A man with a slicked back hairstyle and a semi-controlled mustache appeared in color on the next square of the previously hidden scroll. He wore a blue shirt, a red tie, and a tailored dark gray business suit. The effect was either a modish stock broker, or, a Gold Rush town melodrama villain. In his hand he held a business card with "Major Knox Silicon Valley Ventures" imprinted on it. If she had not seen the haircutting image, she would not have recognized Mackie Alarie. "Performance identities are not uncommon in the art world", she observed. "However, from a personal point of view, Alarie as 'Major Knox' sending me that object was problematic."
"Major Knox Silicon Valley Ventures has a legitimate fictitious business license", Jack replied. "Signed by Mackie Alarie. In California, whether or not you can refer to yourself by another name is somewhat hazy. Or, if he refers to himself to clients as Major Knox, it might be assumed that this is his name. A license is not needed to be a venture capitalist. And, if you can convince third parties to invest in the work of inventors and entrepreneurs, you don’t need personal funds to go into business as a VC. So, on the surface, Alarie is not breaking any laws.
Unless, he is taking money from investors under false pretenses, such as by exaggerating his overhead, taking funding for dummy entrepreneur firms, pocketing money that is meant for real entrepreneurs, and fleeing the country when this becomes apparent."
