Gonzo Capitalism

How to Make Money in An Economy That Hates You

By: Chris Guillebeau

Narrated by: Chris Guillebeau

Discover “new paths to prosperity you never knew existed” in this “must-read guide to the new economy.” (Ozan Varol, author of Awaken Your Genius)

The traditional ways of earning a living are outdated, if not outright rigged. That’s why a growing number of enterprising individuals are instead turning to the growing ecosystem of decentralized, fast-moving virtual markets to pursue a host of previously unheard-of ways to pay the bills.

Join New York Times bestselling author Chris Guillebeau on a fascinating tour of this brave new world where novelty is currency, and the creators are in control. Along the way, you’ll meet a colorful cast of renegades who are driving this money revolution, including:

• A teenager who earned more than $400,000 helping indecisive parents pick the perfect name for their newborn child
• The armchair pundits and pop culture enthusiasts making hundreds of dollars a day betting on everything from local elections to who will be next to be voted off Love Island via online “prediction markets”.
• A broke 29-year-old who bartered her way from a hairpin to a new house—twice—while gaining internet fame in the process.
• The gamers racking up digital currency by breeding virtual crabs in the metaverse.
• A remote worker who collects two six-figure salaries from simultaneously working two different jobs.

Gonzo Capitalism is your field guide to the new rules of money, where any and everything is for sale. In it, you’ll learn how capitalize on today’s technology and platforms to turn your time, talents, and creativity into income—on your own terms.

Critic reviews

“A must-read guide to the new economy. This book will help you navigate emerging paths to prosperity that you didn’t even know existed. If you weren’t a Chris Guillebeau fan already, you will be after this read.”—Ozan Varol, bestselling author of Awaken Your Genius and Think Like a Rocket Scientist

Not what I expected

The book has interesting stories about the strange ways others have made money. it's interesting but not very applicable, especially since he talks more about the bizarre and extreme stories. I thought there would be more relevant examples of people making new careers and creating wealth. I prefer some of the author's other books more.

nothing to see here

I have been following this author for quite a few years and I really like a lot of his work. This book just doesn't cut it. I don't spend hours every day reviewing the news from all over the world but I already knew about literally every single thing he talked about. Everything he talks about has been freely available in the news and already discussed in much more detail before. There is no really actionable content and even the news items he simply reports don't benefit from a little more in depth exploration. At scarcely 5 hrs / 272 pages it feels like something hurriedly put together to, guess what? make a quick buck. The author has created much better content in the past, I suggest sticking with that. Finally, I think i am open minded enough but the chapter related to the employee working two jobs secretly is actually very questionable from an ethical point of view. I am not exactly interested in committing fraud to advance my financial objectives. You can find all the justifications in the world and maybe companies are exploiting employees (I doubt this was the case); fact is that when you get a job you enter into a contract with a company and I am pretty sure this guy (if he exists) wasn't authorized to work for an other employer at the same time and therefore committed at the very least a misdemeanor if not a felony.

I love this book, great ideas for us to think about.

A frank discussion of the way our economy is starting to work. The changes that are affecting us now, in the world of work. I love the experiments he’s done in the book, attaching lots of reality to his research. I love his idea of negative betting, that makes me think differently about my trading strategies. Definitely a great book, very informative, and well thought out.

A good intro to the new weird wide world of money

While it doesn't go in depth on any of the topics it touches on you do get a nice tour of all the strange new markets in the COVID era. Even being fairly interested in finance there where still some new things I learned of. The narration by the author was well done with a friendly, almost conversational tone. Overall a good short listen to help open up your mind to new avenues of making money.