He funded six of the top 100
MBA startups.
The top 100
MBA startups have been able to attract total funding of nearly $ 2 billion.
CORRECTION: This story has been substantially updated since its original publication to reflect the fact that several business schools have come back to Poets & Quants to inform us of other
MBA startups that met our criteria for inclusion.
What's more, more than half of the top 100
MBA startups have raised more than $ 15 million each.
To find the best
MBA startups, we reached out to the top 50 business schools around the world.
To make our list of the top 100,
an MBA startup had to have raised a minimum of $ 1.6 million, although 61 of the 100 most successful have already managed to convince investors to hand them $ 5 million or more, and over one - third have raised more than $ 10 million.
Not exact matches
As the campaign picked up speed, barreling through the coveted $ 1 million mark, Sanghavi soon realized he wouldn't be able to manage both getting his
MBA and running a
startup that was absolutely exploding.
When the application process opened, more than 100
startups expressed interest, with teams coming from all walks of life — from engineers to designers and
MBA students applied.
As he puts it: «I'd like to CHALLENGE every woman in tech who's a) got a nice care, b) owns a nice house, or c) is making over $ 125K a year to start thinking of themselves as the next Ron Conway or Esther Dyson in the making and commit to investing in
startups...» I'll forgive him for the poor grammar, ditto for the wisecrack a couple of paragraphs later about how some of us might have spent $ 5,000 to $ 10,000 on our
MBAs... or our wardrobes.
MBA programs do provide a useful toolkit, but they are better suited for established businesses than rapid - growth
startups.
It's more common for tech
startup leaders to hold an advanced degree in engineering than an
MBA.
In fact, our «plan» had so many holes in it that if an
MBA class had reviewed our
startup strategy, most students would have considered us touch and go at best.
Startups were the top choice for a mere 5 percent of
MBAs.
Ni Xu (left) and Kunal Rai, both former Apple employees and current Harvard Business School full - time
MBA candidates, elected to work on their
startup, AluluClub, full - time this summer.
Yet, a recent report from the Financial Times shows that over the past two years
MBA graduates have cooled on entrepreneurship, with less than one in five choosing the less stable
startup experience.
While Columbia Business School's Summer
Startup Track also doesn't provide funding, it does provide a school - sanctioned opportunity for
MBAs to work on their own ventures for the normal internship summer.
While the
MBA certainly offers value, it is not well - suited for those looking to the
startups and growth companies of today.
«Certainly in the aggregate, (the number of)
MBAs participating in
startups and new ventures is going up,» concurs Karl Ulrich, vice dean of entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.
Last summer, 47 full - time
MBAs participated in the Entrepreneurial Summer Internship Program, which only provides a living stipend for some students working at early - stage
startups, compared to 40 students in the summer of 2011.
When his brother quit his job and moved to San Francisco to co-found a
startup, Webb decided he'd use his
MBA to do the same.
It's also showing up in the number of
MBAs who are anxious to work for smaller companies and
startups that are, by nature, more entrepreneurial.
A record 18 % of the 2013 Stanford
MBA class chose to form a
startup, up from 12 % in the late 1990s.
Meantime,
Startup Garage student Duane is trying to connect graduate students online, particularly
MBA students, who are always searching for computer scientists to help build a product.
Last year, a record 18 % of Stanford
MBAs founded companies, but few of those
startups were created to do launch an app.
The
startup, called
MBA Bee, comes out of Harvard's newly revised
MBA curriculum in which student teams are given seed money by the school and then required to create a new product or service development project.
Talk of using the
MBA experience as a place to fine - tune an idea, recruit partners, gain access to seed capital, and finally launch a
startup is becoming as ubiquitous as discussions about forthcoming job interviews at McKinsey & Co. and Goldman Sachs.
Booth's full - time
MBA program focuses on training students for real - world business scenarios through experiential learning and lab courses where students work with actual early - stage
startups.
So why not look into the growth strategy tips of a pair of Stanford
MBAs whose
startup has expanded its customer base nearly 200 percent a year in the last two - and - a-half years?
They've increased the number of elective classes on entrepreneurship in the course catalog, and they've put
startup projects into the basic
MBA curriculum.
The swelling interest in
startups by graduating
MBAs is also due to the encouragement from business schools.
At the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, Stewart Thornhill, who also serves as the executive director of the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, says that while an
MBA is by no means necessary to
startup success, it can be helpful.
More
MBA grads are gravitating to the
startup world than at any time other than the dot - com boom of 2000 - 2001.
Not having an
MBA, the first year of leading my
startup was the most hectic as well as the biggest ego buster of my life.
Besides the
Startup Center, the school has a Center for Entrepreneurship, which is an
MBA program with courses that guide students from the «idea stage» to creating a business plan, and, in some cases, an actual business.
With an
MBA to complement his background, Skok's approach to
startup techniques and financial modeling is user friendly, though strongly technical, rich in charts and equations.
I often say if you're willing to go into debt for $ 100,000 - 150,000 to get an
MBA and have two years of your life with no work experience, why on Earth wouldn't you just join the most ambitious early - stage
startup you know and work for a paltry salary to get the experience?
Sometimes the discussion veers over into whether or not he or she should get an
MBA before trying a
startup.
She was part - owner / manager of a
startup retail bagel chain in Calgary while writing her
MBA thesis entitled «Modeling ACD Data to Improve Computer Simulation of Call Centers».
The CDL — Rockies program will enhance educational opportunities and unleash the potential of Haskayne
MBA students by connecting them with these technology
startups and assisting them with refining their strategies, developing business plans, identifying and pursuing potential customers, and seeking external financing.
Business Model Design, Product / Service Development, Customer Development,
Startup Team - Building, Entrepreneurial Finance, Marketing, Founder Transition, etc. all provide the startup equivalent of the management tools MBAs learn for exe
Startup Team - Building, Entrepreneurial Finance, Marketing, Founder Transition, etc. all provide the
startup equivalent of the management tools MBAs learn for exe
startup equivalent of the management tools
MBAs learn for execution.
Brian then took that experience to the world of
startups heading up marketing for the global launch of major VR player, Leap Motion, before pursuing an
MBA in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at ESADE in Barcelona, Spain.
Previously, she founded an ecommerce
startup, Runway Technologies, while completing an
MBA at Harvard Business School.
Scott Cooney Scott Cooney (twitter: scottcooney) is an adjunct professor of Sustainability in the
MBA program at the University of Hawai'i, green business
startup coach, author of Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur (McGraw - Hill), and developer of the sustainability board game GBO Hawai'i.
«The
MBA And The
Startup Main Online Dating Use Jumps Among Youngest US Adults And The Middle Aged»
After receiving her
MBA, she worked in edtech
startups at the LearnLaunch campus in downtown Boston.
CommonBond, LLC is another
startup company that has been developed with the same goal as SoFi: Provide students that are enrolled in an
MBA program online or at a traditional university lower interest rate loans while connecting them with alumni investors.
Profile * 42 years of diverse financial experience * 19 years of banking (lending, credit, loan workout business development) * 6 years of regulatory & consulting experience (RTC and Fact Witness) * 17 years of city government (Community Development & Housing) *
MBA, CPA, CPM, CFE, FCPA, CDFA * Proven leadership in
startups and large organizations Key Achievements * Two personal community development awards (City of Waco) *...
Startup work will teach you what you would learn while doing an
MBA, but in the real world, with real clients, and real money.
She has an
MBA, degrees in psychology, and over 15 years of experience working with hedge funds and
startups.
CMO,
MBA & Mechanical Engineer with 13 years experience launching SaaS
startups, scaling predictable growth, and hitting revenue targets in Enterprise FinTech, and Healthcare.