This newsletter is usually about customers—most recently we talked about High Performance Standards—but this week I’m taking a bit of a detour to talk about my decision to go to business school.
On most days, if you were to ask me if you should go get your masters degree, attend a coding bootcamp, or do some kind of workshop that results in a professional certification, I would probably try to talk you out of it. I might drill you with questions like:
What’s the outcome you’re trying to achieve? What’s the cost of the program that’s promising to help you achieve this outcome? Are there alternative ways to achieve the same outcome for less money? Even better, is there a way to get paid to achieve the outcome, perhaps by changing roles or pursuing an opportunity at a different company?
I tend to prefer career advancement opportunities that earn money to those that cost money. I’m not completely against making an investment to further your career, which brings me to a bit of personal news:
I’m excited to share that starting this fall, I’ll be a student in the Executive MBA program at Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business.
Why now?
I need to tell you a bit of a story.
This won’t be my first time studying at Georgia Tech. I actually spent my freshman year at Tech, studying to be an electrical engineer. During that time, I felt called to discern the Roman Catholic priesthood. Becoming a priest is a life-long commitment—sorta like getting “married” to the Church—so there’s a formal process where you become a seminarian and you orient your life around studying for the priesthood and discerning if this calling is in fact for you.
When I became a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, I had to leave Georgia Tech and transfer to the Franciscan University of Steubenville. At Franciscan, I completed my degree in philosophy and ultimately discerned that I was called to marriage, and being Roman Catholic, that meant I couldn’t become a priest1.
I loved my time at Franciscan, but upon entering the working world, I was really wishing I had had that degree from Georgia Tech. The starting salaries for philosophy majors from small Catholic schools in Ohio are, uh, not that great. Even so, I dove in headfirst, teaching myself to be a software developer, eventually making my way to New York to work for Fog Creek Software as a support engineer. I would go on to start and lead customer support teams at Trello and later at FullStory. It’s been a great ride, but I’ve always felt a bit out of place.
Because of my non-technical education, I’ve always brought a healthy dose of imposter syndrome into each new job. I could code, sure, but I didn’t have the same technical foundation as my peers with computer science degrees from engineering schools. Similarly, when it comes to management, my experience has been on-the-job learning, with a little bit of leadership coaching and reading books on the side. Still, it felt like something was missing.
I’m mostly self-taught and I’d like change things up a bit. I want to build a technical foundation in an area that I’m passionate about. And by technical I don’t mean “engineering” or “computer science”, but spending time studying and becoming an expert in a well-known and established discipline.
For me, I want to focus on business. About a year ago, I started writing this newsletter as a way to explore business concepts I’ve picked up on throughout my career. It turns out I’ve been having a lot of fun! These are topics that I enjoy writing about and hopefully others enjoy reading. But being self-taught and approaching problems from first principles has its limits. That’s why I decided that I wanted to firm up my business foundations and pursue an MBA.
My goals for an MBA
If I had to sum up my goal in one succinct phrase, it would be: to be a leader in tech in Atlanta. This overarching goal came can be broken down into 3 parts:
Level up my business acumen
Study with smart classmates and join a strong alumni network, especially in Atlanta
Fit the program into my life
My number one goal is to “level up my business acumen”. I want to spend time in a rigorous classroom environment where I’m challenged and can trust I’m building a solid foundation in business that can be applied at any company.
When I was first looking at MBA programs, I overlooked the value of the people I would be studying with and the alumni network after I graduated. As I got deep into my research, this emerged as an important goal. I want to make sure I’m studying with a strong group of classmates who will challenge me, becoming an integral part of “leveling up my business acumen.” I also want to make sure that at least some of my peers share similar goals of wanting to be in the tech space here in Atlanta.
Lastly, I want an MBA program that I can integrate into my life. My wife and I have three young children, so I need to be working full time while going to school. Balancing the demands of the program with family life will be hard enough. Getting on a plane to fly to an executive MBA program in another city is not an option.
Choices and Alternatives
Having clarity about the goals was helpful as I explored multiple alternatives to an MBA. Especially when I asked myself if there was a way to achieve the same outcomes for less money, I needed to consider how alternative choices would help me achieve my goals.
Self study was an option that I seriously considered. Last summer, I led a bookclub on Chief Customer Officer 2.0 with readers of this newsletter. It was a great experience and I learned a ton. I could theoretically do the same thing again, perhaps with the types of books you’d find at business school. While it would certainly be a lot cheaper than business school, it wouldn’t have the rigor and breadth that I’m hoping to get from an MBA program.
Another option was an online MBA. If I was only looking for a step up from a book club or self study, this would be an excellent choice. Online MBA programs provide structure for gaining business knowledge, and they do so at a fraction of the cost of a traditional MBA program. However, because of my goal of wanting to further my career in Atlanta, I really wanted a program where the majority of my fellow students are also based here. And to be frank, after a year of virtual meetings, I’m eager to be back to more in-person environments.
At this point in the decision-making process, I’ve made up my mind that I want to attend an in-person Executive MBA program in Atlanta. The two schools I seriously looked at were Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business and Emory’s Goizueta Business School.
Emory’s Goizueta Business School boasts the top Executive MBA program in the state. While I ultimately didn’t choose Emory, I don’t believe I could have gone wrong had I made that choice. They certainly would have met the requirement for leveling up my business acumen among a group of smart classmates, many of whom are here in Atlanta.
Goizueta has a lot to offer for those wanting to work in tech. They’re well-known for their classes on alternative investments and they have a brand new Center of Entrepreneurship and Innovation for connecting students with investors and tech founders in the Atlanta area. Especially for entrepreneurs who want to be in finance or venture capital, Emory is an outstanding choice.
Why Georgia Tech?
I ultimately chose Georgia Tech for three reasons:
Alignment with my goals
Length of program
Cost
When I spoke with alumni of the Scheller Executive MBA program, I could hear my story in their story. Every person I spoke with lived and worked in Atlanta, ranging from small start-ups to giant tech companies. They all shared a story of how Georgia Tech’s Executive MBA program prepared them for where they currently are in their careers. The relationships formed during the program remained strong years after graduation.
Georgia Tech’s Executive MBA program offers two tracks: Global Business and Management of Technology. What stands out to me about the Management of Technology program is how the capstone project consists of creating a business from the ground up and defending it in front of a group of investors. It’s not just about playing start-up founder—there’s a real emphasis on knowing and understanding your customer, not just making a business plan on paper.
The length of the program emerged as a major deciding factor for fitting an MBA into my life. Tech’s Executive MBA program begins in August of 2021 and ends in December of 2022. As much as I’m looking forward to spending time in the classroom, I know it’s going to be a lot of work and will take a toll on my family. Being able to finish in just 17 months is a major advantage.
Lastly, cost was also a factor. At $82,500, the cost of an Executive MBA at Georgia Tech is already a significant investment. Emory’s program comes in at a hefty $120,496. Although my main focus was finding the right program that aligned with my goals, I’m glad that my school of choice will place less of a burden on my family’s finances.
Go. Fight. MBA.
My family and I visited Tech’s campus on Saturday. It was graduation day and the energy on campus was palpable. When I consider the outcomes I’m hoping to achieve with an MBA, it’s not just about the knowledge—it’s about the entire experience. I’m eager to begin that experience at Georgia Tech.
Next week I plan to write about the MBA application process and what I learned that I didn’t know when I first applied. After that, I’ll return to writing about the normal things you’ve come to expect in this newsletter, promise.
If you’ve come to the footnotes for esoteric Catholic facts, you’re in the right place. There are Eastern Catholic Churches—meaning, they’re in union with Rome, but with a liturgy more like what you’d see in the Orthodox Church—that ordain married men to the priesthood. I never seriously considered changing rites, though that is a thing that people do.
Interesting! You've always been a Ramblin' Wreck!
I'd like to see you write something about the discernment process as far as deciding this was right for your family, not just limiting the burden on your family, because I find that to be a very tough topic! I struggle with it myself, so I'd like to hear your thoughts on it.
I also can't believe the kids are so big!