I have hugely mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I don't see how this strategy could play out well in the long-run. The founder comes off as excessively desperate and even untrustworthy. What's weirder is that for him to have any chance of success with this strategy, it would eventually have to become apparent that he was lying. Which makes it all seem even sleazier. To top all of that, there's no way he maintains any long-term positive relationship with the press.<p>On the other hand, there is evidently some payoff from this strategy--I had never heard of this service before this little stunt. Given his actions, though, I wouldn't use it even if I needed it.
Quotes from the article:<p>"I want to grow and build a business more than anyone can understand."<p>"When you want something bad enough, you’re forced to create a path or quit."<p>To me personally, this appears to be the behavior of a clinical narcissist and sociopath.<p>"Love me or hate me. This is the raw me."<p>Confirmed.<p>Where are the entrepreneurs who are able to say, "I will succeed only if I have something to offer." And why? Because it's true -- in the final analysis, you will only succeed if you have something to offer that people want. No amount of lying and media manipulation can stand in for actually having a useful product.