I know.. it's a bit late that I would only go through my A days experience now... I went to the first A days (March 11-12). Although most of the people I met at A days are nice and friendly, this includes the admits and the seniors, I must say I didn't really bond too much with these students. Partly because I was too busy trying to talk to every Entrepreneur students and professors in Anderson. During that period, I was still unsure about whether I should really go on with my MBA plan or go back to Indonesia for good. So, I went to talk to every one who's related to Entrepreneurship there and just asked for his/her opinion.
Now about the Entrepreneurship in UCLA : must say that Bruins are v proud of their entrepreneur programs. It's not the best in the nation.. ( number 10 according to USnews ranking for Entrepreneurship) but yeah it's not bad. Anyway, I (speaking as an international student who's looking to return to Asia upon graduation and start my own business a few yrs after my graduation) am kinda disappointed with the program. I think that the program is great for students who want to do business here in US, but won't help much for biz in Asia.
Why? I have a feeling that the Entpreneurship program (possibly in the whole US) is more geared towards helping wanna-be-entrepreneurs to get funding from Venture Capitals... Which is totally wonderful and sensible.. ( IF you're gonna stay n do ur biz in US )...
There's also the fact that I FEEL the Entrepreneurship program is more talk than do.. U are taught to PRESENT your business ideas to the VCs, work the data and show them why your biz idea is brilliant.. BUT that's not what entrepreneurs are all about.. Entrepreneurs are about doing... not selling ur idea to get funding.. OF COURSE there are SOME who will work on their biz idea after they get funding.. but seems like the students are more into PRESENTING their ideas to get good grades..
NOW HOW do I come to this conclusion : I went to one Business Plan Development class.. and well I believe about 30% of the students are going to work on their business ideas.. UCLA also has fellowships.... where if you want to work on ur biz idea during ur Summer, U can apply for this grand to make it happen.. Of course.. this is brilliant.. though i doubt many students will do that..
OKAY SO anyone who wants to do entrepreneurship in UCLA should not be discouraged because of my post. I think it's what you want to gain out of the program... I've definitely met with lots of determined entrepreneurs who are concurrently working on their business while doing their MBAs.. yes, their paths are not as straightforward as those who want to do Investment Banking or Consulting but UCLA still help you with their Knapp Competition (business plan) or fellowships program!
Yes that's my insight of the Entrepreneurship program here.. which may be useful if you have the same long term goal as I do..
Overall: the people are nice and friendly. Pretty dominated by Californian people : NorthCal, SouthCal. But meeting people from Chicago, NY, Washington is not uncommon. I skipped a lot of their A day program ( namely Dinner with a Dozen, early moning class ) just because I was too tired.. but def a good experience..
Before the A days, people meet up at the bar Q's on Wilshire and they do hiking/biking together so that's a good bonding time before the real A days come.. I regret I didn't go to the outdoor activities.. but remembering my dermatologist told me I should not sweat else acnes will be popping out.. I'd rather stay home. ( Hell, I sound bimbotic..)
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3 comments:
I agree that it's weird when people think about entrepreneurship they think about VC immediately. In my mind, if I start a business, I would want to continue working on it, instead of selling my ideas to someone else. Ppl are lured to the big trunk of money given to entrepreneurs overnight. But the true great thing about entrepreneurship is not the money, but the sense of accomplishment that you create something out of nothing.
I should point out I'm at a b-school other than Anderson, but after having just finished my first year, was reading your post and contemplating my decision not to attend UCLA last year.
But more importantly, in terms of entrepreneurship, you are right that hard work and accomplishment are very important; but all of that won't get you anywhere without funding. You may need more funding in the US than in Indonesia, but you still need to know how to write a business plan, pitch to investors, and secure cash- because otherwise all you have is a great idea sitting on a shelf somewhere.
Hey anonymous :) yup I agree with you and that was a moment of realization at Anderson days that fundings in US is really important.. whereas in Indonesia VCs are not very common yet and thus we depend on our friends/family/networks
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