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The Millionaire Fastlane

M. J. DeMarco, 2010

M. J. DeMarco argues that a job plus decades of investing is a slow road, and shows how a business you control, serving real needs at scale, builds wealth young.

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13 parts, about 28 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Contrasts three roadmaps to money, the Sidewalk, the Slowlane and the Fastlane, each with its own wealth equation
  • Argues that a job and compound interest trade time for money, while owning a business system gives unlimited leverage and passive income
  • Tests any business road against five commandments: need, entry, control, scale and time

Who it is for

  • Employees weighing a business of their own against saving slowly
  • Aspiring founders choosing which business to start
  • Readers who want a blunt case against get rich slow plans

What the summary covers

  1. The promise of a shortcut2 min
  2. Get Rich Slow and how I escaped it3 min
  3. Process, not events, and three roadmaps1 min
  4. The Sidewalk: living for today2 min
  5. The Slowlane: trading time for money3 min
  6. The Fastlane: Wealth Through a Business System2 min
  7. How the Rich Really Get Rich2 min
  8. Money Trees and Passive Income2 min
  9. The Law of Effection1 min
  10. Tuning the Vehicle: You2 min
  11. The Five Commandments: NECST4 min
  12. The Three Interstates and Your Destination2 min
  13. Execution, Customers and Brand2 min

Recommended by

  • Hal ElrodAuthor of The Miracle Morning

About the author

  • M. J. DeMarcoFounder of Inspirited and of The Fastlane Forum
    • Founded the ground transportation aggregator Limos.com in 1997 with no money and no internet training
    • Says he built his first company with $900 and no formal schooling in web technology, teaching himself everything
    • Sold his company in late 2007 to a Phoenix private equity firm for a multimillion dollar cash offer
    • Says he made his first million at 31 and retired at 37
    • Founded The Fastlane Forum in 2007
    • Released The Millionaire Fastlane in late 2010 with little fanfare
    • Owns Viperion Publishing, the small press that distributes his books, with editions in 25 languages
    • Cofounded the goal setting tool GoalSumo.com and sold it in October 2025

Read it alongside

  • Pushes backThe Richest Man in Babylon

    George S. Clason says keeping at least a tenth of every income and putting it to work lets wealth grow gradually, like a tree from a seed. MJ DeMarco says saving and compound interest are too slow to be the whole plan, and that the fortune they later pay on must first come from a business.

  • Pushes backThe War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle

    MJ DeMarco says to choose your business by a need people will pay to have solved, since doing what you love works only if it solves one; Steven Pressfield says to follow the work you find compelling rather than shape it only around an imagined buyer

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