A NY Times article describing the woes of the Venture Capital Industry interviewed a couple of VC veterans who had this to say about MBAs:

“The biggest names in the industry are concerned about low returns and are blaming several factors: funds that have grown too large, the M.B.A.’s that have invaded the industry and older partners who have lost touch with what is new in technology.”

[They] also attribute the venture industry’s struggles in part to the business school graduates who now populate Sand Hill Road offices, taking the place of the entrepreneurs who first formed venture firms.”

When asked to elaborate, the veterans offered this piece of insight:

“When too many venture capitalists serve on a start-up’s board with “no proper judgment, who have never built a company,” they tend to get too involved in running the company and, in high-pressure situations, imagine problems that do not exist, Mr. Horowitz said. “Their insecurity and own anxiety filters into the advice,” he said.”

Last time I checked, you had to have an MBA from Harvard Business School or Stanford to even think about breaking into Private Equity or Venture Capital. Simply put, private equity firms hire almost exclusively from the very best MBA programs because the schools’ networks translate into fund-raising dollars. The ability to display how many HBS grads you have on staff in the pitchbook you show investors is also a plus.

Maybe instead of generalizing all MBAs as thoughtless robots that that lack “proper judgment” the VC industry should rethink its hiring practices when it comes to recruiting young talent. Each MBA program has different strengths and weaknesses which are irrelevant of its ranking, brand name or alumni network. Not to say that HBS and Stanford don’t have their share of talented individuals, but diversifying the ranks to include a variety of graduates certainly seems like a good idea.

It is always easy to point the finger at someone else when things are going badly; considering the fact that you are responsible for creating the problem and working to solve it is a more difficult choice.