A Resource for UC Discovery Grant Students

Oct/Nov Focus: Your network is your net worth

Recruiting and building a team to develop a new technology, finding good legal counsel, raising funds to support your business, assembling a group of trusted advisors: it's all about people. The wider your network of contacts, collaborators, and friends, the faster and easier it is for you to address many of the challenges to starting a new business.

Swapping business cards or shaking hands after a conference is only a start. If you want to build a useful network you’ll need to follow up and continue to build your relationships over time. Working or collaborating with someone, however briefly, can help you to see where their strengths lie and show them what you have to offer. A business plan competition is one place to try this with peers from your campus. Or you can join an entrepreneurship club, where you can get to know other students and learn from more experienced entrepreneurs in an informal setting.

Check the links below to see entrepreneurship groups on your campus, and check our calendar for campus and local events starting in October.

Some Campus Entrepreneurship Clubs & Groups:

UC Berkeley: UC Berkeley graduate students can sign up for membership of the Entrepreneurs Association. The association provides innovative opportunities, meeting forums, and resources: http://groups.haas.berkeley.edu/ea

The Asia-Pacific Student Entrepreneurship Society-Berkeley is a resource and network for aspiring entrepreneurs.  Students of all interests are welcome: the focus is not exclusively on Asia-Pacific or Business students. http://www.asesberkeley.org

UCLA: The Entrepreneur Association (EA) is the largest student organization at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. The 'Affiliate Entrepreneur' One-Year Plan allows current UCLA students not attending Anderson to participate in any open events, and some capacity-controlled events. http://www.uclamba.com

UCSD: Venture Forth is a student organization, open and free to everyone.  It was started by students who are interested in learning applied professional skills, and aims to teach leadership, initiative, networking, professionalism, and entrepreneurship.  http://ventureforth.org

UCSF: The Innovation Accelerator is a post-doc and student run organization that is closely aligned with the UCSF Center for BioEntrepreneurship and the UCSF Office of Technology Management. IA fosters the growing entrepreneurial spirit in the talented UCSF community by hosting a monthly seminar series, the Entrepreneurs Discussion Group and site visits to Bay Area biotech companies. http://www.ucsf.edu/iaucsf

UCSB: The Student Entrepreneurship Association is focused on bringing the entrepreneurial experience to those students interested in becoming self-starters. http://sea.engr.ucsb.edu