Many pundits on the relative merits of business school say that entrepreneurs should stay well away, despite the fact that the founders of some of today’s most successful startup companies, from Tesla Motors to Yelp, have a Master of Business Administration. Talented, smart individuals who have an idea they want to introduce to the world should not be quick to dismiss MBA programs. They can give you a competitive edge, help incubate your venture through structured support and funding, and turn you into a versatile thinker.

Competitive edge

A practical and theoretical understandingof business can give entrepreneurs a huge edge before they begin to bring their venturesinto the world. Entrepreneur-focused MBAs also tend to attract ambitious, independent, and talented individuals, all of whom become part of your peer network. At any good business school, you will learn as much from your peers as you will from your professors. Finding a school with diverse students who come from a huge array of backgrounds, work experiences, and countries will help you make the most of your MBA experience. It will also make sure you get a chance to work with them. For example, an Integrated Core term at a Canadian business school is both a crash course in integrated business fundamentals, and a chance to cross-pollinate with bright minds from very different backgrounds.

B-school incubators

Business school provides a testing ground for your idea, where the cost of failure is small and your ability to bounce back is greater. In the real world, making the wrong decision can prove to be a major setbackto your idea. At b-school, you have a tremendous amount of support from your peers, professors, and mentors. You have a chance to learn from your mistakes before they end your adventure.

Besides acting as valuable testing grounds in their own right, competitive b-schools also have their own incubators where you can work and earn your degree at the same time.LaunchPad is one such program, and potentially the only of its kind in Canada. Candidates who get their ideas accepted into LaunchPad are given space to work in one of three incubator spaces, including Kitchener’s Communitech Hub. Communitech is an enormous digital media incubation centre that has helped hundreds of start-up companies, andsome of the brightest minds in Ontario’s tech triangle rub elbows. Check online to find out more about how the best Toronto MBA programs foster ingenuity in today’s educational marketplace.

You don’t have to start your own business

If you value an independent spirit and want to find fresh ways of looking at business problems, but you’re not interested in bringing your own idea to market, you may still have a lot to gain from an Entrepreneurship MBA. Employers right now are fighting for graduates who have practical knowledge andexperience generating new revenues and weathering economic downturns, all things that startup ventures need to know if they’re going to survive. Startups themselves can benefit from employees with MBAs as they navigate investors and reach their scaling stages. A surprising 92% of startups fail, three-quarters of them because of premature scaling. They need talented MBAs to help them turn their great ideas into scalable ventures.