Martin Shkreli

Martin Shkreli

This morning, Turing Pharmaceuticals AG executive Martin Shkreli was arrested on charges of fraud.  For those who are unaware, Shkreli is best known for purchasing the patent to Daraprim and raising the price from $13.50 per pill to $750.  Daraprim is one of the only drugs that can be used to treat toxoplasmosis, a common parasitic disease that can be fatal to those with compromised immune systems.

He was charged with defrauding former employees of securities that he owed.  For years, he was running a pseudo-pyramid scheme where he would take out loans to pay workers from former companies.  He then fabricated reports for the SEC that made it look as if he was operating legally.

Despite his recent misfortune, Shkreli is actually quite well-off.  As of September 22, he had a net worth of $100 million.  This was shortly after he began price gouging on Daraprim.  Recently, he made the news for buying the sole rights to the Wu-Tang album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin for $2 million.  

His business decisions have led him to receive serious criticism over the past couple of months.  Despite these verbal attacks, Shkreli has remained steadfast in his drug pricing.  In fact, he often takes to Twitter to silence his haters.  He realizes how immoral his actions are, but he takes pride in how much success he has achieved.

Personally, I have a great deal of respect for Shkreli.  Yes, his business strategies are unethical, and yes, he is a psychopath.  Fortunately, ethics are not important in business.  What he is doing is morally wrong, but it is completely legal.  His personality also has no effect on his success.  People that need Daraprim are going to buy it regardless of whether or not he is a benevolent person.  He is taking advantage of people and making a fortune.  His past business decisions have not been the wisest, but he is still quite successful.  Martin Shkreli is living the American dream, and that is something worth envying.

The Reuben Sandwich

The Reuben Sandwich

The Reuben is a staple within American sandwich-culture.  The classic Reuben sandwich is a corned beef sandwich with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing, all grilled between two slices of rye bread.  It is a staple sandwich of delicatessens across the United States, and it is the state sandwich of Nebraska.

It is amazing what a sandwich can do.  As the crusty exterior enters your mouth, you can't help but to savor the first bite with your tongue's warm, tender embrace.  The sweetness of the Russian dressing and sauerkraut contrasts with the tanginess of the rye bread to create a flavor explosion in your mouth.  You feel the need to keep it in your mouth for as long as possible, so as to save it from the perilous journey through the digestive canal.  You want to eat it so bad, but you know Reuben doesn't deserve it.

As you finish savoring the first bite and finally swallow, you look down at Reuben, only to see him in excruciating pain.  Tears of Russian dressing runs down its face and the corned beef presents a frowning pattern.  You want to stop, but you just can't resist.  You keep taking bite after bite until there is nothing left.  You hear screams coming from your midsection as your small intestines try to fight against indigestion from the sauerkraut.

You can't believe what you've done.  You just murdered the sandwich, and you begin to realize how many traits you share with Jeffrey Dahmer.  But you don't care.  You eat another one.  Another one.  Another one.  Sandwich after sandwich becomes victim to your endless hunger.  All you can do is laugh and eat more as DJ Khaled eggs you on.  There's no more excuses.  By the 30th sandwich, there is no explanation to why you did it.  The first one sated your hunger.  Every sandwich after that was meaningless to you.  Your blood-lust consumed you, and you consumed them in return.  You monster.

Tai Lopez

Tai Lopez

If you have watched a YouTube video without AdBlock recently, then you probably know who Tai Lopez is.  His video "Here In My Garage" is one of the most popular advertisements on the site, with over 66 million views.  This video is a promotion for his website, TaiLopez.com, where he offers his tips and tricks to getting rich in his book "67 Steps To The Good Life" and paid seminars.  Many people think that this is a huge scam and that he is just taking your money for bad advice.  In fact, some people have used video evidence and house rental websites to prove that he is a fraud.  These people are partially right.  Tai does not provide any revolutionary information.  His advice is not going to make anyone rich overnight.  This does not mean that his advice is not useful.

Tai Lopez's YouTube channel is full of videos on various topics related to being successful in business and in life.  Most of these videos share the same themes.  The only way to get rich is to take risks.  It only takes one good investment to get rich.  You need to be aggressive to make it in the world of business.  All of this advice is basic, and most people understand these concepts.  Despite all of the repeated garbage, there are still some great pieces of information to take from Tai's channel.

Tai is a success.  He is a conman, but he is a successful one.  He has hundreds of thousands of subscribers to his YouTube channel (including myself), and he brings in enough revenue to rent a mansion and Lamborghini in Beverly Hills.  There is a lot to learn from the way Tai acts.  Everything that he does promotes himself in some way.  Some of these tips he shares through his words, and some of these things he shares in his actions.  If you pay careful attention to the way that he speaks and acts, you can see that he is always directing the conversation in his videos towards self-promotion.  He constantly talks about his own financial successes and words of wisdom from his mentors.  He does not actually share these tips; instead, he tells people to pay for his book and seminars.  These mentors and investments probably are not real, but he is persuasive enough that thousands of people fall for it.  He is the perfect businessman.  He has learned to brand himself and promote himself in such a way that he has become successful without doing anything.  

Every businessman should look at what Tai Lopez does and try to emulate him, as he is great at what he does.  As a side note, he has an interesting interview with Mark Cuban.  The videos that I mentioned are shown below (Warning: The second video may contain inappropriate language and imagery).