Words of advice from HubSpot founder Brian Halligan

Should answer and help a few people on this board - even if it is just another perspective on choosing B-School.


Words of advice: the do’s and don’ts of launching a start-up

Be a snob
“Go to the best business school you can get into because the real value of an MBA is the network.”

Use your b- school time wisely
“Business school gives you time to think and time to bake. In your day-to-day job, you’re just cranking. You don’t have time to dig into an industry.”

Seek out your business partner deliberately
“Business school is a great place to meet a co-founder because there are thousands of relatively bright people there that you can sift through.”

Don’t start a company with your best friend
“You don’t want someone who looks like you and has the same experiences as you. You need to have different sets of skills and a common set of values. You need someone who can build the product and someone who can sell the product. Dharmesh and I have different strengths and weaknesses, and we complement each other.”

Do not start a company alone
“It’s very lonely at the top. And it’s hard to convince investors [to back you] when you’re the only one. But I also wouldn’t have four or five founders because, with that number, there would be a tendency towards conservative decisions. When you’re starting a company, you want to be aggressive and counter-intuitive. It’s hard to be unconventional when there are four or five people making decisions.”

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