Do you need an MBA to be a Product Manager?

Is it worth the time and financial investment?

I’ve seen many people suggest that an MBA is a key attribute for any serious product person to hold, and you can read stories of how an MBA will set you up to lead a product to success.

However, MBAs are expensive and really time consuming, which means you really need to commit to it if that’s something you want to pursue.

The question here though is whether you NEED to have an MBA to be a successful product manager?

What is an MBA?

MBA stands for Master of Business Administration and is a postgraduate qualification that seeks to provides those who undertake it a grounding in business practices; from HR to Finance.

Most people who undertake an MBA do so after having gained a number of years work experience, as this experience can be used to inform the students course work.

There are different types of MBA courses, depending on what you want to achieve, but they generally fall into the following categories:

• General MBA (MBA) — a standard MBA for those with a few years business experience who want to get a management opportunity with a larger organization.
• Executive (EMBA) — studied…