The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business

When you consider what else you can do with the $15 or so it costs to buy this book, the value proposition feels downright ridiculous. For $15 you can buy 3/5ths of a baseball cap, order a round of watered-down drinks or pick up a 1/3rd of a video game. Or, for the same price you can get over 350 pages of clearly explained, entertainingly presented, essential business concepts that will directly and meaningfully enhance your knowledge of business. If you're new to business, it will take the stark raving terror out of the process. If you're a veteran it will help you focus and enhance any venture you're working on and likely inspire more profitable ideas. One of the many stories Josh tells in the book is of a hospital that incorporates simple checklists to prevent infections from developing in patients. These checklists include basic things like reminding doctors to wash their hands. Though almost laughably simple and obvious, the mere act of incorporating the checklists lead to the complete elimination of infections at this particular hospital. The Personal MBA book is the ultimate checklist for all business decisions - as an entrepreneur, investor or even as someone running your own career and household financial system. Anyone who reads this book will have a practical guide to avoiding financial catastrophe and identifying the most promising opportunities. If I had this book a decade ago I would have saved myself from a very unfortunate business experience that cost me over $50,000 in losses and limitless wasted energy. Josh, who is stunningly still under 30 years-old, has a wisdom far beyond his years. He is fiercely intelligent and despite a very pleasant demeanor as a writer, he is a rebel in the best sense of the word. His tone is always moderate, respectful and his arguments are always meticulously researched, expertly and passionately presented. He talks softly but he carries a big intellectual stick. Make no mistake about it. The title of this book is not a gimmick. He thinks business school is a terrible investment and clearly has walked the talk, building a successful career without it. He has a gift for simply articulating complex concepts and has a deep-seated passion for analyzing systems, particularly the workings of the human brain. His tone is never cloying, condescending, egotistical or obnoxious - as so many heinous business and management book titles are. He presents his views with an inspiring confidence that will fuel your business or business-to-be. While reading it I constantly had to put the book down to jot down new ideas. Think of it this way. After absorbing what Josh calls the "mental models" in this book you will find the world of business presenting you with opportunities everywhere you go. It is a lot like buying a car and then seeing that model everywhere. As you adopt the mental models into your own thinking you will feel a shot of inspiration and be empowered to act thoughtfully, and confidently. I recently interviewed for a job and couldn't help but notice interactions that were playing out exactly as described in the book. You know that scene in The Terminator, where Arnold Schwarzenegger sees a menu of options scroll down before his eyes? And he chooses his response from that list? This book is like having a long list of useful ideas to pull from as you make decisions. The concepts articulated in The Personal MBA helped me make progress as an entrepreneur (launched a Website that made a modest profit last year), landed a job in a completely different field that I enjoy and moved to a city better suited to what I really want. I highly recommend making the Personal MBA (both the site and the book) a major part of your studies. The risk is you spend $15 and sell it for say, $8, and lose seven bucks. The potential reward is you create a business you love, earn massive profits, increase your opportunities, avoid disaster and contribute something meaningful to the world through your business. If there's a better risk/reward profile for a $15 investment, I'd love to see it. The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business

Josh Kaufman’s The Personal MBA is a comprehensive guide that distills essential business concepts into clear, actionable insights. Whether you're an entrepreneur, manager, or simply someone interested in understanding how businesses work, this book offers a wealth of knowledge without the hefty price tag of a traditional MBA. Kaufman’s writing is engaging and straightforward, making complex ideas accessible to readers at any level of business experience. The book covers a wide range of topics, including marketing, sales, negotiation, productivity, and more. What sets this book apart is its practical approach—Kaufman focuses on principles you can immediately apply to your work or business. The Personal MBA is not just a read; it's a resource you'll find yourself returning to time and again. Kaufman’s ability to synthesize key business principles into a single, easy-to-understand volume makes it an invaluable tool for anyone looking to sharpen their business acumen. Highly recommended for those who want to master the fundamentals of business on their own terms.

"You dropped 150 grand on an education you could have gotten for $1.50 in late charges at the public library." Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting In The Personal MBA Josh Kaufman makes a very compelling case (as does Will Hunting) that for people considering an MBA, the economics aren't that great. For many graduate students (not just Business majors), it feels like a Casino: everyone takes the tests, and gets primed, then takes out a huge loan from the bank (often a six-figure amount) hoping that when they come out the other side, there will be an awesome, high-paying job waiting for them. It's a financial transaction, not really an educational one. In fact, much of the education gleaned from an Master in Business Administration is theoretical and marginally updated from the projects and Case Studies done in Bachelor of Business and Economics programs; after all, how can you possibly sit in a classroom and `learn' how to be a Manager, or an Executive? Of course you can't. But the schools are more than willing to let you try, as long as the cheques clear. Provided those cheques do clear (in many states in the US, the juice, as they say, is running the day you take your first class, not after you graduate), students can expect a marginally better income (in this economy? yuck) awaiting them on the other side; it turns out they're getting a crash course in finance after all! Ouch. In the beginning of The Personal MBA, Kaufman reveals something striking: research shows there is little evidence that getting an MBA has any correlation with long term success in Business. Top tier Business programs make sure that they only accept brilliant students, which is why many go on to greatness. Business schools make it their business to take credit for other people's work-namely, your undergraduate degree, and your having studied for the GMAT. In a perfect world, you'd be better off, studying for the GMAT, applying to Harvard Business, getting accepted, and then refusing to attend (and pay the exorbitant tuition, and 2 years of your life), then bragging on your CV that you were accepted at Harvard, and applying for a plum job with a Fortune 500 company, ready to put you through the Management training program. Why doesn't anybody do that? Because the MBA itself acts as a signal to help simplify the recruiter's job: he or she doesn't want to read 5,000 CVs. Reading 50 is a lot faster. It's that simple. Which 50 get the job doesn't really matter. When the eventual 20-something is hired, he or she will proceed to the actual training program, and begin to be molded into the perfect Hewlett Packard / Cisco/ Apple/ GE/ Nike/Starbucks Manager. That's right: real companies don't hire college grads and just plop them in a management or executive role. They have training programs. They have quarterly reviews. They promote you based on progress, not based on your GPA. Where else did you think you would learn how to be a Manager? Unfortunately there's no way around it. Since MBA students are required to pass the GMAT first, a fundamental understanding of business and finance is required before you set foot on a real campus. If the Personal MBA (book, and accompanying website) is going to attempt to replace an actual MBA, they must put the reader through the paces of very fundamental Business Concepts. Business and Finance majors (like myself) will find much of this familiar, but that shouldn't take away from Kaufman's impressive achievement here. He's taken 2 years of Education and compressed it into a fantastic 400 page reference material. Kaufman will hold up the six-figure MBA and declare that by buying this book you're effectively saving $99,982, but of course, you're not getting a piece of paper either. So for anyone who didn't graduate in Economics of Business,this book is a great summary of the definitions and concepts that took us about 4 years to get through. And it's pretty much the same material (minus countless case studies and Powerpoint presentations) you'd get from top-tier business programs. So what do I suggest for young career-minded readers? The point of an MBA, traditionally, was not for a 19 or 20 year old to `train' to be a manager (whatever that means) but for a middle-manager to train to be a leader in his current company. An ideal situation would be to get a job (any job) with a great company and work your way up, and eventually have your boss pay for your education. The company will consider the investment in human capital worth it if they see potential in you, and will also have you promise to stay with the company for at least a few years upon graduation, so they can benefit from their investment. Education is great. If I didn't believe that, I sure wouldn't have started a blog about it. But so is avoiding foolish six-figure debt. Consult your boss, and consult this book before proceeding. (PS. Yes, I've graduated from a post-secondary International Business program. That one came with a five-figure student loan, not six.) More reviews like this on 21tiger

I thoroughly enjoyed this book for its content and for its applicability. Something for everyone: Whether you are in a traditional work setting or earning a living as an entrepreneur, you will gain something from the ideas shared in this book. Those looking to transition from bi-weekly paycheck to free agency will also benefit from learning the ends and outs of business. Well Structured for Efficient Consumption: The book is well structured in easy to consume short segments or snippets to flow together for an overall strong commentary on each topic (finance, systems, creating value, etc) It is very easy to read a segment and meditate and take notes on how you can apply it to your profession Great starting point: Josh Kaufman, the author, does an excellent job not claiming that the book is an end-all but a starting point and a thorough overview. I have already compiled my list of books to read over the several months and into next year as I develop my skills. This is helpful for me as I use to jump from topic to topic with no clear focus. His "The 99 Best Business Books: Recommended Reading List" is a great resource that is broken into categories that allow you to attack your learning systematically for more efficient learning. Makes the case for self-education: Prior to reading this book, I didn't realize how self-education helped me develop my own mastery of a topic. I recall taking Calculus in high school and how a book I purchased at the bookstore helped me do well enough on the AP exam to test out of math in college saving me time and money. "You should and can always be learning" is the idea that repeated itself to me as I read through the book Great reference material: As I better understand business, I find Josh Kaufman's chapters on "The Human Mind", "Working with Yourself" and "Working with Others" to be particularly useful in understanding the human interaction of business. I look forward to the growth that I will experience as I apply what I learned in this book and the books that Josh recommends.

Phenomenal! Well written and well worth the time and money. One of my best investments in the new year.

This book is a superb overview of business, hands down. I've been an entrepreneur for the past 12 years, having built up a company over that time. I sold that company last year due to my partner's health, and am now putting my time into addressing my understanding of the entire spectrum of entrepreneurship knowledge before I get another company. This book is one of two main books that I've used as guides -- to help me clarify what I still need to know. This book would be my choice of the two, if I had to pick one. From my experiences in business, I can tell you that the concepts in this book are extremely pertinent, and boiled down to the most important of information. I took notes on the entire book, and my notes still are around 140 pages long. I don't understand the complaints of those saying the book is too "spark-notes-ish". The book achieves its goal, which is to bring all the key concepts together for the reader in one place. It's the same as going to school to get an MBA... the classes will not cover EVERYTHING you want to learn. It sets a structure up, to follow and allow you to understand what else you want to know. A small criticism -- when I read the pages on financial reports / accounting (not sure what they were titled), I felt that there was not enough clarity there. That aspect of business comes instinctively to me -- and I feel that there are ways to clarify that information a little better. But-- it isn't enough to knock the rating down. It was just a few pages. Thank you Mr. Kaufman, for creating this valuable book.

First of all, let me say this, I do not generally review books publicly, partly because I am not that much of a cheerleader type person and secondly, there are not that many books that I come across that have me jumping out of my seat because it gave me a huge "a-ha moment". I bought this book because I had come across the author's recommended reading list on the web. I wanted to enhance my knowledge base of business means and methods, what I did not realize when I bought the Kindle version was how much information about everyday life I would also be gaining! I have read some disparaging comments regarding how the information is presented or how much is being charged for the electronic version as compared to the hard cover, obviously these individuals are more concerned more with what they have to give up than what they are receiving. Two reasons I can see for the brevity of the topic chapters, Josh gets right to the point on a particular topic; what it is, why it is important and how best to utilize it. Keeping it short so that we can move on to the next topic of information, he is utilizing the novelty principle to keep the reader engaged. Secondly, with the wealth of information that the author is sharing, if he wasted words to fluff up each chapter, we, the readers would be burdened down by trying to digest and understand a 1200-1600 page encyclopedia tome (I had to look up that the paper book is 416 pages). This book is one of those great books that you will go back to over and over again using it as a resource to continually streamline and upgrade your personal and business systems. You might even want to flowchart or mind map the book to allow yourself to have a tool that will help you address and deal with any challenge or issue that you may face in the future. I do not even know how many times I have text, tweeted, told and email my friends and family about this book, it is that good. Just the sections on "Working with Yourself" and "Working with Others" makes it an invaluable tool to smooth out our day to day interactions and head-scratching missteps. Buy this book, read it and USE it, you won't be sorry.

***What's The Story?*** Picture yourself seated before a massive table. From corner to corner this table is set with plates. On each plate is a delectable, bite-sized morel. You're hungry, so you dig in. Everything is delicious and there's a huge amount of variety on offer to keep your taste buds engaged. But as you eat, you begin to notice something unsettling: The food doesn't fill you up. In fact, each bite only whets your appetite and serves to make you hungrier than you were before you began eating. You sat down hungry, but you leave famished. Reading Josh Kaufman's "The Personal MBA: A World-class Business Education in a Single Volume" was a lot like dining at this imaginary feast. Mr. Kaufman's debut (he spun the book off of his very popular website) covers a wide array of topics. Unfortunately, this coverage is so shallow that I found very little of it to be truly fulfilling. "The Personal MBA" is divided loosely into three parts that deal with business basics, psychology, and understanding how systems work. Each chapter follows the same essential structure: A brief overview of the topic at hand, followed by a glossary of key concepts related to the chapter focus. This structure effectively organizes and introduces what is no doubt a nearly overwhelming amount of information. "The Personal MBA" is a synthesis of what Mr. Kaufman has learned from reading hundreds of business books over the last couple of years. As an act of synthesis it's an impressive achievement. But synthesis is by nature reductive, and I feel this book and its audience would have been better served if Mr. Kaufman had covered half the material with twice the depth and insight. As it stands, "The Personal MBA" reads like course description catalog for the ultimate MBA program. ***What's The Point?*** The foundation of all successful businesses is this: Identify a need and then satisfy that need better than anyone else in the market. Competition is a good thing! Entering a competitive market tells you that there are paying customers for the services or products you wish to offer. Resources, time, and flexibility are the three universal currencies of every negotiation. Your ability to succeed at any given task is directly proportionate to the amount of undivided attention you can give to that task. Productive multitasking is a myth. Capitalizing on your strengths rather than working to shore up your weaknesses will empower you to get more done. Gall's Law: All complex systems that work evolved from less complex systems that worked. This is just a smattering of the many, many topics covered in the book. It's also about how deep "The Personal MBA" explores each one. ***Buy, Borrow, Skip?*** If you have any experience at all with business, "The Personal MBA" is a book to borrow and skim through. There's definitely good knowledge here, but little of it is developed thoroughly. If you're completely uninitiated when it comes to business, "The Personal MBA" is probably a good book to have in your library. At the very least it will prime your curiosity and point you in the direction of more comprehensive sources of knowledge. From reading this book and perusing his site, it's apparent that Josh Kaufman is a bright dude. His passion for self-learning is infectious, and I feel inspired by his example. I hope this isn't his last book. I also hope that whatever books he works on in the future don't sacrifice depth for breadth the same way "The Personal MBA" does.