Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How to Run a Ponzi Scheme for Tech People

callmenish.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 265 posts

Re: How to Run a Ponzi Scheme for Tech People

#21

Post by LatteLazy »

an_opabinia wrote: post #9
dvt wrote: post #6

This article is fantastic. I think "get rich quick" schemes are so much worse when it comes to my generation and beyond (millennials/gen-z). People have been endlessly screwed over: graduated college during the 2008 economic bust, lived with parents until their 30s, fired/laid off during the 2020 pandemic -- so I fundamentally understand the mirage of Instagram fame and endless sacks of money for doing basically noth…

> For a classic example, just look at /r/wallstreetbets -- young people are frustrated because there's no end to this tunnel That's a bad example. By many measures retail investors have outperformed institutional investors since March. The simple reason is that options have a built in exit strategy, the thing that's missing when most people lose in scams - including Ponzi schemes! On the flip side, why then do they o…

Not trying to sound aggy but... Do you have a source for retail investors out performing institutions since march? I'd like to know more about this and I haven't heard anything but I've been pretty disconnected from news so excuse my ignorance please!

Re: How to Run a Ponzi Scheme for Tech People

#23

Post by nish1500 »

an_opabinia wrote: post #9
dvt wrote: post #6

This article is fantastic. I think "get rich quick" schemes are so much worse when it comes to my generation and beyond (millennials/gen-z). People have been endlessly screwed over: graduated college during the 2008 economic bust, lived with parents until their 30s, fired/laid off during the 2020 pandemic -- so I fundamentally understand the mirage of Instagram fame and endless sacks of money for doing basically noth…

> For a classic example, just look at /r/wallstreetbets -- young people are frustrated because there's no end to this tunnel That's a bad example. By many measures retail investors have outperformed institutional investors since March. The simple reason is that options have a built in exit strategy, the thing that's missing when most people lose in scams - including Ponzi schemes! On the flip side, why then do they o…

Trading on the stock market (by and large) doesn't create value. If someone makes a killing, it's because someone lost it. You hear about those who make money - because it's the story you 'want' to hear.

People don't understand how money comes from value created, in the long run. People think they can game the system. Everyone feels they are not a part of the average.

Re: How to Run a Ponzi Scheme for Tech People

#25

Post by ggm »

The denouement is You didn’t read anything, did you? No, you will actually get 500 new followers, and actually make $5,000. The ones who won’t are the suckers who buy your course.

Sucker being the operative word.

(also, its satire, the real denouement is his last guidance: "make things of value, don't seek money, seek problems of high value to solve")

Re: How to Run a Ponzi Scheme for Tech People

#28

Post by netsharc »

fxtentacle wrote: post #10
marcus_holmes wrote: post #5

Seen so much of this bullshit while travelling around SE Asia. I swear 90% of nomads are dropshipping/life coaches running ponzi schemes, and the other 10% are geeks like me who lucked into remote-friendly coding gigs. Sprinkled with some truly fascinating folks who genuinely discovered some new and interesting way of making this work for them.

I'd say 95% of digital nomads are just online marketers who market their own lifestyle so that they can sell a course on how to imitate them. And obviously, their customers will imitate them and sell a course on how to imitate them. And so the cycle continues.

I've fantasised about the vanlife, living the nomad lifestyle out of a van. When looking for build inspiration videos on YouTube, I ended up seeing a lot of vanlife "influencers", but what I notice is many videos just have a few thousand views, which is surely not enough to make a living..

Re: How to Run a Ponzi Scheme for Tech People

#29

Post by friedman23 »

nish1500 wrote: post #23
an_opabinia wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For a classic example, just look at /r/wallstreetbets -- young people are frustrated because there's no end to this tunnel That's a bad example. By many measures retail investors have outperformed institutional investors since March. The simple reason is that options have a built in exit strategy, the thing that's missing when most people lose in scams - including Ponzi schemes! On the flip side, why then do they o…

Trading on the stock market (by and large) doesn't create value. If someone makes a killing, it's because someone lost it. You hear about those who make money - because it's the story you 'want' to hear. People don't understand how money comes from value created, in the long run. People think they can game the system. Everyone feels they are not a part of the average.

>If someone makes a killing, it's because someone lost it

Not true, companies can create value, that value is reflected in the stock price. The economy is not zero sum. Did all the people that got rich off of apple, google, microsoft, nvidia, etc get rich because someone else lost money?

Re: How to Run a Ponzi Scheme for Tech People

#30

Post by the_gipsy »

dvt wrote: post #6

This article is fantastic. I think "get rich quick" schemes are so much worse when it comes to my generation and beyond (millennials/gen-z). People have been endlessly screwed over: graduated college during the 2008 economic bust, lived with parents until their 30s, fired/laid off during the 2020 pandemic -- so I fundamentally understand the mirage of Instagram fame and endless sacks of money for doing basically noth…

Life is a pyramid scheme.
Post reply on HN