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Ask HN: What would the syllabus be for a TeMBA?

6 points by nekopa ↗ HN
After seeing an interesting thread on an unhappy CTO, and the value of doing an MBA for tech people, I would like to ask the following question:

Think about a great tech person who needs to learn business. If you had control of the Harvard Business School & the Massachusetts Institute of Technology joint program for the TeMBA (Technical Master of Business Asskicking) what would be the required topics?

Constraints: 2 year program (Max - 1 year full-time), pre-reqs minimum BSc in CS or $x years of experience in IT.

For business people here on HN: Please tell us what skills you think a great IT guy needs to step up to C-level

6 comments

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dman
How do you plan to use this information? What does "us" mean in this context => "Please tell us"?
nekopa
I have no idea. Us means HN readers. Maybe someone out there will create a startup based on this idea. But I am hoping influencers, say someone at google, will start a conversation with people at $TOP university.

And from there, who knows?

nekopa
It's too late to change the original post. I just want to hear ideas around this concept. I am not a startup, I am just an American living in the Czech Republic, teaching English and training business skills. I have 2 kids and a kickass partner. I come to HN for the interesting conversation, and the chance to learn something new.
angersock
First, they shouldn't refer to themselves as an IT guy.

Second, the point there wasn't that a Tech MBA would be valuable--it was that existing businesses have little use or respect for tech folks who also business.

It is a culture problem, not a credential problem.

nekopa
To talk about each of your points:

First: I said IT guy because I think that covers a lot of people on here. I could've said dev, devops, systems, etc...

I tried to just encompass anyone who is technically excellent. My bad.

Second: This is the issue I am trying to address. There is no respect because tech folks regularly fuck up dealing with the business side folks. And yes, it's bullshit. but it does happen, and it happens all the time.

And to your unspoken 3rd point:

Yes, it is a culture problem. And what better way to address a culture problem by changing the culture signals surrounding it? If we make a new university program, eventually the culture may be changed.

vlokshin
check out Cornell Tech :)

http://tech.cornell.edu/

I graduated from the first class. I'm sure it's not a 100% match to what you were thinking, but I see a lot of similarities.