MBA Absurdity as a Sign of the Times Paul Losch's Community Blog, posted by Paul Losch, a resident of Palo Alto, on Apr 2, 2010 at 2:48 pm Paul Losch is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online
I had the good fortune to attend a prominent business school, and graduated from it more years ago than I care to admit. It has a great local alumni club, terrific alumni support at the school, and amazing programs both here in the Bay Area and on the campus.
I did not take part in a recent "Entrepreneur Contest," that took place, but I must admit I am skeptical about the prospects for the winner and the runner up.
The winner, as best as I can tell, has a business model that evauluates personal services from medical to financial and will "advise" those who go on the web site on how to find such people.
The runner up was into Feng Shui on line, as best as I can tell. For babies and their mothers. Selling stuff that is feng shui appropriate.
They are seeking money from "Angels" from this school of business alumni with what appear to me to be business that have little or no prospect of success. Niche consumer products, diificult to scale, content based, don't have a truly clear differentiable value proposition.
Since I did not see their presentations, I could have it all wrong. On the other hand, since I did not see their presentations, I could have it all right.
Posted by Walter_E_Wallis, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Apr 2, 2010 at 5:22 pm Walter_E_Wallis is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online
Excellent candidates for Stimulus funding - right up there with Tesla.
Posted by Mike, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Apr 3, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Since you are not and have not been a VC or Angel, you may be judging these opportunities correctly, but maybe not.
I have been at several meetings in the past where very prominent and successful VCs from premier firms laugh when saying they passed up eBay and Google in early stages.
Did Facebook or Twitter look to you like they were going to be successes?
Posted by reality check, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Apr 4, 2010 at 9:36 pm
What's even more laughable is the status given to Angels and VC's. they are not, for the most part, adventurous investors. Also, their intuitions are overrated. As for the MBA, it's an overrated degree, with most of the advantage coming to those who attend the better known schools, where the alumni address book is actually more valuable than the course of study. There is very little offered in even the best MBA programs that can't be learned with some guidance, on one's own. Last,, MBA's are formulaic. Most MBA's I know (I've trained quite a few) are not terribly imaginative; they are bright, but that's about it. Give me someone - anyone - with drive, smarts, imagination, and an ability to work creatively and functionally with a team, any day.
Posted by Walter_E_Wallis, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Apr 5, 2010 at 1:58 am Walter_E_Wallis is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online
I know some old engineers, but very few ex-engineers.
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I had the good fortune to attend a prominent business school, and graduated from it more years ago than I care to admit. It has a great local alumni club, terrific alumni support at the school, and amazing programs both here in the Bay Area and on the campus.
