[ubasu]

It's called information asymmetry. As an individual, you do not have the power to get all the necessary information to make a sound decision, but working through the government - which in a democracy ideally represents you and others like you - you can get that information.

[iandanforth]

This is an important point. You could provide a valuable service to the new angel class by running a site that provides startups with easy to fill out forms that translate into useful, actionable, understandable explanations of their new businesses.

I'm sure the standard brokers will provide guidance like this for a price, but you could establish norms as to what information is most important for every single new company to get out there, or take standards set by the government and make that information accessible.

[olalonde]

I'm not opposed to laws preventing corporations from providing false/misleading information, witholding relevant information, etc. I'm just saying people should be free to make the final judgement of whether or not they want to invest after having been presented with all relevant facts.

[ubasu]

There's also the issue of enforcement. If a company gives you false information, you may not have the resources to sue them if it's only a civil matter, or if the local prosecutor declines to prosecute.