The Business of Expertise: How Entrepreneurial Experts Convert Insight to Impact + Wealth

I read both this book and Baker’s recent book on elite advisors and their “tradecraft”. This book is more substantive. Not arcane or academic. A conversational tone. Lots of reflective observations based on his own learnings. Some chapters like chapter 8 on “vertical and horizontal positioning” are substantive and diagnostic. Very helpful. Other chapters are a call to reflect on your practice and your work (what is your value proposition) and, importantly, take your practice to the next level and play “the long game” in your advisory career. The connecting thread here is acting with intellectual courage, clear and crisp positioning, and continuous learning. Not a perfect book. Lacks case studies. No references to the larger business literature. His tone - at times to me - both humble and a bit arrogant. All in all, as I wind down in a long career as both a strategy consultant and a b-school professor, it helped me better name what gave coherence and distinction to my work.

Great book. Nice read.

This book is full of solid information based on a lifetime of experience, but sometimes it feels as if the author is just filling pages with lists.

I discovered David C Baker and Blair Enns a handful of years ago online and was immediately receptive to their knowledge. I decided to pick up both Blair's and Davids books through Audible so I could listen to them while I work. I'm a very tactile individual and like to own physical versions of some things, and decided to purchase both Blair's and David's books. The wealth of guidance and perspective that David shares is honestly worth 10 times the price of this book or more. I'd highly recommend listening to David if you're a creative professional looking to build an expert practice and solve real creative problems. I can't in good conscience recommend buying the book at the moment sadly, as my first arrived with massive damage, basically a completely destroyed cover - Amazon replaced this and the second arrived with minor damage to the hardcover also... Hopefully you'll have better lick if you do order the physical book.

I read about 60 business and design books a year, and David's book is in my top 5. Here is why. It shifted the way I am thinking about my business and led me to immediately stop investing any more time in a bunch of business dead ends that looked at first like avenues. It is short and well structured, with useful summaries at the end of each chapter, motivational moments, concrete examples and illustrated concepts. The audio version is read by himself and is only 4 hours (I read both the paper and audio versions). An urgent read for anyone in the business of expertise!

The Business of Expertise: How Entrepreneurial Experts Convert Insight to Impact + Wealth is the best business book I have ever read. As someone who always struggled to articulate what I excelled at due to the lack of a professional label or badge (e.g. engineer/lawyer/accountant), David's words of wisdom and practical tools provided such insight. I immediately as my new found confidence in my own expertise translated commercially and personally as I nailed my positioning and value to clients. The delight I have in owning that expertise now is immeasurable. I can only sing the praises of this slim volume, which I often have tucked in my bag, and refer to regularly. It has become a talisman for my continued success, inspired me to write more and seek out experts such as David C.Baker and Blair Enns to continue to expand and evolve my own expertise.

The author had me at the forward. His on-the-nose observations and explanations for how to make a great living selling your expertise make this book a top recommendation for my own clients. They are CPAs, who are badly in need of rising above serving, and selling brain power. Mr Baker does a wonderful job making the case, and explaining the path to get there.

I enjoyed the message but got lost in the lingo. For example, I’m not confident in how David distinguishes vertical from horizontal positioning. This book is not a foundational reference but it is great nudge towards building expertise.

This book is for everyone who wants to build authority in his business area. It is eye-opening and an absolute gem. Thoughtfully written and full of practicable directives. If you want to be seen as an expert, there will be no way around this book.

This book describes an excellent framework for professionals to begin thinking about the business of expertise. It is primarily written for people who are setting themselves as independent consultants (or have done so already). However, I would recommend that anyone who wishes to pursue expertise as a career goal (as opposed to a generalist) to read this as it presents a clear structure with which to define your expertise and make the correct decisions to pursue it. The first 3 chapters are a bit esoteric, but keep reading and you will not regret it.

Excellant read. Expensive for content but each pearl of wisdom is worth value

Recently, after years of struggle with so many things in my job, my life and my relationships, I've started to wonder if there was something wrong with me. So I decided to go back to my old habit of reading books, understanding that there was something that I lacked, and that I needed a clear direction. So when I started reading this book, I knew right away I was in for a trip. It started answering one of the biggest questions I've always had: How to recognise intelligence and differentiate an amateur from an expert? I've always thought that I was dumb and this made me superficial on everything, but cleared all the misconceptions and explained in a simple way, the most incredible thing is that, going through therapy and doing IQ tests with a specialist, I saw in real time what David taught in a very practical way. It seemed as if the book was written in a specific order to teach, make me raise questions and answer them like a perfect jazz song, it was so impactful that I've read the first 2 chapters three times to make sure I've had the proper foundations to finish the book. After this, through every chapter, I've discovered that all the desire to run a business in the weird terms I've created for myself wasn't so werid, I just wanted to be a expert entrepeneur but I had no idea. Through the chapters, I've understood the business model, how to begin my entrepeneurial expertise endeavor and what exactly I needed to do to position. The greatest value of the book lies in David's core expertise: Positioning; he explains in a simple way what a lot of experts can't with entire books and courses; he teaches exatcly how to narrow your focus in order to surface similar scenarios, find patterns, discover insights and develop your expertise. If you are looking for another reason to buy this book, look no further, I'm already on my second run reading it and it feels like I'm gonna read this book for the rest of my life, just so I can keep it's concepts fresh in my head. Just buy it and you will see your entire mindset be changed.

if your point is become a consultant, get some qualifications, build a network and invest in books for your trade. This book, although better than other similar BS title, will not give you any added value that someone with a half-decent career does not know already.