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It's not that bold a lie. He started at the bottom of a corporate ladder and climbed close enough to the top to be on first name terms with one of the CEOs. The
by notahacker 6y ago
It's not that bold a lie. He started at the bottom of a corporate ladder and climbed close enough to the top to be on first name terms with one of the CEOs. The details of how he actually got there and the moderately popular spicy products he actually championed are obviously less exciting than invented version where he's still a janitor when he meets the CEO and he conjures spicy flavours from scratch... but the blagging skills he uses to deliver that story are broadly the same ones that helped him navigate actual middle management meetings at a company he actually did work for. And of course he knows both that the actual details if his ladder-climbing are boring and that Frito-Lays themselves wouldn't mind the interesting... variation. As if you actually designed the charger for the second generation iPod, but...
Much like the Catch Me If You Can scammer who came up a few weeks ago, who turns out to have just been a forger of small checks who clung to people in a really creepy way, but parlayed the same basic lying techniques into being a Hollywood antihero whose criminal genius had the FBI hanging off his every word when they eventually caught up with him
- tootie 6y agoIf by "bagging skills" you mean relentless bald-faced lying and willingness to take credit for other people's work then that's true. It's easy to imagine that someone so willing to capitalize on a forged biography is likely morally bankrupt to his core and a grade A narcissist.
- ALittleLight 6y agoIt's certainly an impressive story to start work in an entry level position and end your career as an executive. That's something to be proud of. However, I'd bet that a substantial portion of executives have similar stories. Starting at an entry level is pretty common. As for the rest, it does all seem to be complete lies. He didn't invent the flavor, he didn't come up with the idea based on his Hispanic heritage, he didn't pitch the CEO as a janitor. If someone is trying to sell you their strategy for amazing success it matters whether they are actually an amazing success or not. It also matters whether they succeeded by using their own strategy or not. His "take ownership" philosophy might be what drove his success at Fritos, but I'd bet it was more of the typical hard work, creativity, luck, and lying.
- freetime2 6y ago> It's certainly an impressive story to start work in an entry level position and end your career as an executive. That's something to be proud of. His history of lying and taking credit for other peoples' work certainly does cast doubt on the merits of his rise up the corporate ladder. Anyone who has spent time in the corporate world has met people in high-ranking positions who they felt didn't really deserve to be there. I know nothing about this guy's time at Frito-Lay, so of course I can't really say anything about whether his success there was merited. But I'm definitely not willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, either.
- elzbardico 6y agoIt was pretty common till the 80’s. Then it became all elite school bro’s club
- jjeaff 6y agoStarting entry level and climbing to the top is certainly common. But "the bottom" is usually quite a few steps above janitor. It's usually starting out as a page or intern or a secretary. I have heard very few "janitor to executive stories".