With the boom of technology and many opportunities at every corner, is the business degree getting a bit ancient?
Although much of the content is available online, the prestige and connections that a business degree at a top college offers seem invaluable.
So let’s find out from those who have already trudged the path: CEOs and Founders.
Let’s start with Geoffrey Schmidt, sward Wwnning author who thinks college is absolutely not necessary for you to be fabulously successful.
There are times when college is important and times when college is less important. It’s not a blanket statement that you hear from some of the gurus—in fact, I wrote down some quotes from a few of them that I’m going to share with you in just a second.
I came across a guru that proclaimed college—traditional college—is dead, and the way of the future is peer-to-peer instruction. Now there is a lot of that, particularly here on YouTube, and so there’s some truth to the fact that peer-to-peer instruction is important, but nowhere in there does traditional college fall out as an option.
Gabriel Kahm, CEO at KNR Agency, mentions many trailblazers who succeeded in the field without a degree.
Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey… None of these pathbreakers followed or finished the common academic path. They actually combined guts, inventiveness, and a ton of hard work in the real world to build empires.
The key isn’t having a diploma; it’s about knowing your industry, solving problems like a pro, and being ready to learn as you go.
Valuable skill acquisition is no longer restricted to a University setting, as Yayao Hsueh mentions.
Here’s what he recommends:
The internet has democratized access to business knowledge, making it possible to learn on-demand as you build your venture.
Instead of a business degree, I’d recommend aspiring entrepreneurs focus on developing a diverse skill set. The most valuable education often comes from hands-on experience.
Ben Walker reminds us that there is no shortcut to hard work and a dedication to understanding the industry you’re in.
What truly matters is understanding your industry, having a strong work ethic, and being adaptable. Having insights into consumer behavior, financial management, and effective communication are skills that are crucial for any entrepreneur. The key is to focus on learning practical skills that directly contribute to building and growing your business.
Even if one doesn’t have all the necessary knowledge or tools, a willingness to learn is essential, according Dinesh Agarwal.
“If you’re determined and resourceful, you can acquire the necessary skills through self-education, online courses, and mentorship,” he says.
For aspiring entrepreneurs, I would recommend focusing on degrees or learning paths that develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and technical skills. Additionally, programs that emphasize entrepreneurship or product development can provide a solid foundation.
There are various other degrees that could potentially enhance your skills in entrepreneurship that aren’t primarily business degrees.
Let’s look at a few of them, starting with Aseem Jha, who comes from a background in Law.
I leveraged my deep understanding of the legal industry to identify gaps and tailor our services to meet specific client needs. For instance, building strong client relationships and effective communication were skills I honed on the job, which proved crucial for our growth and retention. For aspiring entrepreneurs, I recommend pursuing degrees or studies in fields that align with their business vision, such as law, technology, or communications.
Chris Bajda also doesn’t think a business degree is essential for starting a business today.
He has met plenty of successful entrepreneurs who have backgrounds in fields like psychology, engineering, or even the arts.
Diverse perspectives that come with different degrees often bring fresh ideas and approaches to the table.
If you’re passionate about a specific industry, like healthcare or fashion, go for a degree that gives you deep knowledge in that area. At the end of the day, the best education for entrepreneurship comes from actually doing it—getting your hands dirty, making mistakes, and learning from them.
Knowing how to sell a product could be just as important as coming up with it.
Here Jar Kuznecov extols the benefits of a marketing degree.
A marketing degree can be fruitful because no matter how great your product or service is, if you can’t effectively reach and engage your target audience, your business will struggle. A marketing degree provides insights into consumer behavior, branding, digital marketing strategies, and market research, all of which are key to building and growing a successful business.
Let’s look at some important entrepreneurial skills or experiences from Founders that we can learn from.
Baiju Solanki brings out his concerns about the education system, that school doesn’t really teach the entrepreneurial skills that succeed at the workplace.
“At a young age, we’re told exactly what we need to know and discouraged from being different,” he continues.
“Many speakers have shared how they were ridiculed for trying to stand out, and how society discourages individuality.”
So what are these skills? Let’s elaborate on them below:
Entrepreneurs look at the world as an opportunity to contribute. They focus on what they can give and how they can improve. Entrepreneurial skills include- to listen effectively, to network, to hustle, to negotiate, to be able to speak in front of a crowd, to present, in essense how can you be the best that you can. Think about people on shows like X Factor or Britain’s Got Talent—they face the pressure of being judged, dealing with failure, and pushing forward to the next audition. Anyone who reaches the top in their field has entrepreneurial skills.
All the harsher experiences of going through failure and dealing with stressors are also important to learn outside the classroom.
Next comes Julian Hearn, who talks about how, initially, he did all of the jobs that were required to be done single-handedly.
In the first few I did every job by myself- whether it was customer service, Facebook marketing, even modelling for the photoshoot. So when I began to employ new people, not only did I know exactly how the job must be done, but I could teach them as well.
Getting a Masters in Business Administration is one of the the highest return on investments in Academia, says Prof. James Weston.
Let’s break down the costs from an American college point of view:
The total cost of an MBA at Rice, including tuition ($147,000) and lost salary ($140,000 for two years), comes to $287,000. However, graduates typically see a significant salary boost, with median starting salaries around $157,000. The present value of future earnings with an MBA totals about $1.04 million, versus $631,250 without one, which makes the Net Present Value (NPV) of getting an MBA is $410,241, and the Return on Investment (ROI) is approximately 20%.
Eventually, deciding whether or not to pursue a business degree isn’t as clear-cut; it also depends on your particular goals and circumstances.
There is no singular path to entrepreneurial success, as backed up by the authors of the quotes above.
When investing in an MBA, consider the long-term ROI compared to continuing on the current career trajectory.
If you liked this article, please subscribe for more!
About the author
Chintan Zalani
I'm the insight architect behind Bot Memo. I have spent the last decade building media assets on the internet. Bot Memo started as a simple project covering industry deep dives. Then I built a data pipeline for it. And now I love analyzing and covering all things AI startups and trends on top of our own data infrastructure.
