Textbook Life

---

My NoSmalltalk session with Ashish Chaturvedi

by Albert Schiller

An MBA is the worst degree an entrepreneur can have. This is the blunt diagnosis from Ashish Chaturvedi, a founder who holds the very credentials he dismisses. The statement is not an attack on the institution, but on its core logic. A business school trains the mind to calculate, model, and mitigate risk. An entrepreneur, he argues, must operate on a different frequency. They must possess the "insanity" to make a leap of faith, a move that a well-trained, rational mind is conditioned to avoid at all costs.

A Cage of Calculation

A mind trained to see every potential failure becomes a liability when practical success requires ignoring most of them. The core function of a business education is to instill a deep respect for risk, equipping a leader with the tools to quantify it. For a founder, this theoretical knowledge comes with its own price. It creates a state of hyper-awareness about what can go wrong, which fosters hesitation when decisive action is needed or when textbook scenarios fail to face reality. An intellect trained to find and evaluate every variable is a powerful tool for managing an existing system. When creating a new one from scratch, it can become a cage.

Productive Insanity

The alternative to calculation is not recklessness. It is a form of productive "insanity." An entrepreneur, Ashish argues, cannot operate with the cautious logic of a financial analyst. They must possess a degree of irrational faith. His metaphor is visceral: you have to be willing to "jump from the top of a 5-story building, assuming there is a mattress downstairs." An MBA provides the data to prove the mattress is not guaranteed to be there. The founder's job is to jump anyway. This belief is the essential, unteachable prerequisite for starting, a logic based not on evidence but on a personal conviction.

The Redeeming Network

The paradox of the MBA is that its curriculum may be a liability, but its network is a critical asset. Ashish concedes the degree provides two things of immense value: a broad business perspective and a significant, inbuilt network of peers. This network acts as a "half-open door," providing invaluable access to advice, connections, and support. The education may encourage inaction, but the alumni community provides a powerful accelerator once a founder has decided to act. It offers a set of resources that a founder would otherwise have to build painfully on their own.

Governing the Tool

In this paradigm, a founder with an MBA is left to manage two conflicting logics. One is the rational analyst, trained to see every reason a venture will fail. The other is the believer, who must possess an irrational conviction to begin. Ashish argues that the degree provides a powerful tool-set and a valuable network, but its core teachings advocate for caution, the enemy of creation. This leaves a question for any entrepreneur with a formal business education: which voice do you obey?

5 Lessons with practical values-

Open Questions

1. If the core logic of a formal business education is at odds with the entrepreneurial mindset, can true entrepreneurship ever be taught in a classroom, or can it only be learned through direct, unscripted experience?

2. Ashish's journey suggests a founder must manage two conflicting voices: the rational analyst and the irrational believer. In a high-stakes decision with incomplete data, which voice should take precedence, and how does a leader know when to trust their conviction over their own analysis?