Why I don´t see many future entrepreneurs here?

Question

It seems to me like most of the people are planning to work in a company after their MBA. Why there aren´t many people planning to create a start up business post MBA?

From what I undestand the skills learned and network gained on BSchool would help a lot to entrepreneurs... Am I missing something? Is debt the issue?

Thanks.

KingKREEP · Answer

Well, I hate to break it to you, but people who go to B-School are *generally* a little risk averse. If people went to B-School just for the education - the hard skills, any top-20 program would suffice. The reason there is so much competition for a top-10 (and even more for a top-5) is because of the small safety net the school's brand name gives. Yes, the brand name is not a fix-it-all salve, but it definitely opens a lot of doors that couldn't be opened otherwise. The brand-name will not get you a job, but it will get you an interview. Another huge reason for the rush to the top-10 is, as you mentioned, the network of people. Some of the smartest and most accomplished people in the world are in these programs. So, people who apply to the top schools are, in effect, hedging their career-related risks to an extent. So, *most* people who go to B-schools are not your typical entrepreneurs.

Having said this, there are quite a few people heading to top B-schools from this forum who are looking to head off on their own. Maybe not right after school, but definitely in the long run. A few that come to mind are Kryzak, ncprasad and mneo.

Having said this, there are quite a few people heading to top B-schools from this forum who are looking to head off on their own. Maybe not right after school, but definitely in the long run. A few that come to mind are Kryzak, ncprasad and mneo.

dabots · Answer

$150K of debt

bherronp · Answer

Yep, there ya go.

sam77sam7 · Answer

I believe the above to be true.

However, I know I will be active within the Entrepreneur program at whatever school I choose. The thrill of running my own business is something I miss, so I hope to get more involved when/if I get into the schools I apply to.

~Sam

lepium · Answer

In my experience, so will 80% of your class. They'll wear the club shirts, attend the conferences, and engage on small talk about "liking entrepreneurship". Some will also enter a business plan competition and others will do a field study or something like that to evaluate an idea they have. Several will pick more than one entrepreneurship elective.

A few (if any) will take a year off to focus on their summer start-up. Some will return and a maybe one or two won't (Steve Ballmer, anyone?). Right out of school, however, very few will start their own business.

Don't despair, though, because:

Some will join small companies upon graduation and take a lower pay in exchange for some equity or options.

Within 2 years of graduation a few will start business (the sponsored guys will wait 2 years +1 day).

Within 5-8 years, around 50% will work at firms with less than 150 employees (a reasonable proxy for "entrepreneurial setting"). Several will become multimillionaires within 5 - 15 years after successfully exiting their company.

Once you get to school you'll deconstruct entrepreneurship a little better. You'll figure that, unless you have a business plan in a specific area you know a lot about, you will feel more confortable learning about something on someone else's payroll before venturing on your own. You'll also learn that a couple of years of high-profile post MBA jobs will go to great lengths in getting you financing or, at least, credibility when you start your own business. You will also change your mentality, and will try and make it big. Living confortably with a small and stable business won't cut it, you'll want to be looking at double figure millions (at least on the spreadsheet) before getting involved on any venture.

All in all, I think B-school is a great place for entrepreneurship. Just because you don't see hordes of students going straight into it out of school it doesn't mean that students are not interested in it. Most graduates are entrepreneurs in the making who are just following the right steps in their long-term strategic plan.

L.

pelihu · Answer

Why there aren´t many people planning to create a start up business post MBA?
quote]

It's hard to access the internet when you can't afford a computer and you're living on someone's couch.

dabots · Answer

wait, what's your excuse mr. full scholarship man?

terry12 · Answer

Great post, lepium! Pretty much summarizes what I'm hoping to do... hopefully it'll work out.

kryzak · Answer

lepium, wonderful post. Kudos.

I think a flyer from Kellogg pretty much sums it up. I think it said that 79% of their graduates have started a business or were one of the founding members of a startup within 5-10 years of graduation. That's a HUGE number.

Also, roughly 5-10% of Haas graduates go straight into a startup or start a business, but eventually more than 50% will be involved with a startup/entrepreneurship of some sort (if not higher).

You don't have to go straight into startups to be an entrepeneur. Entrepreneurship is all about how you think, how you analyze an opportunity, and how willing you are to take risks to do something new. I think b-schools are the best places to put graduates into that mindset, whether they're initially going into MC, IB, Tech Management, Non-Profit, or anything else.

700willdo · Answer

Gr8 posts by lepium and kryzak. I am impressed to know that so many people become entrepreneurs 5-10 years out of school. I had always thought that top B schools were a boot camp for risk averse individuals. I have been an entrepreneur all my life and here is what I think you need to become successful. I am sure all this will change in school though!!!

1. Ignorance : As they say, the more you know, the more you think you don't know. I think that once you do your MBA (I have already done one and looking to do second one) you feel like you know everything there is to know about business and you become too idealistic. Business rarely works that way (atleast in my country). I feel that being successful at entrepreneurship requires more of "how badly you want to make it happen". Once you have that, you get the motivation, the focus and the strength to get through the tough times. Basically being thick skinned is the best quality to have. I think in this case, it helps if you don't know about a lot of the things that can go wrong. You handle the things that do go wrong on the job and believe me, if you have the staying power, things do get solved.

2. Courage: I have read a lot about managing risk and all that but I have always believed that at some point in time, it is very difficult to manage all the risk. Like all professions, once you are an entrepreneur, you become better at managing the risks and the headaches and the fear that you might loose it all. Initially you will have a lot of sleepless nights but you become better at not having sleepless nights. However good you are at managing risks, there will still be a few risks that will not be managable and foreseeable. That is where the successfull entrepreneurs are different. They have the guts to take on the risk and most of the times wild risks at that.

3. Less plans and more actions: Yeah I know all books tell you that you should have a foolproof plan and all that. To me, if you want to do something really badly then I believe that if you spend too much time planning it, you will see many areas where things can go wrong and in the end you just lose interest in the project because of all the negativity. I believe that you need to plan, but only to a certain extent. After a little planning, all the learning happens when you start off the project and actually start doing the thing. Afterall, its only after you start doing something that you get the actual data on which to plan and strategise.

I believe that all the other factors that the books mention come after all these factors. Other factors like a good idea, great leadership, good team, organisation, strategy, finance are all secondary factors. To me the biggest factors are: being thick skinned, courageous and action oriented. I believe that once you have these three factors, the other factors fall in place.

I know this is a very contentious post so I am ready to take the heat on. I know many here will not agree with me so I am expecting to get shot at a lot. Bring it on guys!!!

pelihu · Answer

Well...I already took a shot entrepreneurship. I quit a pretty succeessful career as a lawyer with a top law firm, dropped everything and started my own business, which I ran for over 4 years. It was pretty successful actually, and it's the reason (well, one of the key reasons) why I'm on a full scholarship and I had a great time doing it.

But, alas, I'm not in my twenties any more and I have some other goals I'd like to accomplish. I've already checked off launching my own business, but I still have new ideas all the time. If I get involved again, it will be something a little later stage where I can use some of my b-school skills like management and finance.

kryzak · Answer

great post 700willdo, Kudos!

gradschoolapplicant · Answer

nice post kryzak! kudos. :!:

MMBBAA · Answer

We tend to hear wonder stories about successfull entreprenuers and business people...
No one, however, will tell you about the hunders that failed and returned to normal job.
Own business can be as much pain in the a... as it may be thrills.
Don't look at things one sidedely.

amitdgr · Answer

Point agreed with the above poster. All we hear are few success stories of people who made it, what about hundreds (if not thousands) who failed ......

700willdo,Kry and Lepium have some really good points ...

amitdgr · Answer

anyone read the book "Reality check" by Guy Kawasaki ??

lanter1 · Answer

I think many want to work in corp for maybe 5 years after school and then go into entrepreneurship. The debt has something to do with this statement.

Why I don´t see many future entrepreneurs here?

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