You don’t need another reason to get excited about your MBA, but here’s one anyway: Business schools spawn some awesome ideas, and they aren’t limited to finance or IT.

Take two submissions to recent business plan competitions. About a week ago, the New York Times covered Tough Mudder, born as a semifinalist entry in Harvard Business School’s annual business plan competition.  Founder Will Dean believed he could convince 500 people to pay to run a grueling, muddy obstacle course. After graduation, he launched the business with just Facebook ads and a website for marketing. And so far, he’s pulled it off”the company just staged its first race with an impressive 4,500 participants.

And just this past Sunday, the Financial Times featured some Scottish participants in a short entrepreneurship program at MIT’s Sloan School of Business. It’s not a traditional MBA, but it is a testament the nifty ideas you can cook up in the environment of a b-school. Michael Laurenson, a mussel farmer, was a member of the team that won the competition. Their concept was neither a social media start-up nor a new medical product. Instead, it was a device for improving fish farms. When we were at MIT the thing they said to us was: ˜Do what you are good at’, he says. His native Shetland isn’t ideal for finance or IT start-ups, so he stuck with what he knew: Aquaculture.

These examples fit nicely with our recent post on alternative careers chosen by MBAs. B-school grads can take their degrees in any number of directions. So pursue what inspires you!