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The 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 Techst

The 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 ago
Startups founded by Harvard MBA alumni: Direct Hit+ Gilt Group* Hunch Starent* Viglink Yelp+ Zynga* + Valued at over $500m * Valued at over $1bn
- davidw 15y ago
  Former 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 ago
    No, 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 ago
      No 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 ago
        How many $100m startups did Harvard produce in its first 5 years of founding?
        ig1 15y ago
        We'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 ago
        I'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 ago
        totally 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.
        ig1 15y ago
        Not if your trying to pick one over the other, we're not making some abstract theoretical comparison here about the fundamentals of the two programs. If Harvard is better at producing startups than TS, regardless of the reason (alumni, experience), then Harvard would actually be a better choice than TS for someone looking to found a startup.
  - feral 15y ago
    The 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 ago
  The guy who actually started Gilt Groupe, Kevin Ryan, got his MBA at INSEAD. Not that it changes your point much.
  - ig1 15y ago
    There were three cofounders at Gilt, the other two Alexandra Wilkis Wilson and Alexis Maybank were both Harvard MBAs (where they met).
damoncali 15y ago
That'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.

ig1 15y ago

Startups founded by Harvard MBA alumni: Direct Hit+ Gilt Group* Hunch Starent* Viglink Yelp+ Zynga* + Valued at over $500m * Valued at over $1bn

davidw 15y ago
Former 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 ago
  No, 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 ago
    No 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 ago
      How many $100m startups did Harvard produce in its first 5 years of founding?
      - ig1 15y ago
        We'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 ago
        I'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 ago
        totally 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.
        ig1 15y ago
        Not if your trying to pick one over the other, we're not making some abstract theoretical comparison here about the fundamentals of the two programs. If Harvard is better at producing startups than TS, regardless of the reason (alumni, experience), then Harvard would actually be a better choice than TS for someone looking to found a startup.
- feral 15y ago
  The 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 ago
The guy who actually started Gilt Groupe, Kevin Ryan, got his MBA at INSEAD. Not that it changes your point much.
- ig1 15y ago
  There were three cofounders at Gilt, the other two Alexandra Wilkis Wilson and Alexis Maybank were both Harvard MBAs (where they met).

damoncali 15y ago

That'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.