A friend posted the following text on Facebook and I decided it warranted a response below.
The problem with startups is that they think that just because you’ve never been involved in one, you would be incapable of adding value. This especially true if you have “MBA” painted on your back. “Not only is what they teach you in the classroom useless, but you will ask for too much money!”
Does this sound familiar? Maybe they didn’t speak those words out loud, but I bet if you’ve ever talked to someone at a startup, you could almost hear those thoughts bouncing around in their heads.
The problem with startups is not that they think this way, its that the image of an MBA has been cast that allows them to think this way. I’ve met few MBAs interested in startups whose primary concern is how much they get paid or how much equity stake they will be offered. Those things may be important, but if that was all that they were driven by, they probably wouldn’t be asking about YOUR startup! An MBA looking for a position in a startup already knows that you are cash-strapped and that they’ll need to hit the ground running. If they weren’t prepared for that situation, they wouldn’t be applying to a startup! I think we call this Self Selection Marketing. But apparently self-selection isn’t enough to overcome the stigma of having an MBA.
Maybe its that we use the term MBA too much; we refer to ourselves as MBAs as if we are a world apart from the rest. If this blog post reflected the way I spoke, you would think that this is absolutely true! But again, I know few MBAs who refer to themselves as “MBAs.” I’m only doing it here for illustrative purposes. No one I know goes around saying, “Hi, I’m an MBA,” or any version of that. If anything, we are usually pretty modest and would rather not say that unless explicitly asked. So it’s not that…. what could we be doing that make startups think we are all useless?
I think the problem has to do with expectation: startups expect that MBAs will bring with them rigid frameworks that don’t fit their business; MBA’s expect that startups will fail without their business acumen. Neither is true yet each false expectation reinforces opinions that MBAs are poor fit for a startup culture. Maybe once we are all able to shed these false expectations startups will realize that MBAs have a lot to offer, and MBAs will realize that they have a lot to learn. I think we call this a Win-Win situation!
When I started working for startups, I had no education – i.e. only a B.S., but I have been doing internet things since I was a kid. My time was cheap and my expenses low. So, I decided to get an education. I learned a little bit of everything: development, design, marketing, project management.
When that company ran out of money, I went to the next guy and said “Hey, I already know how to do all of these things and Im learning more every day. I’d like to get paid a little more than the last guy paid me”, and I got paid more. I did that again when I moved to NY, and learned how to manage a larger team, and be responsible for a product. I learned a/b testing, landing page design, and the basics of user experience and information architecture. In a larger team, I ended up getting too specialized, and wanted to take a step back so I found a new role.
It was no easy task to make the case to Brandon to hire me at ChallengePost. But I sold him on the fact that now, I can do or learn really quickly everything a startup of fewer than 10 people needs to do in product design, business, marketing. If I wasn’t working here, I’d probably be working for another startup, and I’d definitely be creating content and participating in internet culture.
So, enough about me and back to the original question: “Why don’t startups hire MBAs?”. It comes down to this: Most MBAs by and large haven’t done anything in the eyes of a startup. So if you want to get an MBA and join a startup – you need to get two educations. A startup doesn’t want to help pay for either.
A response to “Why don’t startups hire MBAs?”
Why don’t startups hire MBAs?
A friend posted the following text on Facebook and I decided it warranted a response below.
When I started working for startups, I had no education – i.e. only a B.S., but I have been doing internet things since I was a kid. My time was cheap and my expenses low. So, I decided to get an education. I learned a little bit of everything: development, design, marketing, project management.
When that company ran out of money, I went to the next guy and said “Hey, I already know how to do all of these things and Im learning more every day. I’d like to get paid a little more than the last guy paid me”, and I got paid more. I did that again when I moved to NY, and learned how to manage a larger team, and be responsible for a product. I learned a/b testing, landing page design, and the basics of user experience and information architecture. In a larger team, I ended up getting too specialized, and wanted to take a step back so I found a new role.
It was no easy task to make the case to Brandon to hire me at ChallengePost. But I sold him on the fact that now, I can do or learn really quickly everything a startup of fewer than 10 people needs to do in product design, business, marketing. If I wasn’t working here, I’d probably be working for another startup, and I’d definitely be creating content and participating in internet culture.
So, enough about me and back to the original question: “Why don’t startups hire MBAs?”. It comes down to this: Most MBAs by and large haven’t done anything in the eyes of a startup. So if you want to get an MBA and join a startup – you need to get two educations. A startup doesn’t want to help pay for either.