[akchin]

I don’t understand the MBA hate here. The WhatsApp founders don’t have MBAs and sold their company to Facebook for 19 billion. They wanted to be that rich. Nothing to do with MBAs.

Also let us be clear. Engineers are no saints either. Case in point Anthony Levandowski of Otto. Orchestrating one of the shadiest acquisitions to make a quick buck.

Folks have pointed out below that the issue of growth is not necessarily an mba or maximizing shareholder thing. In some competitive environments if you don’t do it, you will die. That said one can always do what DHH did with 37 signals...that was a specific choice. Nothing to do with having an mba or not.

One has to look at things with nuance, not just be black and white.

[yalph]

Hold on what is being discussed here has nothing to do with how you sell your business or for how much. We are talking about how loyal customers are treated by business/business people.

Whatsapp was sold for that much because many other companies were willing to buy for similiar amounts.

[akchin]

The comment was about how WhatsApp was good with the model they had before facebook’s acquisition and how now the model to make money is because of mbas. That is what I am commenting on. It is as if MBAs are the reason Facebook is trying to monetize WhatsApp in a different way.