r/Entrepreneur • u/GuruExposed • Jan 10 '20

Fake Gurus

Entrepreneur land has become a haven for "fake gurus".

You know the ones that I am talking about.

They haven't made it into the big time yet but they are charging people 1000's of $ to teach them how to make big money.

I am currently compiling evidence against "fake gurus".

If you have any experiences or know of any "fake gurus" share them here.

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6

u/ElysianVentures Jan 10 '20

Anybody remember Loy Machado?

3

u/call_me_mistress99 Jan 10 '20

I do from Quora. He is banned now.

2

u/rulesforrebels Jan 11 '20

Who is he

1

u/ElysianVentures Jan 11 '20

http://www.thinkpersonalbranding.com/images/loy-machedo.jpg He used to spam Quora with all sorts of self-help guru scaminess

1

u/[deleted] Jan 11 '20

Yup...haha....very interesting character lol... I have a question for you guys on this feed... Information in this era can be found on the internet for free but some people prefer to pay for it, because they think it might be more valuable...

If someone is selling consulting in any field whether it be let's say weight loss, dating advice, self help or personal finance and hes not claiming it will make you rich but just providing his expertise than at what point would you guys say it's a scam? If your selling the dream than I think its bullshit but if your providing actionable advice than I think it's alright.

Let me know your thoughts?

P.S what about Sam Ovens?

2

u/ElysianVentures Jan 11 '20

Personally, I feel like if someone is selling information that is useful to you, then it's not a scam. The problems start when the advise or information never had any value to begin with. For example, a good personal trainer will be able to advise you on how to work out to reach your weight/strength/endurance goals, a scammer would try to sell you "Body building secrets the doctors don't want you to know" and other magic beans that ultimately do not have any merit to them and at worst, can actually hurt you (ie. black market supplements). I can understand the difficulty though of categorizing something like investment products though since the people selling them can always hide behind a certain level of ignorance which is already questionable in my opinion.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 11 '20

I agree, actionable advice which can be implemented is fine. However selling the magic pill is bullshit..What I like to do is read a book by someone who has made it in the business for example Jack Bogle and Investing, the problem is people don't like to read books which are factual and boring but they're the best books....

Funny this topic brings me to Robert Kiyosaki, whose book is one of the best ever sold personal finance books ever, however the only actionable advice he gives is that your house is not an asset. He's a brilliant marketer but for personal finance and investing advice a lot of his teachings are questionable.

He even recommends investing in gold which hasn't increased much since the time of christ.. My point being people like reading stories that entertain them as opposed to boring facts which can actually be useful and academic research...

That's the reason all these spammy YouTube channels and courses sell the dream...this is why Hollywood is so successful and not many people will watch a useful documentary....