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 Even the elite schools like Harvard and Wharton offer outdated, assembly-line programs that teach you more about PowerPoint presentations and unnecessary financial models than what it takes to run a real business.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

Excellent

Mr. Kaufman is exceptionally well versed in virtually all business topics. I have an MBA and highly recommend this book as an excellent resource for business owners and any others wanting to learn or get a refresher with regard to managing business . This is one of those books that I will listen to many times over.

I'm also a Jonah, so I am especially impressed that Mr. Kaufman covers (or, at least mentions) Goldratt's Theory of Constraints. Like I said, he is exceptionally well versed. . .

BTW, Mr. Kaufman's narration works. Period.

Everything you wanted to know about an MBA but ...

Would you listen to The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business again? Why?

Yes ... it is a very accessible distillation of advanced business thinking. For those of us on the run in our businesses and organisations, this is a great way to get the drift on some advanced thinking about how to succeed in business. It is just not the motivational 'you can do it stuff' but includessome actual hard core qualitative and quantative techniques. Before you make or lose your next fortune, read (listen) to this

great start to business learning.

he gives so much business knowledge in all areas of business! great read. thank you for all the work you put into this.

Outstanding Book

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

I read this book upon recommendation of a friend. It brought so much more value than I originally thought that it would!!

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

Yes, Defintly

not too bad

Any additional comments?

I hardly believe that this book considered the key point of a MBA educatuon so its a little misleading, but he does present some good business information and key points worth hearing. The first chapter was not necessary if I listen again I will just skip it. The first chapter is about an hr of listening to why a MBA isn't necessary and doesn't make financial sense for most ppl unless you plan on working for a investment bank or prestigious institution.

Worthwhile, just skip the long intro

I agree with many other reviewers that the intro discussing the disadvantages of formal business school was far far too long. Take away the long intro and this was a really excellent book.
Josh splits the subjects up very well into various chapters and small inter-related segments per chapter. Making it an easy book to start-stop. There are lots of various concepts presented and explained interestingly with good real life examples.
You won't be an expert in any one area after completing this book, but you will have a good grasp of all the basic business concepts, and the author refers you to lots of other books where you can delve into more details if you are interested.
I've been in business over 25 years, but still found new ideas and angles on concepts that I thought I had a good grasp of.
Unlike other reviews where Josh's speech and narration is criticized, I found his narration to be well paced and presented with good energy. I personally thought narration was very good.
All in all a worthwhile purchase.

You alone can create your life!

Just read it and then read the book again! I loved the way the audio was put together, kept it fresh till the last word spoken!

very impressed. well done

Loved it. Very insightful and well written. Definitely helped me with a foundation for stepping up a level. This after doing my Honors and not knowing if doing a MBA was the right move.
No need for MBA.....I agree.
Thank you

Mixed bag, but there's good stuff in there

The intro is unnecessarily long, trying a bit too hard to justify the books existence.
There's a lot of good points about how to run a business and create value for customers with references to some of my favorite books, e.g. The Goal.
There's a lot of unnecessary filler about living healthy and mindfully. It's not wrong, but it doesn't feel like it belongs in this book. I'd have preferred more detail in the other chapters instead.

Good starting book

Good book on general business and a worthwhile listen. Gives you some thoughts and little anecdotes to learn. Could be used better as a year long book to really get in depth with the 100’s of concepts covered