# Stolen From Books: every idea and every book The best idea from the best business books. Watch the story in 50 seconds. Try the idea in one minute. Get the book if you want it all. ## A crowd heard how to get rich. Then they did this. Book: "The Way to Wealth" by Benjamin Franklin (1758) Page: https://stolenfrombooks.com/the-speech-nobody-followed The idea: Knowing how to get rich is easy, but doing it is the hard half: small, everyday spending leaks your money away like a hole in a ship. The story: - This speech should have made a whole crowd rich. Watch what they did with it. - 1758. People wait outside an auction, money in their pockets. - An old man, Father Abraham, stands up and starts preaching. - Work hard, he says. But earning is only half the game. - Watch the small spending. Tea. Treats. Fancy clothes. - "A small leak will sink a great ship." - Don't buy what you don't need, or one day you'll sell what you do need. - The crowd loves it. They nod. They agree with every word. - Then the auction doors open. - And they buy everything. - Franklin wrote it himself: they loved the advice, and did the exact opposite. - Knowing is easy. Doing is the hard half. - This week: write down every small thing you buy. Find your biggest leak. Plug it. Your move this week: - Write down every small buy - Find your biggest leak. - Plug it. ## 5 bricks pulled a crowd of 500 (Barnum's trick) Book: "Struggles and Triumphs" by P. T. Barnum (1869) Page: https://stolenfrombooks.com/five-bricks-five-hundred-people The idea: People cannot walk past a mystery. Give them something odd to wonder about, and they will follow it, and even pay, to find the answer. The story: - Five plain bricks pulled a crowd of five hundred. - And the man carrying them never said a word. - In old New York, a man asked showman P.T. Barnum for money. - Barnum gave him a job. And five bricks. - Put four on corners. Walk between them, swapping the fifth. Answer nobody. - Half an hour later? Five hundred people were staring. - Then the clever part. Every hour, he walked into Barnum's museum. - A dozen people bought tickets, just to follow him. - Their tickets paid his wages, and more. Then police complained: too crowded! - Barnum's lesson: people can't pass a mystery. They pay to solve it. - Five bricks did it for Barnum. Your move? A jar. - This week: cover one jar, write "Guess what's inside," count who asks. Your move this week: - Cover one jar - Write on it (“Guess what's inside?”) - Count who asks ## Put all your eggs in one basket (a steel king's rule) Book: "Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie" by Andrew Carnegie (1920) Page: https://stolenfrombooks.com/all-your-eggs-in-one-basket The idea: Don't spread yourself over many things. Put your best effort into one thing you control, keep a close eye on it, and keep making it better. The story: - The world's richest man broke the number one rule of money. - He put all his eggs in one basket. On purpose. - He started as a bobbin boy, earning a dollar twenty a week. - Later, he sold thirty million dollars of deals to bankers in Europe. - Big banks wanted him. He said no. Back to his iron mills. - His rule: put all good eggs in one basket, then watch that basket. - He rarely saw anyone get rich doing ten things at once. - Big losses come from things you're not the boss of. - The real gold mine? It's in your own shop. - Picture Maya: lemonade, bracelets, dog walking. All half done. - Your move this week: pick one project. Pause the rest. Fix one thing. - And watch that basket. Your move this week: - Pick ONE project. - Pause the rest. (for 7 days) - Fix one thing in it. ## The tiny leak that empties your piggy bank Book: "The Way to Wealth" by Benjamin Franklin (1758) Page: https://stolenfrombooks.com/the-hole-in-your-piggy-bank The idea: Earning money is only half the game: tiny, 'it's nothing' purchases quietly drain everything, so keeping money matters as much as making it. The story: - Your piggy bank has a hole in it. You just can't see it. - Meet Maya. She sells lemonade all summer: fifty dollars! - But in September, her jar is empty. - A candy here. A sticker there. A soda on Friday. - Each one felt like nothing. - In The Way to Wealth, back in 1758, Benjamin Franklin warned about this. - He wrote: "A small leak will sink a great ship." - Earning is half the game. Keeping is the other half. - People can work hard their whole life... and end up with nothing. - Franklin's trick: when something is cheap, pause. Do you really need it? - If no, it's not a bargain. It's a leak. - Your move: this week, write down every small thing you buy. Then find your biggest leak... and plug it. Your move this week: - Write down every small thing you buy. (For 7 days. Even the $1 ones.) - Find your biggest leak. (Then plug it.) ## Your mom is lying about your business idea Book: "The Mom Test" by Rob Fitzpatrick (2013) Page: https://stolenfrombooks.com/your-mom-is-lying-to-you The idea: People lie to be nice, so ask about what they did in the past, not about your idea. The story: - Your mom is lying to you. About your business idea. - Not because she's mean. Because she loves you. - You show her your idea, and she says... "Oh honey, I would totally buy that!" - She wouldn't. - Nice words are not proof. - In the book The Mom Test, Rob Fitzpatrick has a simple trick. - Don't ask about your idea. Ask about their life. - Don't ask, "Would you buy this?" Everyone says yes, just to be nice. - Ask, "When did this problem last happen to you? What did you do about it?" - If they spent time or money trying to fix it... the problem is real. - If they did nothing... it's not a real problem. Change your idea. - Your move: this week, ask three people that question. Then just listen. Your move this week: - Ask 3 people (“When did this last happen to you? What did you do?”) - Then just listen. ## The 47 ranked books 1. "Unreasonable Hospitality" by Will Guidara (2022): Give people more than they expect. They will never forget you. 2. "Never Split the Difference" by Chris Voss (2016): Don't argue. Show the other person you understand them, then ask. 3. "Atomic Habits" by James Clear (2018): Get 1% better every day. Tiny habits beat big goals. 4. "The Let Them Theory" by Mel Robbins (2024): Stop trying to control what other people do. Let them. Then choose what you do. 5. "The Psychology of Money" by Morgan Housel (2020): Getting rich is about behavior, not brains. Stay patient longer than the others. 6. "Same as Ever" by Morgan Housel (2023): Stop guessing what will change. Bet on what never changes: people. 7. "The 48 Laws of Power" by Robert Greene (1998): Power has rules. Learn them so nobody can use them on you. 8. "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie (1936): Be interested in people and they will find you interesting. 9. "Can't Hurt Me" by David Goggins (2018): When your brain says you're done, you're only about 40% done. 10. "Shoe Dog" by Phil Knight (2016): Nike nearly died for years. The founder just refused to stop. 11. "Influence" by Robert Cialdini (1984): People say yes for a few simple reasons. Learn them and you'll spot every trick. 12. "1929" by Andrew Ross Sorkin (2025): Easy loans built a giant party on Wall Street. Then the bill came. 13. "The Art of Spending Money" by Morgan Housel (2025): Spend on what makes your life better, not on what impresses strangers. 14. "Main Street Millionaire" by Codie Sanchez (2024): Don't start a business. Buy a boring one that already makes money. 15. "Think Again" by Adam Grant (2021): Smart people change their mind. Treat your opinions like guesses to test. 16. "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki (1997): Buy things that pay you. Stop buying things that cost you. 17. "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman (2011): Your fast brain decides before you think. Slow down for big choices. 18. "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill (1937): Pick one clear goal. Write it down. Chase it every single day. 19. "$100M Offers" by Alex Hormozi (2021): Make an offer so good that people feel silly saying no. 20. "Die With Zero" by Bill Perkins (2020): Money you never use is life you never lived. Spend it while you can enjoy it. 21. "Revenge of the Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell (2024): Trends spread like a virus. A tiny group of people starts most of them. 22. "Dopamine Nation" by Anna Lembke (2021): Too much easy pleasure makes you feel worse. Take a break to reset your brain. 23. "The 5 Types of Wealth" by Sahil Bloom (2025): Money is only one kind of rich. Time, health, mind and people count too. 24. "Four Thousand Weeks" by Oliver Burkeman (2021): You get about 4,000 weeks. You can't do it all, so pick what matters. 25. "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey (1989): Start with the end in mind. Decide where you're going before you run. 26. "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck" by Mark Manson (2016): You can't care about everything. Choose a few things worth the trouble. 27. "$100M Leads" by Alex Hormozi (2023): Nobody can buy what they've never heard of. Tell more people, every day. 28. "Zero to One" by Peter Thiel (2014): Don't copy what exists. Build the one thing nobody else is building. 29. "Deep Work" by Cal Newport (2016): One hour of full focus beats four hours of half attention. 30. "I Will Teach You to Be Rich" by Ramit Sethi (2009): Put your money on autopilot. Spend big on what you love, cut the rest. 31. "Never Finished" by David Goggins (2022): There is no finish line. When you reach a goal, set a harder one. 32. "Hidden Potential" by Adam Grant (2023): Talent is not fixed. How far you go beats where you start. 33. "Supercommunicators" by Charles Duhigg (2024): Before you answer, find out: do they want to be helped, hugged, or heard? 34. "Discipline Is Destiny" by Ryan Holiday (2022): Control yourself first. Nothing else you want works without it. 35. "The Algebra of Wealth" by Scott Galloway (2024): Get great at one thing, spend less than you make, and let time do the rest. 36. "Just Keep Buying" by Nick Maggiulli (2022): Don't wait for the perfect moment to invest. Buy a little, often, for years. 37. "The Creative Act" by Rick Rubin (2023): Everyone is creative. Make the thing for yourself first. 38. "The Almanack of Naval Ravikant" by Eric Jorgenson (2020): You won't get rich renting out your time. Own something that grows while you sleep. 39. "The Richest Man in Babylon" by George S. Clason (1926): Keep one coin out of every ten you earn. Pay yourself first. 40. "The Way to Wealth" by Benjamin Franklin (1758): A small leak will sink a great ship. Watch the tiny spending. 41. "Struggles and Triumphs" by P. T. Barnum (1869): People can't walk past a mystery. Make them curious first. 42. "Be Useful" by Arnold Schwarzenegger (2023): Know exactly what you want your life to look like. Then work backwards. 43. "Clear Thinking" by Shane Parrish (2023): Most bad decisions are made on autopilot. Pause before you react. 44. "The Next Conversation" by Jefferson Fisher (2025): Stop trying to win arguments. Slow down and say what you mean, calmly. 45. "The Mom Test" by Rob Fitzpatrick (2013): People lie to be nice. Ask about what they did, not about your idea. 46. "Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie" by Andrew Carnegie (1920): Put all your eggs in one basket. Then watch that basket. 47. "Slow Productivity" by Cal Newport (2024): Do fewer things. Go at a natural pace. Make them great.