Customer Reviews

Make Your Own Rules: A Renegade Guide to Unconventional Success

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My previous exposure to Wayne Rogers was from his role as "Trapper" in Mash. So I was totally surprised to see a serious business book co-authored by him.

The first thing that you will learn is that Wayne Rogers has had a rather remarkable business career. He has been in the real estate development business, part owner of a professional sports team, a winery, produced Broadway plays, owned a wedding dress business and various other businesses. You might be tempted to think that he got into many of these business deals because he was a famous actor and other people were simply after his money and name. But you would be wrong.

It is not uncommon for celebrities to invest money in many different businesses. But far too many celebrity investors lose their money because they lack the business skills necessary to make sound investments. The remarkable thing about Wayne (I have trouble calling him Mr. Rogers - it doesn't sound right) is the high degree of success he has experienced with each business he invested in. In most all cases he played a rather active role in the businesses. While he generally was not in charge of day to day operations, we was not a passive investor.

The book traces his life and business experience. In the process of telling his story, he gives the general principals and lessons he learned and how he applied them to achieve his remarkable success. It makes for very interesting reading. I must admit that I would never have pictured "Trapper" as a serious and successful businessman.

He also shares his philosophy of life and raises some concern about how big government and big business are threatening our way of life.

It is easy to read the book and think that success was easy for him because he had access to opportunities which would never be available to the average person. In one sense that is true. But he was always building valuable relationships and was always open to and looking for opportunities. He took great care to make sure he was getting into business with the right people and everyone had some "skin in the game".

If you are a serious student of business you probably will not learn anything new. But it is always good to have lessons reinforced. If you are not a seasoned businessperson, you will learn some valuable insights on being successful.

The book is very easy to read. You will see a different side of Wayne Rogers that you probably did not know existed. I would say it is a bit more entertaining than informing. All in all a good, fun read with some valuable lessons.

I heard Mr. Rogers speak at a convention in Las Vegas in November 2010, and he touted his upcoming book. I enjoyed his speech, and promptly put in a pre-order for the Kindle version - I was not disappointed in the content.

If you have paid attention to current events, or are a student of history, what Mr. Rogers imparts in this book will not be new to you. What I did find refreshing, however, is he is able to boil it down to an everyman's language vs. what you would expect to find from an economist. Basically, Rogers gives you real life examples of his own business and entertainment experiences with practical advice: if you are going to operate in today's economic environment, you have to "learn some of the rules of the road to success," the free-market economy isn't free but way over-regulated, and you had better understand it if you want to succeed.

Of course, he also gives you some great advice on how to change a lot of the regulation. One can only hope! I'm looking forward to hearing more from Mr. Rogers.

The number and breadth of investments and experiences Wayne Rogers has had in his lifetime is impressive. This book touches on a lot of topics but is most interesting for the great lessons in business.

Right from the start I was won over by his description of how entrepreneurship is a creative enterprise. Corporate businessmen are skilled at administration. Entrepreneurial businessmen are skilled at creative problem solving.
There is a real advantage to those who aren't afraid to dive into businesses and industries they know nothing about. Those who are "in the business" are bound by "we have always done things this way", while a set of fresh eyes can ask "Why" and "Why not?"

A few other insights I enjoyed:

When choosing partners: "No skin, no deal." Everyone should have skin in the game and something to loose.

The cost of indecision is greater than the cost of making the wrong decision.

On buying distressed properties and businesses (his specialty): "Well bought is half-sold"

"A sure sign that someone is about to go under is that he becomes more grandiose."


The chapter on the banking industry is a nice bonus. As founding shareholder of six banks, Wayne Rogers has testified before U.S. Congress on multiple occasions, fighting hard against the repeal of the Glass-Steagall act that many attribute to be the cause of the recent financial crisis. Although his conclusion that more and smaller banks is the solution may be self-serving, my gut tells me he is right on the money here. Too Big to Fail is Too Big to Exist

Until I picked up this book, I had no idea that actor Wayne Rogers was such a successful businessman. Apparently, he's something of a genius in the business world. I think of myself as a creative person, and it's nice to read how Mr. Rogers became a success by avoiding conventional thinking and "coloring outside the lines." The good: Mr. Rogers' coauthor, Josh Young, is a talented, engaging writer. And there are some useful tidbits of advice in this book--although not enough to fill 220 pages of text. The not-so-good: It's a quick read--but too quick. There's a lot of filler in here. I read the entire book is one sitting. This easily could have been edited down to 100 pages. Also, all the name dropping turned me off after awhile. And most importantly... very little of this advice is applicable to my own life. While I'm quite impressed by all that Mr. Rogers has done in his career, I personally didn't get much out of this book. I'm someone who's trying to figure out how to make a successful career change--not purchase my own vineyard, apartment/shopping complex, film distribution company or nationwide chain of bridal boutiques.

Fans of the hit television show M*A*S*H know Wayne Rogers as the actor who played Captain "Trapper" John McIntyre. They may not know that, offscreen, Rogers has a long record of business success. He reveals how he studied the usual business systems and then worked around them to come out ahead. Rogers hopes that readers will extrapolate lessons from his experiences: Work with people you trust, seek innovative solutions and provide excellent customer service - common sense tenets you'll find in almost any business book. However, remember that taking off into a field of business about which you know nothing is a lot like boarding an army helicopter at a wartime mobile field hospital and chopper-riding into the wild blue yonder. You have to bring the right doctor's bag of skills along to get away with it. getAbstract considers this breezy hodge-podge of business philosophy, political views and personal experiences an engaging page-turner for any business student or fan of M*A*S*H.

Book review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.

Having written a number of "rules" books myself, this one immediately caught my attention and intrigued me; however, I was skeptical from the outset because of the words "renegade," and "unconventional" in the title and then the author, Wayne Rogers, Trapper John on the TV series M*A*S*H, made me suspicious as well. What was there not to be skeptical about?

Then you read the front flyleaf about Rogers' background: "since graduating from Princeton University, has applied his own iconoclastic vision to a wide range of business including a vinyard, a famous bridal boutique, a chain of convenience stores, the worlds of banking and real estate, a restaurant, a film distribution company, and more" (front flyleaf), and your interest is likely to be piqued somewhat.

The writing was comfortable, easy, and accessible. The examples were numerous and well incorporated, and although there were no footnotes, bibliography, or references, the book is based on Rogers' personal experience -- there is a lot of that -- his analogies combining the world of business with his own experiences were apt, interesting, and in many cases, simply delightful.

Admittedly, his suggestions, experiences, and advice will not be appropriate for everyone and certainly won't apply to everyone, but I found his ideas productive, interesting, and useful. Much of it, of course, is common sense, being in the right place at the right time, luck, fortunate connectivity, and basic abilities -- but that's all right since a successful life depends on these factors anyway. And what this book does is provide support and encouragement; nothing wrong with that!

If you like basic business books, straightforward personal advice based on a wide variety of business ventures, and a good (interesting) read, this is a good choice. It is by no means a great choice, but it serves its purpose well.

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This "guide" throws in a few aphorisms among many long bitches about how government is killing The Holy Free Market.

The main thrust of the book is a long catalog of deals made by Rogers.

Oddly several times he starts an anecdote and then moves to the next chapter.

There are, sadly, no anecdotes of his time at the TV series M*A*S*H.

The index takes up 12% of the book. Normally I'd find that excessive. But with this book I was delighted to get to the end and grateful I didn't have to read the last twelve percent.