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 Even the elite schools like Harvard and Wharton offer outdated, assembly-line programs that teach you more about PowerPoint presentations and unnecessary financial models than what it takes to run a real business.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

Not an MBA, But A Damn Decent Experience.

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.

After a slow start there's some good stuff

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

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

Good Business Education

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

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"

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

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

What about Josh Kaufman’s performance did you like?

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

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

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

Any additional comments?

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,....

This is a must Listen

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

Chapter 1 first 10 Min, Amazing

Any additional comments?

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.

Good but grating...

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I recommend this book for it's functional information.

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

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

Would you be willing to try another one of Josh Kaufman’s performances?

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

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

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

Any additional comments?

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

A great reference with a distracting narration

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.

Very Good Business Basics Overview

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

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.

Any additional comments?

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.

Great Book that Covers the Basics & Provides Refs

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.

Can't get self-entitilement of the first chapter

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

I'm a very open minded person, but also a very busy person. Time is important; life is short. I just spent 20 minutes listening to the author talk in a clipped voice about why he's qualified to write this book, why he's an outlier, why he's special, why one career experience with one employer gives him credo, etc. Ok, so maybe there are many other career experiences or insights to follow but I honestly can't deal with the ego trip and can only ask the author to please get outside of himself if he wants to connect with people (or settle in for a few years and see what life is like, then write from a sincere place). I'm giving some rating as there are likely good things to follow as promised by author. Yet I can't quite get past this point on audio. Perhaps a hard copy to flip through is the best format for this book.

Disappointed

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.

Buyer Beware.

Probably the worst audiobook I've ever heard.



I thought this was going to be an interesting book - giving an overview of the topics covered in an MBA from a layman's point of view, with references to further reading materials. Instead, it was a 13 hour advert for some guy's blog.



The first hour of the audiobook is setting the scene, with a variety of weak arguments about why an MBA is a waste of time and money, but giving absolutely no evidence that the Author's approach (of just reading lots of books without going to school) isn't also a waste of time and slightly less money.



When he finally gets to the actual topic at hand, the material is covered at a very high level, and is mostly just a list of bullet points to think about. This would probably be slightly less useless in printed format than in audio form. Each brief chapter recommends further reading, and badgers you to go visit the author's blog.



I would recommend anyone interested in this book to just skip the audiobook, go straight to the guy's website and look at his reading list. That will give you a good list of books that are more useful than this one.



I would also caution that this is more of a self-help book than a business book. Many of the books that he recommends for further reading are also more about "motivation", than actually learning about business.

Better than expected

The previous review put me off purchasing this, but I had seen the book and decided to give it a go.



I was glad I did - I found the information very easy to understand and useful: it has helped me to see where I am going right in my two businesses as well as spot where I am going wrong. It is thought provoking and has helped me think about things - for this reason it has been a worthwhile purchase.



The author does mention his website - but not too often and I did not find it particularly self-promoting or distracting. It is certainly far better than many of the charlatans that write books to promote the author's own websites, seminars and tapes.



This book has substance and is enjoyable to listen to.

A real resource worth listening to

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

I liked it's clear structure, which had impact and purpose. Lots of example stories and case studies also make this a book worth getting.

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

The ongoing analysis and criticism of top flight MBA business schools. The message is clear: if you've got a spare $100k+ to buy entry to an exclusive members club, then these top schools are for you - but don't be under any illusion that you'll learn anything different than any other of the good MBA schools out there. Save your money and learn about the topics explored in MBAs yourself - you'll save yourself a lot of money, which you could put towards your business venture.

Which character – as performed by Josh Kaufman – was your favourite?

N/A

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It reaffirmed what I'd suspected - and potentially saved me a £££s of money in fees.

Any additional comments?

One of the few business books worth reading, given that it provides practical and common sense advice, but in a crystalised / useful form.

Boring

Boring, lack of innovative ideas, first chapter is just of criticism of MBA, highly disappointed

Definitely worth a read

Was skeptical about this book because of other reviews. But I found it very helpful. It gives a clear introduction to a variety of areas and provides recommendations for further reading

nothing new with 99% of the concepts.

some concepts can be better narrated with examples. but missing. pls skip chapter 1 n 2. he is just promoting the book in those 2 chapters.

Waste of time

What disappointed you about The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business?

First 1/3 part of this audio book is mostly a waste of time. It's a very basic overview of some complicated tasks you'll meet in business live.

This can't really serve as much more than a index card for what you need to learn - anyhow that is also the point of the book: don't waste many years in school and spend all your money learning these topics, when you can learn them from books.

Read only as an intro to business

The audiobook covers a bunch of topics, from motivation to corporate finance, at a very high level. Feels like listening to multiple book summaries in a row.
Every chapter ends in a very arbitrary conclusion which doesn’t always reflect the chapter content correctly.
Only read if this is your first or maybe second business/self-help book

An Undergrad in 13 hrs

Good overall snapshot of a 3 years Business degree in 13 hrs. Listen to this before shelling out £30k on an MBA!

great book

definitely worth reading if one thinks of starting a business or improving their performance incorporate environment