November 2023 – Stern Tech Blog

Elizabeth is a current Tech MBA student, specializing in Business Analytics, Tech Product Management, and Strategy. Prior to Stern, she worked at Methods+Mastery as a Business Intelligence Analyst supporting full-scale social intelligence and analytics work streams for Google and YouTube. Post-MBA, she plans to pursue a business analytics or strategy role in the tech industry. At Stern, she is a part of several clubs, including the Graduate Marketing Association (GMA), Stern Management & Strategy Club (SMS), Stern Women in Business (SWIB), and Stern Technology Association (STA). Additionally, Elizabeth is a part of the 2023-2024 Makhoul Family Leadership Fellows Program. In her free time, Elizabeth enjoys playing volleyball, collecting rare plants, and spending time with her dog Shelby.

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Venturing into the tech world can seem like an arduous journey, especially if you come from a non-tech background like me. When I first enrolled in the NYU Stern Andre Koo Tech MBA program, I was thrilled and apprehensive. My resume spelled out my strengths in customer experience, analytics, and market research. I have worked with tech clients, but diving deep into tech? That was a different ballgame.

Initial Hesitation

My initial concerns revolved around whether I’d be able to grasp the intricacies of the engineering side of the tech industry and its ever-evolving landscape. The jargon, the coding, and the business models all seemed very distant from my past experiences. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my career, it’s that challenges are opportunities in disguise.

Embracing the Learning Curve

The start was, unsurprisingly, a steep learning curve. Terms like distributed cloud, blockchain, and quantum computing were often thrown around. Long hours were dedicated to online tutorials, intensive reading, and numerous consultations with professors and classmates. Every project became an opportunity, a stepping stone to assimilate and learn more.

One key realization for me was that my non-tech background was not a disadvantage but a unique lens through which I could approach problems. My analytical skills, honed from diving deep into consumer insights or strategizing market research for leading brands, allowed me to approach tech challenges with a distinct perspective.

Leveraging My Unique Perspective

In group discussions and projects, I found that my questions – often rooted in the “why” rather than the “how” – brought new dimensions to the table. It was a reminder that tech, at its core, is about solving human-centric problems. And as the classes unfolded, the parallels between my analytical background and the technical intricacies became evident. Coding, much like marketing analytics, became a methodical dance of logic and creativity. Each algorithm, every line of code, mirrored the systematic approach I’d honed over the years, albeit in a different language.

The real victory, however, wasn’t just about grasping these technical skills but realizing that my background wasn’t a limitation; it was a strength. The skills I had developed over the years were adaptable, relevant, and crucial to my success in this new environment.

Building a Supportive Network

The NYU community was invaluable in my journey. From professors who went the extra mile to explain complex topics to peers who shared their tech expertise, I was surrounded by a supportive network. Study groups became collaborative learning experiences, and late-night discussions often led to eureka moments.

Key Takeaways

Joining the NYU Stern Andre Koo Tech MBA with a non-tech background is not just about acquiring technical knowledge but also about integrating diverse skills to bring fresh perspectives to the tech industry.

For anyone considering a tech MBA with a non-tech background, here’s my advice:

Embrace the Learning Curve: Every challenge is an opportunity to grow.
Leverage Your Unique Perspective: Your non-tech background can offer invaluable insights.
Build a Supportive Network: Surround yourself with those who can complement your skills.

In hindsight, my non-tech background was not a hindrance but a strength. It has equipped me with a holistic understanding of tech, blending the technical with the human, and uniquely positioned me in the tech world.

Scott is a current Tech MBA student from South Brunswick, NJ. Prior to Stern, Scott worked in technology risk consulting at KPMG. Outside of school, Scott enjoys basketball, golf, cooking, and technology.

The Summer Semester of the Tech MBA program is both a rewarding, and a challenging experience. The semester kicks off with orientation in mid-May, where you have the opportunity to meet your Tech Cohort and familiarize yourself with Stern’s facilities and staff. After a couple days of orientation, you dive right into classes taking 19.5 credits from mid-May to late August. Throughout the Summer you are basically in class Monday-Friday from 9am-5pm – it is truly a full-time job. Here is a week in the life of a Tech MBA student…

Monday –

Like most days in the summer semester, class starts at 9am. My day kicks off with our Leadership class taught by Professor Nate Pettit. This was one of my favorite courses this summer, and from 9am-12pm you explore topics in leadership, communication, authenticity, and experiential learning. Professor Pettit is an incredible lecturer, and a wonderful storyteller. His lectures are top-notch. During lecture class discussion was extremely lively and students often chimed in with stories of leadership (both good and bad) from their career experience. I always find it interesting to hear about my classmate’s pre-Stern careers. After lecture we usually end each class with an ‘experiential’ learning experience. In this class we often learn by doing, simulating various leadership experiences with our classmates. Through improvisation and fun games, we were able to explore leadership topics in real-time and put our lecture material to practice.

After class you have an hour and a half break to take lunch, go to the gym, do homework, hang out with friends at the park – the time is truly yours. On this day I brought lunch from home and ate it with friends from the Tech-MBA program at Stern. We used the time to catch up on our weekends, eat lunch, and do some studying before afternoon classes.

After lunch we packed up our things and headed to Economics, taught by Professor Joe Foudy. Professor Foudy is another great professor, who makes class fun with lots of one liners and clever economics related jokes. Economics, like many courses, began as a general intro to economics and overtime became more technical and complex. Real world examples such as the dollar pizza market in NYC illustrate topics such as price elasticity, and supply & demand to life.

After Econ I stayed at Stern for a couple of hours to wrap up some homework and catch up on readings assigned for the week. Then I headed home, walking through Washington Square Park to the 9th Street PATH Station where I caught the PATH train back home to Hoboken, New Jersey.

Tuesday –

I hopped on the train and made my way to the West Village for 9am class. One of the best parts of my day is walking through Washington Square Park on my way to school.

The famous Washington Square Park Arch

On this Tuesday, the Tech MBA Students had a full day session (9am-12pm – Lunch – 1:30-4:30pm) of Databases for Business Analytics with Professor Panos Iperiotis. This class is focused on developing the SQL and database skills necessary for a career in technology, specifically geared towards potential use cases in Tech Product Management. As someone with some SQL experience from undergrad and my time at KPMG, this course was a great refresher for me. Starting with basic SELECT queries, by the end of the semester you are writing complex SQL queries to build meaningful data sets.

After the morning session I went to the NYU Student Gym which is a couple of blocks from Stern and got a workout in before grabbing a quick bite to eat and heading back to class for the afternoon session. After 3 hours of SQL coding and database discussion it was good to head to the gym to clear my head. In the summer it feels like you have the gym all to yourself because the rest of the students are on summer vacation.

Wednesday –

On Wednesdays we have our NYC Tech Immersion class which is our Summer Experiential Learning Experience. The course is designed to give Tech MBA students exposure to the unique and vibrant technology ecosystem in NYC. This course is built around a semester-long project in which you are paired with a group of Tech MBA students to help real world clients identify a business problem, and propose a solution and go-to-market strategy to solve the problem you’ve identified. My group was assigned to Salesforce, and we worked with them to explore potential Generative AI solutions to improve their current product offerings. This was an awesome experience, and one of the highlights of the summer.

When we weren’t working on our class projects Tech Immersion was filled with Guest Speakers, many of whom are alums who now work in Tech in NYC. We also had the chance to visit companies and get facetime with employees at companies such as Google, Uber, and Goldman Sachs. This Wednesday we visited Google’s NYC HQ in Chelsea and had the unique opportunity to meet with members of the Google Product Design Team. The Google Design team had a presentation prepared for us where we learned about the world of Design, and Product Storytelling at Google. Getting exposure to NYC’s vibrant Tech scene is one of the best parts of the Tech MBA experience!

After class on Wednesday night, I saw a concert (Noah Kahan – one of my favorite artists) at Radio City Music Hall! There is so much to do in NYC.

Visiting Google HQ

Attending Noah Kahan’s concert at radio city music hall

Thursday –

On Thursday we had another full day of class: Leadership in the morning and Economics in the afternoon. I got to Stern early on Thursday to work on my Econ homework that was due later that afternoon. The summer semester is a rigorous academic experience and I found it best to carve out specific time in my calendar before / after class to work on homework assignments and group projects. After class we had an IGNITE activity led by the Careers Team. In this session we worked in groups and practiced our elevator pitches and behavioral mock interview questions. There are many sessions like this throughout the summer semester, and they are extremely valuable. Tech MBAs and Fashion & Luxury MBAs have the full attention of the Careers Team in the summer, which is such a perk! The Careers Team holds office hours where you can focus on your career path after the MBA, resume review, mock interviews etc. After the session, a couple of my classmates and I headed over to a bar near school to grab a couple of drinks for Happy Hour and hang out before heading home. My favorite spots near Stern to do Happy Hour are Half Pint and Swift Hibernian Lounge, both a couple of blocks from school.

Friday –

On Friday my day started out with taking the PATH to 9th Street from Hoboken. From here it is about a 10 minute walk from school and I stopped at a local bagel store for an iced coffee and a bagel for breakfast. We had a half day of class with our Databases for Business Analytics class from 9am-12pm. We spent the morning discussing database design and architecture, and writing SQL queries on a database of all restaurants in NYC to find out which restaurants in NYC had the best ratings per critic reviews. This class is hands-on and technical – it’s a great experience for students who don’t come from a very technical background. It is challenging, but also very fun when you can build the perfect query.

After class I went to play basketball at the NYU gym with some of my classmates. The NYU Recreation and Athletic facilities (Paulson Center, and Palladium) are accessible to all MBA students. The basketball courts in the athletic facility are really nice, and generally not crowded in the summer. Playing some hoops was a great way to end my week before heading home for the weekend.

Basketball court at the NYU Recreation and Athletic facilities

Month: November 2023

Navigating the Andre Koo Tech MBA with a Non-Tech Background