In a couple weeks I will be graduating from Wharton with an MBA. When I applied, I thought I would leave school as part of the founding team of a new company. Instead, I am joining First Round Capital as a Principal. This is incredibly lucky for many reasons, but one of them is my feeling that companies founded by teams of MBA’s are likely to fail. Over the past two years I have seen MBA’s at Penn (including me) do a terrible job integrating with the rest of the community and therefore significantly lower the probability of start-up success. Having an MBA as part of the founding team may or may not increase the probability of success but I am certain that a team exclusively made up of MBA’s will not hold a candle to a team with more diverse backgrounds. In 2004 Guy Kawasaki discussed the value of an MBA for an entrepreneur
First Round Elements @Upenn
First Round Elements @Upenn
First Round Elements @Upenn
In a couple weeks I will be graduating from Wharton with an MBA. When I applied, I thought I would leave school as part of the founding team of a new company. Instead, I am joining First Round Capital as a Principal. This is incredibly lucky for many reasons, but one of them is my feeling that companies founded by teams of MBA’s are likely to fail. Over the past two years I have seen MBA’s at Penn (including me) do a terrible job integrating with the rest of the community and therefore significantly lower the probability of start-up success. Having an MBA as part of the founding team may or may not increase the probability of success but I am certain that a team exclusively made up of MBA’s will not hold a candle to a team with more diverse backgrounds. In 2004 Guy Kawasaki discussed the value of an MBA for an entrepreneur