Josh Kaufman

Citing a disparity between the models taught in business schools and the practices of the real world, a business and marketing educator shares essential principles in such areas as sales and strategy and offers advice on making the most of every career stage.

A World-class Business Education in a Single Volume

The Personal MBA

'A business classic. You're pretty much guaranteed to get your money's worth - if not much, much more' Jason Hesse, Real Business This revised and expanded edition of the bestselling book, The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman, gives you everything you need to transform your business, your career or your working life forever. An MBA at a top school is an enormous investment in time, effort and cold, hard cash. And if you don't want to work for a consulting firm or an investment bank, the chances are it simply isn't worth it. Josh Kaufman is the rogue professor of modern business education. Feted by everyone from the business media to Seth Godin and David Allen, he's torn up the rulebook and given thousands of people worldwide the tools to teach themselves everything they need to know. The Personal MBA teaches simple mental models for every subject that's key to commercial success. From the basics of products, sales & marketing and finance to the nuances of human psychology, teamwork and creating systems, this book distils everything you need to know to take on the MBA graduates and win. 'File this book under: NO EXCUSES' Seth Godin, author of Purple Cow and Linchpin 'Josh Kaufman has synthesized the most important topics in business into a book that truly lives up to its title. It's rare to find complicated concepts explained with such clarity. Highly recommended' Ben Casnocha, author of My Start-Up Life

A World-Class Business Education in a Single Volume

Timeo Williams

Excellent book

Josh's writing style is simple, funny and right to the point. He explains many of these MBA concepts simply for all readers to understand.

Lewis Ngugi

I didn't quite know what to expect but it is has gone beyond my expectations! I will re-read it to have clarity on some things. Also, behavioural economics has been noticed in the book, quite genius.

Ugis

Amazing collection of concepts, mental models, ideas and advice about business. The best part of it is that at least half of the concepts are valuable in personal life as well. I highly recommend everyone to read this book! [reading time: 14h30m]

Lance Willett

The premise of this book is that business schools don’t teach you most of what you need to know.

Master the basics by practicing the fundamentals of business: create something people want or need; tell them about it so they’ll buy it; deliver on the promised value and exceed their expectations so they’ll keep coming back; and make enough money to keep doing it long term.

Why this is better than a real MBA:

As to methods, there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.

This good Emerson quote came up, "You don’t need to know it all. Instead learn a solid base of core principles."

If you put the same amount of energy you’d spend on an MBA into doing good work and improving your skills, you’ll do just as well.

In the end I decided to skip business school, but not business education. I can outthink people smarter than me because I’ve trained myself to be objective and multidisciplinary.

Random cool thing: in March 2019 I found out that the author, Josh Kaufman is my "grand-coach" if you will. He was the first business coach to Akshay Kapur, my business coach. Cool beans! 😎

Jack Baty

I liked the book's easily-digestible format, but I didn't find it terribly useful overall. Worth the read, though.

Chris Jennings

Brock

Alejandro H.

'No matter what they tell you, an MBA is not essential. If you combine reading this book with actually trying stuff, you'll be far ahead in the business game' KEVIN KELLY, FOUNDING EXECTIVE EDITOR OF WIRED Are you searching for your next challenge? Are you tempted to go to business school? Before you do, save your money and read The Personal MBA. Getting an MBA takes two years of your life. And most of it is spent on PowerPoint presentations and outdated financial models, rather than learning what it takes to run a real business. The Personal MBA distils the most valuable lessons of the finest business school and the best business books of all time into simple, memorable ideas and tools. This book is all you need to learn the fundamentals of business. Master concepts such as the Iron Law of the Market and the twelve forms of value, and discover exactly how to apply them to transform your career. 'After you've read The Personal MBA, you won't be open to people telling you that you're not smart enough, not insightful enough or not learned enough to do work that matters. Josh Kaufman takes you on a tour of the key ideas in business' SETH GODIN, AUTHOR OF PURPLE COW AND LINCHPIN

Cory Forsyth

Bouke van der Bijl

Are you tempted to go to business school? Save your money and read The Personal MBA instead. This bestselling book gives you everything you to transform your business and your career. An MBA at a top business school is an enormous investment in time and cash. And if you don't want to work for a consulting firm or an investment bank, the chances are it simply isn't worth it. The Personal MBA gives you simple mental models for every subject that's key to commercial success. From the basics of products, and marketing to the nuances of teamwork and systems, this book distils you need to know to take on the MBA graduates and win. 'Finally, here's a £10.99 MBA. Well on its way to becoming a business classic.' Jason Hesse, Real Business 'No matter what they tell you, an MBA is not essential. If you combine reading this book with actually trying stuff, you'll be far ahead in the business game.' Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of Wired

Louie Dinh

Vova Kenih

Ahmed Salem

Sharing the essentials of sales, marketing, negotiation, strategy, and much more, the creator of PersonalMBA.com shows readers how to master the fundamentals, hone their business instincts, and save a fortune in tuition.

The Personal MBA A World-class Business Education in a Single Volume

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