Ask HN: Would you get an MBA at the Technion? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Would you get an MBA at the Technion?

18 pointsbuildops26 comments

The Technion - Israel Institute of Technology has opened a new MBA program (in English, in Tel Aviv) featuring top professors from the Technion, London Business School, INSEAD and more focusing on managing technology ventures.

http://startupmba.technion.ac.il/

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Israeli universities are known for having great programs, I would imagine this program at the Technion is going to be very good.

That said, a huge part of business school is networking, so unless you're planning on being in Israel for your career, which, given it's policies is actually quite difficult for most demographics, it may not be the most practical move.

Finally, I think one needs to carefully decide for themselves where they land on the boycott debate. In the U.S., the shift is beginning, especially in academia. And academic boycotts have been supported internally in Israel. The Technion's connection to Israel's military complex is strong in absolute terms, and to come from abroad to attend such an institution is a very deliberate decision that probably implies where one lands on an intense political debate. A recent Israeli documentary expands on the broader issue: http://www.gumfilms.com/projects/lab

When you do an MBA focused on startups, why should you care about academia's fashionable political opinion on something?

Here's an MBA on startups: join an early startup and go along for the ride.

The corporate management / organizational concepts don't apply to tiny new companies. Financial analysis and accounting? You can learn to read cash flow statements after a quick online tutorial. Other than that delegate to a trusted and reputable CPA advisor.

No, I can get an MBA closer from home and cheaper. I don't really need the university brand name just how to run a business, it would be closer to CPA imo. Where you figure out what business type you want such as corp c, corp s, or lld. And where would you choose deleware to incorp or offshore to cayman island, etc...

I've seen Sanford and they seem to be gear toward startup and have a better grasp on it. They have a few guest speaker from industry and they're close to silicon valley, a few of video seems to be gear toward tech startup. Unfortunately, I doubt I would get into it and it's expensive, any CSU (California State) would do for me.

Yes - as a software engineer I would be interested in learning how to manage a business tailored to the field I would be most interested in managing a business in.

>> No. Getting an MBA is all about the contacts that you make.

Who's to say you wouldn't make the most relevant contacts for your business on this program.

A $130 million was recently donated to Technion to help improve a Chinese university: http://israeliamerican.org/news/technion-university-haifa-ge...

Also, Technion is partnered with Cornell to have NY City technical university. http://tech.cornell.edu/jacobs-technion-cornell-institute/ov...

What are your career goals that you think an MBA from there would either accelerate or open you up for?

I have like, 3/4 of an MBA from a fairly well known school. Has it helped me personally? Sure, I guess. Has it put me ahead of my peers at all? Eh, not really. TBH, unless it's a top 10 school, I don't think it's worth it, unless you have a scholarship.

That said, I haven't heard of Technion.

No. Getting an MBA is all about the contacts that you make.

No, part of the value of an MBA is the name behind the school you got it from. As well, in 20 years, will the degree be relevant?

>> No, part of the value of an MBA is the name behind the school you got it from. As well, in 20 years, will the degree be relevant?

Is any degree still relevant after 20 years?

I think for most people, 20 years of experience post-MBA are probably infinitely more valuable than the MBA itself.

Twenty years after a BA in Philosophy, I can unequivocally state that it is as relevant today as it was then.

Let me put it in a slightly different context. Do you still get asked about your degree in job interviews, 20 years after you got it?

I don't think that I've talked about my MBA (21 years ago) in an interview in more than 15 years. Sure, the letters are nice to have on your CV, but I've only been talking about my work experience in interviews for the longest time.

And, when I do interviewing myself, I rarely ask about the candidate's degree except for entry level positions, when the candidates typically don't have enough work experience to talk about.

This was, essentially, my point. Business Administration will always be relevant, but Business Administration for Startups is a little too focused. What happens when the startup fad is over?

>> This was, essentially, my point. Business Administration will always be relevant, but Business Administration for Startups is a little too focused. What happens when the startup fad is over?

I got my MBA 21 years ago. Practically speaking, nobody's going to ask you much about your MBA after about 5 years of subsequent work experience. After 20 years, it doesn't matter whether you've done a generalist program or one focused on startups, assuming you can even remember all of the stuff you learned 20 years ago. Let me put it this way, the technology course I took in my MBA -- it was a waste of time intro course that talked about paper tapes, Winchester drives, etc. Most of my peers didn't even know what e-mail was.

No matter what, the typical MBA program requires you to take a lot of common courses, so even if you're a Business Administration for Startups graduate, you're not at a significant disadvantage over the next MBA.

This isn't entirely true. An MBA from a lesser program still holds some value. If your goal is to get into a company like McKinsey, you're going to have to work a lot harder at selling yourself than you would at a top-tier program, but people's goals and desires vary.

No -- lack of name awareness. MBA is really only good for getting access to on-campus recruiters and graduate programs, as well as networking with peers (not really possible online). If I were to do an online MBA I'd probably do Imperial as I know several people who've done it.

Sure it would be fun. Meet some cool people, get a few nice letters. And Israel is cool. Like to spend more time in that part of the world.

One question I couldn't find the answer to -- how much?

According to this page, it costs $35,000 - (http://www.technionmba.com/tuition-and-scholarship/).

I think it's a little unfortunate that the Technion needs to write:

Not included: Airfare, airport transfers, housing, computer hardware and peripherals, medical expenses (medical insurance can be purchased separately), laundry, linens, souvenirs, additional trips and excursions per catalog, and personal spending money.

I'd tend to argue that if you think your MBA tuition covers personal spending money, you're likely not qualified to do the MBA, but I am much less patient than the mean...:)

Just FYI, you can get a $5000 scholarship, if you're accepted. Just tell them you saw it on Hacker News & you want the "Bring a Friend" scholarship.

And the copywriting of the website is very different than the program, which includes professors from Oxford, Columbia, LBS, INSEAD (Dan Kahenemann's thesis advisor!) and the Technion

Well, college is about people of a diversity of opinions, even I guess those who believe that their spending money is included...

For instance, I'm glad that auto insurance is included, since it isn't expressly prohibited :)

I think this is ideal for a non-technical person with business skills who want to connect to Israeli technical talent pool

No, I boycott Israel over their governments treatment of Palestinians.

I would guess this type of stuff is done in part to counter Israel's increasing international isolation because of the occupation stuff. I'm not sure I'd want to be involved in that type of stuff and just go elsewhere if I was interested in an international MBA.

The needs of the occupation drive a lot of research at Technion, understandably so:

http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/features/2014/11/9/the-tech...

Give me a break. That's like saying Cornell's Tech MBA was created to fuel America's military-industrial complex.

Israeli universities are pushing big into international collaborations of various types to counter efforts at isolating Israel because of its occupation policies. This isn't secret, it is a very conscious effort on the part of Israel's universities to counter the BDS movement:

https://english.tau.ac.il/vision/Shaoul_fund

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