Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Start Calling Out Bullshit
Listen, I'm going to cut straight to the point because that's what I'm going to start doing more here at SmartBrandStrategies. We translate bullshit into reality, and today we're taking on the biggest pile of steaming bullshit in the online education space: the so-called "alpha male" guru industrial complex.
As a father raising three boys in this cesspool of digital toxicity, I'm tired of watching predatory man-children in rented Lamborghinis teach vulnerable young men that the path to success involves treating women like property and throwing money at pyramid schemes.
Let's go all in, strip away the veneer and expose the rotten business model underneath.
The Grift Industrial Complex
Andrew Tate: The Poster Child for Everything Wrong
Starting with the king of the shitheads himself. Andrew Tate's "Hustlers University" (now rebranded as "The Real World" because even scammers need a rebrand sometimes) is pulling in $5.65-11 million per month from desperate young men paying $49.99 to access what industry insiders describe as "literally just a Discord server."
Think about that for a second. Nearly $11 million monthly for recycled content you can find free on YouTube, served up with a side of "women are property" rhetoric and a healthy dose of human trafficking charges.
The business model? Pure pyramid scheme wrapped in alpha male cosplay:
- 48-50% affiliate commissions for recruiting new suckers
- Constant upsells to "War Room" elite tiers at $4,497-$8,000 annually
- Zero educational value, maximum exploitation
The Results? 794,000+ usernames exposed in data breaches, Romanian charges for human trafficking involving 35 alleged victims, and a generation of young men learning that success means exploiting vulnerable people.
But hey, at least he has 33 luxury cars while his "students" mortgage their futures for Discord access.
Fresh & Fit: The Discount Andrew Tates
Then we have the Fresh & Fit crew—two charmers who built their "university" on the revolutionary concept that "black women are delusional" and modern dating requires treating women like collectible Pokemon cards.
YouTube demonetized their 1.5 million subscriber channel for "repeated policy violations," but don't worry—they've migrated to selling "DMs on Demand" courses and private Discord access to teenagers who think negging is a personality trait.
Their content strategy? Degrade women for an hour, sell the insecurity that creates, then charge $300-500 for "dating advice" that would get you slapped in any civilized society.
Grant Cardone: The OG Financial Predator
Before Tate was scamming kids with crypto, Grant Cardone was perfecting the art of financial manipulation with his "10X University." This genius charges $19,815 for courses that teach you to view your home as a "money-sinking liability" so you'll funnel cash into his real estate investments.
The SEC has issued multiple warnings about his exaggerated ROI claims, and he's facing class-action lawsuits for misleading investors. But sure, tell us more about that 15% guaranteed return while you're charging low-income tenants premium rents in your apartment complexes.
The Pattern: Narcissism as a Business Model
Here's what every single one of these grifters shares—textbook narcissistic personality disorder monetized through social media algorithms.
Dr. Ramani Durvasula, an expert on narcissistic behavior, confirms what anyone with functioning brain cells can see: these guys exhibit "entitlement, arrogance, and lack of empathy" as core features. They're not teaching success—they're modeling how to exploit insecurity for profit.
The playbook is always the same:
- Lifestyle fraud: Rent expensive shit for Instagram photos
- Fear-based marketing: Target young men's insecurities about dating, money, and masculinity
- Pyramid recruitment: Make money by recruiting, not teaching
- Reality distortion: Create alternate universes where being a piece of shit equals being "alpha"
The Real Damage: What This Really Costs
Financial Devastation
- Individual losses ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars
- 800,000+ annual pyramid scheme victims
- Crypto manipulation causing "massive losses" for followers
- Zero refund policies despite minimal educational value
Psychological Wreckage
- Higher rates of depression, loneliness, and anxiety in followers
- r/ExRedPill has 19,700+ members documenting recovery from this bullshit
- Former followers describe feeling like "sexist assholes" and regretting "dehumanizing women"
- Links to violent extremism and mass attacks
Societal Cancer
- 50% of British men aged 16-24 now believe feminism "has gone too far"
- Teachers reporting classroom disruption and sexual harassment from students spouting this garbage
- Boys refusing assignments from female teachers
- Educational systems developing anti-Tate curricula as countermeasures
What Real Education Actually Looks Like
Since we're in the business of making complex things simple, let's break down the difference between legitimate education and these digital dumpster fires:
Legitimate Programs:
- Transparent pricing and refund policies
- Verifiable instructor credentials and outcomes
- Evidence-based curriculum that actually teaches skills
- Accreditation you can verify
- Student success measured by real metrics, not recruitment numbers
These Scams:
- Hidden fees and impossible refunds
- Instructors whose only credential is owning a camera
- Recycled content from free YouTube videos
- "Accreditation" from the University of Making Shit Up
- Success measured by how many new suckers you can recruit
The Business Ethics Reality Check
Look, we work with businesses every day that want to grow ethically. Real entrepreneurs who create actual value and help real people solve real problems. These alpha bro courses? They're the antithesis of everything ethical business represents.
They're:
- Predatory by design: Targeting the most vulnerable demographics
- Fraudulent in practice: Promising outcomes they can't deliver
- Harmful to society: Spreading toxic ideologies that damage relationships and communities
- Financially exploitative: Using pyramid scheme structures to extract money without providing value
The Bottom Line (Or: How to Not Raise Sociopaths)
As someone who actually builds businesses that create value instead of extracting it from desperate people, here's my advice:
If you're a young man looking for guidance: Find mentors who treat women as equals, who've built something meaningful, and who don't need to rent Ferraris for their Instagram posts. Real success doesn't require putting others down.
If you're a parent: Talk to your kids about this shit. Explain why someone charging $50/month for Discord access while facing human trafficking charges might not be the best role model.
If you're building a business: Ask yourself if your success requires someone else's failure. If it does, you're not building a business—you're running a scam.
Final Thoughts: Teaching Real Masculinity
Real masculinity isn't about dominating others—it's about mastering yourself. It's not about accumulating symbols of wealth—it's about creating actual value. It's not about treating women as conquests—it's about building meaningful relationships based on mutual respect.
The alpha male industrial complex exists because it's easier to sell young men a fantasy of dominance than to teach them the actual skills needed for success: emotional intelligence, empathy, genuine confidence, and the ability to create value for others.
We don't need more Andrew Tates. We need more young men who understand that real strength comes from lifting others up, not tearing them down.
And if that makes me a "beta" in their worldview? Good. I'd rather be a beta than a bankrupt sociopath facing trafficking charges.
At SmartBrandStrategies, we believe in building businesses that make the world better, not worse. If you're tired of industries built on exploitation and want to create something meaningful, let's talk.
And if you're one of these alpha male grifters reading this: your business model is trash, your content is recycled garbage, and your influence on young men is a stain on society. Do better, or get out of the way.