How to join the New Rich
How to get rich without getting lucky
The New Rich are those who create opportunities for themselves to become wealthy by leveraging knowledge and creativity. A key aspect is knowing what to do, with whom and when. To join the New Rich we need to be open minded, perpetual learners.
How to get rich (without getting lucky)
Naval Ravikant, who setup AngelList (startup support), is both rich and happy. He freely shares ideas on how others can achieve similar. Naval posted a thread on Twitter with the above heading which is on Naval Ravikant’s Twitter account. The Tweet is packed with highly insightful, actionable advice.
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson provides a detailed interpretation of the Tweet thread which I repeat below.
Seek wealth, not money or status. And Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. Money is how we transfer time and wealth. Status is your place in the social hierarchy.
Understand ethical wealth creation is possible. If you secretly despise wealth, it will elude you.
Ignore people playing status games. They gain status by attacking people playing wealth creation games.
You’re not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity (a piece of a business) to gain your financial freedom.
In almost all salaried jobs, including top end roles such as lawyers and management consultants, you effectively get paid an hourly rate; there is a practical maximum income related to time. By contrast, ownership of an asset, e.g. a company, can generate potentially unlimited income. I founded Incygames Ltd and dream big.
You will get rich by giving society what is wants but does not yet know how to get. At scale.
I am developing various apps that I believe have potential, including Chairing.it (which will use some AI that I discussed in GPT-3 introduces itself with 4 use cases).
Pick an industry where you can play long term games with long term people.
The Internet has massively broadened the possible space of careers. Most people haven't figured this out yet.
Play iterated games. All the returns in life, whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come from compound interest.
Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t pays it. - Albert Einstein
Pick business partners with high intelligence, energy, and, above all, integrity.
Don't partner with cynics and pessimists. Their beliefs are self-fulfilling.
Learn to sell. Learn to build. If you can do both, you will be unstoppable.
I love building things. I still play chess on a table that was a school project and programmed the first Psion personal organiser to draw graphs. I have undertaken Commercial roles for 15 years and write about selling, e.g. Hooking users and User growth. My first mobile app, Conxy, was downloaded c.4,000 times.
Arm yourself with specific knowledge, accountability, and leverage.
Specific knowledge is knowledge that you cannot be trained for. If society can train you, it can train someone else, and replace you.
Building specific knowledge will feel like play to you but will look like work to others.
When specific knowledge is taught, it’s through apprenticeships, not schools.
Specific knowledge is often highly technical or creative. It cannot be outsourced or automated.
Embrace accountability, and take business risks under your own name. Society will reward you with responsibility, equity, and leverage.
The most accountable people have singular, public, and risky brands: Oprah, Trump, Kanye, Elon.
“Give me a lever long enough, and a place to stand, and I will move the earth.” - Archimedes
Fortunes require leverage. Business leverage comes from capital, people, and products with no marginal cost of replication (code and media).
Capital means money. To raise money, apply your specific knowledge, with accountability, and show resulting good judgment.
Labor means people working for you. It's the oldest and most fought-over form of leverage. Labor leverage will impress your parents, but don’t waste your life chasing it.
Capital and labor are permissioned leverage. Everyone is chasing capital, but someone has to give it to you. Everyone is trying to lead, but someone has to follow you.
Code and media are permissionless leverage. They're the leverage behind the newly rich. You can create software and media that works for you while you sleep.
This blog is about my attempt to develop apps so, in a sense, I’m covering both code and media in one.
An army of robots is freely available - it's just packed in data centres for heat and space efficiency. Use it.
If you can't code, write books and blogs, record videos and podcasts.
Leverage is a force multiplier for your judgement.
Judgement requires experience, but can be built faster by learning foundational skills.
There is no skill called “business.” Avoid business magazines and business classes.
Study microeconomics, game theory, psychology, persuasion, ethics, mathematics, and computers.
I studied Maths and Computing and have written about consumer psychology, e.g. 3 influencing tactics for app designers.
Reading is faster than listening. Doing is faster than watching.
I love books and try to implement the best of what I learn. I started this blog because I read Share Your Work by Austin Kleon.
You should be too busy to “do coffee," while still keeping an uncluttered calendar.
Set and enforce an aspirational personal hourly rate. If fixing a problem will save less than your hourly rate, ignore it. If outsourcing a task will cost less than your hourly rate, outsource it.
I could have repointed a stone wall to the front of my house, but employed someone to do the work for me instead. Their effective hourly rate was a lot less than mine.
Work as hard as you can. Even though who you work with and what you work on are more important than how hard you work.
Become the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining what you do until this is true.
There are no get rich quick schemes. That's just someone else getting rich off you.
Apply specific knowledge, with leverage, and eventually you will get what you deserve.
When you're finally wealthy, you'll realise that it wasn't what you were seeking in the first place. But that's for another day.
Other resources
How to Get Rich interview with Naval Ravikant
How to Get Rich book by Felix Dennis
Happy Sexy Millionaire by Steven Bartlett
The 4 Hour Work Week book by Tim Ferriss
I would be the first to agree with you if you suggested that most of what’s on Twitter is a waste of time. However, I hope this post has persuaded you that there is also some good stuff there too.
Until next Sunday, let me know if you are inspired to join the New Rich. I’ll see you there.
Have fun trying.
Phil…
I love the last one Phil!