Hello all,
I'm reading this thread from a slightly different perspective, having met and worked with Paul in the past and gotten to know him reasonably well. Perhaps his tone is best taken with a pinch of salt, but his background should be taken seriously. He is a proven businessman, who has been extremely successful in a wide range of sectors - not least those he's already mentioned (granted, rather defensively).
I agree that an online forum might not be the best place to have an open debate about the details of a business proposal, but it's an apt place for making initial contact with expats/Argentines who might be interested in going into business with an expat. Which is, after all, all the original post was about - hence the vague outline of a proposal and the leaving of an email address. The decision to scrutinize and pick at it (for what aim, I don't know - if someone has 50k going spare in the current climate then they probably don't need someone to ask these sorts of questions on their behalf) has just drawn the poor guy into a sisyphean cycle of defamation and self defence. What are people commenting for anyway? It's clear that he was treating the forum as a bulletin board. He's not going into business with everyone on here. If you don't think much of it then you can ignore it, and if you're interested, get in contact like he asked. There's no need for the Dragons' Den nonsense.
Don't get me wrong, I love an e-lynching, me. I'd say I spend about half my waking life poised over my keyboard, waiting for a typo or a grammatical error I can pick up and beat someone with. But knowing the fella involved* and knowing that I'd just be getting in the way of a fair and genuine call for offers of interest (not a fully-fledged partnership contract, as some people are treating it) in an on-the-face-of-it, decent idea for a business, leaves me feeling a bit flaccid for this one.
As I say, I'm coming at it from the perspective of someone that knows and trusts Paul. Perhaps if I wasn't, then I'd have exactly the same reservations as you. But regardless of how you approach this, the truth is that those reservations aren't really worth sharing unless you plan to go into business with him.
Or perhaps this is just me not wanting to slow down the opening of a restaurant which offers a 'vegetarian' option beyond 'ensalada', 'papas fritas' or... erm... 'pollo'?
*Despite the errors, he's Scottish, by the way - although there's still some debate as to whether that would legitimately qualify him as an English speaker
lol (Sorry - couldn't help it - I think its the fact that the cidre and beer has run out and I'm now on the Mistela 
