The two serve a different purpose. No one thinks a Harvard MBA gives you an edge for bootstrapping your startup in your garage, and no one believes doing Techstars will help you run the division of a large corporation.<p>A better decision algorithm would be:<p><pre><code> 1) figure out what you want to do in the future
2) pick acoordingly
</code></pre>
If you want my take on MBA vs. entrepreneurship, I blogged here (<a href="http://blog.fairsoftware.net/2009/08/12/the-cheapest-mba-program-for-cs-students-costs-99-and-its-called-the-app-store/" rel="nofollow">http://blog.fairsoftware.net/2009/08/12/the-cheapest-mba-pro...</a>). Guess what: for entrepreneurs, taking the entrepreneurial route is better.
Dave McClure's answer for you -<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dave-mcclure-startup-presentation-2011-7#get-used-to-hearing-people-crap-on-your-idea-and-get-comfortable-with-ignoring-them-5" rel="nofollow">http://www.businessinsider.com/dave-mcclure-startup-presenta...</a><p>Or Orwell's answer about writing a book is relevant -<p>"Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand."<p><a href="http://orwell.ru/library/essays/wiw/english/e_wiw" rel="nofollow">http://orwell.ru/library/essays/wiw/english/e_wiw</a><p>If you even have to think about it, don't do the startup.
My favorite from PG:<p><pre><code> The rulers of the technology business tend to come from
technology, not business. So if you want to invest two
years in something that will help you succeed in business,
the evidence suggests you'd do better to learn how to hack
than get an MBA.
</code></pre>
<a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html</a>
Interesting comparison - but in reality, you can usually get the school to let you defer admission for a year. That will let you play things out a little so you can make the decision with more information.
See if you can defer your Harvard MBA for 1 year and try to do TechStars. That way you can try your hand at entrepreneurship and still have the Harvard MBA in your back pocket if things don't work out in a year.<p>From the Harvard MBA website: How long can I defer my acceptance?
Candidates should submit applications only for the year they plan to enter the MBA program. Postponements and deferrals are granted rarely and are considered on a case-by-case basis.<p>So it is no guarantee that you can defer it, but if you can, I think the deferral route is the best option.
My answer would be "Stanford GSB or Y Combinator." (although probably I'd do YC out of college, maybe work for one or two other startups before or after, and then when acquired, do a GSB MBA -- the straight undergrad, associate, mba path seems horrible)
I suspect that any MBA "education" programme by itself is completely worthless. You need a scientific or engineering background to put meaning to the numbers and buzzwords.
As someone who grew up around a few HBS grads (friends' parents), give it a shot.<p>Also, one of my co-founder's parent's went to HBS, it comes highly recommended.
When you graduate from a Techstars program you'll be an expert in Techstars and not much else although you'll probably have a good idea if this startup thing is something you'd like to do.<p>I cannot say the same thing for a person attending a two-year program, being exposed to both intensive and non-intensive graduate-level studies and acquiring knowledge through study and experience that an incubator cannot.<p>I'd recommend an incubator like Techstars to a [well-rounded] person with an undergraduate degree looking for a great start in this particular industry, but never in lieu of a Harvard MBA. Wouldn't even consider it.
Interesting read especially for someone who is still in undergrad.
One thing strikes me though:
"though I suspect the brand cache of an MBA program will be longer lasting"<p>I disagree. This is the modern industrial age. This is the time when 20 years from now, history books will look back and talk about the Carnegie and Rockefellers of our time.<p>And when grade school kids are memorizing facts about important figures, Techstars and YC are going to be two of their vocabulary words. It will be the first time those schools of thought appear -- HBS will still always have a great reputation and its own prestige, but in the long term, the brand cache of TechStars and YC will leave a different, more unique mark in history.
#justsayin :)
I had this choice as well (HBS or start company)... last company grew to 100+ people, learned stuff HBS will never teach you. If you want to be an entrepreneur 100% then be an entrepreneur. If you want to do VC, IB, consulting, C-level exec at F500 - HBS. Good luck. To each his own.