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by amb23 2575 days ago
US MBA programs need to start following the European model: Year-long to 16 month programs tailored to a slightly older demographic (late 20s to 30s) who actually need a degree to move a rung higher in their career. The shorter program length will decrease the costs for students (both in terms of tuition & opportunity costs) and--based on how much travel my friends currently pursing MBAs do during the academic year--is unlikely to hurt academic outcomes.

There are a few MBA ROI calculators online, and for my career I wouldn't see an ROI until ~20-25 years down the line. (For context, I'd probably gain a ~30k salary increase if I were to pursue an MBA.) And that's with consistent salary growth with no sabbaticals or career changes (and any subsequent loss in earning potential) I might want to pursue. I would love to use a year long program to gain some needed financial modeling, HR, and operational skills while taking the time to pursue a business idea, but the traditional programs are not structured to accommodate that. And besides, you don't actually need an MBA if you work in the tech industry until you're in a senior position--VP or C-suite--so there's no direct need for the degree itself until ~10-15 years in the future.
2 comments
jayalpha 2575 days ago
"US MBA programs need to start following the European model"

No they don't. I, as a dual citizen, think US programs are by far superior.

"And besides, you don't actually need an MBA if you work in the tech industry"

"How to value your start-up? Add 1 Million for every engineer, subtract 500k for every MBA" Guy Kawasaki

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rchaud 2575 days ago
The Guy Kawasaki quote is absurd when you consider that US startups bleed cash all the way up to and often well past their IPO. You best believe that the banks who are out there selling a fantastical vision of a startup's future profitability have MBAs in their team. They're the ones making the engineers' equity worth something.
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ska 2575 days ago
It's not so absurd - it doesn't imply you shouldn't have any MBA's, just that the ratio to engineers should be very small at this stage. Which isn't wrong in a tech startup.

Also, the banks don't really create value here, they preserve it if they can and in the best case help people not piss it away. All for a handsome percentage, but c'est la vie.

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arcanus 2575 days ago
> And besides, you don't actually need an MBA if you work in the tech industry until you're in a senior position--VP or C-suite

You certainty do not need an MBA to reach executive level in American technology companies. Just a few CEO examples off the top of my head:

Eric Schmidt (Google) has a PhD.

Dara Khosrowshahi (Uber) has 'just' a BS.

Ginni Rometty (IBM) also has no postgraduate education.

I strongly suspect a minority of executives in tech have MBAs. I don't have anything against the MBA (my father and wife have them) but it's by no means necessary.

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