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Comment by luxpir | Hacker News Reader

Was trying to refrain from making negative comments on this book, having recently read it, but I can't resist just a few to save some people some wasted time:

. The style is very 'motivational speaker', written by a self-confessed 4-time MLM 'business owner' - lots of fluff and padding - and what is with the 'Laws' he keeps making up? And the long drawn out explanations with terrible analogies?

. Nice tone of misogyny throughout. Yay!

. Much of the content is obvious and covered in the most basic of entrepreneur guide material. In fact, this link is so useful because it sums up all the most useful parts of the book. Trust me, the words surrounding these are of no further value.

Read it, sure, even skim read it, but don't expect any answers if you're already up to speed on the basics of scalable business models and the need for hard work to get where you're aiming for.

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4-time MLM business owner? Have your actually read the book? For one thing MJ is against MLM's because it fails the commandment of control and entry (read the book to find out).

For those of you curious about the book, just read the sample chapters given in his forum, or listen to the audio book sample. Make your own conclusions.

For one thing this is the book venture capitalists don't want you to read.

Looks a bit spammy to me. I recommend this one every chance I get as a practical book about how to do your own small business as a developer:

http://www.amazon.com/Start-Small-Stay-Developers-Launching-...

One of the things I like about it is that it is not a "get rich quick" book. Indeed, one of the quotes I highlighted is "strive to build a startup that generates $500 per month in profit". That really resonated with me, because it sounded like something that I could aim for, rather than "YOU TOO CAN MAKE BAZILLIONS!!!". Even if you want to make bazillions, you've got to pass $500 a month at some point!

Thanks for this. I've not seen this book before and, like you, most of these other books feel way too spammy to me.

Glad it helps! I feel a bit spammy myself having posted it so often, but I think it's a really valuable way of looking at the world and I found the book helpful in creating my own side project business (that has passed $500 a month in profits, too:-)

If you like that book, the author Rob Walling also has a podcast called Startups For The Rest Of Us: http://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/

I'll also recommend "The $100 Startup": http://www.amazon.com/The-100-Startup-Reinvent-Living/dp/030...

It was a little bit too self-help-y in tone for my taste, but it didn't feel scammy like "4 hour work week" (and the book mentioned in this OP sounds), and has lots of basic, practical advice.

> For one thing this is the book venture capitalists don't want you to read.

That sounds like 100% marketing schtick.

FYI: I was the one who wrote that statement. I didn't recall him saying something like that.

Yes, I read it. He says in the book that it took him ownership of four consecutive MLM businesses (I use the term lightly) to realise that the only person who profits from MLM is the person who starts the business itself. Who needs four full ownership experiences to realise that? I realised it from the literature when I was 17.

Not to mention the many times he quasi-advocates actually starting MLM structures. I can quote the book if I need to. I'm now wondering if you actually read it!

"Who needs four full ownership experiences to realise that? I realised it from the literature when I was 17."

Well the author needed that before he went on to sell his company for XX million.

A lot of people make mistakes on the road to wealth, we can't all be as smart as you were at 17. That's why he wrote the book to help people skip some of those mistakes.

Ugh. I despair. Obviously the guy has a lot of defenders. Fair enough. Good luck to you all.

Has anyone seen that pending comments feature in use yet?

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