America is the startup capital of the world. A unique mixture of great universities, efficient capital markets, relatively business friendly policies, and a culture of striving makes a handful of urban centers in the U.S. as good a place to start a business as anywhere on the planet.
American's startup success is not because MBA programs teach this stuff. I got an MBA (a long time ago), started a business and found the two experiences largely unrelated. A few MBA programs like Eccles at Utah teach entrepreneurship pretty well, but most continue to prepare students for careers in banking and consulting.
On some MBA campuses you may be able to find Essentials of Startup Law in a forward-learning MBA, possibly Introduction to Developing Entrepreneurial Ideas, Turning Your Brand Into a Competitive Advantage, but what about Digital M&A Secrets, Intro to SEO, Getting Your Startup in Top Tier Tech News, How to Read a Cap Table, How to Hire and Retain Developers, Make Life Easy with Algorithms?
These are just a few of the classes offered last week at General Assembly, a New York City startup campus featuring courses relevant to internet startups. Just look at events next week -- most MBA professors wouldn't recognize any of these topics: Leancamp, Daily Deals, Startup Grind, Gaming Meetup, Photo Hack Day, Hand Made, Web Development with HTML, CSS, and Wordpress.
Instructors need to bring their "A game." Attendees are bright, serious, connected, and don't suffer fools well. Some participants attended a business school but feel unprepared for serious entrepreneurial undertaking.
Classes are not inexpensive, but most are oversubscribed because the mixture of learning opportunities in technology, design, and entrepreneurship is unique. The quality of instructors is unusually high and the subjects are extraordinarily relevant. The connection to a startup campus and culture is very unusual creating rich peer learning opportunities.
Last week General Assembly launched StartMaking.com, a series of short videos about people building companies. The series of 16 videos includes Mario Batali on the rush of the restaurant business, Michael Bloomberg on pricing and user-centered design, and David Kelley (the founder of IDEO) on building a prototype as your pitch.
These inspirational shorts are intended to encourage and empower people to educate themselves, while introducing General Assembly's unique program of online learning covering the Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship -- like how to form an entity, business models, and human-centered design and raising your first million. Like the onsite courses, the online programs are very social. Participants connect, comment, share, and learn together.
Flexible entry points allow online learners to get what they need and start making. Busy entrepreneurs have the ability to come back to the content, move backwards and forwards, and learn what they want, when they need it.
Heading up the expansion of online learning opportunities is Adam Pritzker. "It's a really exciting opportunity to be able to extend our pedagogical perspective online. Our programs, whether onsite or online, are all social, application based, goal oriented, and taught by top practitioners. By the end of one of our courses, you won't necessarily take a test, but there will be an outcome, in this case, challenges that lead to starting a business."
General Assembly online is an MBA killer. Unless a young person thinks they need a credential to get a job at Morgan Stanley or McKinsey, they'd be much better off in a startup, learning on the job, and accessing the extraordinary offerings at General Assembly when they need it -- just right, just-in-time beats a $50,000 just-in-case degree program.
Big companies that have been paying tuition reimbursement for low value classes and degrees will also find General Assembly to be a big boost in their educational investment.
Check out the GeneralAssemb.ly web application online today, and StartMaking.
General Assembly is a portfolio company of Learn Capital where Tom is a partner.
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our journalism free and accessible to all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.
Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.