The Personal MBA

Master the Art of Business

A world-class business education in a single volume. Learn the universal principles behind every successful business, then use these ideas to make more money, get more done, and have more fun in your life and work.

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What Is 'Modularity'?

Most successful businesses combine multiple Forms of Value to offer value in multiple ways. By making offers Modular, the business can create and improve offers in isolation, and later mix them as necessary.

Usually these offers are handled separately and the customer can choose which ones to purchase, dramatically increasing the number of offers the business can create.

Josh Kaufman Explains 'Modularity'

Keep in mind that the 12 Standard Forms of Value aren't mutually exclusive: you can offer any number or combination of these forms as options to your potential customers to see which ones they like best.

Most successful businesses offer value in multiple separate forms. Take the magazine industry, for example. Magazines charge a monthly or annual subscription fee in exchange for a printed magazine delivered by mail on a periodic basis. Simultaneously, they use audience aggregation to sell access to their subscribers via advertising, which is included in the magazine alongside the content.

Travel Web sites like Orbitz.com sell Products (airplane tickets) alongside trip-cancellation Insurance, and display advertising (Audience Aggregation) to website visitors. Movie theaters combine movie showings (a Shared Resource) with tickets (an Option) and concession sales (Products).

In most companies, each of these offers is handled separately, and the customer can pick and choose which offers they want to take advantage of. By making offers modular, the business can create and improve each offer in isolation, then mix-and-match offers as necessary to better serve their customers.

It's like playing with Legos: once you have a set of pieces to work with, you can put them together in all sorts of interesting ways.

Questions About 'Modularity'


"Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together."

Vincent van Gogh, artist


From Chapter 1:

Value Creation


https://personalmba.com/modularity/



The Personal MBA

Master the Art of Business

A world-class business education in a single volume. Learn the universal principles behind every successful business, then use these ideas to make more money, get more done, and have more fun in your life and work.

Buy the book:


About Josh Kaufman

Josh Kaufman is an acclaimed business, learning, and skill acquisition expert. He is the author of two international bestsellers: The Personal MBA and The First 20 Hours. Josh's research and writing have helped millions of people worldwide learn the fundamentals of modern business.

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