Amazon.com: Customer reviews: How to Get Rich: One of the World's Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets

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Grant Knutson

Excellent

Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2023

I’m ready to go make $ after reading this book.

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Steven Haiser

Good overall book that rambles a bit

Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2023

This book has some great nuggets and life lessons. Would I recommend, yes. Would I make it a top ten book in my list , no.

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Grant Knutson

Excellent

Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2023

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I’m ready to go make $ after reading this book.

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Truth Seeker

In your face truth about getting rich...are you ready for it?

Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2012

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How to Get Rich by Felix Dennis was recommended to me by an adviser that I trust. Since I grew up in my career in high tech at the same time as Mr. Dennis built his fortune I could relate to everything he explained about how his success with the first computer trade pubs and Maxim produced his rise to the ranks of the rich (and somewhat famous). This is a somewhat gritty tale told from a heavy British viewpoint but is nonetheless an accurate description of what's needed to become rich. I didn't say successful or happy, because these have nothing to do with getting rich as you will hear from Felix throughout.

Sprinkled with heavy doses of his poetry to savor a point or illustrate required thinking and action, this book isn't an easy or particularly fun read, I found myself wondering if I really wanted to finish it at several points only because of the colloquialisms he spouts while telling his tale which may require stopping to figure out what he actually meant. But, other than that, he does a great job laying out the steps to becoming rich which may surprise the get rich self-help reader who follows this topic, voraciously reading every popular book on the subject.

It may make you think again if that's your real goal - getting rich. Felix says that he can understand looking back why others chose different paths with raising a family, devoting themselves to a worthy cause or non-profit, because he himself really wonders if it was worth it...NOT! as it turns out, he's too used to his freedom and experiences of the finer things in life that money affords to change his fate now. He shares with you in the book what a real bummer or hassle that having money brings including a long list of needed advisers, financial advisers, tax advisers, supportive well wishers who seek hand-outs, charities, not to mention the minute details and fine print of the tax laws that you'll need to get extra very familiar with.

Dennis cautions what not to do if you want/hope to be rich, and he provides plenty of real life examples of what he experienced to help provide you a solid understanding of what the path looks like once you are on it and just experienced a windfall. He surmises as do many other rich people like him, not surprisingly, that most of the path to riches is paved by those who ACT. He shares that's something that fewer than 2% of the population do for the things that they WANT...and he thinks that most of you won't act and won't get rich.

That's why he feels that there's so much room for those who do and turn it to riches because (there is hardly any competition around anyone that's acting).

There are lots of ways of becoming or being rich which he outlines in the book, but the most powerful points he feels are: to clear your mind, set your feet firmly with determinism to get rich, laugh at your fears that only hold you back and then simply ACT -- you have to act! Oh, there's more to it than that of course, but you'll have to read for yourself.

I gave this a 4 star because it was a good tale of truth but it didn't say anything all that new or amazing. I liked the story because I could relate to the time period and to my own reactions to the experiences I personally had during that same time as I took my turn at becoming rich. It was accurate based on my experiences...every single thing he wrote. But the hardest part then becomes keeping it.

36 people found this helpful

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A Great Read - Full of honest advice on How to Get Rich

Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2008

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Witty, entertaining, fun and full of honest advice on how to get rich.

If you are looking for the get rich fad of the month, look elsewhere. This is one of the more honest, truthful books about obtaining (and keeping) wealth you will find. The information is presented in a lively, entertaining manner.

However you will quickly find that Felix offers no shortcuts. Nor does he lead you to believe that it is easy to get rich or that anyone can in fact get rich. Actually on more than one occasion, he advises that getting rich is not all that it is cracked up to be. And before you make all the sacrifices you should do some real soul searching about the cost and the benefits.

So what is the secret to getting rich? While there are no secrets, there are plenty of things you must do if you really want to get rich. The first is you must be "utterly determined". Most people will not get rich because they are not fully committed to getting rich.

Felix defines rich a little different than most "get rich gurus". His definition is someone with a net worth greater than one hundred fifty million.

The book is brutally honest about the value of ideas. Ideas are not important. Execution is "one thousand times more important than a great idea. The day to day follow through, doing the work, sticking with an idea long enough to make it work, these are the traits which can make anyone rich. However most people will not stick with an idea, they will not put in the effort. We have become addicted to "instant results". Expecting instant results is folly.

We have become a nation of information gatherers. Most people are highly knowledgeable. But as Dennis quotes Emerson, "No matter how much faculty of idle seeing a man has, the step from knowing to doing is rarely taken." And therein lies the problem. We know but do not do. Getting rich is all about doing.

The premise of the book is very valid. "Times change but people basically do not change." Therefore business models must change with the times. The bright shinny objects that we spend our money on will change, but the reasons, the emotional needs for spending the money do not change. If you wish to get rich, you must understand this basic concept. You cannot chase last years money maker. You need to be looking forward.

The major reason that people do not do better, do not in fact get rich is fear. Not just fear of failure, but fear of the "embarrassment of failure". If you want to get rich, you must stare down all your fears. You will not banish them, but you must conquer them or they will surely conquer you.

The most important line in the entire book, in fact the essence of the book is this: "Getting rich comes from an attitude of mind. It isn't going to happen if things drift on pretty much the way they are right now." If you truly want to achieve extraordinary wealth, you must adopt an attitude of mind that makes getting that wealth the most important thing in your life.

But instead of letting a desire for wealth rule our life, we let fear rule our life. As long as fear rules our lives, we will be timid, we will hold back.

You will get to know a lot about the man by reading this book. He freely admits to making many mistakes. But he also learned from them.

There is so much wisdom about life and business in the book. It would be great if all entrepreneurs could read the book and thereby gain the wisdom. But I am afraid that each of us still needs to learn the hard way. It is like Michel de Montaigne said, "We can be knowledgeable with other men's knowledge, but we cannot be wise with other men's wisdom." There is much wisdom in the book. Perhaps by reading it, you will gain a short cut to wisdom about what is important in life.

58 people found this helpful

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Daniel V. Rusteen

In terms of wine, this book would be Spanish, but not quite French.

Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2022

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The book is not great. It is good, though. If I rated the book in terms of wine quality, it would be from Spain, not France. The highest marks are the ease of reading. I didn't take many notes throughout because the concepts were more broad. But that maeks it easy to read before bed or when you're trying to relax.

Halfway through the book, I discovered the author died in 2014 at 67. Admittedly he lived a good life during the accumulation of wealth, but he also says he spent too much time earning money, only retiring at the age of 52. Learning that still shocked me. He wrote the book in 2006 at the age of 59. He only had a few more healthy years left. Rest in peace Felix Dennis.

My big qualm with the book is the lack of explanation for important concepts. When talking about negotiations, Dennis says to "choose a rogue element to your advantage and bring it into the negotiation at a later stage. You'll be amazed at how often this tactic produces results." Nothing further said about this. Bummer.

10 people found this helpful

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Nick

Great Book

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2023

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I thought it was a great book with many takeaways. Worth the read and money.

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Steven Haiser

Good overall book that rambles a bit

Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2023

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This book has some great nuggets and life lessons. Would I recommend, yes. Would I make it a top ten book in my list , no.

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Ganesh K.

Great book for aspiring entrepreneurs!

Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2021

Verified Purchase

Felix Dennis has done an amazing job in educating the reader on the realities of getting rich and the perils one encounters on the way to such riches.

He uses multiple examples from his own life of building successful companies to convey to the reader that, if they truly want to get rich, there is nothing truly stopping them. As the saying goes, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

He also touches on concerns that an aspiring reader might have such as the element of luck, the effects of wealth pursuit on friends and family, and the relationship between wealth and happiness.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is not satisfied with their current financial status and believes they can do better.

4 people found this helpful

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Jason y

Unexpected but a refreshing perspective

Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2020

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As a successful business man in the making, I am always looking to successful business men and women to see what kind of insight they can provide. I came into this expecting no fluff and clear practical advice and to a high degree I got that. What was refreshing was what all of that could do the you as a person the perils of getting really rich and how to avoid them. When you are consumed with trying to make the best business you rarely think about these things. Not mention the author was brutal honest about alot of theses pitfalls. As a rest it made the book really to refreshing to read. Wasn't written like a research paper which was what I was expected, but it was the author distilling his wisdom, through stories that happened to him and colleagues of his. An excellent read and one that I will definitely go back too when feeling stuck.

4 people found this helpful

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Steve Miller

Interesting, but usable? I don’t know

Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2022

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Not sure how much this really helps me to get rich, but it’s an interesting journey into the life and experience of someone who was truly rich.

4 people found this helpful

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DancingMeg

No B.S.!

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2015

Verified Purchase

I've read probably over 200 business books. I also have a business and its damn hard sometimes, no, all of the time. Sometimes I think I should give up, and horror of horrors, get a JOB. Afterall, I've been at this entrepreneur thing for over a decade and I'm not still not rich. Not even close. I've been considering throwing in the towel, then this book comes along. FINALLY! A book that ADMITS this is hard work. Dennis lays out all of the nitty gritty and for some it may act as a deterrent, but for me it made me feel less inadequate. Like it was OK that this entrepreneur thing was hard, REALLY hard. As many other reviewers point out, most business books focus on one sliver of the formula, plus they over simplify plus they make it seem so easy. So when you don't make a zillion dollars in the first year...you think it's you. And maybe it is, and I still might fail miserably at this entrepreneur thing...but at least I feel validated in my pursuit. And what the heck does it matter anyway. As Dennis points out, it's all a game and an illusion anyway and I'm having fun playing the game. By FAR my favorite business book!

4 people found this helpful

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