I'm hoping this to be a funny-but-it-somehow-works thread of tactics.<p>Of late I've seen product creators declare staggering (unverified) revenues for their side-projects and make it to the front page of HN.<p>I've also seen people get keynote talks due to staggering user and revenue numbers they declared. Yet nobody seems to have asked for verification of their numbers.<p>Can you share examples of unwholesome tactics used by founders that got them results?
Set aside a marketing budget, and then basically sell the $10 item at $9, justifying that the $1 difference is marketing.<p>Have a marketplace. Buy $100 of goods from users selling stuff. The $100 is a marketing expense. Add $100 to GMV.<p>Have 5k users on Android, 3k on iPhone, 8k on web. Add them up to show the product has 16k users.<p>Raise money from an angel who owns a conglomerate. The angel forces all his businesses and people working in these businesses to adopt the app that others wouldn't otherwise trust. Use these totally legitimate clients to create glowing testimonials.<p>As an early stage investor, instead of putting a lump sum into the account, create a dummy company (or several) for the purpose of feeding cash into the startup. When you're raising money, just sign off half a million dollars of consulting fees to show that the startup is making money.<p>Create a review site targeting the users. Write a glowing review about how amazing this app is. Share it to gullible Facebook groups.