wait a moment. So you are saying that if you received the offer today (posit this) and suppose you followed my suggestion and ended up as part of your due dill

wait a moment. So you are saying that if you received the offer today (posit this) and suppose you followed my suggestion and ended up as part of your due dilligence talking to the other two people: if you talked to them as an outsider, would you come to the misleading conclusion that it's a great place, but the reality is that it's a bad place to work now? I want to be clear that this is what you're saying. It is an interesting claim, to be sure. It is contrary to all of my experience. In particular, I feel you would be able to filter their recommendation through your impression of who they are, so that I do not feel you would come to the wrong conclusion as an outsider. Very interested in your answer to this.