Though an MBA has long been associated with a career in consulting or finance, things are starting to change. With hiring in those industries slowing and salaries frozen, many MBA students are considering alternative avenues after graduating. One of those is entrepreneurship.
“MBA students are increasingly looking beyond traditional career paths and using their time in business school as a platform to develop, test, and launch their own entrepreneurial ideas,” explains James Nugent from the Oxford University’s Saïd Business School MBA careers team.
“For example, 9% of our 2024 MBA graduating class reported starting their own ventures after graduation, with many more developing products or side hustles while studying.”
He describes an MBA as a “safe and supportive environment” to test out new ideas, with initiatives such as the Saïd Entrepreneurship Centre giving students access to possible co-founders and potential investors.
A chance for feedback to develop a business idea
Entrepreneur Candy Yue Liu graduated from the program at Oxford Saïd in 2020. She says the MBA was a chance to turn her fledgling vision into a fully fledged business.
“The MBA was my structured pathway into entrepreneurship – a way to gain the skills, network, and confidence to turn that vision into reality,” she said.
Liu cites the Oxford Saïd Entrepreneurship Forum (OSEF) pitch competition as a key driver for her startup. Liu and her husband won the competition, and she says the feedback from mentors and the Entrepreneurship Centre were “invaluable” in shaping their business model and preparing them for investors.
Liu went on to establish the game studio Haxxus Games.
Oxford Saïd isn’t the only business school with a strong reputation for entrepreneurship. In the last five years, 7% of graduates from the Esade Business School MBA went on to launch their own business within three months of graduating.
That’s partly down to the high proportion of entrepreneurial content in the syllabus: 40% of electives are centered around it, while more than half of lecturers teach at least one subject focused on entrepreneurship.
Jan Brinckmann is the director of the Esade Entrepreneurship Institute (EEI). He says that one of the most important pieces of advice for budding MBA entrepreneurs is to validate your idea as early as you can.
“Before building anything, talk to 50 – 100 prospective customers,” he says. “Validate the pain, the urgency, and – crucially – the willingness to pay. Avoid Excel-driven fantasy worlds; traction always beats projections.”
Since a decent proportion of your fellow students will also be considering starting a business, it means the MBA classroom is the perfect place to meet your co-founders.
Brinckmann has some insights on how to go about it.
“Teams of two or three with complementary skills perform best. Don’t default to friends – pick people who bring strengths you don’t have. Mix technical and commercial capabilities. You should also clarify roles, equity splits, and decision rights early to avoid unnecessary friction later,” he said.
Building a valuable network of potential partners
Brinckmann also highlights the new networks that will open up during your studies. For example, Esade students have access to the EEI, eWorks accelerator program, and Esade Business Angel Network.
These kinds of connections are like gold dust in the entrepreneurial world. So Brinckmann says you should use them to your advantage.
“Use your business school networks as your force multiplier. Ask for warm introductions to potential customers, investors, angels, and corporate partners,” he said.
Besides these formal networks, there’s also the informal alumni network of your chosen school. With thousands of graduating students every year, your school’s alumni network is bound to be full of people who have already gone through the entrepreneurial journey themselves.
So tap into it as best you can. Talk to alumni, ask them what went right, and, most importantly, ask them what went wrong.
But perhaps the most vital aspect of an MBA is a simple one: getting the confidence to take the plunge.
According to Al Danto, senior lecturer in entrepreneurship at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, the school’s graduating MBAs “leave with more than just ambition.”
“They gain a structured framework for evaluating opportunities, a disciplined process for managing risk and uncertainty, and the ability to turn what looks like a leap of faith into a series of small, manageable steps,” he explains.
“Most importantly, they graduate into a community that accelerates their learning and supports them for life.”
As for Liu, she believes the “core entrepreneurial framework” she learned at Oxford remains “foundational” to her business today.
She has had to pivot several times since first launching her startup, but believes she couldn’t have done it without the knowledge she gained during her MBA.
“The strategic mindset and adaptability cultivated during my MBA continue to guide every pivot,” she says. “An MBA provided both the framework and the launchpad for my business.”