Josh Kaufman Quotes

people assume that they need to attend business school to learn how to build a successful business or advance in their career. That’s simply not true.

People buy because they believe they’re getting more value in the Transaction than they’re spending.

The best businesses in the world are the ones that create the most value for other people. Some businesses thrive by providing a little value to many, and others focus on providing a lot of value to only a few people. Regardless, the more real value you create for other people, the better your business will be and the more prosperous you’ll become.

Here’s Gall’s Law : all complex systems that work evolved from simpler systems that worked. Complex systems are full of variables and Interdependencies (discussed later) that must be arranged just right in order to function. Complex systems designed from scratch will never work in the real world, since they haven’t been subject to environmental selection forces while being designed.

You’re facing a monster. Of course you “don’t feel like it.” Strap on your armor anyway

Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.

Value can’t be created without understanding what people want (market research). Attracting customers first requires getting their attention, then making them interested (marketing). In order to close a sale, people must first trust your ability to deliver on what’s promised (value delivery and operations). Customer satisfaction depends on reliably exceeding the customer’s expectations (customer service). Profit sufficiency requires bringing in more money than is spent (finance).

Business is not (and has never been) rocket science — it

As much as I enjoyed yoga courses, it was hard to make time for them. Generally speaking, my work arrangements were flexible, so it was mostly a psychological problem: it was hard to convince myself it was acceptable to go twist my body into knots for two hours when there was work to be done.

By choosing to innovate instead of compete, Apple successfully captured a leadership share of a very competitive market.

Quality, quality, quality: never waver from it, even when you don’t see how you can afford to keep it up. When you compromise, you become a commodity and then you die.

How do I know what I think until I hear what I say? — E. M. FORSTER, NOVELIST AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST E

People don’t like to be sold, but they love to buy. — JEFFREY GITOMER, AUTHOR

Consciously sending a mental “message received, safe to proceed” signal to your brain is a simple and surprisingly effective way to make yourself stop fixating on the issue

Understanding what businesses actually do to create and deliver value is essential knowledge, but many business programs have de-emphasized value creation and operations in favor of finance and quantitative analysis.