Dear MBA Leaders,

I have an MBA. I have worked for and started technology and medical startups. I have read a ton on entrepreneurship. MBA programs need an overhaul, especially given our recent economic meltdown.

Traditional MBA programs are best suited for corporate talent development with a few teaching "entrepreneurship." One can debate whether you can actually teach entrepreneurship or not, but I suggest that graduate level programs need to seriously rethink the model.

It is impossible to simulate or teach what it is like to be in the pressure cooker of serving customers, making payroll all the while keeping the business out of the ditch. You can sit right next to the person making these decisions, work with them and discuss the details of the decisions, but there is no way to actually get that experience until you DO IT. Intellectual knowledge helps, understanding cash flow, reading financial statements, building pricing models, writing good positioning documents, etc. But all of that is for not if you cannot handle the pressure of making it all work -- AND being the last person paid!

So, my recommendation for MBA programs is to keep one year of technical training, focused on the basics -- accounting, finance, marketing and strategy. The second year should be focused on running a real business, but with some skin in the game. Maybe a team of students could run a business and if they make a profit they could earn back their tuition, but if they didn't, then they had to pay for it. Make them sign on bank loan (real student loans) and make them make payroll. Deal with REAL finicky customers and all the unpredictability of having employees. Maybe this type of program exists, it has been a long time since I got my MBA. If my children want to go to business school, I am going to "loan" them the money and have them buy a franchise, run it for two years and then tell me what they have learned. There is no substitute for being on the hook. In like the hog!