“If every person here really does represent a $3,000 ticket (I have my doubts about that one), that means that, after the B-movie lighting and special effects, the speaker's fees and other expenses, Yanik is still making some money — that's before the livestream and cash bar sales from the closing night party are counted. Additionally, I am pretty sure that, had I booked my hotel room through the link he emailed me, he would have received a cut of that, too. If that weren’t enough money-making angles, Yanik offered to make The Verge an affiliate partner in his livestream of the event: the site “would get 40% on any sale that came through [the] link. Right now the livestream is selling for $995.” Maybe we should have taken him up on it.” • #конкультура - × × ×

“The Verge's Joseph L. Flatley delves into the world of Internet marketing scams (those stupid spam pitches you get for "lead generation" and such) in eye-watering detail. Fundamentally, these things are exactly what they appear to be: con artists who suck money out of desperate people by lying to them about the money they can make with "work from home" businesses. They're pyramid schemes. But Flatley lingers on the personalities, the histories, the motivations and the unique innovations that the Internet has given rise to, providing insight into the feel of being inside one of these desperate, sweaty scams.” - × × ×