Stats for nerds
3recommend
5mentions
5people
2011–2026years
60% recommend40% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- You meant Felix Dennis, but to your original point, "How to get Rich" (and its follow up "The Narrow Road") drive home the same point. Maintain full control at all times. That includes term sheets with clauses that they will bring on an "independent" board member to settle performance-related issues (but really, they represent the investors). Fight nail and tooth for every equity point you're giving out. For a good case study, see Mark Zuckerberg, who would have been voted long ago if he did aggressively maintain control.
- Nice, I just ordered "The Narrow Road" on Amazon. Felix Dennis's "How to Get Rich" is one of the best business books I've ever read, I highly recommend it.
Sometimes the startup world devises its own theories on what makes businesses successful, and it's good to balance that out with the views of an old school no-nonsense, and massively successful, old media founder like Felix Dennis. He lays it out straight for you and he's all entrepreneur. Tons of wisdom in his books.
Great review by Derek Sivers on his first book: http://sivers.org/book/HowToGetRich
- How to Get Rich is a great book. It's a fun read and is not at all scammy in the way it's title might imply.
And I just noticed that Felix Dennis has a new book out. 88 THE NARROW ROAD. To quote from that: "Tunnel vision helps. Being a bit of a sh*t helps. A thick skin helps. Stamina is crucial, as is the capacity to work so hard that your best friends mock you, your lovers despair and your rivals and acquaintances watch furtively from the sidelines, half in awe and half in contempt.
Self-confidence helps, but can be simulated or acquired along the way. Tenacity is an absolute requirement. Luck helps, but only if you do not waste time seeking it,"
- FINISHED:
- Traction by Gabriel Weinberg (it's ok)
- A Skill Called Luck by Jakob Greenfeld (very good)
- Unf*ck Your Sales by Jakob Greenfeld (very good)
- Books by Alex West (very good)
- How to Live by Derek Sivers (very very good)
- Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown (really enjoyed it)
- The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing (it's okay)
- The Narrow Road by Felix Dennis (it's okay)
- Oh Crap! Potty Training by Jamie Glowacki (success)
- Вишнёвый Сад Чехов Антон Павлович (did not like it at all)
- Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift (liked it)
- Hunt, Gather, Parent Michaeleen Doucleff (this book is a game changer, strong recommend for every parent)
- MAKE by Pieter Levels
- Main Street Millionaire by Codie Sanchez
- Start Small, Stay Small by Rob Walling
- The Sweaty Startup by Nick Huber
- The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury (did not like it at all)
- Чем Люди Живы Лев Николаевич Толстой (nice)
- 80/20 Sales and Marketing by Perry Marshall (pretty good)
- Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl (eye opening)
- Growth Levers and How to Find Them by Matt Lerner (meh)
- Alexander Pushking Stories (very nice. crazy how he makes rhymes yet the whole thing makes sense)
IN_PROGRESS:
- War and Piece (I'm shocked at how much I'm liking it)
- Scaling Fast by Swizec Teller (really good, about to finish)
- Unreasonable Hospitality (it alright)
- Mom Test (it's good, but for some reason I keep failing to finish it)
- Marcus Aurelius Meditations (reading it slowly as inspiration strikes)
- Seneca Dialogues
- Ultimate Guide to Link Building by Garrett French
STARTED, BUT DID NOT FINISH (That's a big add list):
- Michel de Montaigne "Essays"
- Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid (feels to hard to tackle right now)
- Seeking Wisdom
- Product Led Growth
- Demand Side Sales
- Odyssey by Homer
- Full Stack Tao by Alex Kondov
- Logic for Programmers
- The Story of Philosophy
- The Story of Civilization Vol 1
- The Communist Manifesto Karl Marx
- Economic Facts and Fallacies Thomas Sowell
- The Beginning of Infinity David Deutsch
- Obviously Awesome by April Dunford
- SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome Mary Beard
- American Kingpin by Nick Bilton (it's good, just felt irrelevant, will revisit)
- Indexing Beyond the Basics by Tobias Petry (only read it when necessary)
- The Mind Illuminated by John Yates (can't keep meditations to stick)
Note:
- I keep notes on books I finished on my site, but need to bring it up to date: https://www.rasulkireev.com/book-notes/
- 'The Narrow Road', the Felix Dennis book that's quoted from, is a condensation of his earlier 'How To Get Rich' (not 'How To Make Money', that's identical to 'The Narrow Road'.) I found the longer version equally valuable and vastly more entertaining.
While Felix is worth reading - a 'get rich' book from some who actually built a business and got rich! - he comes from the publishing world and his advice is very different from the practice of most technology startups.
For example, he advises never giving away any equity in your company, ever, and includes the story of how, early on in his publishing career, he fired all of his senior staff because they asked him for a small cut of the equity pie.
