Is Business School Right for Aspiring Entrepreneurs?
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Many entrepreneurs face a common question: is attending business school worth it? The answer, as nuanced as the journey of entrepreneurship itself, depends largely on individual goals and circumstances. While formal education can provide valuable tools, it’s not the only path to success. In fact, less than 6% of entrepreneurs held an MBA in 2023 — a figure that has grown by 45% since 2010, demonstrating increasing interest in business degrees but also highlighting that many founders forge their own way without one.
What Business School Can Offer
One of the clearest advantages of business school is access to a built-in network that is difficult to replicate through online tutorials or self-teaching. Being surrounded by ambitious peers, seasoned faculty, guest lecturers, and a vast alumni community can open doors to advice, mentorship, and professional opportunities. For example, the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern boasts a global alumni network of 65,000 professionals spanning more than 15 industries — a resource that’s invaluable for many graduates.
However, a network is only as strong as the effort invested in maintaining it. Connections can easily fade if not nurtured, and even the most prestigious alumni directories are ineffective without proactive engagement. It’s also important to remember that a meaningful network can be built independently. Many successful entrepreneurs, including those who have built companies like Jotform, have relied on meetups, former colleagues, and their own alma maters to cultivate supportive communities. The key question remains whether the time and financial investment in an MBA are justified by the networking benefits alone.
Formal Training Versus Learning by Doing
There are compelling reasons to consider an MBA, such as the credibility that comes with a degree from a top university or the opportunity to spend two years refining your ideas before launching a business. Yet, these benefits don’t always translate into practical readiness for entrepreneurship. The cost of business school can be prohibitive, with top programs charging upwards of $100,000 per year, although some schools are now offering significant discounts to attract more students.
For many founders, the most valuable lessons come from real-world experience — trial, error, and adaptation. Before launching Jotform, the founder had limited knowledge of leadership, accounting, or marketing, relying primarily on technical skills. This bootstrapped approach allowed for gradual growth and learning, a luxury not afforded to all entrepreneurs. While no program can fully prepare someone for the unpredictable challenges of starting a business, an MBA can provide foundational knowledge and frameworks that smoothen the path.
The Role of AI in Modern Entrepreneurship
The advent of AI has undeniably changed the entrepreneurial landscape. Tools powered by artificial intelligence can reduce the learning curve, automate routine tasks, and offer insights that previously required extensive experience to uncover. For founders starting today, this means many technical and operational challenges can be addressed more efficiently than ever before.
Ironically, this technological ease makes the case for business school even stronger. As AI covers more technical ground, the human skills required for leadership — strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, negotiation, and conflict resolution — become more critical and are precisely what business schools emphasize. Case discussions and group projects foster these soft skills, preparing students to lead in complex, dynamic environments where AI cannot replace human judgment.
Ultimately, whether to pursue an MBA should hinge on your personal objectives. Do you seek strategic frameworks and leadership training? Or are you confident in your ability to self-teach and build a network independently? Understanding your motivations and desired outcomes will guide you toward the best decision.
Key Takeaways
- Experts largely agree that business school can offer you one thing that can’t be achieved via online tutorials: a large, built-in network. But a network is only what you make of it.
- Nothing can fully prepare you for starting your own business, but an MBA can help lay the groundwork.
- In the age of AI, the learning curve for starting a business is less steep. Yet this makes business school more relevant by focusing on strategic thinking and soft skills that AI cannot teach.
I never went to business school — but I have, on occasion, wondered how my life would be different if I had. Who would I have met? What advice would I have been given? What insights might I have uncovered with a little more guidance?
I have no regrets about the path I chose. I’ve always been comfortable with teaching myself and learning on my own time, so the B-school track never really felt right for me. I’m not alone — in 2023, less than 6% of entrepreneurs held an MBA. Still, that figure represents a 45% increase since 2010, meaning that overall, there’s far more demand for such degrees than in years past.
Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about whether business school is a good idea for aspiring entrepreneurs, especially in the age of AI. My answer? It depends on what you’re hoping to get out of it.
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