That Time Pyramid Schemes Caused a Civil War

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
  • Or did it?
    Simon's Social Media:
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    Geographics: / @geographicstravel

ความคิดเห็น • 794

  • @HannahMargaret93
    @HannahMargaret93 4 ปีที่แล้ว +620

    It’s not a business blaze episode without Simon saying “I really should read these before” and proceeds to not read any before

    • @DreadedJai
      @DreadedJai 4 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      Hannah Margaret it’s a tradition

    • @EMurph42
      @EMurph42 4 ปีที่แล้ว +43

      If he starts pre-reading them I will be heartbroken. It’s what gives these their charm!

    • @michaelbrock805
      @michaelbrock805 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      It's also not complete until he says "smash that like button".

    • @littlemisspuffin
      @littlemisspuffin 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Gfgcjuuujjjnbbbbbnngh. Nhh ttyuiphbh
      Hghgj km kobh

    • @jerelull2619
      @jerelull2619 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      It's great that he can read the scripts "cold" so well, ad libbing as he wades through.

  • @steverossini
    @steverossini 4 ปีที่แล้ว +584

    🤨
    It’s not a pyramid. It’s a triangle to success!
    -Shifty Steve

    • @rickc2102
      @rickc2102 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Damn, that's shifty.

    • @user-xz9fw6lk3p
      @user-xz9fw6lk3p 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Shifty Steve later retreated into the mob life under a new name and later got married to Fat Tony from the Simpsons. The end.

    • @ManiSRao-bt3xw
      @ManiSRao-bt3xw 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Classic !

    • @AmeshaSpentaArmaiti
      @AmeshaSpentaArmaiti 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      it's an inverse funnel that puts your capital on the path to financial success.

    • @littlemisspuffin
      @littlemisspuffin 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      🌈🌈🌈⭐⭐🔭🔭🌏🌏🌈🌈🌈🌈🦂🦟🐞🐞🥩🍡🍓🚨🚦📞📞🇨🇷🇨🇺🇨🇼🇩🇿🐴🦄🦄🐴🐮🦄🥩🍡

  • @ojosmacabros
    @ojosmacabros 4 ปีที่แล้ว +303

    My favorite part of this channel is that Simon's personality really shines through

    • @brainblaze6526
      @brainblaze6526  4 ปีที่แล้ว +96

      Hahah, I read that as "least" for some reason at first.
      Clearly I have great self-esteem.

    • @jennyli7749
      @jennyli7749 4 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      Absolutely agree with you! I’m actually watching all these videos to the end bcos simons roasts are just incredible 😂😂😂

    • @404killer
      @404killer 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      that annoys me

    • @Dknife9
      @Dknife9 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Simon, you're clearly having fun with this channel. I hope so anyway, because this stuff is both informative and hilarious. I hope the artistic license eases the drudgery that may come with conventional reads.

    • @everything777
      @everything777 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      That's why it sucks.
      Just kidding you seem like a good guy

  • @Iceclaw77
    @Iceclaw77 4 ปีที่แล้ว +109

    I keep hearing "Danny" as "Daddy".
    "I'm sorry, Daddy."
    "When are we getting into the war, Daddy?"
    "SHUT UP, AND WRITE THE SCRIPT, DADDY!"

    • @jruler93
      @jruler93 4 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      * insert the "Daddy, chill." clip *

    • @wickedmonk3yz905
      @wickedmonk3yz905 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Great I read this and started hearing daddy instead of Danny. Tihi

    • @informitas0117
      @informitas0117 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Same here. It took me multiple episodes to realize "business daddy" wasn't the same as "danny/daddy"

    • @NBM397
      @NBM397 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Oh, great. Now I can't not hear that!

    • @susanmissett-king1839
      @susanmissett-king1839 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      I am deceased 😆😵

  • @PlanetParasite
    @PlanetParasite 4 ปีที่แล้ว +71

    I legit thought you were calling Danny "Daddy" 😂😂😂

  • @protatoplaysgames6918
    @protatoplaysgames6918 4 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    Simon genuinely sounds like a very fun person to hang out with

    • @brainblaze6526
      @brainblaze6526  4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      I wish I was. Then I would have friends.

    • @protatoplaysgames6918
      @protatoplaysgames6918 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@brainblaze6526 but I've already heard you say you're going to go have some beers with some friends... busted

    • @brainblaze6526
      @brainblaze6526  4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Dammit ;)

    • @protatoplaysgames6918
      @protatoplaysgames6918 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I would gladly have a beer with you. but you're buying mr.whistler for trying to swindle me

  • @lisaeads269
    @lisaeads269 4 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    Simon, I appreciate that you shared that you need us, your followers, to watching all the way to the end of the videos and that it is more important than the likes etc. It truly makes a difference that we know how to work the algorithm. I enjoy the time you spend making these videos as well as the production staff/s. I know it probably was not intentional to share that but I am grateful you did. Thank you.

    • @brainblaze6526
      @brainblaze6526  4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Thanks :). I don't really want to 'work the algorithm' though, but I do want to make content that is good enough for you to want to watch to the end. That's how I'll win in the end :)

  • @stephjovi
    @stephjovi 4 ปีที่แล้ว +81

    Kept a friend from falling for one of those scemes. She told me about these 'awesome totally natural cosmetics' that she's gonna sell. And that she's gonna earn so much and I should do it too. I asked : do you have to buy the products in advance ? - yes! Do you have to try to get others to sell it too? - Yes! Girl it's a pyramid scheme don't drag me into that better yet of you haven't signed up yet don't do it. She never mentioned that shit again

    • @brainblaze6526
      @brainblaze6526  4 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      Yeah, these companies are really good at sucking people in. Predatory.

    • @Whatismusic123
      @Whatismusic123 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Time for a new friend.

    • @stephjovi
      @stephjovi 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@Whatismusic123 I barely see her anyways. She really tried to convince me even when I said girl you're falling for pyramid scheme

    • @Melanie16040
      @Melanie16040 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@stephjovi So wait... did she end up falling into it or did you manage to keep her outta it? Which one btw?

    • @stephjovi
      @stephjovi 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@Melanie16040 idk which one I forgot the name. She never mentioned it again and hadn't yet bought inventory so I think she wouldn't admit it but she listened to the advice to get away from it.

  • @bwcasoloist
    @bwcasoloist 4 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    This is one of the best TH-cam channels online. Simon takes the “business” news and makes it extremely entertaining especially when he’s ripping on the fools he’s reading about.

  • @Skenderbeuismyhero
    @Skenderbeuismyhero 4 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    You pronounced Sali Berisha perfectly. By the way, he was a relatively poor man until getting into government and becoming a very wealthy man. You know what Eisenhower said about men who become rich in government.

  • @gilgaloregames1066
    @gilgaloregames1066 4 ปีที่แล้ว +36

    cutco knives could be one. i tried getting a job there and last day of training "yeah we need $300"

    • @karensekishiro157
      @karensekishiro157 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Gilgalore Games Hey those are really good knives!

    • @StaticImage
      @StaticImage 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      You know... I actually got a job there one year and it was freaking awesome. Looking back on it (this was a pretty long time ago), it was pretty shady, but I stand by the fact that they made great knives. Like... really great knives. I'm glad I'm not doing it anymore, and it seems like they've become far more shady, but man. Good knives.
      Oh- I got my money back when I returned my set. I'm going to guess that they don't do that anymore?

    • @doylesinclair4499
      @doylesinclair4499 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      LOL. I'm in sales, and last summer I was on the job market, this Cutco place called me and I looked them up. . . .what a bunch of criminals!

    • @StaticImage
      @StaticImage 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @Robert Brown Hah! It's the exact same time I sold! But you didn't think the knives were awesome? A woman I sold a set to had one kid get something like 12 stitches on one hand from one knife and her daughter threatened (thankfully it was a hollow threat) suicide. When the cops got there, she was holding a Cutco knife. It was confiscated. What's funny is that they were both the steak knives. The unassuming looking ones. Those things ruined everybody. (I promise her daughter was ok. i wouldn't make light of it if it was otherwise. she ended up getting some help she needed from then still undiagnosed mental health issues)

    • @laurataylor8717
      @laurataylor8717 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      I worked with cutco for a minute and didn't pay anything. I was given loaner knives. When I went a week or more without selling anything they said give us back our knives. So #1 they have a product and #2 didnt pay to join and #3 been around forever, so not a scheme. They just promise easy money.

  • @estebangarcia2673
    @estebangarcia2673 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I never comments on TH-cam.
    I just want you to know that some random guy in Tulsa, Oklahoma plays your videos all day in the background 4 days a week for 6 hours.
    It's the 2nd time you've mentioned how playing these videos all the way is actually good for you on the business channel and makes me feel good that I'm somehow contributing as I don't want you to stop anytime soon.

    • @brainblaze6526
      @brainblaze6526  4 ปีที่แล้ว

      It does, and thank you :)

    • @arbitrarynumbers5852
      @arbitrarynumbers5852 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Some guy in Tulsa is blazing 6 hours a day 4 days a week?

    • @timmyfrank7042
      @timmyfrank7042 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Tulsan here. Also play nonstop in the background all day while I'm at work lol legend

  • @jessereyna6551
    @jessereyna6551 4 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    I was genuinely disappointed there was no link to Simon's scheme......

  • @hudsoncampbell5064
    @hudsoncampbell5064 4 ปีที่แล้ว +187

    Can Danny read something Simon writes, that would be a good video!

    • @hudsoncampbell5064
      @hudsoncampbell5064 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      @meaturama the dude who writes pretty much every script for this channel

    • @coletaylor725
      @coletaylor725 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      I was just thinking how I too would like to know more about this Danny, and a Simon writen/Danny read episode sounds great!

    • @canadiandee6342
      @canadiandee6342 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      meaturama Danny has another channel. I have to go double check which one it is

    • @canadiandee6342
      @canadiandee6342 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      hudson campbell Top5s I think

    • @clevaconley2221
      @clevaconley2221 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      meaturama Yo, I’ve watched two videos and I know who Danny is. Pay more attention 😆🤣

  • @This1Person
    @This1Person 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    For some reason this is my favorite of all the 'Simon Channels'. It might be the no prep, of the cuff 'Simoness' (Simonness?). Or it might just be Danny's scripts. Or a mix of the two. Either way, the unmeasured, random, and the relatable personality captures my attention.

  • @DeWaltDisney
    @DeWaltDisney 4 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    Ironically, there actually is a concrete pyramid in the centre of Tirana, Albania.
    The former Enver Hoxha museum, built by his daughter following his death in 1985.

  • @KW-qd1bi
    @KW-qd1bi 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I was an insurance agent for a brief period in college and there are some similarities to a pyramid scheme. You are expected to run through your contacts and gain new potential clients through them. The day you run out of people to call is the day you start to fall out of the industry.i was basically a licensed telemarketer and I hated every minute of it.

  • @GideonFrazier
    @GideonFrazier 4 ปีที่แล้ว +87

    Kind of mad that the website Simon gave us didn’t go anywhere:p

    • @QueenOfSh3ba
      @QueenOfSh3ba 4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      Simon..... stop winding the youngsters up. lol

    • @jorceshaman
      @jorceshaman 4 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      Same. I was hoping that he created a fake pyramid scheme page just for this video.

    • @shivanibatra7659
      @shivanibatra7659 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Same so disappointed but thinking about buying it to get rich quick😂

    • @phil2782
      @phil2782 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      I was hoping to get in at the top of the pyramid for a change.
      Simon should do a video on that crypto coin that was advertised as a pyramid scam, looked like it may actually work then promptly got hacked and had all they pyramid dollars stolen.

    • @brainblaze6526
      @brainblaze6526  4 ปีที่แล้ว +39

      My trolling only can extend so far. I have limited resources.

  • @Travenspear8
    @Travenspear8 4 ปีที่แล้ว +28

    I mean yeah he Madoff with a lot of money, but Bernie ended up getting caught.

    • @brainblaze6526
      @brainblaze6526  4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      BA DA BUM BUM TSHSHHSHS

    • @b.r.h.1038
      @b.r.h.1038 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@brainblaze6526 he dead...?...yea, he deeeaad dead

  • @adamfrazer5150
    @adamfrazer5150 4 ปีที่แล้ว +44

    A Whistler Pyramid Scheme is the only pyramid scheme I'd get onboard with !
    #whistleyourwaytosuccess

  • @LunaHarp91
    @LunaHarp91 4 ปีที่แล้ว +75

    "....my comments may be funny."
    YOU STOP DOUBTING YOURSELF.

  • @Emensman22
    @Emensman22 4 ปีที่แล้ว +145

    Can we get Danny in a video? I want to see this guy

    • @LisaBowers
      @LisaBowers 4 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      I agree, but the logistics would be a nightmare. Danny lives in Cornwall, UK and Simon lives in Prague.

    • @thedarksun8891
      @thedarksun8891 4 ปีที่แล้ว +49

      I don't think Danny exists, I think he's been made up by Simon so we don't know just how much he does

    • @AlexielRaziel
      @AlexielRaziel 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Same!

    • @andrewmcintyre9722
      @andrewmcintyre9722 4 ปีที่แล้ว +51

      It's like fight club.....Danny is the sexy Tyler Durden to Simon's corporate drone...that's why we never see them together and Simon knows what will be in the scripts before he reads them. Also explains Simon's love of IKEA, sweaters and watches.

    • @LisaBowers
      @LisaBowers 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @Stephen Hill Whaaaaaaaat? What is this thing called "the internet"?
      😁

  • @trishapellis
    @trishapellis 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Simon, entirely sincere, in 2020: "How long have we been going, 15 minutes? Gee, thanks, Danny."
    Simon in 2022: "Danny's scripts never END!"

  • @kennethcrenshaw317
    @kennethcrenshaw317 4 ปีที่แล้ว +37

    Little known fact: all the lizard people are afraid of pyramid schemes. Lol

    • @andrewsuryali8540
      @andrewsuryali8540 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      AHA! YET ANOTHER PROOF THAT THE REAL SIMON WHISTLER HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A LIZARDMAN CLONE!

  • @ktnt100
    @ktnt100 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    how to identify if a company is a pyramid: their most profitable department is basically their HR department.

  • @tasiatyler3137
    @tasiatyler3137 4 ปีที่แล้ว +34

    Who doesn't watch to the end??? Please tell me I'm not the only one who finds Bernie's last name rather appropriate for what he did! Thanks all! Love this channel love this community!!

    • @robertk1701
      @robertk1701 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Same here about Bernie. Feel like investing with Madoff is like hiring M. Bezzler to do your accounting.

    • @jennyli7749
      @jennyli7749 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I’m watching to the end on topics I have literally no interest in...simons voice and his cackles are ever so soothing 😂

    • @ladydiamondprisca
      @ladydiamondprisca 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      It's the sweet irony of life. Same with the officer who killed George Floyd. The name Chauvin (at least in French) is very appropriate for the type of personality that would do such a horrible thing.

  • @purple-headedyogurtslinger2683
    @purple-headedyogurtslinger2683 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Simon I’m a business major in college currently and did a macroecon project on the South Seas Bubble. This is ludicrously insane and your government is still paying the interest on it 300 years later. You ought to do a video on this subject

  • @Microtonal_Cats
    @Microtonal_Cats 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    When Simon (quite reasonably) asked us to watch to the end, I started imagining a pyramid scheme involving video watch time.
    Love this channel, by the way.

  • @nitroustommy3668
    @nitroustommy3668 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    "Join my team." 😂😂😂

  • @aceofarrows
    @aceofarrows 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Writing your MP can be directly equated in the US to writing your congressperson. Checks all the same boxes too: It's one of the few options you have that the government actually tries to encourage you to exercise, they promise somebody will listen if you write, it sounds to you like it might actually work since you know the government loves paperwork, you go "eh, guess it's worth a shot" and do it, and you get a form letter (or nothing) back, and nothing actually changes.

  • @annad.l6087
    @annad.l6087 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    If someone from my school came up to me and asked me to sell something, for at least 2/3 of them it probably wouldn't be a pyramid scheme. I would also be wondering why they were out of jail.

  • @nerfthecows
    @nerfthecows 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Simon the U.S equivalent would be writing your congressmen

    • @brainblaze6526
      @brainblaze6526  4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Good to know we're not the only country who wastes our time with this.

  • @manicmechanic448
    @manicmechanic448 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    "I would like to make you an offer you cannot refuse."

    • @brainblaze6526
      @brainblaze6526  4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      "Does that sound like something you might be interested in?"

    • @bizinsky
      @bizinsky 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I have some jewelry you might like. High price low quality 💎

  • @mitchhuck
    @mitchhuck 4 ปีที่แล้ว +50

    *cough* *Amway* *cough*. Oh geeze sorry just clearing my throat.

    • @AlexielRaziel
      @AlexielRaziel 4 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      😂😂😂 Amway is SUCH a pyramid scheme... excuse me... "multi level marketing company"

    • @geckovonparsley8200
      @geckovonparsley8200 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Haha, years ago, a lady I met by chance tried to recruit me to Amway. She was so secretive and hush hush about what kind of company she worked for, I legit thought it was sex work or an escort service or something :'D I was a little curious, but they required you to buy a starter kit for like 200 bucks, with no returns guaranteed. Heh, no.

    • @AlexielRaziel
      @AlexielRaziel 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@geckovonparsley8200 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

    • @thelastremainingmoderate1997
      @thelastremainingmoderate1997 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@AlexielRaziel Yeah. It made the DeVos family so much money they were able to buy a seat in Trump's cabinet.

    • @Fetidaf
      @Fetidaf 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@thelastremainingmoderate1997 just throwing this out there, she resigned yesterday along with Elaine Chao

  • @Mace-1191
    @Mace-1191 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    Can never fall for a pyramid scheme I don't know 10 people be smart don't play yourself stay inside it's safe

  • @finnthehuman9426
    @finnthehuman9426 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Not a civil war, but I did have a pyramid scheme end a four year relationship. My boyfriend was a firefighter/paramedic and one of the other medics invited him to an Amway presentation. I already knew about about Amway's crap, but he asked me to go with him. I'm like, "Alright, let's see what this shit-show's about." The meeting was like a cult or like going to one of those evangelical sermons; I thought it was unbelievably transparent, and couldn't believe how many people were actually buying into this crap. The thing was, my bf was a very intelligent person- well educated, traveled, spoke multiple languages. I couldn't believe he walked out of that place wanting to be a part of it, and he did! He bought a whole bunch of their garbage. I asked him why would people want to buy inferior, non-brand name products for five times the price of what they cost at a store (the prices on their merchandise are exorbitant, and it's just everyday stuff like detergent, energy drinks, shampoo- just grocery store stuff with no quality), then have to wait for the stuff to be delivered. I told him this is so transparently a pyramid scheme, and he screamed at me that I didn't believe in him. Okay, then. It really got to me that he just had to prove me wrong about this sham that he dug in his heels harder. It didn't help that the girl who got him into this just happened to be this chick that bullied me mercilessly in high school. We fought incessantly about it, and it made me see him as a different person that he could so easily be pulled into this cult-like atmosphere. When I saw him a couple years later I asked how his Amway sales were going, and he just looked down at his feet and said, "Aw, ya know...". Yeah, I did know, but he still wouldn't admit it was a pyramid scheme. 🙄

    • @Terri_MacKay
      @Terri_MacKay 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      When I was in my late teens, the parents of a friend sold Amway. You're right, the way they talked about it was like someone talking about a religion or a cult. From my point of view, it was just selling stuff, but they were preaching about how it made them better people and made their lives better in all these non-financial ways.
      They tried to recruit me, and even as a pretty naive 18 year old, I knew something was seriously wrong. I called them a couple days later and politely declined, telling them that my parents didn't want me to do it. If course, then they wanted to talk to my parents, so I waited another couple of days and called them again and told them that my parents weren't interested.
      The way they talked about the business was just weird and creepy.

    • @finnthehuman9426
      @finnthehuman9426 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@Terri_MacKay Yes, totally! It was so strange seeing this person I knew so intimately become that type of person; it really freaked me out. Like you said, it felt "off" and immediately uncomfortable. I was about 22 when all this happened, but yeah, you just know. Good on you. 👍

  • @maattthhhh
    @maattthhhh 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    "But then it's like, if someone's really dumb, is it their fault? Shouldn't we protect those dumb people?"
    - Simon Whistler, 2020

  • @eneaalimllari8534
    @eneaalimllari8534 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I was 7 years old at the rime in Albania and I remember the "civil war": at 2 am my neighbor (i lived in an apartment near the center of the city of Elbasan) would get up and fire at the sky 2 to 3 rounds with his AK-47, which he stole from one of the army warehouses (as everybody else did). And I and my family would get up scared as s**t. And soon at least 10 more people would do the same (shooting at the sky for no reason). It was the scariest time of my life. At least i got a good laugh with your video so I got that going for me, which is nice! Ps: everything I wrote is true.

  • @kirstiemcfeatters4348
    @kirstiemcfeatters4348 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Why is Simon's voice and face like a warm blanket wrapped around me on a winter's day?

    • @jennyli7749
      @jennyli7749 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Omg yes! Soooo soothing when you’ve had a hard day at work and finished dealing with some screaming bratty children! 😅

    • @kirstiemcfeatters4348
      @kirstiemcfeatters4348 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@jennyli7749 I have a 4 week old so I know!

  • @isaacschmitt4803
    @isaacschmitt4803 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    About a year ago I bumped into an old friend with a similar result. At first, the way he described it it sounded legit, like a startup internet company (which looking back now, I realize he was just parroting what his guy said to him). I had my suspicions, sure, but I've known this guy for just over twenty years. He's a little gullible and naive, really the perfect target for a pyramid scheme, but not someone that would try to trick you into something.
    The biggest red flag was when he gave me a copy of "The Business of the 21st Century," a relatively small book outlining how the economy really sucks and the only way to succeed is to go into business for yourself.
    I let him down easy.

  • @clairetravis1321
    @clairetravis1321 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Simon, just discovered this channel a few days ago and I have to admit, I like this, keep it up, it feels so authentic and entertaining and earnest. Good work guys.

  • @popded
    @popded 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Albania was, amongst a lot of things, very militaristic during the Cold War. They stockpiled massive amounts of armaments, and it was said that the ratio for every citizen was 3 AK-47s. When the unrest broke out, mobs looted the army depots and the coutry was flooded with military grade weaponry. Many of the casualties were children mucking about with assault rifles, machine guns and grenades. They even offered T-34 tanks for sale at 3000$, if you could get them across the border...

  • @whatifkarlmarxbutbad3660
    @whatifkarlmarxbutbad3660 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Just say no. . . to catching up with old friends over coffee.

  • @onniestone442
    @onniestone442 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Love Simon always encouraging us to watch until the end. Don’t worry, Simon. I’m an army, I know how to stream.

  • @Cedrickr
    @Cedrickr 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    just to "one up" your "friend I haven't seen in years" comment, I was once the "victim" of a hot chick that set up "dates" on a dating site to then push her Pyramid scheme crap on people she met that way....

    • @barrybritcher
      @barrybritcher 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      But did u get laid first

    • @Cedrickr
      @Cedrickr 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@barrybritcher nope, she jumped right into her bullshit sales pitch

    • @stevenschnepp576
      @stevenschnepp576 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      At least she was honest about just wanting your money?

    • @Cedrickr
      @Cedrickr 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@stevenschnepp576 well technically no she wasn't, she got me there under false pretense and then told me she only wanted my money

    • @amandajones661
      @amandajones661 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Our church (when I believed in things like that) was overrun with pyramid schemes. I made me sick and led to arguments with my ex and led to us leaving the church because I couldn't stop him for falling for all the additional pyramid schemes -- religion is bad enough, but he wanted to join everything (he likes get rich schemes).

  • @skkahl3400
    @skkahl3400 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Someone tried to recruit me into a pyramid scheme and it did sound really good, until I had to pay for a subscription to an app. When it was all free, I was like, cool. But then I was told about the expensive app that really just fed you daily propaganda, I noped the hell out of there.

  • @JuneBug1881
    @JuneBug1881 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Another channel I just came across with Simon. I’ve lost count 😀

    • @thevintagecatnsw
      @thevintagecatnsw 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Legit.. this is the funniest channel of them all. 😁😁😁

  • @zmanjace1364
    @zmanjace1364 4 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    It would be interesting to hear about some other types of business scams. Everybody knows about pyramid schemes. I mean who hasn't conned all of their friends into glorified money laundering?

    • @kingfuzzy2
      @kingfuzzy2 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      There's two types of cons long term and
      short term video idea is prepped.

  • @iammaxhailme
    @iammaxhailme 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    One of my friends got caught up in some Multi level Marketing BS in high school (cutco knives). They made him buy about 200 kitchen knives from them at pretty low prices and if he sold them all at a profit (the sales money went to the company, of course) he'd get a bounty. Of course nobody can find 200 friends who want an expensive knives.
    Maybe if you are scamming people, giving them a bunch of knives would be a bad idea.

  • @rivertam7827
    @rivertam7827 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Writing a strongly worded letter to your local MP is also a middle class Australian pastime 😂

  • @rubenferreira3196
    @rubenferreira3196 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Hey Simon - Would you consider doing a video on "The economics of drug dealing" which Steven Levitt covered in Freakanomics. I love the fact if you factor in the risk of being killed or imprisoned as a drug dealer vs the money you could make, that you would be better off earning minimum wage at MacDonalds on a risk return basis. Its a really great story. Please consider making a video on this.

  • @dfpytwa
    @dfpytwa 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I remember in the late 70's it was a suburban yuppie type thing to do at a low level like 1 dollar investments. People understood the scam but viewed as fun. The person at the top would get 10 people to invest a dollar then have them recruit 10 people to give him another dollar paying the recruiter like 25 cents for every dollar they brought in and likewise down the line until it collapsed. They had a variation of it like the airplane game when the cops got involved. I was just a kid at the time and viewed it as stupid but the adults in my town were playing it regularly for awhile even some teachers. Yet I got in trouble at school for gambling shooting marbles for dimes.

    • @brainblaze6526
      @brainblaze6526  4 ปีที่แล้ว

      It's actually a good economic lesson

  • @Pile_of_carbon
    @Pile_of_carbon 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    "It's MLM! It's not a pyramid scheme!" I got that exact line from a former coworker who bought a lifetime supply of soap.

    • @jenniferclark9842
      @jenniferclark9842 ปีที่แล้ว

      Avon, Mary Kay, Herbalife, Cutco, Amway, etc.

  • @reagan13579
    @reagan13579 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    My sister-in-law fell for one. She told my husband she got a new job but didnt know how to explain what her new job was so we had to come over (to their mom's house because she cant afford to move out yet) and have some woman we have never met explain to us about how we can "be our own boss" and how the company had special laws forced through to be legal (as if that is a bragging point?) The woman tried telling me that even though I wasnt as trained as my boss in my IT job that I still should be getting paid as much as her to which I firmly said that no, thats wrong. Sadly there was an immigrant couple there too who were being convinced this pyramid scheme could help their home village. But after the "meeting" my sister-in-law immediately went up to her room then later complained to my mother-in-law that we "werent supporting" her new job because we didnt follow her to her bedroom to beg to join, plus apparently I was mean. The pyramid scheme was two letters off from "Scamway".

  • @macandcheese__
    @macandcheese__ 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    i have a high school friend who is a psychology major and is involved in an MLM and im just so suspicious that she may be using her degree to reel people in 🤨

  • @jilln1379
    @jilln1379 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I had a friend pull this pyramid crap on me, too. Hadn't seen her in years, but kept up chatting. She came to visit and just haaaad to tell me about this great business opportunity... 🙄 I got mad and kicked them out of my house.

  • @helenFX
    @helenFX 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I hadn't realised until just now that this was all invented by the bubble of the south sea company.

  • @Machtyn
    @Machtyn 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Simon goes off and explains a thing and Danny is in the background throwing his hands in the air, "Why do I even write this?!"

  • @stevenlouton6381
    @stevenlouton6381 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Oh yeah, it is indeed another episode of Business Blaze. Lets do this.
    Hahaha, poor Danny.

  • @gabefimbres
    @gabefimbres 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I am so glad i was smart enough to dodge that bullet. I had a friend and her cousin contacted her out of nowhere and asked to meet for lunch. My friend thought it was just to catch up but when we got their they had an "amazing business opportunity" for us and invited us to a seminar. I didn't want to go but my friend wanted me to go with so i did and at the end of it the cousin comes up to us to try and recruit us. My friend looks over at me unsure of what to say and i just tell them no i don't know enough people to buy this stuff and try to let them down easy. But then he goes on saying you don't need to know lots of people, just sell to your neighbors, co-workers, or family and was trying to give me tips and work-arounds. So then i just had to tell them flat out i am not interested. What they were trying to get me to believe sounded like one of those things that were to good to be true so i had red flags going up all over the place and i am glad i heeded them. The cousin was with advocare btw.

    • @paultheaudaciousbradford6772
      @paultheaudaciousbradford6772 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Also, be careful of the Church of the Smiling Satan. They tell you that if you hand over your soul and then get twelve other people to be your “apostles” you can collect up to 100 souls a month just for the investment of your one soul up front.
      I signed up, but later I did the math and figured out they were lying!! It kind of soured me on Satanism for a long time. Plus, I never never got my soul back.
      Rotten bastards!! (Allegedly)

  • @doylesinclair4499
    @doylesinclair4499 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I will issue a challenge to Danny. - Write something completely bogus and have Simon read it, and then at the end, tell him he's been pranked. Come on, Danny, you know you can do it! Or, have you already?????

  • @Jraice
    @Jraice 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Extra points for including shots of the panda commercial. 🐼

  • @katiecalabasas7089
    @katiecalabasas7089 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    If Simon could just curl the ends of his mustache....

    • @brainblaze6526
      @brainblaze6526  4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I'm growing a Dali style moustache.
      Not really ;)

    • @katiecalabasas7089
      @katiecalabasas7089 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Business Blaze Maybe just do it though.

  • @s10meb95
    @s10meb95 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I listen to business blaze like a podcast. Great video Simon

  • @pamelamays4186
    @pamelamays4186 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I once worked at a conference that was a coffee selling pyramid scheme. They were like, buy this coffee, show it to your friends and get them to resell it for you.
    A pyramid is a multi-level edifice.

  • @bmguitarist5
    @bmguitarist5 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    One time while working retail I had a married couple talk to me about coming to a business conference and every time I asked what the company did or what they sold they immediately skirted the question or told me that they couldn't explain it as well as those at the conference could. Then they told me with a small investment I could make extraordinary amounts of money. Pretty sure they were trying to screw me.

  • @nosuchthing8
    @nosuchthing8 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Simon and Danny, what a golden group

  • @yourin8er
    @yourin8er 4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    You should do an episode on the time that Facebook caused a genocide

    • @kingfuzzy2
      @kingfuzzy2 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      If this is real then yes I'd watch it

    • @StaticImage
      @StaticImage 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@kingfuzzy2 Look up "facebook myanmar"

    • @kingfuzzy2
      @kingfuzzy2 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Possibly.

  • @dena81
    @dena81 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Oh God that meme.... Mostly all of my stay at home mom friends have tried to get me into a pyramid scheme. Thank God I have a career. The only time I almost fell for one was back in the early 2000s when I was in college and thought about doing it once just for extra money but as soon as they said I had to pay for my starter kit...I was like "ummmmm no....."

  • @informitas0117
    @informitas0117 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    15:57 the studio lights makes it look like Simon has a killer eye shadow

  • @elizabethsetlow862
    @elizabethsetlow862 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    My 1st business blaze video. Glad to see Simon isn't a staid and stodgy elderly Edwardian Brit in real life, he just sounds like one.

  • @LisaBowers
    @LisaBowers 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Not gonna lie... if Shifty Simon started a pyramid scheme, I'd probably sign up. ✋🏻

  • @ChaostheClown
    @ChaostheClown 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Yeah this channel's more lax tone is refreshing. Simon's a very talented presenter, be it serious or not. Good stuff.

  • @timothyneiswander3151
    @timothyneiswander3151 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Shady Steve didn't change his name and run off to Hawaii. He changed his name and ran off to Prague.

    • @brainblaze6526
      @brainblaze6526  4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      DAMMIT. Finally caught.

    • @timothyneiswander3151
      @timothyneiswander3151 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Europol and Interpol want to know your location.
      Kim Jong Yang said you are wanted for questioning in connection with a DVD player theft scheme and the bribery of Meng Hongwei.

  • @devthekidd_2089
    @devthekidd_2089 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thank you Danny

  • @TysonPower
    @TysonPower 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    These are getting better and better!

  • @florinasrandomness
    @florinasrandomness 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Your bluntness is awesome! 😂

  • @ameliahill3292
    @ameliahill3292 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    If a friend from school wants to go out for coffee, just say no. Nice to see my life motto is catching on!

  • @skkahl3400
    @skkahl3400 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    The equivalent of "writing to your MP" in the US is "writing to you congressman" and it's just as much a joke.

  • @diyeana
    @diyeana 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I had a friend I hadn't seen in years who invited me over for dinner and then tried to hard sell me into joining his pyramid, sorry, multi-level marketing company, selling life insurance. I left and stopped talking to him. This kind of stuff ends friendships.

  • @willg4802
    @willg4802 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    In the late 80s some people tried to get me hooked into a scheme called " the airplane".
    Basically, I could buy a "seat" on the plane. There were 20 seats. There were two co pilots and one pilot. When all the seats were sold the plane " took off,". At that point the pilot took all the money, the copilots became pilots, 4 passengers became co pilots. Then they had to find more pidgeons to buy seats.m
    I was dragged to a meeting that was set up like a group therapy session. We sat in a circle and we're told to introduce ourselves and tell what our dreams were. So, at the meeting where they tried to sell me a seat I said that the airplane was a pyramid scheme. They declared it wasn't and that I was being a defeatist loser and they demanded that I tell the group what I would do with the money.
    I refused, said I wanted to leave. This wasn't possible because I had been driven there by someone who it turned out was a "copilot".
    So, I was told to be quiet for the duration. I was, but I marveled at the foolishness and greed of some of the people in the circle, while at the same time some people were more cautious and doubtful. Basically, the women all fell for it, most of the guys were cautious.
    Well, the copilot who had driven me there, my landlady, kept bugging me for a month to buy a seat. I finally lost my cool and told her it was a pyramid scheme and I'm not going to hand 5000 dollars to her . A week later I heard that the "Pilot" had been arrested when she returned from a Carribean trip . The police demanded all the money be returned , it was a pyramid scheme, and several people were going to jail.

  • @canadiandee6342
    @canadiandee6342 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Ponzi got 3 years, and then went on to con till he died. That’s probably the reason madoff got the long sentence

  • @RustOnWheels
    @RustOnWheels 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    OMG I had that same experience with an old friend taking me out for diner. I thought: how cool! Then after the first drink she said we had to hurry up to go to her new work place she wanted to show me.
    Man was I in for a treat. I sat the whole thing out like a baws. Sitting, watching in amazement.
    They do make it very hard for gullible and social people not to fall for it; everybody in on the scheme took one invitee so the venue was 50-50 full of either religiously fanatic people praising the system and people that either were awe-struck or got just as excited.
    Actually I feel I was one of the only real sceptics.
    After the pitch we got some coffee and I looked around seeing all these people getting greedy and going in. I was looking at my old friend and going like “this is some builshit”. She really was adamant this made her lots of money.
    After her unsuccessful lead (being me) I never heard from her again.
    A pity because she was a real nice girl.

  • @tyescott3973
    @tyescott3973 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Write to the MP is like the British version of asking for the manager

    • @brainblaze6526
      @brainblaze6526  4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Yes. But at least the manager might be able to do something.

  • @thatgut2375
    @thatgut2375 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Ah, going back to Old BB episodes makes me miss the paper scripts so much

  • @AtomicUnicorn62
    @AtomicUnicorn62 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    “Just keep watching till the end, that would be awesome.” I watch the videos all the way through when they come out and relisten to some of them when I can’t sleep

  • @keelwakamar
    @keelwakamar 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you Danny for the great script!!

  • @simonk9804
    @simonk9804 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I have really come to love these different videos and channels that you guys do as they fill up a lot of my work time (electrician), where I just wander around alone and do my work, so it's great company and learning 🙂

  • @nickbenton3545
    @nickbenton3545 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Does Danny not realize Hawaii is an ordinary US state that the FBI can totally interact with?

    • @GeorgeVCohea-dw7ou
      @GeorgeVCohea-dw7ou 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The FBI obviously doesn't care about borders or states. It is definitely easier to operate on US soil, and in particular, Hawaii!

    • @DannySalter
      @DannySalter 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      I just meant that Hawaii was a nice place to retire. Shady Steve's location didn't really matter by then.
      He'd changed his identity to Shifty Stephanie and dropped off the FBI's radar.

  • @MeeraReads
    @MeeraReads 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    As a huge fan of Decoding the Unknown, it’s bizarre to watch these old Brain Blaze episodes and seeing Simon standing up, waving his hands around and looking down at a paper script.
    Now we know what Simon was like before he became a cocksure TH-cam God, with a desk and a tablet and ChatGPT

  • @seanmurry6903
    @seanmurry6903 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Simon, in America, the equal act would be to "write your local Congressmen"

  • @jacksonsparrow1862
    @jacksonsparrow1862 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Simon, Danny, & crew- I always watch the Buis.Blaze videos to the end...
    ALLEGEDLY-
    Also, a good front shirt/back of shirt idea

  • @jesse_cole
    @jesse_cole 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Simon looking like Shakespeare in that shirt/sweater combo, lol

  • @maxk4324
    @maxk4324 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    one correction, for pyramid schemes to actually work (at least in the US) they do in fact need to provide the public with some kind of service or good or else they'd immediately get caught by the sec. however the products are always shit (cheaply made ofc) and the lower tiers have to purchase them in bulk from the upper tiers so most of the money upper tiers make is still coming from lower tiers rather than customers.

  • @gnomadD_
    @gnomadD_ 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Bit-Conneeeeeeeeeeeect!!

    • @Jynx393
      @Jynx393 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      WASA-WASA-WASA-WASA-WASA-WASA

  • @sa9110
    @sa9110 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Not me FINALLY finding the video that birthed the "ask me about my pyramid scheme" merch!!!

  • @davidringle7
    @davidringle7 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I think I've watched every one on the majority of your channels. I use them to fall asleep and they keep playing. So I end up going back and watching them again 😂😂

  • @bilindalaw-morley161
    @bilindalaw-morley161 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    It’s a dead give away that as a pensioner, or if I were unemployed, I couldn’t afford to be in an MLM

  • @ewestner
    @ewestner 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    John Oliver's MLM (aka pyramid scheme) episode is one of the best videos on the internet. He's lucky he has fantastic lawyers and HBO funds to pay them.

  • @jacksnow4925
    @jacksnow4925 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    probably the only videos i watch all the way to the end are simons :)