MBA

There is a difference between (A) what an MBA does to help you prove your abilities to others . (B) what getting an MBA actually does to improve your abilities. They are two different things.

Make something people want . . . There’s nothing more valuable than an unmet need that is just becoming fixable. If you find something broken that you can fix for a lot of people, you’ve found a gold mine.

It’s not really about hard work. You can work in a restaurant eighty hours a week, and you’re not going to get rich. Getting rich is about knowing what to do, who to do it with, and when to do it. It is much more about understanding than purely hard work. Yes, hard work matters, and you can’t skimp on it. But it has to be directed in the right way. ...

Seek wealth, not money or status. Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. Money is how we transfer time and wealth. Status is your place in the social hierarchy. Ignore people playing status games. They gain status by attacking people playing wealth creation games. You’re not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity—a piece of a business—to gain your financial freedom. ...

everyone has these unfounded fears, and they’re normal. Don’t let them hold you back from pursuing what’s important to you. Businesses are created, operated, and improved by ordinary people just like you; there’s no magic or secret knowledge involved. All you need to do is learn a few simple concepts that will change the way you think about how businesses work and allow you to identify promising opportunities. ...

This isn’t rocket science—we’ve chosen one of the world’s most simple professions.

As to methods, there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble. —HARRINGTON EMERSON