El empleado rico/ The Rich Employee

by James Altucher

¿Te has preguntado qué harías si te despiden en este momento?

James Altucher ha probado tanto el éxito como el fracaso, y nos revela, a través de su experiencia como empleado y empresario, la diferencia entre la mentalidad del empleado pobre y el cómo afrontan los problemas, sus hábitos, estrategias y recursos; también las habilidades que se deben desarrollar para tener pensamientos positivos y eficientes, cómo buscar siempre el progreso y evitar conformarse con una sola fuente de ingresos.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

This book details how one can become a rich employee in our times. And there is companies in this new century will only succeed if they encourage their employees to develop The Rich Employee mindset. This book gives you the tools to find satisfaction, meaning, and true wealth.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Finance, Entrepreneurship, Self Help, Personal Development, Productivity

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

James Altucher is a writer, successful entrepreneur, chess master, and investor.

He has founded over 20 companies and sold some of them for large exits. He has also run venture capital funds, hedge funds, angel funds, and currently sits on the boards of many companies.

He has written and been profiled in most major national media publications like the Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, CNBC, Forbes, and Business Week.

His blog, which began by detailing Altucher's precipitous fall from wealth and success to absolute rock bottom and then back to wealth, has attracted more than 10 million readers since its launch in 2010, and in 2011 inspired a comic book.

Reviews

[bxa · Rating 1 out of 5]

How big of a mistake can you make when you buy an (e-)book for only 99 cents? Well, bigger than you'd think: You may actually invest life time into reading it. Even if you may do so only in order to not fall prey to the author's anger with all those people he tells you about very early on: those that write angry or scrutinizing or negative or disapproving reviews and mails to him. You learn very early on that those are - of course - people who haven't read the text they are complaining about or criticizing. So, as soon as they go back to the text they learn that they are wrong and the author is right ... according to him at least.

This is the basic tone that underlies this whole book: "I am a very humble, stupid, dumb person; and I am not giving any insight or advice, but I am just telling you my own personal experience. However, if you don't find it helpful, you must have gotten it all wrong." Guess, this is the remaining passive aggressiveness the author tells us was characteristic for him in younger years. Well, maybe it's lingering?

This being said, in the first quarter of so of the book there are actually some nice phrasings. They put not-so-original ideas into nicely catchy language. Granted!

Then the book slowly but surely moves away from the topic of "the rich employee", venturing into recaps and pretty candid advertising of the author's own past writings. It's really an ad campaign for the Altucher Oeuvre for about a good half of the book.

Before it takes another turn, namely giving the author's wife the chance to write one chapter. "My energy as a female is needed in the world, badly." - Well, I am not too sure I can second that after this chapter. "And if we don't return to nurturing this part of our energy, if we don't bring to the front the feminine energy that births wisdom then we are doomed." - Puleez?! Really (or bring on the wisdom, alright, Lady - maybe start by spelling Sheryl Sandberg's name right before you recommend her "Lean in").

Okay, how bad could it get after that? So, I read on - what the heck... Only to realize that, for God's sake, I am not going to join the Chapel of Choose Yourself, although its bible/tora/koran - i.e. the series of Altucher's "Choose Yourself" books - is not only mentioned over and over again... he trusts his apparently devoted, totally unreflected followers with a whole liturgy of Choose Yourself Services, excuse me: group meetings. With the sermon scripted in a word-by-word manner.

This was too much - sorry.

Oh, and before I forget:
While the author tells us over and over again that this book is of course just to lend support to the reader's growth and development, he would have come across maybe a little more creditable if he would have cared to at least proofread what he (or, if my guess is right, the voice-activated software) had written. Even for somebody who is not a native speaker, such as the author of this review, it is rather unnerving (although sometimes downright funny) to deal with all mistakes in punctuation and grammatical mistakes, let alone the "glitches" stemming from the software (?) having the phonetically correct word that makes no sense in the context. If the text would have been put together in less of a sloppy way, one might have actually believed that the author respects the readers. As it is, though ...

"Thinking gets me know where (sic)" - reading this book doesn't either.

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books I’m of two minds on. I appreciated Altucher’s attempt, and I enjoyed the stream-of-consciousness writing in the way I enjoy listening to a good but boastful friend rattle on about his latest, possibly fabricated exploits. There is some wisdom here, but it is mostly in an unrefined state. You have to winnow out value for yourself. Altucher has both stories about the smart Altucher and the not so smart Altucher, who occasionally deals with problems in a suboptimal way. There is a lot to pick up here.

What I didn’t like was that this seems a bit too stream-of-consciousness, in that the grammar and spelling and in some cases the logic are missing. It appears to be a lack of editing that kept this from being a salable book and relegated it to a giveaway to build Altucher’s brand (thank you Kindle Owner Lending Library). This bothers me in that I expect better from the authors I read. I don’t expect something that feels like a transcript from Altucher shooting the breeze while he’s shaving in the morning, trying to get in his daily quota of words to build that brand. This feels like the only thing between Altucher speaking and your eyes was a pass through Dragon Dictate.

And what does he say? Really, a few good pointers, most of which you’ve heard before or are really just common sense, but discussed with some examples. No gossiping, become the expert of the in-between, share plenty of ideas,… Having mostly worked in big companies in my career, I understand and agree with his blocking and tackling suggestions, and I can see how his self-advancement ideas could and have worked.

Yet having really noticed the negatives of the way the book was written, I still was drawn to it. I guess I will chalk it up to Altucher’s personality, his business geek charisma. It worked for me. I may or may not try another of his books, although if I do I’ll let this one fade a bit first.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

James continues to impress and inspire me

I'm just about 38 and the most influential words I have read come from James Altucher. This book, as with his other books in the "Choose Yourself" series delves into how to be a better you as an "entre-ployee". It's all about helping others, coming up with ideas (both good and bad), learning from your failures, and capitalizing on the successes. The sooner we can all take a break from the status quo of "conventional wisdom", the better I believe we can all become.

[Raf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read several of James Altucher’s books and although there are some repetitive thoughts and concepts, each is still unique in their own way. I have followed James’ blog and listened to his podcasts as well. James is very genuine and honest about what he feels, thinks, and believes. He has hit rock bottom several times and that’s what makes him so credible. The Rich Employee is about how to maximize your performance at your current job while at the same time always keeping your eyes and ears open in pursuit of other opportunities. The three biggest takeaways I got from this book is:
1) Overpromise and over deliver
2) Never gossip (I think that this one is obvious but pretty difficult because people do it and don’t even realize it)
3) Give more and ask less. Store your asks for when you really need them.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who desires to maximize their work productivity and eventually pursue better opportunities.

[Roger K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a thought provoking book and an enjoyable read. It is a great alternative to the meme that entrepreneurship is the only way to be successful. Altucher argues effectively that you can be an employee and still be creative, opinionated, and change the world while you are at it.

The author's style is highly engaging - you'll disagree (sometimes violently so) with some statements made, yet even those elements will often lead you to learn things about your own thinking. While the spelling and grammar are a little rough, the ideas make this worthwhile to everyone.

[Clint Hyden · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a great book to help me get off my butt. If you can get one good idea from a book...it's good. His encouragement about being a "rich employee" means to find something you want to learn about and read everything about the topic. Talk to experienced people and experts. Read the history of the topic...what's changed? Why did it change? Why did it start? How have the masters played the game?

[Tiago Soares · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book on how to think and what we should do in order to become good at what we do in a company. Basically teach us how to succeed inside of a company.

It has also a lot of quick stories and examples from the life's experience of James Altucher. In the end it is a good read - soft one I would say (not so technical).

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some interesting thoughts. However, the book is hard to read. It's raw, unstructured and sometimes sloppy. I skipped many parts and then just jumped from subhead to subhead. Too obvious, too many repetitions.

At some point he writes "Don't read the average books that came out last year." Well...

[Jorge DeFlon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The definitive guide to choosing yourself

This book guides you to choose yourself, now even if you are and want to continue being an employee.

Read it if you are an employee or an entrepeneur.
Read it if you are going to join an startup.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book! Highly recommend for anyone who's trying to create other streams of income while still working at their regular job.

[Huss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes Yes Yes! Read this book if you're an employee of any kind!

[Zachary Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this as much as Altucher's previous books. Worth a read

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The whole book was an amazing experience, I loved it and I recommend it to anyone who want to choose him/herself...

[Filipe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very poor, with generic writing. Really do not recomend.

[Anita Ashland · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't come across a book before talks about how to use entrepreneur skills within a job. Most materials present self-employment and a job as binary - you either do one or the other. And a lot of entrepreneurs look down on having a job. But many people, like me, have a job and a side hustle and like it that way. I like his term "entre-ployee."

Here are some quotes from the book:

"the average multi-millionaire has 14 different sources of income."

"Being an entrepreneur is NOT about taking risk, it’s about ELIMINATING all risk."

"It’s not so great to be an entrepreneur. I’ve been many times both an entrepreneur and an employee. They are both basically the same if you have the philosophy and approach of “the rich employee."

"The problem with being an entrepreneur is it’s like being an employee except for two things: YOU create the job with well-known percentage of failure (85%), and, almost by definition (else the percentage would be much lower) there is absolutely no way to predict the future."

"Leadership is not about achieving your dream. It’s about helping everyone else achieve their dreams."

[Viet Dung Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, such an open-minded & creative perspective about work.
If I can summarize what I learned from this book in a short sentence, I would say "The rich employee know what he or she is doing".

Start from outside: Do you know what industry you are working on right now? What are you creating every day and for whom?
Then in your company: What department are you in? Who do you work for? and how can you devote yourself to the company towards its goal and prosperity? Are you willing to go the extra mile to help your colleagues?
Last but not least: (at all) DON'T WORK FOR THE TITLE OR MONEY (YET), work hard to learn and learn to work well, put in your time on work as if one day you will confidently start up your own empire (actually it's highly recommended to start it small and early)

I strongly recommend this book for anyone who wants to have a rich and meaningful experience at work.

P/s: Action speaks louder than words.
P/s 2: You can say I don't think critically about this book, how about things I disagree with the author, I can say I don't know yet, let me apply what he said first, then I will be back later.

[Adam Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a useful book if you're in a job you feel stuck in. Having gone through the process of changing careers and implementing many processes from this book (before knowing them) it was hard to get to through it. It was like reading things I already knew. However if you're looking to change your life, or you feel your job is under threat from a bad boss to robots or automation, it's worth reading.

[Helen Blunden · Rating 1 out of 5]

There’s a sentence in this book that says “Don’t follow my advice” and I wondered why I even bothered.

Another book that tells us how employees can differentiate themselves and create “side hustles”. I must stop reading these 99c e-books because my brain matter shrivels each time I do.

I did take some notes from the last chapter because he collated some online courses that are available.

Don’t even bother with this book.

[william braxton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Fresh Read, and Now a Fresh Fan

Insightful and enjoyable read. The author is transparent and genuine in his approach to sharing his life experiences while causing one to pause and think about what you are doing with your own. I like the fact that the book is more what you could do instead of what you should do.

[Sam Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good stuff in here. Don't let it hook you into his snake oil bs he emails daily though

[Mani Gurusamy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good book. This book is useful for those who just started their career or middle of their career and wanted to move fast on their career ladder or who wanted to become a entrepreneur.

[Octavio Solis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es Este libro te aconseja a :

Evolucionar , los monjes que escribían libros fueron reemplazados por la imprenta de Gutenberg , el caballo sustituyó al auto

Imaginarte como una escultura de piedra , eres un gran bloque de piedra con 4 piedras :

Física , dormir bien , hacer ejercicio (moverte )
Mental , tener salud mental (ejercitar ideas )
Espiritual , tener gratitud
Emocional

El multimillonario promedio tiene 14 fuentes de ingreso diferentes

Que hace un empleado rico :
1- Ama el producto
2- Conoce la historia de la empresa
3- conoce la historia de los ejecutivos
4- haz que tu jefe quede bien
5- conoce a todas las secretarias
6- prueba tu valor
7- estudia las campañas de publicidad
8- estudia la industria
9- conviértete en la compañía
10- vete

A) relaciona su éxito financiero con el de la compañía
B) promete más y entrega más
C)llega temprano
D) es leal
E) no chismea
F) se pregunta a quien ayude hoy
G) da crédito a sus jefes
H) planes a largo plazo
I) aprende sobre la competencia
J)tiene nuevas ideas todos los días
K) construye lazos profundos con empleados
L) ayuda a sus empleados a tener éxito
M) tienen un plan diabólico ( negocio alterno al trabajo)

Hábitos

Relaciones
Leer
Honestidad
Salud
Curiosidad
Aprende ,di,repite
Ideas
Permiso
Presencia
Adaptable al cambio
Experiencia
Escucha
Piensa que morirá mañana
Regla 5x5
Autonomía
Comida,sueño,movimiento

[Venkatesh-Prasad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike Choose Yourself, this neither grabbed my attention nor wowed me. While it had good bits of info, I think they could have been delivered much more succinctly as a much shorter book. However, it was an easy and quick read. So, I guess it is fine if you happen to read it.

[Peter Backx · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Rich Employee is a typical James Altucher book. In it, he explains it's not a good idea to be an employee and just coast and hope for retirement to come as soon as possible. The book gives a few options of how you can and why you should take your destiny into your own hands.

If you've read any of James Altucher's previous books and really didn't like it, it's very likely this one won't be for you either. On the other hand, if you did like Choose Yourself and his other books, this book does not offer that much new.

Personally, I found it an interesting and thought provoking read. It's pretty short and it's cheap, so you've got nothing to loose and, possibly, an entire new life to win.

[Anssi Mustonen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Rich Employee is part of Choose Yourself book series. Book is about how to be entre-ployee and not just mindless cogwheel. Not everyone wants to be entrepreneur so this book gives good advices how to succeed in a another path. If you already read Choose Yourself there is not really need to read this because Choose Yourself and The Rich Employee overlap probably something like 50%. However it's still worth of the money (99 cents).


Why I chose to read books from this author? Because how many people do you meet who admit losing millions of dollars, considering suicide and starting all over and doing all this THREE TIMES. That is real persistence.

[R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Altucher's "The Rich Employee" is a great read, at least for someone who is used to his writing style. Altucher challenges some commonly held beliefs, while he pays homage to some established concepts that are easy to forget in the daily grind. This book may not be the ideal first read for someone new to Altucher though, all too often the book's structure has the distinct hint of chaos prevalent when mom and dad are away and the kids have money to spend. Sometimes it gets so bad that Altucher almost seems to resort to rapid fire, bumper-sticker, one sentence paragraphs. Fighting through that distraction though, the information seems solid, and the chaos keeps things fresh.

[texast · Rating 2 out of 5]

James has an interesting perspective and clever things to say, but sometimes his writing style is hard for me to keep up with. Shortly after I started reading this, I signed up for his newsletter. The more I read his emails, the less I felt compelled to finish this book. Maybe I'll come back and finish it some day.

[Vickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. A good amount of the info was info found in his other books but still good to hear again. Really practical info that focuses on your current mindset and contributing from where you are right now.

[Alok · Rating 3 out of 5]

James comes up with many lists of ten, but they overlap. If you've read choose yourself then this book is largely a rehash, a fairly straightforward application of the principles to an employment situation.

[Albert Serrano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Más de lo mismo aunque con conceptos bastante interesantes. James altucher es un creativo al que en cierta manera admiro. Seguramente escribe los libros con mucha rapidez. Si lo compras seguro que aprendes algo.