Customer Reviews

Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain: How I Went from Gang Member to Multimillionaire Entrepreneur

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Ok. Here's the deal.

This book is alright. If you look at it as a memoir, it's not half bad. Ryan has lived an interesting life and he did make an incredible turnaround. He tells his story well (or at least Don Yeager writes down Ryan's dictations well, or edits his thoughts well) and I did find it engaging.

However, the marketing surrounding this book makes it seem like it successfully reinvented the wheel. In a word, judging from the other reviews on here, from Blair's Twitter stream and from other social media indicators, this book is over-hyped. The marketing campaign promoting this book is disproportionate to the value that book actually contributes. It's not awful, but it's not spectacular. There are some interesting one liners here and there. But among other things, he misses the point of Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers twice, and doesn't seem to see that his own success is mostly due to a chance opportunity that he did not engineer and cannot teach other people in his situation how to engineer either. This book will probably help some people since it is being put out there so much. But that remains to be seen in the coming months/years.

If your money and time are actually investments, then I would suggest that neither are being wisely invested in this particular book. This is especially true if you are not like me and do not read several books a week, week in and week out. When you do that, you can afford to read some duds. If you're only reading a single book here and there, invest your time more wisely into a different reading choice. It's kind of a catch 22. If you're serious about starting your own business (i.e. what Ryan is encouraging people to do by promoting this book) then you need to read better books than this. If you're not interested in being an entrepreneur, then you can afford to waste time leisurely reading this book about Ryan Blair's life. But then that misses the purpose the book was written for.

And here's the thing. I'm actually a network marketer for Blair's company, ViSalus. So, I have no reason to hate. Ryan is a cool guy, and he's done some great things. But, just trying to be objective, this is not a that great of a book and had I spent money on it (I was given a copy) I would have felt that I wasted my money for what I got out of it.

Buy it if you like, but if you're serious about reading business books, then this isn't for you. If you're not, then it is, but then again it isn't. Confusing right?

Don't buy this book unless you like being treated like a sucker. I first came across this author on Yahoo News. The heading of the article sounded really interesting, about a young entrepeneur who came from the ghetto and made millions by the time he was 21. Once I started reading the article, I quickly realized that it was not a legitimate news piece at all, but a "fake" blurb created by a PR firm to create "Buzz," to sell this book. Naturally I was curious, so I looked up the book at Amazon, and guess what! I find one fake review after another, all posted within a few days of each other, all 4 & 5 star reviews, and all by first time-reviewers using words like "gripping," "riveting," "inspirational." Unless you like being treated with contempt and taken for an idiot who can't tell the difference between true praise and a bunch of paid trolls, please don't support this kind of trash marketing.

The good: This guy was very, very, lucky. He could have very easily remained a "gang member" and wound up dead or in jail. He did take advantage of opportunities that were handed to him. He did show initiative and followed through and was rewarded.

The bad: 99% of his success was due to his Mom hooking up with a rich guy. Real Dad was an executive and also an over-extended meth head. His Mom only left after things got so bad that the authorities got involved and they move from a nice neighborhood to the bad part of town. Ryan claims of a humble middle class background is a deliberate understatement - his father was a engineering VP and he lived in a very wealthy town.

While in a bad part of the wealthy town Ryan became "gangster" (much different than being a gangster in the inner-city) and was incarcerated several times. Ryan was charged with "strong arm robbery and battery" meaning he actually crossed the line - hurt someone and robbed them. Ryan wrote a letter to the judge begging for mercy - which the white judge granted and sentenced him to probation rather than jail. It would be interesting to see how many inner-city gang members of would get the same treatment as a white kid from a wealthy town. Luckily for Ryan he was never tried as an adult and his juvenile records are sealed.

A few years later Mom hooks up with a wealthy guy while she was working at the local deli who opens up a lot of doors for young Ryan. The book implied he pulled himself out of the "gang life", but it was all the result of his wealthy, well connected, step-dad who saved Ryan's family.

The rest of the book is your basic popular biz/self-help schlock that you find in the Multi-Level Marketing industry (Ryan's company, Amway, Shaklee, Mary Kay, etc..) where employees/distributors are the main customers. The book glosses over any real business issues while spending the most time focusing on promoting his lifestyle and his MLM company. It's surprising that people would get involved with a MLM business whose CEO has a criminal background.

The book does address the obvious aspects of being an entrepreneur. Work your butt off. Respect money. Build connections. Take risks etc. that you will find in most other business books. But his depictions are inconsistent. For example, one of his chapters is titled "HONOR YOUR DEALS". However, when he had a deal that he had signed off on, and suddenly doesn't like, he throws a hissy fit and threatens to sue everyone and sink the deal. How is that honoring your deal?

So does it work? Blyth, inc, the parent company for Ryan's MLM, stated in a SEC filing that "As of July 31, 2011, the estimated redemption value did not exceed fair value and no adjustment was recorded. For the calendar year 2010, ViSalus did not meet its predefined operating target"

I was very disappointed and regret this purchase. I feel scammed as this book is a 200+ page advertisement for a multi-level marketing company whose CEO is basically a lucky petty criminal.

I'll be much more careful with my next purchase.

NOTE: For anyone even considering joining any MLM. Ask what % of their income is from products vs distributor fees pyramid scheme and ask for the income breakdown of their distributors by percentage false hope ). If you can't get those answers - ask yourself why the company it hiding those figures.

For good article on MLM/Pyramid Schemes:
Search MLM of the US Govt Federal Trade Commission web site.
Search "MLM the truth" in your favorite search engine

The sad truth is many people joining MLM's really have "Nothing to Lose" and then quickly find out there was "Nothing to Gain" after they've lost their time and their money.

Wish it would have been more applicable to entrepreneurship in general. Mr Blair sounds like an idiot whenever he talks about his terrible track record of wealth management, playboy Hollywood lifestyle or pretentiously high brow possessions. I threw this one in the trash when I was done. My least favorite part which gave me the impression I'm taking with me was when he mentioned one of his favorite things to do when having parties is giving tours of his art collection. How desperate is someone to feel wealthy and cultured when they spend their time hosting a party corralling his guests around to see his art?

"Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain" reads somewhat like an inspirational autobiography of a sports star. (Perhaps because Don Yaegar helped write it. This is Don's first non-sports related book).

For those avid business readers, some might say there's nothing "entirely new" in this book. That's one of the points of the book---there are no secrets. For me there were new ideas---but even those I've heard of before are presented in a "fresh" way with a new perspective that just clicked for me. Surprisingly, one simple connection he makes between fat loss and building wealth has changed the way I think about building a business.

If you want to know his story---simply read the editorial blurb above. There's no attempt to hide where he started, where he is now and what happened in-between.

The one thing I found I wanted at the end of the chapters were clear action steps on how to apply certain concepts. For example---how to develop the "nothing to lose" mindset. The action steps are probably what would help identify this more of as a business how-to book than a business biography.

I think one of the strengths of the book is that it doesn't overwhelm you with information, it gives you nearly everything you would need to get started. If you don't get started after reading this---you're thinking too much. I think there could be more detail on choosing a good business or market---but Ryan's approach tends to be: find what motivates you and what you love doing and do that. (If you're looking for a book to help you pick a market try "Blue Ocean Strategy" or "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing"

One of the parts, which I find valuable, is the inclusion of a few emails he sent to future partners. And I appreciate the emphasis on hard work.

I found the comments on Tony Robbins interesting. And also the lessons of how he approached and dealt with different relationships are great examples of applying principles in overcoming obstacles that I'll probably find myself pulling on in my life for inspiration.

There is a good emphasis on the importance of people, both in finding mentors, hiring the right team members, and not taking crap from those trying to get the best of you. The "Million Dollar Mistakes" and "Golden Rules" are filled with some great take home quotes.

Although I've owned 3 businesses myself, I've read the book now 3 times to make sure I've gleaned the most out of it. If you want to get the most out of it---I suggest you go through with a notebook and answer the questions Ryan proposes in each chapter. It will be a lot of thinking---but you'll find most of the guidebook to building a business you are passionate about is there in the answers.

There were quite a bit of 'fishy' positive reviews that other reviews mention - but they have all been removed while the negative ones which are not actual reviews of the book - remain. This does skew the rating. I highly suggest going into Barnes and Noble and reading a chapter or downloading the free Nook sample to see if it's right for you. It's a quick read and I actually read it in store the first time through, before I ended up purchasing the kindle for PC edition.

Having just completed Nothing To Lose, Everything To Gain by Ryan Blair, CEO of ViSalus Sciences, I take away a few good lessons. Easy read, great stories, though at times a bit boring for me (due to lots of technical details of setting up a business which can be useful for many), and a lifestyle of a man who truly puts all he got into his companies through out the year. Here's 4 main lessons I learned:
1. Use the past to propel you further (but don't get caught up in the past).

2. Accept help from those who are willing to help you when starting out a business, and seek out mentors as well.

3. You are not defined by your circumstances (you can turn around anything when you give it all you got).

4. People will give you reputation but you give yourself character.

OVERALL: Good read from a man who started quite a few companies, who turned his own life around, and today helping many do the same.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It offered humor and authenticity, along with rules and anecdotes illustrating how to prosper in business and in life.

Thank you, Ryan, for your honesty and insights.

What starts off as an interesting story about Ryan Blair's early life with a Father who made a decent living and then descended into drug addiction, which led to familial abuse... and an eventual exodus by his biological Father from his life... descends into a banal egomaniacal screed that doesn't come close to meeting the expectations of the marketing blurbs.

The author fails to adequately acknowledge how much having a rich stepfather loaning money to him and opening doors for him tilted the playing field to his advantage in comparison to the flock he is obviously preaching to in this advertising "gimmick" of a book. I have been an entrepreneur myself for over a quarter of a century and admittedly have never brought my company to the brink of mega-million buyouts... though I awake every morning hoping to learn something new and become more successful than I was the day before... hence... the purchase of this book. This book does not help at all down in the nitty-gritty trenches as far as "true" product creation and development and the "true" street-fighting salesmanship that creates the growth of a company from zero to ten thousand to fifty thousand to a million dollars. This book is all about Ryan pounding his chest and telling about multi-multi-million-dollar buyouts as if him quoting a phrase from Mark Twain is all it takes to magically transform a $50,000.00 company into a $50,000,000.00 company.

One thing I can assuredly say, is that if I was given ten bucks for every time the author spouts off about his "art" collection I'd be a wealthy man. He drops famous names like Madonna changes boyfriends. He so unceasingly brags about his accomplishments and possessions that at times you think he's almost mimicking a stuck-up-poor-little-rich-boy-frat-boy-trust-fund-recipient... but he's really being his boorish self. A classic example of this is highlighted when I went to a YouTube site that he mentioned in his book. In this video he is up on stage at some type of award event and he "crows" about how he wrote a check for $100,000.00 to so and so charity. Now isn't the whole meaning of charity entail "not" "blowing your own trumpet"? If you're giving to a charity it should be because of your empathy or belief in a cause... and the last thing you should be doing is bellowing out to a crowd while being filmed... the amount of your "so-called" "charitable" donation.

The one positive non-gratuitous statement made in this book is Ryan giving credit to his biological Father for instilling in him the desire to compete for things: "I CAME TO ASSOCIATE EFFORT WITH PROFIT. BUT IT WAS MORE THAN JUST PROFIT. DAD TAUGHT ME ABOUT THE PRIDE THAT COMES WITH HARD WORK, TOO."

Throughout the book Blair makes negative remarks about the "infomercial" type snake oil scam artists... and unfortunately that's exactly what this book comes across as.

I purchased Nothing To Lose because I was hearing so much about it, the buzz on facebook in particular. I had a little trouble finding it, but I am glad I persisted. I found the story to be inspirational and moving, Ryan Blair has obviously turned his life around. And from what I have read about him since reading his book, it looks like he has a genuine love and concern for others. Bravo! I hope one person reads the book and moves their life in a similar direction!

This is an excellent read. Not sure why there any any negative reviews at all. Anyone who has ever made it in business will tell you 'luck' has nothing to do with it. There are plenty of 'lucky' people whop screw things up, and never make it. This is a great story about a man who grasped opportunity and held on to it through many struggles. Someone who sought success not just for himself, but so that he could help others too. He used what he knew, and the wisdom of the people around him to advance himself, and that to me is what overcoming is all about. Bottom line - this book qualifies the unqualified and gives entrepreneurs everywhere a reason to keep pushing. Not to mention - all the proceeds are going for an amazing cause. Ryan Blair is what we need to see more of in the business world. Maybe if there were more people like him making an honest million then our kids would stop thinking that crime is the only thing that pays.