My husband is a real schmoozer. He knows everybody in our neighborhood and everyone at the gym. He makes friends wherever he goes. Recently, he met a man who lives next door and invited him by for a visit. I had heard about this man over the years because he and his wife have been astute collectors of art for decades. So one recent Saturday afternoon our doorbell rang. In walks a very lively and charming gentleman. He proceeds to regale us with many stories, starting with his military service in World War 2 and how he started his first business. Every so often, he would look at me and ask if I was bored with his stories. On the contrary! How could I be bored by a man who was so full of beans he couldn’t talk fast enough.
After a while, I guess he was tired of talking and asked if I had read his book, ” Do You Really Need an MBA?”. I had not. He said he would send me a copy which he did last week. The central theme of the book is do entrepreneurs need an MBA? I have often asked similar questions about the MBA programs. Full disclaimer- I graduated with an MBA in 1983 from the Schulich School of Business. At the time, it was a pretty big milestone for me.
At Benecaid, we have allowed MBA students to use us for their Policy Study Report. We have hired MBA students as summer interns and we have also hired a few for permanent roles. My overriding conclusion based on our limited experience is that MBA’s are not particularly entrepreneurial.
Our new friend correctly states that the factors for success as an entrepreneur are initiative, perseverance and independent/innovative thinking. The entrepreneur is driven by fear of the unknown and competition. We spent the next couple of hours talking about business and art. Our new friend had recently started two new businesses that he was excited about. If you would like to know more, please click on the link below to hear 92 year old David Campbell talk about “Type E Personality”. Or you can buy his book at Amazon. It is an interesting read from an original Canadian Entrepreneur.
