More than four years ago, I decided on the stock I was going to buy: BofI Holdings, known today as Axos Financial. The bank was growing fast and had a differentiated branchless model. But before I hit "Buy," I had to check one last source.
That only took ten minutes, but once I was done, I changed my mind entirely. There was enough uncertainty about the culture at the company -- the real world (read: not abstract Wall Street jargon) experience of the people doing the hard work to build an organization -- to give me pause.
I was lucky I did. Over the ensuing five months, the stock would lose 60% of its value. The culprit: a suit brought on by a former employee.