The Disruptors: The Token MBA, Born Of A Disappointing B-School Experience

CRYPTOCURRENCY IN BUSINESS SCHOOLS

For Chen, his excitement for cryptocurrency, blockchain and NFTs lie in the opportunity to create a new way to organize financial and human capital towards a common purpose.

Today, our major technology for social coordination is equity stocks and shares in companies. However, these are closed systems; only those who work or invest in those companies benefit. Chen says that while this cryptocurrency world is still in its early stages, it makes you think twice about traditional investments. “The value you accrue as an investor looks different in a decentralized world versus in the past.”

“We’ll probably find that cryptocurrency works better in some areas and worse in others,” he adds. “But we shouldn’t assume that our existing mechanisms for social coordination can’t be improved upon.”

Chen’s class was told that they were being delivered one hundred percent of the value that they were promised. However, that was a difficult argument to make. “LBS spent a lot of time reassuring students that the value of the MBA was still going to be delivered without actually acting that way,” he says. “The value of business school is the network. But that shouldn’t let the schools off the hook of their obligations to deliver past the admissions process.”

Chen believes that not only does blockchain have the potential to decentralize who’s benefiting in business, it also has the potential to decentralize who’s benefiting from the value of business schools’ network. “What’s really appealing about blockchain is that value can accrue to a wider set of people, and a wider set of participants that create the value,” he says.

BUILDING A CRYPTOCURRENCY COMMUNITY

Besides helping people to purchase their first NFT and learn about blockchain, Chen hopes that The Token MBA helps to build community amongst those who are interested in cryptocurrency. “The community I’d like to build is with people who are interested in the concept of decentralization and learning more about NFT social tokens. I believe that these concepts will, at some point, be applied to existing industries, like educational communities,” he says.

Chen says that the community who will be interested in The Token MBA will vaguely understand the notion of an entirely new asset class that’s going to become more valuable. He wants The Token MBA community to have conversations around how to create smart contracts, make an NFT, and apply the knowledge to industries that need to change. “I want a community to discuss and debate this stuff with. Hopefully The Token MBA is a way for me to find those other like minded people,” he explains.

His plan is to create a part of the website that requires users to have an NFT to unlock it. This part of the site will offer bonus content and give members access to events. He hopes to create more gated experiences that are exclusive to the tech MBA community using an NFT as a membership card. “It’s a far more efficient membership card because it’s purely digital. You can easily access it because it’s on a public blockchain so anyone can see which wallets hold a Token MBA NFT,” he explains.

ADVICE TO THOSE THINKING ABOUT GETTING THEIR MBA

While Chen was unimpressed with his MBA experience, he believes that the program provides value for prospective students who don’t have precious education in business. However, he still advises that prospective students from all educational backgrounds think deeply about the goals they want to achieve before committing to an MBA program. “There are so many nuances around the business school community. Whether you are self-funded, have a scholarship, or your company is paying for it will change the calculation,” he says.

Chen recommends that if students do decide to go the MBA route, that they make sure to explore topics that aren’t discussed in business school. “Don’t assume that it’s a one stop shop for everything that’s going to matter in the future of business,” he cautions.

He also stresses the importance of staying up-to-date with new information and intellectual communities. “The best piece of advice I received during my MBA was from a classmate,” he adds. “He told me that the newest ideas and the most intellectually vibrant environment is on Twitter. I found this to be true.”

VISION FOR THE FUTURE

While it was harder to meet people during an online MBA, Chen was still able to build a few valuable connections — one of which landed him a full time role with an LBS alum as head of strategy and partnerships at an AI startup in London.

On the side of his nine to five, Chen’s committed to building The Token MBA with a friend who’s helping him to develop the software. “This is my experiment. I don’t know where it’s going to lead, but this is the first step to gathering a few people around me to talk and learn about the same thing.”

One thing’s for sure, though: Chen believes that the decentralization of business school’s power through NFTs, blockchain, and cryptocurrency will benefit everyone involved. “Everyone is still trying to wrap their heads around what this means for how we understand scarcity and value in an increasingly digital world,” he says. “If we look back at history though, the birth of private property rights in our physical world goes back to the Enlightenment and led to a fundamental reorganisation of communities and industry.

“It sounds hyperbolic, I know. But I can only imagine that early evangelists for computers and the internet were probably labelled as hyperbolic too,” he says.

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