The straightforward though not necessarily reliable way to get a basic read on this is how they treat the waiter in a restaurant. Maybe conspire with said waiter to minorly screw up their meal service once or twice.
I'm afraid this doesn't say much. I've worked with two co founders, one of which is a psychopath and the other isn't.
The first one I've never seen treat waiters badly, and the other multiple times. But the first one turned out to be the psycho.
Watch out for people only living for themselves, not caring whatever they say as long as they get their way, trying to manipulate people intentionally.
Look out for the ones that have no skill other than extortion, putting pressure. That always put work on others so they can never take blame. People who never apologize, and never admit they're wrong.
Those are the ones you'll want to avoid.
Also always trust your gut.
A "well organized" psychopath won't treat the waiter like shit, because it doesn't get him anything, whereas being polite and seemingly forgiving around people (like you) whom he wants to think well of him does get him what he wants.
Meanwhile he'll be playing the long con with you - manipulation and mind games that can be incredibly subtle. I had the misfortune of working with one of those for a few months - we almost became co-founders. Recognizing and getting out of that situation before I got in any deeper was one of the smartest moves I've ever made.
Fantastic article. Have the restaurant screw with the person for you so you can test their reaction. Thinking of other places where this might apply—maybe putting an extra 5 on one side of the bench press?
