Herbalife International is a  global international company that sells weight loss and skin care products. In the podcast it was explained that Bill Ackman was saying that Herbalife was a pyramid scheme which is considered a pyramid if participants obtain their monetary benefits primarily form recruitment rather than the sale of goods and services to consumers. Bill Ackman placed a 1 million dollar bet against Herbalife saying "Herbalife is a verbal scheme". After Bill made that comment Herbalife plunged 20%.

The reason why I believe that Herbalife is a scheme is because of the points that were made in the podcast that made sense. Herbalife is a big company but I have never heard of any brands by them. Formula 1 is something that is sold by Herbalife but has never been heard up and does the same thing as slim fast but slim fast is a popular brand name. Also, the numbers look odd. The company spends nothing on advertising and they don't sell there product in stores they are sold exclusively out of homes of people. 

Maryanne is in charge of Will Frado who is a independent distributor for Herbalife, so every time Will sells something for the company he has to go threw Maryanne who then gets part of the money of the sale. Basically the way people make the money is by recruiting sales people because then everyone works off everyone for the sale. Avon is a multilevel marketing company for example. What is illegal in this process is if people are selling Herbalife to people who don't actually want to drink the product. so those people who are buying the product but don't actually use is are just buying it to become a distributor to make the money.

Bill Ackman said that he spent well over a million dollars to put Herbalife into shortage. Bill Ackman is the man who said that Herbalife was a pyramid scheme. Either you can short the stock or you can buy the stock and how great it is.


 If Ackman is right the Herbalife company that reports roughly $4 billion in annual sales and a network of 3.2 million salespeople in 87 countries, could be shut down by the Federal Trade Commission.




 For years Herbalife has been referred to as nothing but a pyramid scheme. Because of the pyramid scheme the scandal involving Herbalife products and the number of people being ripped off by Herbalife ment that the company built up the worst reputations of all the multi-level marketing companies. So many people have failed to make money as a Herbalife distributor that most people refuse to get involved, let alone purchase Herbalife products.

I AM A GENIUS

    



1. The main point of this article is that genius in itself does not create great works or accomplishment on a grade scale. It accepts that people are born with enriched abilities that vary from person to person. It does not suggest that if you work really hard you can achieve being a genius it simple says that those who achieved great things did so by increasing their natural abilities through hard work that it didn’t simply land in their laps due to their “gift”. The findings did surprise me because its true that many people want to win but don’t want to work hard to win. It’s not going to be handed to you no matter how smart you are.

2.     2.The author’s view of talent is that its something you have to work for something. Its not handed to you. His view on talent changed throughout his life because when he was younger his mother had told him that he was a genius so he ran with the idea, but later on in life he realized that he might have to out work other or else his writing would count for little. He also said at the end of the article “…how smart you are doesn’t mean jack, and that you have to work demonically regardless”, meaning you have to put in time to get what you want.

3.      3. Basically the characteristics are that success isn’t going to be handed to you no matter what your innate talents are. The characteristics that I found were in this article that were more important than innate talent are hand-eye coordination, perspiration, inspiration, supportive environments, and important mentors.

4.    4.  Steve Hawking views those who boast about their IQs as being losers.

5.    5.  I think the author said that hard work could either encourage you or overwhelm you because it simply true. Either you make up your mind to work hard for something that you really want and can deal with the work that’s comes with getting what you want, or you could be scared off by the amount of work that comes with getting what you want and dismiss the whole idea of success to being with.

6.    6.  I think you assigned this reading because you are trying to show us that anyone can become a genius. Your not born with it, you don’t naturally have it, but you have to want it. And in order to want something you have to work hard to get it, and that what all of us in the class should do. Work hard to get where we want to be.

      I would love to be a genius. most people wish they WERE a genius but according to David Dobbs people aren't just born a genius, they have to work at it just like athletes have to work hard to become professional athletes. If you want to become something you have to put in the effort, or train for it, or time in becoming what you want. Hard work isn't everything though. A supportive environment and supportive people can help pave the way towards your success. Studies have shown that all high achievers have had some source of a mentor in there life to help guide them in the right direction. One study that Dobbs mentioned, involved music students at New York's elite Julliard School and winners of the high school level Westinghouse Science Talent Search. It was found that the Julliard students realized they had full potential when they had one-on-one relationships with their mentors. But most of the Westinghouse winners went on to college without finding mentors to help them through there talent and as a result, only half of them ended up going through with science, and only few of them actually got distinction. So the environment really does play a big role in becoming a genius. You  cant become something over night everybody has to work for what they want. Take Olympic athletes for example they train for years to become where they want to be. with the help of supportive people and environments and the time and effort that you put in to get what you want out then you are a genius. That's why i consider myself a genius because i have put in alot of time to be where i am now with a lot of help from a lot of people. :)