What Happened to the Thiel Fellows

Re:What Happened to the Thiel Fellows by throwaway2016a on Wednesday December 07, 2016 @01:38PM (#13124945)

For example: I have an undergrad degree in computer science. I hope to one day be successful enough to get an MBA from MIT or Harvard. Both $100,000+ for a two year program.

That may sound funny because if I can afford that tuition without a giant lifestyle change (like selling my house)[1] it means I've already made it, so why do I need to even get the MBA? In fact the average salary for an MBA grad from one of those schools is not that much more than I make as a CTO.

For one, I enjoy the challenge, the joy of learning, and the feeling of accomplishment. In short, it's a trophy. A luxury. For me at least.

[1] It would certainly be easier if I was a early 20-something going full-time with no wife, no kid, and no house. But that is not the reality I live in. For someone with those things going back to school when your employer doesn't pay for it (in my case my employer is my own startup) is a big deal.

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Re:What Happened to the Thiel Fellows by maverick_iceman on Wednesday December 07, 2016 @01:52PM (#13125079)

I'm curious why you would do an MBA if not for career advancement. I can see someone going back to school to study something like mathematics/literature because they love the subject but not MBA.

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Re:What Happened to the Thiel Fellows by throwaway2016a on Wednesday December 07, 2016 @02:09PM (#13125230)

> I can see someone going back to school to study something like mathematics/literature because they love the subject but not

I happen to like business! Kind of like if I decided to go into Medieval Literature. That fact an MBA is useful to my career is second to that I enjoy it.

With that said, if it does help me grow my next company larger without having to hire a CEO, or if it gets me a CTO job at a fortune 100, just a nice bonus.

Also, a lot of MBAs are a little smug when they talk to Software Engineers. Like "You need me." It would be nice to throw that back at them. Granted I know us Software Engineer throw it the other way just as often. Every technical founder things they don't need a business founder. And every business founder thinks they can outsource the job of technical founder.

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Re:What Happened to the Thiel Fellows by paulcole on Wednesday December 07, 2016 @02:16PM (#13125293)

You can't imagine someone being as interested in business as others are in math?

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Re:What Happened to the Thiel Fellows by perfmode on Wednesday December 07, 2016 @01:41PM (#13124981)

Often employers foot the bill

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Re:What Happened to the Thiel Fellows by throwaway2016a on Wednesday December 07, 2016 @01:44PM (#13125013)

Yeah, unfortunately to do that I would have to leave startup life and go work for a corporation which is not a tradeoff I'm ready to make.

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Re:What Happened to the Thiel Fellows by anigbrowl on Wednesday December 07, 2016 @02:27PM (#13125397)

Startups are just baby corporations. You want to be the business equivalent of a kindergarten teacher. I don't mean that in a pejorative way, mind - sounds like a perfectly sensible career path to me if that's what you enjoy.

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