I have an MBA as well. My background is similar to yours - a developer with an MBA, but certainly a developer first - and I would have agreed with your comment

I have an MBA as well. My background is similar to yours - a developer with an MBA, but certainly a developer first - and I would have agreed with your comment if Dalton had said that startups should never hire MBAs. However, he merely said that it is a negative hiring signal, and on this point I must agree with him. For a good majority of MBAs I know, the degree is either a way to move into a business-oriented role, or a way to get out of their current field and into something else (usually from tech, into banking or consulting). There is nothing wrong with that, but it's not exactly an entrepreneurial mindset, which is what you want at a startup. If a company doesn't hire me just because I have an MBA, but am a great fit otherwise, I would consider it their loss. If they consider my MBA a negative signal that turns out to be insignificant once they get to know me better, I would certainly understand their initial mindset.