Inventing for the Rest of Us

If you had read my posts from the last few years, you’ll see that I’ve been considering getting an MBA for a while. However, I debated with myself and discussed with others whether the cost was worth it or not for entrepreneurs. After searching and searching, I narrowed down my search to two programs:

• Babson University outside of Boston, MA – ranked #1 for their 1-year MBA in entrepreneurship by Entrepreneur Magazine for the last 17 years.
• The Acton MBA in Entrepreneurship in Austin, TX – a relatively new, radically different MBA program founded in 2002 by an entrepreneur and two ex-University of Texas MBA professors.

I decided that I wanted a one year MBA program, which both of them offered. There is not only a higher cash cost for attending a school for two years, but an even higher opportunity cost (because of what you could be making).

I researched and visited both programs, both of which were far superior to traditional Top 10 MBA programs that are great for corporate ladder climbers or future consultants, but useless for entrepreneurs.

Even though I received financial aid from Babson, I decided to choose Acton. Here’s why:

• Classroom environment. Although when I visited Babson I sat in the best classes with the best professors, Acton had a more engaging, energetic classroom environment. If you are the least bit interest in getting an MBA in Entrepreneurship, then visit Acton’s classroom and I guarantee it will blow you away.
• 100% of the classes at Acton are case method. I had been recommended by entrepreneurs that the case method is the only way to really learn what the real world is like. At Acton, when the teacher would ask a question, 10-20 hands would bolt up in the air to have the first chance to respond. It was just incredible how much energy there was in the classroom. Babson had a good number of case method classes, probably around the 50% mark.
• 100% of Acton students want to be entrepreneurs. Although 25% come in to Acton having founded a company and 40% start a company right after school, these statistics are much higher than the single digit percentages shown by other top entrepreneurial MBA programs. A good chunk of Babson students want to be entrepreneurs, but I’d put it in the <25% range
• Every Acton teacher is a full-time entrepreneur. This means they teach part time, which most schools and students would consider a turn off. But as an entrepreneur, it’s exciting. That means the teacher can bring in real world examples from his or her own business rather than just live on theory.
• Types of classes. Rather than arcane topics like Accounting or Organizational Management, at Acton I’ll be taking classes like Life of Meaning, where I’ll discover my innate strengths and interests, talk to successful entrepreneurs about what’s important in life, and learn how to contribute my skills and talents to the world. I’ll also be taking a class called Customers where we’ll practice sales techniques selling door-to-door. In our Operations class we’ll simulate and run real assembly lines. In the People class we’ll learn how to find, motivate, and keep the best people, investors, and partners.
• Philosophy. Although you may discount this reason, it was very important for me. Over 99% of businesses in the US are started by bootstrapping, credit card debt, and friends and family. Why then do most programs (including Babson), continue to focus on venture capital and private equity backed businesses? Acton believes that good business is one that generates internal cash flow, thus doesn’t need investors. This was a very important philosophy to me because I don’t want VCs meddling in my business (if I wanted a boss I’d go get a job). Acton also had some other philosophies I believed in, including that every business is made up of only two parts: Sales or Operations. Also, yes writing a business plan can be helpful, but what’s more important is execution. Then why do so many schools focus on business plan competitions?

When I was making my decision, here were the concerns I had about attending a relatively new program:

• Reputation. Babson did have a much better, and longer, reputation than Acton. But as an entreprenur, what matters most? The pedigree of your institution or your track record. I decided it would be my track record that would attract investors, partners, and employees, but the pretty piece of paper on the wall.
• Cost. A really tough part of this decision was because of the fact that Babson would have been cheaper with the financial aid. However, after talking to friends and family, I decided that the difference of $10-$20k spread over a lifetime is minimal, especially when you consider that if I learned one important concept at Acton that I wouldn’t have at Babson, that one concept could make me millions as an entrepreneur.
• Workload. Acton is known for its ultra intense workload of 100+ hours per week (I thought I could get by with less but after talking to several alumni they say its impossible). I was and still am worried about this, but that’s the price of cramming 2 years of knowledge into 9 months. Had I gone to Babson, yes, I probably could have run my business(es) on the side. But now that I’m going to Acton I’ve had to train my team to grow without me.

Even when I wasn’t sure what to do, I decided that it was best for my entrepreneurial future to go with my gut, and so I went for Acton.

**As a closing remark, I’d like to point out that because I’ll be in Acton’s intense entrepreneur MBA program for the next 9 months, I probably won’t have much time to blog. Once I’m out of the program though I do have some big plans for this blog.

Bryan Daigle