Faking It: The Power and Perils of Pretending

Faking it till you make it can lead to success, but crossing ethical boundaries may result in severe consequences.

### The Power and Perils of "Fake It Till You Make It"
* 💼 "**7 out of 10 employees lie on their resume**, and **65% say lying has helped them land a higher salary**."
* 📈 Faking it extends to various domains, from body language to online popularity, with over **58% of Instagram Mega influencers engaging in fraudulent activities** to boost their follower count.
* 🎤 Artists often create **false backstories** or use **misleading tactics** to enhance their image or perceived popularity.
* 🏛 The Enron scandal in 2001, one of the biggest cases of corporate fraud in American history, serves as a cautionary tale about the **thin line between faking it and fraud**.
* 🩺 Theranos, founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2003, is a case study of a company that ran on a "**fake it till you make it**" mentality, leading to **inaccurate test results** and ultimately **fraud charges** against Holmes.
* 🏦 Robinhood CEO Charlie Jarvis defrauded investors by **inflating the number of customers** when selling the company to JPMorgan Chase, highlighting the consequences of **crossing ethical boundaries**.
* 💡 While employing tactics like lying on resumes or pretending to be more confident can be beneficial, the key is **knowing when to stop** and being able to **follow through with commitments**.
* 🌐 Even small tactics like using the word "**we**" to create the illusion of a team behind a YouTube channel can **enhance credibility** and **attract more viewers**.

you have two options. Option one: continue on 
your current path, rely solely on your talent, skills, past achievements, and dedication, 
a path of authenticity, hard work, and the belief that perseverance will ultimately 
lead you to conquering your goals. Option two: take a gamble, rethink what it means to be 
authentic, understand the powers of perception, learn how to better seize opportunities, 
and challenge your ethical boundaries on the path to success. Option two is not 
about malicious deceit or trickery; it's about overcoming obstacles and stretching 
yourself beyond your comfort zone to embody 
the person you aspire to be. But beware, if you 
take this path, you must tread carefully. [Music] I want to 
offer a free Tech life hack - June 2012 at Ted 
global social psychologist Amy Cuddy gives the 
speech Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are. 
Well, she argues that power posing, standing in 
a posture of confidence even when we're not, 
can boost feelings of confidence and might 
even have an impact on our chances of success. Her 
speech has been viewed over 90 million times.

talk and the original scientific paper inspired numerous studies, books, and articles on the power of faking it till you make it. Using non-verbal cues to enhance confidence and performance. But what these sources don't tell you is that the power of faking it extends far beyond the realm of body language. In 1964, a three-time college dropout applies to a talent agency in hopes of landing an agent job. One of the requirements for the position is being a college graduate. So he applies to a lower position in the building, working in the mail room. On his application, he states that he graduated from UCLA, a university only three miles up the road from the agency. Once he begins working in the mail room, he's able to intercept the letter from UCLA stating that he never even attended their university and replaces it with a letter of his own. He quickly gets the agent job and eventually donates enough money to the school that they rename a building after him.

he's currently worth 8.5 billion dollars. This 
isn't rare. 7 out of 10 employees lie on their resume, and 65% say lying has helped them land a 
higher salary. When your worth is determined by the value you're able to negotiate for, it makes 
sense to try and do anything you can to increase this number. But the fake-it mentality doesn't only 
apply to corporate employment. Co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, was notorious for faking presentations 
for products that didn't work, yet a skill also mastered by Thomas Edison. They exaggerated and 
presented products before they were functional, but they didn't lie about their skill set or 
capabilities. They possess the expertise and determination to overcome obstacles and turn these 
ideas into reality. And these famous examples are 
really only the tip of the iceberg. A quick search 
reveals a vast array of anecdotes illustrating 
how countless individuals have achieved success by 
employing this fake-it-to-you-make-it approach.

you can read through these on a website that's. Founders initially posted on hundreds of fake accounts so the site appeared marketable something almost every social networking site did. And its purpose now extends Beyond making the platforms themselves appear popular. There are thousands of services now aimed at enhancing your own perceived popularity through the use of online Bots, followers, likes, even live stream viewers can be and often are fake. Studies by Statistica and Imai founded in 2022 alone over 58% of Instagram Mega influencers were engaged in fraudulent activities to increase their follower count, and 25 percent of all influencers had directly purchased fake followers. The motivation for this is very clear. You'd probably be more eager to subscribe to my channel if I had 600,000 subscribers rather than 600 because when someone has a large fan base, it serves as social proof that their content or ideas are valuable and appealing to others. But more

importantly, in this era of influencer marketing, where companies and artists will raise awareness of their products, services, or music by paying an influencer to promote them. Having more followers and engagement means negotiating more money, and it makes sense to try and do anything you can to increase the number. Being an influencer is one of the only ways you can get rich by pretending to be rich. Pretending to be more wealthy or attractive than they really are is the norm, and it's something rappers have been doing for years. I think your attorney said that you're gonna have to file for bankruptcy, but then you're dumping two million dollars. Are you not now a Sitting Duck to have that money seized? I ain't got it right now. I ain't got it. And that was prop money, like I said. I ain't got it. I got two twin Glocks turning to a dance, uh. I don't have no straps for nobody. I got fans, money. I'm flying to friends, drinking, telling [ __ ] land. Nah, I never went to France.

okay Airline took on a gang crashed Ferrari so I hopped into bands. I don't even drive. It's not just wealth either. Artists have historically created false backstories to enhance their image, like Akon pretending he was leading a fast and furious car theft ring or Rick Ross stealing an actual drug kingpin's name. De Niro Ferrar even made fun of this in his okay music video. None of this is my jewelry, this is all prop. Literally everything down, only thing that's mine is these pants, these shoes ain't even mess, this is all a stunt, basically. This is a problem. Artists and labels also employ misleading systems and streaming statistics to enhance the popularity of their releases, like bundling tickets with album sales, releasing repetitive chorus loops, and engaging in business arrangements like buying and giving away a million Jay-Z albums so his album goes platinum in a week. These moves are all the boost artists perceived to popularity, leaving us all the questions.

how many faking they streams these artists have? All benefited from these tactics, and while it's misleading, it's not actually harmful to anybody. They're not hurting you by selling you an image of themselves or their success that may be misleading. It's not like they're a politician like Donald Trump who ran off his image as a successful businessman, an image that wasn't entirely accurate. Trump is arguably the greatest example of fake it till you make it. He built such a successful personal brand that the money he made off Celebrity Apprentice overshadowed any of his previous business failings and eventually landed him the presidency. It's not all positive. The line between faking it and fraud is a very thin one. The House Financial Services Committee will begin the First Congressional hearings on the Enron debacle tomorrow morning. Some Enron employees say they are still hopeful that both their company and their jobs can be salvaged somehow, not to testify.

based on my fifth amendment constitutional 
rights. In 2001, Energy company Enron was at   the center of one of the biggest cases of 
corporate fraud in American history. Enron   had been viewed as a Pioneer for its innovative 
approach to energy Commodities, turning them into   Financial products that could be bought, sold, 
and traded like stocks. Enron had engaged in a   technique known as Mark-to-Market accounting, 
which allowed them to Mark future Financial   projections onto their current income statements, 
as well as writing off losses through spe's, or   essentially companies created by Enron to 
isolate risk so they want to be reported   under Enron, further giving a false impression 
of their finances. The revelation of this fraud   led to Enron's bankruptcy, reforms, and accounting 
regulations, and a 24-year prison sentence for its   CEO. To this day, the entire industry of financial 
reporting runs on regulations that were put into   place directly as a result of Enron, and the 
Scandal has left a permanent mark on society's

view of the business world in 2003. Enron vice president Christian Holmes's daughter founded the company of her own. The now infamous dropping out of Stanford to focus on the project. Holmes, who had been dubbed the next Steve Jobs, promised to revolutionize the medical field with cheap, accessible, and quick blood testing technology using only a few drops of blood. Investigations by journalists and regulatory agencies revealed that the company was using industry standard machines for most of their tests, and due to the sample size of the blood, many of the results were inaccurate, leading to misdiagnosis and death. One of their employees even committed suicide due to stress of keeping the company secret. The company, which was once found valued at 10 billion dollars, had been running on this fake it till you make it mentality from the start, with Elizabeth Holmes even allegedly faking her voice in interviews and appearances. In January 2022, Holmes was sentenced to 11 years in prison for fraud. The randos has been somewhat of a case study for fraud with the

story being depicted in the Hulu miniseries The Dropout and people drawing similarities between Holmes and any fraudulent startup founder like Charlie Jarvis. In 2016, Jarvis founded Frank, a website that assisted students in obtaining loans and financial aid. In 2021, she sold the company to JPMorgan Chase. The next year, she was sued by JPMorgan for fraud. But unlike Theranos, Frank did everything it said it did. Jarvis wasn't toying with people's lives or health. Frank simply helped students fill out loan applications for a small fee. The problem arose when Jarvis paid a data scientist eighteen thousand dollars for a list of 4 million fake student names and addresses, and then sold the company to JPMorgan under the pretense that she had over 4 million customers, when in actuality that number was around 300,000. When JPMorgan realized 70% of their emails were bouncing back, they sued her for fraud. The backlash was very different for Jarvis. She's been

looked at more as a modern-day selfish Robin 
Hood. After all, she defrauded investors in the   bank, but not her customers or everyday people. 
She scammed the rich, and when you scam the rich,   you go to jail. In May 2023, a four-count grand 
jury charged Javis with securities fraud, wire   fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy, and she faces 
up to a hundred years in prison if convicted. My father was a con man. He worked his way up 
at his company, became vice president, then left   to start his own business with loans he got in 
others' names, got supplies from vendors under false   pretenses, billed them to his ex-employer's account, 
and once convinced the store he was contracted to   work on to install fake security cameras because 
they were cheaper, and then stole from that store   regularly for years. His company, which made over a 
million dollars, was sued for fraud, and my father   died with less than three thousand dollars in 
assets. The difference between Elizabeth Holmes

and Steve Jobs, my father, and any successful entrepreneurs, is knowing when to stop. While he also faked presentations, Steve Jobs didn't work in healthcare. He wasn't putting others' lives on the line to get what he wanted. He wasn't defrauding investors or associates. While it might cross certain ethical boundaries, lying on your resume about job titles or certain responsibilities, misrepresenting how successful or skilled you are, or even just pretending to be more confident than you are might be the best move for you, as long as you can follow through with your commitments. Even something as small as a single word can change how others view you. It's the reason you see YouTube channels refer to themselves as we, as if there's a team behind them, even if it's just run by one person. It creates an illusion, a tactic that can enhance credibility, making viewers take them more seriously and potentially choosing their content.

over that of others. The line between faking it and fraud is a very thin one, but if you employ these tactics correctly, you might be more confident. You might be able to finally get the job you've been trying to get. Hell, if you employ these tactics correctly, you might even get elected president. [Music] [Music]

The Art of Faking It

TyFrom99

The Power of "Faking It Till You Make It"

- Power posing and faking confidence can impact success, as seen in Amy Cuddy's popular TED talk.

- Faking qualifications and skills is common, with many employees lying on their resumes to boost their careers.

- Successful figures like Steve Jobs and Thomas Edison have used the "fake it till you make it" mentality to present ideas and products before they were fully developed, relying on their expertise to turn them into reality.

The use of fake accounts and bots to boost social media presence is widespread, with a significant number of influencers and artists buying fake followers.

Pretending to be popular is a way to attract genuine followers and secure higher income through influencer marketing.

Artists also use deceptive tactics to enhance their image and boost their popularity, such as creating false backstories and manipulating streaming statistics.

The Impact of Fakery: From Trump to Enron to Holmes

Many public figures, including Donald Trump, have used the "fake it till you make it" approach to build their success.

However, the thin line between faking it and fraud is exemplified by the Enron scandal, which led to bankruptcy, regulatory reforms, and a lengthy prison sentence for the CEO.

Elizabeth Holmes, who also adopted this mentality, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for fraud related to her company's fake blood testing technology, demonstrating the damaging consequences of fakery.

The Stories of Elizabeth Holmes and Charlie Jarvis

Charlie Jarvis, similar to Elizabeth Holmes, faced legal action for fraud, but her case involved a different approach, focusing on student loans and financial aid.

Jarvis's fraudulent actions, while impacting investors and JPMorgan Chase, were seen as a form of "robbing the rich," leading to a distinct public perception.

In contrast, the story of Elizabeth Holmes involves a different type of fraud related to healthcare technology, resulting in a significant legal battle and the potential for a lengthy prison sentence.

The Thin Line Between Faking It and Fraud as a Strategy

Steve Jobs and successful entrepreneurs know when to stop, but Jobs didn't work in healthcare or defraud others.

Lying on a resume or pretending to be more confident can be effective if done with commitment, as seen in YouTube channels' use of "we.

" When used correctly, these tactics can enhance credibility and potentially lead to success, but the line between faking it and fraud is thin.