The Millionaire Fastlane

Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime
Overall this is a pretty solid book about entrepreneurship. I especially liked the ideas around building money systems and leveraging your time to create passive income.
MJ DeMarco

Top 3 Quotes

  • "What 'Get Rich Slow' does in 50 years, the Fastlane shortcut does in five."
  • "The next time you're on the Web looking to make money, ask yourself, 'What do I have to offer the world?'"
  • "Money grows on trees if you own a money tree. And, you can own one if you know how and where to get the seeds."

Notes & Highlights

The conventional wisdom about wealth building goes something like this: get a good degree, work for 30 years, save, invest, and hope you'll retire rich. The problem is, you end up with limited freedom, and your wealth isn’t guaranteed.

There are two main problems with the slowlane:

  • Limited control: Although it may seem like you're in control, this control is really an illusion. The slowlane formula rests on several factors that are outside of your control: the value of your education, your job security, stock market performance, and even your health.
  • Limited leverage: When you rely on your job to gain wealth, you put a cap on how much you can earn because it is predicated on time. You can work more than 60 or 70 hours in a week, and you're unlikely to work for more than 30-40 years.

In the slowlane, you sell your freedom (in the form of time) for freedom (in the form of money). This is a bad deal. You end up living poor in order to (hopefully) die rich.

Beware of the slowlane gurus. Always remember that most money gurus who preach the virtues of "get rich slow" are really getting rich in the fastlane.

Wealth is a process, not an event.

The fastlane is all about leveraging your time to create passive income, which leads to unlimited wealth potential, unlimited control, and maximal freedom.

Time is your most important asset – far more important than money. Learn to leverage your time to create passive income. You can't leverage your time at a regular job, since your income is directly tied to the amount of hours you work.

Don't confuse "get rich quick" with "get rich easy": It’s totally possible to get rich quick, if you define quick as 10 years and are willing to make short term lifestyle sacrifice while you're building your net worth. It’s get rich easy/overnight that’s the scam.

In the Slowlane, you make millions in 30 years ore more - in the fast lane, you become a millionaire in 10 years or less.

Money actually does grow on trees, providing you own a moneytree.

Moneytrees come from businesses that solve a real need, have growth potential, and are relatively low-maintenance.

Passive income businesses include rental systems, Internet-based software systems, content systems (e.g. books/courses), and distribution systems (e.g. Amazon).

If you have passive income that exceeds all your needs and expenses, you’re retired.

Don't be a consumer, be a producer. Get in the habit of examining products from a producer's perspective. Ask yourself questions like... “How does this company make money? What is the goal of this marketing message? What is their business model?” The idea is to start to spot hidden opportunities that are all around you.

If you succeed as a producer, you can consume anything you want.

Don't chase money, chase needs. If you solve for the right need, the money will follow.

The amount of wealth your business creates for you is a reflection of the amount of value you have generated for others.

Ask yourself, “What do I have to offer the world? What problems can I solve". Answering these questions helps you align your unique skill set with solid business opportunities.

Make sure your business observes the "commandment of need". The best business opportunities have a high barrier to entry. As entry barriers get weaker, competition increases.

Easy opportunities attract droves of copycats, reducing your chance of making a profit. Businesses that aren't as easy to replicate earn the most profits.

MLM business fail this commandment, unless you’re the one creating the MLM business itself.

If you're going to compete in a market with low entry barriers, prepare to be exceptional.

If you can't control every aspect of your business – your pricing, your revenue model, your products, your operational structure – you're not in the driver's seat. This puts you in a very vulnerable and weak position, since your fate rests in the hands of others.

To hit a big outcome, you need to be in control of every aspect of your business system. Although you can still make money as a passenger, the big money accrues to the driver.

This is another reason to avoid MLM / network marketing businesses. You're never fully in control.

A business attached to your time is a job. To grow a real money-tree, you need to automate and systematize your business so it can operate in your absence.

Without scale (units sold) or magnitude (high unit profit), you'll end up with a business with a weak asset value.

Always analyze your business variables with scale in mind: how many units you can sell? What is your maximum profit per unit? What is your total addressable market?

© 2023 Mike Fiorillo
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