9 ms·

Snowden Dunks on 'The Get-Rich-Quick Real Estate Investing Conference

89 points by elsewhen 5y ago

BelenusMordred 5y ago
This is all quite bizarre and amusing. The stream is a comedic mess. Hope he got paid alright to mock people who clearly deserved it.
- bellyfullofbac 5y ago
  Yeah one hopes he got paid upfront. It's weird how it seems he's making a living by being an invited speaker, with some agent who didn't investigate if the client booking him is reputable or not. Or maybe the agent and Snowden did, and had the stunt all planned. Considering Snowden likes to be well prepared (AFAIK), my assumption is the latter.
  - shoo 5y ago
    Quality plerk ethic
  - fullshark 5y ago
    To me it seems like his agent messed up, and Snowden decided to rip this guy to shreds to maintain his credibility instead of back out of the engagement. Why would Snowden and his agent waste their time embarrassing get rich quick seminar hucksters?
    - bellyfullofbac 5y ago
      I ended up looking up info about his agent, and found: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/17/edward-snowden-speaking-fees-nsa-396947 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/17/edward-snowden-spea... > Snowden’s booking agent, American Program Bureau, of Newton, Mass., reported arranging 67 virtual speeches and panel-discussion appearances for him between September 2015 and May 2020. > Snowden’s biggest speaking payday disclosed is the very first on the list: $50,000 for a speech to Hong Kong-based brokerage firm CLSA in 2015. Other pricey appearances include a turn at Piston ad agency in Kuwait for $35,000, a $32,000 gig for a Portugese tourism bureau and $30,000 each for a “Get Motivated” lineup of motivational speakers and an appearance at the Park City Performing Arts Foundation.
- nirui 5y ago
  > "To Success, we must BELIEVE" Yeah, we must believe NO BULLSHIT. Man! the Snowden man is really sharp! I hope I can one day mock somebody as intelligently as him did LOL.
me_me_me 5y ago
TL;DR stip to last few minutes. The audacity of a conman to use Snowden's persona is beyond me. He really though he could get away with that. Well played to Snowden, take his money and burn the con-conference.
- soarfourmore 5y ago
  It was actually worth the full read to me
staticelf 5y ago
Snowden is a modern day hero, there's really nothing else to say.
ArkanExplorer 5y ago
Why is it that Asian migrants to Western countries are so attracted to hosting, and participating in, ponzi schemes? In my, and my parents, extended circle of friends and acquaintances, all of the ponzi scheme invites received have been from Asian migrants. Are these sort of schemes more popular and accepted in Asian societies?
- zaphar 5y ago
  They aren't. No idea where you got this idea from.
- jhugo 5y ago
  There are several countries in Asia that have recently experienced, or are currently experiencing, rapid growth. Due to that growth, some people are "getting rich quickly" legitimately. Observing this leads other people to believe that they, too, could "get rich quickly", without necessarily understanding the specific set of circumstances that led to the riches of the others. And of course there are fraudsters waiting to exploit that belief. Some portion of both the fraudsters and the marks immigrate or share their views with their networks overseas, and you have the situation you observed.
- everyone 5y ago
  "In my, and my parents, extended circle of friends and acquaintances," Thats not much data to base such a generalization on. Also, do you read all of your parents and friends emails, and check their spam folders!?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
“Dunks on”
defterGoose 5y ago
I definitely thought "plerking" was going to be revealed as a linear combination of planking and twerking, and since this venture is clearly idiotic to the most casual observer, I would say its a better fit.
- airhead969 5y ago
  They must offer classes in it... for a small retainer, course fee, material fee, and cleaning fee. Don't ask.
alexslobodnik 5y ago
I wonder if Snowden booked this directly or via an agent.
- ssutch3 5y ago
  The article specifically mentions his agent booked it for him in a statement from Snowden.
- sneak 5y ago
  The article mentioned that it was booked via his speaking engagement agency.
djhworld 5y ago
Mike Winnet on YouTube has a whole channel devoted to these schemes/conferences run by "contrepeneurs" who all seem to follow the same playbook to rake in cash from pliable people. https://youtu.be/vC5cmW8O3L8 https://youtu.be/vC5cmW8O3L8
- gher-shyu3i 5y ago
  If there are so many of them, how come they don't get sued and/or arrested?
  - rchaud 5y ago
    No crime is being committed. People are pressured to "invest", but no one's putting a gun to their head. Just regaling them with tales of incredible riches made through the magic of real estate.
    - gher-shyu3i 5y ago
      Lying (false advertisement) is a crime.
      - ksaj 5y ago
        One of Derren Brown's mentalism specials made use of bringing more than enough people into your scam that there will be an impressively large number of successes. Of course the biggest success stories are the only ones you will hear about, even though they are less than 1% of the people that fall for the scam at hand. You only need a small handful of success stories to make something unlikely sound like a no-brainer.
- ralphael 5y ago
  Coffeezilla does a great job at exposing these scams too: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFQMnBA3CS502aghlcr0_aw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFQMnBA3CS502aghlcr0_aw
- jmconfuzeus 5y ago
kjrose 5y ago
I've always been amazed by investment and sales conferences. More times than not they are literally little more than a long string of confidence building techniques or almost religious slogan repeating. Rarely have I seen a new idea and only a few rare times did I see math or actual respectable research that made me go. Hmmm. This is an interesting idea worth looking into. My guess is because math and such is boring.
- rchaud 5y ago
  They want your money and they want a lot of it. They have to make you feel like a million bucks first. I remember pre-Covid, the Toronto subways were plastered with ads for a real estate conference featuring Tony Robbins(!) and Pitbull(!!) alongside some Shark Tank guy. The sleaze was practically dripping from the posters.
  - ksaj 5y ago
    You might have deja vu with my comment about HGTV's house flipping scam. That was in Toronto as well.
airhead969 5y ago
Was this hosted by PragerU or Trump University? Attaboy, Snowden. Public service FTW.
ksaj 5y ago
My partner and I went to an HGTV seminar that turned out to be a Get Rich Quick scheme. We left as soon as the pitch started and it became obvious nothing about the event had anything to do with what we were led to believe it would be about. Basically they were flipping homes. They show you a catalog of houses they are bidding on, and you can join them in on ones that suit your fancy. Then they pool the money, and you would supposedly make whatever percentage they were able to profit on their flip. They would even loan you the money - but of course everybody (except maybe that particular audience) knows where that leads. If you ever wondered how those house flipping shows work behind the scenes, I guess this is how. It was pretty clear that they flip these houses back and forth, increasing the price every time. The profit is entirely artificial, and eventually there's no way a sale would go through at the asking prices, and you end up losing. Basically it was a not-very-well obfuscated Ponzi scheme. We didn't even stick around for the free mp3 player.

89 points by elsewhen 5y ago

This is all quite bizarre and amusing. The stream is a comedic mess. Hope he got paid alright to mock people who clearly deserved it.

bellyfullofbac 5y ago
Yeah one hopes he got paid upfront. It's weird how it seems he's making a living by being an invited speaker, with some agent who didn't investigate if the client booking him is reputable or not. Or maybe the agent and Snowden did, and had the stunt all planned. Considering Snowden likes to be well prepared (AFAIK), my assumption is the latter.
- shoo 5y ago
  Quality plerk ethic
- fullshark 5y ago
  To me it seems like his agent messed up, and Snowden decided to rip this guy to shreds to maintain his credibility instead of back out of the engagement. Why would Snowden and his agent waste their time embarrassing get rich quick seminar hucksters?
  - bellyfullofbac 5y ago
    I ended up looking up info about his agent, and found: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/17/edward-snowden-speaking-fees-nsa-396947 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/17/edward-snowden-spea... > Snowden’s booking agent, American Program Bureau, of Newton, Mass., reported arranging 67 virtual speeches and panel-discussion appearances for him between September 2015 and May 2020. > Snowden’s biggest speaking payday disclosed is the very first on the list: $50,000 for a speech to Hong Kong-based brokerage firm CLSA in 2015. Other pricey appearances include a turn at Piston ad agency in Kuwait for $35,000, a $32,000 gig for a Portugese tourism bureau and $30,000 each for a “Get Motivated” lineup of motivational speakers and an appearance at the Park City Performing Arts Foundation.
nirui 5y ago
> "To Success, we must BELIEVE" Yeah, we must believe NO BULLSHIT. Man! the Snowden man is really sharp! I hope I can one day mock somebody as intelligently as him did LOL.

me_me_me 5y ago

TL;DR stip to last few minutes. The audacity of a conman to use Snowden's persona is beyond me. He really though he could get away with that. Well played to Snowden, take his money and burn the con-conference.

soarfourmore 5y ago
It was actually worth the full read to me

staticelf 5y ago

Snowden is a modern day hero, there's really nothing else to say.

ArkanExplorer 5y ago

Why is it that Asian migrants to Western countries are so attracted to hosting, and participating in, ponzi schemes? In my, and my parents, extended circle of friends and acquaintances, all of the ponzi scheme invites received have been from Asian migrants. Are these sort of schemes more popular and accepted in Asian societies?

zaphar 5y ago
They aren't. No idea where you got this idea from.
jhugo 5y ago
There are several countries in Asia that have recently experienced, or are currently experiencing, rapid growth. Due to that growth, some people are "getting rich quickly" legitimately. Observing this leads other people to believe that they, too, could "get rich quickly", without necessarily understanding the specific set of circumstances that led to the riches of the others. And of course there are fraudsters waiting to exploit that belief. Some portion of both the fraudsters and the marks immigrate or share their views with their networks overseas, and you have the situation you observed.
everyone 5y ago
"In my, and my parents, extended circle of friends and acquaintances," Thats not much data to base such a generalization on. Also, do you read all of your parents and friends emails, and check their spam folders!?
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

halfmatthalfcat 5y ago

“Dunks on”

defterGoose 5y ago

I definitely thought "plerking" was going to be revealed as a linear combination of planking and twerking, and since this venture is clearly idiotic to the most casual observer, I would say its a better fit.

airhead969 5y ago
They must offer classes in it... for a small retainer, course fee, material fee, and cleaning fee. Don't ask.

alexslobodnik 5y ago

I wonder if Snowden booked this directly or via an agent.

ssutch3 5y ago
The article specifically mentions his agent booked it for him in a statement from Snowden.
sneak 5y ago
The article mentioned that it was booked via his speaking engagement agency.

djhworld 5y ago

Mike Winnet on YouTube has a whole channel devoted to these schemes/conferences run by "contrepeneurs" who all seem to follow the same playbook to rake in cash from pliable people. https://youtu.be/vC5cmW8O3L8 https://youtu.be/vC5cmW8O3L8

gher-shyu3i 5y ago
If there are so many of them, how come they don't get sued and/or arrested?
- rchaud 5y ago
  No crime is being committed. People are pressured to "invest", but no one's putting a gun to their head. Just regaling them with tales of incredible riches made through the magic of real estate.
  - gher-shyu3i 5y ago
    Lying (false advertisement) is a crime.
    - ksaj 5y ago
      One of Derren Brown's mentalism specials made use of bringing more than enough people into your scam that there will be an impressively large number of successes. Of course the biggest success stories are the only ones you will hear about, even though they are less than 1% of the people that fall for the scam at hand. You only need a small handful of success stories to make something unlikely sound like a no-brainer.
ralphael 5y ago
Coffeezilla does a great job at exposing these scams too: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFQMnBA3CS502aghlcr0_aw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFQMnBA3CS502aghlcr0_aw
jmconfuzeus 5y ago

kjrose 5y ago

I've always been amazed by investment and sales conferences. More times than not they are literally little more than a long string of confidence building techniques or almost religious slogan repeating. Rarely have I seen a new idea and only a few rare times did I see math or actual respectable research that made me go. Hmmm. This is an interesting idea worth looking into. My guess is because math and such is boring.

rchaud 5y ago
They want your money and they want a lot of it. They have to make you feel like a million bucks first. I remember pre-Covid, the Toronto subways were plastered with ads for a real estate conference featuring Tony Robbins(!) and Pitbull(!!) alongside some Shark Tank guy. The sleaze was practically dripping from the posters.
- ksaj 5y ago
  You might have deja vu with my comment about HGTV's house flipping scam. That was in Toronto as well.

airhead969 5y ago

Was this hosted by PragerU or Trump University? Attaboy, Snowden. Public service FTW.

ksaj 5y ago

My partner and I went to an HGTV seminar that turned out to be a Get Rich Quick scheme. We left as soon as the pitch started and it became obvious nothing about the event had anything to do with what we were led to believe it would be about. Basically they were flipping homes. They show you a catalog of houses they are bidding on, and you can join them in on ones that suit your fancy. Then they pool the money, and you would supposedly make whatever percentage they were able to profit on their flip. They would even loan you the money - but of course everybody (except maybe that particular audience) knows where that leads. If you ever wondered how those house flipping shows work behind the scenes, I guess this is how. It was pretty clear that they flip these houses back and forth, increasing the price every time. The profit is entirely artificial, and eventually there's no way a sale would go through at the asking prices, and you end up losing. Basically it was a not-very-well obfuscated Ponzi scheme. We didn't even stick around for the free mp3 player.