The Economist recently talked to three Business School entrepreneurs. “With traditional jobs difficult to come by, MBA students are increasingly looking to start their own businesses”.

A question that crops up again and again is why a budding entrepreneur would bother with two expensive years of B-School. Daniel Callaghan, IESE had these thoughts on the matter:

Perhaps the most pressing question is why Mr Callaghan felt the need to go to a business school to become an entrepreneur, given that the other successful tycoons in his family had determinedly dodged them. What was it that IESE added that the rest of his family lacked? “It’s the technical and financial skills—the ability to have a conversation with professional investors—and the presentation and document-writing skills. These are the things that you can learn at business school. The things you can’t learn are the courage and conviction to keep pushing it on.”

There’s also the alumni network and credibility that comes from getting admitted (more so than graduating perhaps) from a major B-School.
And hey, it’s also an arguably productive way to take two years of thinking / planning / holiday time out.

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