We need to define conflict of interest. Question: is an investor who gives money to one organization, but is not involved in the decision-making, conflicted if

We need to define conflict of interest. Question: is an investor who gives money to one organization, but is not involved in the decision-making, conflicted if they give money to another organization? Are they self-conflicted (undermining their own likelihood of success)? Are they contractually or legally conflicted? Have they breached the trust of people they invested in? Are they ethically conflicted? Answers to these questions are non-obvious. Attempts to simplify the set of relevant questions means imposing a worldview. On the ethical question, a consequentialist would say it depends on the outcomes. Like many consequentialist analyses, this is complicated. Consider this: Investing in a similar company might validate the market and make it more likely for the company and/or its people to reach viability.