MBA Insider's Blog

Listen to the 2009 Knapp Venture Competition Semi-Finalist 60-second pitches

The Knapp Semi-Finals will be held tonight at UCLA Anderson. 25 teams will present their business in hopes of being one of the few to move to the final round of competition. Teams represent the entertainment technology, education, medical tourism, web financial services, medical device, biodefense, healthcare information technology, consumer services, energy and cleantech, social media, and other major industries. Listen to their pitches here.

The competition is judged by the following industry Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs:

    

Andrea	Azdril	Startech Global Corp.
Paul	Badawi	3i Corporation
Bear	Barnes	Entrepreneur
Charles	Chen	Victory Industrial Corp.
Ginger	Conrad	MBE Magazine
Peter	Cowen	GroundWork Equity LLC
Louis	Dienes	TroyGould Partnership
Jaime	Douraghy	Artisan Creative
Shahin	Farshchi	Lux Capital
Bob	Foster	UCLA Anderson
Jonathan	Funk	Allegis Capital
Adam	Gottesfeld	Palomar Ventures
Maneesh	Goyal	Miramar Venture Partners
Tariq	Hasan	Entrepreneur
Robert	Hoyt	LATHER
Neelu	Jain	Madera Group
Saad	Kahn	CMEA Ventures
Marc	Lebovitz	TechForward
Lars	Leckie	Hummer Winblad
Jeffrey	Lipp	Loyalty for Heartland Pmt Systems
Dan	Murillo	Greycroft Partners
Dan	Nathanson	UCLA Anderson
Sharon	Olexy	Murad Inc.
Vimal	Patel	Sierra Ventures
Charlie	Rice	Symantec
Matt	Ridenour	Momentum Ventures
Rob	Stone	The Walt Disney Company
Manel	Sweetmore	California Cryobank
Jade	Van Doren	TechForward
Andrew	Warner	Mixergy.com
Cameron	Wood	Kline Hawkes & Co.

UCLA Anderson Explores International Student Loan Options for MBAs

To Our Incoming International Students, Prospective Students, and Other Interested Parties:

As many of you are well aware, the U.S. educational lending environment has undergone some changes in the past year. Officials at UCLA Anderson, in conjunction with leading University of California officials, are exploring loan options for incoming MBA students. Stay tuned for more information. We will post news here as we know more.  

UCLA Wins West Coast MBA Challenge For Charity (CFC) Competition

We are proud to announce that UCLA Anderson MBA students once again won the annual Challenege for Charity (CFC) competition, walking away with the highly prized Golden Suitcase. Other competitors included Stanford, UC - Berkeley, USC, University of Washington, UC - Davis, UC - Irvine, Pepperdine, and UC - San Francisco.

As part of the compeition, UCLA students achieved the following:

• $76,600 in fundraising
• 5,123 volunteer hours (2,000 more than any other school)
• 230+ students participated in weekend sports competitition (more than any school)

Check out these videos: the Big Win awards ceremony and the C4C 2009 UCLA Anderson Cheer Dance

Who says there are no rewards for volunteerism and contributions to community?

A Virtual Peek into Anderson Days II is Now Available

View some pictures of Anderson Days II, held this past weekend (4-5 April on a recent blog posting by UCLA Anderson student and Anderson Days co-leader, Shianne Park, on the MBA Student Voice blog.

The Riordan Program Fellows Program is Accepting Applications

The Riordan Programs at UCLA Anderson is a pioneering career-based outreach programs for underrepresented students to gain pre-MBA training. Fellows attend eight monthly Saturday sessions that provide various activities and services, include:

        Graduate-level discussions and case studies led by top UCLA Anderson faculty 
        Personalized one-on-one MBA Action Plan counseling session 
        Speakers from the Corporate Community
        Personal mentors - current Anderson MBA students 
        Team Community Service Projects 
        Networking opportunities with industry professionals & UCLA Anderson community

For more information or to apply for the Fellows Program, click here.

UCLA Anderson MBA Attracts Record Numbers to Preview Weekend

The UCLA Anderson MBA program hosted its second admitted student preview weekend of the year this past weekend, April 4-5, 2009. The event, known as Anderson Days or A Days, attracted nearly 200 students from throughout the US and 7 foreign countries. A Days was jointly hosted by the admissions office and 100+ student volunteers. Highlights of the weekend included an "academic test drive;" a campus tour; dinners with future classmates; an introduction to student life; career panels such as "Westwood meets Wall Street;" and a closing dinner with 20 faculty members, student volunteers, and staff.

Stay tuned for pictures and admitted student responses to the event.

UCLA Anderson MBA Student Associations Host Private Equity Roundtable

UCLA Anderson's MBA Investment Finance Club and Entrepreneur Associate recently hosted its 2009 Private Equity Roundtable. The event was attended by 25 private equity firms and 75 students. The keynote speaker was Lisa Mazzocco, the chief investment officer for LACERA, which manages the defined benefit plans for LA county, which is approximatly $22 billion under management.

The Roundtable highlights that Los Angeles is home to many middle market private equity (PE) shops. It is also home to bigger bracket firms. So, if you're considering an MBA, you may want to consider a UCLA Anderson degree.

The list of firms represented include:

            Apollo Advisors                        Omninet Capital

            Bison Capital                           Parallel Investment Parnters                     

            Brentwood Associates              Ridgestone        

            Caltius Equity Partners             Sage Capital Partners

            The Carlyle Group                     Shamrock Capital Advisors

            Fifth Street Capital                    TCW Mezzaine 

            IMT Capital, LLC                       Tennenbaum Capital Partners                   

            Kayne Anderson Capital            US Renewables Group 

            Leonard Green & Partners         Vicente Capital 

            Lovell Minnick                           Wedbush Capital                                             

            Newstone Capital                      Zelnick Media

            Nogales Investors