Good morning everyone,Which MBAs would you say truly foster entrepreneurship? and which additionally allow plenty of contacts with professors?Thanks

Folk who do MBAs aren't entrepreneurs. They are risk averse and seek to gain qualifications to help them rise up the corporate ladder. True entrepreneurs just get out there and do it.

Generally this is true, the kind of people who go into Ibanking, Strat Consulting, do MBAs are risk averse and probably pick this route because if you're bright and hard working you know you'll do fine.However, plenty of enterpeneurs do go to B-school and maybe for some it gives them the confidence they need.

So no particular MBA comes to mind?Maybe european MBAs are in this way better, since they normally get people with work experience-and hence something to bring to the class.

If you are really interested make enquiries, research the surveys (FT MBA survey, search the links with other sites) contact MBA faculties and so on.American might well be right if you take a very rigid view of MBA students (academic motivated) and entrepeneurs (profit motivated). Certainly not hard to think of examples of leading entrepeneurs who left academia quite early (Bill Gates normally tops my list!).There are exceptions as well though. That trend could well increase. I mean what proportion of entrepeneurs a generation or two ago had degrees at all? A much smaller number?I agree with you Tango - trouble is that all the areas you mention are fairly risky! Even an MBA is a major investment for most people - of time and money - it should not be considered lightly. Anyway it is a consulting career forum, so please excuse me for jumping into this one, I hope I have not trodden on any toes.

you should also consider that 10-20 yrs ago business wasnt as complex a it is nowadays and MBAs werent that popular anyhow.Therefore, my econometrics teacher would have happily said, you cant prove causation if you accept there might be a problem of omitted variable bias.

Once you have an MBA you understand the risks and are put off entrepreneurialism. Same applies as you get older - you no longer think you know it all.Hence entrepreneurialism is easier for the young and uneducated.So if you want to be an entrepreneur forget the MBA.

Not sure about the logic of that. I-B's have a good understanding of risks, but that doesn't mean that they avoid taking them altogether. If you have a better understanding of the risks it: a) might put you off taking the absurd entrepeneurial risks. What's wrong with that? Afterall most start-ups fail. Why add to the statistics if you can avoid it?At other times it might result in b) to increase your chances of success, if you are better at avoiding potential pitfalls.

The Tanaka Business School (part of Imperial College) is renown for its Entrepreneurship course.

Hi,If you look for an MBA which focuses on entrepreneurship, check out the Babson MBA programs. Babson was named #1 for Entrepreneurship for the second consecutive year. US News named it #1 for over 13 years in a row. If you already have a business idea you can model your schedule around it, working on your business plan, looking for funds, etc.

I agree with Dr. Tanaka.I did my MBA at Tanaka and it is great at entreprenuership. the cohort is small, it has great links with the IP generated by the college (one of the worlds greatest reserch campuses) and gives you the opportuity to work on your own idea as well as working to commercialise real technology developed by the college academics.Quite a few guys form my cohort have since started their own businesses on the back of ides developed or genreated at the school or contacts made.That said I work in consultatncy - but hte entrepreneurial focus gives you a great overview of all business funcitons and growing businesses.The small cohort allows plenty of time to meet and know the profs. Fridays were quitre often spent drinking at the college or local bars with the profs.

I seriously recommend Babson College. My degree is from Tanaka but I went on exchange to Babson and it is by far the more focussed on entrepreneurialism. Whereas at Tanaka I found there were a few profs with a good reputation in the study of "Entrepreneurialism", it's ultimately something you have to pursue as a niche specialism. At Babson, the entrepreneurial role is seen much more as an approach and style that is applied to other classes (marketing, finance, etc.)

So whats the difference in the way classes are taught in Babson to any other (good) Business School?More case methods maybe?

I really wouldn't read too much into the specifics of these courses. They are all more or less the same once you get into them. Anyone saying differently is trying to jazz up their own school. If you are going to do an MBA just go to the best school you can get into because the chances are you will change your mind on your future career at least a couple of times during business school. Some random lesser known school may well be really good for entrepreneurship teaching, but bear in mind that a lot of actually being an entrepreneur will come down to establishing contacts and networking, not getting a good mark in some fancy elective subject. There is no way that somewhere like Babson will give you an advantage over a Harvard or Stanford when it comes to entrepreneurship, or anything else for that matter?