I stopped teaching in MBA and other post grad programs for precisely the attitude displayed by the original poster: I prefer dealing with entrepreneurs rather than careerists looking to climb the corporate food chain as employees.

There are two distinctly different type of people in the world of business:

1. People who are conditioned, by their upbringing, education, cultural and social backgrounds and work/life experience to be three things…

EMPLOYEES who are rewarded for ACTIVITY (not results) and know how to WORK hard (but not smart — although some mistake ‘cunning’ for ‘clever’).

CONSUMERS who know how to BUY and how to SHARE news of good deals.

IMITATORS who play the “safety-in-numbers” game and do what everyone else does because it’s less risky.

2. People who are naturally these three things:

ENTREPRENEURS who know how to be go-betweens who bring buyers and sellers together at the same time and place, and who know how to take carefully-calculated risks — and understand that there are NO rewards for activity, only for RESULTS.

MARKETERS who understand that people have constant needs and find solutions to satisfy those needs — and also understand that, no matter how much people NEED what you offer, until they WANT them, they won’t BUY them.

INNOVATORS who understand WHY cause-and-effect relationships work and learn to control the processes in order to control the RESULTS. (The imitators see the EFFECTS and think they’re the causes. *D’oh!*)

In other words, most of the MBAs I taught were the first group pretending to be the second group in order to further their careers in BIG business… where EVERYONE, form the Board level down, is an EMPLOYEE!

So fear of loss is the main driver for them — not the desire to sever all connection between their mediums of exchange… TIME and MONEY.

And that’s the #1 valid reason for becoming an entrepreneur in the first place, because it’s the ONLY reason that can’t be fulfilled in the right JOB.

John Counsel
CEO, The Profit Clinic

I have enjoyed reading all the responses. They have inspired me to add my 2 cents worth:

Why is it that many people holding a couple of business related degrees seem to believe this will ensure their success in business?

Knowing the theory of doing business is all very well but there’s no substitute for experience (good and bad). How does that old saying go? “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach!”

Many of the most successful people in business today do not hold degrees of any kind and yet head-up some of the most successful businesses in the world.

For what it’s worth, I have made and lost a small fortune twice in my lifetime (I’m a “young” 60 year old) and I only just managed to graduate from school!

Today, I make a comfortable living as an entrepreneur, life coach and public speaker.

P.S. At the age of 39, as a part-time “mature” student I earned a BS in computer science. Then, just before I turned 45, again as a part-time “mature” student I earned an MBA. Neither of these has made me any better a businessman than I was before I earned them, but they do look impressive on my resume!

P.P.S. Having purchased (and read!) your great book, I’m ready to get started and I’m looking forward to becoming a successful affiliate – probably creating and or selling degree level courses in commonsense business practice.

Keep up the good work

Thanks SO very much for the lovely compliment. Just happy to be able to help.

You – and all the other affiliate marketers out there – who work their way to success should be very, very proud of yourselves!

Keep up the great work!

Cheers,
Ros

Here’s another answer to K’s question…

why would someone buy an airline ticket from my unknown travel site when everyone knows about Expedia.com or Travelocity.com?

e-retailers spend millions on branding and advertising and affiliates benefit from that. The customer will already trust the company and be more likely to buy after reading the affiliate’s recommendation, rather than if the affiliate was promoting a no-name brand.

Affiliates also provide the retailers more market coverage, just like McDonald’s and Starbucks are on every corner, e-retailers can be on more ‘corners’ by partnering with good affiliates. It’s a win-win.

Ivory tower mentality never built a successful business. Entrepreneurship did. And will continue to.

Can Anyone help me work it out?

Joe

This should be an answer tohis questions.