Anderson Venture Comp. Helps Start Alumni Business

UCLA Anderson School of Management alumnus Kelsey Doorey had plans to go in to the corporate retail industry after completing business school. It wasn’t until she entered the 2013 Knapp Venture Competition, that she thought about pursuing a different idea. Doorey won the competition and the $15,000 prize with her idea for an e-commerce rental service for designer bridesmaid dresses. Two of the competition’s judges also offered additional funding for the start up. “The competition literally changed my life in one night,” said Doorey.

“Vow to be Chic” is the fusion of Doorey’s retail and entrepreneurial dreams. Customers can rent designer bridesmaids dresses and Little White Dresses online starting at $50. The company’s website calls it, “An affordable, convenient, and stylish alternative to the status quo. Bringing an age-old tradition into the 21st century.” After the event is over, customers simply send the dress back in the provided prepaid packaging.

The Knapp Venture Competition is a student-run competition that is held at UCLA Anderson. The competition is hosted by the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and the Entrepreneur Association. It is designed to provide UCLA Anderson students with an intensive learning experience in the process of establishing a business. The Competition focuses on the rigorous and cross-disciplinary application of the tools that students have learned throughout the MBA program.

Students in the competition depend on the concepts that they learned from the core curriculum; economics, finance, operations, marketing, accounting, strategy, and organizational development to create their business idea into a total plan for starting and operating a business. Competition activities begin in October and culminate with the final round of competition held in May.

regions: Los Angeles

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