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I don't believe you do. I am not planning on having someone with an MBA, but, then I have my M.S. Engineering Management. You need: 1) Someone to develop 2) Someone to sell 3) Someone for marketing 4) Someone to ensure bills are paid If you have a concept that you think is marketable, so you don't really need a business plan, then just make the product, ...

People here seem to be very confused about the actual skills somebody with an MBA would have. Though the curriculum of an MBA program may force them to take a few marketing classes or sales classes, these are not qualities I'd go out and hire an MBA for. Someone who's a real marketer will run circles around a guy with an MBA. A lot of the better business ...

First, why do you need an MBA to manage you? If you have a desire to start a startup then you should be self-managing, but, if you are having organization issues, such as time-management problems, or making certain the critical, but non-core tasks are done, then that is a different problem, and you may more easily find an assistant for that. It is ...

Steve Blank, author of "The Four Steps to the Epiphany" and a justifiable startup Guru just posted this on his blog. While not a direct answer to your question about personal experiences, it will probably give you a push towards what will work best for you. Good luck!

Unless you know marketing and sales, a business person will bring that to the table. If you can bring your product out without any additional money then are you going to stop development so you can try to get people to buy your product, or do you want to delegate that to someone? Once you are running and start to hire people, who will oversee the ...

I would recommend using a vesting schedule to protect yourself against hiring a deadbeat. It won't help with the evaluation, but it will protect you from handing over a big chunk of your company to someone who just walks after 6 weeks, or sits their doing nothing. Assuming you find someone who is impressive enough that you're considering bringing them on, ...

In doing more research on what an MBA actually entails (Business Leadership as a focus at most good schools), I think the answer has to be a qualified No. A small, self-owned startup with fewer than 5 people is going to be practically governed by concensus and group agreement. The CEO needs to have the last word, and if there are serious disagreements they ...

I think that real world experience at large companies is helpful for entrepreneurs, but I have not seen any evidence that an MBA helps entrepreneurs or is useful in small companies. My feeling is that the time and money are better spent DOING. MBAs will help you (possibly) with getting jobs at large companies - but will typically not help with VCs or ...

If you have the product ideas and the capabilities to make them you should get started. An MBA is certainly useful, but if you plan on going the entrepreneurial route just carve out some time to learn at your own pace as you work on your business. You don't have to read all of these books. But try to read one or two a month and you will be on your way to ...

Paul, good question, one I've seen asked before in the startup community in SoCal too. So I thought I'd answer it here for a wider audience. Background: I'm the founder and investor of a tech-finance startup (RoboCFO) and have an MS and an MBA. I'll wear my engineering hat in answering your question (hopefully) from your perspective How to evaluate: ...

I think you have a good idea but I would be very concerned with your lack of experience in the matter. I am in the process of evaluating business schools for my own MBA and I can tell you that it would be wonderful to have help with the essays. HOWEVER, I would be hesitant to use your service as you have never had the experience yourself. B-school essays ...

James last sentence is right on. Find someone you trust that has the business experience you are looking for. Now, to your other questions. Business people bring tremendous value to an early stage company. It's vital to get the product definition right, align the target market and sort out the business plan for investment. The sooner you get that going, the ...

A good friend just completed her MBA - while working full time. Launch the company and if you really thing an MBA is important, look at P/T study opportunities. The real question is this: how long will it take to complete and MBA and what do you think the market opportunity will be if you wait a year or two?

It really depends on the current configuration and background of the existing members of the startup. One doesn't necessarily have to pick an MBA per say but the key is to bring diversity and complementary skill sets to the team. Aaron Patzer gave a really good overview summary of what skill sets you should be looking for at different stages of your ...

I would suggest that the answer to your question - "I've read a couple places that really small startups should have only technical people at first. Is this good advice?" - is definitely not. At least not unless you have a much wider background in business or are willing to spend a lot of money on outsourcing. Technical peeople - because they are so good ...

If you want to start a business, then start a business. Don't go to business school. The skills they teach you might be moderately useful, but learning about them in a classroom is expensive and slow. Running a business is something best learned by doing, not by listening. Once you start running your business you'll have a much better idea of what theory ...

I would say that both the education and networking components of an MBA are important. A good degree is designed to give you the ability to develop your career to its fullest potential, at an accelerated pace. A good MBA should help you in getting most of the two components. But saying all that, it depends on what YOU can get from an MBA which can help your ...

Do not underestimate the value of going to a top business school. The value you get from business school is NOT in the courses you take (though from personal experience I can say that taking a course from a professor at the Harvard Business School level can be a life-changing experience). The real, long-lasting value comes from the network you build while ...

What you really need is someone who complements your skills. If you have the technical skills, then you need someone with business skills to help. The important thing to keep in mind is what you said about your vision. Whomever this person is, they need to share your vision first and having a business education is great but not necessary. A formal business ...

Work for a startup - it could even been an unpaid internship. You'll rack up real-world business, networking, and entrepreneurial experience (and even some coding) without accumulating the debt of an MBA. In a startup environment, you'll have plenty of opportunities to bounce your ideas off others and refine your own business plans. I think that would give ...

Color me jaded, but why would you want to hire someone to "boss" you? You're giving away 51% (if one can even do that in an LLC) so you lose whatever collaborative voice you have in any company decision making. While I can understand if you feel you don't have a particular skillset to bring the company to the next level, you should still feel that you have ...

It doesn't sound like self-employment is the right thing for you at the moment. But if you insist, I would recommend a personal assistant on a part-time basis vs an MBA. If it's true that your willing to give up control of your business (51%+) at such an early stage, your really not entrepreneurial material. You would be much better off investing in a ...

The place to find an MBA is around business schools... They have alumni networks, and you can find them that way. Now that I answered your question, I feel the need to say that an MBA is overrated... If you don't have the management skills or experience, then you should defiantly seek a co-founder that will compliment your skill set in that regard. Would ...

If you go to into any MBA program and do not learn anything, it's your fault. I don't think either one will "train" you any better than the other. Unfortunately, how the institution and those who graduate from it are perceived seems to carry more weight than the knowledge obtained. You have been in business school for approx. 3-4 years; how many contacts ...

To answer your questions directly... Question #1: What is more important in an MBA, the education one receives or the networking one gets? Answer: In an MBA program, the networking is more important than the curriculum, since you can only cram in so much knowledge from formal education in a given time period. Nobody gets a degree and says "Great! Now I ...

Anup said most of what I was thinking as I read the question. Perhaps I can be of some help if you'd like to take this offline, since I actually applied, chose, attended, and graduated from Babson College for the express purpose of becoming an entrepreneur. Having a background in Sociology (undergrad) and marketing, I felt that I did not have enough of ...

As a software engineer turned software development manager currently studying for an MBA from a top UK business school, I would have to say no - you do not need an MBA at a startup. However, that doesn't mean having an MBA on board is a bad thing. MBA is a generalist degree with students tackling diverse business subjects from Strategy to Marketing to ...

I don't think there's any documented evidence that bringing an MBA onto the team of an early stage company increases your probability of success. But, I have heard people joke about the opposite. Having said that, as it worked out, about 6 of our first 12 hires had MBAs (but that's not why I recruited them). I solve for smart people that get stuff done.

What Alain said in his comment holds true, and I'll take it a step further: MBAs come from a diverse set of backgrounds: some have 20 years of experience and a great network, while others went to B-school just a few years out of undergrad and hoped to use their degree to catapult their career upward. Ultimately, it comes down to three questions: What ...