What I learned in b-school: is it worth $250k?
A while back I mentioned that during the two years of my MBA program at a top-5 school, I'd put a star next to every note I took that I thought was worth carrying forward into my future career.
When I moved on, I threw away the 18 handwritten notebooks, but not before compiling all the starred stuff into a document. Depending on how you look at it ,you could say this document cost me nearly a quarter million dollars (not including opportunity cost). Disappointingly, it is only 11 pages long... and that's double-spaced.
A couple people have since written asking me for the document. It's a pretty personal list, so I can't do that. But I will share a few juicy tidbits here.
On operations: Ops MBAs have very little advancement (C-suite) potential. This is because a smart generalist can run ops up until the numbers turn Greek. Then you just hire a specialist.
On convertible debt: After exhausting the straight debt markets, CFOs like to issue convertible debt that is non-callable for a given period of time, say three years. If you are an investor in the company's other securities, pay close attention to this time frame. This is often the outside horizon of the CFO's projected time with the company. (The CFO knows that if the stock doesn't go up a lot in these three years, he is already going to be out the door and it won't be his problem.)
On strategy: A lot of companies think they have a competitive strategy but don't. If my competitors could follow this strategy and get the same results, it's a best practice, not a competitive strategy. So keep looking.
On modern M&A: It's often just a way for intangibles to change hands. You can sell a factory; it's a lot harder to find a way to legally sell a customer.
On revenue synergies: Sell them to the clients. Don't believe in them yourself.
Looking for early signs of a company in distress? The credit rating downgrade is not a warning; it's the final nail in the coffin. Instead, find out whether they are missing their 2/10 net 30 discounts. The return on that discount is way above most corporations' cost of capital. So if they're missing it, they're either morons or they have cash flow problems.
Oh, and one more important thing I learned during the program: on one of my blog posts a while back, I said that anyone prepping for b-school needs to brush up on their penis jokes.
The general response to this was along the lines of this response: "OP is out of touch with our current reality. Penis jokes? Really? Are we back in high school? I mean, I'm about to drop half a mil on a b-school and I'm suppose to laugh at a penis joke?"
Other monkeys replied and said, "Dude, get a clue; the OP was joking."
Sorry, folks. I actually wasn't joking.
Oh yes, my friend. If you go to a top program, you will pay a quarter mil (probably not a half mil) to laugh at penis jokes (typically while drinking $2 beers).
If it's any consolation, the quality of the jokes is markedly better than they were in college. From the world's best and brightest, would we expect anything else?







Comments
How exactly did your B-School
How exactly did your B-School cost you 250K without opportunity cost?
-MBP
bankerella: Looking for early
Looking for early signs of a company in distress? The credit rating downgrade is not a warning; it's the final nail in the coffin. Instead, find out whether they are missing their 2/10 net 30 discounts. The return on that discount is way above most corporations' cost of capital. So if they're missing it, they're either morons or they have cash flow problems.
Interesting - how would one go about finding that out?
And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time
Examples of good penis jokes?
Examples of good penis jokes?
pickle: Examples of good
Examples of good penis jokes?
Look down.
If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
Wait, do ppl actually go into
Wait, do ppl actually go into MBA's expecting to learn? I thought everyone knew it was just a BS way to check a BS box to get into a BS industry for a BS job (albeit that pays well, thus the disregard for all the BS).
GBS
I start my MBA in the fall
I start my MBA in the fall and I don't think i'm going to learn anything mind blowing from a class. I'm going for the networking, rebranding, and the job opportunities. I mean, what did you learn from undergrad that you used at your job? Does that mean you shouldn't go to undergrad?
happypantsmcgee: pickle: Ex
Examples of good penis jokes?
Look down.
OHHHHHH SNAP!
Getting an MBA is just for
Getting an MBA is just for the networking. By you paying $250,000 it's like you paying for a really nice country club membership.
Robert Clayton Dean: What is happening?
Brill: I blew up the building.
Robert Clayton Dean: Why?
Brill: Because you made a phone call.
If you aren't learning,
If you aren't learning, you're wasting your time. That applies to life generally, but especially if you're paying $250k to go to school. Finance is a competitive industry, and someone else will eat your lunch if you skate by doing the minimum. Sure you might have an associate job when you graduate, but what happens when eventually someone expects you to use your brain? Or does everyone here just already know everything there is to know about business?
I am wise because I know that I know nothing -Socrates
I love bankerella's posts. No
I love bankerella's posts. No idea why people bas her so much.
But yeah, look, you don't go to b-school for the classroom learning although I'm sure there are some interesting courses. As everyone else said, it's for the re-branding, exit opportunities, networking, and social experience. Whether or not that's worth the costs is a personal decision.
HBS is only $107k for 2
HBS is only $107k for 2 years... There is no way you spent $250k, and seriously, what did you expect B-School was all about? Come on.
"A man generally has two reasons for doing anything. One that sounds good, and the real one." - J.P. Morgan
Going
Looking for early signs of a company in distress? The credit rating downgrade is not a warning; it's the final nail in the coffin. Instead, find out whether they are missing their 2/10 net 30 discounts. The return on that discount is way above most corporations' cost of capital. So if they're missing it, they're either morons or they have cash flow problems.
Interesting - how would one go about finding that out?
Typically you go to back channels. That bit of data is far more valuable than many people know, and sometimes they'll let it drop for nothing.
See my other WSO blog posts
Great post. An MBA sounds a
Great post.
An MBA sounds a lot like a late night trip to 7/11. If you're 12 beers in and the cashier tells you the bologna sandwich is $250,000, just tell them you're not as hungry as you thought you were.
I like the comment about OPS.
I like the comment about OPS. I never figured out why my Ops professors had to make a subject that was so stupidly straightforward so unnecessarily complicated.
Connor: HBS is only $107k for
HBS is only $107k for 2 years... There is no way you spent $250k, and seriously, what did you expect B-School was all about? Come on.
"What they teach you at Harvard Business School" gives a value of about $250k. They factor in the costs of living on campus or renting, books and textbooks, travel expenses, health insurance, utilities, tuition fees, cost of relocation, etc, but the author is married with 2 children, so that factors into it.
HBS gives a cost summary here, http://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/costsummary.html and if you're single you will expect to pay 174,400 for 2 years. Add the increase in the CPI/inflation and that will go up marginally also. For someone married and/or who has children, the costs will be over $200k. And that's assuming they don't have designer tastes.
Aimez: Connor: HBS is only
Brady4MVP: This is right.
Brady4MVP: Aimez: Connor:
Haven't gone to B-school yet,
I have several recent HBS
I think it's not that hard to
ThunderRoad: If you aren't
And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time
Ok someone on here has to
keensetofpeepers: I have
I demand another example of
Pour some sugar on me.
To be fair, i think it's
yousaygoodbyeandisayhello: I
happypantsmcgee: pickle: Ex
bankbank: happypantsmcgee:
HerSerendipity: To be fair, i
Friend of a friend is in his
Ben Shalom
If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
Thanks for the post
if you like it then you shoulda put a banana on it
Thought the M&A exchanging of
frgna: Thanks for the post
See my other WSO blog posts
Connor: HBS is only $107k for
See my other WSO blog posts
bankerella: Connor: HBS is
If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
bankerella: Connor: HBS is
"A man generally has two reasons for doing anything. One that sounds good, and the real one." - J.P. Morgan
happypantsmcgee: Not sure why
See my other WSO blog posts
Bankerella, did you know
Brady4MVP: Bankerella, did
See my other WSO blog posts
bankerella: Brady4MVP: Bank
"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so."
- Ronald Reagan
bankerella: Brady4MVP: Bank
cphbravo96: bankerella: B
cphbravo96: bankerella: B
Bankerella, so hot right now.
GBS
bankerella: Brady4MVP: Bank
[quote=Brady4MVP Examples
See my other WSO blog posts
Connor: HBS is only $107k for
energyanalyst: Connor: HBS
See my other WSO blog posts