7 horrific investments for the record books
This sad story of frozen assets, if you will, begins with a company called Cryogen – a doomed company that attempted to treat brake pads and mechanical parts to last longer through super cooling. Yet Cryogen went down in flames itself.
Bart Lorang, CEO and co-founder of FullContact and a serial entrepreneur, knows only too well. Betting on the promise of lucrative contracts with the U.S. Air Force and Postal Service, he poured $25,000 into the company, while his investment mentor ponied up $500,000.
They lost it all – and it got worse: "I also convinced my girlfriend's father to invest $500,000." (Try sharing that bit of financial information with your sweetie.)
"We broke up," he recalls. "But not because of the investment – I think."
Lorang's miscue addresses investing from the angel side, and plenty of public endeavors have proved even more distressing – not just bears, but full-blown Ursa Majors. Here's a look at seven investments that frittered fortunes, frazzled nerves and rattled confidence on a grand scale, and some lessons that would-be investors can learn from these mistakes.
READ MORE: http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/savingandin...
Bart Lorang, CEO and co-founder of FullContact and a serial entrepreneur, knows only too well. Betting on the promise of lucrative contracts with the U.S. Air Force and Postal Service, he poured $25,000 into the company, while his investment mentor ponied up $500,000.
They lost it all – and it got worse: "I also convinced my girlfriend's father to invest $500,000." (Try sharing that bit of financial information with your sweetie.)
"We broke up," he recalls. "But not because of the investment – I think."
Lorang's miscue addresses investing from the angel side, and plenty of public endeavors have proved even more distressing – not just bears, but full-blown Ursa Majors. Here's a look at seven investments that frittered fortunes, frazzled nerves and rattled confidence on a grand scale, and some lessons that would-be investors can learn from these mistakes.
READ MORE: http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/savingandin...
