This article bothered me. First off, it seems like a false dichotomy: the ideal situation is to have the hard skills afforded by a computer science education (something that irked me as the article seemed to equivocate 'learning to code' with 'knowing computer science') while having the soft skills and networking afforded by an MBA. (This is to speak nothing of the assumption that great developers suddenly have those 'lightbulb moments' -- I know amazing programmers who have no desire to think outside the box.)
The second issue I had with the article demonstrated the kind of mindset that comes from undervaluing 'soft skills' and the MBA education (as engineers tend to do) -- "If you build an excellent product with product/market fit then people will buy it." Obviously there are exceptions, but in the general realm of business, this is laughably naive -- there's a reason that marketing expenses (especially for startups who compete more for mindshare than monthly fees) are so high. Amazing products fail all the time.
I certainly don't mean to undervalue the ability to code: I'm a CS/Business double major, and without a doubt the CS degree is opening way more doors than the BBA. But, just as you're not going to hire an MBA to 'build stuff for the web', you're not going to -- or shouldn't -- hire a software developer to spearhead business development or marketing.
You are right - horses for courses. At the end of the day its about having a balanced team that can execute across product and business. As an individual you can't be all things to all people. As a founder my strength is in product management and driving a vision, although I have a computer science degree, I choose not to code because I prefer to drive product and business and hire people who are way better than me to code.
Do both but don't expect that you're going to 'learn to code' and then one day be done in the same sense that one day you will be done with getting your MBA.
Coding is very much like learning a real language. You most likely are not going to be incredibly useful or valuable with it within the first few years and you can improve yourself in it endlessly. Similar to how an aspiring author is not going to be able to do good work when they are just starting to learn English. In other words, people who take some courses on codeacademy and think they have learned to code have essentially learned how to put sentences together - not write an engaging book. (Not knocking code academy - its a good thing)
So in that regard if your aspirations are to boost your income or move up in your career then an MBA is going to most likely be a much better shot. If you naturally gravitate towards software development then do that because you'll get enjoyment out of it but if your looking for a golden ticket it is certainly not that.
I agree. It's not like you finish an Apress book and all of a sudden you're a coder. MBA gives you have a degree that will most likely grant you access to management-type jobs. It can take years of programming before you become useful to anybody...
Sorry to burst a bunch of bubbles, but don't bother learning to code if you haven't already taken computer science courses, and you want to create your own startup right now or really soon. If you are considering an MBA, then go for that instead.
Someone saying they want to learn how to code to form a startup is like someone saying they want to open a restaurant by memorizing recipes. Memorizing recipes is only 1% of what it takes to be a viable chef.
Besides knowing the ingredients:
You have to know how to mix the ingredients properly.
You have to know how to select the better quality ingredients.
You have to know how to actually cook the food properly without burning it, etc.
As the recipes get more complex, you have to know how to time each aspect of the recipe so that different aspects of the dishes don't cook before others, and they're left cooling.
As you cook for more and more people, you have to know how scale your techniques for larger batches of food.
You have to know how to scale your suppliers, etc.
The exact same thing applies to programming. Learning how to "code" is almost meaningless. To be useful, and to actually build things that won't fail, you need to get experience so much more experience. If the person in question is actually interested in coding, and loves technology and loves the thrill of building stuff, then go ahead. If the point is to create a startup and be more "useful", then don't bother, because it's too hard, especially if you're starting from ground zero. It takes YEARS of coding experience, working 40 hrs a week, to be able to build something viable.
If you want to create a startup in the very near future, then hire the people you need, and concentrate on the vision, there's no shame in that. Be warned that managing programmers and programming projects is also a skill that takes years to develop as well.
If your time horizon is in the next few years, then roll up your sleeves and start now.
Being someone who actually does teach people how to code, I say don't listen to the above comment and give it a shot anyway. I see people all the time go from nothing to building their own projects in a few months. Yes, many don't do this, but at least they tried and know for sure. If you give it a shot and you suck then step back and work on it slower.
Worst thing you can do is let comments like this scare you into not even trying.
Yes, I dont code, I drive product vision and business, and completely see where you are coming from. However I need crackpot coders on my team. I view them as equals because I know I'd have no product without them however you are 100% correct in your analogy.
This leads to the question of whether entrepreneurs, who have the ingredients you mention, are born, or if an MBA can teach that?
It completely depends on the individuals. I for one, always wanted to an entrepreneur. But felt that I need certain skills. I needed to learn things like pricing model, forecasting, project management, supply chain management, accounting and data analytics the theoretical way via MBA. Also, I wanted to strengthen my marketing and networking skills. I took the MBA route and am very happy I did that. I am confident of the above things now. Even though I might not be doing all/any of the above, I can at least understand what my employee is doing and be realistic in expectations (I also have 3 year software development experience btw). On the other hand, someone would already have figured these out wouldn't have to put money and time into an MBA program. Reiterating - it completely depends on the individual.
My first start-up required some coding, which I did with my limited coding skills. But I didn't know accounting, finance, strategy, and things like that.
So, knowing I would start new companies again, I went for an MBA. I got one at Columbia. Before starting I wondered if I should learn to code instead.
I have zero regrets. On the contrary, it was one of my best growth and learning experiences in life (and most fun).
In all fairness, I would have had zero regrets learning to code because I always find ways to love what I do. I learned the hard skills of business, but I learned a lot more, in particular through classes like leadership, general management, negotiation, sales, and other so-called soft-skills.
I learned emotional intelligence, self-awarenss, the value of relationships.
I am a much better businessman for business school than I would have been otherwise.
For the author to say an MBA "is an expensive break from reality that will yield you a strong network and theoretical insight into the business world, but until you actually get out there and experience the business world for yourself, it is still just theory" implies he doesn't understand the value of things outside his immediate experience.
As his experience broadens I would bet he writes something different.
I can't agree more. I understand such thinking in the tech community (having been a software developer myself for 3 years). The value offered in a good MBA program is under-rated. This might be partly (or wholly) because of each of us would having encountered a 'not so good' manager in our life. There might have been instances where we feel that 'the guys with MBA who decided on this thing is dumb and so this proves that MBA has no value'. I have been there as well. However, when I did my MBA, I did see the value in the program. Of course there were 'some' dumb classmates who would eventually end up managing smarter employees but that doesn't mean that the MBA program has absolutely no value. Not fair to stereotype I feel.
I am an MBA and I agree 100% with the comment above. I enjoy dabbling in code just for fun and I enjoy the company of hacker types, and I enjoy technology in general: all reasons why I enjoy hanging out on HN.
But I am not a coder and have no interest in ever doing it professionally.
If you want to do code based startups, then just learn to code.
If you enjoy playing around with business models and having access to a lot of resources earlier on in your career AND you can at least tolerate corporate politics, then get an MBA.
Furthermore, don't bother with an MBA outside of the top 10 or 20 programs, They're mostly useless.
Another thing: don't expect to learn anything in an MBA program. The value of an MBA is as a credibility enhancer, a networking assist, and way to learn what areas of business you might like.
The kinds of doors that an MBA opens tend to be boring to folks who love to code, and vice versa. I say this as someone with an MBA degree -- acquired rather hastily, and for which I have occasional bouts of buyer's remorse -- who taught himself to code, but wishes that he'd just gone the pure-code path from the beginning.
If you want to be an investment banker or a consultant, and you aspire to nothing outside of those two streams, get the MBA and have at it. For almost any other endeavor imaginable -- be it professional or personal -- you're better off learning to code.
Apples and oranges. I felt I needed to do both if only because they are now essential and necessary business skills.
Disagree with the comments about "if you have this dilemma, you probably aren't meant to code" and "don't bother with an MBA outside of the top 10 or 20 programs, they're mostly useless", but that's just my opinion/experience.
I did my undergrad in finance/economics and instead of the MBA I quit my banking job and took 2 semesters of CS courses. I also taught myself python/django and have now launched a beta for my first web app. It's hard work, but totally doable in 12-18 months time.
when you compare the cost to benefit ratio of an MBA program to learning to code, the choice is obvious: learn to code. The only exception is if you're going to an M7 MBA program.
In fact... I would rather invest the $100-$160k+ from an MBA in bootstrapping a good internet idea.
Get that to finding and you'll get a $2-3mm+ valuation, you've created more value than a job will ever create, you are in control etc... But that's just me.
Quite a bit of underestimating what it takes to run a business flying around here. Few people who actually run a business will describe the process as easy, mostly because the challenges are endless, beyond "learning to code". But don't confuse "getting an MBA" with running a business.
The second issue I had with the article demonstrated the kind of mindset that comes from undervaluing 'soft skills' and the MBA education (as engineers tend to do) -- "If you build an excellent product with product/market fit then people will buy it." Obviously there are exceptions, but in the general realm of business, this is laughably naive -- there's a reason that marketing expenses (especially for startups who compete more for mindshare than monthly fees) are so high. Amazing products fail all the time.
I certainly don't mean to undervalue the ability to code: I'm a CS/Business double major, and without a doubt the CS degree is opening way more doors than the BBA. But, just as you're not going to hire an MBA to 'build stuff for the web', you're not going to -- or shouldn't -- hire a software developer to spearhead business development or marketing.