Secrecy as a warning sign

Secrecy presented as protecting the technology is the signal that there may be no technology.

• Fraud and forensics
• Founders and companies

2 ideas that carry it

• Post-mortemFounders and companiesDocumentary

  A board that accepts a narrative has stopped doing diligence

  A compelling story is a claim to test, and the test for a technology is watching it work.

  Venture and growth diligence, and any investment where the case rests on a founder's account of something that cannot yet be seen.

  From The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley · 2019

• Post-mortemFraud and forensicsBook

  Secrecy presented as protecting the technology is the warning sign

  Protecting a secret and refusing to demonstrate a result are different things; a company that cannot tell them apart may have no result.

  Technology diligence, and any situation where access to evidence is being refused on grounds of confidentiality.

  From Bad Blood · John Carreyrou