Top Ten Signs Your Prospective Angel Investment May Not Be Legit

The format may be from The Late Show with David Letterman, but I'll bet you only see this list here.

Top Ten Signs Your Prospective Angel Investment May Not Be Legit:

#10 - The issuer solicits investor input on use of proceeds via multiple choice questions on Survey Monkey.

#9 - The leading risk factor is the lack of certainty that attractive new type fonts will continue to be available for the company's website on commercially reasonable terms.

#8 - All the members of the Board of Directors are identified in the pitch deck by @Twitter accounts that have been suspended for spamming.

#7 - The company expressly reserves the right in its sole discretion to replace accelerating warrant coverage with Starbucks gift certificates.

#6 - The disclosure schedule to the Stock Purchase Agreement says that the CTO has been "traded for a player to be named later."

#5 - In a side letter, the company proposes to "indemnify and hold you harmless from and against all claims arising from that unfortunate incident at the closing party for the prior round."

#4 - You get an email reminder to "act fast, because an opportunity this good is sure to spawn copycats."

#3 - The Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation refers to a "liquidation preference-schmeference."

#2 - The subscriber instruction sheet tells you to make the check for your investment out to "cash."

#1 - You discover you've endorsed the deal to all of your Facebook friends in a sponsored story.