Ask HN: Stanford, HBS, or Sell Company

They aren't really equivalent stages in your career. Getting into Stanford or HBS is the beginning of your career; selling a startup for $10M is (if you want it to be) the end of your career.

A better comparison might be getting into HBS vs. getting accepted to YCombinator. Even for that, I'd pick YCombinator, but at least it's an even match.

MBAs really don't add that much value:

* Think twice <http://www.economist.com/whichmba/think-twice>;

* Actually, 40 Years Of Data Show The MBA Effectively Does Nothing -- It Has No Impact <http://www.businessinsider.com/the-mba-effectively-does-noth...;

* "If the MBA was wiped off the face of the earth, we'd live in a better world." - Tom Peters (MBA, Ph.D, Stanford) <http://post.ly/1CRCf>; From <http://garr.posterous.com/if-the-mba-was-wiped-off-the-face-...;

I honestly think that Getting accepted to Stanford for undergrad and Getting accepted to HBS for b-school is just preparation for Bootstrapping and selling a startup for $10M (assume 100% ownership). Even though 10M is not a lot in the enterprise world, you can always do it again and aim higher.

Wow that's hard - only because I really think the experiences would be VERY different. Imagine you are sitting in exchange MBA program in Hong Kong learning first hand about the economic policy / human rights differences between China and the US (and thus seeing the opportunities and experiences one would have if choosing this path). On the other hand, what if you decided to bootstrap and build the next great healthcare revolution in the US? Both seem like totally awesome ways to live your life. Personally, I favor the bootstrapping because truthfully (and selfishly) I want to contribute to building more ethical and innovative companies - that is my passion.

If you look at the average pay for a HBS grad student, I think I'd definitely take selling a company for 10M even if you look at it from a pure monetary perspective.

If you consider the meta aspect of it, say, why are you even learning marketing at HBS, then I'd come back to startups, but it might be different for another person.

I cannot speak to being accepted at Stanford. Obviously, one would have to ask a certain Eldrick Tont Woods what impact that fine institution had on his life, but I digress.

If you're a shithead business type with shallow friends and a twin-Volvo outlook on life, then maybe the church that is HBS may provide you with the kind of social cred and justification that a spineless social-climber seeks, then being accepted there, or any other Ivy-league B-school program, may give you the unwarranted hard-on you seek.

However, if you get off on eating peanut-butter sandwiches for weeks straight in a shared apartment in the Mission, while you write and rewrite code as you contemplate the benefits of listing suicide attempts on your CV under the heading "Recent Experience", then maybe bootstrapping a startup is something you should consider if your medical team has no objections.

Again, undergrads are a dime a dozen, B-school schmucks are mainly followers of a established social paradigm and entrepreneurs are a collection of nuts, burnouts and unregimented losers who'll package their mother in a two-fer if it brought in more business.

If you get accepted at Stanford or Harvard, then go! Even if you later drop out to start a Facebook or Google, or play pro golf, you'll still be considered an alumni for LIFE. The $10M will come and go faster than you think. And selling a biz for such a low amount is really nothing to brag about.