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> There are very few ways to tell accurately from the outset at first who's going to screw you over

Pay close attention to how they treat others.




Totally second this.

Particularly look at:

1 How they treat their customers

2 How they treat their affiliates

3 How they encourage their affiliates to treat their customers.


And how they tread people they consider to be 'below' them, such as waiters, cab drivers and so on. That's a pretty good tell.


My new best signal is if they don't seem to listen during a conversation. They only talk and occasionally pause while waiting to make their next point.


How they treat wait staff in a restaurant is often extremely illuminating.


Since it comes down to "is this CEO a psychopath", most of the classic red flags can be seen quite soon. E.g. charm, lack of history, quick rage.


Not for borderlines, sadly.




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