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To follow up to the parent, there is a lot more to B-school then just to network. From common MBA-bashing that takes places on HN it seems that that many people

To follow up to the parent, there is a lot more to B-school then just to network. From common MBA-bashing that takes places on HN it seems that that many people fail to grasp the difference between building a product and building a company. If you want to build a product - MBA may not be necessary, but if you want to build a good company, an MBA will be a great help along the way. With all aspects of running a business covered in one class or another, you at least have an understanding of the issues you'll run into. An MBA doesn't provide you a road map, it gives you a framework of how to approach business questions and an understanding how simple decisions cascade down to all aspects of a company (hr, accounting, operations).

ajaycancherla 15y ago
To each his own. An MBA helps some people - the network is powerful coming out of schools like HBS and SBS. At the same time, a determined entrepreneur can create his own network and wow people with a great product.
edcastano 15y ago
Nice point. You can build a great ruby site without Rails, but Rails gives you a nice framework to make the process easier. Similarly, you can build a business without an MBA, but an MBA gives you a convenient framework to help with important decisions.
- ajaycancherla 15y ago
  True. Good point. So it comes down to - which type of person are you? I stick by my original point - YC is the new grad school. MBA's learn all the theory of business, and YC throws you right into it. There's no better way to learn.
plinkplonk 15y ago
"but if you want to build a good company, an MBA will be a great help along the way." An easy way to see if this is statistically valid, or just something that MBAs tell themselves, is to make a list of 'good' companies (by your personal definition of 'good') and see if the folks who built them had MBAs. The results might be surprising (either way).

ajaycancherla 15y ago

To each his own. An MBA helps some people - the network is powerful coming out of schools like HBS and SBS. At the same time, a determined entrepreneur can create his own network and wow people with a great product.

edcastano 15y ago

Nice point. You can build a great ruby site without Rails, but Rails gives you a nice framework to make the process easier. Similarly, you can build a business without an MBA, but an MBA gives you a convenient framework to help with important decisions.

ajaycancherla 15y ago
True. Good point. So it comes down to - which type of person are you? I stick by my original point - YC is the new grad school. MBA's learn all the theory of business, and YC throws you right into it. There's no better way to learn.

plinkplonk 15y ago

"but if you want to build a good company, an MBA will be a great help along the way." An easy way to see if this is statistically valid, or just something that MBAs tell themselves, is to make a list of 'good' companies (by your personal definition of 'good') and see if the folks who built them had MBAs. The results might be surprising (either way).