Pedigree

I got this email tonite from a recruiter.  I won't divulge the source.

The recruiter was looking to place a General Partner in a VC firm.

The client wanted someone with 3-5 years of VC experience.  No track record was specified.  No board experience was specified.  No deal experience was specified.

But it was required that the candidate have the following pedigree:

An advanced MBA degree from a prominent business school such as Harvard,
Stanford, Wharton, etc. is required for this role.

I have an MBA from Wharton and when I read stuff like this I just cringe.  Like an MBA from a prominent business school is some kind of quality filter.  Right.

I never place any value on the schools people went to and the degrees they have.  It's bullshit for the most part.

My partner from Flatiron Jerry Colonna has a liberal arts degree from Queens College and he was one the best VCs I've ever worked with.

My partner Brad Burnham doesn't have an MBA either and he knows more about startups, technology, and markets than almost anyone I've ever met.

I don't have anything against MBAs.  Going back to school and getting an MBA can be a great break from the career path that allows someone to find out what they really want to do.  And you can learn some things along the way. 

But you can't learn real life business in school.  That requires doing it, not studying it.

So I'll take a candidate who's got the track record over the pedigree any day.

Comments

[MIke D.]

Amen. Education is the last thing I look at when evaluating candidates. I look at it, but just last... that's all.

What school people go to is often a product of how well-off their parents are and even how motivated they are, but not necessarily how good of a worker they are or even how smart they are. Anybody who has been to college remembers people in their class who fit this description, and anybody who remembers these people will not hire these people.

Personal references, personal rapport, quantifiable workplace achievements are much more important than a lousy piece of paper (no offense to Wharton of course :) ).

This season of the Apprentice is a perfect example of this line of thinking. The two teams were split up into college graduates and high school graduates. For the most part, the high school graduates are faring much better, and it was revealed in the beginning that the net worth of the high school graduates is higher than that of the college graduates.

College is a tool to further your education and your industry contacts. It is not an indication of your level of fitness for any particular job.

[Ben Casnocha]

Fred - very interesting. As I go through the college process, my peers at school are definitely very aware that "prestige" and "name value" of a college mean something. Unfortunately, they often put this above all else.

[Chris Yeh]

There is a value to attending an "elite" institution, but that value is primarily as A) a signalling factor, and B) as a proxy for one's personal network.

If you have two candidates with exactly equivalent work experience, should you hire the one with the better educational background?

There is a counterargument, which is that the less well educated candidate achieved more given that she started from a lower base, but I wouldn't put too much credence in it.

The other fact is that attending an elite institution provides an instant network. It can't fully substitute for real personal relationships, but it can sure help a lot.

A recent study (conducted by HBS, so apply a grain of salt if necessary) found that 27% of VC General Partners were HBS alumni. That's got to help in the VC biz. But it can't overcome a lack of other qualifications and experience.

Incidentally, I think that the rise of blogs is going to impact the brand value of elite universities. I know Ben because of his blog, and I have a far higher opinion of him than most HBS graduates, and he's still in high school!

[Derek Scruggs]

Where were you guys 10 years ago when I was tying to get an entry level postition with a VC firm? I lived in Chicago. I didn't have an MBA, but I had business and startup experience. I called several local VCs and managed to get through to partners ever time, and they all told me not to bother submitting my resume unless I had an MBA.

After that I seriously considered going to B-School and made a deal with myself that within the next 12 months I would either start a company or go back to school. It worked out for me and I don't regret the choice. Probably the biggest thing I learned from both experiences (looking for a job and starting a company) is that I don't like Chicago VCs. ;)

[Ari Paparo]

Brad doesn't have an MBA? I'm pretty sure he does, from Columbia. When I was studying there he was involved in the venture program as a mentor.

[Malaika Martin]

OK then, so how does one go about getting VC experience aside from getting a job at a VC, where it seems that so often you have to know someone who is well connected, have an MBA or experience starting a company to begin with? What if you were in some other field, got an MBA and want to join a VC? Would you have any realistic chance of doing so?

[Mark Mullin]

Fred,

Your discounting wouldn't have anything to do with an inside track on quality issues, would it :-D

I'm a tech heavy myself, but I did go through Tulane's certificate program, just to see what the highlights were - scared the hell out of everyone I know when it turned out the finance section was my favorite.

I think that some of the fundamentals that are taught in finance and mktg tracks (NPV calculations and market segmentation come to mind) are certainly worth knowing. I realized that my 'gut sense' in evaluating a lot of tech proposals was basically an internalized NPV calculation

I don't put too much weight on the MBA, as I've know good ones, and ones that couldn't differentiate strategy and tactics if their lives depended on it. OTOH, there is a useful body of codified knowledge in the program, and _that_ is definitely worth having.

PS - I feel your knee pain - had the same issue myself after a few daze at Snowbird several years ago

[Jerry]

Pedigrees are for dogs...and other folks too insecure in their own capabilities to understand what it really takes to succeed in life.
Sorry. I didn't mean to insult the dogs.

[Peter Hoskins]

Question then... you have a stack of resumes in front of you... You can't interview them all - half of them are MBAs from Wharton, Stanford and Harvard and the other half show a few classes at a community college. Even if all of the candidates were equally talented who would you call in for interviews?

I trust your evaluation of Jerry C as being exceptional but that is probably a function of your experience with him. I don't know him but given his pedigree of accomplishment at Flatiron he has credibility. I think it is fair to give graduates with advanced degrees from premier universities a little love. They've earned it.

[Bill A]

I agree with Fred. An MBA is a great complement to relevant experience, but can't replace it. And if you have candidates with equal experience you'd likely give preference to the one with the "better" MBA.

But accepting resumes from MBAs without experience while excluding potentially highly-experienced non-MBAs (or even MBAs from "lesser" programs) is short sighted, and proof itself that an MBA doesn't automatically provide the ability to make good decisions in the real world.

[IlanS]

The use of anecdotal information as suggested above by Fred is far from scientific. For example, one could argue that Jerry and Brad could have been even *more* effective with a top-tier MBA (primarily b/c of the network).

Similarly, one can easily say that the "best" VCS are HBS alums, and list a dozen names including Arthur Rock, John Doerr, Jim Breyer et al. You would just want to play the averages by hiring from the top schools (whether this is causation or correlation is largely irrelevant)

Finally, it is just like the old expression that no one ever got fired for buying from IBM. If you have someone from a no-name school and his deals blow up, the other GPs will say "I told you never to hire that bozo".

If one had the data, it would be interesting to find the IRR of deals of every single VC, and cross-reference that against their undergrad/grad institutions. I’d be willing to guess that while HBS/Wharton/Stanford Alums may not dominate the top quartile, they’d be heavily skewed to the top 40-50% of returns.

But then again, what do you expect from a snobby current HBS student and Princeton alum?

Anyway, the whole discussion is a moot point. VC is "so the last bubble", everyone I know is looking for a job at a hedge fund or in real estate.

[msn messenger]

msn messenger - nero - nettoyage pc - norman virus - norton - norton utilities - partition - partitions - petit dejeuner - piercing - piercings - porc - postale - postales - poulet - quicktime -

[msn messenger]

- legume - logiciel - logiciels - mcafee - messenger - mirc - motif - msn - msn messenger - nero - nettoyage pc - norman virus - norton - norton utilities - partition - partitions - petit dejeuner - piercing - piercings - porc - postale - postales - poulet - quicktime - realplayer - recette - recettes - repas - roms - sagittaire - salade - salades - saumon - scorpion - skin - skype - smiley - soluce - soluces - solution - zodiaque - solutions - soupe - spybot - spyware - svcd - symantec - tablature - tablatures - tarot - tarte - tartes - tatoo - tatou - tatouage - tatouages - taureau - telechargement - telechargements - telecharger - tribals - trillian - trucs - tuning - vcd - veau - vegetarienne - verseau - viande - video comique - videos comiques - virus - voiture - zone alarme

[Astuce]

edonkey kazaa messenger 7.5 ad aware antivirus firewall horoscope chinois emule mp3 gratuit kazaa telecharger jeux a telecharger emule telecharger antivirus gratuit blague humour logiciel antivirus blague blonde logiciel a telecharger telecharger divx telecharger divx player telecharger emule telecharger emoticone gratuit telecharger kazaa gratuitement telecharger logiciel gratuit telecharger clone cd tarot telecharger kazaa lite telecharger fr telecharger emoticone telecharger emule gratuit telecharger kazaa en francais telecharger e mule gratuit telecharger antivirus gratuit telecharger divx gratuit telecharger codec divx telecharger acrobat telecharger divx gratuitement telecharger chanson skype telecharger logiciel divx telecharger kazaa gratuit telecharger antivirus telecharger e mule gratuitement tablature guitare recette de cuisine telecharger emule gratuitement telecharger msn plus telecharger nero gratuitement telecharger yahoo messenger telecharger messenger telecharger msn messenger 8.0 telecharger msn mesenger winmx telecharger messenger 7.5 zodiaque telecharger messenger 7.5 telecharger nero telecharger music mp3 telecharger nero gratuit telecharger shareaza telecharger shareaza gratuitement telecharger msn messenger gratuit telecharger msn 7.5 telecharger winzip telecharger msn messenger gratuitement telecharger msn messager telecharger norton antivirus 2005 telecharger msn 7.5 francais telecharger skype telecharger musique gratuite telecharger norton antivirus telecharger shareaza gratuit telecharger msn gratuitement telecharger winzip gratuit zone alarm telecharger winamp telecharger nero 6 telecharger mp3 telecharger msn messenger 7.5 msn messenger 7.5 telecharger nero burning rom telechargement gratuit de film musique mp3 telechargement logiciel nero 6 norton antivirus 2005 telechargement musique de film telecharger album musique mp3 telecharger telechargement gratuit film x nero norton 2005 telecharger acrobat nero burning telechargement gratuit de film porno msn 7.5 telecharger telecharger acrobat reader msn telecharger msn messenger 7.5 telechargement logiciel gratuit horoscope gemeau horoscope cancer horoscope capricorne google earth telecharger horoscope poisson horoscope fond ecran voiture horoscope chinois ford horoscope balance france musique horoscope lion horoscope du jour horoscope gratuit horoscope sagittaire horoscope belier google telecharger

[telecharger shareaza gratuitement]

skypetarottelecharger emoticonetelecharger frtelecharger emule telecharger acrobattelecharger chansontablature guitare telecharger antivirus telecharger divxgratuittelecharger kazaa litetelecharger divx gratuitement -telecharger emule gratuitementtelecharger antivirus gratuit telecharger codec divx telecharger moticone gratuit telecharger kazaa gratuitementtelecharger kazaa gratuittelecharger divx player telecharger logiciel divx telecharger clone cdtelecharger la nouvelle version de emule gratuitement telecharger emule gratuitement version 46telecharger emule gratuitement et sans telephoner emule plus telecharger gratuitement telecharger gratuitement le logiciel emule telecharger film avec emule gratuitement telecharger emule gratuitement en francais telecharger ratuitement de la musique sur emule telecharger emule gratuitement et facilementtelecharger and emule and gratuitement recette de cuisine emule telecharger gratuitement musique telecharger gratuitement emule plus telecharger logiciel emule gratuitement

[ad aware]

telecharger and gratuitement and emule and sans and telephoner telecharger gratuitement film avec emule telecharger emule plus gratuitementemule telecharger gratuitement logiciel emule telecharger gratuitementtelecharger emule en francais gratuitement logiciel et emule telecharger gratuitement film telecharger gratuitement emule telecharger kazaa en francais telecharger e mule gratuitement telecharger e mule gratuittelecharger emule 0.45 gratuitement telecharger version 0.43b emule gratuitement telecharger gratuitement emule v0.45b
telecharger gratuitement emule 0.46b telecharger emule 0.46c gratuitement telecharger emule 0.45 b gratuitement emule 0.45 telecharger gratuitement telecharger gratuitement emule v0.46a