First of all, I did read Snapshots From Hell, The …

First of all, I did read Snapshots From Hell, The Making of an MBA. Yes, economics, and statistics, and modeling, and all those sorts of things can be hard. But is that really the point of an MBA? It’s a useful skillset to have but if that’s all you get out of your MBA, and I say this, having not even gone to one day of class, you’re really missing out. That said, it’s worthwhile reading this book just because it’s another data point to use perhaps not in figuring out whether to get an MBA, but how to make the most of the experience while you’re there.

Second of all, the most frequent question I get when I tell people or remind them that I’ll be at Stanford this fall is, “Dave, tell me again, WHY are you getting an MBA?” I’m sure there’s a certain set of MBA students for whom making the decision to go back to school was very easy. Their employer is paying the bill. It’s a great opportunity, etc. There’s also another set for whom the decision was very difficult. The decision is difficult because you have to ask yourself, “What is the opportunity cost of going back to school?” Or perhaps more importantly, “how can I most effectively turn that cost into tangible, quantifiable benefit?”

I have three reasons for going back to school:

1. Traditionally, even though I’m a business guy now, I’m still thought of by many as a technologist. An MBA says, “you’re a business guy.”

2. I got in to Stanford and have always wanted to go there. Why Stanford? I’m an entrepreneur and investor and there is so much activity in that area going on related to Stanford that it’s the obvious choice.

3. I’ve always felt I’ve never taken enough risks in my life. Venture investing is about making calculated risks, about removing as much risk as possible from the deal. Going to Stanford follows that principle. It’s a way for me to try something new and different, to vastly expand my network, with minimal risk.

Now for the good stuff, GOSSIP.

- Yes, we did buy a place in Palo Alto and sell our place in Seattle.

- Yes, I am working on a new company in the enterprise software space. And I’m interested in hiring engineers to work on it.

- Yes, I went to LinuxWorld to see what was happening there and the turnout was amazing. More on that in a later post.

- Yes, I get some really interesting reactions when I tell people I am getting an MBA. These two were diametrically opposed:

General Partner, VC firm: “Dave, the first two people I ever fired were both MBAs. One was from Harvard, the other was from Wharton.”

General Partner, VC firm: “Dave, you have to go. This is absolutely the best thing you will ever do.”

feinleib AT stanford.edu