

Ask HN: Online entrepreneur network "Million Impossible", what do you think? - theblackbox
http://millionimpossible.com

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jakewolf
"MI Referral Scheme", multilevel marketing scheme, recently bankrupt founder
and a blog hosted on wordpress.com. What else do you want to know?
[http://millionimpossible.com/coming-
soon.asp?page=Success%20...](http://millionimpossible.com/coming-
soon.asp?page=Success%20Stories) Who wants to be a 399pound guinea pig?

~~~
theblackbox
I got (similar to) this as a first impression too (didn't catch the recently
bankrupt founder, so thanks for that), but I just thought it was worth putting
to the community. I'm still wet behind the ears as an "entrepreneur" and
thought there might be someone here who knew of this and/or had some personal
experience with them.

One thing that confuses me: when does multilevel marketing become something to
avoid? For instance, we recently had contact with whitedotbox.com who have
partnered with Yahoo! to offer a pay-per-click search box that can drive
revenue for charity and third-sector organisations. This seems all well and
good, but it's highly tiered and has affiliate/referal incentives built in.
What is the line between a "pyramid scheme" (so to speak) to be avoided, and a
method to build in growth?

Might just be being very naive so feel free to kick me into gear ;)

~~~
jakewolf
There's nothing wrong with getting a referral fee for signing up people. It's
when most of your income comes from signing up new people instead of the
product you're supposed to be selling that it becomes fishy.

I don't get whitedotbox. Why would someone give up 50% of potential revenue
when they can use adsense for search and keep 100% of the payout.

~~~
theblackbox
"Why would someone give up 50% of potential revenue when they can use adsense
for search and keep 100% of the payout."

Is it just some type of "modular business tactic"?

So instead of being an entrepreneur for years and building up links based on
hard won personal experience, one would prefer to plug into a ready made
solution? Just as one might prefer the ready made whitedotbox affiliate scheme
to learning the innards of the adsense system?

I wonder if it is simply profiteering on the lack of skills/knowledge outside
of "industry hubs". For instance I am based in an isolated rural community.
What business networks exist are difficult to break into and often don't have
the vision/drive/momentum that comes as standard for more metro/cosmopolitan
communities. (although this seems like a gross over-generalisation, and my
networking skills might just be a lot worse than I like to think!)

