When Krishna was first considering graduate school, she faced a familiar crossroads: pursue a traditional engineering path or follow a conventional business degree. Neither fully matched her ambitions.
She knew one thing with certainty: she wanted to build something of her own.
The Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) program offered a different path. Designed around venture creation and real-world experimentation, MBET gave Krishna the space to test ideas, make mistakes, and develop the interdisciplinary mindset that continues to shape her work today as a product manager and author.
Graduating in 2020 during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, Krishna left MBET with more than a credential. She left with a framework for navigating complexity, one she now applies daily in industry and shares with product leaders around the world.
A playground for learning by doing
Krishna describes MBET as a “playground”, a place where experimentation was encouraged and failure was part of the learning process.
During the program, she co-founded a startup called HomesScouts, a platform designed to help people explore housing options before relocating. The venture provided hands-on experience across product development, team dynamics, and early-stage business building.
MBET taught me to focus on problems, not solutions.
Equally important were the lessons learned from what didn’t work. From premature business equity decisions to prototype missteps and team challenges, MBET allowed her to confront real entrepreneurial problems in a low-risk environment.
Today, those experiences inform how she approaches product leadership. “MBET taught me to focus on problems, not solutions,” she explains, a principle that now anchors her product strategy and coaching work.
Building a product mindset through business foundations
Now leading software initiatives within an accounting software firm, Krishna draws directly on skills developed during MBET, often in unexpected ways.
Accounting courses help her evaluate ROI and budgeting decisions. Marketing and sales training enable stronger stakeholder communication. Venture coursework sharpened her ability to balance user needs with business outcomes. Product management, she says, is fundamentally business management.
MBET’s interdisciplinary structure gave her fluency across functions, the ability to speak the language of engineers, executives, finance teams, and customers alike. “You learn how to balance user needs and business needs,” she says. “That multi-stakeholder perspective is exactly what product managers do every day.”
Community that extends beyond graduation
The MBET experience was also defined by relationships that continue years later.
Faculty mentorship played a meaningful role during the challenges of the pandemic. Krishna recalls moments of personal support from professors who ensured students felt connected during isolation, including small gatherings organized for those unable to return home.
When team conflicts arose during her venture experience, faculty members stepped in to help mediate and guide students through real leadership challenges rather than shielding them from them.
Equally lasting are the peer relationships formed during the program. Many classmates remain collaborators, advisors, and friends, an ongoing professional network rooted in shared entrepreneurial experience.
Turning experience into impact
Today, Krishna extends MBET’s impact far beyond her own career.
As a product manager and coach, she helps startup founders and early-career product professionals navigate what she calls the “chaos” of building new products. Drawing from both MBET lessons and industry experience, she has developed practical frameworks designed to help teams focus on what matters most.
These ideas culminated in her recently published book, The 90-Day AI-Powered Product Manager: Survive Your First Startup Role Without Burning Out, which equips product managers with tools to create structure, clarity, and sustainable workflows.
The response has been deeply meaningful. Complete strangers regularly reach out to share how the book has helped them manage their roles more effectively, reinforcing her broader mission: creating “peaceful product managers” who build better products and healthier teams.
Her goal is ambitious: to help 10 million product managers work with greater clarity and balance.
“When you’re peaceful, you create better products,” she says. “Better products lead to better outcomes for people, and ultimately a better planet.”
Giving back to the MBET community
Despite a busy professional life, Krishna remains closely connected to MBET. She frequently speaks with students and alumni, sharing insights from her career and lessons from her book.
For her, giving back is a natural extension of the program’s collaborative culture. She encourages current students to fully embrace experimentation during their time in MBET:
- Talk to customers early and often.
- Make sales and test assumptions.
- Pitch ideas and learn from failure.
- Use the program as a safety net for learning.
Make all the mistakes you can while you’re in MBET. That’s what prepares you to succeed afterwards.
“Make all the mistakes you can while you’re in MBET,” she advises. “That’s what prepares you to succeed afterwards.”
She also keeps her door open to aspiring entrepreneurs and product managers seeking guidance, continuing the cycle of mentorship that shaped her own journey.
The MBET program's evolving impact
Since its launch in 2002, the Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology program has prepared graduates not only to start ventures, but also to lead innovation within organizations. Alumni like Krishna exemplify this evolution, applying entrepreneurial thinking to product leadership, organizational transformation, and emerging technology roles.
Beginning Fall 2026 (pending final Senate approval), MBET will introduce optional graduate specializations, including Product Management and Innovation, reflecting the growing demand for leaders who can translate ideas into impactful products.
Krishna’s career demonstrates what that future looks like: professionals who combine entrepreneurial thinking, business acumen, and user-centered design to create meaningful innovation.
Her advice to future students is simple:
“MBET is what you make of it. Lean into the experience, learn the language of business, focus on real problems, and build something that matters.”
Connect with Krishna
Krishna welcomes conversations with current students, founders, and product professionals interested in applying product frameworks or building with greater clarity and focus.
