Naval treats get rich quick schemes as economic parasites that prey on human evolutionary biases and mathematical ignorance.
“There are no get rich quick schemes. That’s just someone else getting rich off you.” This insight cuts through decades of self-help marketing. Naval understands market efficiency: “If there’s an easy way to get rich, it’s already been exploited.” The smartest money has already arbitraged away genuine shortcuts.
Schemes manufacture false hope by exploiting ancient wiring. “There are a lot of people who will sell you ideas and schemes on how to make money. But they’re always selling you some $79.95 course or some audiobook or seminar.” The scheme becomes the product. The seller’s unique insight is persuasion, not value creation.
Schemes violate the laws of thermodynamics. Energy cannot be created from nothing. Real leverage comes from code, media, and capital—not courses. Schemes offer fake leverage that collapses under scrutiny.
“Your get-rich-quick schemes are just other people getting rich off of you. There are no shortcuts.”
Naval’s integrity philosophy exposes this parasitism. “Everything that I’ve ever created on this topic of how to make money, I will never charge a dollar for. Because that would ruin it. That would show that I’m just another huckster who’s ready to get rich off of you.” Free advice proves alignment. Paid schemes prove extraction. This reflects his deeper understanding of misaligned incentives.
He connects schemes to gambling psychology. “The lottery is for losers. Lotteries are just attacks on people who can’t do math.” Both exploit identical cognitive biases: overweighting small probabilities and underestimating exponential returns.
Schemes prey on restless minds. Naval extends this beyond money: “Avoid debt, jail, addiction, disgrace, shortcuts, and media.” Real wealth requires patient capital, sound decision-making, and relentless practice. These cannot be packaged because they demand years of focused work—the opposite of what our nature craves.