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Everytime we do this on HN, the same argument shows up -- "MBAs are the worst." "Well what about these popular CEOs?" "Well they're not really MBAs, c'mon." S

by stvswn 10y ago

Everytime we do this on HN, the same argument shows up -- "MBAs are the worst." "Well what about these popular CEOs?" "Well they're not really MBAs, c'mon." Sundar Pichai went to Wharton for his MBA before joining Google. He is also ex-McKinsey. So, by HN standards, he's the absolute worst, right? Google's leadership ranks are filled with MBAs, including tons of VPs that aren't household names but are nonetheless very influential here. MBA programs are one of the primary ways we recruit product managers (it's how I became a Google PM, full disclosure). Sales, strategy, ops are also full of MBAs. The next phase of this monthly argument on HN will be, then: "Well, that's what's wrong with Google then, it's all crap after they started hiring MBAs!" which is also nonsense, because lots of the senior people w/ MBAs were hired a decade ago or more.

slantyyz 10y ago
I find it odd how MBA's are painted with such a broad brush here. It's literally just a degree. IMO, anyone who hires purely based on a degree - whether it be a PhD, MBA, CS or whatever, is probably lazy and bad at hiring. If MBAs ruined a company, the people to blame should be the people who hired those individuals who happened to have MBAs and allowed them to ruin the company. Granted, MBA programs do attract certain types of personalities - there were plenty of jerks when I started my MBA almost a quarter of a century ago (wow, i'm getting old), but there are also plenty of people with MBAs who aren't stereotypical money-grubbing, buzzword-spewing drones either.
ashark 10y ago
> The next phase of this monthly argument on HN will be, then: "Well, that's what's wrong with Google then, it's all crap after they started hiring MBAs!" which is also nonsense, because lots of the senior people w/ MBAs were hired a decade ago or more. To be fair, "a decade ago, give or take" may fit perfectly with some people's view of when Google (and with it, the rest of the Web) become crap.

by stvswn 10y ago

slantyyz 10y ago

I find it odd how MBA's are painted with such a broad brush here. It's literally just a degree. IMO, anyone who hires purely based on a degree - whether it be a PhD, MBA, CS or whatever, is probably lazy and bad at hiring. If MBAs ruined a company, the people to blame should be the people who hired those individuals who happened to have MBAs and allowed them to ruin the company. Granted, MBA programs do attract certain types of personalities - there were plenty of jerks when I started my MBA almost a quarter of a century ago (wow, i'm getting old), but there are also plenty of people with MBAs who aren't stereotypical money-grubbing, buzzword-spewing drones either.

ashark 10y ago

> The next phase of this monthly argument on HN will be, then: "Well, that's what's wrong with Google then, it's all crap after they started hiring MBAs!" which is also nonsense, because lots of the senior people w/ MBAs were hired a decade ago or more. To be fair, "a decade ago, give or take" may fit perfectly with some people's view of when Google (and with it, the rest of the Web) become crap.