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I've been dreaming about finding other business owners that want to do a Do-It-Yourself MBA ( http://personalmba.com/manifesto/ http://personalmba.com/manifesto

I've been dreaming about finding other business owners that want to do a Do-It-Yourself MBA ( http://personalmba.com/manifesto/ http://personalmba.com/manifesto/) -like reading program and discussion group, but have yet to make the time to organize such a thing. I've considered getting either my MBA or my CPA, but didn't find the return on investment to be worth it.

louhong 16y ago
I find Fred Wilson's series (and blog posts) really informative (http://www.dailylit.com/books/mba-mondays http://www.dailylit.com/books/mba-mondays) and highly recommended in case you wanted to add it to your list.
mbesto 16y ago
A reading program/discussion group is a great idea. I'd join up but I'm based in the UK.
tst 16y ago
About two years ago there was this idea of a "HN book club": http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=407067 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=407067 I didn't know if it was realized probably not. But I would be delighted if we could start one! This year I started a book challenge for myself (http://111in2011.tumblr.com http://111in2011.tumblr.com) and looked for discussion platforms. GoodReads is not really useful because there are too few people interested in business books. And writing short reviews/summaries about books is nice but I miss the conversations :) So, if you start a discussion board or whatever, I'm happy if I can participate!
- farout 16y ago
  I liked your synopsis. Haha. I had to smile at "Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity and don’t be a wimp." for Robin William's Non-Designer’s Design Book. I brought up CRAP in a meeting and I swear everyone thought I had three heads. I would have settled for two :-)
- rjett 16y ago
  http://www.hn-books.com/ http://www.hn-books.com/
mindcrime 16y ago
Put me down as tentatively interested in that if somebody organizes it.
jsiarto 16y ago
The Personal MBA is a great program and his book is just as good (http://www.amazon.com/Personal-MBA-Master-Art-Business/dp/1591843529/ http://www.amazon.com/Personal-MBA-Master-Art-Business/dp/15...). My wife and I are part-way through both and he covers just about everything you could care to know about running a successful business. I have a BA and MA from a large state school and found the most rewarding things from my tenure in college were the relationships I built--not the classes. I would NEVER go into debt for a Master's or MBA--it's just not worth it. Find someone else to pay (scholarship, assistantship, teaching) or get to work, it's better experience anyway.
wesgarrison 16y ago
I read "I'm starting my own MBA reading club and you're not invited" [ http://www.kadavy.net/blog/posts/i-started-a-diy-mba-group-youre-not-invited/ http://www.kadavy.net/blog/posts/i-started-a-diy-mba-group-y...] and that's where I got the idea from. Do it locally, face-to-face discussion over a lunch every X weeks. Invite local business owners to come and speak so you're building relationships between the group and the outside business community. I hadn't considered a remote group, meet over Skype, or just via forum. If you're interested, shoot me an email and we'll go from there.

louhong 16y ago

I find Fred Wilson's series (and blog posts) really informative (http://www.dailylit.com/books/mba-mondays http://www.dailylit.com/books/mba-mondays) and highly recommended in case you wanted to add it to your list.

mbesto 16y ago

A reading program/discussion group is a great idea. I'd join up but I'm based in the UK.

tst 16y ago

About two years ago there was this idea of a "HN book club": http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=407067 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=407067 I didn't know if it was realized probably not. But I would be delighted if we could start one! This year I started a book challenge for myself (http://111in2011.tumblr.com http://111in2011.tumblr.com) and looked for discussion platforms. GoodReads is not really useful because there are too few people interested in business books. And writing short reviews/summaries about books is nice but I miss the conversations :) So, if you start a discussion board or whatever, I'm happy if I can participate!

farout 16y ago
I liked your synopsis. Haha. I had to smile at "Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity and don’t be a wimp." for Robin William's Non-Designer’s Design Book. I brought up CRAP in a meeting and I swear everyone thought I had three heads. I would have settled for two :-)
rjett 16y ago
http://www.hn-books.com/ http://www.hn-books.com/

mindcrime 16y ago

Put me down as tentatively interested in that if somebody organizes it.

jsiarto 16y ago

The Personal MBA is a great program and his book is just as good (http://www.amazon.com/Personal-MBA-Master-Art-Business/dp/1591843529/ http://www.amazon.com/Personal-MBA-Master-Art-Business/dp/15...). My wife and I are part-way through both and he covers just about everything you could care to know about running a successful business. I have a BA and MA from a large state school and found the most rewarding things from my tenure in college were the relationships I built--not the classes. I would NEVER go into debt for a Master's or MBA--it's just not worth it. Find someone else to pay (scholarship, assistantship, teaching) or get to work, it's better experience anyway.

wesgarrison 16y ago

I read "I'm starting my own MBA reading club and you're not invited" [ http://www.kadavy.net/blog/posts/i-started-a-diy-mba-group-youre-not-invited/ http://www.kadavy.net/blog/posts/i-started-a-diy-mba-group-y...] and that's where I got the idea from. Do it locally, face-to-face discussion over a lunch every X weeks. Invite local business owners to come and speak so you're building relationships between the group and the outside business community. I hadn't considered a remote group, meet over Skype, or just via forum. If you're interested, shoot me an email and we'll go from there.