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Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

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Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#211

Post by kjkjadksj »

game_the0ry wrote: post #18

I struggle to understand the psychology of how founders who are clearly incompetent charlatans get second+ chances -- they couldn't do fraud successfully but investors have a faith they could do business successfully. But they still get funding (like adam neumann of wework fame) and full on "narrative tongue baths" by the business media community (like this wsj article on trevor milton). Why? I struggle to understand…

Like it or not these people know how to contact people who hand out money. That is really the skill in the VC world, not competence in some domain. It is a fundraising job. It takes charisma. Just got to keep the music going until you cash out. How many founders are actually trying to make a company last 100+ years, vs securing retirable wealth early in life?

Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#212

Post by kjkjadksj »

nradov wrote: post #56
exogeny wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a great Money Stuff blurb about that w/r/t Adam Neumann. I can't find it to quote it directly, but the gist was that if you disabuse yourself of the notion that Neumann was playing a game of entrepreneurship and good-faith empire building, and instead conclude that the game he was playing was shameless capital extraction, every step and action he took suddenly makes sense. The truly amazing thing, especiall…

Some of those sophisticated investors are also engaged in shameless capital extraction. Their investment thesis is based on the "Greater Fool Theory": they're gambling that they can dump the inflated assets on another bag holder before it blows up.

To be fair that theory works handsomely.

Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#213

Post by bloomingeek »

cheema33 wrote: post #107
bloomingeek wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My rule has always been, forgive people, but never forget what they did. After they've made restitution, help them back to their feet, but don't let them ever get to the place where they can fail the same way. And whatever you do, don't let them get into a leadership position. They've already proved they can't help themselves when the pressure in on.

> forgive people, but never forget what they did. How many times are you willing to forgive? Trevor has seen prison only once. But frauds? Many.

Personally, I almost always forgive, however, I never allow that person to take advantage of me again. Trust has to be the gold standard. To err in human, thus forgive. To be taken advantage again by the same person is foolish.

Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#214

Post by foobiekr »

game_the0ry wrote: post #18

I struggle to understand the psychology of how founders who are clearly incompetent charlatans get second+ chances -- they couldn't do fraud successfully but investors have a faith they could do business successfully. But they still get funding (like adam neumann of wework fame) and full on "narrative tongue baths" by the business media community (like this wsj article on trevor milton). Why? I struggle to understand…

The type of person who funders fall for is a personality type. That they have failed in the past doesn't matter, they fall in love anyway. This time is different.

Venture guys aren't as smart or analytical as their propaganda would lead one to believe. A lot of them are just people who got lucky once.

Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#215

Post by cucumber3732842 »

jjk166 wrote: post #139
game_the0ry wrote: post #18

I struggle to understand the psychology of how founders who are clearly incompetent charlatans get second+ chances -- they couldn't do fraud successfully but investors have a faith they could do business successfully. But they still get funding (like adam neumann of wework fame) and full on "narrative tongue baths" by the business media community (like this wsj article on trevor milton). Why? I struggle to understand…

"Hey this guy fooled a lot of people last time and the people who got in and out early made a killing. This time I'm going to get in early." "He's got the hustle to do what it takes to succeed and is unencumbered by a moral compass. Gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet." "Pssh that's nothing compared to the fraud I committed to get here. Fake it till you make it baby!" "It takes balls to defraud powerful people a…

>"Pssh that's nothing compared to the fraud I committed to get here. Fake it till you make it baby!"

See also:

"the powers that be could nail anyone they scrutinized for what they got him for, the conviction means nothing".

Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#216

Post by michaelteter »

kjkjadksj wrote: post #210
SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheap at the price!

Wonder what the price will end up being for Maxwells inevitable pardon

She’s more likely to develop an unfortunate health problem before being released.

She will forever be a walking timebomb for a lot of powerful people. That’s too much risk for some of them.

Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#218

Post by tetris11 »

jjk166 wrote: post #139
game_the0ry wrote: post #18

I struggle to understand the psychology of how founders who are clearly incompetent charlatans get second+ chances -- they couldn't do fraud successfully but investors have a faith they could do business successfully. But they still get funding (like adam neumann of wework fame) and full on "narrative tongue baths" by the business media community (like this wsj article on trevor milton). Why? I struggle to understand…

"Hey this guy fooled a lot of people last time and the people who got in and out early made a killing. This time I'm going to get in early." "He's got the hustle to do what it takes to succeed and is unencumbered by a moral compass. Gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet." "Pssh that's nothing compared to the fraud I committed to get here. Fake it till you make it baby!" "It takes balls to defraud powerful people a…

It's definitely the first one. People at the upper echelons of the pyramid know how exactly unstable it is, but hope to grift off of the latecomers

Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#219

Post by netbioserror »

etempleton wrote: post #12

In my experience, people who are compulsive liars or those who are willing to make large or repeated deceptions for personal gain never change. It is as natural to them as breathing. Some of them I am quite convinced believe their lies, but the net result is the same. I don't know Trevor Milton. I have never met him. Maybe he isn't a compulsive liar but just got in over his head and was trying to make it work. But I…

The greatest failing of modernity is its refusal to accept an uncomfortable reality uncovered by biology and psychology: That certain strongly negative personality traits are built-in pathologies which nature tries out to explore what is possible. The neural pattern that is "Trevor Milton" is not him without those intensely compulsive lying behaviors.

The social taboos of cultures around the world are fighting a ceaseless battle to reign in these endemic outliers.

Re: Trevor Milton is raising funds for a new jet he claims will transform flying

#220

Post by onetokeoverthe »

poisonarena wrote: post #177
nerevarthelame wrote: post #36

On top of the fraud convictions, Trevor Milton was credibly accused of sexual assault by his own cousin and a girl he employed. Both victims were minors at the time. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/29/two-women-file-sexual-abuse-...

devils advocate here... but isnt it weird how these women filed a complaint together 20 years later, after he became a billionaire? I just read the article and by his cousins own testimony, they were BOTH minors, and he heinously sexually assaulted her by groping her breasts after she consented to... take off her own shirt down to a bra, during a "massage"... but the shirts off massage turned into a sexual assault wh…

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