In his latest conversation with the sensational podcast host Raj Shamani, CRED founder Kunal Shah raised a provocative question that casts doubt on the Master of Business Administration (MBA’s) true value in today’s world. He shared his thoughts about how fastly the world is evolving and how trust in institutions is being replaced by trust in individuals and ideas.
He gave a very sharp example, “If you banned placements in MBA schools, koi MBA karega kya? (will anyone do an MBA?) What if you and I build a company that assures placement? We’d probably make more money than MBA schools. Who knows?”
On which Shamani agrees too by saying, “true, 100%” and called it an “evolution”
Shah explained that the ground beneath our feet is changing faster than most of us can plan for, “for example, our parents didn’t have to learn all this thing and watch podcasts and evolve so fast. In fact, grandparents had to evolve much lesser. The world’s rate of change was manageable.”
A sharp question on MBA relevance
People have long discussed if doing an MBA is relevant anymore. Several social media threads have active debate going on this topic. A Quora user posted, “I want to start a business, which MBA course is suitable?” Plenty of users engaged with the query and one thing was common – none were in favour of pursuing an MBA to start a business. One user said, “I can honestly tell you an MBA is of no use if you want to start a business. You would be better off using the fee money to start a business in your area of interest.”
Another user shared similar thoughts by writing, “MBA is highly overrated and it will not help in any major way to start a business. It will definitely help you in getting a good job.”
One more user pitched in and gave a very interesting example, the user said, “If you want to swim, you’ve to get into the water, no MBA can teach you what is actually happening in the market.”
The bigger MBA debate
The debate over whether an MBA is still worth it has been going on for years. There was a time when earning this degree was seen as the golden ticket to leadership roles and career success.
Today, the picture isn’t so clear. While top business schools still offer access to high-paying jobs and influential networks, many believe that true entrepreneurial skills come from rolling up your sleeves, learning through real-world challenges, mistakes and adapting quickly to changing markets.