Many famous “thought leaders” cite Napoleon Hill’s Think And Grow Rich as the foundation of their philosophy of success. Donald Trump loves it. So does Shark Tank mogul, Daymond John. And Tiny Tony, or as you may know him, Tony Robbins. But some names might surprise you. Rachel Hollis calls it “incredibly sound” and links to it on her blog. Denise Duffield Thomas loves it and writes about its influence on her own work. Amanda Frances has a whole tag for it on her blog. John Lee Dumas says his book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, is the “modern day version” of it. The list goes on — Marie Forleo, Selena Soo, Brendon Burchard, Dean Graziosi, Lewis Howes, Ali Brown, Brooke Castillo, James Wedmore... If you type a celebrity personal brand name into Google with a plus sign + Think And Grow Rich you’ll find MOST of the folks leading the online business coaching conversation citing this book on their blog, in podcast interviews, or on their recommended book lists. Never mind the fact that the book and its author’s teachings, Napoleon Hill, have been widely debunked. Check out Matt Novak’s piece for Gizmodo, “The Untold Story of Napoleon Hill, the Greatest Self-Help Scammer of All Time” for all the dirty details. Hill lied about his famous connections and his wealth and left a trail of lawsuits, murder investigations, cults, and angry ex-business partners in his wake. With the information we have today, there is absolutely no question that this man was a liar, a scammer, a grifter, and a cult leader. But people still reference his book as their business bible. What does that say about them and their own teachings? This is Part 2 of my debunking of Think And Grow Rich, focused on the immortal baby cult that Hill was a part of — and what happened after. For Part 1, check out Episode 13 of the Marketing Muckraking podcast. You’ll laugh and you might even cry. It’s that bad.