This is a fantastic act of public service. Thank you.

I too have felt the siren call of buying a course, especially when I'd just started writing on Medium and trying to get a feel for the ecosystem. I only held back because some of these course marketers overly aggressive sales pitches triggered my bullshit radar. Your articles on the struggles of making a living as a writer also helped me a lot in resisting the temptation to whip out my credit card and setting appropriate expectations.

I think what also helped was a decade of writing business and academic articles for a living, and working on one or more entrepreneurial pursuits. I've seen enough bullshit in my time. I can imagine resisting would be a lot harder for someone younger, and much more desperate.