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Sheryl Sandberg Says an MBA Doesn't Matter in Tech

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

#121

Post by puranjay »

swingbridge wrote: post #22

Honestly the MBA has always mostly been an advanced degree for people who didn't get an advanced degree in a real subject. Lets people tick the 'grad school' box. The real world value has always been quite questionable and yes I'd agree here that in tech it's mostly useless, if not actually even a disadvantage. For what's it's worth nearly all the excellent executives I've met over the years didn't have an MBA and ne…

I reckon I'm a prime candidate for an MBA because of the aforementioned factors. I don't have an advanced degree in a 'hard' field. Even though I run a business - and a growing one at that - there is some insecurity that comes from not having an advanced degree checkbox against my name, especially since I come from a culture that values education highly.

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

#122

Post by germinalphrase »

There is a common perspective in this thread that XYZ skills/knowledge are useful to understand (even if one's not seeking the social signaling associated with a top tier MBA).

Can anyone post some favored texts/resources for self-directed learning?

What do we include in the HN home-brew MBA?

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

#123

Post by rchaud »

germinalphrase wrote: post #122

There is a common perspective in this thread that XYZ skills/knowledge are useful to understand (even if one's not seeking the social signaling associated with a top tier MBA). Can anyone post some favored texts/resources for self-directed learning? What do we include in the HN home-brew MBA?

Unsurprisingly, someone has attempted to make a business out this exact question. The Personal MBA site has a good selection of books to get your started. It's categorized under different topics like marketing, finance, strategy, etc.

https://personalmba.com/best-business-books/

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

#124

Post by nearst »

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…

Here is my brief anecdotal story.

I'm from South America, have a b.s. in computer science and worked in management consulting before going to business school. For the past few years, I've been working in tech and living with my family in the Bay area solely because of my MBA.

I'm not referring to the academic knowledge I gained, or the global mindset I now have, nor the network I built, which are all valuable. For internationals like myself, the MBA is a great opportunity to make a radical change in your career, as well as your personal life.

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

#125

Post by stvswn »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #105
anjc wrote: post #99

It confuses me endlessly that MBAs should be so misunderstood by so many people, it being suggested that they are only good for networking, that people with MBAs are cold and evil, and so on. They're simply a course which teach you the fundamentals of several areas which are relevant to business. It'd be like saying that a degree in CS would be superfluous for somebody who wants to program. If you love programming, t…

The usual criticism is that MBAs believe the degree endows them with far more strategic intelligence than they really have. It's like officer school. The worst graduates come out absolutely convinced they can run an entire army, when in fact they're still almost completely clueless. Aside from the networking - which is not trivial - the benefits of an MBA for talented individuals seem to be exposure to the idea that…

Haha cracking up over here. I went to West Point, was an officer, got an MBA and now I work at a big tech company. I must really suck.

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

#126

Post by niels_olson »

eastbayjake wrote: post #109
ryandrake wrote: post #89

> Sandberg suggested a career in tech might not even be necessary to catch Facebook’s attention. “We don't look for a specific background or skill-set when we make hiring decisions,” she wrote. “As my friend and Instagram COO Marne Levine says, we hire athletes and cross-train them.” From a randomly selected job posting on Facebook's web site: Requirements B.S. or M.S. Computer Science or related field Experience bui…

I believe Sandberg was referring to positions where someone might think an MBA is required, like product management. No one is asking whether an MBA might be useful for highly technical roles, like the above posting for someone doing the technical implementation of an online ad engine.

From what I've read of Sandberg, she is an executive looking at grooming executives. In her mind, "professional" is equivalent to a plumber: not her children.

Her athlete analogy makes a special sort of sense in that context. I have seen a strong connection from the athletes and spec-ops people I went to school with now moving into executive positions. I'm not sure what the common denominator is, because I know a lot of athletes who are now in construction too. But if you're an athlete and can hang intellectually, there's a desirable mindset there. And I think that mindset is the striver: they see themselves every day as a little faster or a little slower, never the same. And they always want to be faster.

In Plato's Republic, there's a chapter on training the guardians, and I think that reflects her ideas reasonably well, in so far as a lot of Western leadership practices derived from the Greeks and the Republic in particular.

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

#127

Post by stvswn »

Why is it that every couple of weeks the tech world has to re-adjudicate the MBA argument? Is it just a fun debate? Why do so many people care about other people's degrees?

I have an MBA, I normally go around saying it doesn't matter. Mostly it's because bragging about your MBA is douchey, and we know it. I don't feel like people I work with care either way.

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

#128

Post by stvswn »

code4tee wrote: post #45
xivzgrev wrote: post #42

Then why do several prominent tech companies have MBA preferred in their business job postings? I noticed maybe 9 months ago during a job search. I also have a friend who is MBA and works at FB. They have a whole formal program set up for them. So while it may not be advantangeous per Se I think companies do use it as a proxy for character traits or pattern of achievement. Because of that it is an advantage. Even if…

Because, honestly, HR at most of these "tech companies" is rather clueless. Also as an investor if I see a tech companies looking to pack the halls with MBAs that tells me a lot about its soon to be bloated future. If someone is really skilled outside the MBA and it was more of a tack-on then they'll probably be fine. ...but in my experience the person relying on their MBA is the type of clueless executive that deman…

So you stopped investing in Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple? Each has formally hired MBAs for years. Google just promoted one to CEO. I assume you're calling the top of each of these companies? How have they managed the MBA death spiral for the past five years -- is their demise just a matter of time?

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

#129

Post by ScottBurson »

superuser2 wrote: post #115
anjc wrote: post #99

It confuses me endlessly that MBAs should be so misunderstood by so many people, it being suggested that they are only good for networking, that people with MBAs are cold and evil, and so on. They're simply a course which teach you the fundamentals of several areas which are relevant to business. It'd be like saying that a degree in CS would be superfluous for somebody who wants to program. If you love programming, t…

My complaint (and I suspect many others') is with the idea that someone who has studied the discipline of "business" is qualified to run any business, regardless of what it does. That they know better than, and should have authority over, the people who are actually domain experts in what the business does. When we complain about empty-suit MBAs running a software company, that's assuming the suits are just MBAs, not…

> My complaint (and I suspect many others') is with the idea that someone who has studied the discipline of "business" is qualified to run any business, regardless of what it does.

Yes, this is my impression too, having once worked for a CEO whose primary qualification seemed to have been his MBA. What they taught him seemed to be applicable to running a division of a large company; it seemed anywhere between irrelevant and outright wrong when applied to a software startup.

Maybe the efforts of people like Peter Thiel and Steve Blank will help get out the word that managing a startup requires a very different skill set. In general, it's my observation that different kinds of businesses need to be managed very differently. While there probably are some general principles, I have the impression that business schools underemphasize the variety that's out there, and the importance of understanding the business before trying to manage it.

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

#130

Post by efraimip »

I agree 100% with Sheryl. I'm a 7 time serial entrepreneur. built a few big ones. the only bad/failed ones were because of MBA leaders in the company. the only good ones were with techies leading who learned through experience the practical application of scientific business practices.

99% of all top tech company CEO's are techies who learned practical business through experience --- and are not MBAs.

Sheryl Sandberg knows exactly what she's talking about. MBA was designed for corporate middle management. No need for that in a startup - especially at founder level.

Now I invest in startups. I do not invest in MBA founders. I'm doing very good investing.

Its simple. Every logical argument says the same.

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