I don't think these startups deserve sympathy. There's actually a handful of these scams going on. I've seen heavy advertising of these type of startups promisi

I don't think these startups deserve sympathy. There's actually a handful of these scams going on. I've seen heavy advertising of these type of startups promising digital-nomad-work-from-anywhere lifestyle on Instagram and elsewhere. At first I thought that for a fixed sum they were going to supply you X clients every month that would help you live those flashy digital nomad lifestyles they show - laptop on a cruise ship and what not. But that wasn't the case. When I enquired one of them, they told me I need to deposit close to $10,000 first and they'll simply just arrange my travel plan for the next 3 months or so. Basically a travel agent business model and not even a good one at that. You know what I did? I searched online for some decent local agents and asked them to give me the best price for a travel plan for 3 months, and spent much less than that $10,000. A few weeks later, at a cloud conference, I bumped into one of their marketing people. I shared with her my feedback and why I thought it was deceiving. Her response? "Growth hacking" and I didn't even bother to exchange name cards. A few weeks later, they were in the local media for alleged lawsuits against them. And I was really happy. I really, really hate these dishonest startups and I think they deserve no sympathy. They aren't victims, their customers are. Edit: typo