Rules for Renegades: How to Make More Money, Rock Your Career, and Revel in Your Individuality [Hardcover]

Christine Comaford-Lynch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2007

WANT A RICHER LIFE?

BREAK ALL THE RULES

Renegade entrepreneur-and runaway success story-Christine Comaford-Lynch has lived the kind of life most of us can only dream about. From model to monk to multimillionaire, she does what she wants-and gets things done.

Now, in ten outrageous life lessons, she'll show you how to make your dreams come true. Your way. Your rules. Rules for Renegades distills what Christine has learned as she succeeded (and failed) in business, built strong relationships (and some disasters), and evolved spiritually and professionally. If you want to become financially independent, she'll show you how to do it. If you want to build your confidence and self-esteem, she'll give you a crash course. If you want a meaningful life full of rich connections, she'll share her secrets.

Ultimately, she lets you in on the greatest secret of all-how to build a fulfilling life while rocking your career. She has also filled her book with lots of cool free stuff: links to a sample business plan outline, tutorials on sales and marketing techniques, and tools to help you enhance your own power.

You'll learn the surprising truth behind her most offbeat rules. . .

• Everything's an Illusion, So Pick One That's Empowering.
• Rock Rejection and Finesse Failure.
• Learn to Love Networking.
• Work Your Money Mojo.

Rules for Renegades is not just the story of a remarkable entrepreneur. It's an amazing approach to life that breaks the rules-and makes life work for you.

(20070724)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. High school dropout turned self-made multimillionaire and five-time CEO, Comaford-Lynch presents an upbeat, irreverent business book for entrepreneurs, free spirits and eponymous renegades. Focusing on passionate young people who have grit and vision but limited experience and/or resources, the author presents practical, step-by-step advice for starting a company, making it in a cutthroat environment and reaching life goals in record time, while recounting her entertaining, often hilarious life story. To some extent, all first-time CEOs are making it up as they go along, she says. Sure enough, she's found herself brazening her way through plenty of bizarre and touching situations: hiring employees before she actually has a firm; posing as a man to score a programming job in the macho world of '80s Microsoft; dating Bill Gates to learn confidence; making (and losing) millions of dollars through guts, sales know-how and force of personality. Emphasizing visualization and self-confidence, she tackles the spiritual issues of prosperity as well as the down-and-dirty details of payroll and writing a killer business plan. Entrepreneurs and leaders at all levels of their careers will find this inspiring, rags-to-riches story as pleasurable to read as it is thought provoking. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

As an entrepreneur, Comaford-Lynch has built and sold five of her own businesses and served as a board of director or advisor to 36 start-ups. She has also invested in more than 200 start-ups as a venture capitalist, counseled 700 of the Fortune 1000 and the Clinton White House, all without either a high-school diploma or college degree. With a background as a teenage runaway, Buddhist monk, and software engineer for Microsoft and Apple, her unique vision allows for a seat-of-the-pants style of management that is both refreshing and invigorating. The book combines humorous, fast-paced anecdotes with practical advice obtained from a whirlwind career building several million-dollar businesses from scratch before the age of 40, including an $8 million business loss and other failures and rejections that provided important life lessons. With an irreverent style all her own, Comaford-Lynch forges ahead with a stream of inspirational advice that readers will want to turn to often in times of both struggle and success. Siegfried, David

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (August 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071489754
• ISBN-13: 978-0071489751
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #354,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

221 of 237 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Beware of the Professional F/T Reviewers, August 14, 2007

By 

TD (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rules for Renegades: How to Make More Money, Rock Your Career, and Revel in Your Individuality (Hardcover)

There are people who market their consulting services by writing glowing 5 star reviews of *every* new book that appears on Amazon. Ignore these people.

Here's an honest review.

This book is basically the business version of "Chick Lit". The author's real passion is for recounting her affairs with various billionaires. First, there's Bill Gates with whom she had a one stand. Frankly, I thought Bill was too much of nerd to do this sort of thing. Then there's another short-lived relationship with Oracle's Larry Ellison who, according to her, has "buns of steel." Talk about TMI! Finally, there's a third mystery billionaire who is never identified.

Then there is the tiresomely long section on her problems with her New Age guru. He turned out to be a con man just like most western religious leaders. Apparently she couldn't see this coming.

The remainder of the book consists of high school level "wisdom" on how to succeed in life. For example, you need to master GSD (Getting Stuff Done). What a great insight!

To pad RfR out to book length she throws in a completely out-of-place chapter (CEO as Cash Extraction Officer) near the end on business funding sources which feels like a quickie Google "cut n paste" job.

The book's greatest strengths are the catchy chapter titles. Just scan them and you will absorb the book's total value in seconds.

Before the dotcoms exploded the author claimed to be a venture capitalist. All I know of her exploits as a VC is that she appeared in a business magazine sitting in a bubble bath wearing nothing but a cowboy hat and holding a cigar. That picture sums up the author nicely: a self-promoter and lime-light seeker with little of substance to offer the reader.

I was really hoping to like this book since there's so little writing from female entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, it's just disappointing fluff.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hoped for alot, got lost in the sexual relations, December 28, 2007

By 

T. Villarreal "You better watch out for this one" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rules for Renegades: How to Make More Money, Rock Your Career, and Revel in Your Individuality (Hardcover)

Ok, found this book in Business Week. A HUGE ad. Should have listened to my intuition. Great book for breaking old thoughts, getting out there and doing it! Yeah! But... Then the numerous parts on her 'relations' with 'various billionaires'. Yes, she outright brags! It's ridiculous and ruined her credibility for me. I did get something from the book, but without the kissing scenes. I reaffirmed my empowered feelings etc... but not much else. I did join her website: she sends you 'SPAM' about her teleconferences (the 1st wasn't too bad). Then builds you up for the Finale: the $200 conference she's holding. You had me at 'Unsubscribe'. Don't really recommend this one, but would highly recommend: The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz (Wow, REALLY gets you going) or 4 Hour work week (bit analytical but good inspiration and NOT just for those who want to quit their job). Hope that helps. Smile everyone, Have a great day!

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not sure any renegades follow these rules., March 3, 2008

By 

Mark L. Jackson (Carlsbad, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rules for Renegades: How to Make More Money, Rock Your Career, and Revel in Your Individuality (Hardcover)

I was really disappointed in this book. Do renegades even abide by rules? The book is a hollow collection of platitudes backed up by stories of dubious escapades. Not so much a book about business as a memoir book masquerading as a business book.

It is a fairly breezy read, however that's the problem. It breezes over many details, lacks depth, and throws in points that should be explained and are not. The author also contradicts herself in a damning manner.

First she admits to not having researched a business idea before going into it head first. She goes into training as a Geisha (no really, she does) and only after meeting someone who would become her benefactor does it dawn on her that being a Geisha means she would become a kept women. Seems to me that this is something that you should know going in, before you decide to set up a Geisha House in the US; and especially before you start training as a Geisha.

The second and most damning admission is that of her business partner. He is none other than a notorious cult leader to whom she gives half of her earnings. He is not mentioned until approximately half way into the book. Then only as an after thought does she slip in the "donations" she makes. She is forced to make these admissions because it leads into why she had to start over after this ultra-succesful business failure. She had "given" him half of the business, he wanted more.

After that chapter it was difficult to read on. How do listen to someone who sides with a cult leader, and says he is her "spiritual guide", and defends him; while admitting he is out for her money? She glosses over her involvement with this "guru", which makes it much harder to believe anything she says.

The author is typical of the Tech Elite, they will follow the hokiest of organizations, Gurus, Religions, Collectives looking for "meaning", which they never find. The failure of each new "fad", mostly New Age fads leads to them flailing desperately for some way to justify their existence. In this book, I recognize many of my former co-workers (Tech Elite). The author's failure to address this, is a major shortcoming of the book.

The author hits on all the requirements of being an "expert". Write book, check; create catch phrases, check; "buzz" words they have made up, check; offer free gift of little to no value, check; mention website several times, check. Her favorite phrases are "rock your career" followed by "rock failure" which she uses more as a mantra, than an emphasis on a point.

I don't mind people marketing their services or wares; however it annoys me when a book purports to be one thing and turns out to be nothing but a pre-sales piece. Can you learn something from this book? Yes, I think you can, however it's not rules, and it's not about being a renegade.