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Elon Musk Decries ‘M.B.A.-ization’ of America

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Re: Elon Musk Decries ‘M.B.A.-ization’ of America

#51

Post by orky56 »

mathattack wrote: post #11

It’s a matter of phase of company. MBAs are better at measuring and capturing value. Weaker at creating it. Therefore the non-MBA expert outperforms in the growth phase, though it takes a different mindset for mature companies.

Spot on. MBA's aren't meant for 0 to 1. They're meant to optimize and sustain business models with the foundation of innovation and revolutionary ideas. Companies that only stick to one or the other are doomed, or require their industry to be that much more technical or business focused.

Re: Elon Musk Decries ‘M.B.A.-ization’ of America

#52

Post by screye »

Someone1234 wrote: post #35

Musk isn't purely a self-made success story. He was born into emerald mines, got a first class education, and used that inherited wealth to start companies, sell, and then buy stakes in growing companies other people founded (inc. Tesla, incidentally). So is the lesson here to be born rich rather than try to get an education? Or just that when you are born rich education is optional? It is notable that the other foun…

I have genuinely struggled to find this information.

* How wealthy was Elon before starting his own products ?

* How much of this investment in various companies was non-bootstrapped / not momentum from a past sale ?

________

I feel that many people born rich do not wider idea behind Henry Ford's famous quote:

" don't ask me how I made my first million. "

It highlights the inbuilt privilege that those born rich/stable have, and the luck/shady-ness required to reach that 1st point. Would Musk have been able to do any of the things he does if zip2 wasn't such a huge success. Would have been able to start anything if he didn't have the financial stability due to being born rich or the access granted by a network at UPenn.

I'd say the goalpost has been moved to the point of FIRE. A silicon valley employee won't be able to take any of the risks/efforts needed to summon lady luck. If you're spending 60 hrs/week at work, have family to support or simply a bad visa situation, then good luck taking your 1st leap.

"The 1st million don't pop out of thin air."

Re: Elon Musk Decries ‘M.B.A.-ization’ of America

#53

Post by throwaway0a5e »

nbardy wrote: post #46
mhaberl wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He is in a very specific situation, he is the founder and the CEO and has a lot of money to burn. He wants to do big things and he can do them. A lot of companies have stock holders who expect some return every year without risking too much. As a society we sure would be better off if had more Elon Musk type company leaders, but for that too happen we would need more exceptional people like him (not going to happen)…

Our society has plenty of Elon Musks. Their being snuffed out by a academic system designed to churn out people can repeat "the correct answer". Heterodox thinking is a liability not an asset in Academia now. Along with the fact that most people don't even have the option to take risk with the massive increase of cost of housing. Our society has been designed to squeeze out cash flow and it's smothering our creatives…

>Along with the fact that most people don't even have the option to take risk with the massive increase of cost of housing.

This just means people won't be taking risks in places like SF. There's plenty of cheap housing out there. Just not in places where the market is driven up by supply constraints and money printers. And before anyone says "hurr durr, nobody wants to live in BFE Alabama" I'm talking about places like Buffalo, Hartford and Atlanta.

Re: Elon Musk Decries ‘M.B.A.-ization’ of America

#54

Post by lazyjones »

orky56 wrote: post #51
mathattack wrote: post #11

It’s a matter of phase of company. MBAs are better at measuring and capturing value. Weaker at creating it. Therefore the non-MBA expert outperforms in the growth phase, though it takes a different mindset for mature companies.

Spot on. MBA's aren't meant for 0 to 1. They're meant to optimize and sustain business models with the foundation of innovation and revolutionary ideas. Companies that only stick to one or the other are doomed, or require their industry to be that much more technical or business focused.

How is this working for other car makers, who are full of MBAs? Elon comes along and takes their market share.

Re: Elon Musk Decries ‘M.B.A.-ization’ of America

#55

Post by Someone1234 »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #43
Someone1234 wrote: post #35

Musk isn't purely a self-made success story. He was born into emerald mines, got a first class education, and used that inherited wealth to start companies, sell, and then buy stakes in growing companies other people founded (inc. Tesla, incidentally). So is the lesson here to be born rich rather than try to get an education? Or just that when you are born rich education is optional? It is notable that the other foun…

Musk climbed the ladder several rungs. If musk isn't self made then neither is the guy who was born into welfare and dies the owner of a successful independent used car lot. Climbing the ladder is climbing the ladder regardless of where you start.

One way to "climb the rungs" is education.

This is an article/thread discussing his anti-education take, when he himself (in spite of having a first class education) doesn't feel like he gained from it, and suggesting others don't either (or even that education is harmful).

His wealth and privilege is absolutely topical because he was able to bypass certain checks due to his family is.

Re: Elon Musk Decries ‘M.B.A.-ization’ of America

#56

Post by georgeecollins »

reallydontask wrote: post #30
haolez wrote: post #13

I, for one, sometimes miss the knowledge that an MBA might give me. I'm a technical CTO and I have some trouble with long term planning, budget, managing people, etc.

If MBAs taught how to manage people then they might be worth it but alas, this is far from the case.

I agree that this is a huge weakness of some MBA programs. I think this is because a lot of the curriculum comes from academics, people with a consulting background, and people with a finance background. For many of those careers managing lots of people is not a number one priority.

When I got my MBA there was a case study(it's like a lesson chapter) I read about a top performer who didn't get along with a team. We never got to that one and it probably wasn't a favorite of the professor. But we did do a lot of cases about reallocating assets across a conglomerate or relaunching a fifty year old product or what have you. In retrospect, any insight in how to handle that troublesome high performer would have been really helpful, particularly at the start of my career.

Re: Elon Musk Decries ‘M.B.A.-ization’ of America

#57

Post by warrenq »

nbardy wrote: post #46
mhaberl wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He is in a very specific situation, he is the founder and the CEO and has a lot of money to burn. He wants to do big things and he can do them. A lot of companies have stock holders who expect some return every year without risking too much. As a society we sure would be better off if had more Elon Musk type company leaders, but for that too happen we would need more exceptional people like him (not going to happen)…

Our society has plenty of Elon Musks. Their being snuffed out by a academic system designed to churn out people can repeat "the correct answer". Heterodox thinking is a liability not an asset in Academia now. Along with the fact that most people don't even have the option to take risk with the massive increase of cost of housing. Our society has been designed to squeeze out cash flow and it's smothering our creatives…

Correction. Our Society has plenty of people who think they are Elon Musk

Re: Elon Musk Decries ‘M.B.A.-ization’ of America

#58

Post by say_it_as_it_is »

kube-system wrote: post #38
say_it_as_it_is wrote: post #22

Look at what Amazon's MBAs are doing with Whole Foods. I've never seen a great business destroyed so quickly.

What are they doing? Honestly interested, I didn't shop much at Whole Foods pre-acquisition.

they've stripped surplus value from their offering..

Re: Elon Musk Decries ‘M.B.A.-ization’ of America

#59

Post by young_unixer »

mathattack wrote: post #11

It’s a matter of phase of company. MBAs are better at measuring and capturing value. Weaker at creating it. Therefore the non-MBA expert outperforms in the growth phase, though it takes a different mindset for mature companies.

There must exist a sweet spot of engineers/MBAs ratio. The question is: is company X higher or lower than that sweet spot?
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