Did Eugene Schwartz get this WRONG?

"Competition is for losers."

That's a quote from Peter Thiel: billionaire founder of PayPal, first outside investor in Facebook.

But Thiel didn't invent that philosophy.

He learned it from his mentor at Stanford: a French philosopher named René Girard.

Girard spent his career studying one question:

Why do we want what we want?

His answer was uncomfortable.

We don't generate our own desires.

We copy them. 

We want things because other people - people we admire, envy, or want to become - want them first.

Girard called this "mimetic desire."

Now, how can we leverage this for Direct Response Advertising?

If you've read the classic Direct Response book Breakthrough Advertising, you know Eugene Schwartz's first rule:

Girard would agree with the conclusion.

…But he'd say Schwartz missed the mechanism.

What did Schwartz miss?

Schwartz saw desire as a direct line:

Prospect → Product

But here’s the key:

Girard saw desire as a TRIANGLE:

Prospect → Model → Product

The "Model" is the person we are imitating.

They are the compass.

We look to the “Model” to define what is worth wanting.

In this framework, the prospect doesn't really want the product.

The prospect wants to become the person who HAS the product.

The Model is the intermediary who validates the object.

…Which brings us to a $6.95 Info Product offer we deconstructed inside the Funnel of the Week Members Area this week…

This simple low-ticket info product funnel starts with a $6.95 front end offer…

…And after order bumps & upsells?

Leads to a $557 day 1 cart value.

• Already a Funnel of the Week Member? go here to see the full funnel breakdown

• Not yet a member? Go here to get access

On the surface, it's selling "how to build faceless theme pages."

But watch what the VSL actually does:

Before any teaching happens, you see:

• Dubai penthouse

• Lamborghini Huracán

• Maldives trip with friends

• Screenshots of $100K+ months

The prospect isn't evaluating a curriculum. They're imitating a lifestyle.

To use Girard’s terms:

The course is the object.

But our 23-year-old hero in Dubai is the “Model.”

And the entire funnel is engineered to collapse the distance between them.

Girard's fingerprints are everywhere:

→ The Model: The prospect doesn't want "Instagram strategies." They want to become the young, free, location-independent entrepreneur. The product is just the ritual of transformation.

→ The Scapegoat: Amazon FBA, dropshipping, the 9-5—positioned as "false paths" sold by bad actors. The prospect unifies against common enemies before buying anything.

→ The Shame Escape: The "faceless" mechanism removes the fear of exposure. You get the status of the influencer without the vulnerability. Reward without risk.

→ The Tribe: 70,000+ buyers, Trustpilot reviews, student screenshots. Social proof isn't just credibility—it's permission to imitate.

The funnel starts at $6.95. Add the order bumps ($43.85) and three upsells ($506.85).

The total cart value hits $557.

That's an 80x multiplier, before the high-ticket backend.

Want to see every step of the full funnel?

It’s all inside the Funnel of the Week Members Area.

Enjoy!

The Funnel of the Week Team

PS - thanks to X/Twitter account Riley for sharing the post that introduced this philosopher to us! Here’s the full post from Riley - check it out:

PPS - in case you’re wondering, what Funnel of the Week is all about…

More on What’s Inside Funnel of the Week Members Area

Funnel of the Week has been live just one month now, and if you haven’t logged in for a bit, here’s what you’ve been missing:

We continue to stack full funnel breakdowns each and every week inside the Members Area:

We’ve got: 

• ecomm funnels

• VSL funnels

• Info Products funnels

• (and more)

…And we add new funnel breakdowns & swipes each week.

So if you have a funnel you want us to break down?

(Including all the landing pages, order bumps, upsells, downsells, email/sms followup & more…)

Just let us know and we’ll add it to our Funnel of the Week “next up” list. 

We’ll go through the funnel, document all the funnel steps, email/sms followups, etc. as we become a real customer (we don’t ask for refunds), and document the whole process so you have it at your fingertips.

If you’re not yet inside the Members Area? Go here to learn more about Funnel of the Week & get access.

The big idea of Funnel of the Week is this:

We break down a new DTC funnel (including ads, front end offer, upsells, post-purchase emails/sms/etc.), each and every week.

Here’s a quick Google doc walking through what we at Funnel of the Week has got in store for you, each and every week:

Check it out. We’re doing a special “early bird” price for access for a limited time.

And if you want great funnel insights delivered to your email inbox, multiple times per week? Go here to sign up for our Funnel of the Week email newsletter (it’s free) funneloftheweek.com

That’s all for today.

Have a great week!

The Funnel of the Week Team

PS: Not yet subscribed to our free Funnel of the Week newsletter? Join now for exclusive insights: https://funneloftheweek.com

PPS: What insights do YOU want in our funnel breakdowns? Hit reply and share your thoughts

PPPS: Got a funnel you think we should break down? We’d love to hear your suggestions!