Jason Braatz

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Jero
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Jason Braatz

Goodreads Author


Born
in Des Moines, Iowa, The United States
October 22, 1975

Member Since
January 2014

URL


* Graduated from Stanford University with an MBA and a M.S. in Computer Science, Summa Cum Laude
* Graduated from the University of the Pacific in 1997, magna cum laude with a B.A. in Business and a dual B.S. in Physics and Computer Science
* Graduated from Manteca High School in 1993, Salutatorian. Go Buffaloes!
* Espoused personal views as a self-proclaimed Libertarian since age 9
* Wrote a book and didn't market it (bad idea)
* Bought and run businesses in the retail, tech and art sectors (good idea)
* Bought commercial/residential real estate
* Starting a new venture as of late 2024, my 8th startup (1-7 exited successfully).
* AI is a good thing, I can't help it though that we have morons implementing it.
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Jason Braatz I'm so sorry for the late (one year late!) reply. Goodreads doesn't prominently show me questions waiting or I would have responded to this quickly.

Mr…more
I'm so sorry for the late (one year late!) reply. Goodreads doesn't prominently show me questions waiting or I would have responded to this quickly.

Mr. Kaufman's Personal MBA is garbage. Most MBA programs now borrow the case method (pioneered in Harvard's MBA program) which is not only more effective in understanding the underlying principles of business, but it also puts it into context of a real problem faced by a real company. Mr. Kaufman had put together a "dictionary" of terms with that book that became dated before they even went to press. The meanings behind these terms or concepts are in constant flux. Quality Control used to be Six Sigma but now it's CI/CD or Manufacturing 4.0 . The vernacular in management is always changing, and thus a repetitive book on concept names and definitions is not only boring, but it's downright useless.

That said, there are many old books and old authors who, within a short period of time across a few books, would in effect give you the same knowledge (more or less) that an MBA program has to offer without the updated vernacular. The benefit of an MBA program is the ability to network with new peers, and to build effective tools on how to do solution finding in a collective environment. By reading books only, you'll miss that part, but depending on your personality, it may not be a detractor in the end.

The basis of all business begins at the Theory of Constraints developed by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. He wrote a book on it that's extremely easy to read ("The Goal") that brings it to life. Everything else as a tool learned in an MBA program is a module that plugs onto this theory. The theory sounds like what it is: there is only so much money, manpower and other resources, so it's about allocation of those resources that is the most important part of a business manager or CEO's job.

If you read The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber and The Innovator's Dilemma by Clay Christensen, you'll have the concepts of a full MBA program. You won't, however, have the vernacular nor the deep dive into a particular topic (like accounting or queuing theory, etc). In those particular cases, you are much better off with a case method and either subscribe to Harvard's Business Review (or) find books on particular companies and read about how they grew or how they fell. They often disguise themselves as a biography of the CEO, so if you picked up the biography of Michael Eisner, you can pick up the essence of how he took Disney from an almost-tragedy in the early 1980s to the media and entertainment powerhouse it is today. Same thing with Lee Iacocca, Elon Musk, etc.

Keeping up with the more popular books in business (about 4-5 a year) will always keep your vernacular fresh. The concepts don't change but their implementation does (which is why the vernacular changes).

Good luck! Once again I'm so sorry for the delayed response.(less)
Average rating: 4.0 · 2 ratings · 0 reviews · 1 distinct work
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2015
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Jason’s Recent Updates

Jason Braatz is now friends with Jero
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Technology and the Rise of Great Powers by Jeffrey Ding
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Great book, 5-star read - though not in the basket of a 'must read,' it's a 'make-you-think' theory of technological advancement. The tome is an interesting thought experiment but it's not required reading for you to order DoorDash tonight. It'll be ...more
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Level Up by Rob Dial
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Attention all non-fiction junkies, self-help enthusiasts, and anyone who's ever thought, "Gee, I wish I could be rich AND skinny!" Boy, do I have a treat for you!

Rob Dial's Level Up: How to Get Focused, Stop Procrastinating, and Upgrade Your Life is
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Organize Tomorrow Today by Jason Selk
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Listen up, fellow chaos enthusiasts! If your life is a beautiful disaster and your to-do list looks like it was written by a caffeinated squirrel, boy do I have a book for you. Organize Tomorrow Today: 8 Ways to Retrain Your Mind to Optimize Performa ...more
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What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars by Jim Paul
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Wow! This is seriously a great book.. What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars is the self-help book you never knew you needed – because let's face it, most of us aren't lucky enough to have a cool million to lose in the first place.

Picture this: You'
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The Algebra of Wealth by Scott Galloway
" Shira wrote: "Except what buffet did was buy whole companies that he thought he could create value in basically.

Most people cannot do that."


Ah, the c
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Jason Braatz finished reading
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
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F*ck Feelings by Michael I. Bennett
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Ever wondered what would happen if a self-help book and stand-up comedy had a lovechild? Well, wonder no more! "F*ck Feelings" is here to save the day... or at least to tell you why saving the day is overrated.

First off, let's address the elephant in
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Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
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Taleb's 2018 addition to the Incerto is as good as the others, and this time he's got more skin in the game than a nudist colony during a heatwave. While not entirely virgin territory for our favorite intellectual provocateur, Skin in the Game: The H ...more
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The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
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Meus ventus liber est omni tempore.

I'm a mere mortal, nothing more, but I want to address the criticism first [and then] give you my thoughts on why this is a great book [and] demonstrates that Nassim Nicholas Taleb is one of the most insightful thin
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More of Jason's books…
“You rarely win with money. The best you can hope for is not to blow it completely.”
Jeff Hoffman

Herbert Hoover
“Wisdom consists not so much in knowing what to do in the ultimate as in knowing what to do next.”
Herbert Hoover

“A correctly tuned system must be able to run for years at full load without slowing down nor crashing.”
David M. Finkel, Build a Business, Not a Job: Grow Your Business & Get Your Life Back

“Talk does not cook rice.”
Chinese Proverb

Edward Snowden
“The government should be afraid of the people, the people shouldn't be afraid of the government.”
Edward Snowden, Permanent Record




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