MBA Jungle

Once the = province=20 of hunched-over artisans, big families, and quixotic = inventors with=20 assembly-line dreams, the world of small, sharply focused = businesses=20 is attracting more and more MBAs from the country's top = B-schools.=20 "Most of our class of 2001 was interested in consulting and = banking,=20 but a lot of them are now seeing that those jobs aren't = secure, that=20 they're not getting hands-on experience," said Stephanie = McCaull,=20 associate director of career services at Dartmouth's Tuck = School.=20 "They're taking a new interest in small businesses, because = there's=20 a sense that smaller firms are more personal, that you have = more=20 control over your life. Given the economy, I think we're = going to=20 see a lot more interest in that."

Lusk and Harrison's = B-school friends, who at the time were scurrying around = foisting=20 vaporous dot-com business plans on slaphappy VCs, were = dismissive of=20 the golf- club mouse. Now, as Internet fever has flamed out = and=20 larger companies are pruning employees and recruiting = efforts, the=20 two mavericks are pulling in $430,000 a year.

They're = not the=20 only ones laughing. According to Inc magazine's 2001 = Inc 500=20 list, which ranks the country's fastest-growing small, = privately=20 held firms, 15 percent of the founders of these companies = have MBAs.=20 And during the economy's long slide over the past year and a = half,=20 the MBA exodus from big to small has hastened. "This year we = had a=20 lot of people doing their summer internships at companies = with fewer=20 than 200 employees, and we saw many of our students doing = more=20 independent job searches at smaller businesses rather than = just=20 waiting for big firms to come to campus," says = McCaull.

Even=20 students who aren't actually starting small businesses are = seeking=20 out existing companies and offering their services while = still in=20 school. "I see students in their second year approaching = smaller=20 companies and proposing projects to them," said Len = Morrison,=20 director of career services at Babson's Olin = School.

Take=20 Hanna Meyn, who during her second year as an MBA student at=20 Claremont University approached Sangart, a spanking-new San=20 Diego=96based company that makes a blood substitute for = trauma=20 victims. She scored a freelance consulting gig and stuck = with it=20 after graduation=97even after flirting with giant consulting = firms in=20 New York and Los Angeles. "When the job offers came, there = was no=20 reason for me to leave," said Meyn, now director of = administration=20 and finance for the 17-employee company. "I made my own job = here:=20 finance, human resources, grant management. At a large = company, they=20 can downsize indiscriminately. Here, I can't be = replaced=97they'd need=20 three people to do my job."

This=20 article originally appeared in the February 2002 issue of = MBA=20 Jungle.





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