HSE does well in FT's global EMBA rankings

What's the benefit of an EMBA vs an MBA? I thought the EMBA was aimed at the management of biggish firms whereas the MBA is more aimed at junior managers. Perhaps entrepreneurs wanting to found a company and then leave after a few years might be better suited to the MBA. What do you think?

Taneli said, "[...]one of the best things to do during such a time is to get your degree done, if you haven't already. If things don't look so bright in your startup career: to back to school for a few years and come back with a vengeance when things are looking up again."

I could not disagree more!

Let me quote Paul Graham here:

"what matters is who you are, not when you do it. If you're the right sort of person, you'll win even in a bad economy. And if you're not, a good economy won't save you. Someone who thinks 'I better not start a startup now, because the economy is so bad' is making the same mistake as the people who thought during the Bubble 'all I have to do is start a startup, and I'll be rich.'"

Why I personally believe it's actually better to start a startup when the economy is not at its best is, as Graham also attests, because there is less competition in the market. Let me quote again:

"Another advantage of bad times is that there's less competition. Technology trains leave the station at regular intervals. If everyone else is cowering in a corner, you may have a whole car to yourself.

...

[Y]ou're buying stock with work: the reason Larry and Sergey are so rich is not so much that they've done work worth tens of billions of dollars, but that they were the first investors in Google. And like any investor you should buy when times are bad."

So, I believe, that if you want to go to a Grad School to do an MBA, do that. But if you want to start a company and happen know the right people to do it with, the MBA does not get you one bit closer to to your goal. Quite the opposite, it makes you frustrated as you are postponing the thing you really want to do.

So it all depends on who you are and what you want, but given that you're reading Taneli's blog (which is one of the better ones out there), I'm guessing you're at least a little interested in setting up a company if you haven't already (this means also all of you VCs who really want to run one of those successful companies, but are too afraid to take the risk). Thus, my advice to you is that you should go for it(!), regardless of what the stock market might look like.

That said, I might myself do an MBA one day. But if that day comes, that's what I really want to do on that given day. I certainly won't do it to play time if all I really want to do is start a company.

See Paul Graham's article here: http://www.paulgraham.com/badeconomy.html

Fair answer =) Still, I believe that doing an MBA if one does not have her stuff quite together yet, might be an OK move for one's CV ...but only if being an 'OK' is what you want to become. No better (even if a bit painful at times) way to figure out what you wanna do than trying it out. The lessons you learn are priceless.

Secondly, the opportunity cost shoots up as soon as you have the high prestige, Kellogg's business school MBA graduation diploma and a salary of mind boggling 345,159 USD waiting for you. In that situation it takes a one strong mind to try something that all your family and friends say is complete insanity. If you're a going to set up a business it will more in the lines of 'Let's set up a luxury hotel franchise just as I just have learned going through those 500 case studies with my fellow Harvard grads' (http://www.hbs.edu/research/case_method.htm).

What happens to you (or at least to most of us) is two fold:

1) After those 500 Case Studies, you think that you know the best course to take. A big mistake! You'd have to unlearn what works, because if your starting assumption is that you know works based on what has worked previously (Case studies anyone?), you are unlikely to try anything new which many times means also completely crazy on the face of it.

2)Like I said before, the opportunity cost is just too big. Nobody wants to throw away a hard earned and expensive MBA degree from an Ivy League school that has ranked in the top X in eg. FT's Global Ranking, let alone do something totally off the wall that they could've done even without any MBA. Add here the fact that the economy is still stagnating after the downturn (remember we went to the grad school went it all collapsed) and you remember what is was eating that macaroni and cheese for two years in the university and now McKinsey is offering you a Associate position with a three figure salary and a social status to go with it.

Where all this leads to is that you mind end up being the VP Marketing or even the CEO of the country's third largest super market chain, but you will never be the guy who changed everything for better. It is highly unlikely that you will be that guy whatever you do, but by taking the McKinsey route you won't even have a shot at it. And 'having a shot at it' is what makes the life interesting. See what I mean =)

This is a very useful blog for students. It has all the educational stuff. EMBA is really good & beneficial for students.

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Jane
WOW Gold