MBA or Staying On?
My fellas,
A brief background: I worked in a boutique financial & management consultancy based in an Asian country for nearly 2 years, and have joined a infrastructure private equity firm focusing on Asia Pacific (ex Japan) as an analyst for nearly a year now. Just closed my first infra deal -- also the fund's first -- recently.
Have applied to some Round 1 MBA programs -- the usual H/W/S/Chicago/MIT. The key reasons that prompted me to apply for a MBA is for networking and to break into a top tier private equity based in US before I start my own venture. Note that MBA is not highly valued in my firms -- most of the senior management do not have a MBA (though a lot of them are lawyers by profession), some even told me blatantly that it's a complete waste of my time!
Kinda in dilemma now: how would one contemplate between a good MBA offer vs staying on (says for another 3 yrs) to follow thru to exit of the deal and closing more deals? Would my rather limited prior experience and my Asian origin put me into disadvantages when applying for a position at a top PE firm?
Thanks in advance for your advices!
Are you trying to start your own company one day?
Or are you stay in private equity/start your own PE fund one day?
I'm not sure by the way you wrote "start your own venture" but I'll assume that means starting your own company.
Doing an MBA in the US would help you break into a US-based PE firm, but I don't think you necessarily need it if you have previous PE experience. However if you really are applying to KKR, Blackstone, etc. and you can get into Tier 1 programs it may be worth it because you will be at somewhat of a disadvantage compared to others.
Doing an MBA would not really help you start your own company - the main benefit will be networking and making connections but most of the people you meet will go to finance/consulting which are completely different from entrepreneurial ventures.
I am in a similar position (3rd year PE analyst right out of undergrad) and have been contemplating b-school but have received mixed feedback regarding the value of an MBA. I entered the group just as we were raising our first fund (and we have since closed on multiple billion + deals), which means we are approaching the point where some of these investments will be divested to strategics, other financials, or an IPO. As an analyst I am not entitled to carried interest but I do receive a small percentage of some deals. If I matriculate in 09' I may miss some big payouts but if I stay too long I may stagnate and the opportunity of attending b-school may be too expensive to attend.
How much weight do bankers and other finance professionals put on the value of an MBA?
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