Minuses - 1) The author starts off with an attack on MBAs and a justification for the book. That is not necessary and doesn't resonate well. I very nearly gave up on it for that reason, so skip the first chapter. 2) This is not anything like an MBA, which is fairly obvious, but I think the title is unnecessarily misleading and should be changed to 'Shortcut to an MBA' or something like that.

Pluses -1) The author has done an enormous amount of good research. 2) He covers a large amount of ground 3) He has some good insights on the topics he covers 4) The author narrates and it comes across really well. 5) There are ongoing online resources.

Overall a good purchase - I bought it on audio and kindle

If you're expecting this to be a substitute for an MBA course, you'll be disappointed, and rightly so. If, however, you are looking for an excellent summary of a great deal of critical business, psychology and marketing concepts, that any aspiring entrepreneur or successful business owner should know, then this is the audiobook to get your hands on.
It's 13 hours, but i'll still be giving it another listen in a few months or so, a testament to it's quality. Highly recommended.

I bought this for my daughter, but I decided to listen to it and I was suddenly flooded with business ideas!! I'm 53 years old and I am now on the cusp of some great ideas!! Excellent "read"

For me, it was the author's prologue on how he got to this point in his own journey. It was inspiring.

Sounded a bit robotic, but nonetheless, a good narrator.

It's 13 hours, so I could not. Plus it's something you need to listen to and then digest.

This information is rich; it's valuable. The most important component to any MBA is the student. How hungry are they? You can have all the Harvard and Yale MBAs you want, but unless the individual is proactive,....

Yes. Plenty of relevant material to educate the business owner (and there staff) with no formal business education.

Very well arranged progression of topics and concepts.

Only reason I gave it a 4 star was the completely unnecessary and relevant beginning which goes on much much much too long about how useless a regular MBA is. Skip this, it adds nothing to the content.

The real meat of the book is excellent. I will be buying the hard copy for visual reference to accompany the audiobook.

Would make and excellent base for the developing staff basic business training.

This audio book is packed with plenty of useful information on critical business concepts. Additionally, Josh provides a wealth of references that can be used to further investigate a particular concept in more details. Great resource for anyone who runs a small business or is seeking to understand the fundamentals of running a business.

Chapter 1 first 10 Min, Amazing

After the Intro is done and dusted, WOW amazing wealth of knowledge.
Must Listen. I really Enjoyed it.
Skip the Intro! It is an hour of moaning about MBA programs.

I recommend this book for it's functional information.

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

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

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

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

It's rare that I listen to audio book and then run out and buy the dead-tree edition. But I will with this one. This is a reference book that should be on the desk of every entrepreneur or business owner. In clear, simple terms, devoid of buzz words Kaufman lays out everything you need to know about business. It truly is an MBA-lite.

However, as a reference book, it's really not a great listen on your daily commute. Think dictionary-on-tape. Maybe that's a little harsh, but it's not exactly a pot boiler that makes you miss your exit.

My only other complaint is the narration. Ever since listening to William Gibson read "Neuromancer," I've avoided books read by the author, but I decided to make an exception in this case. That was a mistake. Kaufman is no Frank Muller or Scott Brick.

Fantastic content and very useful. I'll be referring to this title again and again.

I really got a lot of good practical stuff out of the first part of the book. That part of the book seemed relevant to daily business practice... then most of the rest of the book had good information, but it was about human behavior and behavioral science... this was good info, but not what I wanted the book for. It almost seems like he should have done a separate but related book to cover all that. All of the scientific experiments and results mentioned were interesting, but it was way too much information for what the book implies. However, too much is better than not enough in this case and I would use a credit & recommend to a friend just because of the practical value of the first few hours alone. Hope this helps someone.

I purchased this book as a refresher to the MBA I recieved 5 years ago from a local college. I found the subject matter very superficial and generic. The author did not appear to have a strong background in business. Few real word examples other than his experience in marketing at Proctor and Gamble or non-business examples were used to make a point.

The content in this book may be beneficial to a recent college graduate looking for a basic synopsis of general business principles or an entry level business major trying to improve oppurtunities in the workplace.