Career Advice for an Engineer (MBA or no MBA)

[switzerland]

I'm 28 years old and I'm finishing my bachelor's degree in computer science next month. I have several years of professional experience before and during my studies. My biggest goal is to build tech companies (entrepreneurship). Now imagine you have the chance to go to one of the best business universities in Europe to get your second Bachelor in Business (BBA) in 2 years. The total tuition fee is $5000 (excluding living and opportunity costs).

I've talked to people who have completed this business bachelor's degree and then earned an Insead MBA (Top MBA in Europe). They were of the opinion that they had learnt the same content but much more practice-oriented (case studies). Since I am not interested in investment banking, consulting or a career switch but only in hard skills.

- Would you prefer the BBA or the MBA (100'000$+ Tuition)? - Or would you take a job as a software engineer and learning business by doing (Sideprojects)?

[PaulHoule]

I do not know about the BBA.

I know people who have been through the MBA route and I'd agree with the conventional wisdom on that topic.

That is, people who work in business management, take a break to do an MBA, then get back in to management are on the right track to get a C-level job in an existing large business. It also is a good path for people who are likely to take a role in a moderate-sized family business.

Another path is school to MBA to being a junior at McKinsey which is an education in itself that will leave you settled somewhere in industry. People with engineering backgrounds often do great that way.

B-schools recognize there is a market for learning about entrepreneurship (and are developing products to serve that market) but MBA programs are focused on what you need to know to run large and established firms (which is a lot). The attitudes you'll get acculturated in as an MBA won't serve you well in a startup; in fact, once you have an MBA, you'd probably look at any particular startup as being poorly paying, poorly run, etc.

If you are serious about business, I would say look for a job as startup cofounder or as one of the first few employees of a startup (someone who is in line for VP of Engineering.)

[bgrynol]

Having been involved in a couple of startups (with exits) and having done an MBA at one of the top schools in North America, here's my two cents:

STARTUP Adv's - learn quickly - get exposure to many different problems that need solving - get exposure to many areas of business - experience scale and rapid growth, if startup has good growth trajectory - can be provide good upside, if equity is granted and an exit / IPO takes place - can get exposure to insanely smart people if team members are really solid, which helps to grow network for follow-on opportunities and startups

DisAdv's - many startups fail - some startups have better founders / leaders to guide teams through tough times - plan on working non-stop in early days - even when startups raise initial rounds, many fail to raise follow-on rounds - work environment can be volatile with high attrition, due to demands of working in a startup (startups aren't for everyone) - startups are really, really hard to get traction with (early-on), which can be stressful for many people - there are many unknown factors in the long-term success of a startup

MBA Adv's - learn lots and get exposure to topics that you might not be interested in exploring on your own - opportunity to meet many new people who are talented, driven, and want to succeed - opportunity to grow professional network with businesses and professors - social proof of credibility in having worked hard to learn knowledge from a top school - opportunity to change career paths, which sometimes isn't as easy when moving from one job to another (without school being a catalyst for it)

DisAdv's - very expensive - what you put in, is what you get out (as far as work goes) - most MBA programs are 2 years in length, which is a long time to be out of the workforce (and learning on the front lines) - much of the material is theoretical, as opposed to practically applicable - focusing on grades is not always indicative of people's actual work performance - less importance is being put on an MBA, given the current state of the startup world

OUTLOOK - My education has served me well, but it was really expensive to pursue - I have gained an immense amount of knowledge through being involved in high-growth startups

RECOMMENDATION - Get involved in an early-stage startup and be a sponge - Become a voracious consumer of business content (books, podcasts, videos, etc) - Learn as much as you can about topics that you wouldn't normally, and hold yourself accountable to achieving certain goals with the content you're consuming