Is an MBA worth it?
kylevanpelt.com
kylevanpelt.com
It's most useful when your field is heavily credentialed. HN tends to attract folks who look down on credentials and like to believe they'll succeed on merit, but the reality is that every success happens because somebody else believes you can do a job well, and in many fields, that somebody relies on very imperfect information. In philanthropy, for example, not having an MBA is basically a hard blocker for ever reaching a leadership position, because your job is to convince rich people you can deploy their money effectively. Many of her classmates are in middle-management positions at big companies, and advancement there is similarly restricted to those with credentials. I've heard that strategy consulting basically requires an MBA beyond the Associate level, because again, you are selling your perceived expertise to the client.
As an entrepeneur, though? I doubt it. I look at my girlfriend's coursework and the homework assumes you have 10x the information and 100x the resources that you actually have as a startup founder.
Does Bill Gates have an MBA?
I think he's doing well asking rich people for their money. Maybe not having an MBA isn't a hard blocker if you can show yourself to be exceptional in one way or another. Bill Gates is just one particularly famous example. There are many other non-MBA holding philanthropists—http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_philanthropists
I completed my MBA in 2006 while my school was shifting itself from the traditional aspects above to include a more entrepreneurial focus. If you asked me at that stage for a budding tech entrepreneur is there value in an MBA, the answer would mirror the position of the writer.
However, some schools have made significant strides in developing their programs and themselves to support entrepreneurs (or people who want to pursue that pass). I have been stunned in the way some schools now offer almost entire programs around entrepreneurship. Is that enough to overcome the cost?
I don't have an answer for that, but here are my thoughts: 1. Many, if not all of these programs, now have incubators/competitions as a part of the program with significant seed funding available 2. Similarly, many schools have developed networks with local VCs getting that initial access to funding and offer amazing access to coaching and angel investors 3. Maybe a little esoteric, but that 100k might give you that one piece of credibility/analysis etc that gets you that first round of funding, or helps you avoid that one mistake that could jeopardise you business and/or any funding you needed to keep your business running.
This is not an easy choice, but increasingly, some MBA programs do offer a LOT of value for the $100k
It is now everything else besides the coursework/books and framework of teaching that is now valuable for a budding entrepreneur: access to additional funding, VCs, and a structure to support you.
Indeed, and I may have been remiss in mentioning this before, for an entrepreneur, some MBA programs provide a very safe opportunity to pursue your initial idea. You have two years with a large amount of unstructured time, amazing resources (including funding) and typically a strong financial support network (feed, house, cloth you). At the end of your two years you can have built either a successful initial idea or indeed cycle through 2 or 3 ideas. And at the end? If you haven't made it, you will have a strong position to re-enter the workforce - with some great stories to tell.
That a MBA is purely coursework/books is very myopic.
1. Knowledge. Do you think the knowledge you'll be gaining in the program will be worthwhile to you immediately, in the long term, etc? What is the knowledge you want vs what you'll be getting, do they overlap enough (for example, most traditional MBAs don't focus on the problems that most start ups run into at first)? Is the knowledge your getting something you couldn't easily get on your own (for example is there a great professor from whom you want to learn, specialized knowledge that really requires classroom instruction, or is your learning style more suited to classroom instruction)?
2. Network. Is the network that is traditionally associate with the program a network that you want to be part of? Are many of them even in the field(s) you want to be in (linkedin has a good tool for this)? Is the network known to even be useful? Does the network include powerful people in the area of business you want to enter? Does the school leverage its network (i.e. do professors try to get internships at organizations, get important alumni to speak, etc)?
3. High pedigree. This one's pretty self explanatory. In the field you want to enter, will simply having a degree from this program open doors for you?
But do I think it would be worth it now, even if it were free? Probably not. You can accomplish a lot in two years of working.
Personally, I wouldn't take any education, unless I was passionate about it, regardless of the demand in the job offers. Follow your heart ;-)