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Title: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: kik1977 on March 11, 2014, 08:27:14 PM Overstock has just sent this email to over 41 million people in the US! Can you think about a better ad? In the link, the FULL article!
http://www.overstock.com/80786/static.html?ehid=EF916438FE97B21EE040010A249C4B4A Dear Valued Customer, Enclosed, please find the Wired Magazine article, "Meet Patrick Byrne: Bitcoin Messiah, CEO of Overstock, Scourge of Wall Street". It concerns the decade-long battle Overstock has waged to expose Wall Street mischief. The backstory is as follows: Overstock went public in 2002. Between 2002 and 2005 I found myself mingling with various Wall Street bankers, hedge funds, and journalists, and began to form an impression (and hear) of unsavory activity. I made it my hobby to study it, and in 2005 I went public about what I had learned. For several years thereafter, the New York financial press derided and distorted my claims, often to the point of appearing to engage in a cover-up. When in 2008 what I had been saying became indisputable, Wall Street went silent about this episode. The enclosed Wired article recounts that history, and explains how it is related to Overstock's recent decision to accept Bitcoin. I understand that you may not be interested in tales of corruption in Wall Street and Washington, DC, and if so, please simply enjoy the coupon above. However, if you read this piece from Wired, which effectively ends a cover-up regarding the Battle of Overstock versus Wall Street, I think you will understand why I chose to share this article with 41.7 million of my closest friends. Your humble servant, Patrick M. Byrne, CEO "Scourge of Wall Street" Edit: title changed to reflect the amount of receivers Title: Re: Email from Overstock Post by: kik1977 on March 11, 2014, 08:34:11 PM Patrick Byrne says the zombie apocalypse is coming, and there's one thing that can save us: bitcoin.
He tells me this during a phone call from his car, a black Tesla Model S that's winding its way through the mountains above Salt Lake City, on its way to Byrne's home in the Utah ski country. Byrne is the CEO and chairman of Salt Lake's Overstock.com, one of the world's largest online retailers with more than $1.3 billion a year in sales, and he's about to place an enormous bet on bitcoin, the digital currency that exists only on the internet. In the estimation of many leading economists, bitcoin is a fatally flawed idea shaped by people who don't really understand how money works. But Byrne is an unorthodox thinker, a three-time cancer survivor with a PhD in philosophy who's never been afraid to fight for what the rest of the world sees as complete madness. Though he runs a company that's publicly traded on Wall Street, he spent much of the last decade accusing Wall Street's biggest brokers of widespread corruption – not to mention Wall Street hedge funds, analysts, reporters, and government regulators – arguing in the most grandiloquent terms that their greed would eventually bring the country crashing down. It's no surprise that his maverick career would collide with the equally iconoclastic bitcoin. It's as if his whole life has been leading to this. As he drives to his mountain cabin, Byrne reveals that his company is a week away from accepting payments in bitcoin, and he sees this as a small but important step toward a financial revolution the world so desperately needs. He has long warned that our economy is hurtling toward another massive recession – what he calls the zombie apocalypse – and he believes bitcoin can shelter us from the fallout. If the digital currency reaches its true potential, he tells me, it might even avert this apocalypse all-together. "Someday, either zombies walk the Earth or something close to that," says Byrne, the son of the man who built the GEICO insurance empire, Jack Byrne, and a protege of Warren Buffet, the most successful investor in the history of Wall Street. "Bitcoin is the solution." In recent months, countless others have floated bitcoin as a panacea for the world's financial ills. But like Marc Andreessen, one of the founding fathers of the web browser, who has also put his weight behind the digital currency, Byrne brings more than highfalutin metaphors to the table. The 51-year-old has proven that, beneath his wonderfully entertaining and often perplexing way of describing the world, he has a knack for seeing where things are going before others do. The problem with the modern economy, Byrne says, is that it rests on the whims of our government and our big banks, that each has the power to create money that's backed by nothing but themselves. Thanks to what's called fractional reserve banking, a bank can take in $10 in deposits, but then loan out $100. The government can make more dollars at any time, instantly reducing the currency's value. Eventually, he says, laying down a classic libertarian metaphor, this "magic money tree" will come crashing down. But bitcoin is different. It's like online gold: The supply of the digital currency is controlled by software running across a worldwide network of computers, and its value is decided not by the feds or the big banks, but by the people. "It can make our country more robust," says Byrne, a disciple of the Austrian school of economics, which holds that our economy should rest on the judgments of individuals, not a central authority. "We want a money that some government mandarin can't just whisk into existence with a pen stroke." Zombies. Magic money trees. Mandarins. As Byrne admits, it's a ten-dollar answer to my ten-cent question about his plans for the future of Overstock.com, and although I know the man well, I can't help but wonder how much of this is just him calling attention to himself. But a week after this phone call, Byrne will make good on his promise, as Overstock becomes the first major online retailer to accept payments in bitcoin, letting you buy everything from patio furniture to smartphone cases with the fledgling digital currency. And the following month, during Overstock's quarterly earnings call, he will reveal that he has personally converted millions of dollars into bitcoin. The Overstock CEO is placing more than one big bet on an unpredictable future, but Byrne has proven himself prescient before – about the internet and the media as well as the economy. It's only natural that Overstock would be the first big-name company to embrace bitcoin, and you can bet that Byrne is serious about pushing the digital currency into the everyday world. On one level, Overstock is your basic bargain retailer, a company that will sell you just about anything on the cheap. But under the leadership of Byrne – who's not only a doctor of philosophy but a onetime amateur boxer – this is also a company that's seven years into a lawsuit that accuses venerable investment banks Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch of a "massive, illegal stock market manipulation scheme." At times, his battles with Wall Street have left him a lonely figure, belittled by the establishment. For years, large portions of the financial press questioned his sanity as he so vehemently – and so colorfully – claimed that some of the biggest names on Wall Street were complicit in a scheme to drive Overstock and other companies out of business using a loophole in the stock market. But after the financial crash of 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission moved to close that very hole. And in the years since, Overstock has established itself as a profitable business, even as Byrne continues his crusade against Wall Street. "He's not just an opinionated jerk, though it sometimes sounds that way," says Bill Hambrecht, the investment banker who helped Byrne take Overstock public in 2002 using what's called a Dutch auction, a method that loosens the influence of the big Wall Street banks, preventing them from taking their typically enormous cut of an IPO. "He puts us on a little bit, just to bring attention to the issues. But he has brought attention to them, and though he has made some wrong calculations, he's hung in there, and he has built a really good business – something I don't think he's gotten proper credit for." Adopting bitcoin is the next step along this same road. As Overstock embraces the digital currency, Byrne predicts it will spur other big names to follow its lead, including rival Amazon, and push the world toward a future where bitcoin is a true alternative to the dollar. But, looking further down the road, as he is wont to do, he also believes that the very public, math-driven system that underpins bitcoin can remake Wall Street, eliminating the market loopholes he has railed against for so many years. Title: Re: Email from Overstock Post by: ManeBjorn on March 11, 2014, 08:34:44 PM That is great.
Overstock kicks butt. Now I wish other retailers would follow suit. Overstock has just sent this email to over 41 millions people in the US! Can you think about a better ad? In the link, the FULL article! http://www.overstock.com/80786/static.html?ehid=EF916438FE97B21EE040010A249C4B4A Dear Valued Customer, Enclosed, please find the Wired Magazine article, "Meet Patrick Byrne: Bitcoin Messiah, CEO of Overstock, Scourge of Wall Street". It concerns the decade-long battle Overstock has waged to expose Wall Street mischief. The backstory is as follows: Overstock went public in 2002. Between 2002 and 2005 I found myself mingling with various Wall Street bankers, hedge funds, and journalists, and began to form an impression (and hear) of unsavory activity. I made it my hobby to study it, and in 2005 I went public about what I had learned. For several years thereafter, the New York financial press derided and distorted my claims, often to the point of appearing to engage in a cover-up. When in 2008 what I had been saying became indisputable, Wall Street went silent about this episode. The enclosed Wired article recounts that history, and explains how it is related to Overstock's recent decision to accept Bitcoin. I understand that you may not be interested in tales of corruption in Wall Street and Washington, DC, and if so, please simply enjoy the coupon above. However, if you read this piece from Wired, which effectively ends a cover-up regarding the Battle of Overstock versus Wall Street, I think you will understand why I chose to share this article with 41.7 million of my closest friends. Your humble servant, Patrick M. Byrne, CEO "Scourge of Wall Street" Title: Re: Email from Overstock Post by: Phinnaeus Gage on March 11, 2014, 08:37:37 PM Here's a better link to the article in question: http://www.wired.com/business/2014/02/rise-fall-rise-patrick-byrne/
Quote At one point, he accused Fortune reporter Bethany McLean1 of “giving Goldman traders blowjobs.” And this did not lead to more favorable coverage from Fortune or the rest of the financial media. “Maybe the Sith Lord is actually Patrick Byrne himself — because he has become his own worst enemy,” McLean later wrote in Fortune. “Nietzsche said it best: ‘Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.’” In The New York Times, veteran financial columnist Joe Nocera branded the conference call “loony beyond belief” and described Byrne as a menace who harassed reporters just to silence criticism of his company. I think I found my real father. ::) Title: Re: Email from Overstock Post by: freedomno1 on March 11, 2014, 08:39:38 PM Overstock has just sent this email to over 41 millions people in the US! Can you think about a better ad? In the link, the FULL article! http://www.overstock.com/80786/static.html?ehid=EF916438FE97B21EE040010A249C4B4A Dear Valued Customer, Enclosed, please find the Wired Magazine article, "Meet Patrick Byrne: Bitcoin Messiah, CEO of Overstock, Scourge of Wall Street". It concerns the decade-long battle Overstock has waged to expose Wall Street mischief. The backstory is as follows: Overstock went public in 2002. Between 2002 and 2005 I found myself mingling with various Wall Street bankers, hedge funds, and journalists, and began to form an impression (and hear) of unsavory activity. I made it my hobby to study it, and in 2005 I went public about what I had learned. For several years thereafter, the New York financial press derided and distorted my claims, often to the point of appearing to engage in a cover-up. When in 2008 what I had been saying became indisputable, Wall Street went silent about this episode. The enclosed Wired article recounts that history, and explains how it is related to Overstock's recent decision to accept Bitcoin. I understand that you may not be interested in tales of corruption in Wall Street and Washington, DC, and if so, please simply enjoy the coupon above. However, if you read this piece from Wired, which effectively ends a cover-up regarding the Battle of Overstock versus Wall Street, I think you will understand why I chose to share this article with 41.7 million of my closest friends. Your humble servant, Patrick M. Byrne, CEO "Scourge of Wall Street" Wow this was a treat I was not expecting today thanks for the post And yes Wall street has a dark corner Title: Re: Email from Overstock Post by: chocobo on March 11, 2014, 08:40:55 PM This was today right?
Title: Re: Email from Overstock Post by: Lauda on March 11, 2014, 08:44:27 PM Overstock is great. Nice advertisement.
Title: Re: Email from Overstock Post by: gweedo on March 11, 2014, 08:45:39 PM Quote Meet Patrick Byrne: Bitcoin Messiah, CEO of Overstock, Right there people will dismiss it, sadly they know nothing about marketing. I use to read books about email marketing, and this breaks every rule. First off I hope they didn't just blast 41 million emails out. They should have analytics to know when to send out emails to the right people. They have enough information they could easily figure out a good time and spread them over that time period making sure they get the best response to it. Also using words like "Messiah" not only insult people like me who have been doing every thing we can to help bitcoin with money, time and just spending 24/7 on it, but also people that have no clue about bitcoin will now go well this guy is full of himself. So while we can all think this is amazing, it really shows that overstock is another company that really has no clue to run it's business using marketing. Title: Re: Email from Overstock Post by: Gilberto on March 11, 2014, 08:45:54 PM Overstock has just sent this email to over 41 millions people in the US! Can you think about a better ad? In the link, the FULL article! http://www.overstock.com/80786/static.html?ehid=EF916438FE97B21EE040010A249C4B4A Dear Valued Customer, Enclosed, please find the Wired Magazine article, "Meet Patrick Byrne: Bitcoin Messiah, CEO of Overstock, Scourge of Wall Street". It concerns the decade-long battle Overstock has waged to expose Wall Street mischief. The backstory is as follows: Overstock went public in 2002. Between 2002 and 2005 I found myself mingling with various Wall Street bankers, hedge funds, and journalists, and began to form an impression (and hear) of unsavory activity. I made it my hobby to study it, and in 2005 I went public about what I had learned. For several years thereafter, the New York financial press derided and distorted my claims, often to the point of appearing to engage in a cover-up. When in 2008 what I had been saying became indisputable, Wall Street went silent about this episode. The enclosed Wired article recounts that history, and explains how it is related to Overstock's recent decision to accept Bitcoin. I understand that you may not be interested in tales of corruption in Wall Street and Washington, DC, and if so, please simply enjoy the coupon above. However, if you read this piece from Wired, which effectively ends a cover-up regarding the Battle of Overstock versus Wall Street, I think you will understand why I chose to share this article with 41.7 million of my closest friends. Your humble servant, Patrick M. Byrne, CEO "Scourge of Wall Street" This is great. One note is that at some point Bitcoin may not be the best currency to use for shopping. Bitcoin is volatile because it functions more like a stock while a currency is supposed to be something stable As next generation crypto technologies hit the scene the opportunity will arrive for individuals and businesses to use truly stable currencies. At that point the question will be where do we want to go next? The Mt Gox situation has shown us that we will need Proof of Solvency, Proof of Reserve, and Proof of Collateral. This will be to protect customers, investors and businesses alike. What we need to spend more time on is discussing the possible solutions so we can figure out how to bring companies like Overstock completely into the cryptocurrency fold. Title: Re: Email from Overstock Post by: deltanine on March 11, 2014, 08:45:59 PM Overstock has just sent this email to over 41 millions people in the US! Can you think about a better ad? In the link, the FULL article! http://www.overstock.com/80786/static.html?ehid=EF916438FE97B21EE040010A249C4B4A Dear Valued Customer, Enclosed, please find the Wired Magazine article, "Meet Patrick Byrne: Bitcoin Messiah, CEO of Overstock, Scourge of Wall Street". It concerns the decade-long battle Overstock has waged to expose Wall Street mischief. The backstory is as follows: Overstock went public in 2002. Between 2002 and 2005 I found myself mingling with various Wall Street bankers, hedge funds, and journalists, and began to form an impression (and hear) of unsavory activity. I made it my hobby to study it, and in 2005 I went public about what I had learned. For several years thereafter, the New York financial press derided and distorted my claims, often to the point of appearing to engage in a cover-up. When in 2008 what I had been saying became indisputable, Wall Street went silent about this episode. The enclosed Wired article recounts that history, and explains how it is related to Overstock's recent decision to accept Bitcoin. I understand that you may not be interested in tales of corruption in Wall Street and Washington, DC, and if so, please simply enjoy the coupon above. However, if you read this piece from Wired, which effectively ends a cover-up regarding the Battle of Overstock versus Wall Street, I think you will understand why I chose to share this article with 41.7 million of my closest friends. Your humble servant, Patrick M. Byrne, CEO "Scourge of Wall Street" Just bought a couch from them yesterday... with Bitcoin of course. But I haven't received my email yet. Thanks for sharing. Title: Re: Email from Overstock Post by: corebob on March 11, 2014, 09:57:48 PM It appears this guy Patrick Byrne is not just another corporate clown.
Interesting ... Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: QuestionAuthority on March 11, 2014, 10:33:07 PM That's a little unusual but nice. Kind of strange behavior for a professional businessman with his credentials. It's good for Bitcoin to finally get some positive press (well kind of positive in a weird backwards I hate the mainstream American financial system Bitcoin is for the fringe radicals sort of way).
Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: btc_jumpnrl on March 11, 2014, 11:53:23 PM That's a little unusual but nice. Kind of strange behavior for a professional businessman with his credentials. It's good for Bitcoin to finally get some positive press (well kind of positive in a weird backwards I hate the mainstream American financial system Bitcoin is for the fringe radicals sort of way). IMO, Professionalism is over rated. The idea of professionalism is just political correctness drained of emotion wrapped up with corporate politics, and we need less of all of that. I just read through some of the previous articles about him and man there's some interesting stuff in there besides the bitcoin related stuff. The article about his repost of a question set from a reporter with his own responses is particularly interesting and just makes me the like the guy even more. (http://www.deepcapture.com/tim-mullaney-and-patrick-byrne-discuss-20-businessweek/) Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: FeedbackLoop on March 11, 2014, 11:57:27 PM That's a little unusual but nice. Kind of strange behavior for a professional businessman with his credentials. It's good for Bitcoin to finally get some positive press (well kind of positive in a weird backwards I hate the mainstream American financial system Bitcoin is for the fringe radicals sort of way). IMO, Professionalism is over rated. The idea of professionalism is just political correctness drained of emotion wrapped up with corporate politics, and we need less of all of that. I just read through some of the previous articles about him and man there's some interesting stuff in there besides the bitcoin related stuff. The article about his repost of a question set from a reporter with his own responses is particularly interesting and just makes me the like the guy even more. (http://www.deepcapture.com/tim-mullaney-and-patrick-byrne-discuss-20-businessweek/) +1e6 Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: bryant.coleman on March 12, 2014, 04:01:36 AM love you Overstock.... hell with Amazon / Ebay.
Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: jbreher on March 12, 2014, 04:39:47 AM Patrick Byrne is an f'in rockstar. If you've not watched his expose' on naked short selling, you really ought to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpWzOjB8qtU Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: Arksun on March 12, 2014, 04:57:58 AM I urge everyone not to read just the short version copy and paste in the second post in this thread but the full length article on the wired website, really fascinating read.
Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: WesandEAC on March 12, 2014, 05:05:19 AM I remember the Byrne days well while managing a fund hehe. He was being shorted to the high heavens. Naked shorts and he attacked Wall Street in general because of it. Good for him. Must feel good.
Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: kik1977 on March 12, 2014, 10:50:03 AM I wonder how long it will take for Amazon to jump in too.. hope in the meanwhile will grab a big chunk of the market!
Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: V4Vendettas on March 12, 2014, 11:46:52 AM That's awesome! ;D If only they expanded btc sales to the UK still really great news .
Now the public just needs a way of getting fast easy and btc. I know you guys in the US and China got ATM's but man we are so far behind in the UK. Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: sifter on March 12, 2014, 02:09:06 PM That's awesome
Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: ManeBjorn on March 12, 2014, 04:10:46 PM I was so happy to see this thread yesterday I wrote about it.
Overstock and Patrick Byrne are kicking butt. http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/2014/03/12/overstock-ceo-sheds-light-wall-street-greed-bitcoins-value-new-currency/ (http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/2014/03/12/overstock-ceo-sheds-light-wall-street-greed-bitcoins-value-new-currency/) Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: bitjoint on March 12, 2014, 04:17:32 PM Hahaha, this is friggin' AWESOME... 41M is quite a bit of audience.. well done!
Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: yatsey87 on March 12, 2014, 05:06:46 PM Hahaha, this is friggin' AWESOME... 41M is quite a bit of audience.. well done! Yeah, but how many of them will actually read the article? Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: drrussellshane on March 12, 2014, 05:08:51 PM Hahaha, this is friggin' AWESOME... 41M is quite a bit of audience.. well done! Yeah, but how many of them will actually read the article? Millions of people will at least start reading it, I would say. Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: minimalB on March 12, 2014, 07:52:25 PM What a cool marketing move by Overstock! This CEO kicks ass!
Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: TTM on March 12, 2014, 09:30:28 PM Hahaha, this is friggin' AWESOME... 41M is quite a bit of audience.. well done! Yeah, but how many of them will actually read the article? Millions of people will at least start reading it, I would say. I bet that less than 1% will read it, they messed up the most basic rules of email marketing. Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: freedomno1 on March 12, 2014, 10:27:15 PM Released near the 25th anniversary of the internet calling for the next age of technology
I must give him props for his timing Were entering the next doorway now Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: Phinnaeus Gage on March 12, 2014, 11:00:37 PM I guess choosing Overstock for the QR-Code link was a pretty good idea for the Super Bowl banner below that was not allowed into MetLife Stadium for Super Bowl XLVIII.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5506/12120323653_c8d1720e03.jpg Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: yatsey87 on March 12, 2014, 11:11:53 PM Hahaha, this is friggin' AWESOME... 41M is quite a bit of audience.. well done! Yeah, but how many of them will actually read the article? Millions of people will at least start reading it, I would say. I bet that less than 1% will read it, they messed up the most basic rules of email marketing. Yeah, I doubt I'd read it if some CEO of a company I'd bought from randomly sent me an email. Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: Nathonas on March 12, 2014, 11:48:30 PM Excellent article. I had no idea the Overstock CEO decided to accept Bitcoin because he actually believes in it and because he sees the blatant corruption and problems in the fiat system. Also I agree with him that another big recession is in the making if we don't change the way the economy runs, be it with cryptocurrency or something else.
Also, random fact about Overstock I found on Wikipedia: "in January 2010, the National Retail Federation ranked the company #2 in the U.S. for best customer service.[23] In December of the same year, a Forbes-commissioned study found Overstock.com to be one of the top 10 best places to work in America." I think I'll be switching from Amazon to Overstock. We need to support companies that care about people (both their customers and employees) and support Bitcoin. Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: leopard2 on March 12, 2014, 11:59:45 PM what? streets are full of zombies already, those that trust fiat money.
but there is hope, hail bitcoin! I love this CEO. :) Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: davida on March 13, 2014, 02:08:46 AM From 41 million emails I would think at least half a million people read it. Still, not bad at all..
Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: Lauda on March 13, 2014, 08:48:39 PM From 41 million emails I would think at least half a million people read it. Still, not bad at all.. They should. Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: testigodehumanidad on March 14, 2014, 03:11:54 AM Oh hell yes,
Byrne is the not so hidden wolf in sheep's clothing. He may own overstock, but he knows what the fuck is up in Wall Street. There is a fascinating story that he tells in an interview that turned him on to investigating financial fraud in the following link http://peacerevolution.podomatic.com/entry/2010-05-18T16_27_48-07_00 (http://peacerevolution.podomatic.com/entry/2010-05-18T16_27_48-07_00). Basically some random guy comes to him and tells him he needs to do a few things with his company or he will run into trouble. Bryne doesn't believe him and this guy makes 3 predictions, all of which come true. One of the predictions was journalistic hit pieces written against him in a specific time frame. Can't remember the others currently...something to do with Overstock being illegally listed on foreign exchanges and some other one. (Byrne didn't do the illegal exchanges, someone wanting to attack overtsock did it.) Bryne tried to reach the guy a year later and realized this insider knew a ton that he need to investigate. There is a secret about wall st. so huge, if the public found out it was true, they would probably set NYSE on fire. It's also covered in the interview, I can't really do it justice. Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: the_poet on March 14, 2014, 07:56:21 AM Quote ‘Someday, either zombies walk the Earth or something close to that. Bitcoin is the solution’ — Patrick Byrne http://25.media.tumblr.com/fd93cabe58123d49dc6ba0d8c806674c/tumblr_n1ubgkYN681s3y9slo3_500.gif Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: kik1977 on April 04, 2014, 06:38:20 PM Oh hell yes, Byrne is the not so hidden wolf in sheep's clothing. He may own overstock, but he knows what the fuck is up in Wall Street. There is a fascinating story that he tells in an interview that turned him on to investigating financial fraud in the following link http://peacerevolution.podomatic.com/entry/2010-05-18T16_27_48-07_00 (http://peacerevolution.podomatic.com/entry/2010-05-18T16_27_48-07_00). Basically some random guy comes to him and tells him he needs to do a few things with his company or he will run into trouble. Bryne doesn't believe him and this guy makes 3 predictions, all of which come true. One of the predictions was journalistic hit pieces written against him in a specific time frame. Can't remember the others currently...something to do with Overstock being illegally listed on foreign exchanges and some other one. (Byrne didn't do the illegal exchanges, someone wanting to attack overtsock did it.) Bryne tried to reach the guy a year later and realized this insider knew a ton that he need to investigate. There is a secret about wall st. so huge, if the public found out it was true, they would probably set NYSE on fire. It's also covered in the interview, I can't really do it justice. Nice link, thanks ;) Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: zolace on April 04, 2014, 08:58:37 PM I told you all overstock kicks butt, I use to sell on there auction market place also, if only they kept that part there. I think they got greedy and didnt wanna compete with ebay anymore.
Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: lemfuture on April 04, 2014, 09:06:55 PM reminds me again why ive been buying bitcoins, not because of fluctuating $ price but something far more valuable within. thanks for the link :)
Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: kik1977 on May 07, 2014, 04:55:57 AM I'm truly looking forward to listening to his speech at Bitcoin Conference in Amsterdam next week!
Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: pabpete on May 07, 2014, 06:23:44 AM Overstock has just sent this email to over 41 million people in the US! Can you think about a better ad? In the link, the FULL article! http://www.overstock.com/80786/static.html?ehid=EF916438FE97B21EE040010A249C4B4A Dear Valued Customer, Enclosed, please find the Wired Magazine article, "Meet Patrick Byrne: Bitcoin Messiah, CEO of Overstock, Scourge of Wall Street". It concerns the decade-long battle Overstock has waged to expose Wall Street mischief. The backstory is as follows: Overstock went public in 2002. Between 2002 and 2005 I found myself mingling with various Wall Street bankers, hedge funds, and journalists, and began to form an impression (and hear) of unsavory activity. I made it my hobby to study it, and in 2005 I went public about what I had learned. For several years thereafter, the New York financial press derided and distorted my claims, often to the point of appearing to engage in a cover-up. When in 2008 what I had been saying became indisputable, Wall Street went silent about this episode. The enclosed Wired article recounts that history, and explains how it is related to Overstock's recent decision to accept Bitcoin. I understand that you may not be interested in tales of corruption in Wall Street and Washington, DC, and if so, please simply enjoy the coupon above. However, if you read this piece from Wired, which effectively ends a cover-up regarding the Battle of Overstock versus Wall Street, I think you will understand why I chose to share this article with 41.7 million of my closest friends. Your humble servant, Patrick M. Byrne, CEO "Scourge of Wall Street" Edit: title changed to reflect the amount of receivers Very interesting read! Power to the people. Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: Beliathon on May 07, 2014, 06:59:54 AM Related to OP: Bitcoin vs. Political Power (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joITmEr4SjY)
Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: freedomno1 on May 16, 2014, 10:47:53 PM I'm truly looking forward to listening to his speech at Bitcoin Conference in Amsterdam next week! Updating since the speech was given ^_^http://www.coindesk.com/overstock-ceo-delivers-historically-charged-keynote-bitcoin-2014/ Check it out related video about uganda https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrRXP1tp6Kw Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: EvilDave on May 16, 2014, 11:39:45 PM I was there for Dr. B's speech, and it was pretty amazing. Definitely not what i would have expected for a Bitcoin conference keynote speech.
Taking the bezzle out of the entire financial system.......watch/read the speech. Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: QuestionAuthority on May 17, 2014, 07:01:40 AM I'm truly looking forward to listening to his speech at Bitcoin Conference in Amsterdam next week! Updating since the speech was given ^_^http://www.coindesk.com/overstock-ceo-delivers-historically-charged-keynote-bitcoin-2014/ Check it out related video about uganda https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrRXP1tp6Kw Is that all these people do is attend conferences? Why don't they hit the street and start talking to groups of people that aren't already sold on Bitcoin. I bet for a third of what that conference cost they could have given lectures at 25 universities worldwide. Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: freedomno1 on May 17, 2014, 10:22:55 AM I'm truly looking forward to listening to his speech at Bitcoin Conference in Amsterdam next week! Updating since the speech was given ^_^http://www.coindesk.com/overstock-ceo-delivers-historically-charged-keynote-bitcoin-2014/ Check it out related video about uganda https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrRXP1tp6Kw Is that all these people do is attend conferences? Why don't they hit the street and start talking to groups of people that aren't already sold on Bitcoin. I bet for a third of what that conference cost they could have given lectures at 25 universities worldwide. These conferences help but your right more action towards getting it to the mainstream public and university exposure would certainly be as beneficial as a conference could be. After all should be what the people use everyday not just in Uganda but in cities worldwide :) (Hmm imagining all the people at the conference and each one visits 25 universities as a guest lecturer and the association and other Bitcoin based organizations arranging these speakers by talking to unis and the public in general would be neat to see) Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: isidore on May 17, 2014, 11:24:29 AM bought some sheets from them before. going to overstock.com to show my support again!
Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: TrailingComet on May 17, 2014, 12:38:04 PM There is a healthy dose of self promotion in all this for Byrne and Overstock
But if that's what the path to mass adoption looks like, I guess we will take it Title: Re: Email from Overstock Post by: Phinnaeus Gage on May 17, 2014, 01:20:33 PM Quote Meet Patrick Byrne: Bitcoin Messiah, CEO of Overstock, Right there people will dismiss it, sadly they know nothing about marketing. I use to read books about email marketing, and this breaks every rule. First off I hope they didn't just blast 41 million emails out. They should have analytics to know when to send out emails to the right people. They have enough information they could easily figure out a good time and spread them over that time period making sure they get the best response to it. Also using words like "Messiah" not only insult people like me who have been doing every thing we can to help bitcoin with money, time and just spending 24/7 on it, but also people that have no clue about bitcoin will now go well this guy is full of himself. So while we can all think this is amazing, it really shows that overstock is another company that really has no clue to run it's business using marketing. Would you rather have the word Messiah associated with Bitcoin, or the term Godfather of Bitcoin, or an a controversial individual on the board of TBF? BTW, I've literally been on this computer for the past 24 hours straight reading my ass off on Bitcoin related topics, with the exception of eating, getting coffee and opting to walk three blocks as a crow flies to purchase cigarettes. Note, that I didn't say taking a shit, for the laptop comes with me to the shitter, and I'm overdue for a shower, especially after seeing so many pics of... Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: QuestionAuthority on May 17, 2014, 05:29:06 PM Quote Meet Patrick Byrne: Bitcoin Messiah, CEO of Overstock, Right there people will dismiss it, sadly they know nothing about marketing. I use to read books about email marketing, and this breaks every rule. First off I hope they didn't just blast 41 million emails out. They should have analytics to know when to send out emails to the right people. They have enough information they could easily figure out a good time and spread them over that time period making sure they get the best response to it. Also using words like "Messiah" not only insult people like me who have been doing every thing we can to help bitcoin with money, time and just spending 24/7 on it, but also people that have no clue about bitcoin will now go well this guy is full of himself. So while we can all think this is amazing, it really shows that overstock is another company that really has no clue to run it's business using marketing. Would you rather have the word Messiah associated with Bitcoin, or the term Godfather of Bitcoin, or an a controversial individual on the board of TBF? I think those words bring out a sense of narcissism and will turn people off. TBF isn't bitcoin and more we make big deals about it I think the more it makes people think it is bitcoin. I think most people know TBF is a hair from just falling apart and we should let it. TBF is Bitcoin to everyone in the world except the members of this forum. They represent themselves as Bitcoin, their membership controls most of the money and they set up extravagant conventions to solidify their control. When they screw up they ruin the name of Bitcoin because they are Bitcoin. That will shift back to the masses or the masses will leave and choose another coin. The upside is, from a historical perspective, it shouldn't be too long before they're all in jail or running from prosecution. Then we can have Bitcoin back. Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: bryant.coleman on May 17, 2014, 05:36:56 PM I'm truly looking forward to listening to his speech at Bitcoin Conference in Amsterdam next week! Did you watched his speech? I am searching for the YouTube video of Byrne speaking at the Bitcoin 2014 for the past several days. Unfortunately, I am unable to obtain the video. Can someone help me? Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: Crindon on May 19, 2014, 04:49:20 AM Excellent article. I just wondering what kind of service he used to send so many emails as most traditional servers can't handle that. Kudos to Overstock to sticking to their guns and keeping it real for Bitcoin. Excellent marketing strategy as well.
Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: serenitys on May 19, 2014, 05:14:04 AM Fantastic. Personally, I'd rather see a real down to earth call a spade a spade CEO announcing point blank that someone's giving blowjobs to a GS hack than a GS hack pretending he's all offended someone said blowjob in public. We've all seen the 2008 financial meltdown or at least caught Wolf of Wall Street by now, we know what these people are really about.
To whoever was asking about how many of the 41m customers would see or read the email, it really doesn't matter...when they finalize accepting bitcoin, the notice and the payment option will be in the faces of 41m people every day and they might ignore it initially but after awhile they will start asking questions and looking into it...and of those 41m people who use Overstock to begin with, a good number of them, well over 1% will make purchases of bitcoin...and that's 41m people closer to mainstream adoption. Same for Google Glass when it goes out of beta - remember, it's being bundled with the EAZE app that only processes bitcoin transactions. Those that can afford 1500 bucks or whatever the ultimate price of GG will be will also be following suit. There are a number of video games being revised to be ready for the release of Oculus Rift later this year who have announced or have already been accepting bitcoin to buy the games. Though Steam doesn't right now, there is clear evidence of a demand so they will ultimately cave too and start accepting it. Circle is gearing up to make it superbly simple for the average person to buy and shop with bitcoin. There are the ones working on the bitcoin debit card and the bitcoin card/wallet thing. The bitcoin ATMs are coming out all over the place. They are seriously pushing bitcoin's mainstream adoption. IMO 2015 will truly be the year bitcoin goes main street...and its market price will skyrocket. Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: bryant.coleman on May 20, 2014, 03:06:30 PM Everyone should watch this video.
BITCOIN 2014 - Keynote - Dr. Patrick Byrne, Overstock CEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkf04kQw1YU Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: freedomno1 on May 21, 2014, 06:33:34 AM Everyone should watch this video. BITCOIN 2014 - Keynote - Dr. Patrick Byrne, Overstock CEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkf04kQw1YU I'll need to give this a watch when I have some more time This looks interesting since Patrick was talking about Bitcoin in Amsterdam Thanks for the link off to listen to the Overstock CEO's Keynote speech thanks for sharing it Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: kik1977 on May 21, 2014, 08:20:14 AM It was a good speech indeed. I agree with what has been said above and I hate the "conference tourism", I see so many people in my field of work jumping from one to another while others do the actual work. On the other side, in the Bitcoin world, conferences are a great place to exchange ideas in person and meet people you would not meet otherwise. On the other hand again, they cost too much: there should be Bitcoin public conferences where everybody can go and learn about.
Title: Re: Email from Overstock to over 41 million people! Post by: sifter on June 21, 2014, 07:25:42 PM only if they shipped everything worldwide
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