Tactic
Troll marketing: announce something outrageous to grab headlines for free
Shaan names 'troll marketing,' the tactic he saw Shkreli and Trump use in 2016: say or announce something outrageous (offer $10M for a statue, buy the $2M Wu-Tang album) to generate headlines, whether or not you ever follow through.
“I noticed that both of them were doing the same thing, which I just started calling troll marketing, which is basically he would do something like, let's say, uh, I remember once there was some monument or statue that was like for sale in Times Square And he was like, he just goes in public and announces like, I will buy the statue for $10 million. But what he wanted to do was he wanted to own this little thing and then be able to erect like a trolly, like kind of statue of himself in Times Square. And he didn't ever even have to go through with it, but he was like, say a thing, bang, headlines.”
Steal thisMake an outrageous public announcement to capture free press; you often don't even need to follow through.
Framework
Sell Christmas trees in May: publish off-season for outsized reach
Tax articles normally peak in March; nobody reads tax content in September. By publishing a clear, mechanics-focused (not political) explainer of Trump's returns out of season, Erb got 200K+ views on a piece that was shared more than read.
“So yeah, to have a lot of views on something that doesn't directly impact you as a tech story, is pretty unusual, I'd say. I did expect some coverage of it. I think the thing that I got a lot of impact on social media, because actually I think it's probably been shared more than it's been read, is that people were interested in the fact that my— that particular article is more about the mechanics and not about the politics.”
Steal thisPublish authoritative, non-partisan explainers on a hot topic when everyone else is silent and the demand has no supply.
Fact
Obama-era bailout rules let businesses carry back losses for refunds
Erb explains that Obama-era provisions extended 'carrybacks,' which let a business apply a bad year against prior good years to either lower future tax or claim a refund on taxes already paid. Trump used this to claim his large refund.
“there was one year in particular where the president was able to take advantage of Obama-era bailout provisions to extend what's called carrybacks, which is where you can recover if you have like a really good year one year and that you've had a couple of bad years. You can balance those out so that you can either lower your tax bill going forward or you can get a refund based on years previous.”
Number
Trump's $72.9M refund triggered a mandatory committee review
Erb notes Trump received a large refund in 2010 by carrying back losses to offset taxes paid on good Apprentice-era years. By statute, any refund over $2 million goes to a Joint Committee for review, which is what triggered the long-running audit he cited.
$2M
Refund threshold for mandatory Joint Committee review · USD
“That's actually by statute. Once refunds hit over $2 million, they go to a committee. So the people are like, hmm, let's look at this and make sure it's legit, right? So that's what happened. And that was kind of the crux of the audit that the president kept talking about every year when he says he couldn't release his returns because they were on audit.”
Tactic
See your tax person quarterly, not once a year
Erb compares using an accountant only at filing time to visiting the doctor only when sick. Meeting at least quarterly lets your tax pro spot deductions, deferrals, and programs (she cites forgivable, tax-free PPP loans for the self-employed) you'd never find in TurboTax.
“You should at a minimum be meeting with your tax person once a quarter. Um, and that— let them look at your books and say, you know what, turns out that because of COVID and the CARES Act, you may qualify for PPP money, which is the Paycheck Protection Program, which also not only for people that had employees but also for self-employed persons was applicable. That money was a loan, but it was a forgivable loan. So it's tax-free to you.”
Steal thisSchedule a quarterly review with your accountant so opportunities surface before year-end, not after.
Prediction
Miss
Trump wins 2020 because voters want a wartime CEO
Shaan predicts Trump will win the 2020 election despite polls showing a Biden landslide, reasoning that in wartime conditions (China tension, COVID, race unrest) people flee toward the leader they see as stronger and more decisive.
“it's looking like Biden's gonna win in a landslide. And so I was thinking about this, and I was like, to me, I don't think that's what's gonna happen. I would want that to happen, but I don't think that's what's gonna happen.”
Framework
Kayfabe: staged public feuds that secretly benefit both sides
Shaan explains 'kayfabe,' a wrestling term for a pre-agreed fake fight, and applies it to Trump vs. CNN's Jim Acosta: the daily clash produces juicy content for the network and rallying attention for Trump, so neither side actually stops it.
“there's this wrestling term called kayfabe, K-A-Y-F-A-B-E, and he's like Okay, what kayfabe is, is like, you know, in wrestling, it's basically— wrestling is a fake fight, right? WWE, it's like a prearranged sort of agreed-upon fake fight where I'm the hero and you're the heel”
Story
Scott Adams called Trump's win by reading 'linguistic kill shots'
Shaan recounts how Dilbert creator Scott Adams, an early student of persuasion, predicted Trump would win by spotting tactics like 'low energy Jeb' as linguistic kill shots and painting vivid mental pictures instead of discussing policy.
“Scott Adams called it. He goes, this guy's gonna win. And people were like, what? He goes, I've been studying persuasion for 20 years. I've been studying hypnosis. I've been a communicator through cartoon. I know an effective communicator when I see one. This guy is a master.”
Number
Stock buybacks went from 0.5% to 65% of corporate profits
Shaan traces buybacks: banned for ~50 years after 1934, re-legalized under Reagan in 1982. Before the 1982 law, buybacks were 0.5% of profits; by 2008 they hit 77%, and even now 65% of profits go to buybacks instead of wages or growth.
$65
Share of corporate profits spent on stock buybacks · % of profits
“And so You go from in 1982, half a percent of profits were spent on buybacks before this law. 2008, 77% of profits are used for stock buybacks. Even now it's 65%. So 65% of profits not going to employee wages, not going into investing for growth, just announcing stock buybacks.”