What business schools are best for entrepreneurship?
Again, what business schools are best for entrepreneurship?
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I am not really sure ANY business schools are the right way to go with that focus. Better to go out and ork/intern at places. – Tim J 13 years ago
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Agree 100% with Tim. – Ricardo 13 years ago
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Maybe Tim's right but I disagree. See my answer. – Jason Swett 13 years ago
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But the question is about what business schools are best for entrepreneurship on a relative basis. And there are quite a few that emphasize entrepreneurship. – Henry The Hengineer 13 years ago
5 Answers
I strongly recommend Babson College in Wellesley, MA. There's a reason it's been ranked the #1 school for entrepreneurship (both undergrad and graduate, in multiple rankings) for nearly 20 straight years.
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Babson is indeed frequently ranked as one of the top business schools for entrepreneurship. And, they seem to be continuing to invest and focus on it. – Dharmesh Shah 13 years ago
According to Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator, and according to other people I've talked to, people go to schools like Harvard or MIT in large part because of the networks they can build there.
In Paul Graham's opinion, the best places to start startups are Silicon Valley and Boston, in that order.
If your end goal is to get a good academic experience, I realize I'm not really answering your question, but if your question is "What school will maximize my chance of business success?" you might want to read what Paul Graham has to say about it.
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I'm curious why this question got voted down. I don't necessarily agree or disagree with it. – John Berryman 13 years ago
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Might be because the link makes no mention of schools or colleges. It apparently only discusses location. Actually, I am not sure what Jason's point was. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with startup success - it only has to do with locale. But maybe I am missing something. It's an interesting essay perhaps, but not relevant at all to either startup success, business schools or the original question. – Tim J 13 years ago
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Paul isn't saying the best place to build startups is the valley or boston. In fact, history and current experience both show that the best place is locally where you are happy. The best place to get lots of FUNDING might be boston or the valley, but the two are NOT equivalent. Starting in your own back yard where your costs are low and where you have support, or going to where your customers are is the best place. There are plenty of examples of Non-valley and non-Boston successful startups. There are lots of examples of failed valley and boston startups. The conclusion Jason draws is wrong. – Tim J 13 years ago
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Maybe Paul is saying that. But if he is, then I disagree. – Tim J 13 years ago
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Here's another relevant essay: http://www.paulgraham.com/cities.html – Jason Swett 13 years ago
I've found from my research that smaller schools tend to be better for entrepreneurs. There is a great program at Weber St. (in Utah).
But there's also something to be said for the school of hard knocks. Not to say that education doesn't help, but applying that education in real world situations is key.
This is a bit off subject, but I may be valuable.
An important fact is you dont ever interview yourself to work for yourself.
Therefore what you know is more important than where you learned that knowledge.
You can also look outside formal education. Working for a small business and getting involved in the daily details such as payroll, property leases, agreements, employee politics, motivation, leadership, management, can yield great value.
I got my experience in the Car Business giving me exposure both to small business, high profit demands, competition, marketing, and most of all SALES.
Might consider doing some time working for a small business where you can take a lead role. Instead of paying for tuition you may get a decent wage.
If you decide to go the Book route, you can probably read 2 books a week on business, and learn a lot more in your own den then in a classroom with an idiot sitting in the back, asking questions, and slowing down your class. School is great for making contacts, but look at your other options as well.
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Good nuggets in here about getting exposure to a lot of aspects - especially sales. If you can't sell, you can't get revenue - no revenue == dead business. – Tim J 13 years ago
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@tim, that is key! You have to be able to sell your products, sell your vision, and sell your self. You sir nailed it with those key words. Thanks – Frank 13 years ago
Stanford Graduate School of Business.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/12/pf/jobs/harvard_stanford_entrepreneurs.fortune/index.htm "As a percentage, more Stanford grads (about 15%) are likely to either start companies or immediately work for startups than Harvard grads. Indeed, nearly 10% of Stanford's graduating class launch companies right out of school, versus about 4% to 6% at Harvard -- numbers significantly lower than during the 1999 dot-com-era boom."
Btw, there are some excellent entrepreneurship videos and resources at http://ecorner.stanford.edu
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Oooohhh.... good reference. And I don't watch the videos, but over the past year I have listened to every one of the ecorner podcasts in the shower! :-P You're correct... really good stuff. – John Berryman 13 years ago
