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

wsj.com

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

#91

Post by triceratops »

kjksf wrote: post #37
hliyan wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this also in line with recent proclamations by at least two venture capitalists that they do not reflect / introspect / dwell on consequences in any way?

No because you don't understand what Andreessen means by reflection / introspection. He obviously thinks you should learn from your mistakes and that you must be an avid and quick learner. But learning skills is not what introspection / dwelling is. It's spending times on thoughts like "what should I be doing with my life". "I can't believe how much of a victim of the system I am". And he specifically contrasted it a…

> It's spending times on thoughts like "what should I be doing with my life".

How else do you decide what to do?

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

#93

Post by cindyllm »

jongjong wrote: post #62
busyant wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect the person you replied to was being subtly sarcastic. edit: but honestly, I'm not sure.

It's hard for me to tell because I've seen this multiple times in my career (in tech). People wasting investors' money getting funding over and over while those actually building stuff get suppressed. I swear there are some people who control a lot of money who are just having fun ruining people's lives for laughs. There are people who spend years working for some company, betting their career on it but it turns out…

[dead]

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

#95

Post by worksonmine »

muwtyhg wrote: post #74
worksonmine wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

You seem to be making an assumption on what comment the OP is referring to. Could you provide us the quote you think has "gone through many rounds of telephone"?

[flagged]

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

#96

Post by khat »

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…

To understand why you must understand the tax code. You can write off any investment losses. You can also recover losses if its from fraud. Though usually not fully. But you give 1 million for investment, boom its a fraud, and you get $800,000 back as opposed to keeping a million and paying $400,000 on it in taxes. It's a win-win situation. There is no penalty in betting on fraudsters. Whether this guy's schemes are deliberately for that is debatable. But on the flip side, putting downsides to investing on possible fraudsters considerably hinders any new genuine start up ideas from gaining investors.

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

#98

Post by rsp1984 »

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…

It's distribution. Guy's got a brand name now. People and investors recognize his name. It's a lot easier to find an absolute quantity N of investor money for a fraudulent but well-known name than it is for an unknown upstart.

The fraud might have a low close rate but the top of the funnel is huge. The unknown upstart can't even get meetings.

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

#99

Post by cheema33 »

ryandrake wrote: post #57
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-...

> It was wiped away with a phone call. In March 2025, Trump called Milton to tell him he had signed an unconditional pardon. Milton had styled himself as a political victim of the Biden administration, and Trump agreed. Birds of a feather flock together.

> Milton had styled himself as a political victim of the Biden administration, and Trump agreed.

That and a $1 million donation. He bought his pardon fair and square.

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

#100

Post by actionfromafar »

rsp1984 wrote: post #98
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…

It's distribution. Guy's got a brand name now. People and investors recognize his name. It's a lot easier to find an absolute quantity N of investor money for a fraudulent but well-known name than it is for an unknown upstart. The fraud might have a low close rate but the top of the funnel is huge . The unknown upstart can't even get meetings.

He might credibly have access to federal bailout, too. That's worth something.
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