Two FEMBA students who had never before developed web applications made it to the final round of the "Hackathon," UCLA Anderson Entrepreneur Association's second annual Developer's Contest, held February 22-24 in the heart of Silicon Beach.
James Biskey (on the right) and Evan Moore of the FEMBA Class of 2015 joined forces as Team wetFoot for the contest, which challenged small teams of developers, entrepreneurs, designers, and others in the tech community to develop a complete, working app from scratch over the span of 42 hours.
Given this year's theme of "travel," Biskey and Moore designed and coded "Percipio," an app to help travelers find local guides and interpreters. Their efforts were worth a trip to the final round, where the chosen teams competed for over $10,000 in cash prizes in categories that included Best All-around App, Most Innovative/Technically Daring and Best UX/UI.
Although wetFoot and Percipio did not emerge victorious, here Biskey and Moore consider their reasons for entering the Hackathon and how such events reflect the spirit of UCLA Anderson students.
Richard Roll, UCLA Anderson’s Joel Fried Chair in Applied
Finance, has been awarded the 2012 Harry M. Markowitz Award by the Journal of Investment Management and New
Frontier Advisors.
Roll, and his co-author Moshe Levy of the Jerusalem School
of Business Administration at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, were recognized
for their paper “A New Perspective on the Validity of the CAPM: Still Alive and
Well.” The paper demonstrates that “the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)
cannot be empirically rejected, in spite of the many academic studies that
suggest otherwise.”
"I'm both surprised and very pleased to have received the Markowitz Award," says Roll. "The CAPM has been subject to a lot of criticism over the years. We developed a different kind of model as a way to empirically test it which provides more support for the CAPM than previous papers. If the paper is correct in its findings, then practioners may use the CAPM with more confidence."
On March 13, 2013, UCLA Anderson held its annual Private Equity Roundtable at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. The event brought together over 100 individuals to discuss the state of private equity today. The event began with a cocktail reception, where students mingled with over 60 industry professionals coming from the top private equity shops in Southern California. This reception was followed by a keynote discussion by Robert (Bob) Sinnott, President & CEO of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, moderated by Al Osborne, Senior Associate Dean of UCLA Anderson. Bob talked about how he entered into private equity and how he joined Kayne Anderson. He spoke about Kayne Anderson’s aversion to leverage in the oil and gas space, and how they like to compete where Wall Street isn’t looking for them – a strategy that has helped them succeed in earning great returns on their investments. Finally, he gave advice on how to choose a firm and advised that the right culture is one of the most important aspects of fit. The evening concluded with three roundtable sessions. Students got the opportunity to speak with industry professionals at intimate table settings for 15 minutes before moving on to the next table.
Companies in attendance included:
Ares Management
Aurora Capital Group
Babson Capital
Balmoral Advisors
Brentwood Associates
Caltius Equity Partners
Caltius Mezzanine
Creo Capital Partners
Energy Capital Partners
Freeman Spogli & Co.
General Atlantic
Kayne Anderson Capital
Leonard Green & Partners
Levine Leichtman Capital Partners
NewStone Capital
OpenGate Capital
Pasadena Capital
Pegasus Management
Shamrock Capital Advisors
Signature Capital Partners
Skyview Capital
The Carlyle Group
The Riverside Company
Vicente Capital
Vintage Capital Group
This event is an annual event hosted by the Fink Center for Finance & Investments and the Investment Finance Association club at UCLA Anderson.
The Laurence and Lori Fink Center for Finance & Investments serves as a bridge between academia and industry in the field of finance. The Center sponsors research, teaching, and the application of financial knowledge in the global corporate and investment communities. The Fink Center’s mission is to connect students, alumni, faculty, and the investment community to transform fundamental knowledge into applicable practices that benefit today’s global economy.
The Fink Center takes a leadership role in recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty and scholars. The Center works with faculty to expand UCLA Anderson’s capability to publish innovative work and effectively disseminate cutting-edge research. The Center also supports promising Ph.D. and MBA students and serves as a bridge to the industry through the development of its future finance leaders. To this effort, the Center hosts investment conferences, stock pitch competitions, and networking events. Relationships with the Center’s Advisory Board, on which Larry Fink has served as chairman since 2006, help foster interaction between students, alumni, faculty, and prominent experts in the field of finance.
UCLA Anderson graduate John Tabis ('06) launched TheBouqs.com in November 2012 with the idea that buying flowers online for a loved one should be a simple, transparent, and affordable process. More importantly, it should be a special experience. So far, it's paid off—The Bouqs quadrupled its revenue growth between December and January, and sold out much of its inventory ahead of Valentine's Day.
So, what sets The Bouqs apart from the competition? We recently sat down with Tabis to learn more about his blossoming venture.
Inspiration
A disappointing experience led Tabis to the idea for The Bouqs.
The Bouqs experience
The Bouqs sells bright, colorful flowers, grown on an active volcano in Ecuador and known to stay fresh for up to two weeks, for a $40 flat fee with free shipping.
Responsibility The Bouqs operates on an eco-friendly, sustainable model, eliminating much of the waste in the supply chain by shipping direct-from-farm-to-consumer, and by partnering with farms that treat their land and workers right.
We aren't bragging, but buying from TheBouqs.com is MUCH better for the environment.Sustainable farms, less energy used, no waste!
Startup challenges
Tabis's firsthand startup experience has been a learning experience—and it's not all a bed of roses.
Startup opportunities
But the occasional thorn doesn't distract him from the unique opportunity he has to create his own corporate culture.
Why UCLA Anderson
A personal take on "Think In the Next"
and the benefits of UCLA Anderson's Alumni Network.
Unlike other flower sites, The Bouqs also offers subscriptions (like "Regular Blooms" and "Just Because") to make sure you never forget a special occasion.
Tabis said his time at UCLA Anderson, ShoeDazzle, Disney, and Bain & Co. all helped him launch his business and establish his brand. He's hired current Anderson MBA student Leonard Lin to manage the website. With growing buzz across Facebook and Twitter, partnerships with Urban Daddy and Netted, and more in the works, The Bouqs is well-poised to take on the major industry players and reshape the way people buy flowers for loved ones.
On Friday, February 22, the Laurence and Lori Fink Center for Finance & Investments at UCLA Anderson held its second annual Fink Center AIA Stock Pitch Competition. The competition brought together 12 teams from the top MBA programs across the country, including:
UCLA Anderson School of Business
Chicago Booth School of Business
Columbia Business School
UVA Darden School of Business
Duke University Fuqua School of Business
UC Haas School of Business
Indiana University Kelly School of Business
Richard
Ivey School of Business
Michigan Ross School of Business
MIT Sloan School of Management
University of Rochester Simon Graduate School of Business
USC Marshall School of Business.
The full-day competition was split into two rounds. During the morning round teams competed simultaneously in 4 rooms and pitched a long or short stock that they chose from a list of 20. Each team presented and answered questions for 45 minutes in front of two judges who had recommended the 20 stocks. Judges came from top finance firms including:
PIMCO
TCW
DoubleLine
HighMark Capital
UCLA Investment Company
Research Affiliates
MAZE Investments
Anderson
The best team from each of the four morning rooms proceeded to the finals.
But first, as judges deliberated during lunch, students enjoyed a keynote speech by Joel Fried ('86), President and Director of PRIMECAP Management Company. Fried spoke about his start in investment management and his luck in being paid to do what he loved to do. He spoke about market crises and the emotional ups and downs that come with working in the business. He shared his wisdom in succeeding in the industry and picking the best stocks, and answered questions, providing an example of a stock—an LED light manufacturer—and an industry sector—pharmaceuticals—that he likes right now.
The final four teams (UCLA, Ivey, Columbia and Haas) presenting their buy or sell recommendation on Tesla in front of five industry judges and a 50-person audience. Teams presented their analyses on the company and submitted to questioning by the judges. Each team did an excellent job, but the final award recipients were:
1st Place: UCLA Anderson – Team GreenRock - $5,000
2nd Place: Richard Ivey School of Business – Team IV Associates - $3,000
3rd Place: Columbia – Team Number Crunchers - $2,000
The event concluded with a reception at which the Fink Center presented the prizes.
