Investing in MBA’s Slice by Slice

Since I discovered crowd investing, there has been a stellar pitch on Crowdcube which particularly impressed me and seemed to get fully funded far faster than anything else, raising £430,000 in just 20 days.  It was a proposal for a chain of pizza-by-the-slice restaurants in London.  My own bite-sized investment left my back account a few weeks ago and the first branch opens soon.

Food companies are, so to speak, two a penny in crowd investing world so it wasn’t (only) my affection for food which attracted me.  Pizza Rossa is run by a group of MBA graduates from London Business School.  The team won the School’s annual business plan competition and was also a winner of the 2013 Deloitte Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s Founders Award.

Clearly these are exceptional and talented individuals with a good idea but there were characteristics of the funding pitch which made me think more generally about “MBA-ness”.  What was it about their pitch and business plan which you might expect to be underpinned, supported or honed by an MBA?   If it has even crossed your mind that it might be the latest slick jargon or a ringing promise to transform the London fast food market let alone a reference to mezzanine finance just to be impressive, you aren’t on my wavelength at all.  In fact, what was impressive was almost the opposite.

The basic proposition was very plain, straightforward and crisp.  It went direct to the heart of what the market wanted and what an investor would be looking for.  It demonstrated understanding of where the competitive advantage and operational efficiencies would come from.  There was no guff.

The directness and polish of this pitch have be no doubt been burnished through various rounds of the competitions the team has entered and won.  And, of course, people can produce these properties without an MBA but I’m sure that between the entrepreneur born of experience and the polish of prize-winners lies the benefit of substance from an MBA course.

How am I sure of that?  How can I know that our own programme delivers this substance?  We are currently reviewing and revising our Executive MBA course. We have strengths of substance to build on and I know that because I see two things.  I see the way our students change over the two years of their course – always one of the pleasures of this job – and I hear what they say when they move on in their careers using what they have learnt.  Many progress to new jobs in the same organisation or a different on, some start their own businesses.  Almost all speak of greater versatility, new confidence, broader horizons.

As you would expect through a review and development process, we will make changes and improvements to our Exec course while maintaining the focus on substance, rigour and personal development.  Our MBA graduates haven’t generated many business plans for yummy, doughy restaurant chains yet but I don’t think they have generated too much guff either.  Substance yes, guff no.

About the Author: Elizabeth Parkin 

Elizabeth had a 25 year career in management before joining the University seven years ago as Manager for “Pod” Programmes. She also held the post of MBA Academic Director before moving on to becoming Head of Department for Management and Business Systems.