The Education of Millionaires: It's Not What You Think and It's Not Too Late

by Michael Ellsberg

The If you get into a good college, study hard, and graduate with excellent grades, you will be pretty much set for a successful career. 

The The biggest thing you won't learn in college is how to succeed professionally. 

Some of the smartest, most successful people in the country didn't finish college. None of them learned their most critical skills in an institution of higher education. And like them, most of what you'll need to learn to be successful you'll have to learn on your own, outside of school. 

Michael Ellsberg set out to fill in the gaps by interviewing a wide range of millionaires and billionaires who don't have college degrees, including fashion magnate Russell Simmons, Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz and founding president Sean Parker, WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg, and Pink Floyd songwriter and lead guitarist David Gilmour. Among the fascinating things he
This book is your guide to developing practical success skills in the real world. Even if you've already gone through college, the most important skills weren't on the curriculum--how to find great mentors, build a world-class network, learn real-world marketing and sales, make your work meaningful (and your meaning work), build the brand of you, master the art of bootstrapping, and more.  

Learning the skills in this book well is a necessary addition to any education, whether you're a high school dropout or a graduate of Harvard Law School. 

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Self Help, Finance, Money, Education, Entrepreneurship

258 pages, Hardcover

First published September 29, 2011

Reviews

[Aman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book essentially boils down to a number of simple ideas:

1. Being good at something does not mean you'll become wealthy, and going to college or university isn't a free ride to the good life.
2. Leaning how to be successful (ie, earn money from) an activity is as valuable as becoming adept at that activity.
3. Success is based on your ability to market and sell yourself, which most people see as morally fraudulent.
4. Soft skills (networking, mentorship, learning how to create meaningful relationships) are just as important as book knowledge.
5. The millionaires and billionaires interviewed all leveraged their soft skills along with knowledge of an industry to create an empire.

It's a marketing book for people who don't know or like marketing, taking ideas from many sources (Seth Godin, Victor Cheng, Keith Ferazzi etc) and recommending a number of books along the way. Ellsberg's writing still is immature, confrontational and bizarre at times, and I almost gave up through the constant hype in the first 1/4 of the book. The case studies he uses show some pretty obvious survivorship bias, but the points made on soft skills, relationships and psychology seem spot on.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book overall is a waste of time. The title is catching which makes it very misleading.

I thought I was going to be reading a business book about detailed case studies of successful businessmen and women. Instead I got a book that is nothing but a veiled pitch for the internet marketing industry and many of its fraudulent "leaders" like the dreadful shyster Frank Kern. What this means for you dear reader is that is book is a waste of your time. The few stories of millionaires that are in here are simple stories that you could catch anywhere online or in a magazine. There is no depth to the book, and no clear thesis on anything. Worse, Michael Ellsberg is not a good writer and is at times annoyingly arrogant. Example: At one point in the book Michael was talking on concepts of prosperity. In regards to people he knows who work in non profits he actually comes out and says "I never understood my fellow Brown graduates who said that they wanted to 'make a different in the world' and then got a job licking envelopes and eating ramen noodles every night". He then goes on to say that working a low wage job such as that really doesn't make much of a difference in the world and from here he basically goes on to argue that the only way to make a difference in the world is by being wealthy. Really Michael?! Maybe some people don't give a shit about driving around in fancy cars and truly care about reaching out to their fellow man from a humble, simple place of giving. Just because some people aren't interested in living a prosperity lifestyle (as you define it) doesn't make them stupid or unaware of what prosperity is about. And furthermore how in the world do you think you have all the answers in that these types of positions really aren't making a difference?

This book is about Ellsberg's own shallow "prosperity" mentality that is unfortunately not just seen in the publication of this book but in many other books like it. These books sell on greed and tease the reader with stories of wealth but do not provide any clear solutions or instructions on anything. Don't bother with this fake hype.

[Ryan Holiday · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a person who considers the day I dropped out of college the first real day of my education, this book told me a lot I already knew. But, I'm not a millionaire so I did learn plenty. Basically, Ellsberg flew around the world meeting billionaires and millionaires--most of whom were rejected or ejected from traditional schooling--and shares their lessons. And not just the lessons but how instructions on how to replicate their success by finding mentors, tips for investing in yourself and marketing the brand of You.

The book features a wide variety of personalities, which is good. Discussions of this topic tend to disproportionally focus on tech startup CEOs which isn't really fair because coding is a bit different than other fields. But Ellsberg includes musicians, fashion designers, bloggers, entrepreneurs and other such successful people. This is a great book, and worth reading.

[Nick Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Michael Ellsberg masterfully puts together a hard-hitting book that tackles the question, "What education or knowledge is necessary to lead a successful life?". It may surprise you like it did me that that answer has little to do with what you learn in school. Michael lays out his 7 success skills - essential skills needed to succeed in life no matter what your occupation or interests. Those seven success skills are:

- Success skill #1: How to make your work meaningful and your meaning work
- Success skill #2: How to find great mentors and teachers, connect with powerful and influential people, and build a world-class network
- success skill #3: What every successful person needs to know about marketing, and how to teach yourself
- success skill #4: What Every Successful Person Needs to Know About Sales, And How to Teach Yourself
- success skill #5: How to invest for success (the art of bootstrapping)
- Success Skill #6: Build the Brand of You
- Success Skill #7: The Entrepreneurial Mind-set VS. the employee Mind-Set

Michael created this list after interviewing several successful high school graduates/college dropouts who have decided that they didn't need to abide by the unwritten rules of society before making an impact (or gobs of money). As anyone can recognize, these skills are a part of the curriculum at your local university or private institutions.

Each of the success skills (except for #1 which pretty much was the basis of Wishcraft by Barbara Sher and probably deserved much more attention than Michael could provide in this book) outlined in this book had a profound impact on me. I found myself wanting to rush out and do whatever Michael suggested. Probably the most profound impact happened after reading the chapter devoted to success skill #7, the entrepreneurial mind-set vs. the employee mind-set. Taking a honest look at myself I can see some very employee-like thinking that I need to root out and replace with an entrepreneurial mind-set principles.

What makes this book so provocative is the stance Michael takes against higher education. He spends a majority of his time railing against the ethos that school is the sole source of intellectual curiousity and understanding and learning. He argues (somewhat) convincingly that education does not start and end with colleges and universities but the individual and the experiences that he or she seeks out in their life. I am definitely drinking the koolaid he is dishing out.

In a nutshell, if you are a recent college grad, have spent significant time in the hallowed halls of a university or college or want to get your hustle on but don't know where to start, start here with this book. Michael does a great service challenging the predominant thinking that college is the key to success and turns that idea on its head. Employing his success skills will soon add to your wealth and success. Get in gear, get out of the classroom, and learn how success really happens!

Favorite Quotes:

There were a lot of great quote material so this list is long!

"Great jobs, world class jobs, jobs people kill for...those jobs don't get filled by people e-mailing in resumes. Ever." (comes from a Seth Godin blog post reproduced in Education of the Millionaire)

Joe told me: "There are two decisions ou need t ocome to in order to be free and to be more effective. First is that you are not entitled to anything in the world, until you create value for another human being first. Second, you are 100 percent responsible for producing results. No one else. If you adopt those two views, you will go far." (Joe Polish quoting friend Dan Sullivan)

"Understand that no matter what you're doing, even if you want to be a ballplayer, a rapper, a movie star - nothing happens until something gets sold. Ever. The reason actors make so much money is because their face sells the fucking movie tickets. It's not about their ability to act. The reason the musician gets rich is because he sells a lot of seats and records. Or his song gets used in a movie - it's a license, a sale. The key to making money, and therefore a living of less stress, is to cause someone to joyfully give you money in exchange for something that they perceive to be of greater value than the money they gave you. Th key there is 'joyfully.' Most sales and marketing you study, you learn how to trick people into parting with their money, or badger them into doing ti, or make them so miserable that they think you're their only salvation. None of those situations invole the word 'joyfully.'" (quote from Frank Kern)

We don't get to choose what happens to us. But we get to choose what it means. And in that choice is a tremendous power. This chapter, the final, longest, and most important chapter in he book, is about that choice: the choice to become the active ingredient in your own life.

It turns out that nearly everyone I spoke to for this book has this in common: a serious passion for lifelong learning. Put another way, they do not front-load their education early on with pedagogy rammed down their throats, removing themselves from the workforce and taking on lots of debt to do so. Rather, they follow lifelong learning through continual, steady, gradual investment in themselves over time as adults.

"The advice I ould give to young people? Quit your job. Don't work for anybody. You really can't make any money working for someone else. Maybe it's a hamburger stand. Maybe it's a coffee shop. You can do that. It's very risky to quit your job and start your own. You ahve to be committed to it and you have to be willing to work the hours, because you can't have a lot of labor. You can start almost any kind of business yourself. It doesn't take a lot of capital. It's very doable. You have to work your ass off. Be willing to work yourself." (quote from Philip Ruffin)

Pros:
- inspiring
- intellectual framework for learning additional skills for achieving success
- provides plenty of references and resources for further learning and understanding
- quality writer that hooks you in and guides you through the book

Cons:
- May be hard to swallow for some folks (not necessarily a bad thing dependent on the author's intention for the book)
- Does do Success skill #1 enough justice. Frankly, its hard to do that skill just in a single chapter. I read Wishcraft an entire book devoted to this single success skill.

[Andrew French · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are happy with your meaningless job, college education, and mediocre life... Don't read this book. It challenges everything society thinks is normal.

On the other hand, if you don't want to be chained to the miserable prison of middle class mediocrity, or if you're strongly interested in how people have created wealth, or if you simply have a desire to be more than what society tells you to be, then I highly recommend this book.

[Jamie Doerschuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to laugh at the couple of reviews that commended the author's "mature" prose style. Michael Ellsberg's writing style is anything but mature, he frequently stoops to insulting the opposing argument (or any view point he doesn't personally agree with). Ellsberg also makes lots of broad statements, in this case I'm particularly referring to statements that are attempting to be passed off as statistics about higher education, without offering ANY kind of evidence or source.

I don't disagree with the core (supposedly, Education kind of fails to come to any kind of whole thesis) statement that higher or public education is unnecessary. I'm a classical musician who left high school at 15. I just don't believe that the anti-standardized education movement any favors by writing this book, this topic should really be left to the experts like Alfie Kohn. Or anyone who wants to source actual studies, for that matter.

I don't understand what the point of this book is. The stated purpose is to explain why one doesn't need college, but it's actually a business skills (or an overview of skills, since Ellsberg doesn't actually teach you anything and instead opts to direct you to other people) book that also attacks general public education. Education does none of these things well.

I believe that the only purpose this book serves is as a general overview to business skills. Want to learn more about marketing? Great, go subscribe to Person A's blog. Sales? Great, read SPIN Selling.

Reading this book is kind of a waste of time, I wouldn't pay any money for it (glad I got it from the library). Save yourself the time and money and go find a top 10 or 20 blog/resource list on marketing, sales, and copywriting.

[Tom Kamei · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the general idea of this book was great, college no longer provides students with a practical holistic education that prepares you for the modern job market (which no longer resembles the post-war US society where employees are lifers at corps like GE).

Maybe I unfairly took issue with the delivery, because the advice was practical, but overall it felt angry. Like the author had been wronged and he was trying to admonish college (and all those who got degrees or participated in the broken system) for the injustice.

Over all I prefer, Start up of You by Reid Hoffman, who stressed finding ways to add value to an evolving market - and generally came from a place of graciousness. or Five patters of extra ordinary careers, which took a more empirical approach to understanding what a fulfilling career looked like.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellsberg's book is a referendum against the notion that higher education is mandatory for self-made success (in fields other than law and medicine that require highly trained professionals). The book comes at a critical time as more and more graduates find themselves buried in debt but without a job to show for it.

Through dozens of in-depth interviews with movers and shakers, Ellsberg uncovers what he sees as the seven key self-education categories for career success -- that they DON'T teach you in college.

The millionaires he interviews are self-taught and self-made -- and their stories are inspiring for anyone who is looking to rely less on others (school, teachers, managers, companies) for career success and more on themselves and their highest creative faculties.

The seven key success skills Ellsberg highlights are:
1. How to make your work meaningful and your meaning work
2. How to find great mentors and teachers, connect with powerful and influential people, and build a world-class network
3. What every successful person needs to know about marketing, and how to teach yourself
4. What every successful person needs to know about sales, and how to teach yourself
5. How to invest for success (the art of bootstrapping)
6. Build the brand of you (or, to hell with resumes!)
7. The entrepreneurial mindset versus the employee mindset -- become the author of your own life

This book is a page-turner and a must-read -- I read it on one cross-country plane flight, then immediately gave it to my brother (a more recent graduate) and said "do not pass go until you finish this book."

[Angie Banicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very fast read and so positive and inspiring - reading this book, i was reminded to keep finding people who I can learn from and to continue helping those who inspire me

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book based on a guest blog post by the author, Michael Ellsberg, on Tim Ferriss’s blog. Needless to say, I enjoyed the blog post more than the book. While I agree with the author that we need to take a serious look at higher education, I am not sold that college is unnecessary if you want to be an entrepreneur and own your own business. The author makes the case that anything worth learning in life happens while you are out doing something. Learning by actually experiencing success and failure in the real world is infinitely more valuable than the education you receive in college.

I don’t think many people will dispute that last point, but it doesn’t mean that college is a waste of time. The real point is that college isn’t for everyone, and unfortunately we live in a culture where college is viewed as the next, and often times, only logical step after high school. With the costs of attending college soaring, it is time we took a good hard look at this social norm. I do agree with the author that the next bubble to burst, if you will, is higher education - particularly private institutions.

Ellsberg presents numerous examples of extremely successful people who never went to college or dropped out of college. There are some very impressive examples in the book, especially those who overcame seemingly all odds (drugs, difficult family situations, etc) to achieve greatness, but the most common example is that of an ivy-league dropout, a person who spends one semester in college, meets people like him or her, starts a billion dollar company in a dorm room,, and changes the world. The author never addresses the reality that people who are smart enough to attend Harvard, probably don’t need Harvard to be successful. They already possess the skills and talents necessary to succeed. Harvard simply gives them a network (only the best network in the world) to grow.

Ellsberg also sites some personal examples of how he found his career and true calling by learning things he never learned in college. But the author never really figures out how to deal with the inconvenient truth that he himself is a Brown University graduate, a fact that he undoubtedly used in his pitch to St. Martin’s Press, the publisher of his book.

Overall there are some really great stories in this book, but I can’t recommend. The writing style is too self-centered and wordy. I think the concept for the book is excellent, but the author missed on the execution.

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

He says in the book that his first manuscript got a rejection letter "his writing is not strong enough to make up for the fact that he is not a very like able person." Substitute "writing" for "research" and it holds true for this book as well.

He tells the reader nothing that hasn't been better explained by better teachers elsewhere, all while crouching it as something nobody can teach you but rather you must learn for yourself. He then gives a handful of watery examples of each point, name-dropping his personal connection whenever possible, and brow-beating anybody who isn't as willing as him to ass-kiss their way to fame and fortune.

He is not a millionaire at time of writing, nor had he worked a 9-5, yet he is convinced one is unerringly good and the other unfailingly bad. He has an Ivy League education which he feels taught him none of his "millionaire skills," though I learned many of them in State school. This leads a thinking person to wonder if maybe his problem was always just that he's an self-absorbed prick. Don't ask that question, reader. Once you do, the answer is an obvious and resounding "yes."

He is a self-absorbed, self-indulgent, self-congratulating bootlicker obsessed with his own cleverness. At once dismissive of the business world and wholly subservient to the circumstances that create it, his personality comes across as being little more than a well-read sycophant and his book is little more than a minimalist's guide to selling out.

Better: the 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss (or Ferriss' blog 4hourworkweek.com), Money:Mastering the Game by Tony Robbins, any sales book by Zig Ziglar. Don't waste your time on this turd.

[Chung Chin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is personally, the "2012: My Book of the Year". It will be THE book I am going to recommend to everyone I meet, until another better one comes about - and I don't think that will be anytime soon.

This is a book that teaches you how to teach yourself on a number of things. What are those? Read it to find out!

If you intend to read this book to:
1. Find out quick techniques to be a millionaire or
2. Secrets of how to be a millionaire or
3. Just about anything that has to do with short-cuts to get rich
you will be sorely disappointed with this book.

This is not a get rich quick technique book. This is a book that will change your mindset about education and how you can educate yourself, even if you're a BA holder, in the skill of success. One of the most powerful line I took away from this book is this:
Education is most certainly not the same thing as academic excellence.

In this book, Michael Ellsberg lists down 7 skills of success, and in my personal opinion, these are 7 practical skills that you can actually apply and improve on. This is certainly not a feel-good, rah-rah, fuzzy, make you warm in the inside kind of self-help book. This book kick you in the ass so you can kick ass!
I would however, agree with some critics that say that the book focuses too much on marketing as "the" skill to success. Still, I think you can understand why, when you read through it and have a better understanding of the author's background.

You should really stop reading this review, and start reading this book. Go!

[Phil Sykora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad.

I know that's not a rave endorsement by any means, but, if I'm being honest, that's how I feel about it. Reading through these reviews, I can see that other people seem fed up with all of the recommendations he makes to other works, especially when it comes to direct-response marketing,but I don't see anything wrong with that. And, seeing as he's not a millionaire himself, I think it's the appropriate course of action. "These things worked for these people, so study them." It's not the sexiest, most eye-opening revelation, but I think it's the most honest.

What I don't like--what gets that one star taken away--is that he didn't compile all of those resources he mentions along the way into the end of the book.

Favorite quote: "The driving theme of the stories in this book is that, even though you may learn many wonderful things in college, your success and happiness in life will have little to do with what you study there or the letters after your name once you graduate. It has to do with your drive, your initiative, your persistence, your ability to make a contribution to other people’s lives, your ability to come up with good ideas and pitch them to others effectively, your charisma, your ability to navigate gracefully through social and business networks (what some researchers call “practical intelligence”), and a total, unwavering belief in your own eventual triumph, throughout all the ups and downs, no matter what the naysayers tell you."

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great in concept, very poor in execution.

I made it to page 112, when the inexplicable condescension became too much to bear. "If you're not already sold on the importance of learning marketing, seriously, put this book down and go join the International Socialist Organization - I hear they're recruiting." Sounds a lot more fun than reading another 120 pages of this bullshit. Consider the book put down.

This is one of the many brash, unsubstantiated, unenjoyable and entirely unnecessary proclamations made by Ellsberg throughout the book. I thought I was picking up a book with bunches of point-source information from the mouths of college-dropouts turned self-made millionaires. Instead, what I got, was a book by some guy who name-drops on every page, fabricates his own list of "success skills" and occasionally offers a stray quote from one of his interviews with real movers and shakers.

If you want to read big blocks of unadulterated advice from people who taught themselves the life skills to make a real difference in the world, look elsewhere. If you want to hear huge swaths of the personal story of Michael Ellsberg with the occasional garnish of actual famous people, this book is for you.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the advice is good but also fairly commonsense. A lot of it smells like typical self-help mumbo jumbo to me. The author also pushes a lot of other self-help books and self-help seminars (that sound pretty expensive) that are written and presented by people that he counts as friends. The author does seem genuine but I also think that he is a little too down on higher education. I completely agree that higher ed. isn't for everyone but I don't think that it has no value. He pretty much only talks about and interviews people who are ultra wealthy who dropped out of highschool or college because they had a good idea or a dream. There are also plenty of very wealthy people with degrees of varying levels from colleges. He thinks that instead of spending a ton on college (which I do think is way too expensive) people should "invest in themselves" by going to workshops that teach them to be good salesmen and marketers. Those skills are important but they are not the only skills that can make you successful. Overall it was hard to get through because I felt like the book was meant to indoctrinate me in some ways.

[Adil Najmuddin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two of my favorite parts from Ellsberg's book are, in quotes:

-"There are two decisions you need to come to in order to be free, and to be more effective. First is that you are not entitled to anything in the world, until you create value for another human being first. Second, you are 100 percent responsible for producing results. No one else." pg 200

-Engage in "what outcomes [you] specifically want to create in your life, and then relentlessly engage in only the activities directly related to producing those outcomes." pg 203

It's a great book that will probably get you mad enough to take action. If it does, the book has done its job.

[Alexander Berger · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Education of Millionaires is what Rich Dad Poor Dad should be: A realistic AND inspiring guide promoting self education and the entrepreneurial mindset. Michael explains how to learn and practice 7 fundamental skills that he found to be essential to entrepreneurial and career success. An article that Michael wrote to promote his book (Here: http://bit.ly/PPkNBR ) inspired me to give self education a good chance by providing a realistic plan to achieve my goals, this book provides more depth to my plan and has inspired me further with its great stories and resources.

[Russ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's a book that should be mandatory for every high school student. College is a scam and will make you a debt slave. You can't get rid of college loans in bankruptcy, yet. Ellsberg teaches valuable skills and life truths that ordinarily take 20 years of more of soul destroying work to learn. He teaches how to start a business, keep it funded, and most importantly retain paying customers.

[Nasos Psarrakos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book. A lot of references for blogs and other books regarding marketing

[Shriya · Rating 3 out of 5]

The info in this book is not earth-shattering but it is useful, well-organized, and has interesting bios of people + useful books/websites to use as self-education resources.

[oprișor raul · Rating 5 out of 5]

## 🚀 3 Sentences about the book

The author masterfully puts together a hard-hitting book that tackles the question "What education or knowledge is necessary to lead a successful life?" and a referendum against the notion that higher education is mandatory for self-made success. The book shares the lessons of billionaires, millionaires and successful people who were rejected from traditional schooling and guides you on how to replicate their accomplishments by finding mentors, tips for investing in yourself and marketing the brand of You. A realistic and inspiring guide promoting self-education and the entrepreneurial mindset through 7 fundamental skills that are essential to entrepreneurial and career success.

## 🎨 Impression

This is a book that will change your mindset about education and how you can educate yourself in the skills of success.

## ☘️ How did the book change me?

It made me understand that school and grades are not important! Being educated and prepared to face life will be of greater value in the long term.

Marketing, sales, branding and connections with other people are crucial.

⇒Entrepreneurial Mind-Set

## ✍️ Favorite quotes

“Education is [...] not the same thing as academic excellence”

“Safe is the new risky”

> Success Skill Development in 7 Steps:

Success Skill 1: Make your work meaningful and your meaning work

[Future Millionaires] “got financially stable, from a young age, often their mid-teens. Get a square job, a corporate job, a temp job, a boring nine-to-five. Don’t feel anything is “beneath you” so long as it pays.”

⇒Firstly “Get on Your Feet Financially”

Then, “Create More Room for Experimentation”

“Finding a comfortable meeting ground for your money and your meaning is going to require a lot of experimentation. Experimentation takes time. It takes money. And it takes room to fall and to fail”

⇒ENTREPRENEURIALISM IS LIKE DATING

“It’s impossible to become famous, and it’s also very difficult to become wealthy, if you impact the lives of only a few people”

“Make a Difference in the World Without Going Broke”

Success Skill 2: Build connections with powerful and influential people

“Connection capital is anything that can help you expand your network of connections”

“If you want to earn more money, develop your skills and talents to facilitate the creation of lots of social value. Focus on giving, and the getting will largely take care of itself“

“people out there who are already successful in that field, who can mentor you for free, or with whom you can apprentice [do work] for free.”

“give, give, give”

“The more you give, the more you get, and the more you get, the more you have to give.“

“ask for nothing [in return]....“

“The happier you are in giving, the more people are excited to be around you. You become ‘sticky.’”

“in order to be truly affluent, you must always let what you’ve received flow back into the world.”

“You can often connect with influential people through shared hobbies and passions”

Success Skill 3: Understand and learn marketing

“MARKETING ≠ SALES”

“The breakthrough realization for you is that you are in the marketing business.”

⇒ nothing happens until something gets sold. Ever.

e.g. ( not dry cleaning / restaurant )

“people who are most successful, they had a problem that was gnawing at them, and they couldn’t be comfortable unless they did something to solve that problem. It was so clear to them that they needed to do this thing, that every minute they weren’t doing it, they were unhappy.”⇒ SUCCESS

“The people who are most successful, they had a problem that was gnawing [tormenting] at them, and they couldn’t be comfortable unless they did something to solve that problem. It was so clear to them that they needed to do this thing, that every minute they weren’t doing it, they were unhappy.”

Marketing:

”The world needs your gift now. It can’t wait for you to keep it to yourself. The way for you to get your gift out into the world is to learn marketing, that is, learn the art of talking with people about their deepest needs and desires, and about why what you’re offering might help them meet those needs and desires.”

“In turn, if the product or service is designed to solve a specific unsolved problem or meet a specific unmet need, and if the message is targeted well, so that you happen to be someone with that unsolved problem or unmet need, you will be happy to hear about the product or service.”

“The key there is ‘joyfully.’ Most sales and marketing you study, you learn how to trick people into parting with their money, or badger them into doing it, or make them so miserable that they think you’re their only salvation. None of those situations involve the word ‘joyfully.’”

They don’t care about what you want to sell them. “If you aren’t talking to your prospect about their strongest and deepest wants, needs, and desires, you are doing them a disservice,”

“Ultimately, marketing is all about listening. If you don’t listen and you don’t care, you’ll never be a good marketer. You want to be the equivalent of a good friend”

⇒“make a list of your prospects’ biggest fears, frustrations, desires, dreams, and nightmares around the issue your product or service helps them with. List twenty-five answers for each of these categories.”

Success Skill 4: Understand and learn marketing and sales

“market and sell more effectively”

“The more you understand that you have no control at all, and you’re dealing with a bunch of people with free will who are going to do what they want anyway, the more you realize that the skill of leadership really boils down to the skill of influence.”

"You must name your [brand] after yourself. Period."

Success Skill 5: How to invest for Success

“learn while you earn” + “success is its own skill”

“The essence of bootstrapping is keeping expenses low, generating income right away (even if it’s just a little bit), and continually reinvesting as much of that income as effectively as possible into expanding your future income.”

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“andragogy”= adult education, the method and practice of teaching adult learners

“Adults are most interested in learning subjects having immediate relevance to their work and/or personal lives”

“they educated themselves as adults, not as children: they need to know the reason for learning something “

Success Skill 6: Building a Brand

“Your brand is what people think about when they hear your name”

“People go to college in large part to build up a resume, and then spend years and years adding to that resume. But they spend zero time building up their reputation.”

Success Skill 7: The Entrepreneurial Mind-Set

“run always toward creating real-world results for people who are willing to pay for these results, and you’ll never have to worry about money“

“You get paid by how many problems you solve:”⇒“you build stuff, things that consumers want.” + Focus “on contribution and outcome [...], rather than on entitlement and output”

( “That attitude that you’re entitled to a job:[“When you lose a job, or a client, do you have the sense that you lost something that you had? (That’s entitlement.)”] even a promotion, no matter what results you produce there, is a death sentence for doing the kinds of things that actually lead to your getting promoted and becoming indispensable in the organization;”)

“People with an employee mind-set don’t want to be the one responsible for making a bad decision, so they move away from responsibility for all decisions. It’s part of protecting their job. But they didn’t get the message that, in this economy, such behavior is the opposite of ensuring your future employment. Because they’re not making any real decisions, which means they’re not having any real impact. They’ll be the first to go when leaders start looking to trim fat.”

“There’s more wiggle room, more flexibility at the joints of society, than you might have imagined.”

Five Minute Rule

"It’s OK to be negative sometimes. But not for more than five
minutes:

1. Bitch, moan, complain, vent, get it out of your system, whatever you’ve got to do. But just for five minutes.
2. After that , focus 100 percent of your energy on what’s in your control. What can you do now? How can you learn and benefit from the experience? How can you move forward?”

Is College really worth it?

“Sadly, our education system, in its current form, is essentially one long series of contrived classroom situations in which the purpose is essentially to do what has been requested by an authority figure. This is the opposite of how success occurs in the real world.”

“Let’s say you got into Harvard and didn’t go. That’s a better story than you got into Harvard and you did go. And a much cheaper story. And it takes four less years!”

“The people in this book did not assume that, by going to class five days a week and dutifully doing homework and papers and studying for tests, some wonderful outcome was going to arise from all this diligent output of work, just like parents and teachers and society said it would. Rather, they engaged in deep inquiry about what outcomes they specifically wanted to create in their lives, and then relentlessly engaged in only the activities directly related to producing those outcomes in their lives.”

“Well, the problem with that is that that’s just a cliff that just ends at some point. It’s like ‘Do well in school! Do well in school! Do well in school!’ And then, once you’re out, you realize: oops, actually, this is not how the world works, you don’t earn any money directly from doing well in school, and you can’t even support yourself!“

Other important stuff

Important skills to master are “networking and connecting, marketing, sales, writing powerful business prose, clarifying your purpose in life, learning social media, taking charge of personal finance, building amazing relationships.”

Important classes in college: “public speaking”, “how to be a listener”

Books recommended by this book:

Never Eat Alone

No B.S. Guide to Direct Response Social Media Marketing

No B.S. Price Strategy

Spin Selling

The Brand Called You

Tuesday with Morrie

Who's Got Your Back

[Billy · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is an awful lot here to grasp and to digest little lone implement. Going to have to buy a hard copy instead of just the audiobook and dig through it in detail.

[Manoj Kakran · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book talks about real education in the present time. It gives the best examples of relevant education and humans to thrive in the real world and to get inspiration. Many entrepreneurs and their business ideas, skills, and books; such tools exemplified and suggested here; relevant according to recent era.
Great book for new graduates!

[Ross Albers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Top 5 favorite book of year so far. Success is marketing, sales and leadership.

Do the things that will help your company and business grow. That’s how you get promoted and earn more money.

[Dmitry · Rating 1 out of 5]

(The English review is placed beneath Russian one)

Хотел написать «перечитывая книгу», но вспомнил, что это одна из немногих книг, которых я так и не смог прочитать. Я дважды пытался, но почти сразу бросал, не дойдя даже до половины. И честно сказать, я даже не помню причину, почему я не смог осилить хотя бы половину и почему я даже не смог оценить тогда книгу. Теперь, когда я всё же с третьего раза дочитал хотя бы до середины, я понял, почему я тогда не смог оценить эту книгу.
Можно предположить, что книга обеспечивает читателя знаниями или хотя бы советами, как стать миллионером или, хотя бы, как достичь финансового успеха, не имея высшего образования (не заканчивая колледж, если смотреть с американской точки зрения). Что ж, название книги и обещание, которое логически вытекает из её названия, действительно многообещающее. Однако в реальности это оказалась одной из самых пустых книг, что я читал за последнее время. Это тот тип литературы, которую я просто не перевариваю, ибо найти что-то серьёзное в такой литературе просто невозможно. Я говорю про книги, написанными чаще всего блогерами или, фактически, людьми без профессии, которые пишут в своих книгах об очевидных вещах и делают это зачастую очень поверхностно, предлагая скорее чисто развлекательную литературу, используя которую вряд ли чему-то вообще можно научиться. Но будем честны и скажем, что даже среди такой литературы всё же иногда мелькают книги, в которых если и нет новых идей, то хотя бы старые структурированы очень хорошо из-за чего такую книгу просто приятно читать. Так что у меня претензия именно к тому, что в книге просто нет ценных мыслей. Это особенно важно, учитывая обещание автора.
Если кто-то думает, что эта книга позволит ему обогатиться на пару миллионов, если не долларов, то хотя бы рублей, то должен огорчить: нет тут ничего, кроме сплошной воды. Да, можно согласиться с автором, что нынешнее образование находится в кризисе, что оно не поспевает за технологическим прорывом (речь идёт о США, если не ошибаюсь), т.е. теми возможностями, что технологический прорыв предлагает. Так же соглашусь с автором, что в нынешнее время чрезвычайно важно непрерывное образование, т.к. чтобы быть востребованным нужно постоянно учиться с помощью книг, лекций и прочего. Тут спору нет, да и очевидно всё это. Однако подход автор, что, мол, без высшего образования люди способны достичь больших карьерных возможностей, сделать себе состояние и пр., вот это под большим вопросом. Да и что предлагает автор в качестве аргумента? Свою историю, историю своей жены, историю лучшего друга и истории нескольких людей. М-да, аргументы не то что не железные, а их тут фактически и нет. Начнём с того, что как я всегда люблю говорить, когда книга строится вокруг одних лишь историй, что найти человека, который бы подходил под вашу теорию, всегда реально. Всегда найдётся человек или ситуация, которая не вписывается в привычные рамки. Однако как сказано в одной книге, статистика нам говорит чётко и ясно, что уровень финансового благополучия строго зависит от наличия или отсутствия высшего образования (степени, окончания колледжа и пр. что там на Западе). Т.е. в среднем, люди, которые имеют высшее образование, зарабатывают больше чем те, у кого его нет. Это чистая статистика, которую невозможно опровергнуть. Да, Билл Гейтс достиг вершин и без высшего образования. Но многие другие люди без высшего образования не достигли того успеха, которого достиг Гейтс. Так что главная претензия к книге: она игнорирует факты.
А что же советы? Если честно, их практически и нет. Автор пишет, что нужно стать полезным человеком, давать советы и что, мол, это станет той возможностью, трамплином, который обогатит вас. Второй фактор, это связи и тут автор будет цитировать автора книги «Никогда не ешь в одиночку». Вообще, автор часто будет писать, как он обедал с тем-то и тем-то, попутно рекламируя их книги. Среди этих людей будут Сет Годин, Кейт Феррацци (автор книги «Никогда не ешьте в одиночку (Never Eat Alone))», т.е. один блогер рекламирует других таких же блогеров.

I wanted to write "rereading the book", but I remembered that this is one of the few books that I have never been able to finish. I tried to read the book twice. And to be honest, I don't even remember the reason why I couldn't even get to the half and why I couldn't evaluate the book then. Now that I have read to the middle, I understand why I couldn't evaluate this book then.
We can assume that the book provides the reader with the knowledge or at least advice on how to become a millionaire or at least how to achieve financial success without higher education (not graduating from college, if you look from the American perspective). Well, the title of the book and the promise that logically emerges from its title is indeed very promising. In reality, however, it turned out to be one of the emptiest books I have read in recent times. This is a type of literature that I just can't stand because it's impossible to find anything serious in such literature. I am talking about books written most often by bloggers or, in fact, by people without a profession who write in their books about obvious things (common sense) and do it very superficially, offering rather purely entertaining literature with which it is unlikely that anything can be learned at all. But let's be honest and say that even among such literature there are sometimes books which, if there are no new ideas, at least they are well written, which makes such books pleasant to read. So I have the claim that the book simply has no valuable ideas. This is especially important given the author's promise.
If someone thinks that this book will allow him to get rich by a couple of millions, then I must disappoint him: there is nothing here but just plain chatter. Yes, one can agree with the author that the current education is in crisis, that it is not keeping up with the technological breakthrough, i.e. the opportunities that technological breakthrough offers. I would also agree with the author that continuing education is extremely important nowadays because to be in demand you have to learn continuously through books, lectures, and so on. There's no argument, it's obvious. However, the author's approach is that without higher education people can achieve great career opportunities, make a fortune, etc. I doubt it. And what does the author offer as an argument? Well, it' s his story, his wife's story, his best friend's story and the stories of several other people. The arguments are not just weak, but they're just not in existence. To begin with, as I always like to say, when a book is built around stories, that finding someone who fits your theory is always possible. There's always a person or situation that doesn't fit in the usual framework. However, as one book says, statistics tell us clearly that the level of financial well-being is strictly dependent on the possession or absence of higher education (degree, college graduation, etc. in the West). That is, on average, people who have higher education earn more money than those who do not have one. These are pure statistics, which cannot be disproved. Yes, Bill Gates has reached the top with no higher education. But many other people without higher education have not achieved the success that Gates has. So the main claim to the book is that it ignores the facts.
And what are the tips? To be honest, there are practically none. The author writes that you need to become a useful person, learn how to give advice and that, say, it will become an opportunity, a springboard that will make you rich. The second factor is a network of relationships and here the author will quote the author of the book "Never Eat Alone". In general, the author mentions how he had lunch with various well-known people, at the same time advertising their books. Among these people are Seth Godin, Keith Ferrazzi (author of "Never Eat Alone"), i.e. one blogger advertises for other bloggers.

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, I think the title of this book is unfortunate because it will both turn away people who would like the book (as it did to me, the first time I saw the title) as well as lure in unsuspecting folks who are looking for something more traditional (e.g. some of the other reviews here).

I thought this book was going to profile the "charmed" (read: privileged) educational lives of famous rich folks--and this impression is what initially caused me to spurn this book. Later on, I decided to take a closer look at the book (it was available without a waiting list at my library, so why not?), and I'm so glad I did.

This book is all about nontraditional education--especially education that people wouldn't normally label as "education" (e.g. learning on the job). Although the overall tone is highly critical and suspicious of higher education, if you take the arguments at face value, there are a lot of compelling points, e.g. that educational dollars should be scrutinized closely and not automatically allocated towards "college."

Most of the book covers "success skills" the author distilled from numerous interviews with wealthy (mostly non-college graduate) people. The skills are: aligning meaning and work, finding mentors, learning marketing and sales, investing in yourself and your business, building up your "personal brand," and taking control of your career.

As usual, while reading the book I made brief notes on interesting/compelling points. By the end, I was shocked to find that I had taken, by far, more notes on this book than any other book I've read. Maybe it's because a lot of the concepts were new to me, but either way it's clear this was a valuable read.

My only complaints are that the book is too long (so many similar anecdotes that they started to blur together), much of the information is really just a set of pointers to other resources (still a good thing--just not convenient), and the previously mentioned strongly anti-formal education tone.

Overall, I highly recommend this book--at the very least as a contrarian point of view to help broaden your own perspective on your education, career, and business.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

For most kids growing up in the US today in the middle class, going to college is the dream of their parents and the expected next step after high school. Myself included, I went to college without even thinking that there was an alternative. This book paints the picture of multiple millionaires and highly successful people who never went to college - and some who did - making the argument that higher education today does not provide the necessary skills needed in today's competitive world.

Great book for helping you to see things a little differently, understand how you might be able to gain a competitive edge and grow in your career. Even if you have already been to university, there are many great lessons in here for you as well.

On the other hand, the author takes an extreme viewpoint which needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but a recommended read all the same.

Additionally, I listened to this audiobook via Audible and took notes.

[Sergey · Rating 4 out of 5]

В русском переводе книга называется "Миллионер без диплома", что, как мне кажется, слегка расходится с сутью книги. В ней показано, что высшее образование не залог успешности, а под успешностью понимается как раз финансовая свобода. В/о просто напросто забирает время и деньги – важные ресурсы, которые необходимы в процессе предпринимательской деятельности. И только построив свой бизнес, по заверению автора, возможно постичь настоящую свободу. Конечно, не все способны на это, и поэтому большинство выбирает работу в наем. Но среди них есть те, кто готов пойти на "жертвы", сменив свой образ мышления и поверив в свои силы, и вот для них написана эта книга.

Главное посыл – continious learning (непрекращающееся самообучение в той сфере, в которой строишь свой бизнес) и предпринимательское проактивное мышление (никто тебе ничего не должен, иди вперед, решай насущные проблемы)

[Annie Margarita Yang · Rating 1 out of 5]

Catchy title, little substance and content in the 200 pages I can actually use. Between 80 to 90% of self-made millionaires have college degrees. Knowing this statistic, it's quite clear that not all college drop outs can be the next Michael Dell, Bill Gates, or Steve Jobs. Author bashes college education too much.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marketing and sales! It's all about the marketing and sales. Oh, and doing something you're "passionate" about. For those of you who aren't interesting in hustling, go back to school and get a degree.