Practitioner21 April 2026
Reference check questions for founders · CRV
A venture firm’s public note on checking the specific partner, including founders whose companies struggled, rather than relying on a curated list.
Topic map / Money and capital
Investor and partner verification
Substantial14 questions
CRV’s 2026 note argues for reference checks that include companies which struggled, and for checking the partner rather than the firm. The DFSA’s alerts are a reminder that a real company on a register does not prove the sender represents it.
- Related guide: Before accepting an investor
1.Who is the person, and which legal entity would pay or sign?
Pass 2 · strengthened
A register is one check. Confirm the person on a channel you opened yourself.
2.What did you check without using a link they sent?
3.Who else must approve before money moves?
Pass 2 · strengthened
Name the principal, the person who can decide, and any money that still has to be raised.
4.What evidence of funds is not a slide they designed?
Pass 2 · strengthened
A screenshot, a logo, or a personal assurance is not proof the money can be sent.
5.Is anyone asking for a fee before the investment is funded?
Pass 2 · strengthened
Ask who is paid, for what, and what triggers it. A fee is a reason to verify. It is not, by itself, a finding of fraud.
6.Which founder, found outside their reference list, have you spoken to?
Pass 2 · strengthened
Check the individual and the firm as different reference subjects. An indexed social post is not that check.
7.What did someone from a struggling company say this partner did?
8.What conflict have you found without being told?
Pass 2 · strengthened
Separate an investment, a broker, an adviser, and a build. Ask who they act for. One equity template does not do all four jobs.
9.What do they expect to control or approve?
10.If the checks stay thin, can you decline a deal you badly want?
Pass 2 · strengthened
If the checks are thin, you can still decline. If you have already signed, paid, or granted access, use the already-acted paths. Do not stop every contractual duty by default.
11.How do you authenticate impressive documents, video calls, and payment instructions independently of their sender?
Pass 2 · new
A genuine file can travel with a fake thread. A genuine thread can carry a changed account number.
12.Is this person investing their own money, a fund’s money, or money still to be raised through an SPV?
Pass 2 · new
These questions are this site’s. Aaron Harris did not publish them as a taxonomy.
13.For non-cash studio or adviser equity, which deliverables, review rights, and exit arrangements justify the ownership?
Pass 2 · new
A cash investment, strategic advice, and product delivery are different deals. Equity does not make them the same.
14.How do you avoid being targeted again by a supposed fund-recovery or dispute-resolution service?
Pass 2 · new
A recovery pitch aimed at a prior victim is a known pattern. It is a reason to verify, not a plan.
Sources
- Regulatory3 April 2016
Al Jomaih Investments Ltd impersonated in a fraudulent advance-fee scam · Dubai Financial Services Authority
The DFSA described an advance-fee approach that used the name of a DIFC-registered company (registration no. 0167) which was not licensed by the DFSA. People were asked to pay about USD 13,000 to 18,000 before any loan. Check current DFSA alerts before you rely on this as a watchlist.
- RegulatoryChecked 14 October 2026
Public register of firms · Dubai Financial Services Authority
The DFSA’s own register of firms it authorises. Open it from dfsa.ae. A listing, or the absence of one, still does not prove who sent you an email.
- Regulatory11 February 2025
DFSA cautions: public register cloned · Dubai Financial Services Authority
The DFSA warned that cloned public-register pages exist. It says a register address whose domain does not start with dfsa.ae is not legitimate, and it points readers with concerns to the DFSA complaints function.
- RegulatoryChecked 14 October 2026
Awareness regarding wire transfer scams · ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority
The page says ADGM and its staff will never be involved in processing or facilitating wire transfers for third parties, and that any request or communication suggesting otherwise is fraudulent. It tells readers not to respond, not to share bank details, and to use official channels. A date of 27 November 2024 appears in the research workbook. It was not on the page fetched here, so this site does not state that date. Do not generalise the alert to every cross-border transfer.
- Practitioner21 August 2019
Aaron Harris on fundraising and meeting with investors · Y Combinator
Harris writes that most founders do not get to choose whose money they take. He discusses AngelList syndicates and special purpose vehicles that raise from outside limited partners, and says those forms are not bad in themselves. Concealment of who someone is, and of whose money is being invested, is a reason to be suspicious. He does not publish a four-way taxonomy of capital sources.
- PractitionerUpdated July 2026
Founder/Advisor Standard Template (FAST), version 3 · Founder Institute
A template. FI recommends at least one month and 8 hours together before discussing FAST, and a three-month cliff. The equity grid is the template’s own schedule, not a rule for a particular company. FI says no legal assistance is necessary. This site does not repeat that as advice. Check any modified copy against the original. It does not replace the company’s lawyer.
- RegulatoryChecked 14 October 2026
Advance fee fraud · U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Investor.gov
The page describes frauds that ask for a fee up front to receive proceeds, such as a fee, a tax, a commission, a validation fee, or repayment of a margin loan. It also describes a reload scam: prior victims, sometimes approached by someone impersonating a government regulator, are asked to pay more to recover or unlock funds. It is a US page, not a ruling on UAE facts.
- Regulatory21 September 2026
DFSA impersonated in an advance-fee scam · Dubai Financial Services Authority
The DFSA says scammers impersonate it, claim it holds a box of money and gold, demand 11.1 percent so the package can leave the country, pose as a fictitious Compliance Department officer, send AI-generated images, and pressure a deadline. It says do not respond and do not send money, report correspondence through the DFSA complaints function, and if you have already sent money, contact your bank and the relevant police authority immediately. The page does not say to freeze every payment.