Issue 44Oct 5, 2026 · 1 min · From the desk
A field guide to management red flags
Six phrases that tell you more than the guidance does.
We read transcripts for tone, not for numbers. Numbers are audited eventually; tone is never audited, which is exactly why it is informative. Here is what makes us put a company down.
- 'One-time' charges that appear in four consecutive years.
- A CEO who answers a question about unit economics with a story about vision.
- Adjusted metrics that exclude the cost of the thing being sold.
- Guidance narrowed to a range so wide it cannot be missed.
- Any mention of a 'transformational' acquisition without a return target.
- Explaining a miss by blaming a currency that moved less than the miss.
The tell underneath the tell
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