I did 2 years at an elite boutique then 2 years at a fairly elite buy-side shop. If I start a company that isn't successful, how will MBA programs view me? Would i have to get a "normal" job after the startup to be able to get references for an MBA? I am mainly talking about HBS / Stanford / Wharton.
The concern I have is that I am 27 now, so if I do a startup for 2 years, then I will be 29. If it's true that I need a "normal" job before I can have references for HBS / Stanford / Wharton, then that will put me at 30 at the time I apply to go, which is on the very older end.
Isn't every former entrepreneur who applies to b school a failed or half successful one? Like if you exited and made fuck you money, you're probably not getting your MBA.
IDK a ton about b school admissions but I imagine it's fine. It's about your experience and what you learned. Also might behoove you to learn how to spin things - many times it can be somewhat tough to tell whether an exit was actually successful or not from the outside.
30 is not "old" nor "very old" for B school at all. It's just older than all the other kids who did 2+2.
I don't know that you are thinking about entrepreneurship correctly. If you are truly starting a company, there's a minimal chance that you'll have a clean departure in 2 years. Honestly, if you are planning for contingencies in 2 years before you actually start your company, it makes me question whether you have sufficient conviction in the company that you are starting. Being a successful entrepreneur requires an all encompassing amount of time, effort, luck, and motivation/belief, and you really cannot have one foot out the door already.
This is helpful thanks.
If you're going in on entrepreneurship there is no back up plan.
Generally speaking, you're viewed as some selling pyramid/mlm schemes by schools/potential employers until you are doing a couple million in revenue.
I'm not being sarcastic about the above either. All your friends/family are going to be like, "loL soOoo YouREee aNnn entrePreneeUr HuHhhh?!" Likely right until they see you make more money than they'll earn in their life in a month at which point they'll start telling you how lucky you are for your overnight success. "Overnight"
Good luck have fun don't die.
Makes sense, thanks. I agree that you need at least several million in sales or you are viewed as kind of a joke.
Adding to the first response above, it’s all about how you spin the experience if the business ends up not being successful. While painful, those kinds of experiences can be really valuable reference points over the course of a long career. Assuming you can convey what you learned effectively in your application, an experience like that can also serve as the basis for crafting a compelling narrative for business school. Given your professional experience thus far, it’ll help you stand out amongst your cohort and convince admissions folks that the class would benefit from your perspective.
With respect to age, 29/30 is a bit on the older side. Your story adds up though (had an interesting idea and took a risk), so my guess is that it wouldn’t be a red flag in your application.
I don’t really understand your concern over references. Hopefully, you managed to cultivate good relationships with the people you worked for in prior roles; if that’s the case, then the references/recommendations won’t be a problem. If you became concerned after reading that schools require one of your recommendations to come from your current direct supervisor, then don’t worry about it. Will be easy to explain how you don’t have a direct supervisor since you founded the company.
If business school is truly where you want to end up and you’re apprehensive about the uncertainty that comes with starting a company, then I’d suggest applying to business school from your current role and starting the company while you’re in school. Obviously requires you to jump through a few hoops financially, but if you can make it work it’s an interesting way to explore your idea in a relatively risk-free environment while also building relationships with people who could potentially be helpful to your company (employees, other network references, etc.). Just a thought
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