What does an entrepreneurship program in a b-school teach? And if you go the entrepreneurship route after b-school what if your business fails---how do you pay off loans?
bottomline---is b-school even worth it for someone looking to be an entrepreneur? any input?
GMAT Forum
3 postsPage 1 of 1
- MBA Mission
Re: entrepreneurship program question
Thank you for your inquiry.
The answer to your question really depends on your skills and confidence level. While many argue that entrepreneurship cannot be taught, I think that what they really mean is that some people have the inherent creativity and confidence to come up with ideas and others do not. I would agree with that statement. Nonetheless, those who are creative and possess ideas can be steered clear of mistakes via cases/speakers/mentors and via a fundamental general management education which provides knowledge of accounting, finance, strategy, etc. It is quite possible that someone can possess a million dollar idea and not really understand how to execute. Further, some programs have incubators on campus, which can provide legal and financial resources and managerial expertise to students - resources which have obvious benefits.
So, if you have the general management background and don’t need additional resources, you may want to launch your entrepreneurial dream without your MBA. However, if you have an idea and want to learn to avoid "rookie" mistakes and build a company, it very well might be useful. As for the question of personal finances, it really is a question of risk reward.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission
www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission
The answer to your question really depends on your skills and confidence level. While many argue that entrepreneurship cannot be taught, I think that what they really mean is that some people have the inherent creativity and confidence to come up with ideas and others do not. I would agree with that statement. Nonetheless, those who are creative and possess ideas can be steered clear of mistakes via cases/speakers/mentors and via a fundamental general management education which provides knowledge of accounting, finance, strategy, etc. It is quite possible that someone can possess a million dollar idea and not really understand how to execute. Further, some programs have incubators on campus, which can provide legal and financial resources and managerial expertise to students - resources which have obvious benefits.
So, if you have the general management background and don’t need additional resources, you may want to launch your entrepreneurial dream without your MBA. However, if you have an idea and want to learn to avoid "rookie" mistakes and build a company, it very well might be useful. As for the question of personal finances, it really is a question of risk reward.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission
www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission
gt7er Wrote:What does an entrepreneurship program in a b-school teach? And if you go the entrepreneurship route after b-school what if your business fails---how do you pay off loans?
bottomline---is b-school even worth it for someone looking to be an entrepreneur? any input?
- MBAApply
Having gone through an entrepreneurially oriented courseload when I was in b-school and having run a VC-backed startup post-MBA for a while, here's my view.
Running an entrepreneurial venture takes a combination of brains, heart, guts and luck.
You need the brains to absorb the knowledge and know-how necessary to avoid making stupid decisions (or at least make the most informed decisions and actions given the limited info you have).
You need the heart to have passion for what it is you're selling - you can't just sleepwalk like you can in a regular job sometimes.
You also need the guts to get through the inevitable tough times. Every venture goes through times where it's on the verge of going belly up, when things just look BAD. Like anything, there's good and bad times, but in an entrepreneurial venture it's magnified. You need the thick skin to get through crap that happens.
And finally, you need luck - being at the right place at the right time. Selling the right product at the right time. You can't really time this. Your product happens to meet customer demand when it happens to be really growing - if you're an industry pioneer, it's not about being first (because chances are the first guy is too early), but being early while learning from the first or second guy's mistakes. And not being too late in the game either.
Anyhow, the MBA only gives you knowledge. It can't give you heart, guts or luck. Knowledge is important, but it's not any more important than the other three.
Having said that, going to b-school can be valuable if you don't have much of a business background. B-schools will talk about "entrepreneurship" programs but in reality, it's really just a repurposed general management program. In other words, so long as you go to a good school that is able to teach you the core business disciplines of finance, accounting, marketing, operations, strategy, organizational behavior and so forth in an integrated manner, that's what really matters. Because business is business - the core knowledge you need is the same whether you're working for a large company or a small one. Big or small company, the interaction between assets, liabilities and equity on a balance sheet don't change - accounting is accounting. Fundamental marketing frameworks and principles (price, place, product and promotion; market research, competitor analysis, etc.) are the same. It's the application of such knowledge and the circumstances that are different - and in my view, that is something you can't really teach. How you apply such knowledge is something every entrepreneur learns on their own. In entrepreneurship oriented courses, the big wrinkle is that the examples or case studies used are focused on startups -- and you'll oftentimes get entrepreneurs themselves come to class to run cases or as guest lecturers about their own experiences and lessons learned. That can be valuable, but in my view not absolutely necessary so long as you have the core knowledge of a strong general management curriculum.
However, having been through both the educational aspect and the actual experience of it, the knowledge can help prepare you, but you'll learn the most by actually doing it.
Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com
Running an entrepreneurial venture takes a combination of brains, heart, guts and luck.
You need the brains to absorb the knowledge and know-how necessary to avoid making stupid decisions (or at least make the most informed decisions and actions given the limited info you have).
You need the heart to have passion for what it is you're selling - you can't just sleepwalk like you can in a regular job sometimes.
You also need the guts to get through the inevitable tough times. Every venture goes through times where it's on the verge of going belly up, when things just look BAD. Like anything, there's good and bad times, but in an entrepreneurial venture it's magnified. You need the thick skin to get through crap that happens.
And finally, you need luck - being at the right place at the right time. Selling the right product at the right time. You can't really time this. Your product happens to meet customer demand when it happens to be really growing - if you're an industry pioneer, it's not about being first (because chances are the first guy is too early), but being early while learning from the first or second guy's mistakes. And not being too late in the game either.
Anyhow, the MBA only gives you knowledge. It can't give you heart, guts or luck. Knowledge is important, but it's not any more important than the other three.
Having said that, going to b-school can be valuable if you don't have much of a business background. B-schools will talk about "entrepreneurship" programs but in reality, it's really just a repurposed general management program. In other words, so long as you go to a good school that is able to teach you the core business disciplines of finance, accounting, marketing, operations, strategy, organizational behavior and so forth in an integrated manner, that's what really matters. Because business is business - the core knowledge you need is the same whether you're working for a large company or a small one. Big or small company, the interaction between assets, liabilities and equity on a balance sheet don't change - accounting is accounting. Fundamental marketing frameworks and principles (price, place, product and promotion; market research, competitor analysis, etc.) are the same. It's the application of such knowledge and the circumstances that are different - and in my view, that is something you can't really teach. How you apply such knowledge is something every entrepreneur learns on their own. In entrepreneurship oriented courses, the big wrinkle is that the examples or case studies used are focused on startups -- and you'll oftentimes get entrepreneurs themselves come to class to run cases or as guest lecturers about their own experiences and lessons learned. That can be valuable, but in my view not absolutely necessary so long as you have the core knowledge of a strong general management curriculum.
However, having been through both the educational aspect and the actual experience of it, the knowledge can help prepare you, but you'll learn the most by actually doing it.
Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com
3 posts Page 1 of 1