Connections. Community. Mentorship. Immersion in management theory,
market strategy and financial forecasting. A big, fat résumé boost.
The
benefits of getting a business degree are multifold. But as many MBAs
and their undergrad counterparts can attest, so are the falsehoods
imparted.
Some business lessons simply can’t be taught within the confines of
the classroom; case studies, theories and formulas don’t always
translate to real-world wins. And possibly the most valuable education
entrepreneurs can receive comes from failing spectacularly, dusting
themselves off and applying what they’ve learned to the next project.
But
don’t take our word for it. We asked emerging and successful
entrepreneurs to share what they consider to be the biggest lies
perpetuated by business programs. Here’s what a handful of them had to
say.
1. Outline it all first.
Business schools like to emphasize
planning (and planning and planning). But once you’re in the thick of
running a company, even the slightest industry change can send the
best-laid business plans out the window.
“In
academics, there’s a clear and straightforward way to win,” says
Kristin Smith, CEO of Code Fellows, a Seattle-based software programming
school. “But entrepreneurship isn’t linear.” Instead, it’s messy and
unpredictable, marked by trial, error and pivots.
Of course, a
business degree will equip you with many of the essential tools you’ll
need to run a company. “But there are so many levels on which you’re
constantly adjusting,” says Smith, who earned her MBA in 2003 from MIT
Sloan School of Management. “You’re probably using a hammer in a way
that it was never meant to be used.”
2. You can analyze your way into a good idea.
At business
school, data is king. But many graduates have learned that you can’t use
a spreadsheet to shoehorn your way into a winning product or service.
Katherine
Long, a University of Pennsylvania Wharton School alum, started a
seven-figure business, Illustria Designs, in 2013, right after she
graduated. Sure, all those A/B testing exercises in the classroom were
instructive. But when pursuing a business idea, she seized on a pressing
need for herself and her classmates: high-quality yet affordable
designs for logos, websites, web and mobile apps and other marketing
materials.
3.You need to pay your dues.
Despite what business
professors may say, you don’t have to work in a corporate environment
before starting a company. “There’s pressure to talk to corporate
recruiters,” says Long, whose instructors and advisors placed a strong
emphasis on landing a job with a high-profile employer.
Unlike
many of her peers, Long skipped diving headfirst into the traditional
Wall Street gig after graduation. Rather than a sexy pedigree, she
believes, “persistence and grit” are what it takes to succeed as a
founder—and she should know. Bethesda, Md.-based Illustria Designs,
which has 20 employees, has raked in more than $1 million in revenue.
4. You need to make money before you can indulge your passion.
This was the message Falik received in grad school: Earn big first; focus on the career of your dreams later.
Falik,
whose résumé includes educational and international development work,
ignored this advice. In 2008, on the heels of finishing business school,
she founded Global Citizen Year, an Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit
that selects and trains high school grads to spend a “bridge year” in
developing countries. Yes, money was tight initially, especially with
student loans in the mix. But to get her nonprofit off the ground, Falik
moved in with her parents, tapped her savings account and secured a
handful of grants. “There was no reason to postpone something I was
passionate about,” she says.It was the right call: Global Citizen Year is thriving—it has raised
$8.5 million in grants and donations, and $5.5 million in tuition
and program fees—and Falik loves the work. More important, the
organization has sent nearly 500 high school grads on bridge years in
Latin America and Africa; plans are underway to add programs in India,
the Middle East and China.
5. You need to raise institutional funds.
Business schools
place too much emphasis on raising sizable chunks of capital from
angel investors and venture capitalists, says Bob Gillespie, a serial
entrepreneur who received his MBA in 2011 from the University of Chicago
Booth School of Business. “Getting institutional money is difficult and
time-consuming,” says Gillespie, CEO of Conference Software Solutions.
Better to bootstrap and tap friends and family right out of the gate.
Sure,
institutional funding has its place later in the business life cycle.
But when you’re in the early stages of building a company, your focus
should be on understanding your market, learning what customers want
(and how much they’ll pay), differentiating yourself from competitors
and proving your concept.
“All those things are more important
than saying, ‘I got $5 million,’” says Gillespie, who teaches emerging
entrepreneurs at 1871, a co-working space in Chicago. Besides, he says,
investors want to fund proven concepts that have a clear path to revenue
and large market potential, not untested ideas.
6. Hard work is the biggest key to success.
Actually it’s
just one of many ingredients. As an undergrad at Texas Christian
University’s Neeley School of Business, Tanner Agar heard his fair share
about the entrepreneurial rewards he’d reap if he put in long hours and
gave his venture his all.
“It’s great from an aspirational
perspective,” says the founder and CEO of The Chef Shelf, a Fort Worth,
Texas-based food e-tailer that sources gourmet products from leading
chefs and restaurants. “But I don’t think that prepares you for what
you’re actually going to face.”
Pressure, self-doubt and even
depression are among the emotional pitfalls many new founders
experience. Unfortunately, Agar says, having investors and employees in
the mix—not to mention relatives who’d preferred you’d gotten “a real
job”—can exacerbate the problem. While business schools tout the
benefits of single-mindedness and dedication, wellness experts emphasize
the importance of entrepreneurs maintaining outlets for relaxation and
stress relief.
For Agar, moving into the offices of a tech
incubator filled with other young ’treps helped combat the isolation and
stress of long hours on the job. “It’s nice to have the camaraderie,”
he says. “Without them, it would have been so much harder.”
Written by Michelle Goodman
