best mba school for product management
Looking to go to business school within the next 2years. what is the best school to focus in product management?
Lean product playbook by dan olsen Inspired by marty cagan Lean start up by eric ries Cracking pm interview Decode and conquer There. Saved you $200,000.
People don't get an MBA solely for the knowledge. It's for the lifelong network, the soft skills, access to on campus recruiting etc. A book can never give you that.
Does anyone get an MBA for any amount of knowledge? It’s purely for the networking lol Granted that networking can be worth a lot.
If being a PM is your only goal for an MBA (it shouldn’t be) then Berkeley, Stanford or MIT for the network. I went PM after mba, but got a lot more out of it than a job - friends, experiences, time off a work schedule.
Assuming you’re only considering full time programs?
I’m considering mostly part time
Hmm...then I'd really want to know the "why" behind getting it. You need to really understand what you'e getting. I can't imagine networks are as tight as the full time, and you need to make sure someone at a company will compensate you for it. For what it's worth, I went to a top school, and I don't really consider people from the executive program as part of the alumni. Sure I'd contact them if I wanted their help, but it's not the same.
To be clear, MBA does not teach you to be a PM. It attracts people who are suited to the role, teaches adjacent skills, and provides a network that can open doors to job opportunities. It is not a prerequisite nor a guarantee you will come out a PM
That being said, Stanford is probably where I wanna go for adjacency to network and professors with connections. Curriculum is more tailored to tech startups too. Attracts a lot of would be founders
Do a dual degree MBA+CS at either Stanford, Berkeley, or MIT. Get a scholarship if you can as well, ideally a full-ride.
GSB if you really want to work in tech as a PM but want an MBA too
Wow, people going TO an MBA to get into PM. The Product Management prestige has gone to a whole new level. If you've already done PM, or have been an SDE, any top 15 school can then land you to a PM role. Interviewing PM from a top tier MBA is just recursive - "have you been a PM before? No? Go do that and come back". Get an internship, then get a job.
I think PMs have higher impact on the company because their role ties in to business directly. Ultimately engineering is just one part, agree it's a very very important part. But engineers cannot be great at everything and technology is not the only thing. A complex product rollout requires lots of coordination skills between various teams e.g. customer support, sales, TPMs, IT support, pre-sales, Infrastructure, Security and not just within engineering. I have seen PMs play an absolutely critical role in these matters. In fact if you see for Google, Facebook, Amazon, PMs are the public face for the company products. With such impact on business and future product roadmap I'd assume PMs definitely would make more money and get higher positions in the company.
Sounds like PM is sales for technical people that dont actually want to sell
Getting an MBA from Stanford or MIT is a big deal even if you already work in tech/product. I would consider talking to people who have MBAs and if they think it was worth it or not and why, rather than asking people who have not gone through the experience.
How is it a big deal? Do you have experience?
I tried to get in but can’t so it’s a big deal for me. Personally , leaving aside the career growth or the networking aspect, it would be so amazing to spend 2 years with people who are pretty much the best minds in the world and are from such diverse backgrounds as an MBA class is. Is it worth 200$k? Might for some might not for others but I think overall it’s once in a lifetime experience.
stanford? Are you already in product or do you want to transition into it? If the former im not sure if an mba is worth the cost
I’m already in product, but don’t come from a business, marketing, or cs background