David Lifson aka catepillarcowboy reblogged a great quote today from Mark Suster’s article regarding the utility of an MBA for start-ups and VC. Below is my humble comment to both the article and the great comment stream that included sage remarks from the inspiration behind the post, Chris Dixon.
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As a CS undergrad/MBA, I love this topic. There was a phrase at Wharton that went like this:
“The top third of the class works for the middle third of the class at companies started by the bottom third of the class.”
I have found this to be true, and it probably holds true in every MBA program and beyond. There is genius across the entire curve, it just needs to be discovered and cultivated. The best companies follow this also, with the biggest dreamers starting companies, being irreverent and contrarian, obsessively envisioning a plan toward an as yet invisible future. The middle executive management are social, politically adept, competent, comfortable being among the crowd and have the ability to both manage upward expectations and monitor downward execution . The top performers shun being managers, they are mental athletes with deep expertise and big brains better served at executing the kind of daily blocking and tackling and attention to detail necessary to make the organization tick.
So, being a visionary thinker, a rock-solid manager, or a brilliant talent really has a lot to do with your personality, risk appetite and relative irrationality, but pieces of paper signifying your ability to jump through pre-made hoops with alacrity can give clues. What problem space are you more insatiably curious about, what type of complexity inspires you; the unknown, the interpersonal, or perfection? Know that they can all be leaders, and the best companies have a balance of all of them.
Now for the humble advice. If you know you want to be an entrepreneur or work at a startup, be honest with yourself about the opportunity cost of an MBA which is well beyond lost wages and tuition. It the time and energy involved in managing persistent uncertainty. What people have ignored in the above comments is that an MBA allows dreamers time and a high density of the other two types of people necessary for valuable feedback to develop your idea. Ignore your school’s recruiting game for the most part as you are blazing your own path and need to focus. Use that time to craft your idea. If anything, any degree is an insurance policy allowing you to swing for the fences a little longer than you might have been able to otherwise, but remember: the better the school, the longer you have at bat (generally), so choose wisely.Thanks, and great comment.
I think this leads into an interesting discussion on the types of leaders who would be successful at replacing the founding CEO.
One of my ethics professors had a similar sentiment about his students and it went along the following:
Be nice to your A students, because they will thank you in their doctoral dissertation.
Be nice to your B students, because they will help you with yours.
Be nice to your C students, because they will be the ones who donate millions to the university.
