Comments on: Is an MBA Worth It for Entrepreneurs?

By: mba

mba — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 23:54:00 +0000

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By: entrepreneurs

entrepreneurs — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:27:51 +0000

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[...]Is an MBA Worth It for Entrepreneurs? | Inventing for the Rest of Us[...]…

By: Gio

Gio — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 05:53:26 +0000

I’m in the middle of getting my MBA now. First, let me say that its not true that only a top school’s degree is valuable. I’m attending a state college and in my view, am getting a very good deal for the dollar. True, my school is not as well known as HBS, Wharton, etc. and when it comes to on campus recruitment I don’t have the same benefit as my colleagues at those schools. But the quality of education that I’m getting is fantastic, and I have met quite a few interesting people that has already been a big benefit to me.

That said, I don’t think you should get an MBA unless you are really sure it adds value to what you want to do. It is a pretty serious commitment, and if you do it you want to invest yourself fully into it. If you don’t have a business background, like myself, its probably a good idea if you want to start a business. You gain some very healthy perspective. Also, the analytical skills you get from a program that focuses on case study, as well as the people skills you get from working with teams (and learning from their work experience) can also be a very big benefit. You can read books on your own of course, but the context of a classroom experience can add a lot. This is why I think getting an online MBA is likely a big waste – you miss one of the key benefits to the brick and mortar experience. Besides, there’s this misconception that just because an MBA is online its less work and lets you be at home. You are certainly able to be at home, but you’re very busy at the same time reading and doing assignments, so you’re not really available.

Stick to an AACSB accredited school, select a program that does case study and forces you to work in groups, select the best teachers you can get, and it can work out quite nicely.

By: Infographic: Is an MBA worth it? Here are the numbers. | InfographicKing.com

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 02:48:13 +0000

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By: Hugo

Hugo — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:36:29 +0000

I had exactly the same concern about 2 years ago. I already had started 3 companies before and I was sure I didn’t want an MBA as a way to get a job, but I did want to learn some valuable things to run my business better. I also wanted to be surrounded by other entrepreneurial minded people, so the networking would be more valuable for me. I kept being frustrated by many programs that promised entrepreneurial education but where mostly academics teaching theory about Entrepreneurship. I was almost convinced that an MBA was not for me until I found out about The Acton MBA http://www.actonmba.org.

After I did some research on it, I was fascinated by both the Curriculum and the Teachers. The Curriculum is totally designed around the entrepreneurial cycles and the tools you need in each of them. The Teachers are all incredibly successful entrepreneurs.
I went to Austin to do the full year program and I finished last May. I can tell you I don’t regret any second of it. It was a very intense year (100 hour weeks), but I did get all I wanted from it.

Since it is only one year, the opportunity cost is lower than most other MBAs. And the other great thing about it, is that it has a fellowship that if you get it, you pay back the tuition with 10% of your future earnings until you have paid the full tuition. This is very convenient for an entrepreneur since you are not bound to a fixed payment but rather a result based payment. It is also a great demonstration of how Acton trust their education will lead you to success.

I have now started a new company with two of my Acton classmates. I highly recommend Acton for people who are serious about entrepreneurship.

By: samarth cs

samarth cs — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:01:10 +0000

i have got a family business,right now maintained by my father.i am a bit confused whether to take part in any family business mba programmes or not.i just wanted to know whether it is worth to join some or get involved in my father’s business right after the graduation.i got a valuable information from u.

By: Solomon

Solomon — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 02:57:18 +0000

I am wrestling with similar thoughts as you guys. I graduated almost 3 years ago with a B.S. in Business Marketing, I have had a few useful internships along the way but I have worked with my family entrepreneurial business since I graduated. I have learned a fair amount of info in real estate development, managing people, construction, international business, wind development, marketing, some finance and some stocks etc, more so then I would have EVER learned if I had worked at a corporation right out of college or for someone else. This is because I simply have access, and make decisions that it in a corportaion it would require an MBA degree and about 5 years more working experience than I currently have. Looking through a “vacuum” so to speak my life is set. BUT.. I haven’t done much investing on my own yet, and Im still wondering if getting an MBA is worth it for me. I think the networking would be outstanding, I love learning and I hope to learn more and broaden myself more within the “business context”… But is that worth the opportunity cost??? What do you guys think?? I’d really appreciate your input!

By: Daigle

Daigle — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:42:50 +0000

Great points. But if you were presenting to investors, you’d have to admit that waving around your MBA would give you a better chance of them believing in you. In my opinion, online degrees are worthless because the two best benefits of getting an MBA is the networking and the value of the piece of paper you get at the end (worthless if it’s online). Seems like the better route would be an evening MBA. Thanks for chiming in guys.

By: Chip

Chip — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:03:08 +0000

Good question, I would have to say in this job market, it is only good for Online Universities convincing people to go back to school because what else are you going to do? As far as an Entrepreneur needing or wanting an MBA, no because risk takers don’t need titles and I’m not too sure there are many examples of those risk takers who pimped their advanced degree because it got them somewhere.

By: sruback1

sruback1 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:05:05 +0000

I had the same debate with myself, and I decided to go to the school of technological entrepreneurship at Northeastern University. From their website: “The nation’s first stand-alone school providing real-world experience to ensure today’s aspiring entrepreneur is driving tomorrow’s technological innovation.” Check it out at http://www.northeastern.edu/ste/welcome.html. Get a masters degree in what you want to learn about, entrepreneurship, build your business while there.