Forty students will work in teams to develop complete business models, starting with their ideas and onward, this weekend on the Hill.
The event, called 3 Day Startup, is a nonprofit weekend conference that the organizers hope will teach students how to develop prototypes, talk to customers and collaborate with mentors.
This weekend will be the first time UCLA hosts the program, which was initiated and organized by Josh Archer, a second-year cognitive science student, and Shel Kongping Han, a 2014 UCLA alumna with a degree in business economics.
“It is three months of progress in three days of work time,” Archer said.
The event is not a competition, but it encourages students to develop as entrepreneurs throughout the process of building their models, he said.
Event organizers will accept any kind of business model for further development, but they encourage the development of tech startups because of their popularity in the L.A. startup community.
Han said she hopes the program will be beneficial to students who need help with startups, like she did as a student.
“Teamwork is very important, and learning by doing is very important to this program,” Han said.
The program will invite 10 mentors, all either CEOs or founders of startups within the L.A. community, to guide the students and give them feedback about their presentations, Archer said.
Eight groups of students will present their final product presentations on Sunday from 6-8 p.m. in the Northwest Campus Auditorium. Anyone can attend the presentations.
Archer said he plans to organize 3 Day Startup again for UCLA students in the fall.
Compiled by Andrea Henthorn, Bruin contributor.