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Careers In Tech: Exploring Silicon Valley’s MBA Stigma

Business schools are partnering with tech companies and upping focus on data analytics to make MBA grads appeal to Silicon Valley firms

Tue Aug 29 2017

BusinessBecause
Are MBAs really persona non-grata in Silicon Valley? Actually, this happens to be one myth in an industry rife with them that has more than a hint of truth in it.

The stigma against business school graduates has real roots. Some argue that the MBA backlash can be traced back to the mid-90s, a pre-Dot-Com era that nevertheless came upon the heels of a five-year feeding frenzy in which Valley startups clamored to snap up any John or Jane Doe with Stanford or Harvard on their resume, regardless of actual talent or experience.

Jeremy Schifeling, a former technology career coach at University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and founder of Break into Tech, a site that helps MBAs launch their tech careers, explains: “In my experience, the source of the anti-MBA bias in Silicon Valley comes from the perception that business students specialize in strategy, not execution.”

In the 90s, MBAs created a degree of hype around themselves that could never possibly be met. The subsequent fallout arrived when startups realized MBAs were closer to glorified paper pushers rather than the capable navigators of uncharted waters they purported to be. The fallout began and major tech players called out these status-driven MBAs for their tendency to blindly follow trends.

So, what are schools doing to combat the stigma?

Data—plain and simple. In other words: how to analyze, manage, use, translate, and transform reams of data into cold hard capital. Many business schools now make analytics an integral component of the curriculum to ensure that MBAs deliver a marketplace perspective on data as a holistic analog to the more inside-out outlook of the engineers they work alongside. 

UCLA Anderson has generated waves for its recent tech pivot. The school has seen collaborations with assorted California tech giants and has reportedly lured students away from more elite Eastern business schools. This trend coincides with major steps many business schools are taking to incorporate hard skills like data analytics into curricula and partner with tech in a way that suggests business schools are attempting to make amends for past transgressions.

The big question remains: should you pursue an MBA if you want to go into tech?

The answer seems to be a resounding ‘no’ with a quiet asterisk.

While many tech players who came up during that mid-90s era still echo anti-MBA sentiments—Harvard Business School alum and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg famously joined the anti-MBA choir—Jeremy Schifeling offers a more nuanced take on the real future of MBAs in Silicon Valley:

“As tech firms mature, they start to place more and more value on strategy, which is why Amazon, Microsoft, and Google hire hundreds of newly-minted MBAs every year.

“For those MBAs who do want to break into the startup world, I coached my students at the Ross School of Business to work on their own ventures or side projects during the school year. That way, they could walk into any startup interview in the world and point to concrete examples of execution, not just strategizing.”

While the days of an MBA fresh out of b-school expecting a red carpet rollout in Mountain View are long gone, a business school education in the hands and minds of an outside-the-box thinker (and doer) could take that self-starter wherever they wanted to go. The key is the marriage between new hard skills with the flexibility that a traditional business degree might give an MBA.

Prospective business schoolers with a tech itch to scratch might do well to investigate CIO’s Top 10 Technology MBA Programs:

1. MIT Sloan School of Management

2. Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business

3. UT Austin McCombs School of Business

4. University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management

5. University of Arizona Eller College of Management

6. NYU Stern School of Business

7. Stanford Graduate School of Business

8. University of Maryland Smith School of Business

9. The Wharton School

10. Arizona State University WP Carey School of Business

Student Reviews

Carnegie Mellon: Tepper

Abby

Verified

30/11/2022

On Campus

Honest Opinion on CMU

Finding yourself in CMU is such a great blessing. The amazing and great professors and lots of networking opportunities. I was in the faculty of engineering and here the course work was very interesting. The lecturers were very strict and couldn't accept late submission of assignments and work given. This made us very focused. The students are generally good and friendly

Joel

Verified

8/11/2022

On Campus

Excellence and Academic Integrity

CMU is one of the top class universities in Pittsburgh. It is a multi-diverse university with high regard for academic integrity, excellence, and innovation. It consists of different programs and departments that work together to achieve a common goal. I enjoy the convenience of moving from one building to the other. The faculty and staff are super friendly. It is relatively easy to make connections with other students, especially where collaboratory research is necessary. I would definitely recommend CMU to anyone looking for a muti-diverse academic experience.

Student

Verified

15/08/2023

On Campus

Stressful yet worthwhile

I've been genuinely impressed with the fusion of creativity and innovation at CMU. The professors are a mixed bag-- some are great and life-changing, but I had a couple (mostly gen eds in freshman year) that were really frustrating. The workload can be intense, and it's no joke. Campus was very lively; clubs, events, etc. – there's something for everyone. Pittsburgh in general has some areas that are great, and others that disappoint-- Oakland is a very nice university town area. Overall, CMU is a hotbed of innovation and learning, but the pace and location do come into play.

Tom

Verified

1/03/2023

On Campus

Quite demanding here

Carnegie Mellon is a demanding academic institution where students are expected to put in a lot of effort. Despite the challenging coursework and constant workload, this environment teaches you how to speak for yourself and stand up for what you believe in. The institution also has a strong graduate network, which helps you succeed in the job hunt both while you are enrolled there and after

Student

Verified

3/09/2024

On Campus

Transformative Learning

My time at Carnegie Mellon university has been truly transformative, opening up a wide array of opportunities that move beyond the traditional classroom experience. Participation in webinars and seminars has allowed me to explore various topics that are not typically included in the standard curriculum. This exposure has helped equip students like myself with essential tools to effectively navigate our complex world.

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