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Stanford MBAs Shift Away from Tech

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Re: Stanford MBAs Shift Away from Tech

#2
Stanford MBAs in tech are fucking weird. I worked with a few, and had one for a CEO for 2 years. The gist of it is that they all sucked at tech but thought they didn't (trying to manage engineering teams in ridiculous micromanagy self important ways), were all very self centered, and all came from very wealthy families, being able to raise a few hundred thousands from "friends and family" (!?) and spending 4 day weekends in Tahoe and LA even though "we're bootstrapping so I'm only taking $30k a year right now".

I know, I know, anecdote != data. Having talked about it with friends, I know I'm not alone. I even see it mentioned in HN comments every once in a while (eg https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7083219).

Re: Stanford MBAs Shift Away from Tech

#3
post #2

Stanford MBAs in tech are fucking weird. I worked with a few, and had one for a CEO for 2 years. The gist of it is that they all sucked at tech but thought they didn't (trying to manage engineering teams in ridiculous micromanagy self important ways), were all very self centered, and all came from very wealthy families, being able to raise a few hundred thousands from "friends and family" (!?) and spending 4 day week…

as an angel investor, mba founders is a big warning sign. so there's that.

Re: Stanford MBAs Shift Away from Tech

#4
post #2

Stanford MBAs in tech are fucking weird. I worked with a few, and had one for a CEO for 2 years. The gist of it is that they all sucked at tech but thought they didn't (trying to manage engineering teams in ridiculous micromanagy self important ways), were all very self centered, and all came from very wealthy families, being able to raise a few hundred thousands from "friends and family" (!?) and spending 4 day week…

I had the same reaction initially, basically thinking 'good riddance', but then stopped for a second and realized they are talking about tech, not start-ups.

I have a lot (too many, more than I ever thought I'd have) friends who are MBAs, and their is a place for them in larger technology companies, they just shouldn't be involved in developing breakthrough products. They are taught to manage big business and eke efficiency out of large systems, start-ups don't fit that mould.

Re: Stanford MBAs Shift Away from Tech

#5
Away from tech, back into finance. It's not like they're going into manufacturing or something useful.

"Finance was able to reclaim its No. 1 position at Stanford because of some extraordinary pay packages it dangled in front of the newly minted MBAs. Graduates who accepted jobs in private equity—12% of the entire class—pulled down median base starting salaries of $170,000, 36% higher than the $125,000 median base for the entire class and $20,000 higher than last year’s $150,000 median in private equity.

The PE crowd also grabbed some of the highest signing bonuses and guaranteed other compensation. The average sign-on bonus in private equity was $46,250, highest of any sector..."

Re: Stanford MBAs Shift Away from Tech

#7
post #3
post #2

Stanford MBAs in tech are fucking weird. I worked with a few, and had one for a CEO for 2 years. The gist of it is that they all sucked at tech but thought they didn't (trying to manage engineering teams in ridiculous micromanagy self important ways), were all very self centered, and all came from very wealthy families, being able to raise a few hundred thousands from "friends and family" (!?) and spending 4 day week…

as an angel investor, mba founders is a big warning sign. so there's that.

So this is a real thing? It's not just me turned off by the strangely premeditated handshakes?

Re: Stanford MBAs Shift Away from Tech

#8
post #5

Away from tech, back into finance. It's not like they're going into manufacturing or something useful. "Finance was able to reclaim its No. 1 position at Stanford because of some extraordinary pay packages it dangled in front of the newly minted MBAs. Graduates who accepted jobs in private equity—12% of the entire class—pulled down median base starting salaries of $170,000, 36% higher than the $125,000 median base fo…

Yeah, it's not like those useless folks on Wall Street have ever helped manufacturers or tech companies. Oh wait[1][2].

[1] http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-firm/progress/titan/

[2] http://fortune.com/2014/10/08/wellington-management-gets-int...

Re: Stanford MBAs Shift Away from Tech

#9
post #2

Stanford MBAs in tech are fucking weird. I worked with a few, and had one for a CEO for 2 years. The gist of it is that they all sucked at tech but thought they didn't (trying to manage engineering teams in ridiculous micromanagy self important ways), were all very self centered, and all came from very wealthy families, being able to raise a few hundred thousands from "friends and family" (!?) and spending 4 day week…

I'm wondering if we worked at the same company.

We got press in TC in order to reach out to the "nerds".

Re: Stanford MBAs Shift Away from Tech

#10
post #7
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

as an angel investor, mba founders is a big warning sign. so there's that.

So this is a real thing? It's not just me turned off by the strangely premeditated handshakes?

MBA courses are now being promoted in Europe and many people see it as a cancer
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