UNSCRIPTED: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship Paperback – February 1, 2023

MJ's previous book was an instant classic and exposed a lot of truths about entrepreneurship and the unhappy state of modern society in general. This book tackles many of the the same ideas from a different more in-depth angle, and takes it to another level for several reasons. For starters, it is side-splittingly, roll-on-the-floor, unrelentingly hilarious and entertaining (at least to my mind). To me, almost every single page is full of funny anecdotes and analogies. Listening to the Audible version of this is better than listening to a good HBO stage comedian, and far more useful. Second, the book makes a concerted effort to address the psychological barriers that I've come to believe are the biggest obstacles to entrepreneurship. As the Romans (apparently) understood, a proper slave doesn't need chains to remain in bondage...once conditioned, a person's attitudes and beliefs are far more effective tools of servitude. This applies not only to the poor, but to many of us who have successfully navigated years of 'success' milestones, and yet found themselves with a career environment that has not held up its end of the bargain. That's the reason for the title "Unscripted", to re-engineer years of ingrained and indoctrinated beliefs that won't really serve your dreams of success and freedom. Finally, this book is impressively in-depth and detailed. It doesn't (and can't) give you a specific formula for a successful business for your situation. But it works from a number of angles, over and over, chipping away at the roadblocks that will snare most of us who decide to go for something more. In that sense its a useful reference with some meaningful ideas and approaches to tackle challenges, many of which are not in The Millionaire Fastlane.If you're a cozy, happily employed person who is deeply satisfied with your weekend lifestyle, then this book is absolutely not for you. In fact, run away! Its only going to cause you trouble. But if you find yourself among the discontented 70%, stuck in traffic and depressed, profoundly disillusioned with your own past choices; pay close attention. Whining about the traps of our modern society will get you nowhere, and the true cause of your ills is not really the common scapegoats: politics, racial or class issues (although they have their moments). It's your mental framework and a lack of understanding of and experience with entrepreneurship. The truth is that America can be a truly great country for anyone, but its rewards mercilessly and relentlessly go to those entrepreneurs who deliver relative value. Provide real value to others and whatever limits you presume exist in your life (sex, age, race, upbringing, education) will rapidly vanish. In that sense, its a real hopeful step forward and a useful tool for many of us.Absolutely highly recommended, he's now among my favorite authors.UPDATE: I've now completed the book 3 times, and it only gets better. Each time I go through it I realize there are some useful pearls of wisdom in there that I had grasped conceptually but not completely faced (about myself). Some people might regard the material in this book as shocking. But what's really shocking is that here in the 'Land of Opportunity' after years and years of college and real world experience, this is not common wisdom. You don't hear this material anywhere. It should be Business 101, or Prosperity 101, Life 101.

While I would recommend this book, it was sort of a mixed bag. I read DeMarco's The Millionaire Fastlane, and it was much stronger. I feel like he was emboldened by the success of the first book and kind of went off the rails here. The vast majority of the book is him complaining about the media, or financial institutions, or the college loan system, or whatever, and it reads more like a conspiracy theorist's unedited manifesto then an actual self-help book.Sure, I agree that college loans can be deceiving and difficult to pay off. Or that Chase Bank giving 0.02% interest on a savings account is useless. Or that mainstream financial advice should not be followed without doing your own research. But I feel like too much of the book seems like a counter-culture rejection of the system, and the rhetoric doesn't necessarily help you get out the game or, more importantly, play the game better.But I'm still giving it 5 stars. Why? He does break down how you can sustain wealth once you find some success. The numbers he states in that book show specifically how much money you need to retire young, and what types of investments you can make to protect your savings and become financially independent. That part of the book is great and worth the price of admission.While I did find it worthwhile overall, it was a bit of a pain to read. It felt aggressively negative and more of a knee-jerk rejection of the whole system rather than anything insightful. Yes, there are systems in place that may not always be in your best interest, but that doesn't mean that everything is a scam or that "the man" is out to get you. It is a game, and you need to understand how the game works to get ahead, which is more important to me that an outright rejection of the whole system.So if you're looking to quit your 9-to-5 job and go on some crazy venture, this book may give you some gusto, but honestly I found the advice to be primarily reckless. You can save a lot of money in a 401(k) or an IRA. You can play the stock market and win if you make smart decisions. Compound interest can grow your savings over the long run. I understand his point, but I feel like it comes off too strong and jeopardizes the actual good information that is in the book. But I learned some priceless bits of information here, so if you can look past the conspiracy nonsense, it's worth reading.

Great!!🙂

As a student, Unscripted completely changed how I think about career, money, and freedom. MJ DeMarco breaks down why the traditional path isn’t the only option — and how you can create real value and independence through entrepreneurship. Inspiring, practical, and way more eye-opening than any class I’ve taken!