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How to Get Rich: One of the World's Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets
How to Get Rich: One of the World's Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets
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Author: Felix Dennis
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover
Category: Book

List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $14.99
You Save: $10.96 (42%)
Buy New/Used from $13.99

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars(30 reviews)
Sales Rank: 2023

Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3

ISBN: 1591842050
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.02401
EAN: 9781591842057
ASIN: 1591842050

Publication Date: June 12, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
An outspoken entrepreneurial dynamo reveals the secrets behind his self-made fortune

Starting as a college dropout with no family money, Felix Dennis made himself the sixty-fifth richest individual in the U.K. And had a blast in the process.

How to Get Rich, his #1 British bestseller, is different from any other book on the subject because Dennis isn?t selling snake oil, investment tips, or motivational claptrap. Having already made his fortune, he merely wants to help readers embrace entrepreneurship?and learn from his successes and failures.

Dennis reveals, for example, why a regular paycheck is like crack cocaine; why being young, penniless, and inexperienced is a fine combination; why great ideas are vastly overrated; and why ?ownership isn?t the important thing, it?s the only thing.?

Part naked memoir, part contrarian manual, this book is invaluable for anyone willing to stare down failure and take a chance on not just getting rich, but very rich indeed!



Customer Reviews:   Read 25 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars Outstanding. Couldn't put it down   August 19, 2008
I have read probably about 20 or so books along these "getting rich" lines and I have to say that this is either my #1 or #2 favorite. (The other one that would vie for the top spot is How to be a Billioniare: Proven Strategies from the Titans of Wealth). Mr. Dennis's book is entertaining, inspiring, and chalk-full of high-yield advice and pearls of wisdom that any aspiring mogul should know. I read it on my BlackBerry and highlighted a lot and I plan to regularly go back and review this material as I believe it will truly benefit me on my quest for wealth.

To be objective I do disagree with Mr. Dennis on a few minor points:
- I do think it is possible to attain great wealth without completely sacrificing your life, youth, and relationships
- I have a lower threshold to relinquish equity in exchange for capital and management expertise (e.g. VC capital injection) -- after all, what good is 100% equity in a small company? I'd rather have 10% in a behemoth. (BG only has about 10% in MSFT).

The # of points I agree with Mr. Dennis on are innumerable.

Don't think. Read this book! Bravo Mr. Dennis!



1 out of 5 stars Do not buy this book - simply fluff   August 15, 2008
  3 out of 6 found this review helpful

Please, do not buy this book. It is poorly written, with almost no practical advice.

"How to Get Rich" is Mr. Dennis' flawed attempt to write what he calls the "Anti-self help book". In wanting to prove that he could write a successful "Anti-self help book", It really feels like his ego got in the way of producing a well written book with sound advice about acquiring wealth.

Mr. Dennis admits that it took him 8 weeks to complete the book. It is so poorly written that I am honestly surprised that it took that long. His "advice" is pure fluff (i.e. when you have a publicly held company, don't participate in insider trading - really???)

The one sound piece of advice that he does give is that there are huge sacrifices to make on one's way to acquiring great wealth. However, he endlessly repeats this which works to distract the reader, muddles his train of thought, and simply makes the book much longer than it needs to be.

I truly wish that I could get back the time wasted on this book. After the first few chapters I realized that this was simply fluff and was so incensed that I was determined to complete it so that I could post an honest review.

Again, please do not buy this book - it is a real waste of time.



1 out of 5 stars How to Get the Money Back   August 9, 2008
  2 out of 9 found this review helpful

I WANT MY MONEY BACK and MY TIME TOO which I wasted trying to find some advice from this so called rich guy.

Series of Contradictions !

1. First you say, Take Risk
Second you say Don't. For capital, don't go to a banker they are sharks, Don't go to Finanacers they are bad, try to get money and work done the poor way struggling around with your friends. WHERE IS THE RISK ?

2. You says Hire smart people, nurture smart people, respect them and then fire them when required. WHAT's LEFT ? Whats the difference, Whats new ? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY ?

3. Another advice You can get rich by Luck. I think thats what happened with this guy


I have read 5 chapters and yet to get a real ADVICE, which I can use.

And on top of that VAGUE poems which means nothing but add ambiguity to the topic in hand.

All big words and no substance. I really wonder if this guy is rich or just trying to become rich by SELLING THIS book. Next time I would rather see the bank account of the guy.

I was fool enough to buy the guy's Poem book also.



2 out of 5 stars A glimpse into the rich folks' mentality   August 6, 2008
  8 out of 10 found this review helpful

Felix Dennis started his book with some negative comments about writers of "how to get rich books" who made their fortune by selling those books. Although Dennis did not name Robert Kiyosaki of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" fame, he was the one first to come to mind. Dennis certainly writes better than Kiyosaki (not a great accomplishment), and his advice is coming from more experience. Yet, in terms of getting rich, his advice is not going much farther than Kiyosaki's.

What I liked the most was the warning Dennis gave: What comes with the turf of becoming rich. That part is very heartfelt and insightful, although I have no first hand experience to know whether it is accurate. Dennis certainly does a great job to dissuade most people chasing the dream of being rich.

Near the beginning of the book, Dennis shows two tables: One is based on cash and cash-like (liquid) assets, the other is based on total assets (net worth). In his assessment, you need to have at least $100,000 in liquid assets and at least $2,000,000 to be among "the comfortable poor". I guess, below this level, one is among "the uncomfortable poor". The "comfortably wealthy" sport at least $1 million in cash/liquid assets, and at least $10 million in net worth. The table is realistic. Those below the comfortable poor designation will certainly struggle in the USA. Even those among the comfortably poor may find themselves struggling if they need to pay the college tuition for several kids.

The book contains lots of personal accounts, and gives insight how the rich think about employees, business decisions, family, etc. Dennis sees well that it is morally bankrupt, and to his credit, he is not a hypocrite.

If you expect to get a road map to riches, you will be disappointed. The book contains pearls that are useful, but most of the pearls are not original or novel.

Now, as far the writing is concerned, Felix Dennis is VERBOSE. There is just as much rambling in it as in Kiyosaki's bestseller. In addition, there are expressions, sentences that I expected to see from a poor writer, and not from a poet. For example, Page 125: ".. or you will be stranded, like the last dinosaur, by the last warm lake, on the last continent the ice age has yet to reach." Well, there was no ice age as such associated with the disappearance of the dinosaurs, although a brief climate change may have occurred. Another example (Page 215) is a subtitle: "Focus on keeping your eye on the ball." Actually, keeping your eye on the ball means being focused. I think that Dennis chose the right path in his life: he is probably better in becoming rich than he is in writing books.

As far as I am concerned, this book was mostly a waste of time. If you really want to read it, borrow it from a library or from a friend. Don't waste your money on it.



4 out of 5 stars Another way of his getting rich   July 31, 2008
  0 out of 1 found this review helpful

YES if:
1) If you just want to earn money even at the cost of affecting your relationships ( are you really that bad )
2) If at the end all you care is only $$$$

NOT if:
1) you are in US as it is mostly UK based
2) you dont like questions and poetry.
Just another of his ways of getting a little richer, he just cant resist the temptation of earning a couple of million more



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