u/drvonpoopenstein wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
>that's how businesses work! That's how MLM's work! Yes, real businesses can get creative with their marketing, but there is a huge difference between Axe telling you using their deodorant is going to get you laid 24/7 and saying SWE salaries/the job market are rebounding.
u/michaelnovati replied · ★ FEATURED
Yeah I've done deep dives on MLMs in the past and deep dives on Codesmith's info sessions.
Codesmith is absolutely not an MLM by any definition, people pay for lectures and education, and they get those. Alumni and students don't get bonuses or paid based on how many other people they convince to join.
The Codesmith vibe has the isolation aspect - everyone starts at zero and is trained using MLM - like techniques of consistency and status to "brainwash" (for lack of better word) people into absorbing desired materials quickly.
I think the behavior we see is actually defensiveness - a lot of people I talk to feel uneasy - but only in private - about how they present themselves in the Codesmith-way and I think some people feeling a bit uncomfortable double down on defending it so they feel less guilty for what they did themselves - I'm not a psychologist, but I bet a lot of these people don't even realize this.