Welcome to F1GMAT’s #askAtulJose series. I am Atul Jose. In today’s episode, I have 4 tips for Entrepreneurs planning to target M7 MBA programs.

1)  The Milestone

Harvard, Stanford, and MIT have three different criteria for evaluating your entrepreneurial journey. Stanford tends to be the most stringent in decoding your milestones, as GSB is known for nurturing entrepreneurs of different sizes and outcomes. You can’t use a narrative that you started a venture without evidence of any scaling or funding or the reach of your product or service. Startups as a side gig is a complete NO for M7 schools. Revenue won’t be the biggest criterion if your story is that your startup didn’t work out, and now you are pursuing an MBA to transition to a traditional role or to gain the skills and network to start again.

2) Evidence

I have worked with clients who had transitioned from the venture they started to other startups. But schools are likely to search your startup’s presence. So it is very important that you keep your website alive even if it is not active. It is important that your social media handles are also searchable, especially Twitter handles, as it tends to be integrated with the search. If you had a news release, it definitely would help the admission team validate your story.

3) Lessons

If you have spent more than a year in your startup, you need good narratives about the lessons learned from your failure, narratives about markets, customer service, product development, and funding. The skill gap should be clearly highlighted in the Why MBA narrative.

If you are using any startup experience in the What Matters Stanford Essay or the What more would you like to Share Harvard Essay, make sure that you don’t attribute any misjudgment as the reason for the lack of scaling or failure of your startup.

4) Ecosystem over Networking

Networking is the most overused narrative in MBA application essays. Although it is an important USP for entrepreneurs, you must research and get details about the ecosystem beyond what you see on the MBA page or even our Winning MBA Essay Guide. Connect with other entrepreneurial candidates or Alumni and learn how the school is creating value for them. Customize the USPs to your profile and use them strategically in your application questions or essays.

If you need help applying to M7 schools, reach out to me

I am Atul Jose. See you in the next #askAtulJose series.