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The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business

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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 Even the elite schools like Harvard and Wharton offer outdated, assembly-line programs that teach you more about PowerPoint presentations and unnecessary financial models than what it takes to run a real business.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 B-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.

The Personal MBA explains concepts such
* The Iron Law of the Why every business is limited by the size and quality of the market it attempts to serve-and how to find large, hungry markets.
* The 12 Forms of Products and services are only two of the twelve ways you can create value for your customers.
* The Pricing Uncertainty All prices are malleable. Raising your prices is the best way to dramatically increase profitability-if you know how to support the price you're asking.
* 4 Methods to Increase There are only four ways a business can bring in more money. Do you know what they are?

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.

416 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2010

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About the author

Josh Kaufman

23 books813 followers
Josh Kaufman is an independent business teacher, education activist, and author of The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business.

Josh's unique, multidisciplinary approach to business education has helped hundreds of thousands of readers around the world master foundational business concepts on their own terms, and his work has been featured in BusinessWeek, Fortune, and Fast Company, as well as by influential websites like Lifehacker, HarvardBusiness.org, Cool Tools, and Seth Godin's Blog.

Since creating the Personal MBA business self-education program in 2005, Josh has:

- Read thousands of books related to business, economics, psychology, communication, mathematics, science, and systems theory.

- Synthesized the essentials of sound business practice into a comprehensive, world-class program, which is available to students, entrepreneurs, and business professionals all over the world.

- Created the Personal MBA recommended reading list, which features the 99 best business books available to the DIY business student. The Personal MBA reading list and manifesto has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of readers from around the world.

- Saved prospective MBA students millions of dollars in tuition, fees, and interest by providing an effective and affordable means of learning fundamental business principles without mortgaging their future earnings.

- Helped hundreds of first-time entrepreneurs, CEOs, research scientists, programmers, and non-profit founders improve their business knowledge and skills via innovative online courses and 1-on-1 coaching.

- Inspired an active community of self-motivated business learners around the world.

Prior to developing the Personal MBA full-time, Josh worked as an Assistant Brand Manager in Procter & Gamble's Home Care division, where he was responsible for projects that encompassed P&G's entire value chain, from creating new products to working with large customers like Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, and Kroger. Before leaving P&G, Josh spearheaded the development of P&G's global online marketing measurement strategy.

Josh received his BBA from the University of Cincinnati Lindner School of Business in 2005, where he studied Business Information Systems, Real Estate, and Aristotelian/Stoic Philosophy. He is 28 years old, an Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America), an active entrepreneur, and a photographer. The Personal MBA is his first book.

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5 stars
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3 stars
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,407 reviews
Profile Image for Josh.
3 reviews825 followers
May 18, 2013
I wrote this book, so I may be biased...
Profile Image for Eddie.
108 reviews40 followers
March 26, 2015
"Risks are known unknowns...... Uncertainties are unknown unknowns." p.357

Do I believe, after having read this book cover to cover, that I have earned the equivalent of a MBA from a state college or university or amassed the same knowledge as one who has graduated with a MBA? No.

Do I believe I will grasp what the recent B-school graduate is saying as he/she begins spouting MBA-speak in the next meeting? Maybe.

Do I believe this book is a valuable beginners guide which arms me with the necessary information and tools to further educate myself in business? Most certainly. The recommended readings and accompanying website alone make this book a worthwhile investment. I will continue to reference this book (and website) to refresh my memory and to direct me where to go to get more specifics.

Finally, the personal MBA is also a perfect read for a commuter or the person who is too busy to dedicate hours at a time for reading. Each chapter is organized with numerous sections that would take less than ten minutes to read.
Profile Image for Dave Bolton.
192 reviews85 followers
March 29, 2011
I'm studying an MBA at the moment (actually, for the last few years, almost done!) so I feel qualified to discuss this book.

To the book. It's a nice high level overview of a lot of the topics that an MBA will touch on, and quite a few that an MBA won't touch on at all. It is likely to be very helpful to all sorts of people. Anyone, even someone with an MBA, would be able to get something from this, particularly as it also covers "soft" subjects like personal development.

But be clear, this is no replacement for an MBA, not by a long shot. It doesn't teach the first thing about critical analysis, about structuring and communicating thought, or about financial analysis. It only grazes a mass of subjects, and a chapter on some important topics can be read in under ten minutes.

So, enjoy the ride, but don't fool yourself either.

Profile Image for Claire.
432 reviews38 followers
February 16, 2013
If you're thinking of going back to school to get your MBA, read this book first. Kaufman's premise is that MBA programs are very expensive and teach outdated material. Unless you're going to a top tier school where its name on your degree will yield connections and ins to high finance, you don't need to accrue all that debt to learn what you need.

Kaufman started by compiling a reading list of the top 100 business books on his website, PersonalMBA.com. His book takes all the best pieces he learned and presents a high level overview of business in very readable language.

Each chapter is broken into many subsections, so you can read about a single concept in a couple of minutes. At the end of *every* section, he has a link to a specific page on his website about it. I found this annoying. I'd rather one link to his book's page that lets me explore from there instead of link after link after link in the book.

Even if you're not interested in business or entrepreneurship, I'd recommend the chapters "The Human Mind," "Working With Yourself," and "Working With Others" which are more about the psychology behind decision making with approaches to changing or adopting habits. You also might benefit from checking out the "Sales" chapter to understand what salespeople do and why it works, particularly the section on "Reciprocation."

There is an appendix full of book recommendations broken into various categories if you want to learn more. Another appendix lists 49 questions to help you assess how you're doing and approaching your life.

A handy resource.
Profile Image for Jake Goretzki.
748 reviews135 followers
September 18, 2012
I’m a sucker for silver bullets like this.

It’s a pretty decent, digestible glossary of the most prevalent business terms de nos jours – he says ‘models and concepts’ but I think that’s an overstatement. It’s readable by virtue of no subject extending beyond a handful of paragraphs and it’s a pretty good reference, really. The sections on value and marketing are the best.

Its tone is also pretty likeable too – and I salute anyone who can tell me that any MBA is a waste of money (though I still don’t really believe them) and embraces simplicity.

That said, it still suffers from the chronic sins of US business literature by not resisting spending a whole chapter telling you just how much your world will be transformed by this book (that you’ve just bought, by the way). Every time. There’s also a little too much of that selfhelpyness, which feels pitched at a reader who’s - simultaneously - a 12-hour a day workaholic and extremely wet-behind-the-ears. This is especially the case where you’re being advised to make checklists, get some exercise every now and then and try imagining different scenarios before making as decision.

All told though, in a category stuffed with total dreck, it’s really not bad.
Profile Image for David McClendon, Sr.
Author 1 book16 followers
December 21, 2011
The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business by Josh Kaufman is one of those “have to read” books. The whole premise behind The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business is the same as for the Redneck MBA. That is, one does not have to go to a business school or even takes courses on-line to have the equivalent of an MBA.

Kaufman provides explanations of many different concepts and defines numerous terms in a simple, easy to read, format. The only problem I saw with the book was that 8% of the book was used to tell the reader why they should read the book and why they did not need an MBA.

I am an MBA and I could not agree with Kaufman more. The only real reason I see for one to pursue an MBA is to have that piece of paper to show credibility to get one’s foot in the door. If a person already has their foot in the door, so to speak, then the credentials aren’t necessary.
One of the best parts of this book is that Kaufman provides a list of the books he thinks are most important for a business student to read. Most of them I have read and have reviewed on line or will be reviewing. Some others I have had on my reading list for a long time. A few I had never heard of, but do intend to read in the future.

Will reading this book give you all the information you need for business? No, it won’t, but it will give you some background and provide some resources to point you further down the road.
As you get started in trying to learn more about the world of business, it might well be a good idea to read The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business by Josh Kaufman and visit his web site at http://personalmba.com/
8 reviews
November 23, 2015
I don't know what went wrong with this book. I think I had my expectation way too high.

I was disappointed with the lack of depth of information. The entire book is about a list of concepts with some definition and a small example. This kind of information is completely useless. I'm a developer and it taught me the different types of marketing which does not help me in any way.

I think it's okay if you're into business and going to delve further in each topic discussed in the book. The book is like a general overview of what a MBA is all about, like an Introductory course that you take at the university.

Talk about complete disappointment ....
Profile Image for د.أمجد الجنباز.
Author 3 books782 followers
November 4, 2013
كتاب رائع يلخص لك كل ما تريد أن تعرفه عن إدارة الأعمال في كتاب واحد
وقد لخص لي أشياء كانت صعبة أو غير واضحة
كما أعطاني أشياء ليست موجودة في برامج ماجستير إدارة الأعمال في الجامعات
Profile Image for Ruth.
87 reviews42 followers
April 6, 2020
This is not a book this is a map and I think should be treated as such. It gives you a good overview of the terrain, allows you to start strategise about how to spread and move your forces, but, like any map, its not the real land and until you go into the battle you will never know what its really like.

And actually a real MBA is not a real battle either (its just a fancier 3D map). So this is to answer some of the negative reviews.

Josh quotes Seth Godin in the book saying that dedicated reading of 30 or 40 books combined with real world experience is a better use of money then an MBA. This book is important because it gives you the list of those 30 or 40 books in the right structure and helps avoiding filter bubbles and gaps.

Josh collected in one tome so much information that it would’ve taken me years reading books on variety of different topics to map everything he mentioned here.

I loved the format of the book. The short chapters, the concepts highlighted in bold font that are easy to follow and notice where they repeat and interconnect with other concepts. The use of simple humane language (I loved the added touch of personal reassurance here and there mentioning how the author struggled with some of the biases and activities mentioned in the book).

I like that he created a clear connection between ‘Business’ and human nature, helping to understand how specific bias can affect our business’s productivity and profitability.

The book has roughly four parts:
• Business (and everything that comes under this umbrella like marketing and finance)
• Yourself - Psychological principles. This one was a big surprise for me, I didn’t expect a section like this in a business book and I found it to be very helpful for the stage I am at.
• Others - teams and behaviour of others.
• Systems - fascinating section on how systems operate and how to fix them, since every business is a system with inputs and outputs and flow.

Each part is comprised from mini chapters explaining each principle in a simple easy to understand language. Even though the book is crammed with information I was surprised how compassionate it was in the ‘Yourself’ part. Explaining concepts like Conflict, Interpretation (and even more important - Reinterpretation), Threat Lockdown and what they have to do with our Motivation. It was illuminating.

Plenty of follow up books for any reading list since Josh mentions books that expand on the concepts throughout.

Some of my favourite quotes (but there are plenty of brilliant quotes in the book since every small chapter starts with a quote that will send you down a rabbit hole of new discoveries):
.
“Education is a way to make your mental models more accurate by internalising the knowledge and experiences other people have collected throughout their lives”
.
“The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem” - Theodore Rubin
.
B. C. Forbes, the founder of Forbes magazine, who wrote an essay in 1917 called “Keys to Success.”:
Your success depends on you.
Your happiness depends on you.
You have to steer your own course.
You have to shape your own fortune.
You have to educate yourself.
You have to do your own thinking.
You have to live with your own conscience.
Your mind is yours and can be used only by you.
You come into this world alone. You go to the grave alone. You are alone with your inner thoughts during the journey between.
You make your own decisions.
You must abide by the consequences of your acts …
You alone can regulate your habits and make or unmake your health.
You alone can assimilate things mental and things material …
You have to do your own assimilation all through life.
You can be taught by a teacher, but you have to imbibe the knowledge.
He cannot transfuse it into your brain.
You alone can control your mind cells and your brain cells.
You may have spread before you the wisdom of the ages, but unless you assimilate it you derive no benefit from it; no one can force it into your cranium.
You alone can move your own legs.
You alone can move your own arms.
You alone can utilize your own hands.
You alone can control your own muscles.
You must stand on your feet, physically and metaphorically.
You must take your own steps.
Your parents cannot enter into your skin, take control of your mental and physical machinery, and make something of you.
You cannot fight your son’s battles; that he must do for himself.
You have to be captain of your own destiny.
You have to see through your own eyes.
You have to use your own ears.
You have to master your own faculties.
You have to solve your own problems.
You have to form your own ideals.
You have to create your own ideas.
You must choose your own speech.
You must govern your own tongue.
Your real life is your thoughts.
Your thoughts are your own making.
Your character is your own handiwork.
You alone can select the materials that go into it.
You alone can reject what is not fit to go into it.
You are the creator of your own personality.
You can be disgraced by no man’s hand but your own.
You can be elevated and sustained by no man but yourself.
You have to write your own record.
You have to build your own monument—or dig your own pit.
Which are you doing?
Profile Image for Leonard Houx.
131 reviews28 followers
May 30, 2014
Cheesy and shallow.

To be fair, I was attracted to the prospect of a 400-page book that summarizes the most important ideas in business. But this was too thin and too soft. Think of a 400 page crêpe.

Worse – and despite the shallow familiarity – it read like something the author was pushing to finish as quickly as possible, which I gather he was. A case in point are the quotes with which he begins each passage: it's obvious that he hadn't collected these from his supposedly extensive readings but rather got them from the top result of a google search.

Of all of it, the most useful bit is the book recommendations. I reckon you can get those from his website – or lots of other places for that matter.
Profile Image for Jessica.
1,367 reviews
March 5, 2012
Someone told me about this book and said that reading it was the equivalent of learning everything they teach in an MBA program, without going hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt. That’s exactly what the author touts in the first section entitled “Why Read This Book?”

I can definitely see his point. I found the format excellent: sections with clear goals and chapters illustrating one concept after another in an interesting and straightforward manner. As each concept was being explained I thought about how it relates to my business, my work, or my life.

The points that hit home the most for me:

* Sufficiency (from the Finance section): having enough. Your money or your life. Not wanting more.
* Conservation of energy (from the Human Mind section): ”Conservation of energy explains why some people stay in dead-end jobs for decades, even though they know the position isn’t great. If the work if ok, the bills get paid, and the job never becomes stressful or frustrating enough to violate expectations, people generally won’t go out of their way to get a promotion, find another job, or start a new business.” - (p. 196)
* Goals (from the Working With Yourself section): Succinctly put, goals should be positive, immediate, concrete and specific. Nothing wrong with that idea reiterated in a few quick pages.

I’m glad I read this book and can see the value in owning a copy of my own to refer to often.
Profile Image for Shima Mahmoudi.
105 reviews66 followers
January 3, 2017
کتاب دوم از چالش 300 کتاب :
برای افرادی که دلشون میخواد یه کلیاتی بدونن و خیلی سطحی با یک سری قوانین آشنا بشن کتاب خوبیه ولی فقط در این حده که یک دری رو برای شما باز می کنه تا با دید بهتر بتونین بفهمین علاقه مند هستین یا نه.
بخشی از کتاب:
قبل از شروع مردم به شما خواهند گفت که شدنی نیست. وقتی شروع می کنید خواهند گفت این یک کسب و کار واقعی نیست. در نهایت وقتی سوار جت خصوصی خود شدید و آنها مشغول مذاکره بر سر افزایش پرداخت 10 درصدی خود هستند به شما خواهند گفت که بخت با شما یار بوده و اینکه آنها برای موفقیت شما حیاتی بوده اند.

#سیوان
#چالش_300_کتاب
798 reviews10 followers
March 6, 2013
Heavy on terms and aphorisms but light on detailed case studies or dissections of different management processes. The whole thing feels fluffy; each chapter is broken down into one- or two-page segments, with an introductory quote providing some borrowed authority.

It's not a bad book. The opening section is persuasive in arguing against assuming the debt of an MBA program (although that's not something I was considering anyway). The examples can feel slight, but Kaufman is good at harnessing them to provide food for thought.

But he doesn't seem very skeptical of his sources, meaning data-driven best practices often overlap with self-help pseudoscience. Moreover, the concepts are so general as to make them accessible to any field, which means much of the work in making them useful in the reader's field falls on the reader.
Profile Image for Herman.
32 reviews13 followers
August 24, 2016
This book provides a very high-level overview of many different business topics. It is divided into short one-page definitions of terms you are likely to encounter in business literature. These terms are defined clearly and simply, with examples or anecdotes that highlight the issues at hand. Sometimes it is also accompanied by a short analysis by the author. It is generally very sensible advice.

For some, I'm sure this book will offer new, useful information, and I might keep it around as compact reference of useful business mental models. But no topic is considered in depth, and after reading it, I do not feel any more prepared for running a business than I did before. It mostly felt like I was reading a summary of the most popular business and psychology books of the last decade: "The 4 Hour Work Week", "Thinking, Fast and Slow", "The Lean Startup", "Rework", and so on. If you have read many of these kinds of books, or even if you spend a lot of time on Hacker News, this book will offer little new insight.

If you are to read one, and only one, business book in your life, read this one. It contains good general advice. But if you read a lot, and are looking for in-depth insight into any specific part of business, this is not the book for you.
60 reviews10 followers
October 20, 2015
Книгу купил по наставлению друга, который её прочитал и остался очень доволен секцией про работу над собой.

Произведение понравилось своей легкостью написания, его действительно приятно читать. Большие разделы разбиты на главы не длиннее 2-3 страниц. За вечер можно проглотить до 10-30 таких глав. Правда, не факт, что при таком объеме чтения в голове останутся хотя бы примерные воспоминания о том, что читал, так, чтобы можно было пересказать. Не говоря уже о глубоком понимании и внедрении предложенных концептов.

Скорее всего, это произведение стоит использовать как настольную книгу для руководителя бизнеса или менеджера людей, чтобы при необходимости освежить в голове нужные концепты и знать к каким источникам обратиться, чтобы углубить свои знания и понимание предмета.

Книга, хоть и претендует на всеобъемлемость, всё же является поверхностным трудом. Для изучения, глубокого понимания каких-то тем, нужно обращаться к первоисточникам. Причем, автор советует много книг по ходу текста, но я не думаю, что они являются первоисточниками. Часто рекомендуемые автором книги опять же являются какими-то «американскими жвачками» с ворохом бесполезной информации, где за всю книгу можно выцепить лишь пару полезных концептов.

Книга рассказывает о таких аспектах ведения бизнеса как:
- создание ценности;
- маркетинг;
- продажи;
- логистика (забавно, переводчик это называет «доставкой ценности»);
- финансы;
- психология (человеческий мозг, работа над собой, работа с другими);
- системы;

Интересно, что почти половину книги занимает психология и описание работы систем (другими словами философия). Стоит ли это трактовать, что половина успеха бизнеса кроется в людях? Надо понимать себя, понимать людей и уметь выстроить работу людей в систему. Бизнес – это создание человеческих систем (моё определение).

Мне, как и моему другу, самым ценным показался раздел про работу над собой. Во многом я встретил повторение. Какие-то концепты были новыми. Нигде не было углубления уже ранее где-то почерпнутых знаний. В этом разделе самым запомнившимся был рассказ об изменении убеждений: медитируя нужно мысленно возвращаться в событие, которое в самый первый раз сформировало убеждение, подлежащее изменению. Это перекликается с книгой Assertiveness at Work, где авторы приводят свои способы борьбы с ограничивающими убеждениями (beliefs). В первый же раз, я думаю, я узнал об этой технике от Филиппа Богачева в его курсе «Техника Эмоциональной Свободы». Но первоисточник, разумеется, - труды по НЛП.

Чтобы внедрить какие-то советы из книги в свою жизнь нужно постоянно возвращаться к книге и уделять умышленное время и внимание проработке конкретных концептов. Здесь, книга должна стать настольной. Речь идет о таких разделах как работа над собой, работа с людьми и построение систем. К остальным разделам (продажи, маркетинг, финансы) стоит обращаться при наличии конкретной надобности или, возможно, изредка перечитывать, чтобы держать в оперативной памяти выжимку знаний.

Книгу было бы очень интересно прочитать на английском, т.к. на русском перевод мне не понравился. Но не факт, что есть «красивый» русский перевод каких-то устоявшихся в международной практике англицизмов (закон Парето, NPV).

Сейчас задумался – что же всё-таки сделал чувак. До 27 лет работал в Procter and Gamble, потом (вероятно) задумался о том, что ему скучно жить, в мире столько всего интересного, карь��ра никуда не ведет (нужное подчеркнуть) и решил сделать новые шаги к познанию мира. Так получилось, что на MBA денег не оказалось, но оказалось достаточно, чтобы прожить какое-то время не работая. Вот он и «бросил всё», а именно работу и стал заниматься самым важным в жизни – самообразованием: читал книги по менеджменту, финансам, психологии. Наверняка, делал это очень системно и вдумчиво – иначе не мог бы процитировать столько источников. На выходе получилась универсальная книга-выжимка о современном MBA. Кому интересно – прочитайте, чтобы иметь поверхностное представление о современной теории управления в бизнесе. Но не стоит это воспринимать, как полноценную замену MBA или более глубокому самообразованию.

В метро книжки читать хорошо, что пользы от этого мало. Надо ПРИМЕНЯТЬ. А применение – это уже определённого рода работа над собой. Работа, требующая волевых, умственных и временных усилий.

Три главные мысли:
- ознакомиться с основными трудами Питера Друкера;
- ознакомиться с трудами основных теоретиков в области построения, работы, анализа, улучшения систем («нельзя сразу создать хорошую сложную систему, вначале нужно создать простую систему и её улучшать»);
- хорошие цитаты (правила жизни) основателя Форбс в конце жизни. Многие цитаты идут в разрез с сущестующим укладом системы: система хочет, чтобы ты оставался тупым. Мысли же говорят: думай своей головой, не стесняйся, задавай вопросы, ищи ответы.
- хорошие вопрос�� в конце книги (пригласите себя в ресторан с листочком, чтобы ответить на них).
2 reviews25 followers
May 30, 2016
I just finished my third listen of the Personal MBA and still enjoy it alot. In short, it is a great high level summary of many important topics in both business and personal development. I does not go into detail about each topic, but gives you a primer on the most important elements. The book is focused around the mindset of entrepreneurs and teaches you the «first principles of business thinking».

The opening premise of the book is that MBAs are a «waste of money» if you do not want to work at a Fortune 500 company, and that you basically pay ~$150k for networking and case solving. Kaufman makes some interesting arguments, but I still think that reading the book is not a substitute for actually practicing the concepts in the real world! You will not understand complex business issues if you do not utilize the concepts by thinking through them on your own.

Before starting to read this book, you need to know two things: 1) It is a book for people with deep interest in learning business. 2) It is very condensed and do not contain extensive examples. Because of the latter, I found the audio version great for a first listen. The sections are short by intension of Kaufman (5-10 min), which is good for listening when walking to work, etc.
Profile Image for Daniel Clausen.
Author 9 books488 followers
August 25, 2011
I took this book out of the library and spent the afternoon with it. For a long time, I had been a fan of Kaufman's website. I have personally referred a number of business students to it as a tutor for a professional college. The book was just as easy to read and reference as the website. I was able to obtain everything I wanted from the book in about two to three hours of reading.

For me the most useful parts of the book were on managing one's self, analyzing systems, and marketing. More importantly, the book provides a reading list of other books that will help the reader "Master the Art of Business". This list is also on the website. The book is not an end all and be all of business reading, but it does make an effective case the good business education does not have to come at an outrageous price.
Profile Image for Katie.
161 reviews52 followers
July 6, 2020
Did you know that if you run a business, you can't just look at all the money coming in, and that you have to subtract costs such as taxes, produce and labour? Did you know that if you buy something to sell on, and then damage that item, you won't be able to sell it for as much as you could have done whilst it was undamaged? Did you know that motivation sometimes runs out? Did you know know that if you price certain items too high, your sales might suffer because fewer people are willing to pay that money? Did you know that if you associate a product with a good feeling, people may be more inclined to buy it? Did you know that plans sometimes fail, so it's a good idea to make a second? Did you know that if you treat colleagues with respect, it will create a nicer working environment for you than if you were to be rude? Did you know that if you're hiring someone, taking a look at their past performance can help indicate whether they're a good hire or not?

If so, you don't need this insultingly basic and patronising book. My examples weren't a joke, they're the central content of the book. It's made up of hundreds of definitions of incredibly basic business concepts, each with a page or so to describe them. Occasionally we reach the dizzying heights of learning what hindsight is and why it can be a good (or bad) thing. I ended up reading 400 pages of this slop fuelled by sheer incredulity at the fact that this book isn't a joke. Even now, having finished, I'm agog: is it that business is so easy, so basic, so worthy of the mockery of it being studied like war or philosophy that this passes for enlightening, or is it that all of this is one big scam and no-one who has reviewed this has actually read further than the blurb? Both seem like realistic possibilities when confronted with just how dire this tripe is. Possibly one of the least useful and most offensively bad books I've ever read.
Profile Image for Andy.
1,581 reviews520 followers
March 30, 2015
Surprisingly useful tidbits about entrepreneurship, management, leadership, etc. Nothing earth-shattering but the author does a good job with all his little summaries. Silly title.
Profile Image for Jonathan Fouch.
3 reviews2 followers
October 9, 2013
If you're like me and never took a business class in college - but want to learn more about business - this should be the first book you read in the genre. It's a great introduction to all the critical fields of business: value creation, marketing, sales, finance, working with yourself, working with others, and systems. The subchapters, which are centered around specific concepts, are bite sized and can be consumed in a relatively short amount of time - perfect for the busy, working adult. The writing style is very accessible: a high school dropout could pick this book up and understand the topics. The book also critiques contemporary MBA programs. Kaufman argues that while MBA programs do provide much value, the price of admission has become too high to make the degree a good investment. Although this isn't true of other professions, the business world often rewards results rather than credentials. Therefore, many nascent businessmen and women may be better off forgoing the 150k loan and educating themselves.

JF
Profile Image for Mahbub Zaman.
9 reviews
July 3, 2014
I am in Chapter 11 out of total 14 chapters. So I think it's fair to predict my review for this book won't change a whole lot from what it is now.

The author claims this book summarizes the knowledge gained from a typical MBA degree. If this is true, MBA is the most worthless degree I have known to date. But I am doubtful an actual MBA will be so much useless.

In the end, I feel the rate of return (time spent vs knowledge gained) for this book is very low. Not that I disagree with the content, but it added very little to my understanding. Honestly, I will be very hard pressed to list just 3 things I have actually learned by reading this book.

Profile Image for Pouri.
37 reviews38 followers
Shelved as 'read_summary'
June 7, 2022
The 5 parts to every business

1. Value Creation
Are we creating something people will pay for? bring convenience & high-fidelity.

2. Marketing
How well are we attracting and holding attention?

3. Sales
How well do our customers believe and trust us?

4. Value Delivery
Are we exceeding the customers expectations?

5. Finance
Are we making more money than we're spending?
Profile Image for Andrew Padilla.
17 reviews4 followers
December 16, 2020
The Personal MBA was a journey. It took me about two years of on and off reading to finish but finished it is! After starting a new job that I knew absolutely nothing about, I did what any over-eager and naively enthusiastic young employee would do: caught the flu! So I had Satan, er, my girlfriend, go and pick this up for me in an effort to earn my MBA for the economic price of $17.99!... or whatever it was. Anyway, Kaufman got me all psyched on the fact that I was saving tens of thousands of dollars that I wouldn't have spent anyway to get the same information distilled and expressly delivered through the power of reading! I read a few pages and then threw up and fell asleep. I grew bored and put it down after realizing that I'm in sales and didn't need to know all of that MBA stuff anyway.

So then my girlfriend and I had a baby and I heard that reading to baby's early on is a good thing to do, so guess what I started reading to her little potato baby brain? You bet, Friedrich Nietzsche! But then I thought that she'd need to learn more practical material so I picked up a the Personal MBA and read it to her like a devotional, day by day.

I'd have to say that I probably learned more than she, but anyway, I learned alot when I didn't try reading it like a novel. You definitely learn a little about a lot and I have since retained valuable information on sales, finance, marketing, value creation, and my surprising favorite, systems.

I'd recommend for sure for anyone interested in having babies... and business.
Profile Image for Chris Bumpas.
97 reviews4 followers
June 26, 2015
I bought this book mainly for the finance section, so the rest was somewhat boring to me. Too much "self help" for my taste.
Even the section I was interested in was sort of elementary.
This book is marketed towards those who want to skip business school. However, I plan to get my MBA and still found parts of the book helpful for a general idea of things to know.

Edit: Will graduate with my MBA from Texas Tech in December 2015 and this book just doesn't have enough substance for anyone to really think they could read it and know everything a business school could teach them.
Not to mention, your credentials matter in the real world. Try putting "Read The Personal MBA" on your resume under the education section and see how far you get.
Profile Image for Ryan.
59 reviews
April 26, 2011
There are a lot of great things in this book. Thousands of great ideas and things to think about, but unfortunately none of them are given the space to actually be discussed. This book feels more like a glossary of business terms and productivity advice, rather than a thorough business education. Although I enjoyed the writer's voice, I thought the format style of hundreds of very short "posts" was distracting and didn't allow for enough substance.
Profile Image for Brahm.
499 reviews67 followers
May 24, 2021
This is one of the top "biz-help" books I've read as there is very little fluff.

Kaufman attempts to condense all of the key business knowledge from a typical MBA program into a single book. He did this by spending years and years reading business books, identifying key concepts, and condensing those key concepts to 1-2 pages of no-frills writing.

Instead of a drawn-out, overly-narrated, anecdote-filled, way-too-many-case-studies typical business book, this is essentially a list of terms, grouped into about 10 chapters, with 1-2 pages defining each term. I liked this format as it made it easy to skip sections I wasn't interested in, but I could see how the lack of overall narrative might be disengaging to some.

Much of the content in here was SUPER useful, both in the context of the small business Robyn and Kaila are building, as well as food for thought for my career. A great book to buy a physical copy to attack with a highlighter and pen.

I was not wild about the chapters on finance (too dry), or the chapter on "working with yourself" (too self-helpy). The rest was solid. I could see this sitting within reach for years to come; lots of good reference material on basic business concepts, conflict resolution, delivering criticism, and managing people. Again, all with minimal fluff.

Was Kaufman successful in convincing me I don't need an MBA? I was biased against getting one before I picked up the book, so my opinion was reinforced. I found his take-down of the value of most MBA programs in his intro entertaining, and I feel the $30 for the book was money well spent.

I learned about this book and author when Kaufman was a guest on the Knowledge Project podcast with Shane Parrish.
Profile Image for Jason Braatz.
Author 1 book17 followers
May 21, 2019
Most of the information contained in this book is flatly wrong. There are much better books on the basics of a business and synthesize it much more accurately than this author does; The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It comes to mind, for example, as a great starting point for a business of any size. Understanding the use of capital in simple English is better explained in Rich Dad, Poor Dad or any of the early books by Peter Drucker .

Mr. Kaufman is a pathological liar. There are countless statements which are untrue or cannot be true. Early in the book, he accounts that he's read "thousands" of business books over a "5 year period." A minimum to reach "thousands" is any number over 2,000 ; therefore, he would have read 1.09 books per day, 365 days a year, minimum. Shame on the editors of Penguin Group Publishing for letting so many mistakes like this slide.

The author, Mr. Kaufman, admits that he has no formal business education outside of working for P&G during the early 2000s. He begins this book with a venomous argument against getting an MBA. Most MBA graduates would definitely not agree on his points. Most of his assertions are simply wrong or misunderstood by the author.

Businesses hire those with MBA degrees in certain roles, especially in management capacities, because it shows them that the candidate can handle the rigor. To wit, it's not simply about the textbook, it's about the discipline and the practice. MBA programs vary but most employ case-study approaches and assertion testing, which helps the student navigate decisions based on capital growth objectives. Equivocating that this could be learned through a single book is dangerous ; a Surgeon has an M.D. not because she studied Gray's Anatomy, but because the rigor and discipline involved assures us as her patient that she's practiced the decisions she is making in the vivisection of our body. This is true of an MBA graduate as well.

Each small section is annoyingly ends with "please share this section" [on social media]. It's so frequent, the author's narcissism is quite frankly hard to tune out.

I graduated with an MBA from Stanford in 1998 and three years thereafter received my Ph.D. in Computer Science. I have a great track record as a CEO for a large, privately-held company. I read this book out of mere curiosity while having a lot of time to kill at an airport between connecting flights.

Mr. Kaufman, please withdraw this work, you don't know what you are even writing about; otherwise, update it with the help of leaders who have experience in the business community.

I invite the author, Mr. Josh Kaufman, to a debate - a live Facebook feed or whatever format he prefers. If I loose the debate, I will personally buy 100,000 copies of his new book and donate them to Universities or to institutions of his choice. If he loses the debate, he is to correct the mistakes in this book with the help from a community of business leaders who have MBA's.

How do we connect to do a public debate, Mr. Kaufman?
Profile Image for Sergei_kalinin.
451 reviews167 followers
March 2, 2014
Книга = тезаурус ключевых бизнес-понятий, которые хорошо бы знать каждому предпринимателю и применять для лучшего понимания/развития своего дела.

На всякий случай напомню :) что "тезаурус" - это словарь, но который содержит не только термины и их определения, но и раскрывает смысловые связи между ними.

Книга "Сам себе MBA" - это такой своего рода букварь :) для предпринимател��й, не имеющих какого-либо специализированного образования (не обязательно MBA, даже обычного вузовского по экономике, менеджменту и т.п.).

По широте охвата тем книга действительно во многом соответствует учебным MBA-программам, включая в себя и стратегическое управление, и маркетинг, и управление финансами, и системный анализ и оптимизацию бизнес-процессов (и т.д.).

Из слабых сторон книги:

1) Всё очень поверхностно.

2) Некоторые главы (имеющие отношение к психологии - управлению людьми и самоменеджменту; например, про ментальные модели) показались мне откровенно слабыми и плохо/путанно изложенными.

3) Бравая критика автором классических программ MBA сначала вызывает улыбку, но позже, когда понимаешь, что это всего лишь агрессивная самореклама ("Покупайте только у меня, не дайте себя обмануть в другом месте"))), это начинает раздражать.

/Признаюсь, что тут я, как преподаватель на MBA-программах, могу быть не объективен... Но во-первых, "пусть цветёт 1000 цветов" :) ; во-вторых, у программ MBA есть и сильные стороны, которые автор игнорирует; в-третьих, сами программы MBA очень разные - и они тоже меняются по форме и содержанию, чтобы идти в ногу со временем/.

...и ещё. Лично мне в книге не хватило информации о том, КАК учиться. Автор немного описывает то, как родился и развивался проект "Сам себе MBA". По сути дела книга - это своего рода конспект прочитанных книг, который родился в результате самообучения автора :) Но про сами техники этого самообучения - хотелось бы поподробнее...

Сильные стороны книги:

1) Краткость, но при этом чёткость и точность изложения (тех самых основных бизнес-понятий).

2) Разнообразие, широта охвата информации. Это отличный справочник, в котором можно найти множество интересных идей по развитию своего дела.

/Процентов 90 информации в книге для меня были не новыми, но 10% найденных неожиданных и новых для меня идей - это прекрасный КПД для бизнес-книги!/

3) Важно понимать, что книга имеет чёткого адресата - это предприниматель, который в идеале сам же и является хозяином своего дела, и который строил свой бизнес интуитивно, не имея соответствующего стандартного высшего образования. Я подобного рода "ИПэшников" :) регулярно консультирую, поэтому очень чётко представляю тех, кому данная книга будет особенно полезна.

Если такой "ипэшник" прочитает данную книгу, то его понимание собственного бизнеса увеличится на порядок! И вполне возможно, что ему и никакие консультанты не понадобятся ;)

Вывод: для начинающего/не имеющего классического бизнес-образования предпринимателя - отличная книга, читать обязательно!

Но... Даже для тех, кто уже имеет степень MBA :) книга может быть полезна в качестве справочника, закрепляющего знание основных бизнес-понятий (особенно из смежных областей, не связанных с вашей специализацией), а также в качестве генератора новых идей по саморазвитию/развитию бизнеса.

Рекомендую прочесть :)
Profile Image for Carolina Esteves de Andrade.
19 reviews91 followers
December 13, 2012
This week I Just finished reading this great book called The Personal MBA written by Josh Kaufman, where the author explores the pros and cons of investing in an MBA course since even elite schools like Wharton and Harvard offer outdated programs that teach more about Power Point Presentations and unnecessary financial models than about what it takes to run a real business. The first part of the book is all dedicated to this discussion. I thought it was very interesting and an eye opener, since I was thinking in enrolling in an MBA program when I finish my course.

The book has 11 sections (or chapters if you like): Value Creation, Marketing, Sales, Value Delivery, Finance, The Human Mind, Working with Yourself, Working with Others, Understanding Systems, Analyzing Systems and Improving Systems. Each section has 18 to 32 subsections.

I really enjoyed reading this book, the author concentrates in explaining in a concise way what is really important, sharing his knowledge with the reader. It contains the fundamentals, and this knowledge is essential whether you are in sales, marketing or you are starting your own business. I learned so much in a week, my book is all highlighted on the parts I thought it was most important. It’s a great book to keep close and review every now and then.

Another great feature is the appendixes: Appendix A: How to Continue your Business Studies, where the author recommends great books for you to continue improving your knowledge. The books recommended are divided by subject which make it easier when you are looking for your next read. Appendix B: contains Forty-Nine Questions to Improve Your Results. These questions are great to help you figure it out what you want and what you need to improve in your life both personal and professionally.

If you are interested in this subject visit the website The Personal MBA http://personalmba.com/
Profile Image for Alex Timberman.
157 reviews10 followers
September 4, 2014

The book is quite ambitious. The author says if you want to save money on that expensive MBA education and if you are not going for the connections to get you your dream office job, that he will tell you everything you need to know about an MBA in his book.

I think he achieved a lot of what he set out to do. Of course, you can’t get that deep assimilation of knowledge without all the advantages of being around smart classmates and professors and with the added benefit of 2-3 years of continuous study, but he sure does succinctly go over the main theories and cases from the spectrum of business and management.

I learned a whole lot, reviewed a whole lot, and gleamed some insight on what I would like to learn next. The world of business is fascinating and if you are interested to get a better understanding of what it’s all about, you can’t go wrong with reading this book or by listening to it as I did. I highly recommend it for those interested.
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