The Education of Millionaires

It's Not What You Think and It's Not Too Late

By: Michael Ellsberg

Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt

Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

The Myth: If you get into a good college, study hard, and graduate with excellent grades, you will be pretty much set for a successful career.

The Reality: The biggest thing you won't learn in college is how to succeed professionally. Some of the smartest, most successful people in the country didn't finish college. None of them learned their most critical skills in an institution of higher education. And like them, most of what you'll need to learn to be successful you'll have to learn on your own, outside of school.

Michael Ellsberg set out to fill in the gaps by interviewing a wide range of millionaires and billionaires who don't have college degrees, including fashion magnate Russell Simmons, Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz and founding president Sean Parker, WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg, and Pink Floyd songwriter and lead guitarist David Gilmour. Among the fascinating things he learned:

• How fashion designer Marc Ecko started earning $1,000 a week in high school with his own clothing business and later grew it into an empire.
• How billionaire Phillip Ruffin went from lowly department store clerk with no college degree to owner of Treasure Island on the Vegas Strip.
• How John Paul DeJoria went from homelessness to billionaire as the founder of John Paul Mitchell Systems hair care products.

This book is your guide to developing practical success skills in the real world. Even if you've already gone through college, the most important skills weren't on the curriculum - how to find great mentors, build a world-class network, learn real-world marketing and sales, make your work meaningful (and your meaning work), build the brand of you, master the art of bootstrapping, and more.

Learning the skills in this book well is a necessary addition to any education, whether you're a high school dropout or a graduate of Harvard Law School.

©2011 Michael Ellsberg (P)2012 Gildan Media Corp

Critic reviews

"Michael Ellsberg's audio book is provocative and wise. Tuition is skyrocketing, job prospects are grim, and the race for bogus credentials has turned into a runaway status competition for positional goods. The Education of Millionaires offers a renegade path for anyone who wants vital skills without the crushing burden of student debt." (Peter Thiel, co-founder, PayPal, first outside investor, Facebook, creator of the Thiel Fellowship)

"Your success in a knowledge society depends on mastery of soft skills and practical intelligence-and yet they don't show up in college or high school curriculums. Ellsberg's rebellious audio book provides a street-smart education to fill the gap." (Keith Ferrazzi, author of the #1 New York Times best seller Who's Got Your Back)

Great Ideas, poor execution

Would you try another book from Michael Ellsberg and/or Erik Synnestvedt?

Yes

Any additional comments?

I did not care for the narrator. It got in the way of the information in the book.

Great Reference for Anyone Who Hungers for More

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is an audiobook I would recommend to anyone interested in entrepreneurship. The Education of Millionaires is well-documented, straightforward and insightful regarding what society teaches the middle class about becoming a millionaire - or doing well in life with a college education - and the truth about who really does become successful and how.

What other book might you compare The Education of Millionaires to and why?

I wouldn't compare this book to another book, but I would pair it with Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill. This book is just as motivational, insightful and inspirational.

What about Erik Synnestvedt’s performance did you like?

He spoke true to the brand of the book.

Paradigm shifting

While the narrator seems robotic and monotone in his delivery, his stories and example ignite paradigm shifting thoughts and specific ideas on how to become successful in life. I'm particularly interested in the marketing references made and the simple mindset shift of how an entrepreneur should view reality.

Excellent-Must Read

You want to change, let this book be your roadmap. Street smarts vs book smarts, I'll take the book smarts, thank you

Seems to be good but narration s so boring

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Narrator voice is bad, all the book has a plain tone, difficult to follow.. I always listen it when I have insomnia and in seconds I sleep like a baby.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Cannot tell.

Did The Education of Millionaires inspire you to do anything?

Always listen the preview before purchase. No matter how attractive the description or the cover it is.

Pretty good Book for teens

Part of me feels like if you dont already know most of this and you are past your mid twenties, then youre probably beyond saving. Hopefully im wrong and this book may be an eye opener to people who still buy into the castle in the sky that is higher education.

game changer

fantastic book. some of the concepts similar to.other books but he really goes into step-by-step. love it. going to.reread

Well Worth Your Time

Great book. Well written and nicely read. Author offers a load of insight into why the idea of a college education (and graduating with mountains of debt) is no longer the "best choice".

Great book if you want tt work your way to the top

If you could sum up The Education of Millionaires in three words, what would they be?

What other book might you compare The Education of Millionaires to and why?

Great bluebring and refrences to finding the path to being a succes.

What about Erik Synnestvedt’s performance did you like?

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Now I want to be a drop out

I like the way this made me really rethink my perspective on education. The reader sounds pretty conceited but after a while I got used to it. If there was a PG version of this book I would recommend it to everyone