Why did I start FourWeekMBA?

I’m Gennaro Cuofano, creator of FourWeekMBA. Let me give you a quick intro on why I started this blog!

I always loved the business world. I liked the freedom you could gain as an entrepreneur if you managed to build a self-sustaining business. That freedom would be available not only to you but also to your family and the people employed in your business. Thus, while I was as a teenager, I set myself to become an entrepreneur. 

Fast forward 2015, I had finished my MBA program in 2012 and worked as a financial analyst in the sunny San Diego. However, I wanted to be on my own. So I quit my job and started the FourWeekMBA. 

Has the business world changed?

Today though the business world changes quickly; the digital world has changed how entrepreneurship works and understanding those dynamics it has become critical. That is why I’ve built up this blog. I want to make this platform the go-to place when for digital entrepreneurship and a whole new concept of business education! 

When I first started in digital marketing, I came from a completely different background. Graduated as a Lawyer, after an International MBA I worked as a Financial Analyst for a real estate investment firm. That experience taught me to look at hard numbers and dissect balance sheets of any company to understand the business logic behind them. When you understand how money moves, you can also make sense of the strategic thinking behind any company.

When I approached digital marketing, I was looking for ways to break free from the usual 9-5 work and be on my own. The issue was that all the things that were most visible on the web ended up being the least useful. I shortly learned that visibility doesn’t mean relevancy. However, I wanted to put out there practical resources anyone could use to grow their business or at least to have a better understanding of the business world. 

Then I joined a tech startup. There I helped the company since the end of 2016 to develop its business operations. One thing that was clear to me since the first day was that a solid distribution strategy is critical for any company success. From there I set to learn anything I could about business modeling, business strategy, distribution strategies, and growth marketing. 

Enough about me! Let’s see what is happening with the business education, instead. 

What’s going on with business education?

An MBA can still be a valuable program for people that want to progress their business career. And for aspiring entrepreneurs. However, there are some fundamental aspects of MBA programs that make them too risky for today’s standards.

As the business world changes at a faster and faster pace, the opportunity cost associated with enrolling in an MBA program has become too high for many people to bear.

That is also why there seems to be a sharp decline in interests for this program:

By looking at the data related to MBA enrollments, it seems that in 2018, most top business schools experienced a sharp decline:

What’s happening?

A good chunk of this sharp decline seems to be related to a drop in international applications.

However, this is only part of the story – I argue. Indeed, today MBA programs have become too risky for a few reasons:

• Length: being out of the job market for over two years has become a time range no longer acceptable in today’s fast-moving job market
• Cost: fewer and fewer people can afford dozens of thousands of dollars to enroll in an MBA program
• Outdated business education: as the business world moves faster, business schools might fall behind and teach things that have become pretty much worthless in the real business world

Does the MBA need a new business model? 

On this blog, I cover business models. And I focus much of my attention on those models that are changing the game. To be sure this isn’t much about disruption. What we accept and give for granted, is a modern model of business and education. However, that model has its basis on the world which got shaped in the last decades.

Many contemporary business models that have reshaped the business world, and rewritten the rules, seem to be going back to a previous era. Where centralized and closed models won in the last decades. New technologies finally allow the decentralization, disintermediation, and delocalization of companies, processes, and teams. 

Thus, on FourWeekMBA you will be able to learn anything related to business growth, distribution, business modeling, and digital entrepreneurship.  

One of the most significant lessons learned when studying tech companies is how distribution and the ability to design a sustainable business model are among the most critical aspects. The more a company is based on a tech product or service, the more the founders will be technical people (engineers or programmers). While this is great and it allows to build an incredible product. That can also lead to oversight of proper sales and distribution strategies that will enable the business to take off and become sustainable, quickly! 

As Head of Business Development, I also focused my efforts on finding the right strategies, distributions, sales processes to speed up the growth of digital businessed. It is critical never to lose focus on product and customers’ needs. From the encounter of a great product built on top of customers’ needs, distributed through the right channels, I believe any company can achieve success, quickly and sustainably. 

What can you learn here?

1. Assess the proper distribution strategy 
2. Design a business model
3. Design effective revenue generation strategies 
4. Find a product/market fit 
5. Build up sales processes
6. Assess distribution strategies 
7. Sales, distribution and digital marketing strategy 
8. Business development
9. Growth marketing 
10. Content strategy 
11. Business strategy
12. And much, much more!

I’ll be opening up the FourWeekMBA Online Program in the coming months. If you want to be in the waitlist to receive updates on the course production, launch and discounts when it gets out, subscribe below!