There’s an interesting post on some dude’s (or dudette’s for that matter) posterous about MBA’s and start ups. The post starts off talking about a conversation that was overheard at some café in the valley where a couple of MBAs are going off about joining a start up and the fast lane to riches. The writer (or ghostwriter as the name of the blog suggests) goes off talking about the skills you need and how MBAs covet connecting rather then getting work done. It’s generated a couple of tweets and a lively discussion on the London Business School start up mailing list, so I thought I would comment.
Now let me say this first and foremost, I am an MBA so I’m a bit biased. And I’ve talked about this subject before and pointed to Mark Suster’s post on MBAs and start ups, which I really believe is a real must read for people thinking about MBAs and are interested in start ups / venture capital.
I know about 5 MBAs I went to school with who are either now working with or have started a start up. I know a bunch more that went to B school the last few years after myself and are doing the start up thing. I also know a couple of ex-Yahoo!’s who have left Yahoo! to start really successful, venture funded and in some cases acquired start ups who happened to have MBAs as well. There’s also a bunch of friends I have in North America who are MBAs who are working in or have started companies. So it is possible to have an MBA and do the start up thing well – in fact I believe that so strongly that I’m leaving Yahoo! in the next few months to do start my own company. Then there’s Loic Le Meur, Ballmer (though he left after one year at Stanford), Zuck might not have an MBA but bet your socks that Sheryl Sandberg does, and if you really want a list press me and I’ll put together a hundred start ups who have MBAs at the core.
An MBA can stand in your way as well. I remember hearing James Hong (who started Hot or Not) saying that he didn’t like saying he had an MBA because he was worried that people might think he was a prick (or something like that). A lot of MBAs have an ego problem. I remember being at B school, and I was working at the same time, and thinking “man, some of these people are really egotistical for not having done very much”. But then success breads ego so there’s not much you can do about that. There’s also the costs, doing a start up can mean having to take a reduced (if any) salary, and with a B school debt that can be difficult. There’s also age, coming out of B school people are in their late 20s early 30s and there’s pressure to have a family etc and doing that while working in a start up can be a difficult balancing act.
Here’s the solution that worked for me, I went to work for a big brand in a space I was interested in, I made some investments, I saved and I paid off debt – I was also lucky. Now I’ve got some runway. I’m able to leave the security of having a full time gig to go for it myself. I’m not saying that this is the only solution, but if you’re committed to doing the start up thing you can find a way.
A lot of people say you can’t teach entrepreneurship, I don’t prescribe to this theory. I agree that you can’t teach passion or tenacity, creativity or dedication, all of these things you need to be an entrepreneur, but you can teach fundamentals and the basics around starting a sustainable business and I do believe Business School can do a good job with this. The right Business school also does give you a solid network and this can help you succeed as well but it’s not a panacea, it doesn’t guarantee success or the right job in the right company – that takes hard work.
