Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech • Hacker News Board

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech

#61

Post by landonshoop » Thu, Dec 17, 2015, 2:53 PM UTC

c0achmcguirk wrote: post #34

I'm a developer at a financial services company. I was content to be a developer and let the "business" folks define our stories and I'd just code them. I never understood the application I was building on a deep level--it was always superficial. A friend convinced me to take a few MBA classes at a local university. The first class was accounting. It opened my eyes to understanding what our product and business owner…

Agreed. To add to your point:

Most entrepreneurs need to spend a significant amount of time thinking about non-tech related objectives (e.g. sales, pricing, marketing, etc). Sure -- there are tons of publications out there teaching a technical entrepreneur the fundamentals of marketing and sales, but it is always specific to the author's/interviewee's own experience which happens to be unlike all others. Or, and perhaps more commonly, these publications tend to gloss over a really important fact (or facts): the author/interviewee had insane connections or a very rich uncle that allowed her to achieve success as an entrepreneur/businessperson without an MBA.

For those would-be entrepreneurs without insane connections, deep pockets, or a future unicorn in the making, the MBA provides an opportunity to build skills and knowledge important to getting a business off the ground and, more generally, teaches one how to operate in a world that revolves around money, not tech. Personally, my MBA gave way to a great new career path, higher salary, great connections, and -- most importantly -- a much more holistic view of the world.

In the end, I do believe that an MBA is not required for success. However, I disagree with Thiel and Sandberg drawing such a hard line in the sand. People looking to learn is never a useless act.

For context -- I picked up an EE degree in undergrad and eventually went on to grab an MBA.

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech

#62

Post by oldmanjay » Thu, Dec 17, 2015, 2:57 PM UTC

I think of Sheryl Sandberg as an ad exec who happened to get into tech at the right time. I'm not really aware of any technical bona fides, just the usual executive ability to extract money from technical processes for personal gain.

Am I missing something?

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech

#63

Post by jackgavigan » Thu, Dec 17, 2015, 2:58 PM UTC

Retric wrote: post #54

trequartista wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has been my experience as well - getting a deeper, business insight into the applications that I was building for my customers. It has also helped me in one more way - getting a feel and helping me understand why my own company behaved the way it did - including business strategy, sales dynamics as well as HR policies and practices.

IMO, you can go a long way by picking up a few basic textbooks for whatever your coding. A basic understanding of terminology is really useful and takes far less time than going to class. PS: If you have never looked into the topic an MBA has plenty of useful ideas. But, I find the cost / benefit of getting an MBA is a negative indicator.

For me, a lot of the learning came from interactions with my classmates. Instead of just reading (or being taught) the theory, you can discuss most of the subjects with someone who works in that field.

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech

#64

Post by onesixtythree » Thu, Dec 17, 2015, 3:00 PM UTC

I have to disagree with this claim. Leverage matters immensely. The truth about "merit" is that no one knows how to assess it, so people judge based on external leverage and status, and having an MBA from a top-5 school gives a person a huge advantage.

If you're a walk-on for a $250,000-per-year sinecure, then they're going to give you a real tech job, and not some lowly code-the-stories position.

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech

#65

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Dec 17, 2015, 3:02 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech

#66

Post by analog31 » Thu, Dec 17, 2015, 3:07 PM UTC

davnicwil wrote: post #50

Aside from the value of the degree itself, can anyone attest to the usefulness of any particular knowledge gained from doing an MBA, particularly around running small companies and startups? If so, any recommendations for resources, books etc? This whole issue (usefulness of MBA in tech management) sounds very similar to the usefulness of CS degree in development issue. We can talk all day about the effect the CS deg…

Carrying the analogy further, the value of getting a CS degree is relative to how you learn. If you're good at learning a lot of stuff in a classroom (as I was in my college majors, math and physics), then getting a degree makes sense. If you're good at learning stuff at home (as I was with computer programming), then getting a degree might be less useful. A person could adopt the strategy of using college for learning the stuff that's hard for them to learn at home.

Regarding business, same thing. Some folks can pick it up by reading books, the newspaper, and just soaking it up at work. Others might benefit from learning it in a classroom.

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech

#67

Post by enraged_camel » Thu, Dec 17, 2015, 3:08 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #40

c0achmcguirk wrote: post #34

I'm a developer at a financial services company. I was content to be a developer and let the "business" folks define our stories and I'd just code them. I never understood the application I was building on a deep level--it was always superficial. A friend convinced me to take a few MBA classes at a local university. The first class was accounting. It opened my eyes to understanding what our product and business owner…

The real value creation happens on the cross roads between different fields. You now have two of these at your disposal. Don't stop, add another one!

Absolutely true. Quoting Justine Musk (Elon's ex-wife, I think):

"...Choose one thing and become a master of it. Choose a second thing and become a master of that. When you become a master of two worlds (say, engineering and business), you can bring them together in a way that will a) introduce hot ideas to each other, so they can have idea sex and make idea babies that no one has seen before and b) create a competitive advantage because you can move between worlds, speak both languages, connect the tribes, mash the elements to spark fresh creative insight until you wake up with the epiphany that changes your life."

https://www.quora.com/Will-I-become-a-billionaire-if-I-am-de...

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech

#68

Post by pvnick » Thu, Dec 17, 2015, 3:09 PM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #57

I'm always skeptical about stuff like this. Sandberg's springboard into her career was two-fold: working at McKinsey after HBS, and working under Larry Summers, who was her thesis advisor at Harvard UG. She went to Google as a VP after her stint in government. There is a huge "getting your foot in the door" advantage to that credential. I can totally believe she didn't use much of what she learned at HBS in what she…

Good point. Pedigree is and always has been a huge advantage. A disproportionate number of execs' backgrounds I've looked into have Yale/Harvard/Stanford/etc somewhere. I wonder if that will ever change. Having worked with many folks who attended those universities, most do not strike me as being intrinsically more capable than their counterparts who attended other universities, although a few have a high degree of self-assuredness (which, granted, is quite valuable as a career trait).

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech

#69

Post by enraged_camel » Thu, Dec 17, 2015, 3:13 PM UTC

onesixtythree wrote: post #64

I have to disagree with this claim. Leverage matters immensely. The truth about "merit" is that no one knows how to assess it, so people judge based on external leverage and status, and having an MBA from a top-5 school gives a person a huge advantage. If you're a walk-on for a $250,000-per-year sinecure, then they're going to give you a real tech job, and not some lowly code-the-stories position.

>>and having an MBA from a top-5 school gives a person a huge advantage.

Certainly. There's a saying that having an MBA from Harvard will guarantee you at least an interview anywhere in the world.

The problem is that the vast majority of MBAs did not get their degree from Harvard, or even the other top 4 schools. They got their MBAs from regional universities or no-name business departments.

Re: Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech

#70

Post by pvnick » Thu, Dec 17, 2015, 3:15 PM UTC

c0achmcguirk wrote: post #34

I'm a developer at a financial services company. I was content to be a developer and let the "business" folks define our stories and I'd just code them. I never understood the application I was building on a deep level--it was always superficial. A friend convinced me to take a few MBA classes at a local university. The first class was accounting. It opened my eyes to understanding what our product and business owner…

I would be interested to hear from you, and anybody else with similar experience, what were some of the most valuable courses you took. That is, for someone with no interest in pursuing an MBA but with the opportunity to take a course or two, what are the must-haves?