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 Even the elite schools like Harvard and Wharton offer outdated, assembly-line programs that teach you more about PowerPoint presentations and unnecessary financial models than what it takes to run a real business.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

Great reference for further self-study of business

It’s a great reference for future self study of business and self-improvement as a whole but with intent to become good in business.
Book works like a enciklopedia, it touches a lot of themes but by it self book cant go to deep in singular topics.
I would recomen this book to people who are interested in starting or already run thay own business.

Great resource

Gives you a great layout and resources to start your journey to succeeding in business. I highly recommend it while you are pursuing a business degree.

Great Book

Smart, and “to the point “ book. A must for any business owner. A comprehensive business strategy and great tools for any business

Fantastic business book

Kaufman distillery business education to its core principles and delivers them impeccably! A truly fantastic business book!

Much more valuable and practical than I imagined!

This book is the missing link to concepts business owners inevitably run into, but don't necessarily have the perspective to control or correct. Not too much technical info, but enough to illustrate concepts very well.

Best Business Book

one of the best business books I have ever listened to. it's a complete business overview

A Must Read for Business Newbies

If you could sum up The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business in three words, what would they be?

Great Business Primer

Any additional comments?

If you are easily intimidated by business, this book will help you get over your fear. Josh Kaufman clearly explains complicated business concepts and makes them easy to understand. It is definitely a must read for anyone who is new to business. If I would've found this book years ago, it would've saved me from 1000 problems I've had over the years. It covers everything from product development to marketing in detail. But most importantly, it defines commonly used business terms in everyday language.


I highly recommend this book for anyone who is new to business and is struggling to understand it all.

Buy this book. Period.

If you are new to business thinking, do not doubt it. BUY THIS BOOK.
Even before you finish this book, you will be a better consumer, you will negotiate better, you will see the products and services you regularly use under a different light, you will have tools to manage your time. I feel powerful. That's what Josh has done for me through this book. BUT THIS BOOK.

Awesome book

Totally loved the book. I’m definitely going to have to checkout all of the material written by Josh. He really did an amazing job with the “Personal MBA”. I plan on reading the book an additional 10 times to master the material presented.

Great book, Terribly Read

Would you consider the audio edition of The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version, but I think in this case it would be better because some of the information and concepts he teaches really need to be written down or viewed to fully understand them.

How could the performance have been better?

The performance was terrible. I saw one review that said that the author sounded like a robot before I bought it, but I got in anyways. After awhile I just couldn't listen to it anymore. Even thinking about it makes my shoulders tense up and makes me feel irritated.

Not only is his performance completely robotic, lacking any emotion or inflection, but it is also extremely nasally. It's almost as if he's holding his nose while reading. At some point his voice changes to be slightly more human, but it seems to go back and forth in different chapters. I just cannot finish the book, which is unfortunate because there is a lot of good information.