The Entrepreneur Association at UCLA Anderson

Posted By SWatts on Dec 19, 2013 |


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The Entrepreneur Association at UCLA Anderson

The Entrepreneur Association (EA) is the largest student-run affiliation at UCLA Anderson School of Management. Each year, EA sponsors well over one hundred events, including conferences, workshops, networking affairs, and social gatherings centered on bringing together MBA students with shared entrepreneurial spirit in the 600-member club. The two most well-known annual events are the Entrepreneurs Conference and the Knapp Venture Competition. Each year, EA works closely with the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies to draw together over 500 dedicated thinkers, creators, students and faculty in an effort to better understand the evolution of the entrepreneur, from creation of concept to realization.

Since 1986, the Entrepreneurs Conference has focused on advancing innovation and giving Anderson students the unique opportunity to collaborate and network with top entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators. In 2012, panel discussions included hot topics such as addressing entrepreneurship in digital media, e-commerce, restaurants, clean tech, health care, and real estate to reflect the theme for the day, “Vision in Action”. Segments of the day-long conference also included interactive case studies, inspirational speakers, and a chance for students to participate in “Fast Pitch”, a competition for growing entrepreneurs to pitch their business model to a panel of judges within ninety seconds for the opportunity to win a $2,500 prize for the best idea, based on quality and promise of appeal to investors.

The second annual event run by EA, the Knapp Venture Competition, readies students to begin the process of creating their own enterprise. Based on the concept that nearly all students will, at some point in their careers, either work in, evaluate, help fund, or invest in an entrepreneurial enterprise, the Knapp Venture Competition educates Anderson students on the complex and in-depth process that goes into evaluating such a venture. The competition sparks competition throughout the Anderson School of Management, awarding winners prizes between $2,500 and $15,000 based on the quality and foundation of the proposed venture.

In addition to the Entrepreneurs Conference and Knapp Venture Competition, EA provides students with a strong base of knowledge, resources, and networking tools to successfully create start-ups and kindle the entrepreneurial mind. A wide array of start-up companies have been founded by former Anderson students and EA members, including Stamps.com, Blue Lake Children’s Publishing, Dot Wireless, Illumina, among many others. Because the organization is entirely student-run, events are built to reflect changing student interests and cater to the evolving nature of business and entrepreneurship as it occurs.