Why was this flagged?
Citron thinks Shopify is like Herbalife
21–29 of 29 posts
Re: Citron thinks Shopify is like Herbalife
#22So is this like a conspiracy theory / clickbait blog but for investors? The content (and even web design) is laughable.
Despite that he has an audience. He’s also shorted Nvidia, claiming it to be a “casino stock” and the price followed accordingly.
Crazy how prices can be manipulated by these people so easily.
Re: Citron thinks Shopify is like Herbalife
#23@dang
What's up with this flagging? A contrarian opinion on a tech darling shouldn't be a basis for removal from the front page.
Re: Citron thinks Shopify is like Herbalife
#24Why was this flagged?
Indeed. Was hoping for more discussion on this topic.
You have a vigilante shorter that roams around markets “identifying fraud and terminal business models” and using strawman arguments with little research to improve his position.
This is probably just as sketchy as his claims about Shopify’s marketing and referral tactics are.
Re: Citron thinks Shopify is like Herbalife
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's one overlap where there might be a bit of tooth is in the possible revenue claims which seems like a big portion of what Herbalife actually got hit for it seems, though I'm not really familiar with the exact details of the FTC's findings in the Herbalife case. Other than that though there's very little relation between the two Shopify really doesn't sound like a pyramid scheme even from this page.
If you're in the mood for a documentary 'Betting on Zero' is pretty good. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3762912/
Saw it. Just don't remember so much and didn't read in depth at the time so no idea what may have been glossed over or slanted in that documentary.
Re: Citron thinks Shopify is like Herbalife
#26@dang What's up with this flagging? A contrarian opinion on a tech darling shouldn't be a basis for removal from the front page.
Apparently enough HN users flagged the story.
Re: Citron thinks Shopify is like Herbalife
#27This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the problem with Herbalife. The problem with Herbalife is that it is a pyramid scheme. You don’t make your money by selling products, you make it by recruiting people to sell for you, who recruit people to sell for them, and so on.
Shopify does not appear to be a pyramid scheme. I see nothing to suggest that you recruit other sellers recursively in order to generate revenue.
Herbalife is primarily noteworthy because they are a pyramid scheme. If you say that something is like Herbalife, then you’re strongly implying that other thing is also a pyramid scheme. If I say my cousin is like Vincent Van Gogh, you’d assume I mean that he’s a brilliant painter. If I was actually trying to convey that my cousin only has one ear, you’d understandly find my statement misleading, and probably poorly conceived.
Re: Citron thinks Shopify is like Herbalife
#28@dang What's up with this flagging? A contrarian opinion on a tech darling shouldn't be a basis for removal from the front page.
Apparently enough HN users flagged the story.
Sure and we've seen over-rides before due to misuse of flagging. In this case it seems to me that flagging has been used as a mega-downvote because people don't want a negative story on Shopify, that misuse is bad for the community and silences people who act within the norms and are upvoting articles they want to see. If stories like the below are fine here, I think this story should be fine here.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9583196
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8032614
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13200455
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14209161
Re: Citron thinks Shopify is like Herbalife
#29This is beyond grasping at straws. Shopify performs a service, Herbalife does not. Shopify recruits people, Herbalife sells inventory. I don't see Shopify asking for upfront payments from their affiliates. Not to mention the fact that a successful Shopify store relies on skill at SEO, social media and picking the right products. Herbalife relies on being early enough in the "reverse funnel" and having a lot of people…
There's one overlap where there might be a bit of tooth is in the possible revenue claims which seems like a big portion of what Herbalife actually got hit for it seems, though I'm not really familiar with the exact details of the FTC's findings in the Herbalife case. Other than that though there's very little relation between the two Shopify really doesn't sound like a pyramid scheme even from this page.
But nothing I saw seemed to claim you could become a millionaire by participating in the affiliate program.
And in reality, if you have a good product and decent marketing skills you could use Shopify to build an online store and easily become a millionaire. It's not a stretch, IF you have a good product and decent marketing skills.