Hey Entrepreneur – Please Don’t Get an MBA

This is woefully misguided. I'd much rather have a Harvard MBA and have access to that network than be a YC alum and have access to that network. A top MBA buys you instant credibility with business people (i.e. potential customers), it exposes you to the business needs of a wide variety of fields (i.e. potential products/services), and it gives you access to a wide variety of people who can help you out, not just with the ins-and-outs of running a startup, but with financial issues, management issues, legal issues, and the whole range of topics that affect a small business.

I also found one quote interesting because it reflects such a myopic view of entrepreneurship: "Despite everything learned about business in MBA programs only 5% of graduates go on to start a business upon graduation!" It seems that in the author's mind, the only potential entrepreneurs are fresh graduates (i.e. people who don't know anything about anything). Did it occur to the author that many people go into an industry, learn how it works and build a network, then start a business once they have a strong foundation in place? Maybe that's not how your typical web startup works, but there is a whole world of entrepreneurship beyond that niche.

After reading 95% of the books outlined in the "Personal MBA Reading List," I'd say this post is about 50% true. The first point about the knowledge you learn is wrong; an MBA curriculum has many more useful topics that an entrepreneur can use.

Learning how to develop a business plan, forecast financials, develop consistent methodologies for leading, etc., are all covered under an MBA curriculum (or, they were covered in depth in all the books I read), and all are valuable when it comes to running a company.

Starting a company up? Maybe not, but having a solid foundation to rely on once the revenue starts coming in is absolutely included in an MBA program.

That said, I mentioned the Personal MBA Reading List above; I made it a goal to read the entire list within 18 months and got pretty close. I started a company first, and went on my reading journey second, but if nothing else, the material helped validate what I was doing, and filled in a lot of gaps where I hadn't learned anything experientially.

As someone who actually has my MBA (and is finishing my MS in Computer Science), I disagree with this.

For example, in my MBA at the University of Colorado (CU), for:

#1 What you actually learn: there are a ton of startup/entrepreneurship classes: Startup Feasibility, Business Plan, Startup Execution, Entrepreneurial Projects, Entrepreneurial Finance, Entrepreneurial Marketing, just to name a few.

#2 In state tuition turns out to be around $25k/year. That's $50k total, which is 1/3 the cost stated (granted, CU is no ivy league).

#3 Making up what people actually do (agreeing to jobs for an additional +2 years) doesn't necessarily mean it's what everyone does.

#4 The right network. Boulder is the home of TechStars, The Unreasonable Institute, as well as a ton of other startups. It has a huge tech scene, outdoor industry, natural+organics, and green energy scene- all of which have a host of startups.

#5 Just because other people don't start businesses with their MBAs doesn't mean you can't.

I understand it's common for a lot of places like HN to dog on MBAs, but as an engineer who finished my MBA (but is staying an engineer), I think people underestimate some of the value of getting an MBA. Granted, it really depends on where you go, but there is such a thing as a good MBA.

This post is maybe the worst thing I've read on HN. Getting an MBA drastically shifted the way that I analyze and attack business problems. The vast array of tools it provides for decision-making has been invaluable during the process of building my company.

I worked while doing my MBA, because I had a job that I loved and the lost salary didn't make sense. To the author's credit, I went to a more traditional school and the vast majority of my peers were not interested in pursuing a career as an entrepreneur - most went the traditional route of Finance or Marketing. But I was there to learn Entrepreneurship & Business and it was irrelevant what to me what my peers focus and drivers were. I've been out 6 years and have built a nice company since graduating, but still rely heavily on the things I worked so hard to learn while getting the MBA.

The network can be beneficial, but if you are depending upon it for success as an entrepreneur, then you will be sadly disappointed. In short, more education is always good - even if you can't see the immediate and direct correlation to your current efforts.

Basically, the article says that an MBA will divert you away from entrepreneurship - ok that I can agree with, but not the "don't get an MBA" title.

There might be an education bubble. There might be an anti-education bias - especially here.

But even with the best online tools and classes, what you learn with a standard curriculum is just better - that's the sad truth, and it is even truer if you are a self directed learner and don't care about the grades.

Case in point - I got interested in economics and started reading books - then followed online courses and videos from prestigious universities and so on. Purchased textbooks, etc. I worked seriously, but I soon realized that the freedom to dig on subjects I thought worth investigating was mitigated by the lack of common knowledge expected for advancing my knowledge further.

You can look at that like a multiple dependancies problem - except that you don't know about these dependancies beforehand.

With a traditional class, you acquire the same vocabulary, the same comparison basis and so on - and that's priceless. I have started taking classes, and I now realize that. I learn about topics I would have never learnt on my own and I realize 'yes, they could be quite useful'.

Please realize I'm not even taking about the network or other benefits you may find in an MBA - just the actual knowledge.

I haven't done an MBA (yet?), but I guess most of the commenters here haven't either - and haven't even tried and given up (which would then be interesting to know).

So I wonder how they can judge about its pertinence. Before this experience, I was also imbued in delusions of "online learning that made everything possible". But there's a dependency ceiling - I've touched it. Personally, if I can enroll in one, I know I will.

Coming up next: "Hey Entrepreneur - Please Get an MBA"

I think your entire point is that you don't want an MBA and you are an entrepreneur - these two aren't related. An entrepreneur can definitely benefit from getting an MBA. Your 5% of MBA's start a business can probably be said about the same percent of the population, not many people really start their own business. Someone who plans to start their own business won't be any less likely to do so just because they got an MBA.

I'd argue that outside the snarky echo chamber of the Valley, and MBA is still considered a valuable signal. So your advice only holds true if you are dead sure you will always be an entrepreneur and never need a fallback position.

I had trouble getting past his claim that an MBA costs $100,000 per year. A quick search reveals that for HBS, tuition is $53,000 per year. Maybe he means the total cost of the degree is $100,000?

The author lost me at "much of the actual content of the program focus on corporate skills and how to network to get a job." He has obviously never been near a real MBA program. After having gone through core curriculum classes in Accounting, Marketing, Finance, Entrepreneurship (yes it's part of the core!), Leadership, Ethics, Operations, etc., this year I'm taking classes such as Entrepreneurial Finance, Financial Management of Small Firms, Founders Dilemmas, Launching Technology Ventures, Strategic Marketing in Creative Industries, Competing with Social Networks, etc. along with getting school credit for working on my startup.

I chose to go back for an MBA after 8+ years of a wonderful career because I knew there were significant holes in my knowledge that I wanted to address while simultaneously using it as a platform from which I could start a company. Yes, the alumni connections are wonderful and the school name does carry some weight in certain circles, but more than anything I love learning from faculty who are some of the great entrepreneurial thought leaders of our time and passionate students who genuinely want to create businesses with lasting value.

Of course it's crazy expensive and it's not a choice you make lightly but for me personally, it was the best possible way to become an entrepreneur. (The school actually gave us some funding/grants, allowed us to incubate on site, etc. Super supportive.)

Oh and I am considering applying to Y-Combinator/TechStars when I graduate because while I'll have a solid business foundation, there is still tons I need to learn about entrepreneurship.

I went to a Stanford MBA talk here in Austin TX this summer. They noted that upwards of 40-50% of their MBA alumni pursue an entrepreneurial endeavor at some point in their career.

For points #1, #4, and #5, it's a statistical fallacy.

#1 - MBA programs's are not focused on entrepreneurship but it doesn't negate that they have entrepreneurship courses. There is also a huge benefit to entrepreneurs in understanding business while creating new business, and in knowing exactly where and how your business idea fits in a "corporate structure". Not every startup is a consumer targeted mobile application.

#4 - Just because the network isn't 100% entrepreneurs does not mean you can't gain value from it. Similarly, unlike an incubator you are investing 1-2 years into an MBA, and build stronger relationships and ties within that network.

#5 - 5% entrepreneur rate of a large alumni network is still most likely larger than an entire incubator's alumni network.

For points #2 and #3, it's a personal choice on whether or not to make the investment. People differ by their risk averseness and in the amount of resources they have to invest, and unlike your bootstrapped startup an MBA sticks with you for life.

TL;DR: The MBA is your own investment to make, not Naysawn Naderi's.

I strongly contemplated pursuing an MBA as well and was largely put off due to most of the reasons you debate. I'm not sure the start-up experience can be described numerically or other ways MBA's are; I think the journey of a start-up warrants the highest commitment, focus, and openness/ability to learn, but is ultimately more valuable than any traditional course.

My MBA was paid for by the company I was working for. Does your calculus remain the same if someone is willing to foot the bill?

I've never wanted an MBA, but I do feel like there's also not any really good provider of the kind of useful practical information that you feel like you need to know in order to start a business, whether it has to do with business licenses or business plans or insurance or anything else related to starting a company.

I'm an MBA and startup founder. I wrote a response to this on my blog:

http://gozman.wordpress.com/2012/10/11/hey-entrepreneur-plea...

Hmmm...this post would hold more validity if it were written by someone who got an MBA. How can you comment on the value of the education and its pertinence to a startup, if you haven't gone through it and learned?

There are things you learn while pursuing a MBA that you will not learn anywhere else. Some of those things are highly relevant to being an entrepreneur. Maybe not at the very earliest building stages, but certainly if you make it past that point. Particularly in enterprise focused software companies. That said, there are many paths to achieving your goals - the key is to choose one and stay focused - be it a MBA or YC or any other program. We should all be grateful that any of these options are available to any of us - none of them seem bad to me.

I don't think a degree defines your success or failure in life (or business or school or anything).

I think you do. The type of person you are and how you affect yourself and others is what will lead you down the path to failure or success in your business, or any endeavor you embark on.

If it's a dream of yours to get an MBA, go get one. If you have no interest of ever going back to school, don't.

Either way, you can still achieve amazing things.

If you're interested in a do-it-yourself approach, I pulled all the books I could find from the HBS course catalog: [redacted]

To create a valuable product, though, you need to be around other people that are passionate about creating a solution to a problem. Maybe an MBA might not be good for this, but other graduate degrees might.

I would also argue that most MBA programs teach you how to create a company in the current flip environment - nothing that has longevity.

I know I can't be the only one who thought the title was initially referring to a Macbook Air. Apple's marketing has polluted my mind.