Market Discussions

Proof that the MD forum indeed holds many gems for those who learn how to dig them.

I loved reading Koniforous, Rykker and RAW23's wise pieces of advice, they are really spot on!

Actually, if you 3 don't mind, I'd love to create an article on my EvE Online Blog based on your suggestions.

I don't follow MD much anymore so forgive me, I'm assuming based on your comments that you've tried for loans on MD in the past and not had any luck. What are the three main things that led to you not getting a loan?

When I first began I did actually get uncollateralized loans which got me onto my feet in trading. These days, it seems like even besides the blatant uncollateralized scam loans, others are trolled straight out of the forums for not fully thinking through their terms. I currently have a 10B loan out (collateralized) so I am not saying loans do not exist. I do understand that these sentiments may not be 100% correct as while I pay some attention to MD, it is not a priority of mine.

My current "bond" went something like this:

Me: How much ISK do you have lying around idle?
Investor: At least 20 billion.
Me: Okay, then send me 20 billion, and I'll give you more back.
Investor: Okay.

If people trust you (past experience), or have a reason to trust you (like collateral), in my experience it really isn't that difficult to find investors.

Some suggestions:

* Briefly Introduce yourself. Remember, you can only make a first impression once!
* Briefly describe your past success and failures.
* Provide proof or references (people, URL links, etc.) for all claims made.
* Outline your objectives, and how you plan to achieve them.
* Outline any obstacles you can imagine that may prevent repayment.
* Outline contingency plans.
* Provide known and trusted character references if possible.
* Be polite and positive when answering all questions, even trolls. "Be nice!" - James Dalton

Sorry for the slow reply - just back from holidays. Feel free to use anything I have written that is helpful.

Also, good to see your face! It's been a while

Personally, as a borrower, I think that "collateralized" loans are... shall we say silly? There's occasionally some value, but generally speaking you're better off liquidating the collateral rather than taking the loan.

I'll speak more about this when I get home.

Plan of Action

Most of this should be open knowledge if you search around. To reiterate, to the best of your ability do include the following to your proposal:

The nature of your activities for which the investments would be utilised: This is the first step for investors to assess your viability. Be as detailed as possible and assess along the way, "Is this information necessary for investors?", "Is it sound and detailed enough while protecting my own interests?". And for those who can effectively detach away from themselves, ask yourself would YOU invest in your own proposal. Read, reread and adjust accordingly for minimal exposure with maximum effect.

Disclosure of risks: Disclose possible risks. This is a great self reminder to keep to your plan and avoid what NOT to do during the phase of your project to run it smoothly. Try to append risk ratings to your listed scenarios (high, low, etc) and the factors that make it so. If you want to go a step further, detail your strategy for avoiding these risks. Reduce the opportunity for others to disclose the risks for you - no plan is perfect, but a well thought out plan that considers all possibilities looks much better on paper.

Be honest and do not devalue your character: If you can convince investors that you can turn a healthy profit and follow through with your promised benefits in line with your plan, no one should care if in reality you're a cat behind a computer screen. What is paramount is your ability in running an honest business.

Since the issue of contention here is a lack of appending history for those needing to start asking for investments, ensure instead that your other activities, history or connections to certain people does not threaten or become detrimental to running your operations smoothly. Do not expect that investors think you are zero risk. There is always risk. To an extent people are also investing in your character - two people can have the same proposal but one will be more successful than the other. Trying to make a good first impression may be important, but anyone can dig up dishonesty with enough work. Don't sell yourself short. Respect an investor's need to know if it is within reason.

Be absolutely open and communicate any potential changes to your plan with your investors which may come with its own set of new risks and rewards. Gather their feedback before you proceed. Secretly changing your plan to keep up with your promises is not a good performance indicator to yourself, and much more so to your investors.

As a closing point, do not expect to gain/grind reputation. Trust is earned. Proper results speak for themselves; leave the evaluation to others, but do not forget to assess yourself periodically to keep yourself consistent or to better yourself. I am by no means an expert on these things (I myself did one small bond years back and that was it), but with enough effort and dedication to put forth a sound plan, anyone ideally should have no problem in getting their investments filled.


Related Tips

If you can successfully canvass for private investments, do that first. This will give you a more practical feel of working with that level of assets. When private investments can no longer fulfill your growth, public investment can be the next step.

On the issue of collateral, you may sometimes prefer not to liquidate these assets to fund an opportunity with a limited timeframe. This is the case when said assets are projected to be liquidated at a more opportune moment that is not in line with the timing of your business plan now. That said, with collateral, asking for public funding should be relatively straightforward, but you could do well to start employing some of these steps to familiarise yourself with how asking for public investments should work, and open yourself up to the possibility of data banking on feedback.

Reputation (or MD reputation, not standing points value in relation to NPC or Corporations, etc) is what people make it to be.
It works similar to how English is structured in that it also is based on what people make it to be.

In other words, your reputation in MD might be bad, and you may be the best business peron, but just because everyone is out to make you look bad, your reputation is bad or low.
Many wars , including economic warfare, sanctions to restrict income, psychological warfare, are related to reputation.
The target enemies are made to have bad reputation, and held there.
The friends or allies are made to have a good reputation.
(It is also related to the PvP standing of corps...)

Furthermore, enemies with bad reputation may have a high level of bad reputation., compared to lower level of bad rep.

If I get my first loan , I may try to honor it if I want to build a friendly relation.
However, if the lender is only out to spy on me, to sell API info to enemies , who'd use it to undermine my economy, it might not be in my best interest.
If the business relation grows and the lender is happy, whether I paid him back or he sold my collateral, the relation may lead to a good reputation.

Notice that I do not include ny statement which would lead to a frame set restricting or hiding reputation related factors.
I don't include how people should be dealing to increase their reputation as it simply is not related.
The reputation is real and related to weapons, firepower, and how those are attacked and restricted or supported and allied or associated to.
Weapons trading can make or break your reputation in relation to opposing entities.
Both warring factions may buy weapons from you to attack themselves.

- $40 to 4 plexes too.