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How to Run a Ponzi Scheme for Tech People

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Re: How to Run a Ponzi Scheme for Tech People

#31

Post by nish1500 »

friedman23 wrote: post #29
nish1500 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Exactly! Which is why my comment talks about 'Trading' not 'Investing'.

https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/12/difference-inves...

Re: How to Run a Ponzi Scheme for Tech People

#32

Post by renewiltord »

This is what people think is a ponzi scheme for tech people. In fact it's actually a Ponzi scheme for all the same suspects as last time. i.e. the same guy who gets into Amway or the pyramid marketing schemes falls into this.

Tech people don't fall into these Ponzi schemes. They fall into a different variety where a serial entrepreneur who has repeatedly received funding is assumed to be more capable than a guy new to the game.

Re: How to Run a Ponzi Scheme for Tech People

#33

Post by coldtea »

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…

>How does one break out when everyone's taking glamorous selfies in Thailand but I'm working in a dingy apartment trying to build the next big app?

Isn't the idea of building the "next big app" itself based on the same kind of get-rich-quick mindset those schemes are exploiting?

Only except for the "nomad lifestyle" or "selling courses", etc, it's supposed to happen by coding in a dingy apartment. But it's equally unlikely, and too starry-eyed, the tech nerd version of the kind of dream the stereotypical bus-arriving Midwestern teenagers had of "becoming famous in Los Angeles".

How about merely building a business? Think small indie developer or Basecamp at best, vs Facebook and Amazon.

Re: How to Run a Ponzi Scheme for Tech People

#34

Post by ryanar »

netsharc wrote: post #28
fxtentacle wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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..

I also fantasized about vanlife. Eamon & Bec is an awesome channel if you want to learn about that sort of thing. They certainly grew their channel enough to be comfortable.

Re: How to Run a Ponzi Scheme for Tech People

#35

Post by cbozeman »

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…

/r/wallstreetbets exists for a different reason, but it got exacerbated by everything you mentioned above.

WSB members have come to realize that so-called "financial professionals" by and large have no scrying crystal into the market. WSB got there because of the democratization of knowledge that the Internet has caused.

And before you cite some unicorn like Renaissance, that's generating 40% YOY for 20+ years, keep in mind that unicorns, while rare, do exist. Microsoft, Uber, Google, Apple, etc., so forth. How many "investment professionals" would have recommended you dump all your money into these companies when they were but fledging entities? Or even when they went through tough times?

No, I think WSB is doing a service to humanity. They're exposing the smoke and mirrors behind Wall Street.

Good on them.

Re: How to Run a Ponzi Scheme for Tech People

#36

Post by cbozeman »

coldtea wrote: post #33
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…

> How does one break out when everyone's taking glamorous selfies in Thailand but I'm working in a dingy apartment trying to build the next big app? Isn't the idea of building the "next big app" itself based on the same kind of get-rich-quick mindset those schemes are exploiting? Only except for the "nomad lifestyle" or "selling courses", etc, it's supposed to happen by coding in a dingy apartment. But it's equally u…

> How about merely building a business?

More people need to be told this.

The combination of work ethic, of risk tolerance, and of perseverance against ridiculous odds that is required to build a Tesla, or an Apple, or a Whatever, is extraordinarily rare

Re: How to Run a Ponzi Scheme for Tech People

#37

Post by jariel »

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…

"People have been endlessly screwed over"

Heyzeus you have it easier than any generation literally in the history of civilisation.

Those just a little bit older than you were fighting in Vietnam, getting beaten up because they were gay, told to live in ghettos and denied jobs by banks and government because they were Black, forbidden from drinking from 'White' fountains.

Nothing anyone has faced 'since 2008' is existentially difficult, even this pandemic, while serious, is not that bad.

All of these poseurs on Instagram are laughable and ridiculous to anyone born before the internet because we remember what 'life was like'.

'Not being able to live you dream life / dream job' is not a form of oppression or existential life difficulty.

'Dumb Schemes' come and go. Amway used to be huge.

Re: How to Run a Ponzi Scheme for Tech People

#38

Post by giantg2 »

alisonkisk wrote: post #16
dvt wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's a bad example I don't think it's a bad example, because if you spend some time on that subreddit, you'll quickly realize people are literally gambling with their life savings. In no small part due to disillusionment and cynicism with the current economic realities -- we can no longer work at a stable company, marry a pretty wife, have a couple of kids, retire 40 years later, and live off of a plump 401k.

Come on. WSB is people goofing with real or fake money for fun and lulz. It's not for desperate people trying to survive.

For most on there it is with a small amount of disposable income or house money. But there are some doing it with the money they need to survive or retire. Or just don't understand the naked position they just screwed themselves with.

Re: How to Run a Ponzi Scheme for Tech People

#39

Post by coliveira »

cbozeman wrote: post #36
coldtea wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How does one break out when everyone's taking glamorous selfies in Thailand but I'm working in a dingy apartment trying to build the next big app? Isn't the idea of building the "next big app" itself based on the same kind of get-rich-quick mindset those schemes are exploiting? Only except for the "nomad lifestyle" or "selling courses", etc, it's supposed to happen by coding in a dingy apartment. But it's equally u…

> How about merely building a business? More people need to be told this. The combination of work ethic, of risk tolerance, and of perseverance against ridiculous odds that is required to build a Tesla, or an Apple, or a Whatever, is extraordinarily rare

Tesla was built by a billionaire. There was little to no risk involved.
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