4 ms·

I chose to do a two year MBA from Babson College from 2007-2009. I had worked at a medium-sized tech company for 3.5 years prior. My undergraduate degree is in

by bredren 13y ago

I chose to do a two year MBA from Babson College from 2007-2009. I had worked at a medium-sized tech company for 3.5 years prior. My undergraduate degree is in Computer Engineering. Today I run a startup. I have felt strong anti-MBA sentiment here and elsewhere in the startup community. Some VCs go out of their way to lampoon the idea of an MBA. If the author of this article has experienced a similar sentiment, it makes a lot of sense for this article to be titled this way. If the prevailing mode of thought is that MBAs aren't useful, or aren't technical, MBAs must present fact-based argument against this. I learned a ton about working with people, leadership, finance and organizational design in my MBA. I also learned to write Facebook applications[1], cooperated with a friend at Rice to release the first Baby Names iPhone application.[2] (I ran xcode on a hackintosh) I learned a ton about how to turn an idea into a real world thing. Sometimes things I learned during my MBA offers context to problems faced at startups. However, when I say that things I've learned during my MBA contributed to reasoning on a particular recommendation, I've learned this sometimes detracts from my arguments more than add. That is frustrating. [1] http://banagale.com/my-first-database-refactoring.htm http://banagale.com/my-first-database-refactoring.htm [2] http://neutrinosllc.com/products/iphone/applications/babynames/ http://neutrinosllc.com/products/iphone/applications/babynam...

slantyyz 13y ago
>> If the prevailing mode of thought is that MBAs aren't useful, or aren't technical, MBAs must present fact-based argument against this. As with anything, YMMV. My program overlapped heavily with content in my business oriented (but not actually business administration) undergrad social sciences degree. I didn't get nearly as much out of my program as my peers who came from sciences, technical or arts undergraduate programs did. I actually felt like my undergrad program was superior in many facets to the business school I attended. That's not to say I didn't get anything out of it, but I found most of the first year mandatory stuff to be of much lesser value than the second year optional courses I took.
martingordon 13y ago
> If the prevailing mode of thought is that MBAs aren't useful, or aren't technical, MBAs must present fact-based argument against this. Part of the problem (at least to the HN crowd), is that a lot of the problems MBAs solve can't be shared on Github and/or can't be shared outside of the company (because it would violate NDAs, trade secrets, etc) and so it seems that MBAs are worthless. I'm halfway done with my MBA (having come from the software development world) and one of the biggest adjustments I've had to personally make is to realize that I've gotten work done (and enjoy the associated sense of accomplishment) even if I don't have a set of commits to show at the end of the day.
- bredren 13y ago
  >a lot of the problems MBAs solve can't be shared on Github and/or can't be shared outside of the company (because it would violate NDAs, trade secrets, etc) and so it seems that MBAs are worthless. There is definitely something to this. While programmers do perform undocumented effort, at the end of the day they still have the opportunity to commit or push to production. In that sense, proof of work in manifested by looking at Github. Using email and phone calls alone a business manager can improve a key relationship or be influenced in a way that will lead to a major impact on a product's future, and there is just no way to express this in a similarly auditable fashion. Running the business of a startup is much about managing the flow of energy. Energy flows do not have line numbers. You can only feel the effects daily, or wait until a major milestone like a funding event or growth spurt to clearly evaluate success.

by bredren 13y ago

slantyyz 13y ago

>> If the prevailing mode of thought is that MBAs aren't useful, or aren't technical, MBAs must present fact-based argument against this. As with anything, YMMV. My program overlapped heavily with content in my business oriented (but not actually business administration) undergrad social sciences degree. I didn't get nearly as much out of my program as my peers who came from sciences, technical or arts undergraduate programs did. I actually felt like my undergrad program was superior in many facets to the business school I attended. That's not to say I didn't get anything out of it, but I found most of the first year mandatory stuff to be of much lesser value than the second year optional courses I took.

martingordon 13y ago

> If the prevailing mode of thought is that MBAs aren't useful, or aren't technical, MBAs must present fact-based argument against this. Part of the problem (at least to the HN crowd), is that a lot of the problems MBAs solve can't be shared on Github and/or can't be shared outside of the company (because it would violate NDAs, trade secrets, etc) and so it seems that MBAs are worthless. I'm halfway done with my MBA (having come from the software development world) and one of the biggest adjustments I've had to personally make is to realize that I've gotten work done (and enjoy the associated sense of accomplishment) even if I don't have a set of commits to show at the end of the day.

bredren 13y ago
>a lot of the problems MBAs solve can't be shared on Github and/or can't be shared outside of the company (because it would violate NDAs, trade secrets, etc) and so it seems that MBAs are worthless. There is definitely something to this. While programmers do perform undocumented effort, at the end of the day they still have the opportunity to commit or push to production. In that sense, proof of work in manifested by looking at Github. Using email and phone calls alone a business manager can improve a key relationship or be influenced in a way that will lead to a major impact on a product's future, and there is just no way to express this in a similarly auditable fashion. Running the business of a startup is much about managing the flow of energy. Energy flows do not have line numbers. You can only feel the effects daily, or wait until a major milestone like a funding event or growth spurt to clearly evaluate success.