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  • The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business

  • By: Josh Kaufman
  • Narrated by: Josh Kaufman
  • Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (652 ratings)
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The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business cover art

The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business

By: Josh Kaufman
Narrated by: Josh Kaufman
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Summary

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 Even the elite schools like Harvard and Wharton offer outdated, assembly-line programs that teach you more about PowerPoint presentations and unnecessary financial models than what it takes to run a real business.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

What listeners say about The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

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.

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53 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

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.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Boring

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

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

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.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

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.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

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

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great book

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

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1 person found this helpful