How to Get Rich: One of the World's Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets

This is a book that I am going to pass straight on to my seventeen year old son, not because of its insights into business (although it rings true on that account) but because of its insights into human nature and into the world 'out there' that he is going to have to negotiate in the coming years.

Like all sons, he won't listen to his Dad (and no real reason why he should) but he might listen to 'uncle' Felix.

Why should he? Because Felix Dennis is going to stop him wasting a lot of time believing that some people are nicer and cleverer than they are or that reading those idiotic books about leadership from people who could not navigate their way to an ice cream parlour on a hot day is going to make an iota of difference to his wealth. show more

Self-made rich people are different but only because they are rich and have a peculiar personality type - not because they are cleverer or more intelligent than you or I. If anything, traditional intelligence and 'book-larning' are disadvantages because they distract and displace intuition. I read about Tao, Tantra and Jung (and a lot besides) while I am not trying to get rich. That, in itself, is one good reason why I am not rich.

Dennis is clever, very clever, but he knows his limitations (a skill in itself). He is an acute natural psychologist and he can laugh at himself. Above all, he looks at himself and others without illusion yet with an odd sort of existentialist compassion that makes what he says in this book ring true and be useful. You get the impression that he would quite like it if the world was different but it is not and he has adapted.

That long preamble is necessary because this book won't make you rich at all. People like Dennis get rich because they are driven to making money. It is in their hard wiring. Society can stop such people and constrain them from wealth creation but it cannot create them at will out of the raw stock of society. Government funding of business education is useful in improving technical skills and management but the best thing it can do to increase innovation is to remove constraints and get out of the way - and I consider myself a hard line socialist!

What this book will do is either help you throw off the psychological and social constraints, especially fear and the carping negativity of others, that hold you back if you are on the cusp of entrepreneurship (and oh how I could have done with that sort of support in my deadly family circumstances of thirty years ago).

More usefully still, it will make it crystal clear, if you don't have a certain drive and ability to handle fear, that you really should not bother. You should stop dreaming uselessly of what could be or might have been and just get on with your life as either a functionary in the system or as a creative in some field of endeavour in which you have certain talent. Or be poor but honest.

Dennis makes it brutally clear that having money does not bring happiness - not in a moralistic condemnation of wealth per se (it certainly brings a lot of pleasure and experience and he clearly respects the personal service workers who helped him in this respect). True happiness, once a modicum of security is achieved, is about who you are and how you relate to the world regardless of how many things you have. Getting rich is not a path to happiness, it is just another neurotic drive much like that of the politician that all entrepreneurs (including Dennis) affect to despise.

But if you want pleasure and experience, need excitement and to 'feel the fear' and you see anything and anyone as potential tools to the satisfaction of your desires, then entrepreneurship is for you. Dennis' book will, if read with attention, do a great deal to point out all those mistakes that a live wire will make (and will probably make anyway because entrepreneurs tend not to listen to their Dads) long before they have to be made.

Unlike most of the boring ghosted and whitewashed 'how I did it and aren't I wonderful' books from senior managers and, that dread word, 'leaders', Dennis details his mistakes and errors of judgements - that alone is worth the price.

Would it have made a difference to me if I had had this book and its basic wisdom in, say, 1979? I doubt it. The book is accurate and resonant only because, as a lifestyle entrepreneur myself, my drives are very different from Mr. Dennis' and his ilk. I would have valued Mr. Dennis in 1979 because of his brutal insights into what people are about and why they do what they do. He would have saved me a lot of wasted time being nice to people who were useless or malign. But it would not have changed my essential dilettante nature, talented and effective though I am in many ways.

Rightly, he has very harsh words for the whiner who blames others - especially his family - for not being rich: it doesn't work like that. I can have a legitimate go at my lot (not my current lot but the preceding crowd) on grounds of the provision of basic security and happiness but not on the grounds of stopping me being rich or 'successful'.

To get rich, you have to think money is important but not in itself (it is just a scam like all absurd abstract concepts such as the nation or the brand). You have to believe in it as a marker of self-worth and a necessary tool for self-pleasuring because of a driving need for external stimulation and to be the centre of attention, the ordering force in your little world ... the rest is a mere pipe dream and you should really sell your soul to the company store or, like me, follow crazier dreams and take different risks rather than go down the Dennis path.

So, despite the much lower ratings given by other readers, I strongly recommend this book. It is a fast read. You can skip the poetry if that is not your thing (it certainly is Dennis' thing in self-indulgent mode but, hey, when you are worth the millions he is, who does he have to please?), though sometimes a poem makes a point well.

By all means photocopy the "eight secrets to getting rich" and stick it on your wall if you are serious about business, let alone getting rich. But the heart of the book is in one injunction - applicable whether you are creator (like him) or creative (like GoodReads people) - face fear and make it work for you. Otherwise, just be the man who switches the trains from track to track without having to know what is in the cattle trucks ... and then sleep soundly at night until you die, grey but calm, in the arms of your loving family. show less

Felix Dennis, creator/owner/chairman of Dennis Publishing (Maxim, Stuff, Blender, Computer Shopper, etc.), has written a fine book on the art of getting rich. Interestingly, Mr. Dennis describes his book as the anti-self-help book. It's an interesting descriptor given it's title. Nonetheless, Felix hangs his hat on the fact that he is brutal in his assessment of how to do so. He pulls no punches and he adds no fluff. He states it as it is which is nice for a change. Now, that said, some of what he says has been said in those self-help books he so loathes. Essentially, Felix's map to uber-success is as follows:

THE EIGHT SECRETS TO GETTING RICH

1. Analyze your need. Desire is insufficient. Compulsion is mandatory.
2. Cut loose from negative show more influences. Never give in. Stay the course.
3. Ignore 'great ideas'. Concentrate on great execution.
4. Focus. Keep your eye on the ball marked 'The Money Is Here'.
5. Hire talent smarter than you. Delegate. Share the annual pie.
6. Ownership is the real 'secret'. Hold on to every percentage point you can.
7. Sell before you need to, or when bored. Empty your mind when negotiating.
8. Fear nothing and no one. Get rich. Remember to give it all away.

You may look at this list and say, ho hum. I've heard much of it before. But in fact, you haven't heard it this way. Felix is ruthless in his questioning of your desire to be rich. Do you really want it? Are you willing to lose your family, friends, etc. in your pursuit? If you want it so bad, why haven't you already started in this direction? Ignore those who stand in your way. You'll need to be single-minded to get there - even then, it's a long shot.

It's different from the recipe model of "do this and you'll be successful and live happily ever after".

He tries to convince you through stories of his own life (this is essentially half biography/half how-to) that being rich isn't as great as you think it is. It can't bring you happiness. It often drives it away. He even goes so far as to say, "I have yet to meet a single really rich happy man or woman - and I have met many rich people." Bold words from a man selling a book on how to get rich. Especially given that he includes himself in that list.

I suppose that's the whole point of his book though. In essence he says, "this is how you can do it. It requires unswerving committment. It is still a long shot. It is unlikely to make you happy. Are you sure you want to do this? If so, don't mess around - GO!"

I was inspired. I truly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to friends. Despite his sordid past, I consider Mr. Dennis as someone to look up to. I respect a person who is a straight shooter and a true self-made entrepreneur. Richard Branson has been my idol since I was a teen (see my review of his book). To that end, I was shocked to find out that Felix had been Richard's assistant while Virgin was a fledgling company. It all came together for me at that point as to why I was drawn to this man's writing and attitude. It's that "who gives a shit? I'm going to do what makes me happy. Life is too short to bullshit around." attitude that made me say 'AHA!'

Read it if you are looking for inspiration along those lines. If not, don't bother. show less

Wow this was a really entertaining book, loved the intertwined humor Mr. Dennis uses to convey his message about this cliche topic. He pointed quite correctly, that there are many other things more important in life than money, but as any other person in a free country we are free to choose whatever road we want to take. So he writes what he has learned about it for any of those who wish to walk that path. IMHO one of the best books on this topic, from somebody who actually went through all of it to tell it how it really is. Great read!

This is a book is pure entertainment that doesn't give you the business strategy but the mindset of wealth to some degree. His interpretations examples of sharks and eggs made me understand the value of his teachings. Me personally I don't have the money to hire a shark or the golden idea that can become my egg. Nevertheless I found it interesting and not what I was expecting. I would recommend it to someone who is looking for something unique.

Half biography, half advice book. His writing is pretty fun (in a British scoundrel sort of way) and it meanders between some advice (do it now, no half measures) and the history of publishing industry ups and downs. I enjoyed it!