Trying to find true international/entrepreneurial schools

Question

Ok, so I've been going through countless schools for countless weeks now, writing names on a board then erasing them and starting all over. I've got it narrowed down to 3:

Stanford (Silicon Valley, and well, it's Stanford.)
Haas (Silicon Valley)
INSEAD (Very entrepreneurial with an international focus and plenty of opportunities for travel/languages)

Can someone suggest some other schools I should take a look at? My ultimate goal is to be a serial entrepreneur... in anything pretty much. I want to build a huge conglomorate with many businesses, ie Web 2.0, Import/Export (food, arms, electronics, luxury cars...)/etc. The main point is I want the freedom of my own business, I don't want to be a cog in some corporate machine.

The problem that really gets me is it seems as if these business schools are cookie cutter operations. Joe Bob does X years in IB/MC, gets his MBA, continues on in IB/MC. Or Perkash does 5 years in IT then gets an MBA and goes into IB. Or Linda works at Microsoft for a few years, gets her MBA, then goes to Google to be a PM or some corporate executive. These people have successful careers, become well off, but to me it all seems mundane. While they're successful, they're no Bill, Larry, Li Ka Ming, Bin Talal or Branson.

Are there any business schools that go after the dreamers and not the conformists?

bsd_lover · Answer

Mate, all schools would love to have a serial entrepreneur on their books. However it needs to tie in with your previous experiences for you to get accepted. I am sure HBS will be the perfect choice - esp with the networks you will end up making there.

mNeo · Answer

Bill, Larry, Li Ka Shing (I am assuming that you misspelled), Bin Talal and Branson have only two things in common: 1. They are all rich 2. None of them did an MBA from a top school Other than that, they have nothing in common. Based on your post, sorry if this hurts you, I feel that you haven't thought the entrepreneurship thing through. Anyway, to answer your question, MIT is one obvious name for Entrepreneurship (Although they seem to be very Boston-focused). I've heard some people bring up the names of Ross and UCLA (Only kryzak brings up this name

j/k ) as well.

StartupAddict · Answer

Really bsd_lover? HBS? I thought HBS would be a yuppie old-boys club. I met enough of those while working in Manhattan...

And yes dead set on entrepreneurship...... in my few short years I've run a CD business (5 runners), computer coding consulting business (2 guys, 1 in poland), computer hardware business in high school, several websites, etc... a lot of other businesses as well that aren't exactly appropriate on an MBA app. All the while being in school full time or working full time... I spend time everyday brainstorming new ideas... etc.

StartupAddict · Answer

Hrm yeah I know of MIT.... Sloan has a good network too.

What about a school that rejects the yuppie Consultants/IB's and goes after the entrepreneurially addicted... the ones that blow all their money on business ideas... live in an empty apartment that only has a lamp, 1 couch, 3 cans of food, but 9 LCDs and 7 bottles of Vodka..

Praetorian · Answer

It is nice to see that you are so inspired and motivated. Pelihu may be able to help you with your question about schools.

Just to share our little experience with the web. Serial entrepreneurs and the web were made for each other. If you want to learn about starting a business on the web - thats fairly easy. If you opt for a web based business, there has never been a better time to start one. Start up costs are low - A lot of software is free, low fixed costs, hosting is fairly cheap, adsense can provide some cash flow. You obviously need an idea - any insane idea. Chances are your idea will evolve and you will end up doing something different.

A mundane life is a matter of priorities. The right answer is somewhere in some shade of grey. For a lot of people, family and quality of life (read : more time) is extremely important. We don't know why people choose to do what they do.

The freedom part with entrepreneurship is true to some extent, but freedom must also be used in context. If you want freedom to take risks, great. If you want freedom to be creative and not have people fence you in, this is great. But you will always be working for someone - the day you accept money from a venture capitalist or a bank, you will be working for them. If not that, then you are working for your customers and your shareholders. Your business will always be on your mind. So after five to ten years with your business, freedom may not exactly remain one of your priorities.

Good luck.

BCC145 · Answer

After reading your post, my take is no b-school would fill its class with all entrepreneurs and spend all its money funding ventures. All b-schools want to create a diverse class and thus you will always have to work with those students that you called ‘conformists’ if you attend one.

I also disagree with your generalization that ‘these?’ b-schools (the b-schools that you are referring to) are ‘cookie cutter operations’. There will always be entrepreneurs at every b-schools, just more at some schools than others. I personally would not want to attend a b-school that is filled with entrepreneurs and no one else even if I was an entrepreneur.

Remember that the experience that you gain from b-school comes from what you make of it - just like no b-school can make you millions of dollars or make you a serial entrepreneur. It’s really what you want to take from b-school, not the other way around.

Okaaaay… so with that said, to answer your question, yes, it helps if you attend a b-school that supports your goals. I would look at Sloan and Babson programs.

riverripper · Answer

I hate to say it because I know that quiet a few people on here want to be entrepreneurs but in my opinion anyone who wants to be a serial entrepreneur does not need an MBA, unless they plan on joining the corporate world for a few years prior to pursuing their business idea. Like say someone wants to start a boutique consulting company specializing in XXX, but to get an idea of how a consultant should truly operate they plan to work for McK/Bain/BCG for 3-5 years post MBA. That makes sense to me since you are gaining knowledge and then a position in a field that is related to their future endeavor.

However, a person who wants to start a business straightout of school, that is not really business related is probably better off spending those two years they would be in school working on the business. You mention a bunch of people, none have MBAs. Yes a place like Stanford might have connections to VC, but that’s mainly for people who want to get hired by them.

Angel investors (wealthy individuals) who provide the initial funding for most companies don’t care where you have a degree from, they aren’t funding your business acumen they are funding your idea. A VC wont care if you have a clue to run your business since they probably will want to insert a person into your organization to run it. Even if you have an MBA chances are that someone else will be put in place by whoever is providing the millions in funding. If for nothing else than to give it a sense of legitimacy.

If your company is so small that it doesn’t justify someone being put in as a near figure head, then you probably don’t need VC to really grow it and would be better off maintaining that large percentage of your company you otherwise would have given away.

Basically my point is if you really want to just start business and what not, do it and don’t worry about a $100K piece of paper. I mean Richard Branson didn’t even graduate HS, he had started Virgin by the age most people are getting out of undergrad. Instead of spending time and energy applying and attending school just start to follow your dream because if you go to school you will have to be a conformist in a way…there are too many group and team projects to work on to be completely different than everyone. That is unless you don’t mind alienating every other student in your class, there by destroying any potential networking advantage you would have gained.

Praetorian · Answer

Just a note on work experience: It is very helpful to have work experience - irony or not, a failed start up experience is perhaps the most valuable. You will need to hire from the people you call "conformists", so it is nice to know how things work in their world.

It is also true that a franchise operation has a much better chance for success over time. A tried and tested business model, management help, training etc. Lower risk also comes at a price - lesser control and lower payout.

By the way, when I say insane ideas, here are some insane ideas

https://www.mahalo.com - A human search engine. The guy's got some balls and loads of venture funding.
https://www.hotornot.com - take a guess.
https://www.savemyass.com - guys can relate better.
https://www.plentyoffish.com (the guy makes millions with adsense with no employees)

kryzak · Answer

oh HotorNot... I used to be addicted to that site (and the founder is from Cal/Haas)

Anyway, to follow up on what mNeo said, UCLA actually has very strong support for people who want to do entrepreneurship in MULTIPLE fields, not just tech (where Stanford/Haas focuses mainly). That's what drew me to apply there in the first place, and the campus is always buzzing with entrepreneurship ideas. StartupAddict, I thought you applied already???

Trying to find true international/entrepreneurial schools

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