[HN Gopher] DIY MBA: My Reading List (2019)
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DIY MBA: My Reading List (2019)
Author : yamrzou
Score : 86 points
Date : 2024-02-03 18:10 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (chrisstoneman.medium.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (chrisstoneman.medium.com)
| gumby wrote:
| His list begins with The 10 Day MBA which is an excellent book I
| recommend highly. It gives a brief overview constituting 90+% of
| what you need to know. The other books on his list, many of which
| I have read and enjoyed myself, "merely" give greater detail on
| the material covered by T10DMBA (except macroeconomics which is
| rarely MBA-relevant anyway).
|
| The book is humorous, but quite serious about the material.
| toomuchtodo wrote:
| What would you recommend for the last 10%?
| greggsy wrote:
| Sounds cliched, but the remaining 10% is real world
| experience applying and reflecting on a myriad of (sometimes
| pseudo-) psychology concepts developed over the years in the
| areas of leadership, self awareness, and workplace behaviour.
| ghaff wrote:
| Probably more like 50%. I got an MBA and pretty much
| realized I had very little interest in actually being a
| manager.
| ghaff wrote:
| It's probably useful to know something about the various
| macroeconomic theories so you can at least nod knowledgeably
| :-) But it's not that useful practically. Traditional micro is
| worth knowing. I was also lucky enough to take a behavioral
| economics course (before it was called that) and a somewhat
| related pricing strategy course.
| dotancohen wrote:
| > 10 Day MBA
|
| Googling I see at least three different books with similar
| covers but attributed to different authors. Which one should I
| persue?
| deskamess wrote:
| The list specified the author: The 10 Day MBA by Steven
| Silbiger
| dotancohen wrote:
| Terrific, thank you.
| ghaff wrote:
| As someone who got a long ago MBA (and has also worked as an
| engineer), a few comments.
|
| That's a lot of books. I'm not sure it's more total reading than
| I did in an MBA program but it's certainly more books than I
| read.
|
| I'm not sure the best way to replicate case study discussions--
| which is a big part of most actual MBA programs and is probably
| at least somewhat important. (Also projects as opposed to just
| reading.)
|
| Seems very light on finance and accounting. Honestly accounting
| doesn't need a lot--the main lesson is things are this way
| because the financial accounting standards board says it is--but
| the equivalent of core Finance 101 is probably necessary even if
| you're not going to be primarily a finance person. What I didn't
| have in B-school but would want today is a deeper dive into
| VC/startup/etc. term sheets and the like.
|
| There's no real operations on that list. Probably don't really
| need real operations research but some basic manufacturing lingo
| and concepts would be useful.
|
| I'd probably look for a basic Marketing 101 sort of book/course
| in addition to UX and things along those lines.
|
| I'll stop there but I'd probably encourage more reading along the
| lines of what's actually used in MBA programs and looking at
| ways/materials that are closer to case studies and learning by
| doing.
| dkjaudyeqooe wrote:
| > That's a lot of books.
|
| When teaching yourself you need multiple sources as a stand in
| for things being explained different ways by a teacher or
| through discussions.
|
| A fair metric is about 3 books where you'd otherwise use 1 in
| class.
| ghaff wrote:
| I think if I were actually putting together a curriculum (and
| not worrying about copyright/access), I'd probably have a lot
| more chapters of books and articles/papers/webpages/videos
| than I would complete books. And I think you need to bring in
| discussions/projects in some manner in any case.
| shay_ker wrote:
| Currently going through Andrew Lo's MIT Sloan course, Finance
| Theory 1, for free:
|
| https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/15-401-finance-theory-i-fall-200...
|
| The lectures are well structured. Class questions are good.
|
| And best of all... these lectures were done during the 2008
| financial crisis, so you see how people react in real time.
| Fascinating.
| ghaff wrote:
| You make a great suggestion. Not that B-schools get everything
| right or that they're on the cutting edge but, to the degree
| curricula and lectures are online, I'd probably lean that way
| more than bestselling business titles. (Which, truth be told,
| often have a chapter or two that distills down a lot of the key
| content. In some cases, they're worth the lengthier read to
| reinforce the key content but often they're not.)
| shay_ker wrote:
| I find lectures much better than books. A lot more engaging
| and good lecturers are also good storytellers.
|
| Especially if you watch lectures at 2x the speed, you can
| save A LOT of time. And I'd bet your understanding is better,
| since lecturers can think through problems out loud.
| Indispensable, IMO.
| ghaff wrote:
| I sort of hate doing the 2x thing but I agree with your
| broader point. My good lecturers were, as you say, good
| storytellers. Including the guy who won the (I know not
| really before some pedant corrects me) Nobel Prize for
| behavioral economics.
| gargs wrote:
| Would this help in getting jobs as much as a real MBA would?
| ghaff wrote:
| To the extent that a real MBA credential is important for a job
| as it was when I was initially hired out of B-school, no? To
| the degree that an MBA from certain elite institutions can
| create connections, no? To the degree that you are familiar
| with various concepts that may be relevant for your job,
| possibly? Especially later in career. Absolutely no one cares
| what degrees I have at that point.
| justajot wrote:
| Josh Kaufman did a lot of work in this area for years, maybe
| still does -- Personal MBA. https://personalmba.com
| realusername wrote:
| I'm currently following the marketing section of this one and
| it's been really helpful to compensate for my huge gaps in
| knowledge
| silexia wrote:
| Autobiographies are the best way to learn firsthand from those
| who have "won" at business:
|
| Sam Walton - this is easily the best. Solid gold nuggets of
| wisdom every page.
|
| Henry Ford - strong business, science, and tech ideas. Plus his
| biography of his good friend Thomas Edison is great.
|
| Larry Ellison - pretty solid.
|
| Richard Branson - okay autobiographies, probably too many though.
| graemep wrote:
| The problem with reading "winners" is the huge survivorship
| bias, and autobiographies are inevitably biased towards showing
| the author in a good light.
| amb23 wrote:
| This isn't a great list--it's a lot of fluff, and self-help books
| masquerading as business content.
|
| There are basically two skills you really need to hone in an MBA.
| The first are the hard skills/knowledge on finance, accounting,
| (basic) stats, and (basic) economics. The second is being able to
| assess and analyze business models, from both strategic and
| operational angles. The former can be learned in MOOCs, while the
| latter is best approached with case studies, ideally discussed as
| a group. I'd honestly suggest trying to start a
| business/entrepreneurs book club with ~12-20 people to try to
| replicate that experience over reading books on your own.
| aik wrote:
| I agree some of these are fluff. However many here are great to
| have basic knowledge of for specific scenarios one may run into
| and then know where to dig deeper when needed.
|
| Agree though to marry being a ferocious reader / learner with
| being a do'er is the way to go. Personally I did not grow up
| with an opportunity to develop an intuition about business and
| self-motivated action. Has taken a lot of work to move that
| direction over the years.
| mi_lk wrote:
| What specific MOOCs are recommended for the first one?
| jimmar wrote:
| You can't get the MBA experience reading books alone. People
| expect MBAs to be able to communicate effectively, present
| themselves confidently, and to be able to manage projects. Every
| MBA program I know requires students to complete projects to
| apply concepts, often working with other students and real
| businesses. A DIY MBA experience would involve a lot of
| consulting with businesses to help solve their challenges.
| ghaff wrote:
| There's some element of basic
| accounting/finance/operations/marketing/etc. that you can get
| pretty quickly. But, as you say, it's not the equivalent of
| going through a longer interactive program than reading a few
| books.
| Frogeman wrote:
| As a previous M7 FTMBA student who dropped out halfway through to
| do a startup, the real MBA is starting a company. Venture, cash
| flow/lifestyle or otherwise.
| techwizrd wrote:
| There have been a few companies advertising something like this
| (e.g., oneday.io) where you build a startup and earn an
| accredited professional MBA along the way.
| w10-1 wrote:
| Schooling should ground one in fundamentals, to some degree.
|
| Maybe target fundamental principles instead of recent opinion if
| you have the time to learn and want to tranform your thinking for
| a lifetime?
|
| Both MBA and medical schools are instead practice programs, where
| case studies exercise knowledge and principles you learned deeply
| or crammed. If you crammed, you get good at diagnosing and become
| primary care or first-line specialist. If you learned deeply, you
| can do M&A or be a researcher or nth-line specialist - likely
| some combination - or you flame out for lack of political skills
| or interest in the small niche available. Because they are
| practical, they produce a large stream of knowledge, for every
| business or medical case, that outsiders can enjoy and get
| familiar with. But the knowledge wouldn't qualify them to take on
| responsibility. That requires a series of validation steps where
| you handle increasing responsibility. So DIY MD/MBA won't get you
| in any door.
|
| For business fundamentals, I would recommend reading transaction
| cost economics to understand the value of e.g., "disruption" or
| operations research in business. Marketing or product management
| is just hunting or bearing fruit; they make you a useful tool.
| TCE answers the real questions: what makes some companies huge or
| other markets scattered? It's grounding for strategic decision-
| making.
| xixixao wrote:
| For some reason my brain went the opposite way and I was
| wondering what would an MBA in DIY skills look like.
| Dowwie wrote:
| That's really not what business school is about, but studying
| these and not just reading them could help
| itsthecourier wrote:
| I would like a books describing how to build roles and systems,
| to grow from 50 to 200 employees, any ideas?
| loughnane wrote:
| This list is long.
|
| The problem with long reading lists is that it forces you closer
| to a box-checking mentality. That's dangerous for learning
| because people aren't computers---we don't read a book, ingest
| all the information, go onto another one, and then end with the
| sum total of the information as useable knowledge.
|
| We need context. That's why the order of books, selections from
| books, and the discussion around books is so much more important
| than the books themselves, at least if your goal is true
| understanding.
|
| This list is a good start, but if it is to help someone learn, it
| should be more than a list.
| giantg2 wrote:
| "The problem with long reading lists is that it forces you
| closer to a box-checking mentality."
|
| Most MBAs are checkboxes so someone can get a higher paying
| job. Most people do not care about the theory, nor are they
| really concerned with being a good leader outside of their ego.
| loughnane wrote:
| Right, but with a DIY MBA you don't have a credential to
| point to. At that point isn't all you have what you learn?
| giantg2 wrote:
| "At that point isn't all you have what you learn?"
|
| Yes, but without the credential will you be given the
| opportunity to use it? Is it worth anything without being
| used? These are not the kinds of questions readers are
| asking themselves when looking for MBA reading lists. Many
| see the MBA as a checkbox (which it is) and seek checkbox
| style lists of books. So the length/style of the list isn't
| leading to the checkbox mentality, rather that mentality is
| common in the context of credentialization.
| loughnane wrote:
| Maybe I midunderstood. I read this as "get your own MBA
| through reading", not "read these books to help get your
| official MBA".
|
| In any case, I think we agree that credentialization,
| flawed though it may be, is a reality that we've got to
| deal with, whether I like it or not.
| werrett wrote:
| You're being purposefully reductionist. But even if that's
| that's the sole purpose any one would do seek an MBA the GPs
| point stands -- reading this list doesn't even tick the "MBA
| checkbox"
| giantg2 wrote:
| The people seeking these kinds of lists are seeking
| checkboxes to tick. Of course this isn't the same as
| earning an MBA, but I guarantee some of the people
| searching for this kind of content will find it and follow
| it, believing it will get them somewhere because they
| checked the boxes on the list.
| deskamess wrote:
| Wasn't there an Udemy course that was really popular? Has anyone
| had any experience with that one?
| sklargh wrote:
| Alternate reading / requirement list. Basically covers meaningful
| coursework and offers some useful books about how large
| organizations function (or do not), plus some mind-stimulation on
| power dynamics.
|
| In no particular order.
|
| - MOOC, Fin, Acct, Stat, Calc, Ops 101, 102
|
| - Excel, SQL
|
| - Launch Decision
|
| - The Prince
|
| - Starboard Olive Garden Slide Deck
|
| - Ogilvy's tips on writing (it's what you don't send that counts
| folks)
|
| - Barbarians at the Gate
|
| - Pearl Harbor Warning and Decision
|
| - On Bullshit
|
| - This is Water
|
| - Invisible Asymptotes
|
| - Toyota Production System
|
| - The meeting scene in Margin Call remains the most accurate
| portrayal of a high-stakes meeting as a junior staffer
|
| - Deploy a simple marketing and e-commerce stack and make some
| profit
|
| - Use slides to teach someone about something intensely
| uninteresting
|
| - Become effective at using CHAMPS KNOW forecasting heuristics
|
| - Read and understand a few mid-cap and large-cap 10-Ks and
| 10-Qs.
| giantg2 wrote:
| The author does acknowledge this in thier linked post, but I
| think it's worth pointing out. They are in the UK, where MBAs are
| not as credentialized. DIY MBAs are low value.
|
| You can get a BS in Business Administration, or even a minor in
| it, and have more knowledge and experience than from reading
| these books. Guess what? Even with those credentials, they will
| not help you. "I have an MBA from [prestigious school]" are the
| magic words. The hiring managers don't care about lesser
| credentials or actual knowledge.
| aik wrote:
| It's very likely this person doesn't care about the credentials
| but rather just wants to gain the knowledge to do something
| themselves.
|
| I more or less did this for years by reading a ton of books +
| many years of HN / articles / interviews / videos + startup
| weekend events + tried starting things + coding hobby for years
| + enterprise consulting work, and now I'm fairly well equipped
| to co-lead the company that I do.
|
| The first 5+ years of doing this I debated attempting to go to
| a prestigious school for an MBA, primary reason (95%) was for
| the networking opportunity (meeting great likeminded or driven
| people), (0% because I would've been able to tell people I had
| an MBA from somewhere for job purposes, the snobbery from that
| would have been a detriment often instead I believe), and 5%
| for the education which I think has value but when it's free
| and I had the motivation there was no reason to pay $100ks for
| that. At this point this company is doing fairly well so
| although I would love to meet more driven and likeminded
| people, I'm not sure it the best path to do so anymore for me.
| rimeice wrote:
| Been running my startup for 7 years, not a unicorn but fairly
| successful. Can honestly say I've not made it through a single
| one of these books. Certainly have tried and have got a few
| nuggets, but nothing has compared to learning this stuff first
| hand, on the job. Sure having passable knowledge of this list is
| useful, but you're going to hire in people/consultants/external
| providers to do almost every module on this list for you at some
| point, you'll learn from them firsthand. You don't need to read
| this list to get a business off the ground and by the time you do
| you'll need to surround yourself with these specialists in some
| form pretty quickly.
| wslh wrote:
| The author missed the Fred Wilson's MBA Mondays Archive [1] which
| personally was a great resource in the quest for my "business
| success" (whatever it means). There is a more organized and
| illustrated edition here [2]. BTW, I always return to some
| articles such as "Commission Plans" for Sales [3].
|
| Regarding books: - Only the Paranoid Survive by Andrew Grove
| (Intel) [4]. It is always in my "pocket". It is real experience
| with pain points from a top CEO, not an academic exercise.
|
| - Other books that are not focused on business but are more
| "epistemological". For example, "How Life Imitates Chess" by
| Garry Kasparov [5]. I don't know who created this title for the
| book though. Many autobiographies, in general, or good business
| biographies such as "Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the
| Microsoft Empire" [6].
|
| [1] https://avc.com/category/mba-mondays/
|
| [2] https://mba-mondays-illustrated.com/
|
| [3] https://avc.com/2010/08/commission-plans/
|
| [4] https://www.amazon.com/Only-Paranoid-Survive-Exploit-
| Challen...
|
| [5] https://www.amazon.com/How-Life-Imitates-Chess-
| Boardroom/dp/...
|
| [6] https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Drive-Making-Microsoft-
| Empire/dp...
| erichmond wrote:
| You want a real DIY MBA?
|
| Start a company.
|
| That's it. :D
| nprateem wrote:
| Shout out to Four Steps to the Epiphany, since the act of
| actually researching and validating business ideas, then
| developing a sales pipelines touches on the majority of things
| that are important for early stage startups. Add in some books on
| leadership, HR and accounting if your product takes off.
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