CBS vs MIT - for my situation (not a pissing match)
I'll take a logical opinion from anybody, but would prefer some insight from someone who is knowledgable on the matter.
My dream is to be successful in technology entrepreneurship and to be on the east coast, with a modest preference of NYC. My backup dream would either be to work in VC or to have a management position in a tech company. With that in mind I only considered these two schools (regrettably, did not try to apply to Harvard).
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Some facts:
I have a raised a solid chunk of money for my startup, and therefore do not need a tech team. I will have a full-scale launch (as opposed to beta) by year-end. I need people/users, which New York has a lot of.
CBS program would start in January. No internship and would last 16 months. CBS also has a grade non-disclosure policy. CBS has a ton of people working in a variety of different industries, which, given my startup's nature, could help it succeed.
MIT program would start in September. MIT is obviously known for technology entrepreneurship. For example, if the 25,800 companies founded by MIT graduates formed an independent nation, their revenues would make that nation at least the 11th largest economy in the world. MIT does not have a grade non-disclosure policy, meaning I would actually have to be quite focused on grades in order to have a back up plan if my startup fails. I would graduate from this program a full year later than CBS.
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The question is do I attempt to utilize the resources of CBS, in which the timing and location is more right for me, in order to make an honest effort at my startup? Or do I pursue my startup independently until September, ultimately graduating from a school better aligned with my interests, but allowing the increased probability that my company fails before I even arrive?
What would you do?
If you are as close to a launch as you claim why not skip b-school and invest the time, money, and resources in the busines?
I am a big fan of cbs but think MIT is better aligned with your future interests. What is your back-up plan? An internship may be beneficial should things not work out as planned? Any scholarship money?
In some ways, going to CBS would be investing money and resources in the business. I would be borrowing money from the school to sustain myself, rather than taking a salary and money directly away from the company. Additionally, I think the school could provide a lot of resources for both users and capital. The obvious negative is time - and I am not sure how much this will affect me and the company to be honest; it was not something I felt comfortable asking in an interview.
My backup plan is potentially VC or management position in a tech firm. I am even a little confused on this, as creativity is my strong point, which is best rewarded in entrepreneurship. In the worst case scenario (which is a statistical probability given other startups records), having an internship or even more time to create something new could be great. However, graduating in 2016 seems so far away. A part of me thinks I should go with CBS, and just make something work one way or the other by 2015.
Additionally, no money from either school.
Very candidly, the one thing I want to mention on why B-school is that entrepreneurship is a very lonely road, even when having a team working under me. Although I do interact with people regularly, a lot of it feels like isolated pressure from investors and employees.
Kind of at a crossroads, and feeling very confused about the whole thing.
if youre truly going to be an entrepreneur, you have to give 140 percent of your 24 hours a day into it. you cant 'go to school on the side'.
if you have a winning idea then plow all your efforts and dollars into it
Question for you: have you met people at Columbia who also entrepreneurs? The school has come a little late to the entrepreneurship party, mostly because it's not a big techie school and because there are so many established companies in NY that recruit there. And of course, there was, until the industry shrank, all those finance jobs. MIT has a legacy of entrepreneurship, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it makes sense for you. I think your job is to talk to the members or graduates of the CBS Entrepreneurs Organization http://columbiaentrepreneurs.org/ and present your quandary to people who are walking the walk.
One other thing; I am not sure that the grade non-disclosure would really matter for you, would it? If you aren't really looking for work, or if you are, looking for work from a company that would care about your GPA at graduate school?
I think what kind of startup you gonna launch matters. My gut feeling is, if your startup is more on lifestyle/productivity side or something related to real industry, CBS should be better choice. For example, if it is something about fashion or luxury or crowdsourcing, CBS and NYC have a huge edge on that (think about your classmates in those industries and user base in NYC). But if your idea is one of those "pure" IT ones like social network, MIT/Boston is still leading quite a bit.
Also, CBS's late ticket to entrepreneurship can mean different things for different people. If you already have some beta products, you are probably at top 5% of CBS incoming students and school may give you a lot of resources to help you promote/develop it. But you may not get that benefit in MIT since I image many students there are doing same thing.
I'm also waiting for decision from CBS so I may be a bit bias. As someone mentioned above, the best way to know it is to talk to alumni who are entrepreneurs.
Here is a view on why it could be beneficial:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stellafayman/2013/04/04/should-entrepreneur…
However, you may be right in that my time would best be served going all-in to the startup initially, determining the potential for success at a later point, and then making a decision around MIT at such a point. My concern is that without the resources of a school, I think it actually decreases the probability of success (even factoring in time-constraints). To give a very basic analogy, although the underlying technology is very complex, on the surface the startup would be more people-driven like facebook, as opposed to technology-driven like google.
Diablo, I like your point that I would be a bigger fish in a smaller pond at CBS in regards to technology entrepreneurship. This could prove valuable from a recruiting perspective in the event of failure. In addition, if my startup fulfills the potential I believe it has, I can have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the program. [Also, I wish you the best of luck on your application]
I think as of now I am leaning towards CBS. However, I like the suggestion from Betsy on talking to alumni/students from both schools. I suppose I have been focused on introspection before taking this step, but nonetheless, it's likely the next right step to take.
Your company isn't going to take-off if you're pursuing a full-time MBA and doing the start-up on the side. Or at least, yours would be the first. Launching a company isn't something you dick around with for two years. There's perhaps an argument to be made for going back to school to air out ideas and find a founding team, but you're close to launch. Shit or get off the pot, you know?
Is there a reason you didn't consider Stanford? Or maybe even Haas? Stanford is far-and-away the best MBA program for entrepreneurs, and it's not particularly close. I mean, can you even name a legit tech company founded by a Columbia MBA? I can't. It's a school for wannabe Lloyd Blankfeins and Steve Schwarzmans. If you're going to do an MBA, it should be at a place where the students aspire to be the next Larry Page.
You said you're worried that entrepreneurship is lonely, and that's another reason to go to B-school. I mean, yeah, it is, but partying isn't going to help you launch a company.
You said you have employees and investors. Are they aware that you're considering going back to school???
I don't know you, obviously. And I don't know the full situation. But if you want my frank opinion, you sound like you want to have fun at a good MBA program for two years while putting this start-up on hold. And unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. It wouldn't even be fun! You'd miss a lot of the MBA experience, like the partying and the traveling, because you'd be tied up with your company. And your company would struggle because you wouldn't be able to give it your full attention...
what you say is not true. cbs may be far from stanford or mit or havard in term of entrepreneurship but it is not that different from other M7 bschool.
http://poetsandquants.com/2011/09/01/the-best-b-schools-for-startups/
Sure, but going to an M7 bschool to do entrepreneurship is really stupid. Especially if you've already founded a company.
Stanford, MIT, and Berkeley are potentially exceptions because they are also the three of the best engineering programs in the world and have deep ties to Silicon Valley. And Stanford, of course, has almost an incestuous relationship with prominent venture capital funds: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/04/30/120430fa_fact_auletta
I agree with everything LBJ said.
In respone to the Forbes article, I absolutely think that b-school can be useful for a POTENTIAL enterpreneur. No question. If that's what you were, then I'd say go to GSB, Haas or Sloan. However, you're NOT a potential enterpreneur. You are about to launch. You don't need an idea (most in b-school do) or a team (others in b-school do) or immediate access to funding (although I'm sure you could use more). The only valuable thing I could see you getting out of the whole deal is mentorship, but if you have investors, don't you get that from them? Plus there's numerous other resources out there for entrepreneurs that don't cost $120k and countless hours of your time.
I see no value add here other than the fact that you feel like you're trying to mitigate the risk of failure, knowing that if you're in school you can use it to get a job. Not the right reason to go in this scenario, I don't think.
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