MBA business

I've been thinking a bit about MBAs recently. Mostly, whether or not I should get one.

There are a lot of different opinions out there about it and I'm still sitting on the fence. From what I've heard it's totally necessary if you want to 1. Change what you're doing as a career or 2. Be an investment banker. For everyone else out there, I'm not really sure. I know that I don't see myself in product management forever, I love doing it but eventually I'll be running the show. If I choose to stay in startups, it's totally feasible to do this without an MBA. It's actually really unnecessary, as most of the time in startups, you're getting an incredible experience that most of your peers in large companies aren't getting and typically can shave years off your career. Do I want to stay in startups forever? I'm not sure yet. No doubt that I love the environment and the experience, but when it's the only thing I've ever known, part of me gets curious about what the other side is like.

The other part of it is that if I'm going to do an MBA, the only way I'm going to do it is full time and by going to a top school. And to be quite honest, the thought of bailing on the working world, going back to school full-time and piling on a mountain of debt is not the most appealing idea.

Am I limiting myself and what I could potentially do by not getting an MBA? I'm not sure I know the answer to this yet.