Growth Cave Lawsuit: The FTC Case Behind the $10K Guarantee

Growth Cave was a Los Angeles-area online coaching business that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued in February 2025, alleging it took about $50 million from consumers with false promises of passive income from YouTube-advertised online courses. The founders, Lucas Lee-Tyson and Osmany Batte (who goes by "Ozzie Blessed"), settled in January 2026 without admitting or denying the charges. They are now permanently banned from selling business opportunities, and each faces a $48,597,538 judgment that is mostly suspended because they say they cannot pay it.

So if you searched "is Growth Cave legit", here is the short answer. A federal court shut the operation down at the FTC's request in early 2025, and the settlement orders ban everyone involved from selling this kind of programme again. The FTC's complaint says that in most cases the people who bought its main programme "do not make a single sale".

Picture the person this was built for. It is late, the kids are asleep, and a YouTube ad plays before the video you wanted. A young man in a nice house says he went from broke college student to millions selling "digital products", and that his team will build your online course for you. There is a $10,000 profit guarantee. You book the call because the guarantee makes it feel safe. Two weeks later you are paying off a $9,800 loan for something that never sells.

That is the story the FTC's 55-page complaint tells, with the company's own ads quoted in it. If you are shopping for an online business right now, these ads have not gone away. Only the names change. Learning to read this one is how you keep your savings out of the next one.

Key facts about Growth Cave

Everything below that is described as something Growth Cave "did" or "said" comes from the FTC's complaint unless another source is named. A complaint is the FTC's side of the case. The defendants settled without a trial, so no court has ruled on whether each allegation is true.

Is Growth Cave a scam? What the FTC record says

The FTC brought the case under four laws: the FTC Act, the Business Opportunity Rule, the Credit Repair Organizations Act, and the Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule. In its press release of 7 March 2025, the agency said the court had "temporarily halted the operations of a wide-ranging business opportunity and credit repair scam that has operated under the name 'Growth Cave' since at least 2020."

The court granted a temporary restraining order with an asset freeze. Growth Cave and Lee-Tyson then agreed to a preliminary injunction on 1 April 2025, according to the final order. In May 2025 the FTC amended its complaint to add LLT Research LLC, which it said was the company behind a later product called PassiveApps, and Friendly Solar Inc., which it called "an alleged shell company for one of the individual defendant's earnings that provided no services in exchange for the assets it received."

Here is how the FTC summed up the core problem in the complaint: "In most instances, KBA purchasers do not make a single sale and therefore do not earn any income. Instead, they find themselves owing thousands of dollars to Growth Cave Defendants, credit card companies, or third-party lenders."

The Better Business Bureau had seen the pattern too. The complaint quotes a BBB alert on Growth Cave's profile about a "pattern of complaint [sic] alleging Refund or Exchange Issues", which read: "[C]onsumers are stating they sign up for programs guaranteed to help them make $10,000.00 in 30 days. Other consumers are also told they would receive coaching along the way, which many state they do not receive."

What did Growth Cave promise?

The pitch for the Knowledge Business Accelerator was simple. Package what you know into an online course, and Growth Cave would help you sell it to strangers through cheap, targeted YouTube ads. Buyers tried courses on relationships, investing, real estate, fitness, skincare, languages and life coaching.

The complaint quotes the advertising at length. Lee-Tyson, it says, claimed to have "cracked the code" to "generate millions of dollars in automated income like clockwork", and described KBA as a way to earn "safe, reliable, passive income". His videos said buyers could launch a course within days or weeks and make "$20,000-$50,000 per month in passive income". One screen in a marketing video read: "It is literally IMPOSSIBLE to fail..."

The ads leaned on scale and social proof:

• Lee-Tyson said he had already helped "over 2,000 clients create and sell" courses, and that people he worked with were "currently making anywhere from $10,000 to even $100,000 a month in automated income."
• The individual defendants claimed the "exact same strategies" earned Growth Cave $60 million a year.
• Testimonial videos featured clients said to have made "over $40,000 in his very first 30 days" and "$56,000 in a single month."
• Social media showed the lifestyle: videos of the team "buying $300,000 of watches with Ozzie Blessed", Lee-Tyson "buying a Ferrari for my 25th birthday", and a mansion in Los Angeles. The FTC alleges that lifestyle was funded by consumers' payments.

Then came the email sequence, nearly daily, with subject lines such as "YouTube owes you $800", "$3k/month from YouTube with no videos" and "Little digital products that pay you 24/7". One email quoted in the complaint said: "I'm looking for 3 motivated people to take under my wing and teach them our process for launching their own online course to make 20k-50k/month passively."

Before a sales call, prospects had to watch one more video. On screen: "How Long Does It Take To Make Profits?... the average from our experience is about 4-6 weeks." The narration added "Upwards of $20- to $50,000 in monthly passive income with automated online courses" and "Many of our students are already making upwards of $100,000 and even millions of dollars a year."

It also promised technology. The video described "our very own AI software, . . . GrowthBox.AI, an all-in-one software platform for selling digital products . . . on autopilot" that would "automate nearly 100 percent of the process". And it promised people: "six full-time coaches helping you with quite literally everything inside of this business model, your course idea, your ads, your tech, your sales funnel."

Read that list again and notice what is missing. No price yet, and no figure for how many buyers actually earned anything. The Business Opportunity Rule requires sellers who make earnings claims to give buyers exactly that figure. The FTC says Growth Cave never did, and "does not track the finances of those who purchase its business opportunities" at all.

How did the $10,000 profit guarantee work?

The guarantee was the hinge of the whole sale. In the pre-call video, Lee-Tyson and Batte said KBA was "backed up" by their "$10,000 Profit Guarantee". Lee-Tyson said "there has not been a single person that, after launching their course, they have not made a minimum of $10,000 profit in their first 30 days of launching it."

On the calls, the FTC says, salespeople leaned on it hard. In one recorded call a representative mentioned the guarantee more than 30 times, calling it a "safety net", and told the prospect the guarantee covered $10,000 in profit on top of the $9,800 price: "you'll be recouped to $19,800."

Only then, according to the complaint, did the price appear: $3,500 to $9,800. The representative could take payment or sign the buyer up for financing "during the very same call". The written client agreement usually arrived by DocuSign after payment, with no chance to negotiate.

When buyers who never hit $10,000 asked for their money back, the FTC says Growth Cave pointed to a clause in that agreement: the guarantee only meant the company would keep working with you until you made $10,000. As the complaint puts it, buyers "are dismayed to realize that this 'guarantee' is meaningless because they could continue to work with Growth Cave indefinitely without ever earning a dime."

That one move is worth remembering. A guarantee that promises more of the service instead of your money back protects the seller. If the only remedy is "we keep coaching you", you are carrying all the risk.

What did buyers actually get?

According to the complaint, buyers found a series of video modules, some of them confusing, and progress gated behind approvals. Coaches took days to reply, and buyers were often moved between five or more coaches, re-explaining their course each time. The promised custom ads turned out to be generic scripts that buyers rewrote and filmed themselves.

GrowthBox, the "AI software", did not automate the business. The FTC says it was a platform where users manually uploaded ads, set appointments and typed out messages.

Growth Cave required buyers to test ads until they hit set metrics before it would approve a launch. Multiple buyers reported it took two months or more to get approval. After launch, even "winning" ads often failed to bring sales. When buyers asked for help, the complaint says, the company's experts "frequently instructed KBA purchasers to attract customers by claiming they would make a lot of money using the course."

Buyers who complained in the company's internal groups say their posts were deleted. Hundreds complained to the BBB, the FTC, state agencies and on social media. The complaint says Marksberry, and in a few cases Lee-Tyson, answered BBB complaints and "denied any wrongdoing".

The money machine: every product and price

Growth Cave did not stop at one product. The FTC describes a ladder in which each step was sold to people already disappointed by the last.

Three details stand out.

The scarcity was staged. DFM was sold as selective, with buyers applying for one of 25 slots. At a DFM event in Austin, Texas in April 2023, the complaint says, attendees were surprised to find about 100 DFM buyers in the room, and several told the founders in front of everyone that they had no support and no sales.

The testimonials were staff. CCA ads featured four "clients" with results like "$23,000 in one month". The FTC says all four were Growth Cave employees selling its programmes, which was never disclosed. A KBA success story used in ads, the complaint adds, had an undisclosed business relationship with Growth Cave to offer financing to new customers.

The pitch moved to wherever the money was. CCA emails promised "Get $750/week to read 'money' scripts", "$800 a week to send texts" and "Work from phone. $3,000/month". On video, the founders said CCA graduates could make "$20-, $30-, $40,000 a month", and "even in a worst-case scenario, making $4-, $5-, $6-, $7,000 a month, just typing messages in your phone." Buffalo Bridge then sold credit help to the same customers. PassiveApps arrived after private lawsuits began in March 2024 and Lee-Tyson announced a "rebrand", promising an app "uploaded & selling in 14 days".

Add it up for one person who took the whole path: a $9,800 KBA, a $30,000 DFM upgrade, and a $6,800 Buffalo Bridge plan. That is $46,600 before ad spend, card interest or the time spent on it.

Who is behind Growth Cave?

The public record names five people and companies as defendants. Here is what it says about each.

• Lucas Lee-Tyson, founder and co-CEO of Growth Cave, signatory on its bank accounts, and the face of the YouTube ads. The FTC says LLT Research LLC was the corporate structure behind PassiveApps.
• Osmany Batte, also known as "Ozzie Blessed", co-CEO. The FTC says he implied he contributed to Growth Cave's success through his ability to fix negative "mindsets" and his certification in hypnosis. The FTC also says he was pitching a similar service called ApexMind (Apex Mind LLC is a defendant).
• Jordan Marksberry, operations manager, who answered many BBB complaints.
• Friendly Solar Inc., a relief defendant: not accused of the conduct, but said to have received money it had no right to keep.

Their side: in the settlement orders they "neither admit nor deny" the FTC's allegations, apart from facts needed for jurisdiction. Before the case, Marksberry and in a few cases Lee-Tyson answered BBB complaints by denying wrongdoing, according to the complaint. We found no further public statement from any of them about the case.

The City News Service report in the Los Angeles Daily News on 27 January 2026 described the operation as San Fernando Valley-based and said the house Lee-Tyson must sell is in Woodland Hills.

Timeline of the Growth Cave case

• 2020. Growth Cave operating by now, per the FTC.
• 2021. Lee-Tyson markets business opportunities and educational programmes through Growth Cave, starting with Productized Profits.
• Early to mid 2022. Batte and Marksberry work alongside Lee-Tyson selling KBA, DFM and CCA.
• December 2022. DFM upgrade ads begin going to KBA buyers.
• April 2023. DFM event in Austin, Texas.
• November 2023. Buffalo Bridge credit and funding offer emailed to existing customers.
• March 2024. Consumers begin filing private lawsuits in federal courts.
• May to June 2024. Discount emails, then a "re-brand"; PassiveApps marketing begins.
• 10 February 2025. FTC files its complaint in the Central District of California.
• 7 March 2025. FTC announces the court has temporarily halted the operation.
• 1 April 2025. Growth Cave and Lee-Tyson stipulate to a preliminary injunction.
• 19 May 2025. Amended complaint adds LLT Research and Friendly Solar.
• August 2025. Marksberry settles.
• 27 January 2026. FTC announces settlements with all remaining defendants.

How did the case end?

Three stipulated orders closed the case, as described in the FTC's announcement of 27 January 2026.

Jordan Marksberry (approved August 2025) is banned from marketing or selling business opportunities, from credit repair, and from making misleading earnings claims or helping others make them. His order carries a $48,597,538 judgment, suspended once he paid $35,000.

Lucas Lee-Tyson, Growth Cave LLC and LLT Research LLC are banned from selling or marketing business opportunities, or helping anyone else do it, and from credit repair. The order prohibits misleading claims about earnings, testimonials and "the use of artificial intelligence". It imposes a $48,597,538 judgment, partly suspended on inability to pay, and requires Lee-Tyson to sell assets including his multimillion-dollar house and to liquidate investment and bank accounts, with the proceeds going to the FTC for consumer redress.

Osmany Batte and Apex Mind LLC face the same bans and judgment. Batte must liquidate assets including a Rolls-Royce and a Ferrari. Relief defendant Friendly Solar must transfer $43,000.

"Partly suspended" is a phrase worth understanding. The full $48.6 million comes due if the FTC later finds the defendants lied about their finances. Until then, what consumers can get back is limited to what the asset sales bring in.

Can Growth Cave customers get a refund?

Not yet through the FTC. On 29 October 2026 there was no Growth Cave programme on the FTC's list of active refund programmes. The FTC says money collected under its orders is used for redress, and refund programmes are announced on that page when they start. If you paid Growth Cave:

1. Keep every receipt, contract, loan document and email, including the guarantee language.
2. File a report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov so the FTC has your loss on record.
3. If you paid by card or financed through a lender, ask your card issuer or lender about a dispute. Some limits apply by date, so ask now.
4. Be wary of anyone who contacts you offering to recover the money for a fee. The FTC says it never asks you to pay to get a refund.

Red flags you can check yourself next time

Each of these comes straight from the Growth Cave record, and each takes a few minutes to test.

1. Ask for the earnings claim statement. In the US, a seller who makes income claims about a business opportunity must give you a written statement of how many buyers earned that much, and when. If they cannot produce it, the income claims have no basis.
2. Read the guarantee before you pay. Ask for the full contract first. If the "guarantee" means more coaching instead of your money back, it guarantees nothing.
3. Notice when the price appears. If you only hear the price at the end of a long call, after the guarantee, and are offered financing on the spot, you are inside a closing script.
4. Check whether testimonials work for the seller. Ask for three customers you can contact who are not employees, affiliates or partners. Then search their names.
5. Watch for the upgrade. If the fix for a programme that did not work is a bigger, pricier "done for you" version, step back.
6. Look up the lawsuits. Search the company name with "FTC", "lawsuit" and "BBB" before any call. Growth Cave faced private suits from March 2024, a year before the FTC case.
7. Treat "AI does it for you" as a claim to test. Ask for a live demo of the software doing the work. GrowthBox was sold as automating "nearly 100 percent of the process". The FTC says it was a manual dashboard.

For a wider list of course-seller warning signs, see Online Business Course Scams: 10 Red Flags (From Reviewing 189 Gurus) and How Fake Gurus Fabricate Income Proof (And How to Spot It). CCA's pitch, paid to make calls and send messages for business owners, is close to the one in our Sales Mentor case study.

What an honest version of this business looks like

Here is the uncomfortable part. Selling an online course is a real business, and so is running YouTube ads to a course. Growth Cave's problem, on the FTC's account, was the promises made to sell it.

The site's course creation guide puts the start-up cost at $0 to $500 and the time to profit at two to four months, and it is frank that results vary widely. You can test the whole idea for less than the cost of one Growth Cave sales call:

• Pick a topic people already pay to learn, and pre-sell a short version to 10 people before you build anything.
• Write and film your own ad. Run it on a small daily budget you can afford to lose for a week, and record the cost per sign-up.
• Use a standard course platform you can leave at any time, so your students and content stay yours.
• Track your own numbers from day one: ad spend, sign-ups, sales, refunds.

If you would rather make videos than sell courses, the faceless YouTube guide covers how channels earn, what monetization needs, and why the early months pay little.

Think about the version of you a year from now who skipped the $9,800 call and spent $300 testing a small course instead. Maybe it sold 20 copies. Maybe it sold none and you learned why for the price of a weekend. Either way, you own what you built, you owe nobody, and you still have the $9,500. Now think about the version who paid, and is still paying off the loan.

The difference between those two people was one question asked before the call: "Can I see the contract and your earnings statement first?" Ask it every time.