About Julia: Prior to Anderson, Julia Egan (‘21) lived in San Francisco and was Chief of Staff at an Ed-tech start-up. Julia is a first year student at Anderson and is obsessed with getting to know the startup community in Los Angeles.

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The search for the right business school was exhausting. Sorting through the job placement stats, which industries each school was best for, and which culture fit best took everything out of me. But if I could do it again, I would have looked at the institutional resources for budding entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

I was so lucky that my active role in Anderson’s Entrepreneur Association led me to the Price Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation early in my tenure at business school. The Price Center is the very center of Entrepreneurship at UCLA Anderson, and by extension the LA entrepreneurship community. Established in the late 1980s under the direction of the legendary Dr. Al Osborne (who still serves as Faculty Director), the Price Center was the first focused Institute at UCLA Anderson (there are now eight including centers for Real Estate, Technology, Finance, Media and Global Management). Price was created as an interdisciplinary program to offer courses in Entrepreneurship to MBAs – they now offer more than 15 entrepreneurial elective courses. Soon after establishment, the Price Center helped set up the student arm, the Entrepreneur Association–the largest group on campus with nearly 500 members. Today the Price Center has expanded to offer too many resources to count, but I’ll try to do it justice. 

In addition to the courses and support for the Entrepreneurship Association, Price oversees Anderson’s venture accelerator, the Student Investment Fund, research grants, community educational programming (including a bootcamp for veterans and executive training for entrepreneurs and early childhood professionals). They also oversee nine student fellowships, each with their own area of specialization. 

Courses

Compared to many of our peer institutions, UCLA Anderson has the most robust course offering in Entrepreneurship that I’ve seen. Starting in the winter quarter of your first year, you can begin taking Entrepreneurship electives covering how found, fund, and grow your own business. The faculty is mainly comprised of veteran entrepreneurs and executives whose real-world experience offers valuable insights and prepares us for what one professor calls “the cold hard world.” I’m only in my first class right now, Entrepreneurial Venture Initiation, but I walk away from each session with tangible, actionable learnings that I can apply immediately. Each student is required to complete a capstone project, and about 50% of students elect to do the Business Creation Option, which requires coursework from the entrepreneurship track before launching your own business in your second year.

Venture Accelerator

UCLA Anderson also has a venture accelerator, which is an annual, immersive program designed to leverage UCLA’s resources to enable the success of promising startups within the Anderson and Los Angeles community. Accelerator leadership provides startups with one-on-one consulting as well as curated connections to Anderson’s prominent alumni network and potential funders among LA’s thriving venture capital community. Accelerator startups receive customized and actionable programming catered to their vertical and stage, peer support and mentorship, as well as unlimited access to a 10,000 square foot, state-of-the-art co-working space located on UCLA’s campus in the Rosenfeld Library. 

Student Investment Fund

Over 18 months, 10 to 12 carefully selected second year MBA candidates are allowed to invest our fund (exceeding $1.7 million) in stock and bond markets as if they were at an investment fund. This can serve as their capstone, and gives them real experience investing real money under the guidance of Price Center Faculty.

Fellowships

Another critical Price Center offering are its nine student fellowships, which help fund and support student entrepreneurial endeavors. There’s the Haskamp fellowship which supports students who wish to work in non-profits between their first and second years. The Wolfen Fellowship supports founders who wish to work on their own business for the summer. I recently was honored to receive the Deutschman Venture Fellowship, which supports students in finding Venture Capital internships. 

Network

Perhaps the most valuable Price Center resource is its people. Getting involved with its programming and the Entrepreneur Association helps connect you to the Entrepreneurial Alumni of UCLA Anderson. Through the fellowships, Price Center Events, and programming of EA, you form meaningful connections with recent alumni and alumni who have had long rewarding careers in the entrepreneurial and venture capital ecosystem. I sometimes joke that Price’s Executive Director, Elaine Hagan (class of ‘91!), is a member of the illuminati — I swear that she knows absolutely everyone in the Venture and Start-Up community of LA and though she oversees so much, she dedicates her time to helping students leverage our network to launch their own companies and careers. Ultimately, business school is about forming meaningful connections that will continue to grow over your career. Because of the Price Center’s offerings, I’m finding those people every single day and I feel like I’m part of a community that will support me for the rest of my life.

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Student Blogger: Julia Egan ‘21

Undergrad: Macalester College ‘13 (Classics, Spanish)

Pre-MBA: Chief of Staff at AltSchool (Now Altitude Learning)

Leadership@Anderson: Executive Director of Entrepreneur Association, Director of Admissions Ambassador Corps