I totally agree. As I said in the original post:
"I am not trying to argue that there is no place for MBAs, or that no MBA has a clue about startups – both of those are demonstrably untrue. Also having an MBA itself is clearly not the problem."
"I am not trying to argue that there is no place for MBAs, or that no MBA has a clue about startups – both of those are demonstrably untrue. Also having an MBA itself is clearly not the problem."
The typical routes out of MBA programs are managerial or consulting roles. That's great; the degree was designed to give future managers a broad, intellectual understanding of business as practiced by large American corporations.
Startups don't have those roles. At all. If you've hired right, everybody has smart opinions and nobody needs much management. What you need is people who can get things done right now. People with experience in designing interfaces, in interviewing users, in banging out prototypes, in running ad campaigns.
MBA programs teach a lot of great stuff. But none of my friend with MBAs got significant hands-on practical experience there.
As a startup founder let me just say that NO degree prepares you for a startup. I guess you are right on one thing, the common denominator: "People with experience" - with my caveat of: regardless of your background. Your comment comes across like a double standard - which I do mention out above.
From what I've seen, fresh developer grads expect to take entry-level positions. Fresh MBA grads generally don't; they expect to be listened to as high-level advisors or managers. That is not an unreasonable expectation, in that their programs train them for that.
Another way to look at it: It's well-known that large-company execs often adapt poorly to working at startups, partly because they are used to having other people around to do the actual work. An MBA trains people for that sort of large-company position, so it's unsurprising that people fresh out of MBA programs would have the same issues.
Looking through your comments on other threads I can see that you clearly have an "agenda" against MBA grads. Looks like a smart way of using your time. Good luck with that <- this, sarcasm.
I don't have an agenda against MBA grads; many of my friends have MBAs. What I have an agenda against is parts of what the MBA programs teach, and the sense of entitlement that many fresh MBA grads either started with or caught at school.
I have this agenda because I believe both are causing real harm to people, and to America as a whole. E.g., what a brace of MBAs did to the Simmons Mattress Company: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/business/economy/05simmons...