Book Analysis: "Rich Like Them"

Post by: Alphattude
I’ve recently finished Ryan D’Agostino’s book entitled “Rich Like Them,” based on door to door interviews of America’s richest neighborhoods in search of the secret to wealth accumulation. There is a common thesis; a mantra that all of these wildly successful people have in common. That mantra is being persistent and training yourself to always pay attention to new opportunities within your realm of expertise or interest. If you’re a realtor for instance, cheap waterfront properties should always be at the forefront of your brain at all hours of the day, even while on vacation. One should always place themself in an advantageous position to “connect the dots”. That perfect piece of real estate might be on a business trip in Arkansas, or in a little known area of Mexico. The three key words in business are: “you never know”. The people that spoke with the interviewer were those that believed in "you never know", part of the reason they agreed to speak to D’Agostino in the first place.

A curious mind is often a creative mind. Creativity in combination with risk taking often yields extraordinary results and rewards beyond imagination. If you are not always attuned to learning new things within the scope of your occupation, passion, or nature, then somebody else is gaining that edge on you. Not only are these people wealthy entrepreneurs, some are career businessmen and businesswomen that saw that edge and impeimented it into action. Some are just plain "lucky" (luck doesn't exist because people put place themselves in the position to be lucky), some are visionaries, and some are just renegades. 

These are regular people like you and me, with some slight variations. Studies show that key leaders are those of above average intelligence, but not by a margin too wide above the rest of the group. All of the wealthy interviewees “stuck to what they knew.” This advice should sound familiar. They worked in the industry, be it hospital administration, travel planning, real estate, etc. They saw the missing holes; the dots that had not been connected. They searched and worked incredibly long 15-20 hour days until prosperity. All of them were able to measure risk and reward, as well as implement hard work with a serious dose of persistence.

More importantly, coming up with a good idea is not even half the battle. So many people have good ideas everyday but the key is taking action and doing something about it. At some point, most of these successful interviewees find themselves at a crossroads. It’s easy to make risky decisions when you are young and without much responsibility. Take a chance and fail, so what? You go back and work for the man until you’re ready to try again or find a comfort zone.

(Deviating from the book) The most common millionaire in today’s America is usually a second generation American wearing an inexpensive suit, driving a modest car, and generally living below his or her means. Rolex, Rolls-Royce, Couture, these brands are not marketed to today’s trendy millionaire. They simply are not that target demographic. These are people that grew up having nothing and they... are hungry. They are hungrier than us Americans, with our sense of entitlement stemming from the booming economy of the 90’s. The guy now running the office I work at? He is a part time employee; an insanely driven and hardworking Indian guy in his mid 20's.

What do they have that we don’t have? They are today’s pioneers of innovation in computer technology, medical technology, doctors, engineers… what do they (first and second gen Americans) have? I refuse to believe it’s overall intelligence, although that could be proven with empirical data. Instead, I presume their main advantage is persistence. They want it more than we do, and if we don’t do something about it besides building invisible walls between our domestic world and the international world, we will lose.