OP is probably talking about multi-level marketing (MLM) where you ask a few people to become your downline by purchasing a product of their choice (that is available in the company you are working for).

@OP,
Let me tell you about one of the most interesting offer I got during 2010. Yes, I heard about BTC when me and my brother were being offered BTC at just $0.11 a coin (total lot of 10k BTC). We refused thinking of this as a Ponzi and seeing no developments as well as least community discussions. That's where I came to know about BTC. I didn't even mine because I thought it'd not get me even to the break even point and burn my laptop, so I left it. Later in 2013 when I saw the same BTC being sold at $1000 (its ATH at that time), I decided to buy in and then I began to dig in a lot about BTC and the crypto world.