Are MBAs Necessary for Start-ups or VC?

A guy I really look up to (A VP of Engineering type of guy with a lot of startup experience) said once:<p>"At a startup, you need people who build shit and you need people who sell shit. IF you succeed on those fronts, eventually you might need people to manage/organize shit."<p>Time and again I see startups with technology that's inferior to their competition kick ass because they have a salesgod out there getting early customers or bizdev relationships. But I don't think an MBA is ideally suited for this role-- in fact, I think they've probably been well trained to manage/organize shit and wouldn't lower themselves to a cold call/email.

I'd even say MBA's are often detrimental to those entering startups.<p>1. It's expensive, increases the need for a low-risk/ high-pay job (i.e. consulting) once you graduate<p>2. As the article says, it increases expectations wrt. compensation, but also authority (most MBA's wouldnt want to start out as entry-level biz dev as a startup).<p>3. You don't learn enough about technology businesses.<p>Overall, an MBA doesn't help you "get" startups, but often convinces you that you do.

Really, an MBA is only "necessary" for a middle-management position at a large corporation, where it's the standard entrance ticket. Everywhere else, you can get by without it. Clearly in technical circles, people see little value in the degree.<p>That's not quite the same thing as saying the the degree <i>has</i> no value though. I think the jury is still out on that one. I think it can be easily argued that "stupid business tricks" are an important area of specialty, with lots of subtlety. Not knowing those tricks is going to put your startup at a disadvantage in some situations (as other point out though, that probably doesn't include early stage development). And there's probably a lot you can learn in a classroom about that stuff. So I'm not going to condemn the MBA without evidence.

Start ups require balls, time, money, and a good idea.<p>Everything else can be hired.

Even the MBAs I know say not to bother with the MBA.

No.

You can be the greatest web programmer in the world, but if you cannot develop and articulate the ideas that are in your head, you have nothing. Thats what I learned among other things when getting my MBA. I learned how to think in the terms of taking a new idea from idea to reality, and making it a success.<p>I greatly appreciate the value that programmers bring. As it is, I cannot use my MBA to program my ideas into a working and successful web startup. I do not think that an MBA is absolutely necesssary. Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and many other successful tech moguls have proven that. But, MBAs could can definately help in lowering the failure rates of startups by using their experience in finance, management and accounting. The best formula of all is to have both on hand. The MBA and the programmer. With the two, you cant go wrong.<p>Why do you think Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar hired Harvard MBA Meg Whitman as CEO?

Agreed. Here's the data to back you up: <a href="http://www.aomonline.org/Publications/Articles/BSchools.asp" rel="nofollow">http://www.aomonline.org/Publications/Articles/BSchools.asp</a><p>There's nothing you need to know about business you can't teach yourself via reading or mentorship. Here's the list of books I used to teach myself: <a href="http://personalmba.com/best-business-books/" rel="nofollow">http://personalmba.com/best-business-books/</a>

Relatedly, and I mean this question with the utmost sincerity, what is an MBA exactly good for?<p>Far too many people I know are dismissive of MBAs and their degree ("Master in Bullshit Administration! Hur hur hur"), but this same crowd tends to think Ph.D's are always useless ("Piled High and Deep! Hur hur hur").

The money an MBA costs would be better spent as seed capital to get something released! Even if your start up fails, it still could be cheaper than what you'd spend on the MBA and you'd have REAL experience.

Empiricism says: no. Neither necessary nor sufficient.

No.