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24 Assets: Create a digital, scalable, valuable and fun business that will thrive in a fast changing world
In every industry, there are companies that take off. They effortlessly hire talented people, attract loyal customers, create cool products and make lots of money. These companies seem to stand out and scale up quickly with support from investors, partners and the media. Sadly, most companies don’t perform this way. Most entrepreneurs aren’t building anything of value. They work hard, make sacrifices, struggle, dream, plan and strive, but in the end, it doesn’t pay off. This book sets out a method for building a business that becomes a valuable asset. It focuses you on transforming your organisation into something scalable, digital, fun and capable of making an impact. It’s time to, stand out, scale up and build a business that has a life of its own. Start now by reading this book.
210 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 24, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
August 11, 2018
If you have read ‘The E-myth revisited,’ then 24 Assets will feel like a natural follow up. 24 Assets takes you through twenty-four assets Priestly has defined your business as needing to be successful. He describes himself as a pragmatist rather than an academic so these assets are only described at a superficial level rather than a deep dive.
I listen to audio versions of these business books while I am driving and normally I will listen to them at 2x speed. This is the first book for a long time that I have slowed down so I can listen and absorb it fully at near normal speed…
The premise of this book is to take you through twenty-four assets Priestly has defined your business as needing to be successful. He describes himself as a pragmatist rather than an academic so these assets are only described at a superficial level rather than a deep dive. This approach will enable you to become armed with talking points when discussing your business with professionals and advisors.
‘The 24 assets are the assets you will need to add to, and scale up, your business.’
The delivery of this book is very clean and Priestly comes across as authoritative. This book is a perfect example of using stories of other peoples’ experiences to illustrate a point but not using them for padding.
A valid point is made between desire and design and serves as a refreshing antidote from the veritable sea of mind-set books. Priestley states he has interviewed many a failed entrepreneur as well as the successful ones, and the failed ones always had as much as, if not more desire to succeed. Priestley states that it is not your desire, but the design of your assets that will be the key to your success.
To amplify this point, an analogy is made between a bicycle and a pensioner driving an old Toyota. A cyclist may have all the desire and the best made bike in the world, practice for eight hours a day, and plaster his home in vision boards, but he still cannot beat a pensioner driving an old Toyota because the bike was not designed to go at those speeds.
This feeds into the core premise of the book. Regardless of your business model, lifestyle or performance, it is the design of the assets that will be key to success.
‘A business succeeds because it was designed to succeed, it is an ecosystem of assets that have been developed and utilised efficiently, a blend of intellectual property, capital equipment, staff, leadership, and innovation.’
Regardless of your level of business experience, this book will add to it or increase it. It also has an uncanny knack of poking you in the sore spots. These may be areas of your business development journey where you are going wrong or where you are secretly but deliberately procrastinating.
In conclusion, if you have read ‘The E-myth revisited,’ then 24 Assets will feel like a natural follow up book. I loved it and immediately listened to it all over again once it had finished. I learned a lot and will happily award it a well-earned 10 out of 10. Even if it did make me feel uncomfortable at times by homing in on some of my bad practices. Be prepared to experience this too.
check out my other reviews here: https://businessleuth.com/book-reviews
I listen to audio versions of these business books while I am driving and normally I will listen to them at 2x speed. This is the first book for a long time that I have slowed down so I can listen and absorb it fully at near normal speed…
The premise of this book is to take you through twenty-four assets Priestly has defined your business as needing to be successful. He describes himself as a pragmatist rather than an academic so these assets are only described at a superficial level rather than a deep dive. This approach will enable you to become armed with talking points when discussing your business with professionals and advisors.
‘The 24 assets are the assets you will need to add to, and scale up, your business.’
The delivery of this book is very clean and Priestly comes across as authoritative. This book is a perfect example of using stories of other peoples’ experiences to illustrate a point but not using them for padding.
A valid point is made between desire and design and serves as a refreshing antidote from the veritable sea of mind-set books. Priestley states he has interviewed many a failed entrepreneur as well as the successful ones, and the failed ones always had as much as, if not more desire to succeed. Priestley states that it is not your desire, but the design of your assets that will be the key to your success.
To amplify this point, an analogy is made between a bicycle and a pensioner driving an old Toyota. A cyclist may have all the desire and the best made bike in the world, practice for eight hours a day, and plaster his home in vision boards, but he still cannot beat a pensioner driving an old Toyota because the bike was not designed to go at those speeds.
This feeds into the core premise of the book. Regardless of your business model, lifestyle or performance, it is the design of the assets that will be key to success.
‘A business succeeds because it was designed to succeed, it is an ecosystem of assets that have been developed and utilised efficiently, a blend of intellectual property, capital equipment, staff, leadership, and innovation.’
Regardless of your level of business experience, this book will add to it or increase it. It also has an uncanny knack of poking you in the sore spots. These may be areas of your business development journey where you are going wrong or where you are secretly but deliberately procrastinating.
In conclusion, if you have read ‘The E-myth revisited,’ then 24 Assets will feel like a natural follow up book. I loved it and immediately listened to it all over again once it had finished. I learned a lot and will happily award it a well-earned 10 out of 10. Even if it did make me feel uncomfortable at times by homing in on some of my bad practices. Be prepared to experience this too.
check out my other reviews here: https://businessleuth.com/book-reviews
August 11, 2017
This book gives an overview of which the author suggests are the 24 assets to create a stable, long term, reliable business.
At the beginning he briefly discusses Performance vs. lifestyle businesses. I think it is worth considering the kind of business you want, but some of the suggestions he makes are off. Think how many people run $500k-1M+ digital businesses working part time? How many outsource everything and make it passively? Passively in the sense it just runs, not passively in what he describes checking your email every weekend on vacation. I think with the internet and these digital businesses he mentions of, it is totally possible to make real passive income, not the way he describes “passive”.
Overall I thought the book was dry and didn’t offer much. I also think there are huge amounts of unknowns and a book like this tries to oversimplify it. I think we’re living in a day in age where to run a business successfully, you have to be able to capture enough attention. If you can’t, the business fails. As a result, great products and businesses often fail because they couldn’t capture enough attention, while many shitty/awful businesses succeed because of a clever marketing trick to capture attention. The pivot is attention capturing.
Are assets important? Of course. I think the overall premise of the book is to encourage businesses to build assets rather than just try to make sales, and I agree. Though I thought half of the 24 assets mentioned were either oversimplified or unnecessary, depending on the business.
The author writes: “The empire builder chooses to play an inspiring game, because the game will never be over as long as they have air in their lungs. It will be the source of joy, frustration, passion, fury, boredom and exhilaration.” This is a very general statement - what is the empire builder really trying to do? What is their objective? I think more often than not empire builders are trying to chase money, which doesn’t optimize for well being. It’s a bad trap to go down.
Of course the goal is to understand how to create a successful business, but I think there are countless parameters and many people simplify it to find commonalities, which is all find and dandy, with skepticism. But overall I didn’t think the book was too interesting or insightful.
I liked the part towards the end about making a dent and doing meaningful work, not just work for money. A lesson I try to live by is “fall in love with the process, not the result”. If a business is purely about money, it’s easy to burnout. Meaningful work can last a lifetime.
A few highlights from the book:
- If hard work was rewarding, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire. (Work smart, not hard).
- Your job as an entrepreneur is to create assets first and then look for tools that can leverage them.
- Create a video for new employees to watch that will explain the vision and values of the company.
- incomes haven’t risen much in a decade, house prices are 10–15 times their annual pay cheque (Baby Boomers bought houses at 4–6 times the average wage)
At the beginning he briefly discusses Performance vs. lifestyle businesses. I think it is worth considering the kind of business you want, but some of the suggestions he makes are off. Think how many people run $500k-1M+ digital businesses working part time? How many outsource everything and make it passively? Passively in the sense it just runs, not passively in what he describes checking your email every weekend on vacation. I think with the internet and these digital businesses he mentions of, it is totally possible to make real passive income, not the way he describes “passive”.
Overall I thought the book was dry and didn’t offer much. I also think there are huge amounts of unknowns and a book like this tries to oversimplify it. I think we’re living in a day in age where to run a business successfully, you have to be able to capture enough attention. If you can’t, the business fails. As a result, great products and businesses often fail because they couldn’t capture enough attention, while many shitty/awful businesses succeed because of a clever marketing trick to capture attention. The pivot is attention capturing.
Are assets important? Of course. I think the overall premise of the book is to encourage businesses to build assets rather than just try to make sales, and I agree. Though I thought half of the 24 assets mentioned were either oversimplified or unnecessary, depending on the business.
The author writes: “The empire builder chooses to play an inspiring game, because the game will never be over as long as they have air in their lungs. It will be the source of joy, frustration, passion, fury, boredom and exhilaration.” This is a very general statement - what is the empire builder really trying to do? What is their objective? I think more often than not empire builders are trying to chase money, which doesn’t optimize for well being. It’s a bad trap to go down.
Of course the goal is to understand how to create a successful business, but I think there are countless parameters and many people simplify it to find commonalities, which is all find and dandy, with skepticism. But overall I didn’t think the book was too interesting or insightful.
I liked the part towards the end about making a dent and doing meaningful work, not just work for money. A lesson I try to live by is “fall in love with the process, not the result”. If a business is purely about money, it’s easy to burnout. Meaningful work can last a lifetime.
A few highlights from the book:
- If hard work was rewarding, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire. (Work smart, not hard).
- Your job as an entrepreneur is to create assets first and then look for tools that can leverage them.
- Create a video for new employees to watch that will explain the vision and values of the company.
- incomes haven’t risen much in a decade, house prices are 10–15 times their annual pay cheque (Baby Boomers bought houses at 4–6 times the average wage)
October 13, 2021
It contains very good and valuable advice. Nicely written and straight to the point. Enjoyable, I read it in less than a week.
July 26, 2022
Some good points, but there is a lot of repeating itself.
A book you can skim read without missing much of the content
A book you can skim read without missing much of the content
June 2, 2019
I'm surprised this book is rated as highly as it is (as of 2nd June 2019 it has a rating of 4.25/5 on Goodreads). "The Great Waves" chapter was good though.
August 11, 2019
An absolute must read for anyone running or working in a small business.
January 7, 2024
An astounding book, even though I disagree with the author’s radical globalist agenda.
In terms of the business advice, it is top of the line, and I am personally working towards implementing every single bit of it. I did find the last chapter a bit saddening. I was surprised that a person of such obvious intelligence and passion could be so thoroughly duped by the authoritarian fascist agenda.
Of course, we all want people to be treated fairly. Of course we all want people to be treated with justice. Of course, we want quality food, and education, and water, and environment. What caring and loving person could possibly not want to further all of these highly worthy goals? Where his good heart clearly takes a turn to the dark side is where he holds up the United Nations as his model. The United Nations is not an organization of peace. There is very little that the United Nations does that is not based on authoritarian control mechanisms designed to remove individual sovereignty in favor of a corporatist elite.
That said, in spite of the fact that I now questioned his ability to think rationally and see reality for what it is, I love Daniel Priestley and wish him nothing but the best. The foundation of freedom and liberty is the right of every individual to hold whatever view they choose to hold. I would gladly break bread with Daniel, at heart I believe he is a good man, although his perception of the global power system is sadly skewed towards the authoritarian elite, which I am sure he does not even realize.
In terms of the business advice, it is top of the line, and I am personally working towards implementing every single bit of it. I did find the last chapter a bit saddening. I was surprised that a person of such obvious intelligence and passion could be so thoroughly duped by the authoritarian fascist agenda.
Of course, we all want people to be treated fairly. Of course we all want people to be treated with justice. Of course, we want quality food, and education, and water, and environment. What caring and loving person could possibly not want to further all of these highly worthy goals? Where his good heart clearly takes a turn to the dark side is where he holds up the United Nations as his model. The United Nations is not an organization of peace. There is very little that the United Nations does that is not based on authoritarian control mechanisms designed to remove individual sovereignty in favor of a corporatist elite.
That said, in spite of the fact that I now questioned his ability to think rationally and see reality for what it is, I love Daniel Priestley and wish him nothing but the best. The foundation of freedom and liberty is the right of every individual to hold whatever view they choose to hold. I would gladly break bread with Daniel, at heart I believe he is a good man, although his perception of the global power system is sadly skewed towards the authoritarian elite, which I am sure he does not even realize.
March 13, 2024
Part 1 gave me food for thought, despite the hustle culture themes.
Part 2 offers a decent introduction to business assets and their various forms. If you're starting your own business, this section will be helpful for contextualising business coach babble.
Part 3 is an absolute clanger and made me second-guess how much stock I should put in the preceding pages. The author sometimes has a loose grip on reality. Here's a taste of part 3:
> Unsuccessful personal development consultants drink carrot juice because they can't afford anything else.
> You should aim for 1.2 million per year if you wanna be "super successful".
> Millenials are in debt because they're too busy staying in Airbnbs, catching Ubers, and romancing Tinder dates. Not, you know, because house prices are now 10–15 times the average income.
> Super AI exists and is more intelligent than the entire human race combined.
> Cryptocurrency is the solution to debt-backed currency from central banks.
> AI won't give us more leisure time; big corp will invent emotion-based jobs to keep us busy.
And my favourite:
> Humans only discovered they had big brains when they invented tractors. (!)
P.S. I enjoyed the cartoonist's style.
Part 2 offers a decent introduction to business assets and their various forms. If you're starting your own business, this section will be helpful for contextualising business coach babble.
Part 3 is an absolute clanger and made me second-guess how much stock I should put in the preceding pages. The author sometimes has a loose grip on reality. Here's a taste of part 3:
> Unsuccessful personal development consultants drink carrot juice because they can't afford anything else.
> You should aim for 1.2 million per year if you wanna be "super successful".
> Millenials are in debt because they're too busy staying in Airbnbs, catching Ubers, and romancing Tinder dates. Not, you know, because house prices are now 10–15 times the average income.
> Super AI exists and is more intelligent than the entire human race combined.
> Cryptocurrency is the solution to debt-backed currency from central banks.
> AI won't give us more leisure time; big corp will invent emotion-based jobs to keep us busy.
And my favourite:
> Humans only discovered they had big brains when they invented tractors. (!)
P.S. I enjoyed the cartoonist's style.
May 7, 2024
Overall a solid book that gives perspective and understanding into the assets one can utilize in order to scale and grow a business. One con (or a pro) is that the book writes from the perspective that the person growing the business is likely trying to grow a larger startup. There’s advice given often inside, such as, hiring professionals to do many portions of your work (accounting, cap table, business plan, etc), which isn’t feasible for bootstrapped founders or teams on a tight budget.
It would be nice to have more insights for bootstrapped founders, but for a venture backed team that’s scaling, I feel a lot of the feedback is useful.
It would be nice to have more insights for bootstrapped founders, but for a venture backed team that’s scaling, I feel a lot of the feedback is useful.
December 20, 2023
Enlightening
I've loved this book. Having read a good deal of business based books from some of the most well known creators and entrepreneurs. This book has resonated more. In terms of practically. I'm a small business owner, but this book however has urged me to think bigger. It's made me realise how our vision can become cloudy in the day to day running of a business. And I feel reading this book has focused my attention and hope of creating something meaningful going forward.
I've loved this book. Having read a good deal of business based books from some of the most well known creators and entrepreneurs. This book has resonated more. In terms of practically. I'm a small business owner, but this book however has urged me to think bigger. It's made me realise how our vision can become cloudy in the day to day running of a business. And I feel reading this book has focused my attention and hope of creating something meaningful going forward.
February 6, 2021
I didn’t really find this book valuable for my type of business although there were a few interesting references eg for business valuation. The main emphasis was on identifying and using your assets which Dent stressed as things like making videos, newsletters, books etc. I think it would help others in different industries to identify extra material that they could monetize or use to increase presence and customer satisfaction.
October 31, 2022
I had so high expectations about this book, too high. Because I totally loved another book by the author - “Oversubscribed”. He was really a great expert on the latter subject, but now this book seems to me like an overall overview of a business where he is “just another guy”. Yes, smart and knowledgeable, but this is not the field he is the best expert in. So … Sadly do not recommend. But DO read “Oversubscribed”, it’s so valuable.
September 4, 2023
useful breakdown but missing sequence
With great examples of the building blocks of great businesses. Loved that be constantly showed how it would be different for lifestyle business vs those looking to be sold. I wish there was more guidance as to the sequence of asset development. Would make it easier for startups to focus on the right things. You can’t do 24 things at once. But I will be definitely be returning to this book over time.
With great examples of the building blocks of great businesses. Loved that be constantly showed how it would be different for lifestyle business vs those looking to be sold. I wish there was more guidance as to the sequence of asset development. Would make it easier for startups to focus on the right things. You can’t do 24 things at once. But I will be definitely be returning to this book over time.
April 22, 2018
Just read it!
If you are starting or building a business during this digital and technological age, i. Put every other business book down, ii. read 24 Assets THEN iii. do everything Daniel Priestley advices in the book! Sound ,practical and real advice that is sure to transform your business.
If you are starting or building a business during this digital and technological age, i. Put every other business book down, ii. read 24 Assets THEN iii. do everything Daniel Priestley advices in the book! Sound ,practical and real advice that is sure to transform your business.
January 23, 2019
Wow. I don't have the words to describe the value of this book.
This book is 100% deserving of 5 stars. Daniel Priestley is a brilliant man and the information he gives is vital. I was not at all expecting the last section of the book to go as it did, but wow! A real eye opener for sure and I am so thankful for the insight! Thank you Mr.Priestley.
This book is 100% deserving of 5 stars. Daniel Priestley is a brilliant man and the information he gives is vital. I was not at all expecting the last section of the book to go as it did, but wow! A real eye opener for sure and I am so thankful for the insight! Thank you Mr.Priestley.
August 25, 2019
An Excellent Book
I have been in business for about 15 years, starting and failing many, having reasonable success. I wish I had read this book before starting. It is short and right to the point. It doesn’t lecture you and really isn’t one of those self help kind of business books. No matter your experience, I think there is something here for you.
I have been in business for about 15 years, starting and failing many, having reasonable success. I wish I had read this book before starting. It is short and right to the point. It doesn’t lecture you and really isn’t one of those self help kind of business books. No matter your experience, I think there is something here for you.
September 2, 2019
One of my favourites. Must read before starting a business!
Thanks Daniel! Amazing content and ideas clearly layout in an easy to follow format.
I now recommend this book to all my business associates and clients!
If you're considering whether or not to get it... Do yourself a favour - Get it and get the audiobook version too while you're at it 😉
Thanks Daniel! Amazing content and ideas clearly layout in an easy to follow format.
I now recommend this book to all my business associates and clients!
If you're considering whether or not to get it... Do yourself a favour - Get it and get the audiobook version too while you're at it 😉
September 30, 2019
If you only buy one business book, this is it.
It is brilliant, I started it a year ago and for some reason, I just couldn't get into it. So I started to re-read about a month ago and treated it as homework/research, got my sticky notes out and got learning.
It is a brilliant blueprint for any business and start-up. I highly rent Daniel Priestley and his company, I love their ethos.
It is brilliant, I started it a year ago and for some reason, I just couldn't get into it. So I started to re-read about a month ago and treated it as homework/research, got my sticky notes out and got learning.
It is a brilliant blueprint for any business and start-up. I highly rent Daniel Priestley and his company, I love their ethos.
Read
October 14, 2022Fabulous Book!
DENT is a great company. I am in their Accelerator now and the amazing thing is I don't ever need to think what the next step is. They have mapped out everything right beautifully from the very beginning until you can really scale and become a mammoth company.
I love how concise the writing was. Did not get bored at all.
Great book!
DENT is a great company. I am in their Accelerator now and the amazing thing is I don't ever need to think what the next step is. They have mapped out everything right beautifully from the very beginning until you can really scale and become a mammoth company.
I love how concise the writing was. Did not get bored at all.
Great book!
December 6, 2023
Useful idea. Would probably make a better TED talk. Like all his books, this is more of a brochure for his business products, but hey, if he is offering exactly what you need to achieve your business goal, then may a short educational marketing pitch should be welcome. Just hard to give it the same 5 stars that I gave to such great dense helpful frameworks like Lean Startup by Eric Reis.
October 21, 2017
Best business book I've ever read.
I haven't tried to implement the advice yet but I've read many business books and this one strikes me as the most accurate and effective way of thinking about building a successful business.
I haven't tried to implement the advice yet but I've read many business books and this one strikes me as the most accurate and effective way of thinking about building a successful business.
May 14, 2018
Good premise that all problems within your business can ultimately be boiled down to deficits in an asset category. Gives you another way to problem solve and quickly conduct a business health check.
November 27, 2018
Read it twice!
If you want to have a business that's bigger than you, that can survive without you, that can be sold for a profit, that has real value for your staff, customers, and investors then get out your highlighter and read this book twice.
If you want to have a business that's bigger than you, that can survive without you, that can be sold for a profit, that has real value for your staff, customers, and investors then get out your highlighter and read this book twice.
December 19, 2018
Great book. The author did it again. A five star book.
I have read all of the author’s books. Every book is different and offers more practical ideas which any growing business can use and see immediate impact. Highly recommended.
I have read all of the author’s books. Every book is different and offers more practical ideas which any growing business can use and see immediate impact. Highly recommended.
January 13, 2019
Inspiring
Daniel is the business strategist and inspiration for today's entrepreneurs
Every page of every book has a gem a rare jewel I it that I can use
I have read 3 of his 4 books can't wait to get into the fourth
Daniel is the business strategist and inspiration for today's entrepreneurs
Every page of every book has a gem a rare jewel I it that I can use
I have read 3 of his 4 books can't wait to get into the fourth
January 25, 2020
Excellent, a book to read, keep to hand for reference
A must read in my opinion, excellent insights, practical actions you can take on in key areas and keep your focus on the most important things. The understanding of where we are now and direction of travel are crystal clear.
A must read in my opinion, excellent insights, practical actions you can take on in key areas and keep your focus on the most important things. The understanding of where we are now and direction of travel are crystal clear.
February 17, 2021
Absolutely Brilliant.
This book came at exactly the right time for me. I was in the middle of creating a new business and plan. It changed so much of thinking. Seriously insightful.
This book came at exactly the right time for me. I was in the middle of creating a new business and plan. It changed so much of thinking. Seriously insightful.
January 7, 2023
Great book
Really inspirational ,honest and loaded with tactical and practical examples. One of The best
books I have read on getting started in a focused, sustainable way. Author of has already been there and done it so an authentic story.
Really inspirational ,honest and loaded with tactical and practical examples. One of The best
books I have read on getting started in a focused, sustainable way. Author of has already been there and done it so an authentic story.
April 27, 2024
I consider myself like most people, and have never even considered the amount of nor the power of the assets. A business needs to be successful.
This is a great piece of the puzzle of building a successful venture.
This is a great piece of the puzzle of building a successful venture.
June 11, 2017
Another remarkable read from Dan Priestley
A common sense yet not common practice look at how too create and hone your business assets. A highly recommended read.
A common sense yet not common practice look at how too create and hone your business assets. A highly recommended read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews