The MBA Is Dying, And Nobody Wants to Admit It

Name: The MBA Is Dying, And Nobody Wants to Admit It | Notebook of a COO Podcast
Uploaded: 2026-02-20
Duration: 9 min 20 s
Description: The MBA Is Dying, And Nobody Wants to Admit It: a Notebook of a COO podcast episode for small business operators. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Amazon Music, iHeart, and Pocket Casts.

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In this episode

Why the MBA No Longer Fits Business Owners

The complaints about MBA programs, over-reliance on mathematical theory, cookie-cutter thinking and weak preparation for entrepreneurship, are not new. They appeared in a New York Times article in January 1981, almost 50 years ago, and they are identical today. For most people running small businesses, service businesses, trades and e-commerce, the degree was never designed for them in the first place.

Three market shifts follow: the resurgence of the trades, the ownership opportunity opening up as owners retire, and what learning business by actually doing it looks like.

Key takeaways

The January 1981 New York Times article listed the same complaints heard today: over-reliance on mathematical theory, unrealistic expectations, cookie-cutter thinking and insufficient training for entrepreneurship and small business.
The industries MBAs were built to feed, finance, consulting and big tech, are being gutted by AI-driven cost cutting, while MBA, law school and grad school applications are rising by double digits.
The core mismatch is timing: two years and potentially $200,000 to emerge with skills employers found attractive in 2017. AI moves at warp speed and curriculum development moves at DMV speed.
56% of Gen Z believe blue-collar jobs offer more job security than white-collar jobs, one in three say white-collar work is less stable than it was for their parents, and the number of 20 to 24 year olds entering trades has doubled among electricians and HVAC mechanics over the last decade.
Japan is the warning signal. In 2021, 44,000 businesses were abandoned there and more than half were still profitable, because there was nobody to take them over. By 2030 the Japanese government estimates 630,000 profitable businesses will close, costing $165 billion and 6.5 million jobs, close to 10% of their workforce.
The distinction that matters: you do not need to be the electrician, you need to know how to run the electrical business. The classroom teaches frameworks, the market teaches judgment, and theory without scar tissue is just storytelling.

Questions this episode answers

Is an MBA still worth it?

It depends entirely on the goal. For someone who wants the network and the credential to enter consulting, finance or big tech, it can still serve a purpose, though those industries are contracting under AI-driven cost cutting. For someone building or running a small business, the debt and the two years away rarely pay for themselves.

What should I do instead of getting an MBA if I want to run a business?

Get into the market and build judgment through repetition. Find a mentor or a structure that bridges education and execution, and work on cash flow, operations, systems, marketing and leadership inside a real business with real consequences. Frameworks can be learned quickly, but judgment only comes from doing the work.

Are the trades a better bet than a business degree right now?

A lot of the data points that way. 56% of Gen Z now consider blue-collar work more secure than white-collar work, entries into the electrical and HVAC trades among 20 to 24 year olds have doubled in a decade, and three out of four home service jobs are must-haves rather than nice-to-haves. Aging homeowners and aging housing stock give that demand decades of runway.

Why are profitable small businesses closing down?

Succession, not performance. In Japan 44,000 businesses were abandoned in 2021 and more than half were still profitable, closed simply because no one was there to take them over. The same pressure is building elsewhere as owners retire, which makes buying and operating an existing business an unusually open path.