Reading that makes me a bit nervous at where I'm currently working. I just started in sales for Vivint. Initially selling solar but currently training for smart home security. We do have a tangible product that I personally find intriguing, innovative, and competitively priced, but your story sounds EXACTLY like their business model down to the young managers who hire everyone and see who sticks.

I was never asked to invest any money on my end, and so far, as a new rep, I made about $3000 in 2 months which is reasonable. There was always just a voice in the back of my head, as well as a few of my skeptical friends, that are warning me I'm involved in a scam.

They encourage us to recruit a sales team but it's not at all mandatory or pushy. They do, however, strongly encourage us to temporarily move to a different state or city for weeks to months at a time to attend conferences and sell with teams there while paying the company $150/w for rent in a provided apartment. Also technically not unreasonable granted there is a market to sell wherever they decide to send us.

I mean, I don't feel like I'm dicking my customers over because I genuinely enjoy the products we offer, but I also have a feeling I'm being mislead into what I'm actually going to make. For example, with solar, your first two months they pay you for accounts created, not necessarily a sale. That's where I made my initial money although none of my accounts led to a sale yet. I think that encourages new reps to basically data mine for the company so even if they crash, burn, and fail, the company has several new accounts/households through which they can push other products and services on in the future.