Post: #1

I'm not looking for get-rich-quick schemes. I'm looking for legit books/blogs/sources about hustling from a business perspective.

I want to read about how X company developed a unique business model or monetization platform: what was the thought process behind creating their model? What else did they test? Did they get lucky or did they iterate their model for 5 years?

I want to read the basic fundamentals of markets and how various companies employ them. What are the different ways you can make money? How do you take something that's valuable and free, and turn it into something that generates revenue? Where does value come from? What do people pay for?

A few posters on here are great examples: they built up followings through their writing, now they make money selling books, workshops, etc. That's a great strategy, and I want to read more about those kind of people and businesses.

I want theory, I want fundamentals, and I want real life examples.

From small time to big time and everything in between.

What've you got?

Post: #2

You can look in the first section of my reading list, I listed the 3 books I think are the most useful to build wealth (one about the mindset, one about investing and one about not fucking up). As you seem interested in inspiring examples, I recommend Think And Grow Rich, it provides the right mindset and plenty of examples from successful entrepreneurs such as henry ford, nicolas tesla, etc. Happy reading.

Post: #3

The Dream by Gurbaksh Chahal is brilliant.

Post: #4

check out "Millionaire Fastlane" by MJ Demarco...don't let the cheesy cover fool you. Good solid content.

Post: #5

Good to Great by jim collins. it's dry though but sounds like what you're looking for. It's required reading for a lot of executives.

How to Build a Real Estate Empire: Wisdom from the Best in the Business by Marcel Arsenault and John Hamilton - how legitimate real estate tycoons upped their game in RE

Also, the autobios of T Boone Pickens & Ted Turner were magnifico!

Post: #6

I'm thinking about writing a book. I feel kinda like a douche saying that because whenever I hear people say I'm writing a book I think your not impressive enough for me to read lol. That said it's not meant to say I'm any kind of expert so much as to offer some motivation and if I can do it you can do it type deal.

Long story short I was and still am working a low paying dead end sorta retail job. I noticed my company was not filling a need that was out there. I decided heck I'll see if I can make a few bucks with a little side hustle. Started making some beer money using ebay and amazon and then said hell I'll start a blogger website and throw up some paypal buttons, very unprofessional thrown together web design plan. It took off so I found an Indian company to put together a professional site all be it on a shoestring budget. Fast forward a couple years and I'm trying to hit 2 million in sales this year. I'm still working my shit job but quitting september 27 and opening an office of my own.

Anyhow, title was gonna be something like how I parlayed a $11 an hour job into a 2 million dollar company, or something along those lines. It's not really going to be a how to so much as inspirational and if I can do it you can do type of deal. I always hear people with these stories of a startup and always though they are smart than me, have more connections, more money to roll into their idea, I coudln't never do that or I have a hard time being inspired by that. I literally came up with a fake it til you make it kinda deal. I didn't know what the hell I was doing and have learned by trial and error and lost a lot of money doing so but things worked out.

I'm kinda holding off a. due to time and b. hoping I get a bit more successful before tooting myown horn and writing a book.

Post: #7

This is just a general comment, not directed at anyone here. I have thought about this lately, so might as well share it here.

I believe the "if I can do it, then you can do it" and "rag to riches" stories are a double edged sword. Yes, it offers encouragement. But the issue is most people don't have the drive/intention. People are all about "tell me how to do it" somehow thinking that if they follow the steps they too will achieve the same success. Based on all the guys out there pitching stuff, you would think 75% of the US should be wealthy. But we all know that is not the case, there is a big disconnect between the books/videos sold and real life results. There are just key mental differences between those who succeed and those who don't. Even in the millionaire fastlane book, the author mentions people are focused on the result not the effort.

I am not trying to smash anyone's hopes or dreams, if you knew me, you would know I want nothing but the best for people I meet/know. It is just sort of weird when people sometimes talk and act like they are destined for success. Rags are not a prerequisite for riches, but sometimes energetically, it seems that people think that it is. Sadly, most are destined for failure. At the same time, I know it sounds so stupid to say, "well 99% of people in my situation will fail, so why bother." People I know would never say that, any man of worth would not say that. I cannot articulate it like some of the wizards of words on this board can, but it just seems cruel. But life is not fair, never has been.

I want everyone to do well, just know that there is more to doing well than reading about other people's stories. To some degree if you need inspiration from other people stories, you may not have the drive to stick with it when it hurts. The vision and desire for success needs to burn through your body. You have to want it, it can't be given to you, no books, no videos, no stories.

While I find these stories inspirational, sadly, the road is littered with people who started with rags and ended with rags.

Post: #8

(08-07-2014 04:07 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  I am not trying to smash anyone's hopes or dreams, if you knew me, you would know I want nothing but the best for people I meet/know. It is just sort of weird when people sometimes talk and act like they are destined for success. Rags are not a prerequisite for riches, but sometimes energetically, it seems that people think that it is. Sadly, most are destined for failure. At the same time, I know it sounds so stupid to say, "well 99% of people in my situation will fail, so why bother." People I know would never say that, any man of worth would not say that. I cannot articulate it like some of the wizards of words on this board can, but it just seems cruel. But life is not fair, never has been.

I want everyone to do well, just know that there is more to doing well than reading about other people's stories. To some degree if you need inspiration from other people stories, you may not have the drive to stick with it when it hurts. The vision and desire for success needs to burn through your body. You have to want it, it can't be given to you, no books, no videos, no stories.

While I find these stories inspirational, sadly, the road is littered with people who started with rags and ended with rags.

The amount of luck involved in becoming wealthy (assuming you started poor) should not be understated. I could imagine working just as hard as I have and ending up with nothing. But if I never worked this hard I would have been guaranteed to stay poor.

Post: #9

(08-07-2014 04:07 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  This is just a general comment, not directed at anyone here. I have thought about this lately, so might as well share it here.

I believe the "if I can do it, then you can do it" and "rag to riches" stories are a double edged sword. Yes, it offers encouragement. But the issue is most people don't have the drive/intention. People are all about "tell me how to do it" somehow thinking that if they follow the steps they too will achieve the same success. Based on all the guys out there pitching stuff, you would think 75% of the US should be wealthy. But we all know that is not the case, there is a big disconnect between the books/videos sold and real life results. There are just key mental differences between those who succeed and those who don't. Even in the millionaire fastlane book, the author mentions people are focused on the result not the effort.

I am not trying to smash anyone's hopes or dreams, if you knew me, you would know I want nothing but the best for people I meet/know. It is just sort of weird when people sometimes talk and act like they are destined for success. Rags are not a prerequisite for riches, but sometimes energetically, it seems that people think that it is. Sadly, most are destined for failure. At the same time, I know it sounds so stupid to say, "well 99% of people in my situation will fail, so why bother." People I know would never say that, any man of worth would not say that. I cannot articulate it like some of the wizards of words on this board can, but it just seems cruel. But life is not fair, never has been.

I want everyone to do well, just know that there is more to doing well than reading about other people's stories. To some degree if you need inspiration from other people stories, you may not have the drive to stick with it when it hurts. The vision and desire for success needs to burn through your body. You have to want it, it can't be given to you, no books, no videos, no stories.

While I find these stories inspirational, sadly, the road is littered with people who started with rags and ended with rags.

Your post really struck a note with me. Roosh actually wrote a post about this idea that at some point knowledge doesn't count for all that much and action and motivation are the key factors.

I agree with this. Yet when I first discovered game and the red pill community, I spent a lot of time reading. I read all of the books, even torrented all the stupid routine manuals and shit, and then went out and actually did the work. The reading was important to give me a framework and some strategies to pursue before finding what method works best for me.

Comparing game to making money is a rough analogy, but I do think there is some overlap. Many guys spend all day reading sites and criticizing the methods of other men without doing anything themselves. I guess what I'm trying to say is that most people who read the books are jerking themselves off, and a minority will use those books and go on to attain some measure of success.

Post: #10

(08-07-2014 04:07 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  This is just a general comment, not directed at anyone here. I have thought about this lately, so might as well share it here.

I believe the "if I can do it, then you can do it" and "rag to riches" stories are a double edged sword. Yes, it offers encouragement. But the issue is most people don't have the drive/intention. People are all about "tell me how to do it" somehow thinking that if they follow the steps they too will achieve the same success. Based on all the guys out there pitching stuff, you would think 75% of the US should be wealthy. But we all know that is not the case, there is a big disconnect between the books/videos sold and real life results. There are just key mental differences between those who succeed and those who don't. Even in the millionaire fastlane book, the author mentions people are focused on the result not the effort.

I am not trying to smash anyone's hopes or dreams, if you knew me, you would know I want nothing but the best for people I meet/know. It is just sort of weird when people sometimes talk and act like they are destined for success. Rags are not a prerequisite for riches, but sometimes energetically, it seems that people think that it is. Sadly, most are destined for failure. At the same time, I know it sounds so stupid to say, "well 99% of people in my situation will fail, so why bother." People I know would never say that, any man of worth would not say that. I cannot articulate it like some of the wizards of words on this board can, but it just seems cruel. But life is not fair, never has been.

I want everyone to do well, just know that there is more to doing well than reading about other people's stories. To some degree if you need inspiration from other people stories, you may not have the drive to stick with it when it hurts. The vision and desire for success needs to burn through your body. You have to want it, it can't be given to you, no books, no videos, no stories.

While I find these stories inspirational, sadly, the road is littered with people who started with rags and ended with rags.

Good point and I'm not into feel good business books either. Where books can be off help is if you've been raised in a very employee or academic environment. Almost everything you learn in school is aimed at being an employee. The mindset of a business man is completely different. It's a re-education, a totally different perspective. You need to start thinking in terms of ownership, methods and scalability, which are things very few employees care about.

For Rooshv members, I think most would like:

Re-Work
Re-Mote

both by the guys behind Basecamp project management software. They're really good at giving an introduction to how to run a modern online based business.

In the same venue is The $100 Startup which to me was a bit too close to motivational/Tim Ferris like feel good biz book, but it is still great at showing how to turn niche knowledge into business with the internet allowing unlimited scalability. Anyone of Koyisakis Rich Dad Poor Dad books if you're deep in employee mindset. One book is more than enough, he really rehashes 20 pages in all his books, but again, it will get you thinking in terms of business owners and investors not employees.

Then there are a couple of marketing books I've read:

Cashvertising for internet advertising mostly
Any good book on marketing, Seth Godin gets a lot of good press.

Post: #11

another vote for millionaire fastlane..

Post: #12

Learn about sales which is communicating, motivating, negotiation and persuading people from different networks to put your idea into action.
This also means learn how to network!
Also learn about power games ("strategy and psychological warfare" <- can't think of an better expression right now) and then just copy success.

The factor luck can be drastically decreased

Look for books in those categories.

Post: #13

(08-09-2014 03:53 PM)Gringuito Wrote:  

(08-07-2014 04:07 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  I am not trying to smash anyone's hopes or dreams, if you knew me, you would know I want nothing but the best for people I meet/know. It is just sort of weird when people sometimes talk and act like they are destined for success. Rags are not a prerequisite for riches, but sometimes energetically, it seems that people think that it is. Sadly, most are destined for failure. At the same time, I know it sounds so stupid to say, "well 99% of people in my situation will fail, so why bother." People I know would never say that, any man of worth would not say that. I cannot articulate it like some of the wizards of words on this board can, but it just seems cruel. But life is not fair, never has been.

I want everyone to do well, just know that there is more to doing well than reading about other people's stories. To some degree if you need inspiration from other people stories, you may not have the drive to stick with it when it hurts. The vision and desire for success needs to burn through your body. You have to want it, it can't be given to you, no books, no videos, no stories.

While I find these stories inspirational, sadly, the road is littered with people who started with rags and ended with rags.

The amount of luck involved in becoming wealthy (assuming you started poor) should not be understated. I could imagine working just as hard as I have and ending up with nothing. But if I never worked this hard I would have been guaranteed to stay poor.

I agree, if you never take a shot you will always be where you are. But taking the shot won't guarantee that you will be successful. I respect how you bring up luck as part of the equation. Some successful people seem to like to act like they did it all themselves, as if no one helped them or they didn't stumble into something.

But if you are not working hard you can't put yourself in positions to get lucky, to get someone to lend you a hand, etc.

I guess all I was trying to say was you need to work hard, you need passion and yet somehow try and keep your sanity. The way some of these stories are told it was all or nothing and I bet there are a lot of wrecked people who bet it all. I am not celebrating that, saddened if anything, that a lot of people's lives get ruined by blind bets. You need to work hard but smartly.

Post: #14

One of my best book is "millionaire fastlane" because i am sucessfull by reading this book.