My Take (Down) of Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson

[JasonR]

I'm a big fan of the concept in the book and read / listened to it multiple times and consider it my long term game plan. I have to say I absolutely cant remember him saying that you have to lose money until you reach $1M. I always took it simply as breaking even (= taking a modest salary to cover personal living expenses) until you reach scale, in both revenue and employees that operate the company for you, and THEN start to profit.

This was my understanding as well. I don't remember Masterson saying you have to break even to get to the first $1m.

Nor is that the sort of business I want to run. I'm not a fan of enormous runways. I like highly profitable internet businesses. I am willing to take a loss, for a while, but I'm not one of those "start up" guys who runs a multi-million dollar business at a loss for several years then to be bought out and collect my profits. But, I don't think that's what Masterson is necessarily saying.

It would be nice to get some clarification from him, but I don't think we will.

 

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[Vigilante]

This was my understanding as well. I don't remember Masterson saying you have to break even to get to the first $1m.

Nor is that the sort of business I want to run. I'm not a fan of enormous runways. I like highly profitable internet businesses. I am willing to take a loss, for a while, but I'm not one of those "start up" guys who runs a multi-million dollar business at a loss for several years then to be bought out and collect my profits. But, I don't think that's what Masterson is necessarily saying.

It would be nice to get some clarification from him, but I don't think we will.

Typically, what I have found when you have the chance to circle back on things like this (and in this case... years later) what you would get is "well, that's not what I was saying." You'd end up with a watered down version anyway. Nobody likes confrontation, especially when it comes at the expense of what they wrote in their manifesto book.

So, to each his own. He wouldn't really give a shit about contrarian opinions at this point anyway (he doesn't need to).

So... if you are a fan of his work, and got some life changing material from it, awesome.

I was disappointed that I couldn't get past the false start insomuch as I am sure I missed the forest through the trees.

I resonate more with the automate and outsource / 4HWW crowd than I do with the empire building, run a funnel with trip wires at a loss until you can scale it big and close them on other stuff crowd. I am not a believer that a business can't be profitable from it's inception if it has elements of Need, Entry, Scale, Time and Control. I believe in a different gospel, but his scales to millions faster and more methodically (in certain circumstances) so what do I know.

Most people on Amazon have favorably reviewed this book (although, it only has 105 reviews so it is definitely a cult classic vs. a NYT best seller. Compare that with TMFL which has eight times that number of reviews.) None of his books have really mastered the SCALE aspect of the Millionaire Fast Lane. There's probably a reason.

 

[csalvato]

Most people on Amazon have favorably reviewed this book (although, it only has 105 reviews so it is definitely a cult classic vs. a NYT best seller. Compare that with TMFL which has eight times that number of reviews.) None of his books have really mastered the SCALE aspect of the Millionaire Fast Lane. There's probably a reason.

Hmmm....

From wikipedia:

"Ford's business writing is published under the pen name Michael Masterson. His books, Automatic Wealth and Ready, Fire, Aim, were recognized on the Wall Street Journal and New York Times Best Sellers lists.[4][5][6]"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/books/bestseller/200802besthardbusiness.html
http://www.earlyword.com/2008/01/10/its-bestseller-thursday/
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/03/0327_bestseller/source/10.htm

 

[Wuz]

His Book gives some of the best principles that you can apply in business.

Some of them, may need that you go into "break even", but even in that situation, you don't necessarily need to run into a 5 years period of time in break even, to reap the rewards.

You have to adapt what he said to your situation.

 

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[RHL]

I made it through the first several chapters before I put it down, never to return to it.

Alright, if you're going to be lined up on the prison wall for this, I might as well stand with you. Here's my copy of RFA:

It's been within 20 or so pages of that spot since April. The last time it took me this long to finish a book was City of God which, FWIW, is 2400 pages long and full of extremely esoteric material. One day when I was determined to make major headway, I got a surprise call to have lunch with a friend who lent me his copy of The 48 Laws of Power. I read that entire book in about 12 hours when I got home, was up until 2, had to rush to prepare documents for a meeting at a dealership at 12:00 the next day. That was my experience with TMF and RDPD also, I read each twice in the first week after I got them, they were so good they disrupted not only my thinking, but my actual life schedule.

So, I'm actually going to critique this book at a slightly different angle than Vigilante. The book has some merit, sure, but part of what's going on here, IMO, is a sort of false syllogism starting from principles outlined in TMF . The syllogism goes like this (and forgive the formatting, I never took symbolic logic or anything, but I think this makes my point):

If: Only people who have made 7+ figures know how to teach others make 7+ figures

Then it must follow that: Anyone who has made 7+ figures should know how to teach others to make 7+ figures.

And it just ain't so. Just because, in the case of many hucksters selling business success books, "those who can, do; those who can't, teach" doesn't mean that those who can do (Like Masterson) can inherently teach as well.

So, to Masterson (Ford).

For one thing, after buying the book, I felt like his primary concern as I started it was not to help me as a young-ish business owner, but to get me interested in subscribing to ETR. This is one of my ultimate pet peeves with some business books: If I paid money for your product, I don't want to feel that all I bought for my money was the chance to be upsold to your next level of commitment immediately, and if I don't bite, I don't get much value. Give me some value first, and if you manage that, I'll usually happily commit at the next level. He spent way too long establishing his credentials, which ended up being way less effective than MJ's "Here's the deal with my success, and if you don't buy it, your opinion doesn't change my reality." It was way, way too many words to distill out what Andy has, I think, correctly quoted as the nugget of the first 1/3 or so of the book-Focus on Selling, set up teams and systems that put you at the forefront of selling, get sales immediately. It's really good advice, and forged from really prescient experience, but it could have been presented so much better. I almost feel like reading the beginning of CantWait2's oft-bumped gold post delivers the same message more effectively.

Every night I bring the book up to bed, and every night, without fail, I fall asleep with the light on and the book in a pile on my face. Every time I fly or take a train, I take the book. It's traveled over 10,000 miles with me. It moves 1-2 pages, then I get caught up in something else. I know there's going to be more good in there, but I also feel as I've been reading that I'm probably going to have to power through another 100 pages to get another three bullet points of salient advice.

After the meetup, I bought the book, and thought I must be taking crazy pills to be having such a hard time. It was mentioned with reverence so frequently, that I felt like I must just not be approaching it the right way, or with the right mindset. I was thrilled to see this thread. I'm glad I'm not the only one who "didn't get it."

So I just disagree with the damn title. You NEED to aim, right down a fastlane.

Wait... you're saying you can't just start a blog, launch an Amazon store, or create a monthly subscription box and be Fastlane automatically? WTF why didn't you write a book?

 

[Vigilante]

Every time I fly or take a train, I take the book. It's traveled over 10,000 miles with me.

I sent you some rep$$ as you take your place in the Fastlane gulag with me, specifically because this sentence literally made me laugh out loud. Not just LOL, but actually laugh out loud.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I haven't read this book so I cannot comment on it, however...

His books, Automatic Wealth and Ready, Fire, Aim, were recognized on the Wall Street Journal and New York Times Best Sellers lists

These *lists* can be manipulated and sadly, don't mean shit other than the accolade it puts to your name.

TMF has never made a list (and probably never will) because I failed to sell 20,000 in a short period of time, which essentially is how a book becomes a NYT best-seller. In other words, you blast your list and do a huge launch promotion (sound familiar?) and bam, here's your NYT designation. After you sell 22,000 in the first month from pushing your list, marketing, PR, etc, sales dry up-- because well, the book just doesn't sell very well from word of mouth.

Ones that do sell via word-of-mouth become name brands, books like RDPD, Millionaire Next Door, 50 Shades etc. Those that don't usually fall to obscurity.

Insofar as TMF , I'd guess it has probably sold more than both of his books combined, despite lacking "titles" and "designations". It has sold consistently for years and reached 20,000 in sales years ago. Not sure how many readers take time to review a book, but it's probably in the neighborhood of .01% (one hundredth of a percent)...do the math.

Nonetheless, this book is on the recommend list simply by the fact many here have recommended it, and that, bears noting. It has been on my "to read" list for sometime, just haven't gotten to it.

 

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[csalvato]

I haven't read this book so I cannot comment on it, however...



These *lists* can be manipulated and sadly, don't mean shit other than the accolade it puts to your name.

TMF has never made a list (and probably never will) because I failed to sell 20,000 in a short period of time, which essentially is how a book becomes a NYT best-seller. In other words, you blast your list and do a huge launch promotion (sound familiar?) and bam, here's your NYT designation. After you sell 22,000 in the first month from pushing your list, marketing, PR, etc, sales dry up-- because well, the book just doesn't sell very well from word of mouth.

Ones that do sell via word-of-mouth become name brands, books like RDPD, Millionaire Next Door, 50 Shades etc. Those that don't usually fall to obscurity.

Insofar as TMF , I'd guess it has probably sold more than both of his books combined, despite lacking "titles" and "designations". It has sold consistently for years and reached 20,000 in sales years ago. Not sure how many readers take time to review a book, but it's probably in the neighborhood of .01% (one hundredth of a percent)...do the math.

Nonetheless, this book is on the recommend list simply by the fact many here have recommended it, and that, bears noting. It has been on my "to read" list for sometime, just haven't gotten to it.

I wasn't comparing the books or their quality. As you know MLF is one of my favorite books for starting entrepreneurs to get into the mindset.

I was simply pointing out an error in facts about RFA, since factually speaking it was a NYT best seller.

It is unfortunate that those lists are manipulated though.

 

[Likwid24]

I'm about 75% through the audio book right now and I Kinda like it. Most of what he says is on point with what I'm doing.

And as of right now, I'm on year 4 and still operating at a loss. We finally hit over 1 million in sales this year and will still show a loss at the end of the year. I mean, me and John are taking salaries because we need to survive, but at the end of the year there will be nothing leftover for profits.

The reasons being:

1- A lot of up front costs such as patents, molds, and some mandatory trade shows can be expensive. We are just learning how to cut costs and efficiently attend all these shows.

2- Mistakes - Which you will make. We got crushed a few times to air ship freight so that we got it too big box retailers on time to avoid fines and avoid ruining our relationships with them. Not to mention some of our current contract situations that we screwed up for the start. You live and you learn. You will make these mistakes. Especially being new to an industry.

3- We're putting everything we make into new products. That means new patents, new molds and lots of testing and research. The key to keep your company going and get it to the next step (According to Masterson), is getting new products out there and getting them out there fast. We expect to have at least 5 new products by 2016. Possible more.


I think he's on point with losing money your first 5 years. I mean , if you have faith in what you are doing, and you see your company moving in the right direction, then its worth it. You need to borrow, or do whatever you need to, to get money to keep it going. If you have good products, and a good game plan, eventually you'll get to the light at the end of the tunnel.

Look at Zappos. How much did they lose their first 5 years? And how much did they sell for in their 10th year?

 

[James Thornton]

Makes me want to focus on digital products/computer systems only. So many bottlenecks to physical products. Although they can obviously be big business.

Hope it pays off huge for you

 

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[Dicky Dee]

Ordered this book on Amazon and is actually on the way as we speak, ill let you guys know how it goes once I'm done!

 

[The Irish Guy]

I have to admit I haven't read the book yet but I understand the principle he is talking about, Amazon and Youtube would be two perfect examples, for over 20 years Amazon has traded at a loss but I don't think anyone would scoff at that business. Trading at a loss doesn't actually mean losing money, it also doesn't mean not paying yourself a wage and it is one of the best ways to rapidly expand a big company which sounds like what Ready Fire Aim's goal is.

http://www.ibtimes.com/amazon-nearl...t-make-money-investors-dont-seem-care-1513368

 

[Vigilante]

I have to admit I haven't read the book yet but I understand the principle he is talking about, Amazon and Youtube would be two perfect examples, for over 20 years Amazon has traded at a loss but I don't think anyone would scoff at that business. Trading at a loss doesn't actually mean losing money, it also doesn't mean not paying yourself a wage and it is one of the best ways to rapidly expand a big company which sounds like what Ready Fire Aim's goal is.

http://www.ibtimes.com/amazon-nearl...t-make-money-investors-dont-seem-care-1513368

Ah ok cool. I get it now. Thanks!

 

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[ZCP]

That was my takeaway as well.

+1 that book has really helped my service business as it got me back to I selling as my main focus.

As with any book, their are wisdoms that apply and wisdoms that are for others.

 

[Bila]

I just finished his other book, Automatic Wealth. I understand @Vigilante point, some advice are just not realistic. You want to expand your real estate portfolio ? Ask for a mortgage ...every year or every 2 - 3 years, with a bank ( his specification ) ...i dont know about US, but a mortgage every year !! What bank would finance that ?

While he provides great insights and info, it kind of did to me the same effect as Vigilante, thought he was not being realistic at all.

My 2 cents

 

[Get Right]

The best use for this book is to prop up your sales booth at the trade show. That way you get 2 things out of the book:

1. A stable sales booth at the trade show, and
2. You get to work SELLING your way to 1M. (The only actionable advice I can find in the whole book).

The book reads more like memoirs of a 100M$ mentor. That mentor would be saying "son don't bother me until you sell your way to 1M".

@Vigilante congrats on stopping reading, I couldn't and.....wasted a few more days of my life.

 

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[Vigilante]

The best use for this book is to prop up your sales booth at the trade show. That way you get 2 things out of the book:

1. A stable sales booth at the trade show, and
2. You get to work SELLING your way to 1M. (The only actionable advice I can find in the whole book).

The book reads more like memoirs of a 100M$ mentor. That mentor would be saying "son don't bother me until you sell your way to 1M".

@Vigilante congrats on stopping reading, I couldn't and.....wasted a few more days of my life.

Rule #1. Start with a million...

 

[ZCP]

The best use for this book is to prop up your sales booth at the trade show. That way you get 2 things out of the book:

1. A stable sales booth at the trade show, and
2. You get to work SELLING your way to 1M. (The only actionable advice I can find in the whole book).

The book reads more like memoirs of a 100M$ mentor. That mentor would be saying "son don't bother me until you sell your way to 1M".

@Vigilante congrats on stopping reading, I couldn't and.....wasted a few more days of my life.

I think you actually hit on what I got as the point of the book..... Don't waste your time on anything other than sales until you hit $1M (that includes the rest of the book). When you hit $1M, come back and read some more.

Would be interested in @Likwid24 's thoughts as he is now at stage 2.....

 

[jon.a]

I think you actually hit on what I got as the point of the book..... Don't waste your time on anything other than sales until you hit $1M (that includes the rest of the book). When you hit $1M, come back and read some more.

Would be interested in @Likwid24 's thoughts as he is now at stage 2.....

Sal is busy

 

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[Likwid24]

I think you actually hit on what I got as the point of the book..... Don't waste your time on anything other than sales until you hit $1M (that includes the rest of the book). When you hit $1M, come back and read some more.

Would be interested in @Likwid24 's thoughts as he is now at stage 2.....

This is just the quick response because I'm in a major rush. Have a flight to catch in a little bit.

So since I'm in phase 2 right now, yes I still think this is a great book. He mostly talks in the beginning about getting new products out there. Now that you have your hit product(s), you NEED to introduce new products. You also need to build systems and start hammering all the kinks out of your business.

This was our plan from the start, but reading the book reassured me that I was doing the right thing and on my way to phase 3 eventually.

Sorry for the short response, but like Jon says - I really am crazy busy right now.

 

[Vigilante]

This is just the quick response because I'm in a major rush. Have a flight to catch in a little bit.

So since I'm in phase 2 right now, yes I still think this is a great book. He mostly talks in the beginning about getting new products out there. Now that you have your hit product(s), you NEED to introduce new products. You also need to build systems and start hammering all the kinks out of your business.

This was our plan from the start, but reading the book reassured me that I was doing the right thing and on my way to phase 3 eventually.

Sorry for the short response, but like Jon says - I really am crazy busy right now.

Likwid is the outlier, not the norm. He broke the curve, and that's why he resonates with the message of the book. It is important to note that the message did not guide or create his success. It simply validates, for someone who broke through, how to fine tune. The book is not going to get you from zero to Likwid Concepts. He did that on his own back, along with his team. Once you break though, I am sure that the book has business growth strategies that would resonate. I am not saying the guys info is wrong, it just doesn't have mass, replicateable appeal until you pass through the eye of the needle.

 

[Likwid24]

Yea that makes sense. I think your on point with that. It's not something I would read in the beginning to help get me started. More like something you would read at the end of phase 1/ start of phase 2 to help guide you a little better and reassure you. I still haven't read the third phase of the book. I'm saving that for when I get a little closer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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[ZCP]

Likwid is the outlier, not the norm. He broke the curve, and that's why he resonates with the message of the book. It is important to note that the message did not guide or create his success. It simply validates, for someone who broke through, how to fine tune. The book is not going to get you from zero to Likwid Concepts. He did that on his own back, along with his team. Once you break though, I am sure that the book has business growth strategies that would resonate. I am not saying the guys info is wrong, it just doesn't have mass, replicateable appeal until you pass through the eye of the needle.

Who do you think he wrote the book for?

I took it as bread crumbs for the next great explorer. Many sidewalkers would want to buy the book for the cool maps and pictures, so he gets some payback from that side.

Are you saying that if you have tips for growing a business (which you do), that you shouldn't share them if they only appeal to a certain segment of the entrepreneur population?

Think you are being TOO literal, Dave. Grab a beach chair and a few mai-tai's and look through the relevant sections and see if there is a nugget in there somewhere for you. My fear is you are scaring many off from even trying the book.

Me personally, I got zilch out of phase 3 and 4 as I am not there yet. My eyes glazed over and it took me weeks to read. Maybe one day I will revisit and get some relevant knowledge for there. For now, the 'get your a$$ to selling' part and 'introduce some new products' part resonated.

 

[Vigilante]

My response is mostly due to the reverence by which it was recommended by many people that I know and like and trust on the forum. The book has somewhat of a cult following amongst many. I just didn't particularly like it. That's OK. People are free to disagree. If you got something out of it, awesome. Most books are like that. You take what you want and discard the rest. I just no longer have the patience to slog through several chapters of a book that is irrelevant to most.

 

[ddall]

Vigilante,

Great topic, and thank you for sharing your contrarian opinion. It is people like you who are willing to go against the prevailing hive mind mentality that ultimately stirs rational dialog and debate from which we can all challenge our internal biases and hopefully learn/grow.

With that said, I would agree with others that the book provides value and insight ( well at least the first two stages for me personally) in terms of the initial stages of empire building and would also agree with you regarding the average forum member seeking more insight into a lifestyle business akin to the 4HWW.

I too took his 'not profitable during first stage' point to be similar to Jeff Bezo's mantra of 'get big, quick' aka scale by reinvesting everything into the business (ok true Bezo's had mega funding, but the principle of investing to scale, maintaining cash flow/reserves and not taking out profits/dividends hold). For example, with ecommerce, it might be that each product sale is profitable when examined in a revenue minus COGS perspective, however ALL income is spoken for with additional expenses used to grow (Inventory, marketing, etc) so NO profit is realized, aka withdrawn from the business. In the book, Masterson talks about cash flow and selling being most important

Of course perhaps I'm interpreting this to fit my own present experiences and paradigm, but as someone who is bootstrapping his business working fulltime and investing all income generated from the business back into expansion and growth, I echo the stage 1 model in not realizing (taking money out) any profit.

I think, in fact, many of the principles in the book are congruent with general FL forum thinking.

 

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[mosquito]

MJ was looking an an early copy of the book I am writing...

You are writing a book? PM me with your paypal, I want to preorder it. Even if it's fiction