Once you get to business school, what can you expect from the experience'Well, if you don't want to wait to find out, we asked 22 graduates from top institutions such as Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Columbia Business School the best advice they got from their MBA programs.Some of the biggest lessons that came out of the classroom include getting good at saying no, believing in yourself enough to take risks, and seeking out and learning from diverse individuals.Click here for more BI Prime stories.After investing up to $200,000 and two full years in your business school education, what exactly will you have learned when you emerge at the other end of the experience'We asked 22 MBA graduates from some of the top institutions who have gone on to launch their own successful companies to share the best advice they received in business school. Here's some insight into what it means to be a successful founder or employee once you emerge from the classroom.SEE ALSO:BUSINESS SCHOOL PREP: The ultimate guides to getting into the top MBA programs in the USREAD MORE:10 grads from America's top MBA programs reveal the best advice they picked up from professors, classes, and mentors ' and how those lessons led to successful careers1. Ask your customers for their opinion before forming a product"The most important advice I received while studying entrepreneurship at Miami University was: 'Ask your customers.' I was taught that when you have an idea, a new product, or a unique solution, take it to the market. Let the people tell you if it's something they struggle with, if the product solves their problem, and if they'd be willing to buy it. You'll also be able to learn new features to add and some to get rid of. From there, you can confidently launch a product that you know they want." Megan Moran, wardrobe stylist and owner of The Style Foundry and graduate of Miami University's Farmer School of Business2. Don't prioritize salary in your first job"It is very unpopular to tell a new graduate that ... they need to not care about finding a job that pays a lot of money. Nevertheless, this is the best piece of advice I received at business school. Do not care about salary at your first job. The most effective way to get ahead is to learn about the industry at any cost, even if that means working for free or for very little money." David Reischer, attorney and CEO of LegalAdvice.com and graduate of City University of New York Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business3. Get good at saying no"Something I learned during my MBA was to be very good at saying no to things. It may sound counter-productive, but when you say no to something, you avoid spreading yourself too thin, and you're freeing up time to put your full attention towards something else. This 'something else' can be work-related or notmaking sure to set aside personal time and reconnecting with yourself has immense value!" D'vorah Graeser, CEO and founder of KISSPatent and graduate of the University of Missouri's Trulaske College of Business4. Take ownership of your failures"The best advice that I received from business school was to see yourself for who you are. For one class, my professor lined up several speakers whose business startups had all failed. Each speaker had reasons for why their businesses had not yet succeeded, and all pointed blame at outside circumstances that frankly had nothing to do with their business venture ... After class, I approached my professor to ask the reason for this strange lecture. He responded [that] he wanted us to see founders that did not succeed because they were unwilling to admit ownership to their business challenges, which prevented them from overcoming these challenges and eventually succeeding." Bryce Bowman, founder of People First Planning and graduate of Washington University's Olin Business School5. Join the conversation"Professor Linda Hill, my leadership professor at Harvard Business School, gave me the best advice: 'Nice to see you join the conversation. You earned your way here. Keep talking.' It was my third week at HBS. I was nervous, but at HBS if you don't talk, you don't pass. The same goes for starting a business; if you don't believe in yourself, if you don't talk, no one will buy your product, fund your business, or even give you advice. So, join the conversationand/or lead itto get to where you want to be." Renee Fry, CEO of Gentreo and graduate of Harvard Business SchoolRead more: Here's exactly what it takes to get accepted into Harvard Business School, according to 5 grads and the managing director of admissions6. Choose a cofounder whom you can grow with"In several of my classes, professors stressed the importance of a startup's team, especially the cofounders. We studied multiple cases, heard multiple cases, and witnessed several promising startups fail due to problems between the cofounders. Think of finding a cofounder as marriagethere are going to be significant ups and downs, growing pains, and more. In order to succeed, you both need to work on the relationship, learn to support and motivate one another, and always trust that you have each other's back." Theo Lee, cofounder of KPOP Foods and graduate of UC Los Angeles' Anderson School of Management7. Fix your problems rather than complain about them"The best advice I received in business school was from my roommate. We were talking about jobs with another student, and the guy was complaining about his job. My roommate's advice was: 'Quit complaining and find another job.' That always stuck with mewe're not powerless, we're not indentured servants, and nobody likes to hear others complain. Go fix it if you don't like it." Craig Walker, CEO and founder of Dialpad and graduate of Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business8. Build relationships with others; don't just network"One invaluable piece of advice that I picked up at business school was to build relationships; don't network. Building relationships with others results in more authentic and genuine relationships where each person is truly [in]vested in the other person's success, and there is more give and take. On the other hand, networking tends to be more superficial and can come across as self-serving. As a founder, this advice has been instrumental; by building sincere relationships with others, I have been able to grow my business and in turn, have been able to help others grow theirs." Shaifali Aggarwal, founder and CEO of Ivy Groupe and graduate of Harvard Business School9. Quit early when something's not working"Harvard Business School Professor Deepak Malhotra delivered this impactful message to my graduating class in 2012, and it's a mantra I continue to reference. Having the strength and courage to walk away from what's not workingwhether it's a job, project, or personal situationfrees up room for positive opportunities. It's a strong reminder that time is our most precious resource." Cynthia Samanian, founder and CEO of Hidden Rhythm and graduate of Harvard Business School10. Don't wait for perfection before moving forward"I learned this early on from one of my website building professors. She said, 'Don't make good enough the enemy of perfect.' There is absolutely no perfect when starting a business. Get to good enough, and then launch the business, idea, website, blog post, social media plans, product development, etc. Don't make perfect the enemy of good enough to launch." Abby Sparks, CEO and founder of Abby Sparks Jewelry and graduate of the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business11. Stay true to your principles"While getting my MBA at Harvard, I attended a lecture by Professor Clayton Christensen. He advised [us] to stay true to [our] principles 100% of the time because it's actually easier than staying true to your principles 99% of the time. For me, building a business has meant making a lot of hard decisions. There have been times at EverlyWell where we could have taken an easier or faster route at the expense of our principles. But we never did, and that pays dividends in the end." Julia Cheek, founder and CEO of EverlyWell and graduate of Harvard Business School12. Trust your gut"The best advice I got at Stanford GSB is to act on a dream. Everyone can have a dream, but only the ones who can execute can eventually win. To summarize, 'If not now, then when' If not you, then who''[I learned this from] Steve Blank and Jeff Epstein who taught the Lean Launchpad class.It taught me life cannot wait and sometimes we have to trust our gut feeling and take a chance on ourselves." Siqi Mou, cofounder and CEO of Hello Ava and graduate of Stanford Graduate School of BusinessRead more: Here's exactly what it takes to get accepted into Stanford Graduate School of Business, according to 6 grads and the assistant dean of admissions13. Test-drive your idea before investing in it"The best advice [I received in business school] was to test your idea concretely. You should test the idea in a small context even before writing a business plan or trying to raise capital or finding an incubator. After trying it, you'll see if it works and what things must be changed according to feedback and findings. This gives you an understanding of your product's utility for different stakeholders, but also a great way to understand how much capital you need and what you need it for specifically." Brian Pallas, founder and CEO of Opportunity Network and graduate of Columbia Business SchoolRead more: Here's exactly what it takes to get accepted into Columbia Business School, according to 3 alumni and the director of admissions14. Believe in yourself enough to take risks"MBA founders have over-analysis issues. [The best advice I received is that] you just need to believe in your ability to react to obstacles. Professor Borghese, who teaches Legal Aspects of Entrepreneurship at Wharton, is a proponent of entrepreneurship. He thinks MBA students should take more action and less time analyzing scenarios. Before we launched Mansa Tea, we had different scenarios of what this company could be. We thought Mansa could be a health tea company at one point. It was not until we talked to our customers and tested different ideas that we began to formulate a more concrete plan forward to work with Michelin-starred restaurants and five-star hotels. Had I been sitting in front of my computer running Excel models, we would not have gathered such insight. In reality, inaction causes more risk by avoiding the risk than accepting the risk. Rather than overestimating the probability and the impact of bad outcomes, we should assume that we will fight to the death to make sure the business succeeds or learn from mistakes." Ashley Lim, founder and CEO of Mansa Tea and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of BusinessRead more: Here's exactly what it takes to get into Wharton's MBA program, the No. 1 business school in the world15. "Manipulate" your organization to success"[The best advice I received was] in a leadership class. One of my professors commented that manipulation isn't bad, and a four-hour debate ensued. It's our job as leaders to manipulate our organizations to behave and perform in a way that is consistent and aligns with the corporate mission. The critical question is, are you manipulating your organization in an honest, ethical, and productive manner' Or, are you manipulating your organization in a way that is ultimately detrimental to its success and to society'" Bo Bothe, cofounder, president, and CEO of BrandExtract and graduate of Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business16. Practice "divergence and convergence" brainstorming"Some valuable advice I received in business school relates to brainstorming in a business setting. The common notion of brainstorminga group freely tossing out as many ideas as possible and seeing what sticksisn't nearly as effective or productive as letting individual group members first work alone to narrow down best ideas, then bringing those best ideas to the larger group. I've used this 'divergence and convergence' technique many times in my own business to great success." Ben Gold, founder and president of QuickBridge and graduate of California State University at Fullerton's Mihayo College of Business and Economics17. Be willing to make decisions without perfect information"My two years at Harvard Business School were instrumental to leadership development and decision-making. Using the case-study method, the MBA program develops the skill of quickly filtering relevant information, determining the most pressing issue to solve, and formulating (and defending) a position based on the relevant facts. [So the best advice was that] most of business leadership decisions need to be made without perfect information, and without a clear right or wrong answer. The most important takeaway for me from my time at Harvard Business School is the ability to make a decision and build a persuasive case through confident and articulate communication." Justin Joffe, founder and CEO of HENRY The Dentist and graduate of Harvard Business School18. Control your destiny"One of my professors told me a story about his first fishing trip with his father. He was thrilled to finally catch a fish, which flopped and shimmered in the well of their little boat. He told me how his father grabbed a dull gray metal pipe from his tackle box and brought it down on the head of the fish with a heavy, final thud. My professor said, 'When you get out of here, remember to be in control of your destinyand don't be that fish.' This story stuck with me as I exited business school, into an environment in which a PowerPoint deck was sufficient to raise a couple million dollars. I took a different path with Peach & Lily. I figured if we couldn't sustain ourselves organically, we might end up like that fish, beautiful, glistening, but gasping for air and waiting for the pipe. Seven years later, we have two of the fastest growing skincare brands in the industry ... and we are thriving on our own ecommerce platform and at major retailers ... But we still haven't taken on institutional funding, and we are still guided by our original discipline to control our own destiny." Alicia Yoon, founder and CEO of Peach and Lily and graduate of Harvard Business School19. Seek out and learn from diverse individuals"One important lesson, that I value to this day, is to not only expect a diverse world but learn to benefit from its diversity. At Flow, when we market to consumers around the world, we adopt a highly differentiated approach as they respond to very different cues, messages, and offers. Similarly, we have intentionally recruited for high diversity in our team at Flow, and reap the benefits with results generated by individuals who have different experiences, approaches, and perspectives." Rob Keve, cofounder and CEO of Flow and graduate of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of ManagementRead more: Here's what it takes to get accepted into the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern's MBA programs, according to 6 graduates, the senior director of full-time admissions, and a former admissions officer20. Tailor communications to various personality types and prune your business as needed"One of the most impactful learning experiences was in the first week at Stanford [where] we did a group business simulation exercise called 'Cardinal Cards.' Everything was physicalwe actually hand-cut greetings cards. Two top lessons stuck out years later ... First, business is made up of people, not just strategies, theories, and moving physical things. Effective communication for different personalities is crucial to creative collaboration amongst teams. People have their own perspectives, information, and motivation ... Moving people around and getting the right people in the right positions enables success and happiness. Second, an effective business requires focus and constant pruning, not just adding. In fact, more value often gets unlocked by removingbe it steps in a production process, or counterintuitive options for customers. Many people will resist this." Gavin Delany, founder and CEO of Stride Travel and graduate of Stanford Graduate School of Business21. Don't leave the room without more names"[My cofounder and I] had a professor advise us on our fundraising strategy and he said no matter who[m] you are meeting with, make sure you leave the room with the name of someone else to meet with. Not everyone will be an investor, but in the early stages it's especially important to network with a lot of people, because they could become not only investors but advisors, mentors, or even connections to employees one day!" Kirsten Saenz Tobey, cofounder and chief impact officer of Revolution Foods and graduate of UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business22. Just get stuff done"My most significant 'aha' moment was when [I was] doing the final culminating project of my MBA program. It was an eight-month-long strategy field study. We were a team of six or seven ... Our trategy field study business was a technology startup still looking for a break-through product. ... We spent countless hours in team meetings bouncing ideas, getting nowhere ... Then, one of the advisors asked us: 'Guys, what do you think the best strategy field study project is'' ... Then, the advisor told us: 'The best strategy field study project is a finished strategy field study project.' We stopped going in circles and got an A for the project a few weeks later. From that point on, I always strive to just get stuff done." Anna Belov, author and founder of 50doors and graduate of York University's Schulich School of Business
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