MBA teachings are useful in the same way that any guru's lessons find a following: they offer a general framework for tackling large, ambiguous problems that would otherwise feel intractable.
MBA teachings are useful in the same way that any guru's lessons find a following: they offer a general framework for tackling large, ambiguous problems that would otherwise feel intractable.
You can just as easily be a tent preacher with your business podcast as a Jesuit with your MBA. But the mysticism pervades.
For instance, saying "VC $ is never worth it" is a far more dogmatic position than what most startup people I know believe: namely that it's a major decision with serious pros and cons that can make a huge difference in your potential benefit and control of your business.
WRT to Tim Ferriss, it's even more bizarre to imagine that there is some kind of startup party line in support of his methodology. The guy is a self-help guru with a cool brand. Far be it from me to proclaim what he should or should not do, and I think most startup people would agree that the main relevance he has to startup life is brand-building.
Lean Startup is the only one where I think you are on the mark, but even there, most of that stuff is just common sense table stakes that you pick up a few months into your first startup. If you want to make an argument against it, it's not like I couldn't be swayed in a variety of specific circumstances.