An amazing number of top entrepreneurial ventures are founded and led by alumni of three business schools. Of the 100 most successful MBA startups in the past five years, 77 were founded by MBA graduates of Harvard (34), Stanford (32), and MIT (11).
While no institution can give you entrepreneurial spirit, you can be trained to feel more comfortable in risk-taking and gain skills to make the most of your ideas. Entrepreneurship is introduced, examined and refined on the MBA campus.
General management perspective is developed through a wide array of courses spanning business disciplines, industries and markets. MBA classes help you value a start up, navigate funding opportunities, and learn common pitfalls and operational best practices.
Leadership and teamwork are enriched through team exercises, simulations, competitions and group projects. An engaged MBA community can help you flush out your ideas and vet its marketability. And the alumni network provides lifetime access to experts and risk-takers.
Of course, an entrepreneurial education doesn’t end with b-school graduation. Competing against rivals and new entrants in a dynamic marketplace, anticipating and capturing opportunities, avoiding and surviving threats, and advancing an entity’s value proposition are post-MBA “classes” that an evolving entrepreneur faces every day.
However, having the knowledge, skills and network that come only from a top-tier business school are assets that can make the entrepreneur’s real-world “education” even more productive and gratifying. Our past admissions consulting clients who launched their own highly successful ventures after b-school tell us that what they discovered and learned as students at Harvard, Stanford, MIT, et al, proved relevant and actionable even years after MBA graduation.
So, if you’re a future entrepreneur who believes that launching a business is more of a marathon than a sprint, an MBA can help you get out of the blocks more effectively and maintain a stronger pace over the long term.
Next step? A free, expert evaluation of your MBA candidacy.
