Mad Genius by Randy Gage (Book Review)

Story time….

A few years ago, I was really addicted to this online social experiment called ‘Empire Ave‘. Essentially how it worked, you bought ‘social stock‘ in people and brands around the internet, and the more viable and visible you were in your social networks, the more your ‘stock price‘ grew. Be more active, engage with others…Good things happened to your Empire Ave stock price.

There was also this unwritten rule, if someone bought your stock, you returned the favor and bought theirs.

And there was this guy named Randy Gage who was always on the top of the most valuable stocks in the Empire Avenue game. He was visible and very active in social media but what he did for me so many years ago, as small as it may seem, is the reason I bought his book last week…

He ‘bought’ my stock! Reciprocity at it’s best right? He didn’t know me, and sadly all I knew about Randy was that he was crushing it in Empire Ave as his stock continued to soar…

Photo on 2016-01-24 at 9.16 PM

Anyways, I see Mad Genius on the book shelf last week and grabbed it instantly. Yeah I recognized the name of the author as soon as I laid eyes on it, but more importantly…I knew how ‘visible’ this guy was in that game from a few years ago, and really had no idea how or why…I had to know what his ‘secrets’ were…

This book is a look into Randy’s entrepreneurial mind!

It’s broken up into 3 parts;

1. Book One – THE MYSTERIOUS PEOPLE and the SECRET SYSTEM THAT RUNS THE WORLD which is a hilarious yet eye opening account for the way things are in business right now. It goes over the many things that are broken (or about to be broken) in business. Randy argues there is a huge culture shift coming, and if we aren’t ready we’re going to get left behind.

2. Book Two – The History of the Future – This was absolutely mind blowing. Randy brought up some very important topics including but not limited to virtual reality, artificial intelligence and how this will effect not only our income down the road, but also potentially all of mankind. It was stuff right out of a science fiction novel and that’s why I loved it so much. At the end of the day though, the BIG message in these chapters was ‘adapt or die’…And I couldn’t agree more!

3. Book Three – The Age of the Entrepreneur – He then finishes off the book with some very motivational stories about people just like you and I that are embracing change and developing opportunities while others settle for the mediocre life plan. This really fired me up and it kept on asking me, ‘Am I building something remarkable? Will I be viable in 20 years from now? Are my ideas BIG and not just average.

This book challenges you to think about your business, the future of it and does it have enough hutzpah to survive in a world of same old same old. It’s a gut check and sometimes Randy really does strike a chord because you see where you have been messing up, but at the end of Mad Genius….I am confident, that those that read Mad Genius and adopt his message of taking your business ‘thermofu&%ingnuclear‘ will do something remarkable!

A fantastic book! Arguably one of the best marketing / entrepreneurship books I’ve read in years.

Want a copy of Mad Genius?
I’ll be buying a copy for one reader of Plus 1 Daily this week…But the only way you can win is to tweet the blog out to your followers! Be sure to use the hash tag #Plus1Daily and I’ll announce the winner live this week on air!

EDIT: Congratulations to Scott Rohn for winning a copy of Randy’s book! Be sure to let us know what you think Scott when you finish reading it!!

8 thoughts to “Mad Genius by Randy Gage (Book Review)”

  1. Excellent book Jon!

    It truly does make you ‘look’ at what you are doing, and determine if YOU are willing to make the decisions to ‘adapt or die’. Unfortunately, most will never take that step, even those that have read this (and other) book(s) that address this important issue.

    Most people in business are reluctant to change. They work off the “Hey, it’s worked so far. Why change now.” attitude. One that WILL, effectively, limit their own ability to stay relative to the consumer, and shorten the viability of the business model they refuse to relinquish.

    I hope that who ever get’s this book from you APPLIES what it offers. Having knowledge, and yet refusing to utilize it, is worse than not knowing. When you don’t ‘know’, at least you have an ‘excuse’ (albeit a lame one!) for failure.

    1. Thank you sir, yeah it’s a pretty awesome book…A must read for anyone that’s planning a long term business for sure.

  2. I remember Empire Avenue Jon, I just logged into my account to see my “wealth” and if Randy Gage purchased my shares (no). Its called Empire.Kred now but looks very much the same. Great review.

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