Personal MBA - Media and Press

By Josh Kaufman

The following are features and quotations about PersonalMBA.com and The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business. If you’re a journalist or blogger who would like to discuss business training or self-education, please contact me.

BusinessWeek

Jeffrey Gangemi: Without the high tuition and opportunity costs of top B-schools, the Personal MBA may become the ultimate bootstrapper’s graduate degree. (Read more…)

Fortune

John Byrne: Kaufman is emerging as business school’s most unforgiving critic. Founder of PersonalMBA.com, (…) he’s a passionate advocate for what he calls self-education. Instead of paying up to $350,000 in tuition and forgone earnings to go to Harvard, Stanford or Wharton, Kaufman says a better way to learn business is to open the pages of classic business texts and learn on your own. (Read more…)

Miami Herald

Richard Pachter: “I think I’ll hold onto Josh Kaufman’s book and keep it handy as a reference, since he really covers just about every aspect of business in an intelligent and no-nonsense way.” (Read more…)

Seth Godin’s blog

Seth Godin: Josh Kaufman, who needs a new haircut, may just be on to something. Worth a look." (Read more… )

IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com

Ramit Sethi: “The best graduate school you can attend… free. Josh is absolutely one of the smartest people I know, and the first person I go to when I’m stuck on a business model. The Personal MBA is awesome and Josh has given me a ton of marketing ideas for iwillteachyoutoberich.com.”

Future of Real Estate Marketing

Geordie Romer: Josh Kaufman‘s manifesto is that you don’t need to pay $150,000 for an MBA, you just need to read the best books about business. You can sign up for discussions and extras or you can just work your way through the 99 book reading list. (Read more…)

Notorious MPD

Michael Parish DuDell: As a business advisor, education activist, and all-around knowledge rockstar, Josh has helped countless people around the world master the essentials of business. I’m telling you, this guy is the real deal! (…) Kaufman teaches the fundamental principles of business and proves that one doesn’t need a fancy degree to create and run a successful business. Hallelujah! (Read more…)

Free Money Finance

FMF: “According to The Personal MBA, the glory days have passed and the degrees are not as relevant as they once were. The book makes a strong case for skipping those two years of added schooling (and the debt that most people accumulate during that time) and instead implementing a personalized course of study (reading books mostly) that will better prepare you for the real world of business.” (Read more…)

Life After College

Jenny Blake: Josh has a blog and book that provide comprehensive business-education resources to help people “master the art of business without mortgaging [their] lives. (Read more…)

Life Optimizer

Donald Latumahina:…the book contains not just pure business concepts but also concepts on personal effectiveness. Why? Because the author believes that you can only run your business well if you are also effective as a person.(Read more…)

Ryan Waggoner’s blog

Ryan Waggoner: You should read this book if you want to have a solid grasp of the different business functions and how they interact, as well as a lot of practical ideas and knowledge on actually getting things done. (Read more…)

Tech Inch

Matthew Guay: From highlighting the best business books to distilling his own business knowledge in informative blog posts, thePersonal MBA site has a wealth of info to help you learn everything from an MBA without having to go back to school. Then, building on this knowledge, Kaufman has distilled it into his new book, The Personal MBA: Master the art of business. (Read more…)

Marketing with Meaning

Bob Gilbreath: Overall, The Personal MBA is a rare combination of “engaging airplane read” and “must-have desktop reference.” Josh has spent years pulling together a best-of business education, and putting it into easily digestible chunks. His book is both a needed refresher for what you know, and the missing key to what you never learned but need now. (Read more…)

Ben Casnocha’s blog

Ben Casnocha: The Personal MBA is an exhaustive overview of the concepts and vocabulary that make the business world go round. If you’re new to business or early in your career and want to freshen up your grasp of some of the key words and ideas in systems theory, sales, marketing, and psychology, I recommend it. Josh’s skill is distilling complex topics into easily understandable chunks. (Read more…)

Portnoy Media Group

Dan Portnoy: It’s a monster. It’s a systematic approach to business for the lifelong learner. Over 370 pages on systems, value, marketing, reworking your brain to get past crippling fears and move to motivation, and so much more. (Read more…)

Mixergy

Andrew Warner: Josh Kaufman is the author of Personal MBA, the Amazon.com Business Management Bestseller. After spending 5 minutes on the phone with him, I practically begged Josh to teach me. I think you’ll want to grab his book. (Read more…)

Scott Young’s blog

Scott Young: The book challenges the assumption that you need an expensive business school education to succeed in business. Instead, he’s been working with thousands of people to make it possible to get an MBA-quality education–without the tuition costs. (Read more…)

BlogTalk Radio

Wayne Hurlbert: Instead of relying on business schools, Josh demonstrates that true leaders make themselves through lifelong learning and experience. In place of MBA programs, Josh Kaufman teaches the essential skills that work in the real world of business. (Read more…)

David Seah’s blog

David Seah: Instead of parroting the worn case studies and tired management methodologies that seem so common in this category, Kaufman has instead focused on synthesizing the most accurate mental models he could find, and puts them forth within a test-and-confirm methodology that will help you extract the most from them. (Read more…)

The following comments come from visitors to PersonalMBA.com:

“A reading list that claims to offer the same quality education as an MBA is an audacious thing, but looking over the list, the claim no longer seems unbelievable.”

“I love the idea of what your site is about. I am always learning and reading about business and your site has motivated me to read more.”

“I am a BIG fan of education. I am NOT a big fan of expensive education. In today’s world, there are many increasingly viable ways to get yourself a great educational experience in areas where life matters, and to do it without chaining a block of cement debt to your ankles as you enter the waters of life.”

“Timing is everything! In the past couple of weeks I have been thinking about wanted to learn more about business management, and wondered what resources were out there for me to take advantage of, other than signing up for business school. I may go to biz school eventually but wanted to start educating myself now, the more affordable way! I am SO glad to have found your site, it is exactly what I was looking for!”

“I’ve never liked school but I am interested in business. The Personal MBA is perfect for someone like me.”

“This is a very innovative platform for those self-pulled learners. I am a MBA student right now and so glad to find an outstanding reference website like this.”

“The books it recommends are stellar – saves so much time sorting through all the potential reading lists out there myself.”

“I am an MBA student and find that much of the reading found on your site is much more relevant than many of the assigned textbooks.”

“Thank you for helping to prevent me from blowing 2 years and $100k on an MBA when I get out of undergrad next year.”

“I just enrolled in an executive MBA program in my country. Your list give me insight about other important books, rather than the textbook and case method applied in my business school.”

“I like that I am able to choose my level of engagement, from researching the basics by glancing at the introductory literature (reading list, etc.) to signing up for the member forums. There are no upfront forms to fill out, and navigation is straightforward. A powerful layout for what can be a very significant investment of time, if one so chooses. Friendly, un-pushy, very hip.”

The Wall Street Journal

For someone who has never attempted a Master’s in Business Administration, Josh Kaufman certainly has some strident views about MBAs… (Read more…)

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