If you are a “glass half-empty” person,
you know to check out potential employees, service providers, investors, clients. (I've even had friends who are utilizing dating websites ask me to check out people before they get too involved.) The
following list of liars and sources will save you time
and reinforce what you naturally do to protect your business and wallet.
Below are two lists.
One is a list of lies learned from less than three hours due
diligence of potential service providers, clients, investors and employees. The other is a list of free or low cost
public websites you can check to save you time, money, and “face.” If you get a business card, a resume and take
notes during conversations, you can ascertain a great deal in less than 3 hours
of research, otherwise wasted by “big talkers.”
Some have been shameless liars who have, presumably, gotten away with this before, indicating that a lot of people DON’T do background checks. Think how much time you can save by learning this information early on.
Preliminary due diligence is like a
game. The goal is to look for anything the person has
told you (verbally or in writing, such as a resume) that is invalidated or
contradicted in public sources. If the
person lied about something so easily discovered, what else might s/he lie
about? Red flag. By asking for
background information, the message you convey to the person is that it is “time
to get serious.” This can cut time
wasted with big talkers. Your time is
worth money.