On the morning of April 14, I wrote a blog post about the numerous conferences going on on and off campus, and inviting the broader community to join in on those conferences.
Until now, this was my last blog post, because something that afternoon occurred that has changed my life. Forever.
In one of my previous posts, I talked about Sari Closet, an online nationwide rental service for saris (formal South Asian women's apparel). To recap: Sari Closet started as a class project in our Business Plan Development class. At the end of the class, our "final" was to present our business to the class and to a group of guest venture capitalists, whose commentary / Q&A compromised the bulk of your grade for the quarter.
The feedback we received was tremendous, to the point where one of the guests contacted us to help us get started. We launched the business in January and went live in May.
So on that fateful afternoon of April 14, I was in a pod at Rosenfeld Library with my classmates-turned-business partners, preparing for the Knapp Venture Plan competition that evening. This is a business plan competition across Anderson, with the winner getting $30,000 in prize money, presumably to launch the business (although that's not a requirement).
Nisha and I were going to present, so we dressed as best we could like fashion executives. Patrick was dressed like an MBA student in his last quarter: a t-shirt from a band nobody has ever heard of, old jeans, and at least one tennis shoe.
(Digression: we made it to the next round of the Knapp competition, the semi-finals. But in this round, all of the businesses were put into different rooms based on industry, and the judges chose the best business of the ones that they saw, and that team moves on to the finals.
I didn't realize that you had to "win your room" until 20 minutes before we were supposed to present, I thought the judges all listened to the pitches, then got togeher and chose their favorites based on all of the rooms.
But I was wrong, and naturally, we ended up in Food and Beverage. Any muppet can figure out that a sari is neither a food nor a beverage. But our objections were shot down (apparently, our industry room was "Retail".) So there we were, presenting Sari Closet after two food trucks, a beer business, and a pastry shop. Of course, we didn't win.)
So we are meant to present at 6pm, and I get the call at 4:45pm that changed everything. It was from Mrs. V. I left right away, and 4.5 hours later, Mrs. V and I introduced our daughter to this world.
Like I said, something happened that changed me forever.
So I never had the chance to post again to this blog, and then I graduated.
Tearfully, it is time for me to say goodbye. To the blog, and to UCLA Anderson, at least as a full-time student. I'm officially an MBA graduate, and a father.
I'm not going too far. I'm still dedicated to Sari Closet, and will stilll be following the sports industry closely - the sports entertainment business remains my professional passion.
Those of you who have enjoyed my writing (all three of you) can follow me over at Perfecting the Upset, a new sports blog started by Rahat Ahmed, a friend from college, and focusing on the sociology of sports: why are we fans, what makes us tick. There will be a heavy dose of nostalgia, plus coverage in a way that isn't blinded by commercial interests.
I'll be focused on my beloved Washington Capitals and Manchester United, and possibly UCLA football / basketball and the Steelers, if my daughter lets me. I'll join there later this month.
I'll always love my two years at UCLA Anderson, and writing this blog. It's a bittersweet good-bye for me, a time that I will always cherish and remember fondly.
Go Bruins.
