The Personal MBA: A World-Class Business Education in a Single Volume
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-05-17 07:52:00
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Josh Kaufman
- ISBN：0670919535
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
A world-class business education in a single volume。
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impossible to justify regardless of the state of the economy。 Even the elite schools like Harvard and Wharton offer outdated， assembly-line programs that teach you more about PowerPoint presentations and unnecessary financial models than what it takes to run a real business。 You can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 B-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。
The Personal MBA explains concepts such as:
*The Iron Law of the Market: Why every business is limited by the size and quality of the market it attempts to serve-and how to find large， hungry markets。
*The 12 Forms of Value: Products and services are only two of the twelve ways you can create value for your customers。
*The Pricing Uncertainty Principle: All prices are malleable。 Raising your prices is the best way to dramatically increase profitability-if you know how to support the price you're asking。
*4 Methods to Increase Revenue: There are only four ways a business can bring in more money。 Do you know what they are？
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。
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impossible to justify regardless of the state of the economy。 Even the elite schools like Harvard and Wharton offer outdated， assembly-line programs that teach you more about PowerPoint presentations and unnecessary financial models than what it takes to run a real business。 You can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 B-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。
The Personal MBA explains concepts such as:
*The Iron Law of the Market: Why every business is limited by the size and quality of the market it attempts to serve-and how to find large， hungry markets。
*The 12 Forms of Value: Products and services are only two of the twelve ways you can create value for your customers。
*The Pricing Uncertainty Principle: All prices are malleable。 Raising your prices is the best way to dramatically increase profitability-if you know how to support the price you're asking。
*4 Methods to Increase Revenue: There are only four ways a business can bring in more money。 Do you know what they are？
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。
Reviews
Rama
，
good
Tricia
，
I love how concise each section is， it makes the information easier to digest。
Zulfiqar Khan
，
This is the MBA to replace the actual MBA。 The author contends that rather than waste several hundred thousand dollars， those seeking to understand the essentials of business are better served by reading this book。 The book underscores what the author believes are the main principles of business。 I found the most useful chapters to be on soft skills ie working with yourself， working with others。 Also useful was the chapter on value creation; some topics might seem too obvious to those who actual This is the MBA to replace the actual MBA。 The author contends that rather than waste several hundred thousand dollars， those seeking to understand the essentials of business are better served by reading this book。 The book underscores what the author believes are the main principles of business。 I found the most useful chapters to be on soft skills ie working with yourself， working with others。 Also useful was the chapter on value creation; some topics might seem too obvious to those who actual did a university MBA course or those who have been in the world of business long enough and received on the job training。 Despite some of the content being somewhat familiar and obvious， the book is well written with small segments in each chapter making it easily digestible。 In summary， its useful both for those who have done an MBA， and those who wont or cant enroll for one。 。。。more
Robin Ellam
，
400-page glossary with a repetitive format that doesn’t actually teach you how to DO anything。 Getting an MBA is a lot more than learning vocabulary。
Jorg van Gaal
，
That it is no use doing an MBA （for me at least）。 The author starts explaining why an MBA is mostly a waste of money。 Afterwards， he runs through various key business concepts that are the contents of any MBA。 The book is aligned nicely and pretty easy to read。 Pretty comprehensive as it talks about many concepts。 Luckily for me， most concepts are known by me and it was a great repetition to sink in again。
Hamse Daród
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 its one of the best books to read about business field。
Obi
，
I did MBA and reading this book certainly put my 1。5 years of study into a brief summary。 I really valued the last chapters of the book ie， knowing yourself， working with others and understanding/fixing the system。 I reckon anyone who wants to get a fundamental understanding of how business works should read this book as a starting point。 If you did mba like me， then don’t bother reading this as you will feel just like reading through the script of your study period。
Leonard
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 an overall insightful business book。 if you've read Unscripted: Life， Liberty， and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship before then you won't find much more info。some notes:– according to a study there is no correlation between long-term career success and possessing an MBA– your business won’t thrive if you do it for money alone （see Think and Grow Rich: Lack of perseverance is the most common cause of failure → Main reason: lack of desire– Leveraging investments: Typically， it’s the strategy of usi an overall insightful business book。 if you've read Unscripted: Life， Liberty， and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship before then you won't find much more info。some notes:– according to a study there is no correlation between long-term career success and possessing an MBA– your business won’t thrive if you do it for money alone （see Think and Grow Rich: Lack of perseverance is the most common cause of failure → Main reason: lack of desire– Leveraging investments: Typically， it’s the strategy of using borrowed money to increase your profit potential。 In this way， you can make gains with very little of your own capital。– four needs or drives that are common to all humans: the desire to acquire and collect things， the drive to bond with other people to feel valued and loved， we want to learn and satisfy our curiosity & we strive to defend ourselves， our loved ones and our property– Marketing: If you want customers to pay attention， you’ll need to offer something remarkable and memorable。 People don’t buy a product for its own sake。 They buy it because of the end result they’re hoping to attain– You can increase sales if you account for your clients’ fears。 We all hate to make a bad choice， and this makes us cautious customers。– A good leader is a good communicator– Your productivity isn’t distributed evenly throughout the day。 Instead， your body has a natural rhythm （90-minute energy cycles） 。。。more
Sam Nadarajan
，
The best things about this book:- Each chapter is broken down into small sections that make it easy to pick up and put down depending on availability- Examples are easy to understand， and generously provided- I do feel like I received a worthwhile education from reading this book- This book can easily be referenced in the future
Byron Snapp
，
After you get through the first part where he tries to sell you that an MBA is worse than worthless （I don't agree with him about that although I do think future MBA students need to weigh heavily the amount of debt they are taking vs the future value of their MBA）， the book turns into basically an abridged encyclopedia of business terms and concepts。 Each term or concept is defined and an example is given to illustrate how it works。 After some sections he will sometimes recommend other books or After you get through the first part where he tries to sell you that an MBA is worse than worthless （I don't agree with him about that although I do think future MBA students need to weigh heavily the amount of debt they are taking vs the future value of their MBA）， the book turns into basically an abridged encyclopedia of business terms and concepts。 Each term or concept is defined and an example is given to illustrate how it works。 After some sections he will sometimes recommend other books or authors for your future reading on the topic （and his website has a whole list of other books he recommends as well）。 Each of these sections are very short so you don't learn much in detail about anything。 The basic implication is that you will read additional books to gain more knowledge about the sections that are particularly relevant or interesting to you。Some sections were extremely simple， some sections were good but I already understood the concepts well， and some sections I was exposed to an unfamiliar concept。 Overall， I enjoyed the book after I got past him trying to sell the book to me （which I had already purchased）。 。。。more
Siphiwe
，
Yes
Ann
，
Phenomenal。 Having worked in business over a decade， the information in this book is informative/well organized/leaves you wondering if an MBA is worth the $$ if books like this and real-life execution are implemented。
PA Nguyen
，
A head start for entrepreneurs！
Wilmer Calle
，
Un buen libro， definitivamente no va reemplazar a un MBA， tiene cosas interesantes， resúmenes de otros libros， cita bastantes libros para leer。Se me viene a la mente muchas cosas después de terminar de leer este libro:Las cincuenta mejores empresas que salen en la revista TIME si o si van a contratar a los mejores alumnos de las mejores universidades porque saben que son genios， hábiles， nerds， etc。 en otras palabras están comprando sus pases para acceder a estas empresas。 Pregunta el autor vas Un buen libro， definitivamente no va reemplazar a un MBA， tiene cosas interesantes， resúmenes de otros libros， cita bastantes libros para leer。Se me viene a la mente muchas cosas después de terminar de leer este libro:Las cincuenta mejores empresas que salen en la revista TIME si o si van a contratar a los mejores alumnos de las mejores universidades porque saben que son genios， hábiles， nerds， etc。 en otras palabras están comprando sus pases para acceder a estas empresas。 Pregunta el autor vas a pagar lo que cuesta estudiar en estas universidades de Estados Unidos para trabajar en una empresa mediana de tu país que esta en el ranking numero N （ por decir en los 1000 del mundo） en cuanto tiempo vas a recuperar tu inversión？。Los valores mentales una definición interesante， cuanto más valores mentales tengas más tomaras mejores decisiones， la red de conexión de tu cerebro será mejor， más eficiente。Le quito una estrella porque pensé que libro era mucho más de lo que dice en la portada "Lo que se aprende en un MBA por el precio de un libro"。Leí el libro en 22 horas 22 minutos。 490 páginas， editorial conecta。 。。。more
Vaibhav Puranik
，
It's a good book。 I decided to listen to it one more time so that I can remember the concepts。 This book does good job of explaining some basic business concepts。 It also has some chapters about self improvement as well。 It's a good book。 I decided to listen to it one more time so that I can remember the concepts。 This book does good job of explaining some basic business concepts。 It also has some chapters about self improvement as well。 。。。more
Baris Freed
，
Great book。 Especially for beginners。 But when your reading this do not treat this book as a text books where you try to remember everything。Revisit this book every time you need guidance。 It can direct you to alternative reading material。
Aliaksei Ivanou
，
Достаточно противоречивая книга。 Порой кажется， что то， что написал автор - противоречит некоторым цитатам， приведённым в начале каждой мини-главы。 Книга по содержанию поверхностная。 Верней всего， что данная книга будет полезна в качестве введения в тему и не более того。 Книга разделена на несколько глав， где каждая глава - это одно из направлений бизнеса （маркетинг， менеджмент， финансы и другие）。 По каждому пункту расписано не так много просто и без подробностей。 Вообще может даже книга даже не Достаточно противоречивая книга。 Порой кажется， что то， что написал автор - противоречит некоторым цитатам， приведённым в начале каждой мини-главы。 Книга по содержанию поверхностная。 Верней всего， что данная книга будет полезна в качестве введения в тему и не более того。 Книга разделена на несколько глав， где каждая глава - это одно из направлений бизнеса （маркетинг， менеджмент， финансы и другие）。 По каждому пункту расписано не так много просто и без подробностей。 Вообще может даже книга даже не совсем про бизнес и менеджмент， сколько про личное развитие и самообразование。 Первые страниц 50， к слову， была речь о том， почему не надо учиться в бизнес-школе - то есть покупаю я книгу "Сам себе MBA" и вместо какой-никакой выжимки из бизнес-курса получаю нудную речь о том， почему ни при каких обстоятельствах мне не нужна степень MBA。 В общем для меня книга， которую после прочтения я не запомню。 Из плюсов только куча примеров по ходу книги и большой список литературы в конце книги。 В итоге книга не поможет ни наёмному руководителю， ни предпринимателю， а оставит в голове только кашу и ощущение фрустрации。 。。。more
Nigel Rawlins
，
It certainly covers everything and seems to go on forever， I think it would be best as a sort of text book about running a business where you dip into a section as you may need it。
Amir Ice
，
The book will be useful for those people who want to look at the classical approach MBA from a different angle。
Jiliac
，
A book packed with knowledge！ And many recommendations of books to followup on any topic if you are interested。 Definitely a great entry point to the topic of business。 I was skeptical in the intro when the author said "this is a book to re-read": Which author would not say that。 Turns out， I totally agree with him。 This isn't so much a book as a huge summary of hundreds of other books。 You cannot hope to absorb all this knowledge in one go， need re-read。I read this as an audiobook: I would not A book packed with knowledge！ And many recommendations of books to followup on any topic if you are interested。 Definitely a great entry point to the topic of business。 I was skeptical in the intro when the author said "this is a book to re-read": Which author would not say that。 Turns out， I totally agree with him。 This isn't so much a book as a huge summary of hundreds of other books。 You cannot hope to absorb all this knowledge in one go， need re-read。I read this as an audiobook: I would not recommend it， quite hard to remember all the tips given here in audio。 Prefer a paper copy ;） 。。。more
Khaled
，
I will keep this as a future reference to jump back and review important topics。
Julia Volkova
，
I was sure that this is going to be another book from a productivity obsessed white male who wants to preach to you how to build a business and change your life。 I was very wrong。 This is a book about everything， not only how a business works but in general how the whole world works。 It has basic explanation of some marketing， sales and finance terms but it also explore how your mind works and how to work in a group。 I really have no intent to open my business but it gives you better understandi I was sure that this is going to be another book from a productivity obsessed white male who wants to preach to you how to build a business and change your life。 I was very wrong。 This is a book about everything， not only how a business works but in general how the whole world works。 It has basic explanation of some marketing， sales and finance terms but it also explore how your mind works and how to work in a group。 I really have no intent to open my business but it gives you better understanding of where I am in my corporate 9-5 job。5 starts because it exceeded my expectations。 。。。more
Margherita
，
I'm very bad and not at all the type of economic person but I've found this book very helpful in many ways， from the way the singles short chapters have been written and the attention to the human behind the concept I'm very bad and not at all the type of economic person but I've found this book very helpful in many ways， from the way the singles short chapters have been written and the attention to the human behind the concept 。。。more
Potasse
，
Interesting book although definitely not comparable to formal education， it gives you a bunch of tools to better understand the business environment : biases， effects， studies。。。 Interesting overall
Mostafa Abd elnasser
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 The great thing in this book that it will gives you insight for how to deal a business from different aspects （ human science ， finance ， operation and marketing ） you don't need to be certified from management college or to be a great strategic cosulting to run your small business ， with that book you will enjoy the academic theories with slanging language。 The great thing in this book that it will gives you insight for how to deal a business from different aspects （ human science ， finance ， operation and marketing ） you don't need to be certified from management college or to be a great strategic cosulting to run your small business ， with that book you will enjoy the academic theories with slanging language。 。。。more
Margot Note
，
"Every successful business （1） creates or provides something of value that （2） other people want or need （3） at a price they're willing to pay， in a way that （4） satisfies the purchaser's needs and expectations， and （5） provides the business sufficient revenue to make it worthwhile for the owners to continue operation" （15）。 "Skip business school。 Educate yourself" （17）。 "Business schools don't create wealthy and well-connected people。 They accept them， then take credit for their success" （20）。 "Every successful business （1） creates or provides something of value that （2） other people want or need （3） at a price they're willing to pay， in a way that （4） satisfies the purchaser's needs and expectations， and （5） provides the business sufficient revenue to make it worthwhile for the owners to continue operation" （15）。 "Skip business school。 Educate yourself" （17）。 "Business schools don't create wealthy and well-connected people。 They accept them， then take credit for their success" （20）。 "It's often far more comfortable to focus on the features: you know what your offer does。 Even so， it's far more effective to focus on the benefits: what your offer will provide to customers" （95）。 "One of the most fascinating parts of sales is what I call the Pricing Uncertainty Principle: all prices are arbitrary and malleable。 Pricing is always an executive decision" （119）。 "If you discover why， how， and how much your offer will benefit the customer， you'll be able to explain that value in terms they'll understand and appreciate。 Understaning the value you can provide your customers is the golden path to a profitable sale" （125）。 "In every negotiation， the power lies with the party that is able and willing to walk away from a bad deal。 In almost every case， the more acceptable alternatives you have， the better your position。 The more attractive your alternatives， the more willing you'll be to walk away from a deal that doesn't serve your， resulting in better deals" （128）。 "Your job is not to sell the prospect a bill of goods; it's to help them make an informed decision about what's best for them。 You're not pressuring them to give you their money; you're helping to ensure they invest their resources wisely" （135）。 "It's much better to present yourself with confidence， in a way that signals your offer is valuable， is a good fit for the prospect， and will be a wise investment of the prospect's money。 If you don't genuinely believe that， you need to find something else to sell" （136）。 "If the prospect still doesn't buy， that often means there's a Power issue--your negotiating partner may not have the budget or the authority to agree to your proposal。 Always try to negotiate with the decision-maker--that way， if they refuse your offer， you know that it's because it wasn't a good fit for them， and you can move on to more promising prospects" （142）。 "Most people resist creating business systems because it feels like extra work。 We're all busy， and it's easy to feel like you don't have time to create and improve systems because there's already too much work to do。 Useful systems make your work easier--if you're feeling overloaded， the best thing you can do to solve the issue is spend time creating good systems" （166）。 "When examining a business， pay close attention to Profit Margin。 The higher the margin， the stronger the business" （171）。 "As long as you're bringing in enough to keep doing what you're doing， there's no need to fight for every last penny。 Create as much value as you can， then capture enough of that value to make it worthwhile to keep operating" （172）。 "Always focus the majority of your efforts on serving the ideal customers。 Your ideal customers buy early， buy often， spend the most， spread the word， and are willing to pay a premium for the value you provide" （185）。 "There's nothing odd or abnormal about dark nights of the soul--they're a signal that some perception about your life out of control。， and Reorganization is required to gather more data about how to fix it。 Once you learn how to bring the perception back under control， Reoganization stops" （230）。 "Absence Blindness also makes it uncomfortable for people to 'do nothing' when something bad happens， even if doing nothing is the best course of action。 Often， the best course of action is to choose not to act， but that can be difficult for humans to accept" （253）。 "The implicit assumption of time-management systems is that every hour is fungible--equivalent to any other。 Nothing could be further from the truth: all people are created equal， but all hours are most definitely not" （295）。 "The only metric of success that matters is this: are you spending your time doing things you like， with people you enjoy， in a way that keeps you financially sufficient？" （307）。 "Entropy makes maintenance a necessary and valuable activity。 In most organizations， creating something new is a high Social Status activity， while maintaining existing systems is considered a lower-status activity。 That's a huge mistake: the organization is only as strong as its existing systems， which sustain its ability to function。 Devoting attention and resources to maintaining and improving those systems is not only important， it's cricitial for long-term operation and preserving value over time" （369）。 "Here's what makes a business resilient:--Low （preferably zero） outstanding debt--Low overhead， fixed costs， and operating expenses--Substantial cash reserves for unexpected contingencies--Multiple independent products/industries/lines of business--Flexible workers/employees who can handle many responsibilities well--No single points of failure--Fail-safes/backup systems for all core processes" （423）。 。。。more
Daryl Henry
，
Packed full of useful information。 An excellent high level overview with a guide for many business concepts。
William Goefron
，
"This book is a high-level overview of a large body of business literature" - The Personal MBAThis book is far far far from equivalent to an MBA 。 Josh Kaufman has read an enormous number of books on the topics of business， leadership， entrepreneurship and self development and has taken key ideas from them， then condensed each into very digestible 1-2 page chapters。 The book moves very quickly and is meant as an introduction for someone like me without any business background which I found perfe "This book is a high-level overview of a large body of business literature" - The Personal MBAThis book is far far far from equivalent to an MBA 。 Josh Kaufman has read an enormous number of books on the topics of business， leadership， entrepreneurship and self development and has taken key ideas from them， then condensed each into very digestible 1-2 page chapters。 The book moves very quickly and is meant as an introduction for someone like me without any business background which I found perfect。 。。。more
Berkay
，
I am not an impressive person such as Seth Godin but I also say: "File this book under: no excuses"I was thinking this is a marketing strategy and was far away to read before I took the book。 I find it prettt useful although I am an engineer。 The personal mba mainly tells all business stuff that includes lots of useful information about all people who is working as an employee， founder so on。 It is certainly open up your horizon。And all， please consider last pages book suggestions that is also q I am not an impressive person such as Seth Godin but I also say: "File this book under: no excuses"I was thinking this is a marketing strategy and was far away to read before I took the book。 I find it prettt useful although I am an engineer。 The personal mba mainly tells all business stuff that includes lots of useful information about all people who is working as an employee， founder so on。 It is certainly open up your horizon。And all， please consider last pages book suggestions that is also quite useful。 。。。more
Ebouks
，