College Startups: The 'New Master's Degree' | Hacker News Reader

College Startups: The 'New Master's Degree'

businessweek.com

17 pointsquizbiz15 comments

"...New MBA Degree" may be a better title.

There are still plenty of subjects where getting a Masters degree or even a PhD is the gateway to learning more thoroughly about that particular field/subject.

Indeed. If you are an undergrad looking to become a data scientist or even wanting to found a big data, machine learning, etc. company, starting a company with a BS in CS is not a better path than going to grad school.

I'm a BBA undergrad that started a limited liability corporation. We were given the extraordinary opportunity to present our budget to the Executive Committee of University's Board of Trustees. But trying to find a quarter of a million dollars from my own alma matter isn't easy.

http://www.universitycollaboration.com :)

I'm not sure how this is relevant to my parent comment.

Also, some unsolicited feedback:

* The product page keeps jumping between campusbubble.com and universitycollaboration.com

* The "Try Demo" asks the user to click on the contact us link that takes you to the contact page. The "Beta Test" page also links to the contact page. Essentially there is no way of "trying out" what the product does for something that has been in development since 2011.

* The left column on the "Try Demo" page has two deadlinks instead of previews.

* And as a (recent) former student, I am not sure the value the product provides to students over much simpler solutions (such as: facebook groups, r/mycollege, group texting apps for study groups, pizzza.com, etc). Good luck regardless.

I fixed things thanks to you! :) Would you use www.emorybubble.com/preview if you were an alum?

Indeed! MBA was meant to train junior managers from big co's. It's objective was to train them to do better management with things like people, operations and finances. Nowadays, getting MBA means changing career or shortcut to entrepreneurship for lot of folks.

But startups also require people management, operations, and finance skills.

Very hard to argue with real experience. Having to make payroll goes a lot further than a strategy class or term paper.

The article doesn't address whether working in a fast-changing unstructured environment is right for you. Some people are genuinely in their element in a startup. Others are happier in a more predictable environment. Some were meant to be in academia, or whatever.

Finding the right match for you is more important than making a billion dollars, getting a Master's degree, or whatever other analogies they make.

Nice! Shout out for my current school, Emory University! Too bad my startup wasn't mentioned.

Yeah this sounds much better than, actually learning to create something with your two hands. Whether that's a building, vehicle or software.

> A desire to make a difference in the world

Yea, coat checks and and t-shirts ... I can feel the impact.

I know the guys that did the iPad work for the coatchex system. I questioned then along similar lines. I realized I wasn't thinking wide enough. I don't want to speak about something that might have been off the record... But let me pose this. You can get information from anything. That information may be more valuable (to others) than you may think.

I didn't question their viability as a business.

That'a true, you didn't. And I do agree that they aren't doing anything more important than marketing.

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