Trujivan Review: Tycoon69 trojan horse with magic plastic discs
Trujivan (pronounced “true-jivan”), operates in the magic plastic disc and nutritional supplement MLM niches.
The company provides a corporate suite address in Las Vegas on its website. Further research reveals this address belongs to a UPS store.
Whether Trujivan has any physical ties to Nevada is unclear.
Heading up Trujivan are co-founders Stefan Hostettler (CEO) and Jerry Yerke (President).
According to their respective social media profiles, Hostettler and Yerke are based out of Switzerland and California respectively.
Trujivan’s marketing material states they launched in the US. The company plans to expand to Europe in November.
Reading between the lines, Hostettler will likely head up Trujivan’s European operations. Yerke will head up US operations.
BehindMLM first came across Stefan Hostettler as the face of the Tycoon69 Ponzi scheme.
Tycoon69 launched in 2019. In July 2020 Swiss regulators cracked down on the Ponzi scheme, leading to its collapse.
Austrian authorities issued a Tycoon69 securities fraud warning a few months later.
Today Tycoon69 still has a website up but the business is effectively dead.
Jerry Yerke has been involved in MLM for over a decade.
In the early 2010s Yerke promoted Lyoness and then Dubli. In 2015 Yerke was appointed Dubli’s Chief Network Officer.
Yerke held that position until at least mid 2018. In August 2019 Yerke signed on as Director of Business Development at Jeunesse.
Although he’s not mentioned anywhere on Trujivan’s website, someone else worth noting is Shane Morand.
As per a press-release issued on September 17th, Morand has signed on as Trujivan’s Strategic Advisor and Sales Leader.
Morand is one of the co-founders of Organo Gold. Morand quietly left Organo Gold after its brief Ponzi scheme romance in 2018.
I don’t have an exact date for when he left but Morand was still fronting Organo Gold in 2019.
Read on for a full review of Trujivan’s MLM opportunity.
Trujivan’s Products
Trujivan’s flagship products is a range of plastic discs.
- TruEMF Defense – “keeping your family shielded from EMF is essential for overall health”
- TruREST – “TruREST discs do not put you to sleep; they allow you to easily fall into deeper stages of sleep so you feel more rested when you awaken”
- TruRELIEF – “get relief from minor discomfort associated with headaches (even migraines), back pain, wrist pain, knee pain, menstrual cramps, and other minor injuries without drugs or chemicals”
- TruENERGY – “boost your energy naturally, without the side effects”
Trujivan also markets two nutritional supplements
- TruCORE – “repairing leaky gut also helps with immunity, inflammation, and clearer, healthier skin”
- TruMIND – “anti-aging for the brain”
Trujivan do not provide retail pricing on their website.
Trujivan does have an online store, however consumers must first create an account to view pricing.
Trujivan’s Compensation Plan
Trujivan do not provide a copy of their compensation plan on their website. Instead consumers are provided with vague descriptions.
Trujivan does provide a compensation marketing video, however it only covers a few of the commissions/bonuses paid out.
I’ve done my best to put together the following analysis based off the limited information Trujivan provides.
Trujivan Affiliate Ranks
There are seven affiliate ranks within Trujivan’s compensation plan.
Along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:
- Affiliate – sign up as a Trujivan affiliate
- Bronze – qualification criteria not provided
- Silver – qualification criteria not provided
- Gold – qualification criteria not provided
- Platinum – qualification criteria not provided
- Pearl – qualification criteria not provided
- Emerald -qualification criteria not provided
- White Diamond – qualification criteria not provided
- Black Diamond – qualification criteria not provided
- Crown Rank – qualification criteria not provided
Residual Commissions
Trujivan pays residual commissions via a binary compensation structure.
A binary compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a binary team, split into two sides (left and right):
The first level of the binary team houses two positions. The second level of the binary team is generated by splitting these first two positions into another two positions each (4 positions).
Subsequent levels of the binary team are generated as required, with each new level housing twice as many positions as the previous level.
Positions in the binary team are filled via direct and indirect recruitment of affiliates. Note there is no limit to how deep a binary team can grow.
At the end of each week Trujivan tallies up new sales volume (BV) on both sides of the binary team.
Affiliates are paid $10 per 100 BV matched on both sides of the binary team.
Unmatched volume carries over into the following week.
Matching Bonus
Trujivan pays a Matching Bonus via a unilevel compensation structure.
A unilevel compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a unilevel team, with every personally recruited affiliate placed directly under them (level 1):
If any level 1 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 2 of the original affiliate’s unilevel team.
If any level 2 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 3 and so on and so forth down a theoretical infinite number of levels.
Trujivan caps the Matching Bonus at seven unilevel team levels.
The Matching Bonus is paid out as a percentage of residual commissions earned across these seven levels based on rank:
- Bronze and Silver ranked affiliates earn a 20% match on level 1 (personally recruited affiliates)
- Gold and Platinum ranked affiliates earn a 20% match on level 1 and 15% on level 2
- Pearl ranked affiliates earn a 20% match on level 1, 15% on level 2 and 10% on level 3
- Emerald ranked affiliates earn a 20% match on level 1, 15% on level 2, 10% on level 3 and 5% on level 4
- White Diamond ranked affiliates earn a 20% match on level 1, 15% on level 2, 10% on level 3 and 5% on levels 4 and 5
- Black Diamond ranked affiliates earn a 20% match on level 1, 15% on level 2, 10% on level 3 and 5% on levels 4 to 6
- Crown Rank ranked affiliates earn a 20% match on level 1, 15% on level 2, 10% on level 3 and 5% on levels 4 to 7
Recruitment Commissions
Trujivan affiliates earn a commission on recruitment of Fast Start Pack affiliates.
- recruit a Silver Pack affiliate and receive $40
- recruit a Gold Pack affiliate and receive $100
- recruit a Founder’s Pack affiliate and receive $150
There is also a matching bonus paid on recruitment commissions earned by personally recruited affiliates:
- Silver Pack recruitment generates a $15 matching bonus
- Gold Pack and Founder’s Pack recruitment generates a $25 matching bonus
Trujivan’s marketing material states to qualify for recruitment commissions, an affiliate must be “Fast Start Qualified”.
No definition is provided but presumably this means signing up with a Trujivan Fast Start Pack ($248 to $899).
Star and Star Marker Bonuses
The Star and Star Maker Bonuses are recruitment bonuses.
New Trujivan affiliates qualify for a $25 Star Bonus when they recruit two affiliates “who purchase a Fast Start Pack”.
The Star Maker Bonus is qualified for by personally recruiting two affiliates who’ve qualified for the Star Bonus.
The Star Maker Bonus pays out $50.
Lifestyle Bonus
Trujivan pays ranked affiliates a weekly Lifestyle Bonus.
Lifestyle Bonus amounts and what ranks they’re paid out on are not disclosed.
Global Bonus Pool
Trujivan takes an undisclosed percentage of company-wide sales volume and places it into Global Bonus Pools.
Global Bonus Pool qualification starts at Ruby rank. Beyond that no specific information is provided.
Joining Trujivan
Basic Trujivan affiliate membership appears to cost $49 annually.
Optional Fast Start Packs are also available:
- Silver Pack – $199 + $49 first year annual fee
- Gold Pack – $499
- Founder’s Pack – $899
Fast Start Packs are bundled with various Trujivan products.
Note that the Gold and Founder’s Pack waive the first year $49 fee.
After the first year Gold and Founder’s Pack affiliates must pay $49 annually.
Conclusion
Every few years someone launches an MLM company selling magical hologram discs.
Over the years BehindMLM has reviewed CieAura (2013), Pet Protector (2016), Aegea (2018) and Nature’s Frequencies (2020).
All of these companies and Trujivan have one thing in common, there are no peer-reviewed studies pertaining to their plastic disc products.
Hence the term “magic plastic discs”.
When I saw Trujivan had a Chief Medical Advisor, I thought that’d pertain only to their supplements.
I was mistaken.
Dr. Atul Gupta serves as Trujivan’s Chief Medical Advisor.
Apparently Trujivan’s magic plastic discs have “unique technology”. There is nothing about this technology on Trujivan’s website.
That disc Gupta is holding up above is Trujivan’s TruEMF Defense product.
Trujivan claims TruEMF Defense “fortifies your body’s natural resistance to EMF”, “provides a safe digital detox” and “safeguards from harmful radiation”.
Cool. But how? And where is the verifiable evidence backing Trujivan’s marketing claims?
This, combined with lack of retail pricing and compensation information provided, sees Trujivan potentially violating the FTC Act.
I’d love to provide some commentary on Trujivan’s nutritional supplements. Without retail pricing however, consumers can’t make an informed choice.
My general rule of thumb is, irrespective of anything else, avoid any MLM company that isn’t upfront about retail pricing.
Moving onto Trujivan’s compensation plan, what information is available lends itself to an autoship recruitment scheme.
Trujivan pitch autoship (SmartShip Rewards) as
the best way to ensure you meet the minimum monthly purchase requirements to stay maintain your status as an active Independent Business Associate.
It doesn’t matter what you order or whether you actually need, sign up to autoship to qualify for commissions.
Oh and here’s a little extra incentive:
SmartShip Rewards
SmartShip is our automatic monthly ordering program that includes free shipping. Customers and IBAs earn gift certificates valued at 5 to 20% of their own monthly SmartShip orders.
From there the focus is on recruiting others who also sign up for autoship.
Tellingly, retail sales aren’t mentioned in Trujivan’s compensation video or on their website.
As per the FTC, an MLM company primarily generating sales volume on affiliate orders is a pyramid scheme.
The last point I want to address is Stefan Hostettler’s Tycoon69 Ponzi scheme.
I first became suspicious when I saw Hostettler still promoting Tycoon69 on his personal Facebook page.
Then when I came across Trujivan’s payment options, I became even more suspicious.
There’s a variety of payout options available with TruJivan to fit your preferences and lifestyle.
A few examples include Payoneer, Direct Deposit, Bitcoin, Global eWallet, Credit Wallet, Precious Metals, and more.
We don’t usually see non-Ponzi scheme MLM companies paying out in bitcoin. In fact I can’t name one off the top of my head.
This prompted me to dig deeper until… I eventually stumbled across footage of Trujivan’s Croatia launch event:
It appears Trujivan is a trojan horse for what’s left of Tycoon69.
Look, there’s no point sugar coating this. Tycoon69 is/was a Ponzi scheme full of primarily European T69 shitcoin bagholders.
Run.
Update 9th May 2022 – Well that didn’t last long. Six months after joining Trujivan, Shane Morand is out.
BusinessForHome reports Morand has been appointed Chairman of the Board at Decentra.
Decentra is some crypto bro yet-to-be-launched scheme operating out of Dubai.
I’ve added Decentra to BehindMLM review list. In the meantime MLM crypto + Dubai strongly suggests Decentra is an upcoming scam.
Your research and record-keeping is stunning!
As far as I remember, Stefan Hostettler was involved in Dubli too.
Here we go… the pair of MLM promoters that have met in Ponzi scheme. What they running now? Another Ponzi scheme?
This is yet another great review from OZ.
Anyone sucked in by the hype will be seriously disappointed in their participation in yet another pyramid scheme marketed by people with no conscience.
Plastic discs. Who believes this sh!t?
SD
If so that’d be where the pair met.
Honestly I think the writer of this article should be sued. I considered joining this company, but I must say I can’t believe one person can write all this trash.
I will certainly advise Trujivan to file a lawsuit against thid company and the writer for slander. Enjoy your negative life!
ProTip: It’s not slander if it’s true.
Have you tried inserting one of Trujivan’s magic discs up your rectum? Might cure the butthurt hey.
Look up defamation of character … It’s time for you to learn. I guess the court will decide.
Unfortunately for some it will be a financial disaster.
Feel free to point out a single false statement in this review.
Already has. High-five to all my Tycoon69 bagholders.
Defamation is … (Ozedit: snip, see below)
I know what defamation is.
Either point out one false statement in the review or spambin.
I think this website is rigged… (Ozedit: spambinned)
Thank you for confirming you are unable to identify one false statement in BehindMLM’s Trujivan review.
Have a nice day.
@Greg, are magic plastic discs really the hill you want to die on?
I, and pert near everyone whose been around for a while have seen a great deal many stupid MLM schemes and magic plastic discs rank right up there.
Do you want to know why Trujivan/Tycoon69 won’t sue Oz? It’s because a court of law is the last place they wish to find themselves.
Don’t believe me, time will tell. Trujivan/Tycoon69 will fold and or rebrand long before the sue BehindMLM. Why am I so confident? I’ve been around for years and have seen it all, including people like you.
Wait and see.
Article updated to note Morand’s Trujivan departure.
Morand is now apparently an MLM crypto Dubai scamlord. I’ll be able to confirm when Decentra comes up for review.