In today’s post, I’m going to be reviewing the book How to Be A Capitalist without any capital (The Four Rules You Must Break To Get Rich) by Nathan Latka.
Nathan Latka is an entrepreneur based in Austin, Texas, who frequently discusses entrepreneurship on his podcast – The Top.
I picked this book up because I’m interested in financial independence through working for myself.
I can say that this book is very helpful in providing insight on how to start businesses with limited resources.
I do have a disclaimer though. A lot of the ideas in here require some money. Additionally, Nathan toots his own horn a lot.
Key Takeaways For Me
Nathan has a different brain than most people. He is constantly thinking of new business ideas and how to make himself richer. This is a refreshing viewpoint to me. It shows that in order to consistently make more income, you need to be creative and come up with more income-producing ideas. Nathan provides many such ideas in this book.
I think Nathan’s view on systems is very unique. I haven’t seen this idea too many other places. He emphasizes the need to break down income-producing ideas down into systems that are sustainable and profitable. Use a systems approach to grow your wealth. Don’t think that you have to do every single thing to start or grow your business. Outsource easy tasks to multiply your efforts.
Another cool thing about this book was Nathan’s advice about real estate. He says to use real estate to grow your riches. Nathan outlines key metrics to look for when buying real estate and renting out. He encourages readers to buy rental property to have a constant stream of income.
Rules For The New Rich
He also provides rules for getting rich
1. Don’t focus on one thing – Don’t think that you have to focus on one thing to become rich. Most people feel like they have to create a start up like Amazon, Facebook or Uber to become rich. Nathan says don’t do that. You can become rich buy testing multiple ideas to see which work. Then you can iterate from there. This is very interesting because most people think they have to become billionaires. You don’t. You can become financially independent by testing and growing several ideas. Think about it like a diverse portfolio of stocks.
2. Copy you competitors – Another thing that Nathan encourages his readers to do is to copy competitors. What he means is that you don’t have to come up with an original idea. Look at other good ideas, services and products and make them better. Look at websites like amazon.com or kickstarter to see what ideas are working. Then improve them.
3. Quit Setting Goals – Another rule to break in order to get rich is to quit setting goals. Goals are what are stopping you from becoming rich says Nathan Latka. For example, setting a goal to make a million dollars is worthless. Understand the systems that millionaires use to get rich and build them. If you increase your income, but don’t decrease your spending and invest your money, you won’t ever become wealthy. He provides examples of the systems he used to make his podcast successful. It allows him to book great guests and churn out more content so that he makes more money. His system for the podcast also grows his other businesses. In this section, he provides ways for you to analyze systems and to outsource the tasks that are low hanging fruit. If you outsource, you can multiply your output and your income.
4. Sell Pickaxes to Gold Miners – Another idea that Nathan talks about is selling pickaxes to gold miners. Think back to the gold rush in america. The majority of people that went for the gold rush never got wealthy or sustained their wealth. However, the people that sold them pickaxes and jeans not only got wealthy but they sustained it as well. You can do the same today. Sell accessories for popular items like the iphone or apple watch. Alternatively, you could build apps for the iphone or iwatch. You can even outsource the building of apps. You could also look at popular products on amazon or kickstarter and build accessories for those. He provides copious examples of how you can “sell pickaxes to gold miners” which is another reason to pick up this book.
In conclusion, if you want inspiration to build your own business but don’t have a good idea and no capital, then this book is for you. It has so many great ways for you to achieve financial independence by building income streams and businesses for yourself.
