Top MBA without "typical" work experience???

<p>Bedhead - Your comments make a LOT of sense and are helpful in realigning my perspective. Comments like yours are the reason I asked the questions I did on this forum in the first place. Any specific suggestions about how to go big? One of the things that is most intimidating to me is not work itself, but finding a beginning in it that can lead to a challenging and prosperous venture. I guess the hypothetical example I would give is that if every restaurant in America required that you had at least some experience working at a restaurant in order to be hired, how do you ever get that needed experience? Now don’t worry - I am not considering working for Mickey D’s here. I am just looking for any pointers about how to get started. I have have a father who is a brilliant chemical engineer. He got a patent for his company on a chemical process that literally increased profits by millions. He didn’t even get a raise. He is currently close to retirement, working for 30K less a year than he should be paid by industry standards. I don’t want to be in that situation. It seems to me that the start is what determines the finish. Again, I appreciate your insights and am really just thinking a million thoughts a minute about how I can go big.</p>