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I'm a Software Engineer by trade but now run an interactive agency. I got a night MBA at a local state school (actually got tuition covered by my company) while

I'm a Software Engineer by trade but now run an interactive agency. I got a night MBA at a local state school (actually got tuition covered by my company) while still working as a Software Engineer and wondering if I wanted to stay on that path indefinitely. Did my MBA qualify me to run a business? No but that being said I found a lot of what I was taught really valuable in providing a baseline of getting me past not knowing what I didn't know. Marketing and Accounting classes were really interesting and provided some value. Innovation classes also provided value. Its a strange degree because of its broad nature it doesn't provide a singular skill (sans specialization) to lean into but it does provide a lot of valuable knowledge and while it's not something that will "get me a particular job I did find the experience valuable.

bredren 7y ago
I have a computer engineering BS and got my MBA from a full time, two year program without financial assistance. The price of the program has been a very difficult burden in retrospect. I would have financed it differently and made different spending decisions if i could go back. But the education was as parent describes, offering a very useful set of skills, from business presentation, teamwork, research and finance. Things that inherently are not a part of YC startup school, (I just graduated from that with EasyALPR) Startups require a whole other set of skills, but what they teach in MBA is valuable—-so long as it is financed carefully.
commandlinefan 7y ago
> Did my MBA qualify me to run a business? I can’t help but notice the similarity between the “MBA is useless because it doesn’t teach you everything you need to know about how to run a business” viewpoint and the (also popular here) “CS degree is useless because it doesn’t teach you everything you need to know about programming” viewpoint. If somebody spent a few years reading about and attending lectures about a topic, they necessarily know at least a few things they wouldn’t have otherwise known.

bredren 7y ago

I have a computer engineering BS and got my MBA from a full time, two year program without financial assistance. The price of the program has been a very difficult burden in retrospect. I would have financed it differently and made different spending decisions if i could go back. But the education was as parent describes, offering a very useful set of skills, from business presentation, teamwork, research and finance. Things that inherently are not a part of YC startup school, (I just graduated from that with EasyALPR) Startups require a whole other set of skills, but what they teach in MBA is valuable—-so long as it is financed carefully.

commandlinefan 7y ago

> Did my MBA qualify me to run a business? I can’t help but notice the similarity between the “MBA is useless because it doesn’t teach you everything you need to know about how to run a business” viewpoint and the (also popular here) “CS degree is useless because it doesn’t teach you everything you need to know about programming” viewpoint. If somebody spent a few years reading about and attending lectures about a topic, they necessarily know at least a few things they wouldn’t have otherwise known.