The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires [Paperback]

Brent D. Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2008

The secret of extreme wealth creation

The Outsider's Edge reveals the one common denominator the world's richest self-made people share. Studying the lives of 17 world-famous billionaires, author and researcher Brent Taylor discovered that their one shared experience is that of the outsider. From Bill Gates to Richard Branson to Warren Buffett, being different from their peers, and proud of it, has served as prime motivation for many of the world's most spectacularly successful people. Turning the conventional wisdom about wealth on its head, The Outsider's Edge reveals the true value and importance of being different.

Brent Taylor (Australia) is a professional researcher who has worked for more than 20 years as a market researcher to government and corporations.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

What do Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and Richard Branson have in common that has led to their incredible success? They’re outsiders. In this exciting new book, Brent D. Taylor uses a sample of 17 self-made billionaires to explain why they’re outsiders and how they found the edge that has led them to extreme wealth. Taylor puts the lives of these billionaires under a microscope in order to discover the secrets that have catapulted them to their extraordinary status.  Find out the unexpected and fascinating details that have led these very different individuals to share the label of "billionaire."

About the Author

Brent D. Taylor (Melbourne, Australia) is a respected social and market researcher. For the past twenty years he has provided advice to Australian governments and large corporations. He was a director of KPMG for four years and ran KPMG’s Centre for Consumer Behavior. As a researcher Brent has always been fascinated with extreme achievers, however he became increasingly frustrated with the lack of explanation as to why extreme achievers are the way they are. His curiosity and drive have led him to write the exciting Outsider’s Edge.
Taylor gained a bachelor of Engineering from Auckland University. He then earned an honours degree in psychology at Melbourne University. He is currently a member of the Australian Market and Social Research Society.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Wrightbooks (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0731407318
• ISBN-13: 978-0731407316
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.8 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,044,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent motivational audiobook, June 15, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Outsiders' Edge (Audio CD)

The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires is an unabridged audiobook analysis of seventeen modern billionaires who earned their fortune under their own power, including Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, George Soros, Steve Jobs, Ralph Lauren, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, and more. Close study reveals a remarkable common personality trait - all seventeen are outsiders, whose advantage comes from marching to their own drummer outside of the lockstep synchronicity of everyone else. Combining that unique quality with determination, intelligence, and ambition proved to be their catalyst to wealth. Read aloud by voice artist Adrian Mulraney, The Outsider's Edge is an excellent motivational audiobook that encourages the listener to hone his or her individual strengths. 12 CDs, 13 hours 40 minutes.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars My Parents didn't abuse me. Damm it!, January 24, 2008

By 

Christo (Adelaide, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires (Paperback)

This is a very good book that looks at the background of 17 billionaires who are all 'self made.' It finds the common ground and attempts to find the links between those backgrounds and how they ended up being such sensational performers in the financial sense. It can be said that if you suffered from a difficult background or had a life changing experience or experiences, that this is often a catalyst for achievement (where one gets over those experiences of course!)

All in all an interesting read. I'd like to be a billionaire anay difficulties I had in my childhood might not be significant enough to give me the push I need to achieve like these people - but you never know!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Making money explained brilliantly, August 20, 2009

By 

Research Guy "Research Guy" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires (Paperback)

It is encouraging to find that the real story of wealth and making money is analysed in this easy to read book. The big money is made by people who follow different rules and to do that you have to be different. Being different is caused mainly by what happens to a kid before they leave school. This is good news for the Outsiders, particularly those who had a hard time at school. The author gives a great little test for whether or not a person has what it takes to be a billionaire on [...] The Creative Edge: 17 Biographies of Cultural IconsOutliers: The Story of Success