The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business

By: Josh Kaufman

Narrated by: Josh Kaufman

Audie Award Nominee, Business and Educational, 2013

Getting an MBA is an expensive choice - one almost impossible to justify regardless of the state of the economy. Even the elite schools like Harvard and Wharton offer outdated, assembly-line programs that teach you more about PowerPoint presentations and unnecessary financial models than what it takes to run a real business. You can get better results (and save hundreds of thousands of dollars) by skipping business school altogether....

Josh Kaufman founded PersonalMBA.com as an alternative to the business school boondoggle. His blog has introduced hundreds of thousands of readers to the best business books and most powerful business concepts of all time. Now, he shares the essentials of entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, negotiation, operations, productivity, systems design, and much more, in one comprehensive volume.

The Personal MBA distills the most valuable business lessons into simple, memorable mental models that can be applied to real-world challenges.

True leaders aren't made by business schools - they make themselves, seeking out the knowledge, skills, and experience they need to succeed. Read this book and you will learn the principles it takes most business professionals a lifetime of trial and error to master.

©2010, 2012 Worldly Wisdom Ventures LLC (P)2012 Worldly Wisdom Ventures LLC

Good but grating...

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I recommend this book for it's functional information.

Would you be willing to try another book from Josh Kaufman? Why or why not?

I would hesitate to try another book by Josh Kaufman, unless it had a different narrator.

Would you be willing to try another one of Josh Kaufman’s performances?

Unfortunately, his clipped voice and unusual pronunciation made it difficult to concentrate on the otherwise interesting subject matter.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Listening to this book is a personal battle between loving the content and trying to tune out the talker.

Any additional comments?

I probably should have gone old-school and bought the printed version, or at least the ebook.

Good read on business.

A well rounded reference book on basic business concepts and the many decisions that one can face as a business owner.

Nice book

Nice book. It is clearly organized and used a lot of good examples. . .

phenomenal starting point

This book is essential for anyone who wants a simple introduction to the core concepts of business. however, it is a bit of a slog, and I would recommend a hard copy to follow along with and highlight the things that mean the most to you.

A business must read.

This book survey's the work of many others and puts it all together in a very methodical, easy to understand format. It is full of nuggets of wisdom and several recommendations to dig deeper.

Here's what I wrote to Josh immediately after finishing The Personal MBA

Hi Josh,
I just finished listening to the book. Thank you.

I will be sharing this for years to come, and I look forward to returning to it again and again.

I am amazed at how well you've structured the book, and especially with your ability to break down complex patterns into cohesive, easily understandable, and universally applicable units of knowledge. Kudos.

I haven't been this animated by a book like this since I read Seth Godin's Linchpin, which, coincidentally, was the last time I felt immediately compelled to write a personal note of appreciation :)

So, thank you. I wish you all the best.

Sincerely,

Broad yet deep

It serves as a wonderful jumping off point for one who is just starting out, or looking to improve, their knowledge of business.

Great info

There is a lot of great information in this book. It helped take a failing business to making profit again just by following the principals.

Skip the Intro, The Rest is Dynamite

This book provides an excellent overview of business concepts and terminology. The book covers value chains, finance, process modeling, and other universal topics, so it's not at risk of dating itself. The author/narrator's delivery is smooth and easy to listen to, and the information is highly valuable to anybody working in a business environment. His explanations are very down to earth, so you don't really need anything beyond a high school vocabulary.

Though I agree with Kaufman's thesis that a degree is not the same thing as an education, I'm not sure what makes him the expert that he claims to be. Like David Bach or Timothy Ferriss, Kaufman's business is the book. He's not like Guy Kawasaki, who can reflect on his experience marketing the Macintosh in the 80's when people didn't know what a home computer was. Kaufman's experience, when you trim out the fluff, is two mid-management positions at a single company, which he couldn't have held for very long because he was only 28 when the book was published. However, since this is an introductory text, and consists mostly of theory, I don't consider that a major handicap. I'd just be a little wary of any specific advice he offered.

My only serious complaint is that the book takes forever to get going. The Introduction (track 2 of the audiobook) consists of the author describing his personal experience in detail, how he succeeded without an MBA, and why MBA programs are useless and expensive and out to get you. It runs for an hour and four minutes. That's about five times longer than it needs to be. Having been a brand manager, he should know that it's important to make an impression on the customer right away, before they get bored and change the channel.

Some ah-ha moments that were valuable

i liked it, but I did find myself phasing out throughout it. it only takes one good point to make a book worthwhile - this had a few for me.