcotics and go poking around in your ass. You don't remember any of it and feel pretty good waking up, but you have to take an
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Recently befriended a guy that flips bare land
Just sat down with him and listened to his story
Crazy shit
He and his cousin started a side hustle with a few thousand $ in one piece of land their first year into a full-time gig w/ $4m in acquisitions last year
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I totally get why people are upset about all the drama on REtwit right now and are trying to avoid it.
As with any pile of shit, though, it's worth figuring out what part of it is suitable fertilizer—that is, what part of it can be put to productive use.
Here's what I'm doing
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My investment thesis in a nutshell:
In the post-Covid world, people will move to inexpensive areas with good outdoor amenities/natural beauty and friendly local populations for greater affordability and quality of life
Why I’m long the U.P. Of Michigan
3 emerging migration "hot spots" to watch over the next few years:
Northern New England
NW Arkansas
Upper Great Lakes
Where are the new households coming from (and why)?
Quick🧵…
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I can't believe I have to say this, but:
DO NOT hire a general contractor without a written agreement!!
And DO NOT hire a contractor if it is not clear in the written agreement whether the contract is fixed price, time and materials, or cost plus.
If you don't know how
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Real world example of typical LLC structures doing nothing to protect against liability
Worker at autobody shop is distilling thinner in a room that is one giant fire hazard: storage and processing of paint thinner produces flammable vapors, nothing is grounded, and...
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Really illustrates how, were it not for the leverage, residential real estate would be a shitty investment.
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Do I need to do a thread for residential property managers explaining which policies and practices are fully illegal and an instant class-action lawsuit on behalf of all of your tenants if I see them in your leases or damage-deposit docs?
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Aw fuck
I just got offered a pocket listing that's an 8 unit building, slope side, on the same ski hill where I already have one STR that's killing it and am about to close on another
And it pencils
Really well
I'm not gonna be able to resist this, am I?
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He's got one week for national median house prices to drop by $80k (roughly 18%).
Think he's gonna make it?
@Co11egeLandlord
@Wildlaw406
We’re near 400k median now. If we’re not below 350k by this time next year I’ll delete my account
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If you are going to advise that people put property in an LLC, you must also advise them (at a minimum) to:
-Open a separate bank account
-Keep LLC finances completely separate from personal finances
-Keep company records (e.g., minutes book)
-File annual reports
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@bugden_kyle
Hunting permission is more a gratuity. Gotten the offer twice after I wrapped cases up (and got paid in full).
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Being an attorney is weird because the more things go wrong, the more money you make
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For context: deleting your social media account in the face of potential lawsuits is a terrible idea, and no responsible litigator (IMO) would recommend it.
See there’s this thing called “spoliation” which is what they call it when you destroy evidence relevant to a potential
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Also, my law partner got me this shirt to wear to my first colonoscopy. 10/10 would recommend as best colonoscopy outfit.
The nurses loved it, although one of them topped it with a button that had a picture of a turd moving through a colon that said "This too shall pass."
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I'm looking at you, here, transactional attorneys and CPAs
Maybe tell them to maintain adequate insurance, also, since that does more to protect assets anyway
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Biz attorney DOES NOT advise them to:
-Open a separate bank account for the LLC
-Sign the service agreement w/ the PM in the name of the LLC
-Pay costs of the property only with LLC funds
-Accept rental income only in the name of the LLC
-Make sure annual reports are filed
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I’m beginning to suspect:
The young right now have no righteous cause, so they exaggerate muddled causes and associate them with historically righteous causes in order to satisfy their need to fight for something worth believing in.
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Is any skill more valuable than the ability to figure things out?
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@mtchuteboss
@Laura_W_Gieseke
Having spent years hunting only public land and then started hunting private land, I feel safe saying your vet definitely got a smokin deal.
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As soon as you hear a lawyer say "could" or "might," your next question should be "How likely is that?"
I say that because I've heard too many lawyers warn against reasonable courses of action based on extremely low probability outcomes.
You need to have a rough sense of the
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@tomolesnevich
It’s actually not that novel, particularly if you do criminal defense, which my law partner does.
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No one: "Hey lawyer dude with no economics background, what do you think will happen with interest rates over the next five years?"
Me: "I'm glad you asked, I actually have a very interesting contrarian macroeconomic take I think you'll find fascinating"
You see, everyone (and
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Just testing the waters here, but how many of you would want to do a rugged, backcountry fly fishing retreat?
No posh lodge, no gourmet meals cooked by a chef stream-side, no concierge service. But pristine wilderness, no crowds, and world-class fly fishing.
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I’m on my third time through the Wire, and more convinced than ever that it is the best TV show ever made
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Everything changes when you start reading history books.
The levels of peace, health, and prosperity we're experiencing globally are historically unprecedented. If you think everything is f*ed up right now, you've likely been exposing yourself to a very limited scope of
Failure to recognize the tremendous progress that humanity has made, literally billions of people lifted out of poverty, vastly longer lifespans, expansion of rights and freedoms, is probably the single biggest sign of midwitism.
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A federal court in Alabama just ruled that the CTA is unconstitutional.
I’ll be holding off on registering any of my entities unless/until the court of appeals overturns this.
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I’m a little puzzled by the number of people with strong opinions on the Chevron doctrine being overturned who don’t practice administrative law.
I’m a bona fide law nerd, but I haven’t read enough cases reviewing agency decisions to have a clear sense of the ultimate effect.
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I am not an accountant or a biz broker
But I'm pretty sure if your cash flow exceeds your gross revenue it means you're either money laundering or you just made up numbers for your listing
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My work time is currently 85% litigation, 15% RE
Thinking about blending the two and starting a RE acquisition fund focused on assets with major legal issues—e.g., clouded title, NPL, etc.
Who's playing in that space and wants to talk about it?
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@JeppsenJonny
I talked to a guy in the UP like this. Retired cop who started buying houses in his town and renting them out starting in the early 2000s. Bought 52 total... at an average price of $8k ea.
Average price is around $150k each now.
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Because some dumb lawyer said to put the vacation home into an LLC "to protect their assets" and failed to tell them the rest of the requirements
The LLC never offered any liability protection
None
All it did was make selling the property a giant headache for nothing
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@ArkuAmore
Super doable, and a great way to spend a couple years.
Only hard part is finding an affordable place to park your RV. Cheaper than rent, but plan on spending $600/month.
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One of the funnest parts of litigating against banks is how the attorneys who defend them are ignorant as to even the most basic of relevant calculations
For example, defense counsel in a case I'm litigating against a mortgage lender keeps asking how we know the difference in
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Reflecting on the first half of my life:
All of my biggest obstacles were psychological
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Legal things every residential Property Manager and Owner should know:
Background: Between the 60s and 80s most states passed comprehensive residential landlord-tenant laws that are meant primarily to protect tenants
These laws vary substantially from state to state—you need to
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Holy hell, GCs. Why do I keep having clients showing up needing help dealing with you, and your contracts are hot garbage!?!
Is this an estimate, an invoice, or a contract I'm looking at?
Why does it say "invoice" at the top, but then have a bunch of contract provisions at
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Update to earlier thread re: LLCs vs. insurance for asset protection since additional explanation, with simpler illustrations, appears warranted
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@Co11egeLandlord
This is such a silly comment.
I will open up my liability to everything I own because it is a hassle?
That's the reason? Because its an inconvenience?
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My wife thinks it's hilarious how gossipy REtwit is.
Me: "AND THEN, the rumor started going around that this relatively new guy who is calling out all these big accounts is none other than... JAKE!"
My wife: "Y'all are a bunch of high school girls."
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My law partner and I started our own firm two years ago and are working on solving a marketing problem we're running into.
Some background:
One of the most difficult questions we get asked is how to choose an attorney. Here's one criterion that most people and businesses give
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I was in charge of health insurance at my old firm, figured I should share what I learned
It's usually less expensive and better coverage to have a high-deductible policy w/ an HSA and max out HSA contributions than to have a cadillac policy w/ low deductibles and copays
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Because the couple is not advised of these things, they do not open a bank account in the name of the LLC or maintain separate funds
The LLC income and expense flow through their personal checking account, which is commingling of funds and negates any liability protection
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Latest acquisition
Ski chalet, purpose built to be an STR, 1/1 downstairs unit, 3/1 upstairs unit
Off-market, all cash deal, we took on two LPs for it so we could learn how to syndicate a deal
Best part is that one of my RE partners had dreamed of owning this place
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@Mom2S_J
Used to be super common in NM back in the day for native silversmiths to barter for everything in jewelry.
When my grandmother worked at a department store in Las Cruces, she would buy school clothes for the families that came in looking to trade their jewelry for clothes and
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1. Care enough about people to think through basic safety so no one gets burned to death on your property
2. Separate legal entities are no guarantee of protection from liability
3. Adequate liability insurance protects your assets even when entity structures don’t
fin/
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Banks and title companies often have very weird ideas about laws related to business entities and doing business with them ("very weird" meaning completely made up and nonsensical)
So I must plan my messaging carefully to make them comfortable with the newly renamed LLC
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Whole bunch of new followers. Hope you all like weird.
Here's my deal: I gave traditional law-firm life the finger and started my own firm. I'm building passive income w/ RE so I can work only the cases I love. RN that's 1/2 pro bono and 1/2 suing big corps, banks/lenders.
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@mhp_guy
AA. It means completely stopping drinking, but it’s the best thing that ever happened to me. Teaches you a bunch of coping skills in life that make you a happier, kinder, more effective person. Can’t recommend it enough.
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Dealing with an interesting property law issue:
Three individuals decide to build a 3-unit commercial building together. They purchase the land, create an LLC, quitclaim the land to their LLC, and then build the building.
Years later, with the property still in the name of the
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Has the number of thirst-trap bots increased recently, or did I just suddenly become really popular with OF entrepreneurs?
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Might have just found my first steady pipeline of legally ugly properties on which to do some legal value add
Update on the rest of the details with that project coming in a later thread
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@GovGianforte
You need to have a chat with your communications team.
Your message here is that you're literally phoning it in.
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I made my first off-market, all-cash offer last month
Seller (former realtor) hated my offer price, and pushed back hard using surprisingly savvy negotiation tactics
I loved it, made me bring my A game
Yesterday he said yes
Details:
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This is what honor and dignity looks like.
And this is why I can’t stand Trump’s incessant need to degrade anyone he views as an opponent.
This clip represents how I want to play the game.
Competitive.
But not nihilistic & destructive.
John McCain defending Obama:
“No Ma’am.
“He’s a decent family man & citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues.”
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Feeling grumpy again about the standard-issue, not-a-hint-of-f*ing-nuance "Put the property in an LLC to avoid lawsuits" advice that gets distributed like junk mail.
Latest stupid mess this over-generalized advice is causing:
When you have more than one member in the LLC, and
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Had a fascinating conversation about building workforce houseing with a local developer last week
Key takeaways:
-He wants to build more affordable housing, but his costs are predominantly materials and labor, and he can't find a way to reduce either
-Land is only 5-10% of his
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No one wants to make the first offer, but it can be the stronger position because it's an opportunity to anchor the negotiation range
I've negotiated hundreds of settlements in which I had to make the first demand, and the biggest thing I've learned is that if you have a
What’s the move when the seller won’t tell you an asking price?
“30K”
“Nope”
“31K”
“Nope”
??? Never had that before
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I have encountered this before and learned not to argue
It does not matter that it is nonsensical to insist that proof of sole members must come from a document anyone could daft and sign when there are official documents of the government agency already saying it
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Wife decided she was done having a front lawn, threw a bunch of wildflower seeds all over it and said we’re not mowing it anymore.
Going for that feral chic vibe.
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Liability risk management is first and foremost about being safe and considerate of others.
I follow Buffett and Munger’s approach and avoid lawsuits by not being an asshole and not doing business with assholes.
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Has anyone done a 1031 exchange from an already-built property to a new-build?
As in, have you ever taken the proceeds from selling a property and used them to build a new property in such a way that it qualified as a 1031 exchange?
I'm told it's doable.
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To add to prior discussions of liability and protection from liability, it is worth addressing a simple lease provision I use to reduce liability risk:
"Tenant agrees to immediately inform Landlord, via email, of any unsafe condition or unsafe conduct...
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Talked to the credit departments at some local banks today
They have portfolio mortgages they’re holding
None are distressed—zero delinquencies, requests for workout assistance, forbearance, or anything of the sort
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Highly competent person: “Do I actually know what I’m doing? I feel like there’s so much I don’t know or might be getting wrong.”
Total idiot: “For $1,600 I’ll hop on a 1-on-1 call and walk you through my proven system.”
Ever wonder if the real estate gurus you see on YouTube, X, and Instagram are legit?
Well I did.
So out of curiosity I signed up for a 1 on 1 call with a household name "coach".
If I said his name, you'd probably know him (no it's not Grant Cardone)
Within 5 minutes my
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Sous vide? Bro, you boiled your steak in a plastic bag.
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@jimbolint
My wife is from Vermont, and it’s where we would live if we moved out of Montana. Love it out there.
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The operative sentence I decide upon says "The attached reinstatement letter reflects the name change, showing it's the same LLC that held the property, just with a new name."
It works. Title co decides it's okay to issue payment in the new name of the LLC
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And think about this:
What if the person who formed the LLC with the same name as my clients' dissolved LLC had been dishonest enough to try to put a mortgage on the property held in the name of my clients' LLC?
Pretty sure they could have accomplished that
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Did the realtor screw up?
Scenario:
Family is looking for a rural residential property with enough acreage they can park dump trucks and equipment associated with their asphalt business.
Buyer’s agent who is helping them knows this.
They find a property they like. Realtor
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@elonmusk
As a general rule, anyone who uses the adjective "thermonuclear" to describe a lawsuit they intend to file will predictably have little sense of either the strategic realities of litigation or the distribution of probabilities among the potential outcomes of the lawsuit
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The more LLC operating agreements I see, the more I think attorneys draft a lot of them without any real sense of what should be in them or why.
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@BurkMichael
I didn't mention this, but the LLC was mysteriously registered right about the time the second motion to dismiss was filed.
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Being a litigator is a bit like owning guns for self-defense. You imagine a bunch of scenarios where someone comes at you, and you are just so ready for it and make them regret they ever saw your face, but no one ever actually comes at you.
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What I just learned from the PPM I'm reviewing:
If you do a 3.5% acquisition fee, and a 1.5% guarantor fee, you can say you have a 5% GP co-invest and you're personally guaranteeing the loan even though you aren't actually risking a dollar of your own money.
(Before you @ me
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Admitting when you're wrong isn't easy, but it's necessary.
I thought (and still think) crypto is a dumb investment. And before you start telling me the wonders of blockchain, I fully see the value of the tech, it just never made sense to me that the value proposition of the
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The more professionals I work with, the less stock I place in how many years of experience they have.
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You started a business, invested, made some money, and you now have assets and want to protect them from loss
Where do risks arise and what can you do to protect against them?
Much of it is specific to your operations and assets, but there are a few generalities
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