MBA builds app in less than 2 months
medium.com
medium.com
I'm glad that more traditionally non-tech people are being exposed to the wonders of programming. I'd be equally ecstatic if the title read 'English major builds app in less than 2 months.'
The usual characteristic that is brought up when somebody accomplishes something noteworthy given their background is time - 2 months in this case, a 12 year old person in another case.
Myself, I am not a MBA, but I related to this stereotype more than I relate to a hacker (I studied Economics and my carreer is on non-profit management). And I learned to code and created a web app, a B2C SaaS, in 5 months. From zero knowledge to publish the site to first sale in 5 months.
I would not put a lable like that on me, even less claim bragging rights on this, but I think both me and the author are good examples that people may easily and quickly change whole carreers that were decided when we were less than 20 years old. And that is a good think.
That a hacker may hustle and achieve to create a business from their code and a MBA may hustle and achieve to create a code from the business he imagined, are both sides of a new and welcomed coin. Why not celebrate them both?
*work in
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
[2] http://neutrinosllc.com/products/iphone/applications/babynam...
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.
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.
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.
We've all seen this, of course. As an MBA, it makes me chuckle. As an engineer it makes me sad. If there's one mindset that could be stand to be purged from the development world it is that developers are so damn smart.
The insecurity over intellectual capability is so strong in the software engineering profession that it's debilitating. Developers - get over yourselves. There are lots of smart people out there and they don't all look like you. Embrace this fact and you will be freed. Once you recognize that you cannot even define "smart", constructing your identity around being smart loses its luster.
I don't know any MBAs who speak like that, myself included. The only people I've encountered who speak like that are consultants and salespeople who don't have MBAs.
Having said that, I don't live in the USA, so maybe Americans with MBAs are a very different beast.
Just from my limited participation in this community, I sense that several other people are doing great things with limited resources.
It's great that the author accomplished so much, but he's not alone.
It originally said: Is Hacker School/App Academy/ect worth it? (MBA builds an app in less than 2 months)
And was posted to have a conversation about whether Hacker School and programs like that are worth it, letting people share their opinions. The MBA aspect was meant for context.
By editing the title to what it is above, the focus becomes something completely different.
Let's flip that to: Is B school worth it? (Engineer builds a business in less than 2 months).
I agree with what jmduke and damoncali had to say about this, but I'm pretty sure Hacker School provides a lot more value than the ability to build an iOS app in less than 2 months.
What's the point of business school?
What's the point of engineering school?
Software dev is reduced as easily to an overly simplistic implementation as business savvy is. I think we're making the same point.
But contrary to the MBA's are idiots stereotype, most MBAs don't flaunt their education or turn into "House of Lies"-style management consulting idiots after getting their degrees either.
In this case, I don't know if the author is only talking about building that one first app, apps in general or programming in general (probably just apps, I reckon). But if the audience is non-programmers who gets the impression that programming is just about "winging it" and that formal education is totally optional#, then it only offers a perspective from a very limited vantage point.
#this could be a valid opinion, but only really interesting to me if it came from an experienced programmer.
Edit: I see now that you were being sarcastic.
Hacker School is free. Essentially, it's a 3-month, self-directed program but you're surrounded by dozens of like-minded individuals and some incredibly talented veterans from the industry.
Few of these schools are free. Most supplement a course fee with a placement fee they receive by acting as your recruiter.
Hacker School doesn't take a segment of your earnings either. They try to get you a job at then end they take a recruiting commission from whoever hires you, but nothing from the student.
In fact, I don't know of a single school that does this. gSchool refunds your tuition if you don't find a job. Flatiron School refunds a portion if you take a job through one of their partners. No one, as far as I know, takes a portion of student's salary beyond the tuition.
I totally agree you DO NOT need to go to these programs. Everything that they teach is definitely out there for you to learn on your own. I started to get interested in this stuff last year working on a start-up/project and I like these schools for a couple reasons;
1. I get access to instructors. Because I am a "noob" I get flustered when I spend 2-3 hours looking for an answer. 65% of the time, Stackoverflow has the answer. But for the other 35% that needs an in depth examination, having an instructor 10 feet away from me for 9 hours a day is incredible.
2. Employer confidence. I believe the best way to get fucking good at this "craft/trade" if you will, is to be gainfully employed where you get paid to spend in excess of 40 hours a week working on your craft. There is no doubt you can get a job without these programs by teaching yourself, building some shit, making a nice github and applying for entry level/intern level dev jobs. But employers like seeing you came from these programs. It's a "stamp of approval" if you will. Companies take a chance on hiring junior devs, and these programs offer some piece of mind being "hey, this person was good enough to get in this program, and has spent 12 weeks being trained by these other qualified people".
3. Network. I have had the absolute pleasure of meeting 20 other incredibly smart, driven, talented, and fun people. I get to be surrounded, pushed, and inspired by these people everyday 5 days a week, 9-12 hours a day, for 12 weeks.
4. Teaching you how to learn. This is huge for me. People on the outside seem to say that these programs make people "one trick ponies" who only know how to do some rails CRUD app. But that is really not true. The biggest thing with this program (and others) is it teaches you how to learn this stuff. Rails will be gone in a couple years replaced by something new. All this shit is always changing; it's our job as web devs to stay on top of it, and adapt to survive. Skills like asking the right questions, reading documentation, where to go when you're stuck etc.
These are just some of the benefits I can think of off the top of my head. These are not for everyone, but it has helped me immensely and love doing this. It should also be noted, I am 21 and dropped out of school to go to this.
Edit; The title changed. Originally this comment was to note on the original title of "whether app academy/DBC/HR/Hacker School etc is worth it". My argument was for why I think, in my opinion, these programs are worth it. Didn't want this taken out of context.