Stanford MBA vs Berkeley Financial Engineering

Thank you, ssternlight, for bringing some common sense and rational reasoning to this thread. It's nice to see someone not 'talking out of his ass.'

This board is odd. There are some brilliant thoughts going around, but there exist also some of the most outrageously ignorant ideas presented by undereducated and unqualified people who obviously don't seem to know what they're talking about.
 
Quote from ssternlight:

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You have set up a whole new scenario called "MBA isn't worth it" and supported it with evidence that you know some people that haven't succeeded. It is just as valid to say you know some people that have succeeded -- wildly.

Having worked in private equity for a number of years, I'll add that the business plan doesn't mean nearly as much to me as the background/experience of the guys presenting it. A strong management team is the most important characteristic of a successful business opportunity in my experience. Good managers deal with adversity well and don't tend to present you with dog doo opportunities. When I got out of B-school my first job was evaluating those suckers and writing new one's for our investors. You can make numbers say anything you please...

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On the first point the issue isn't your pedigree .... Its the dollars you paid for your knowledge - if you needed to pay at all.

If you truly think that the knowledge in an MBA from Stanford or anywhere else is worth 300K then by all means pay it - Stanford is waiting eagerly for your money.

And, yes, you are correct - partially: The business plan is not just "A bunch of numbers that can be anything you want it to be." This statement alone make me supremely confident that you have never funded any company through private equity. Business plans are drilled through to every level before dollars are allocated or even considered to be allocated and yes, the business plan forcasts and numbers are the basis for the analysis and dialogue.

Also, you are funding the management - Its not a prerequisite that they have an MBA from Stanford or anywhere else: The requirement is that they have the knowledge, and experience, and most importantly personality to develop and grow a venture, and thus are worthy of backing.

You back people, not a set of credentials. You remarks clearly illustrate that you have never backed any management teams with real dollars......
 
Quote from prt_systems:

On the first point the issue isn't your pedigree .... Its the dollars you paid for your knowledge - if you needed to pay at all.

If you truly think that the knowledge in an MBA from Stanford or anywhere else is worth 300K then by all means pay it - Stanford is waiting eagerly for your money.

And, yes, you are correct - partially: The business plan is not just "A bunch of numbers that can be anything you want it to be." This statement alone make me supremely confident that you have never funded any company through private equity. Business plans are drilled through to every level before dollars are allocated or even considered to be allocated and yes, the business plan forcasts and numbers are the basis for the analysis and dialogue.

Also, you are funding the management - Its not a prerequisite that they have an MBA from Stanford or anywhere else: The requirement is that they have the knowledge, and experience, and most importantly personality to develop and grow a venture, and thus are worthy of backing.

You back people, not a set of credentials. You remarks clearly illustrate that you have never backed any management teams with real dollars......
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lol...

You really don't have a clue.
 
Quote from ssternlight:

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Finally, pull up a bunch of rosters of well known PE/VC firms and look at their backgrounds. Unless they have significant detailed industry expertise or are serial entreprenuers, I think you will find that the vast majority in "line" roles have MBA's.
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Yes, many people have MBA's - Many do not. My point is that if your are footing the bill, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to go to school when you already have a viable career is extremely questionable ... of course people that contemplate an MBA are often those that have no career and hope against hope that obtaining it will be their solution to their inability to succeed wildly - rather than comfortably - in business. Of course the B schools promote that notion in ways that oiften are quite deceptive.

Again, If you have 300K to blow and time to kill then going to school will do no damage... just dont think that it will magically solve your career problems .....
 
PRT,

I don't advertise so I had to think a bit on where to get a link for you. Try this out. It's a non-profit I was on the board of a few years back. You'll find a brief blurb about me in the second article.

If that doesn't satisfy you --and I don't expect it will -- then really there is nothing else I can offer. But I expect it will satisfy the other people following this thread.

http://www.ncdj.org/newsletters/win_03.html
 
Quote from ssternlight:

PRT,

I don't advertise so I had to think a bit on where to get a link for you. Try this out. It's a non-profit I was on the board of a few years back. You'll find a brief blurb about me in the second article.

If that doesn't satisfy you --and I don't expect it will -- then really there is nothing else I can offer. But I expect it will satisfy the other people following this thread.

http://www.ncdj.org/newsletters/win_03.html
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And who in the world are Hummingbird Capital Partners?
 
Quote from ssternlight:

PRT,

I don't advertise so I had to think a bit on where to get a link for you. Try this out. It's a non-profit I was on the board of a few years back. You'll find a brief blurb about me in the second article.

If that doesn't satisfy you --and I don't expect it will -- then really there is nothing else I can offer. But I expect it will satisfy the other people following this thread.

http://www.ncdj.org/newsletters/win_03.html
More...

Whether they are satisfied is not my concern: I'm not selling anything but apparently you are. Now that I know who you are I definitely know who not to fund ... based upon your viewpoints. I've never heard of you or your firm and really could care less.

Each person needs to decide how far they can get on their own merit and abilities. There is a entire industry that will try to convince you that you need to go to school forever and that you need to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to get a good career started: its just not true. Spending a lot of extra time on paying others for "credentials" is really an excercise for the idle rich that have both time and money to burn, and no direction in their lives or careers: so much so that they need others to enlighten them how to function in business and society.

Like I said, if you have no career then school might be the answer for you: the world always need teachers. Just dont expect that magical degree it to solve all your problems.
 
Quote from prt_systems:


Each person needs to decide how far they can get on their own merit and abilities. There is a entire industry that will try to convince you that you need to go to school forever and that you need to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to get a good career started: its just not true. Spending a lot of extra time on paying others for "credentials" is really an excercise for the idle rich that have both time and money to burn, and no direction in their lives or careers: so much so that they need others to enlighten them how to function in business and society.
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Very well said.

My understanding is the whole industry of conventional approach of management education for the aim of producing corporate executives has been critically reviewed by many for years.

An alternative management education for the aim of nurturing value-creating professionals has been developing to emphasis on innovation, entrepreneurship, systemic/ critical/ lateral thinking, etc.

However, how many management candidates would be willing to choose the hard way for success?
 
Quote from prt_systems:

Whether they are satisfied is not my concern: I'm not selling anything but apparently you are. Now that I know who you are I definitely know who not to fund ... based upon your viewpoints. I've never heard of you or your firm and really could care less.

Each person needs to decide how far they can get on their own merit and abilities. There is a entire industry that will try to convince you that you need to go to school forever and that you need to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to get a good career started: its just not true. Spending a lot of extra time on paying others for "credentials" is really an excercise for the idle rich that have both time and money to burn, and no direction in their lives or careers: so much so that they need others to enlighten them how to function in business and society.

Like I said, if you have no career then school might be the answer for you: the world always need teachers. Just dont expect that magical degree it to solve all your problems.
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lol...

All I was showing was that I had the MBA from a good school -- which you, in your arrogance, definitively knew I did not.

Notice that I don't use a pseudonym to hide myself. Notice that that MBA was done 13 years ago -- which is consistent with my comment about fees when I did it.

All you have done is continually shift the basis of your argument from one generalization to another. You seem to be more invested in being right then in actually exploring the merits of a particular issue -- much less staying on topic. Apparently, you would rather try to knock someone -- or their credentials and experience -- down than really come to grips with an issue and maybe learn something.

Finally, I think we should remember that the topic we were here to discuss was the merits of the MBA at Stanford vs the MFE at Berkeley and not expanding generalizations about MBA's, private equity investing, other people's credentials, etc, etc...
 
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