The Great MBA Migration: Startups Are The New Landing Spot

The latest WSJ article about Harvard MBAs struggling to find jobs caused quite a stir in the tech and startup community last week. This hit close to home as someone who went through MBA recruiting in 2022. There’s been a mixed debate on whether it’s still worth it.

IMO - the MBA still holds value for some (but yes, not as much as it used to). It was worth it for me - I took the risk of breaking into strategy consulting and felt I needed to strengthen my academic credentials. The two core benefits still stand:

1. The signal it sends when you get into a top ~15 program, particularly the M7 (Harvard, Columbia, UChicago (Booth), Stanford, Wharton, Northwestern (Kellogg), MIT)

2. The network effect - alums from your school are more likely to respond to your cold outreach on LinkedIn/email. MBAs from other top schools are also receptive, though less so than direct alums. The more selective the school, typically, the more accomplished the alumni network you can tap into.

I watched the recruiting markets tighten in 2022 during my job search, right after the COVID-19 hiring boom ended. The competition was already fierce then - countless applicants vying for a handful of spots at top consulting firms and banks.

But things have gotten significantly worse since I graduated in 2023. Harvard presents a particularly interesting situation. HBS and Stanford have always been hyper-focused on prestigious post-grad roles, with a substantial cohort looking to launch startups with their classmates.

Here's a telling example: two of the three Bain partners I interviewed with went to HBS, while almost no one at Oliver Wyman did. My theory? Many HBS grads view non-MBB consulting roles as beneath them and would rather wait for their ideal position or one that seems like a “step-up”. That strategy becomes much harder in today's market, where companies are learning to maximize efficiency with existing teams and AI tools. They just aren’t going to hire nearly the same amount of MBAs that we currently have and will have in the next 5-10 teams. Supply will significantly outweigh demand.

John from Leland makes some excellent points about this shift, and I agree with virtually all of them (especially his second point about networks, which mirrors my earlier observation):

This sea change could actually benefit MBAs and startups alike. With recent increases in MBA admissions and fewer roles in traditional fields like consulting/finance, we'll likely see more MBAs exploring startup opportunities.

We were already hearing that fewer wanted traditional finance and consulting roles, instead showing interest in joining saas/AI startups and acquiring "sweaty startups." However, with the sweaty startup space becoming more competitive due to high interest rates and asset purchase prices, tech startups will become an increasingly attractive path.

The All-In podcast recently touched on this trend. Mark Pincus specifically suggested that MBAs consider joining YCombinator companies: "The kinds of jobs that I think should be interesting to MBAs are more like go find a YCombinator company and join a founding team as the business person or whatever."

• We’ve seen an uptick of “business generalist” roles at startups, looking to hire athletes that can do a mix of non-technical tasks at a startup (sales/marketing/customer support/ops)

Here's the challenge though: universities aren't equipped to help students effectively tell their stories and break into startups, whether at the undergraduate or graduate level.

Some MBAs would be perfect fits - many already have entrepreneurial aspirations and could serve as versatile business generalists for startups. The same applies to undergrads, albeit at more junior levels. Plus, many MBAs bring valuable experience from previous stints in investment banking, consulting, and other experience that startups would value.

The key is making sure they know this path exists. This gap (between more students wanting to join a startup, and universities not having the resources to help them break in) is exactly why we started Slope.

The startup ecosystem needs more sharp undergrads and MBAs as business generalists handling sales, marketing, operations, and customer success. With traditional routes becoming less accessible and more people interested in startup careers, we're about to see a significant shift toward startup opportunities.

If this resonates with you, reach out to us at Slope! We're currently partnering with 15+ schools and are eager to share our insights on breaking into startups.