A few months ago I took part in some conversations with the steering committee of the Entertainment, Media, and Technology (EMT) group at NYU Stern. The purpose was to make sure that the EMT specialization prepares students to work in the space where media and technology continue to converge. We discussed the ideal level of understanding of technology that an MBA student should have. It was acknowledged by the group that people on the business side never understand technology as much as they should, and that this disconnect often lead to a competitive disadvantage in many companies. Questions were raised about teaching MBAs the technical details about platforms and how content is distributed. When it was inevitably asked - "Should we teach them how to code?" I started to think about it in the context of my own education. I got my undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at Tufts University, and became a software engineer immediately after graduation. Having that kind of a technical education and learning how to approach technical problem solving at that early stage of my life was something that helped me immeasurably in my career. I started my MBA at Stern 12 years later. I found the program to be tough, but mostly because of the high caliber of students and professors. The concepts themselves seemed very basic. Once you've had to use Fourier transforms to solve signal processing problems, wrapping your head around Porter's Five Forces isn't very daunting. Getting the technical education first, and at an age where I was able to absorb all of that information was key.

When it comes down to it, a really smart engineer can learn business concepts much more quickly than a smart MBA can learn technology. That being said, I agree with the steering committee when they quickly came to the conclusion that teaching someone "how to code" is its own specialized master's program and not something you can tack on to the MBA curriculum. There's a lot of value to a good MBA program, but if you are looking to be an innovator or an entrepreneur in the media business, I recommend learning how to code over getting an MBA. It's tech-driven companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Netflix that are disrupting the media industry. And it's people who code who are leading the charge and changing the landscape of this industry.