The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business

By: Josh Kaufman

Narrated by: Josh Kaufman

Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

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 Even the elite schools like Harvard and Wharton offer outdated, assembly-line programs that teach you more about PowerPoint presentations and unnecessary financial models than what it takes to run a real business.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

A summary

I have read many of the books that are referenced in this work. I think a fantastic job was done in collecting some of the most important pieces and summarizing them extremely well. This would be a book I would recommend for anyone just beginning their journey in self education in either business psychology or sales. Very well done.

One of the most practical books on Audible

Every second of this Audible is worthwhile. No repetitive bull. I'd definitely listen again, but with a physical copy of the book this time around.

Not an MBA, but a decent resource

Where does The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Above average

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

No. For those concepts that were new, I needed time to digest them, and since there are no notes supplied with the audio version, listening too quickly can mean you lose focus.

Any additional comments?

I think I remember others commenting about this, but skip the first chapter (about an hour). It's basically just the author telling you how MBAs suck, and you should follow his method. Not really sure what the purpose of this is since if you're already listening to/reading that chapter, then you've already paid for his book.

In general, it's a reasonable summary of a lot of concepts related to business and psychology. I'm sure MBAs are flawed - especially in the States where you need to go into so much debt to get one! - but this isn't comprehensive enough to replace one.

What it does do is give you a good idea of whether you'd actually like to take an MBA or not, whether it's an area that interests you or would just waste your time, and if all you need is an overview, then this is probably the book for you. There's plenty of extra reading material recommended throughout the book as well, so you can supplement your reading in those areas that interest you.

Simplistic, rambling waste of time -OK for 18y old

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, not my intelligent ones.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

NO

Any additional comments?

The book rambles with multiple analogies and stories when one will do. For example, do I really need 5 reasons why sometimes more is not better? Most adults can handle 1 reason/story. Also chapters about diet and brain chemistry are not his expertise and a waste of my time. I fast forwarded through much of the second book. I expected more useful knowledge about business - too simplistic. Fine if you're 18-20 years old, but if you're halfway intelligent, you know most of this. Could have been condensed into 1-2 hours of useful information.

Great business information

Great Business information in a concise precise presentation. I recommend this book to anyone who was bored in the classroom but likes business.

A great introduction to business

If you are interested in entrepreneurship then I recommend this book. This book gives a good starting point and I recommend relistening multiple times to take in all the information.

The narration is enthusiastic and engaging (the narrator is the author of the book so he wants to produce good 'value').
I wasn't interested in attending college to further educate myself on business practice even tho I'm heavily interested in starting a business. The 'personal MBA' seems to be a self educating system where you learn the information colleges teach AND more independently only limited by your ambition.

I have learned a lot from this book and believe the value of the information was worth the price. Being a introduction book, I look forward to an advanced book.

Business 101

What did you like best about The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business? What did you like least?

Over-simplifies business concepts

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

No because its too simplistic for someone working in complex and corporate environments,

What does Josh Kaufman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Good narration

Who do you think would benefit most from listening to The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business?

Good introduction for budding entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Any additional comments?

Summarises basic business concepts

The second read was even better than the first

This is an immensely actionable and practical book. The second read was even better than the first.

Great info, and a super introduction to business!

The Personal MBA can truly shorten your learning curve in the area of business. It touches on every major aspect of business. I definitely recommend this book for those who are already busy with business, but haven't gone to business school. In the end the education that truly sticks, is the one you give yourself, and this book is one of the many that can help you on your way to another level in your business skills.

A bit of everything. Great knowledge base.

What made the experience of listening to The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business the most enjoyable?

Personal MBA was enjoyable because Josh Kaufman broke the chapters up into short chapters that were concise and to the point.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business?

The most memorable moments of the book was when I realized that there were so many basics that I wasn't aware of.

What about Josh Kaufman’s performance did you like?

He cut right through the minutia.

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

No it doesn't encourage listening to all of it in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

This is a great book to start with if you want to learn about business in general or if you want to learn how to research deeper into a specific concentration.