Failed startup right after MBA. Is my career in jeopardy?


-4

I completed my MBA in 2012 and then worked for 6 months as an analyst, but quit my job to work on a startup.

I am not a technical person so I hired a company to develop the website and we ran into a lot of vendor issues and now, after a year, I am giving up on the project because I have run out of money and motivation. I am trying to get back to a job but I have no particular skill sets to market myself to companies. In the past one year, I did extensive research, met a lot of people, marketed a little, hired a team etc. but I feel I don't have anything substantial to write in my resume. I am 24 y.o. and I feel so depressed all the time. I just don't know what to do. I haven't earned anything in the past year and have exhausted all my savings too. Should I study again? (Possibly a masters, but this means my MBA has gone to waste) or should I look for a job? I don't know if I can get any job. I want to get back to my startup sometime in the future but not now. I feel completely lost. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

MBA Day Job Failure

asked Dec 4 '13 at 20:06
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Kriti
6 points
  • This isn't a forum buddy. – User2534 10 years ago
  • Um...what's the criteria for marking the answer right? – Stephen P. 10 years ago
  • MBA going to waste worries you? Stop worrying. It went to waste the minute you decided to do it. The most worthless degree ever, the only benefit it provides is networking. – Littleadv 10 years ago
  • @StephenP. the person who asked the question can mark one answer as "accepted". Whether it's right or not depends on your perspective - but you can vote up answers you believe are helpful. See http://answers.onstartups.com/tour for details. – Jim Galley 10 years ago
  • @jimg I was pointing out the subjective nature of the question. It's more of a Quora question than a Stack Overflow. – Stephen P. 10 years ago

2 Answers


1

Career in Jeopardy seems a bit dramatic - what career are you pursuing?

Despite all the Hollywood glamour & press distortions, startups are unstable, difficult places to work - with no guarantees of making it big.

And that life experience is worthwhile for some employers. Getting another degree won't help you learn this (and certainly won't help your financial condition).

But what did you learn? If you can't point to "anything substantial" during this phase then you should reconsider jumping back into an unstructured environment again. Sure, its fun running the ship / hiring people / seeing your idea take shape - but that alone is a hobby if you don't pair it with customer development / budgeting trade offs, tons of grunt work. All the things that are not glamorous that starting a business requires.

All the best with your future - life isn't meant to be easy all the time.

answered Dec 5 '13 at 00:38
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Jim Galley
9,952 points

0

I'm 26 and in your shoes too. But I did one thing differently, I didn't quit my day time job when I was forming my startup. Waited until I was sure that I can scale without having a full time position elsewhere. My advice, keep working. Don't quit! Yet. I am right now 9 months in the development phase of my startup and sometimes I also feel that I don't have any interest or why the hell I am doing this? This is called Innovators Dilemma, my friend.

There is a nice article posted in Quora here Pain is temporary, Giving up is permanent!

answered Dec 5 '13 at 08:02
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Rg 3
136 points
  • He *already* quit, and ran out of money. – Littleadv 10 years ago
  • His loss! Not mine! – Rg 3 10 years ago

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MBA Day Job Failure