Has anyone heard of Peerstreet?
"(Disclosure - PeerStreet was at FinCon, a financial blogger conference I attended last month. I had the chance to briefly meet a couple people from this company. Also, I recognize a number of the names of their financial backers. This doesn't guarantee anything, of course, except the people behind the scenes are no slackers.) The same way Prosper and Lending Club have created a market for personal loans, this is a company that offers real estate loans.  The ""too good to be true"" aspect is what I'll try to address. I've disclosed in other answers that I have my Real Estate license. Earlier this year, I sold a house that was financed with a ""Hard Money"" loan. Not a bank, but a group of investors. They charged the buyer 10%. Let me state - I represented the seller, and when I found out the terms of the loan, it would have been a breach of my own moral and legal responsibility to her to do anything to kill the deal. I felt sick for days after that sale.  There are many people with little credit history who are hard workers and have saved their 20% down. For PeerStreet, 25%. The same way there's a business, local to my area, that offered a 10% loan, PeerStreet is doing something similar but in a 'crowd sourced' way. It seems to me that since they show the duration as only 6-24 months, the buyer typically manages to refinance during that time. I'm guessing that these may be people who are selling their house, but have bad timing, i.e. they need to first close on the sale to qualify to buy the new home. Or simply need the time to get their regular loan approved.  (As a final side note - I recalled the 10% story in a social setting, and more than one person responded they'd have been happy to invest their money at 6%. I could have saved the buyer 4% and gotten someone else nearly 6% more than they get on their cash.)"
&gt; Microsoft has done a great job with their cloud platforms, revamping the microsoft office suite to compete with google's, their entire surface line of laptops and tablets, purchasing linkedin, etc.  I don't understand the economics of the cloud platforms. I've heard some people say there could be an excess capacity problem like there was 20 years ago with fiber. Is that possible? In some ways I might consider her a success just by keeping Yahoo in business this long, and then getting someone else to pay actual money to buy it. I've never heard of anyone using it in a long, long time. "&gt;If you're argument held true in court, no one could sue anyone successfully..  That is my point.  Admittedly, my above example is very simplistic - but it was designed to simply illustrate my point.  And no, buying a shares of Google or Exxon or whatever other equity would not make you lawsuit proof....otherwise all you would need to do is open a brokerage account.  I won't go into this on post but I would be happy to type out a few real examples - they involved Trusts, Holding LLC's and even suing yourself...  This whole conversation started by the article about Robert Kiyosaki getting sued by his partners, getting a judgement against him and instead of paying his former partner - he BK's one of his companies to get out of debt.  Rich Dad's estimated personal net worth?  [$80 Million](http://www.forbes.com/sites/helaineolen/2012/10/10/rich-dad-poor-dad-bankrupt-dad/)   How many books has he sold?  JUST the Rich Dad Poor Dad book has sold over [26 MILLION copies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Dad_Poor_Dad#Publishing_success)...and obviously that doesn't count future sales. (he has many books, DVD's educational material, seminars...etc)  Rich Dad is also very diversified and has [other business interest such as mining companies, oil and gas, solar, venture capital...etc](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kiyosaki#Business_ventures_and_investments)  The above referenced Forbes article goes on to say: ""Rich Dad Co. CEO, has informed them that Kiyosaki would not be putting any of his personal fortune toward the settlement. As for Rich Global, Sullivan claimed it only had a few million in its coffers.""  So here is a case of a legitimate lawsuit, it was heard in court and Rich Dad was ordered to pay $24 Million to his former partner(s).  He claims he can't pay it and files for Corp BK... Yet his personal net worth is over 3x that amount (not to mention the net worth of his new company) - not to mention future sales.  Thanks to some financial and legal gymnastics his partners get screwed out of their share of earnings.  I fail to see how this isn't an example of abusing the system.  Rich dad isn't even offering to pay out on future sales or even trying to negotiate a lower settlement.  He just pulled out the BK card and FU - his debtors will get pennies on the dollar.  It seems that our ""perspectives"" on ethical business practices are at opposite ends of the spectrum.  In my opinion, utilization of the BK laws in this manner which effectively makes one completely exempt from liability or financial responsibility is exactly what is wrong with the Unites States (at least one reason).  If you can't (or refuse) to see this or you truly think ""this is just good business"" then..I don't know what else to say other than you are part of the problem.    ******************** Oh and I never addressed your other point... &gt;first you would be breaking the law for driving without insurance.   No problem. I'd pay the +/-$500 ticket and keep moving - while you drink your meals through a straw." "While I'm sure you're right, I still think it's a fairly generous offer. Whole Foods is not the ""the only name in organic food"" anymore that made them what they are today. All kinds of shops want in on that action. I've heard rumblings from friends in Whole Foods management that numbers have been down and tension has been high. Of course, that was before. Perhaps a factor." "Thank you for the response, no they didn't ask for anything from anyone, and I certainly didn't give them any information. I was very skeptical but I don't want to be close minded. They claim that they never charge anyone for their mentorship. And the fact they talked so much about pyramid schemes really put me on edge. I guess I just would like to know if anyone else knew about this ""$10 billion in revenue private company.""  I read the article you posted and I didn't get that impression. The speaker said he was donating time because he felt like that was important for himself and his wife, to give back to the community.  Anyways I will give it a chance, cautiously, and worst case scenario it's an opportunity to network. Thanks for the insight!" DB runs hedge funds that own stock in both companies, has a US bank that lends to both companies, has a US equity division that trades the stock of both companies, is a prime broker to hedge funds that own stock in both companies. They are also a lender to private equity firms that own transportation and logistics companies.   However, I agree with the point you are trying to make about a person heard from another person who heard from another person "I figured as much! Couldn't help but chuckle as I'd never heard this interpretation of their name. Honestly, as a kid (and for reasons unknown), I thought it was Carson 'Pine' Scott... Not a fan of these particular department stores myself, but FWIW the chain is called ""Carson Pirie Scott &amp; Co.""" I am confused as to why the author thinks people wouldn't do this.  If target wants to hand out free money they can be my guest.  edit: Target, PM me if you're interested in this sort of arrangement.