The Education of Millionaires - Michael Ellsberg [135]
I am also grateful to the many experts I interviewed who do have college and/or graduate degrees. Many thanks to Gregory Berns, PhD; Chris Brogan; Victor Cheng; Keith Ferrazzi; Seth Godin; Ace Greenberg; Cameron Herold; Josh Kaufman; Robert Kiyosaki; Randy Komisar; John Kremer; Charles Murray, PhD; Kenneth Roman; Marian Schembari; Peter Thiel; and Johnny Truant.
The following people all connected me to one or more interviewees: Elliott Bisnow; Justin Cohen; Adair Curtis; Mike Del Ponte; Mike Faith; Tim Ferriss; Jonathan Fields; Marie Forleo; Sandor Gardos; Adam Gilad; David Hassell; Cameron Herold; Ken Howery; Lisa Kotecki; Jena la Flamme; Tonya Leigh; Justine Musk; Kenneth Roman; Polly Samson; Marian Schembari; Yanik Silver; and Peter Thiel. Thank you so much for your help.
John Kremer’s incredible “College Dropouts Hall of Fame” (http://www.collegedropoutshalloffame.com) provided inspiration, and many of my initial ideas about whom to contact for interviews. I learned of self-educated serial entrepreneur Woody Woodward’s book Millionaire Dropouts: Biographies of the World’s Most Successful Failures after I began writing this book. Woody (http://www.millionairedropouts.com) graciously sent me a copy of his book, which contains biographical sketches of one hundred famous people without college degrees. I found his book, and an interview I did with him, highly inspirational, confirming for me that I was on the right path in choosing this topic.
The very dramatic difference in quality between the first draft and the final version is due in great part to the influence of my sharp, insightful, and sensitive editor at Portfolio, Jillian Gray. This is a far, far better book thanks to your help, Jillian—I appreciate it tremendously and it was a joy working with you. Thank you also to all other members of the Portfolio team I worked with, including Adrian Zackheim, Will Weisser, Natalie Horbachevsky, Allison McLean, and Tiffany Liao, for your immediate and unwavering belief in this project. You gave me the opportunity to write this book, helped me make it what it is, and helped get it out into the world with a bang.
David Moldawer also played an important role early on, providing wise guidance in shaping the book at the initial stages.
At the home of Naomi Wolf, I met Erica Jong. Through Erica, I met Sandi Mendelson. Sandi connected me to my amazing agent, Esther Newberg. In this chain of connection, you all played a crucial part in helping my dream come true in this book. Profuse thanks to all of you.
Much of this book was conceived, pitched, and written during the time I was studying under the mentorship of my friend Bryan Franklin. Bryan, you helped me reach big. I will always be grateful. Your guidance and influence are reflected throughout this book.
The manuscript benefited tremendously from the incisive editorial comments of Sandor Gardos; my parents, Daniel and Patricia Ellsberg; and my wife, Jena la Flamme, all of whom read it in draft form. Thank you all so much for your time, and for trusting me with your candid feedback, which I incorporated extensively. Also, eagle-eyed copy editor Muriel Jorgenson made this a far more readable book.
Every book I ever write, I will always express my gratitude to three specific people. First, to my parents, Daniel and Patricia—two of my best friends in the world—for your overwhelming love and support. You both gave me my passion for constant learning—one of the greatest gifts you could ever have given, a gift that will burn in my soul for the rest of my life.
Jena la Flamme became my wife as I was writing this