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Are there a lot of people who think getting an expensive MBA degree is worth something in the startup world? I'd never heard anything but the opposite until re

by SamAtt 17y ago

Are there a lot of people who think getting an expensive MBA degree is worth something in the startup world? I'd never heard anything but the opposite until reading this article and now I'm wondering if there's some segment of the population that I've just never heard from.

pgbovine 17y ago
for laymen, startup is synonymous with business, and an MBA is a business degree.
smanek 17y ago
Hi Sam, I'm the technical co-founder of http://postabon.com http://postabon.com (the crazy guy who wrote the entire thing in Lisp ;-)). Based on my experience over the last 6 months, I think most MBAs start out thinking that they'll be fine at doing a startup with no domain expertise, and can just 'throw money' at that problem. This is true whether the domain is manufacturing, fashion, tech, etc. However, after they've been at it for N months and have nothing done, the smart ones realize the error of their ways ;-) Business savvy (just like technical skill) is a necessary (but not sufficient) requirement for being a successful entrepreneur. Having co-founders with disparate skill sets helps you cover all your bases. I think just as many engineers think they can build something cool (with no thought to marketing, capital, strategy, etc), and build a start-up.
- wisty 17y ago
  If you go to any engineer-focus start-up discussion site (JOS, RiR, Erik Sink, HN, PG, bothsidesofthetable .. you name it) that's exactly what they don't hear. If anything, engineers are under-confidant about business things. They seem to think that selling stuff takes at least a 3 year degree (or equivalent experience) just like writing a program.
stuartwall1 17y ago
In my experience, a high percentage of b-school students are aspiring entrepreneurs (although most don't pursue directly after graduation). Last year there were 100+ teams in the HBS business plan competition from a class on 900. Several grads have since closed on funding, including RentTheRunway who closed Series B last month http://su.pr/25JmSw http://su.pr/25JmSw.
mikeryan 17y ago
Its hard to say - but spend some time running through enough VC's and C level execs resumes and Harvard/Stanford B School seems to turn up a lot. I don't know if its the actual degree that helps but it certainly doesn't hurt.

by SamAtt 17y ago

pgbovine 17y ago

for laymen, startup is synonymous with business, and an MBA is a business degree.

smanek 17y ago

Hi Sam, I'm the technical co-founder of http://postabon.com http://postabon.com (the crazy guy who wrote the entire thing in Lisp ;-)). Based on my experience over the last 6 months, I think most MBAs start out thinking that they'll be fine at doing a startup with no domain expertise, and can just 'throw money' at that problem. This is true whether the domain is manufacturing, fashion, tech, etc. However, after they've been at it for N months and have nothing done, the smart ones realize the error of their ways ;-) Business savvy (just like technical skill) is a necessary (but not sufficient) requirement for being a successful entrepreneur. Having co-founders with disparate skill sets helps you cover all your bases. I think just as many engineers think they can build something cool (with no thought to marketing, capital, strategy, etc), and build a start-up.

wisty 17y ago
If you go to any engineer-focus start-up discussion site (JOS, RiR, Erik Sink, HN, PG, bothsidesofthetable .. you name it) that's exactly what they don't hear. If anything, engineers are under-confidant about business things. They seem to think that selling stuff takes at least a 3 year degree (or equivalent experience) just like writing a program.

stuartwall1 17y ago

In my experience, a high percentage of b-school students are aspiring entrepreneurs (although most don't pursue directly after graduation). Last year there were 100+ teams in the HBS business plan competition from a class on 900. Several grads have since closed on funding, including RentTheRunway who closed Series B last month http://su.pr/25JmSw http://su.pr/25JmSw.

mikeryan 17y ago

Its hard to say - but spend some time running through enough VC's and C level execs resumes and Harvard/Stanford B School seems to turn up a lot. I don't know if its the actual degree that helps but it certainly doesn't hurt.