Why Entrepreneurs Don’t Belong in Business School
Statistics show that over 70% of people enrolled in MBA programs are looking for the skills to help them become entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, that’s not what they’re being taught.
Most Business Schools and MBA degrees teach students the language called business. Learning subjects like finance, accounting, marketing, and organizational behavior are great tools. But this learning does not equate to entrepreneurial success. Instead of learning how to apply the principles that lead to audacious results, students are taught how to fit into a corporate world. A world we all know is fundamentally broken.
The problem lies in the fact that the current business education platforms, mired in the theoretical and traditional, does not provide real value for true entrepreneurs. Why? Because traditional business education does not create entrepreneurs. It creates traditional business owners.
While it’s true business schools may teach what a business needs to be competitive, graduates have never learned who they need to be to become successful entrepreneurs.
And there’s the rub.
Are you an entrepreneur or small business owner?
Over the last 50 years we’ve been led to believe that an entrepreneur is anyone who starts a business. But it’s clear not everyone who starts a business is an entrepreneur. Many people who call themselves entrepreneurs are really small business owners in disguise. True entrepreneurs have learned to create something self-sustaining by mastering cash flow and scalability.
Take the example of a chef who wants to run a restaurant, and contrast that with someone who wants to create a chain of restaurants based on a concept they have. The chef is a business owner, who runs the business operationally and who is satisfied making a living doing something they like. The other is an entrepreneur who gets psychological satisfaction from the mere creation of a successful business.
One is not better than the other as it simply comes down to the kind of life you envision for yourself. A business owner is the boss, but it’s a job, in a place that is typically stable and with a bit of luck, profitable.
An entrepreneur is an artist of sorts. Throwing themselves into impossible situations and seeking out problems that require heart and guts to solve. Again, both are fine. But you need to choose which one you want to be.
How can a traditional tenure system teach entrepreneurship?
There’s nothing permanent, stable or status quo about being an entrepreneur. So how can someone operating in a traditional tenure system effectively teach entrepreneurship? We believe that to truly succeed as an entrepreneur, one needs to learn from other successful entrepreneurs who can provide the framework of conversations, insights, and behaviours required to achieve tremendous results for themselves, their companies, and their communities of stakeholders.
Can a traditional business owner become an entrepreneur?
Absolutely. True entrepreneurs have learned to create something more than just a business. They create organizations and enterprises that are self-sustaining. To do this however, means understanding and mastering the competencies of entrepreneurship.
And it’s precisely those competencies that business school graduates are not being taught.
What about in the case that an Entrepreneur sees value in the networks, mentorship, and opportunities that might be available to them through a MBA Program?
Hello,
Thanks for the validation! I might add that a true entrepreneur creates out of a need something that has never been done before. The process then becomes simalar to a salmon swiming upstream because its never been done before…You are so right that no one can teach someone how to create out of the box. This is why business people would do well to align themselves with and give the business support to artists visionary, entrepreneurs, like myself. I am open to advanced students helping to develope my start up business. There is the possibilty of a permanent job resulting from from becoming an investment partner. (time, energy, resources) regards Barbara Nirman
Hi David,
Absolutely. These are valuable and for the most part many MBA alumni (including myself) have learned as much or more from their peers than from the professors. Our point is to question spending $50-100,000 on that network when learning from professors who may have never worked in industry, earn $350,000 per year (low risk lifestyle), are tenured, and who study businesses. We are questioning the cost/reward. The Board of Trades, YPOs, and other networking groups are as good for networking, happen in real time for years to come, and are FAR less expensive.
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for your comments. We wish you all the best in your start-up. Let us know if we can help.
Best regards,
Nancy Vollmer
I agree with most of the points in this article to a degree, but I do think it’s a gross over-generalization of MBA programs. Not all b-schools are operating on the same cookie-cutter model they were years ago, and many have or are in the process of developing a more entrepreneurial pedagogy.
Hi Blaine,
Thanks for your feedback – great to hear! It will certainly help those questioning spending $50-100,000 and hopefully the curriculum will give them the tools needed to be entrepreneurs.