Three Day StartUp at UCLA

Founded by a group of cross-disciplinary students frustrated with the unexpressed potential for startups in the university environment, the initial 3 Day Startup program took place at the University of Texas in 2008. That inaugural program gave rise to Famigo, the first of many 3DS companies to raise venture capital and release a successful product. The student organization incorporated as a nonprofit in 2010 and began expansion to universities across the globe. While early programs focused on strictly technology- and web-enabled startups, demand has led the team to expand the program to function across broader entrepreneurial endeavors. Schools have hosted 3DS programs focused on themes such as social innovation, energy, culinary, hardware, and more. Foregoing a grant-supported model, the founders developed an earned-revenues strategy—3DS charges universities, governments, and corporations to deliver programs—which allowed the organization to grow in a scalable and sustainable way while preserving mission autonomy. Running 3DS as a successful business operation keeps entrepreneurship in the organizational DNA and allows the organization to remain faithful to the philosophy of learning-by-doing.

3daystartupucla@gmail.com

Signatories: Nicole Pan, Roy Song, and Liqin He

Advisor: Cornelius Jake Gildea