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Techstars or a Harvard MBA?
- alain94040 15y agoThe two serve a different purpose. No one thinks a Harvard MBA gives you an edge for bootstrapping your startup in your garage, and no one believes doing Techstars will help you run the division of a large corporation. A better decision algorithm would be: 1) figure out what you want to do in the future 2) pick acoordingly If you want my take on MBA vs. entrepreneurship, I blogged here (http://blog.fairsoftware.net/2009/08/12/the-cheapest-mba-program-for-cs-students-costs-99-and-its-called-the-app-store/ http://blog.fairsoftware.net/2009/08/12/the-cheapest-mba-pro...). Guess what: for entrepreneurs, taking the entrepreneurial route is better.
- ig1 15y agoStartups founded by Harvard MBA alumni: Direct Hit+ Gilt Group* Hunch Starent* Viglink Yelp+ Zynga* + Valued at over $500m * Valued at over $1bn
- davidw 15y agoFormer startups founded by college dropouts: * Apple * Microsoft The fact that some people from a highly driven and intelligent group were successful at startups is not really significant in and of itself.
- ig1 15y agoNo, but you can compare the success rate of Harvard and Techstars alumni is founding successful startups. Given Techstars has yet to produce one $100m+ startup in the last five years and Harvard is probably in the double digits, I reckon Harvard will win. Sure it could just be the case that Harvard has more talented people in the first place, but I'm not sure what methodology you could use to remove that bias.
- bigohms 15y agoNo you can't, yet. The statistical sample is much too small to determine whether Techstars is on par, higher or lower with Harvard comparatively to make this statement.
- wilschroter 15y agoHow many $100m startups did Harvard produce in its first 5 years of founding?
- ig1 15y agoWe're not comparing HBS of 1908 to Techstars of 2011, we're comparing Techstars of 2006-2011 with HBS of 2006-2011. Sure Techstars might be amazing in a hundred years time, but it's not exactly relavent for someone deciding what to do now.
- wilschroter 15y agoI'm saying that Techstars has only had 5 years to refine itself. HBS has had over 100. I would think by that definition alone HBS should be churning out better results!
- pbhjpbhj 15y ago>I would think by that definition alone HBS should be churning out better results! Is HBS designed to produce tech startups though? HBS is probably closer to their desired results by virtue of "refinement" of it's aims and processes, yes. However unless those aims include "creating more tech startups" I don't see how their longevity is especially relevant.
- suprasanna 15y agototally agreed, you can't underestimate the importance of an alumni network and lessons from past years - advantages that make HBS v. TS a meaningless comparison in terms of success output.
- feral 15y agoThe GP was pointing out that out of the small (relative to the number of college dropouts) group of Harvard MBA grads, there have been quite a few tech startups. You are right that any such correlation doesn't imply causality - maybe the MBA and startup success were both caused by a prior drive. But its an encouraging sign; that Apple and Microsoft were started by dropouts doesn't really change that.
- mnutt 15y agoThe guy who actually started Gilt Groupe, Kevin Ryan, got his MBA at INSEAD. Not that it changes your point much.
- ig1 15y agoThere were three cofounders at Gilt, the other two Alexandra Wilkis Wilson and Alexis Maybank were both Harvard MBAs (where they met).
- damoncali 15y agoThat's just not true. Many, many successful startups have been started by MBAs from Harvard and elsewhere. A friend of mine from business school started a tech company while in school. He then raised several million in VC, and is well on his way - I believe I just saw them on CNBC. The VC he raised money from was an alum from our school. A B-School professor of mine with an MBA started and sold not one, but two companies for north of $10M. One wasn't tech related, one (the bigger one) was. None of those three companies had anything resembling a "technical cofounder". Those are just a few of the examples I can think of from my own personal business school network, and I went to a school well south of Harvard in the MBA pecking order. The entrepreneurial path is a long one. Business school is two insanely fun-filled years of your life during which you will meet lots and lots of very smart, very interesting people, and yes, even a few entrepreneurs, past present and future. Outside of the absurd cost these days, there is absolutely no downside to taking a detour through a decent MBA program.
- dolvlo 15y agoWhy are we talking about MBAs on a hacker news site? Off topic.
- sskates 15y agoFor the vast majority of cases, doing a startup funded by TechStars gives someone way more credibility than an MBA.
- mashmac2 15y agoBased on the assumption that the person rating your credibility isn't at BIGCO, but at somewhere else in/near the startup sphere.
- ig1 15y agoEven in the startup community TechStars isn't that well known. TechStars, YC, etc. are well known among a certain clique within the startup community, but it's all too easy to forget that most tech startup founders will never have heard of them.
- reecepacheco 15y agoprobably true, though the learning is what's important anyway.
- localhost3000 15y agothis is simply false, generally. This would have been accurate: "doing a startup funded by TechStars gives someone way more credibility than an MBA, within the population that reads Hacker News." --- which is about, oh, i don't know .01% of the world's population. A top-5 MBA (most especially, one from HBS) opens doors for you in every industry, on every continent. YC/TS makes you the cool kid at parties in SoMa. Let's try and keep some perspective here.
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- damoncali 15y agoIt is impossible to overstate how much you are underestimating the reach, influence, and prestige granted to graduates of HBS. Not saying it should matter (I've seen how the sausage is made), but it does matter to the billions of people who consider it to be the best of the best, almost none of whom have ever heard of Tech Stars.
- jjb1 15y agopretty compelling argument, and i have to admit, i read the title link with some immediate skepticism
- starpilot 15y agoGreat, two things I'll never be able to access. Looking forward to the "Ferrari or Gulfstream V" comparison.
- heyrhett 15y agoDon't sell yourself short. But I agree, how many people are really having to make a choice between the two opportunities?
- meterplech 15y agoI kind've hate when people say this type of thing. It reminds of high-schoolers getting annoyed when another student was disappointed with getting a B. People have different standards of success. It's true- not a ton of people will have this choice, but for the people who do this blog post could be very interesting/useful.
- frisco 15y agoWhy do you say you'll never be able to access these? Because you don't get things done and lack the reasoning abilities necessary to get said things done? Sure, there are people who just aren't capable of performing at the level necessary for either a Harvard MBA or Techstars, but I bet you've just convinced yourself that you aren't of that caliber. Have you actually taken on complexity and found that you just don't have it? Or are you complaining because you've been conditioned to think you can't do it?
- Roritharr 15y agoRemember this is an international site. Coming from a poor eastern europe or african country, his chances of ever getting in reach of one of those programs are near inexistant. That said i am from germany, and without parents that have the funds and passion to guide you in that direction... its not much prettier...
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- swampthing 15y agoInteresting comparison - but in reality, you can usually get the school to let you defer admission for a year. That will let you play things out a little so you can make the decision with more information.
- jsavimbi 15y agoWhen you graduate from a Techstars program you'll be an expert in Techstars and not much else although you'll probably have a good idea if this startup thing is something you'd like to do. I cannot say the same thing for a person attending a two-year program, being exposed to both intensive and non-intensive graduate-level studies and acquiring knowledge through study and experience that an incubator cannot. I'd recommend an incubator like Techstars to a [well-rounded] person with an undergraduate degree looking for a great start in this particular industry, but never in lieu of a Harvard MBA. Wouldn't even consider it.
- reecepacheco 15y agocurious - are you a TechStars alum?
- jsavimbi 15y agoI am not, but I'm from Cambridge, Massholia and I know some of the organizers, graduates and money folks that support the program. At the time of YC making headway ('06?) I gave an incubator some thought at the time I thought that I was too old for it. In retrospect, I'd still give it a go today and I'm over the hill. High-energy, focused programs are great, but again, are no substitute for traditional education.
- reecepacheco 15y agofair enough i think all programs/institutions etc are what you make of them there are students who go to Ivy Leagues and soak it up and there are others who f* it up likewise, there are startups who learn a ton and excel in an accelerator and there are others who flounder
- earbitscom 15y agoThis comes off as incredibly biased. I haven't gone through Techstars, but I've done YC. I wouldn't consider myself an expert on YC (only reasonably knowledgeable about the session I went through), but I will say that the training and experience I gained has been invaluable in my efforts to focus on product, communicate about our vision, talk to investors (or ignore them), and much more. These things I learned from doing them, not reading about them. Does participating in YC make me an expert in building a company? No, building a company does that. To that point, getting a Harvard MBA doesn't make you much of an expert of anything besides going through Harvard. I have interviewed plenty of marketing MBA's at my old job (not Harvard, but hear me out), and when it comes to online marketing, they don't know the basics. The modern business world, particularly online, moves so fast that it's near impossible for Universities to keep up. Regardless of how good your in-class education might be, you aren't an expert at running a business until you've done it. I would argue that, after 1.5 years of running my own business, I am more of an expert than any fresh-out-of-Harvard-MBA, and I still don't know shit. Until you've felt the pain of firing someone, worrying about payroll, killing a partnership you've invested in, and more, you aren't an expert in business. Neither Techstars/YC nor Harvard make you an expert in anything, and the choice really comes down to what you want to do, and how long you want to spend preparing vs. actually doing something.
- suking 15y agoI had this choice as well (HBS or start company)... last company grew to 100+ people, learned stuff HBS will never teach you. If you want to be an entrepreneur 100% then be an entrepreneur. If you want to do VC, IB, consulting, C-level exec at F500 - HBS. Good luck. To each his own.
- kfalter 15y agoInteresting read especially for someone who is still in undergrad. One thing strikes me though: "though I suspect the brand cache of an MBA program will be longer lasting" I disagree. This is the modern industrial age. This is the time when 20 years from now, history books will look back and talk about the Carnegie and Rockefellers of our time. And when grade school kids are memorizing facts about important figures, Techstars and YC are going to be two of their vocabulary words. It will be the first time those schools of thought appear -- HBS will still always have a great reputation and its own prestige, but in the long term, the brand cache of TechStars and YC will leave a different, more unique mark in history. #justsayin :)
- RockyMcNuts 15y agoDave McClure's answer for you - http://www.businessinsider.com/dave-mcclure-startup-presentation-2011-7#get-used-to-hearing-people-crap-on-your-idea-and-get-comfortable-with-ignoring-them-5 http://www.businessinsider.com/dave-mcclure-startup-presenta... Or Orwell's answer about writing a book is relevant - "Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand." http://orwell.ru/library/essays/wiw/english/e_wiw http://orwell.ru/library/essays/wiw/english/e_wiw If you even have to think about it, don't do the startup.
- illeto 15y agoSample bias.
- masonhensley 15y agoAs someone who grew up around a few HBS grads (friends' parents), give it a shot. Also, one of my co-founder's parent's went to HBS, it comes highly recommended.
- larrys 15y agoTechstars means nothing to the rest of the world. And a Harvard MBA means everything to the rest of the world.
- rafaelc 15y agoTo this point, I have noticed that the further you get from Cambridge, MA the more graduating from HBS matters. In Cambridge, it's really not a big deal to be at HBS; throughout most of the USA it's pretty cool; in China, you're considered a rockstar. I'm not saying this makes sense, just sharing what I've observed anecdotally.
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- deltapoint 15y agoSee if you can defer your Harvard MBA for 1 year and try to do TechStars. That way you can try your hand at entrepreneurship and still have the Harvard MBA in your back pocket if things don't work out in a year. From the Harvard MBA website: How long can I defer my acceptance? Candidates should submit applications only for the year they plan to enter the MBA program. Postponements and deferrals are granted rarely and are considered on a case-by-case basis. So it is no guarantee that you can defer it, but if you can, I think the deferral route is the best option.
- swampthing 15y agoEvery school says that deferring is rarely allowed, but in my observation, it is fairly easy to get in reality.
- MenaMena123 15y agoI would think Harvard has more value than TechStars. Now if you said YC vs Havard, then its a big difference.
- rdl 15y agoMy answer would be "Stanford GSB or Y Combinator." (although probably I'd do YC out of college, maybe work for one or two other startups before or after, and then when acquired, do a GSB MBA -- the straight undergrad, associate, mba path seems horrible)
- johnx123-up 15y agoMy favorite from PG: The rulers of the technology business tend to come from technology, not business. So if you want to invest two years in something that will help you succeed in business, the evidence suggests you'd do better to learn how to hack than get an MBA. http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html
- serichsen 15y agoI suspect that any MBA "education" programme by itself is completely worthless. You need a scientific or engineering background to put meaning to the numbers and buzzwords.