Absolutely. I have always had two motivations: to make a positive impact in this world and to build something I can be proud of. I am deeply inspired by the work of people involved in maintaining our National Parks and the nature therein. As our society evolves, it is becoming increasingly important to conserve these areas of natural beauty, and I see Trailløp involving itself here in a considerable way.

Not entirely. Many current pain points in existing solutions come from this wiki-style approach. Discovering new trails is almost impossible without experience or expert local knowledge. Exploring trails is made difficult and sometimes dangerous with inaccurate information and imperfect navigation tools. And building a community is simply not possible with disaggregated and poorly maintained resources. We are aiming to resolve all these issues with our innovative approach to data collection.

So, while Trailløp will rely on Waze-style user refinements to improve the accuracy of the trail characteristics on the platform, one of its key differentiators is how it sources this information. This includes experts who curate vital information and AI that adds information from public data such as weather forecasts and historic seasonal conditions, as well as from user tracking and smart surveying — for example, noticing an interruption to a tracked activity and deciphering the cause of it.

Trailløp reimagines the UX of discovering and exploring the trails, offering a simpler yet more complete product compared to what’s available now. It would incredibly be naïve of us to discount AllTrails as a prime competitor. They are by far the biggest incumbent in the market (with 25 million users), and navigating that competitive landscape is front of mind for us. While AllTrails and Trailløp provide a similar high-level service, Trailløp differentiates itself with the robustness, accuracy and timeliness of its characteristic data. We believe it will be a game changer!

I always wanted to approach business school in an entrepreneurial way, so having a program like BCO was very important for me in my school selection. I was especially impressed when talking to current students at UCLA and hearing their experiences through the BCO funnel and all the entrepreneurial opportunities available at UCLA. Combine those with Anderson’s excellent standing and its location in Los Angeles, and it’s hard to say no!

I owe a lot to the Entrepreneurship & Venture Initiation and Business Plan Development courses. Coming into school, I had a good idea of what Trailløp could be but working through these classes with the incredible team I was lucky enough to build and conducting primary research with students the Outdoor Adventure Club, have elevated the business concept no end.

Beyond classes, I’ve also been inspired by my colleagues in Anderson’s Entrepreneurship Leadership Development Program. To hear their stories and see their successes highlights how impressive this cohort is. I’m more excited than ever about where Trailløp is, and the momentum is building at just the right time for this Summer.

Being able to get Trailløp from 0 to 1 in the coming months is incredibly exciting, and something I wouldn’t have been able to do were it not for this fellowship. It has absolutely lit a spark under my career plan and given me the chance to go full throttle at the perfect time.

I’ve always been inspired by serial entrepreneurs and I would love to look back on my career and see a string of successful, impactful ventures. While I haven’t thought about an exit strategy yet, if Trailløp gets to a point where I believe it can continue to thrive without my leadership, I would certainly be open to moving on to the next opportunity. Trailløp is my biggest passion project to date, so I see myself here for a while. But the greatest joy would be seeing it become independent and continue to do great things.

Of course! Jessica Cheng (’20). Jess was instrumental in my Anderson application process and helped me see just how valuable this course could be. She came to Anderson in a very similar position to me, with an idea in mind, but a lot of work to do. How her wellness app Rooo evolved because of the Anderson curriculum and incubation in the Accelerator was brilliant, and it gave me so much drive to build up Trailløp, too.

I personally haven’t, but during the customer research process, we interviewed dozens of oncologists and other physicians who shared the situation their patients had to go through. Prior authorization is a serious barrier to care: While about 90% of requests are eventually approved, patients have to wait for weeks for a decision from insurance companies. We encountered another story of a man suing an insurance company for his wife’s death. The woman was denied coverage of proton beam therapy, and the couple mortgaged their house and set up a GoFundMe effort to pay for her medical care. But by that time, she had died. The man received $25.5 million from the insurer. He said, “I’d give it all back to spend just one more day with her.” Heartbreaking.

Currently, patients have to call physicians’ offices to ask if there are any updates about authorization. So the first step is to ease the burden on physicians and medical staff, as they spend a lot of time (13 hours per week on average) dealing with prior authorization. Treatline users will initially include physicians, medical assistants, nurses and specialists from the payer side.

We’ve learned a lot from professors, classmates and advisors during the process of various business plan competitions we’ve participated in. We placed first in Anderson’s Product Innovation Challenge. In my Entrepreneurship and Venture Initiation class with Professor Derek Alderton (one of my favorite professors so far!), we went through many concepts related to the challenges that new ventures usually face. For instance, we studied a couple of cases that discuss how critical IP protection is. If someone brainstorms ideas for you or offers to work on the project for free, it is in many cases illegal and is likely to lead to severe complications or even lawsuits if the company gets traction. That was one of the reasons we sorted out legal questions very early in the process and still keep close contact with our law partners.

I lean toward serial entrepreneurship. I have tons of ideas and areas I’d like to work on, and just one life! I love everything about the process of creating something that does not exist yet. But I feel like when the company is mature enough, I’d prefer to be involved as an advisor and let a professional CEO grow the company while I focus on starting something new.

My Wolfen interview was on February 25, 2022, the day after Russia invaded my home country of Ukraine. Given the situation, I am sure that if I had not received a fellowship, I would have to take a full-time job for the summer and try to work on Treatline nights and weekends — meaning, progress would slow down a lot. So, for me, this fellowship is not just colossal support that enables me not to stress out about recruitment and instead focus on the startup, it’s also very timely encouragement during this extremely challenging period. I can’t wait to have an opportunity to give back!

I was deeply impressed by the story of Sarah Grifferty (’22), one of the 2021 Wolfen fellows. She lost her parents in an accident back in college and did not know how to deal with all the legal and organizational processes people have to complete when they lose a close person while dealing with an enormous loss. She started a company called LooseEnds that helps to manage logistics after losing a loved one.

At a high level, happiness is related to how favorably someone views their overall quality of life. This can be broken down more granularly into the five dimensions of happiness: spiritual, physical, intellectual, relational and emotional. We are only as strong as our weakest link, and prioritizing our happiness is a constant balancing act based on both internal and external forces. Since different people have different expectations for their own lives, happiness is relative. Everyone’s happiness is associated with their different values, states of being and achievements.

I meet with Professor Holmes regularly and I’m inspired by her work on the intersection between happiness and time. I am very excited about her new book Happier Hour, coming out in September.

I spent a year studying the science of happiness to become a certified happiness trainer under Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar, so I’m heavily influenced by his research. I also follow Laurie Santos (Yale) and Martin Seligman (Penn) closely.

Before business school, I worked at PwC. While I was passionate that happiness belonged in the workplace, it was not until human capital lead Amy Scott and partner Paul Griggs gave me a shot to roll out my initiative “The Path to Happiness” for the New York Metro market that I truly had my proof of concept. Hit of Happiness might not exist if they hadn’t believed in me. I’m grateful for the mentorship of PwC Partner and TedX speaker Jurgen Mueller, who led happiness workshops at PwC with me and whom I still connect with weekly in support of Hit of Happiness. My PwC coach Jay Bomberger always pushed me to believe in myself and keep moving forward with Hit of Happiness, even in the early stages.

Anderson’s Entrepreneurship Leadership Development Program has given me a community of entrepreneurs who I can be vulnerable with. This has been invaluable at the moments when I have doubts about the unchartered and risky journey, we call entrepreneurship. My Entrepreneurship & Venture Initiation class with Professor Olav Sorenson and Business Plan Development class with Professor Jon Funk have been instrumental in helping me hash out my business plan. I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without the unbelievable support of my BCO team. Hit of Happiness is definitely a team effort!

Hit of Happiness is built on three pillars:

1. Reframe your reality
2. Spread positivity
3. Transcend your perceived limits

Success to me is helping as many people as possible wake up to the reality that happiness is a choice and equipping them with the tools to live life to the fullest. Success means happy clients, happy employees, happy planet and happy self. This is the formula for sustainable business of the future.

My favorite definition of entrepreneurship is “acting my way into meaning,” and I trust that by showing up for this cause day after day and putting in the work, my life and that of those involved with Hit of Happiness become more and more meaningful.

I came to business school with the intention to build Hit of Happiness into a sustainable business. Being selected as a Wolfen fellow allowed me to throw away my backup plan and focus all my energy on Hit of Happiness, while also giving me valuable validation and confidence in myself and the concept.

I see myself as having found my calling with Hit of Happiness. This is a mission-driven company, and as long as I never lose sight of the mission — making the world a happier place — I see this as a long-term career solution.

Yes: Sarah Grifferty (’22), who founded LooseEnds, a platform to help you manage logistics following the loss of a loved one; Bo Abrams (’22), whose Kommu home swapping platform placed first in UCLA Law’s Lowell Milken Institute-Sandler Prize for New Entrepreneurs; and Joe Labes (’22), co-founder and CEO of Sake High! They all pushed me to embrace the entrepreneurial journey and apply for the Wolfen Award. I am so grateful for their help along the way, and I look forward to paying it forward to the next round of Wolfen candidates.

It brings personalization to the point of sale. Our fully integrated hardware and software platform reimagines the way brands retail food products and consumers access products. Nutrition label and pricing are updated in real time. Traditional physical retail channels lack the marketing and personalization potential of digital channels, while digital channels can’t match the immediate gratification or convenient product access of physical channels. (ate)ifi brings the best of digital and physical together.

Professor Renee LaBran has been a fantastic mentor for me. She is my faculty advisor for an independent study I am doing this quarter, and her insight, perspective and thought-partnership have been invaluable to me. I am also fortunate enough to work in the Venture Accelerator at Anderson as an MBA Associate. Meeting with other founders, and with senior program manager Beatina Theopold and Accelerator director Trish Halamandaris (’92), I am constantly inspired and pushed to think outside the box, which definitely challenges me to think differently about my own business.

I see each entrepreneurial endeavor I tackle as one that builds on the last. I hope to build multiple companies that are all interconnected and together solve the major pain points that exist for CPG founders — specifically those who traditionally lack access to extensive resources and support.

The Wolfen fellowship is an unbelievable opportunity to continue building my business. It will enable me to explore complementary businesses that allow me to work toward my future goal of building a CPG-focused startup studio for new brands. I feel very lucky to be the recipient of this fellowship.

I am inspired by the other fellows in my cohort because taking the entrepreneurial leap is not easy. Choosing to leave the “traditional” corporate path and start a business is a huge challenge, and I feel very fortunate to be surrounded by creative, inspiring entrepreneurs. I am so looking forward to learning from all of them this summer and getting to join this community of founders.

Correct, we plan to provide access to necessary resources — legal, web development, marketing — to help women founders launch their businesses.

Female-owned businesses account for 42% of all businesses in the United States and yet, very few of them ever surpass $1,000,000 in revenue. So I asked myself, “Why are female-owned businesses not growing? Why do female-owned businesses still not have the support they need to be successful?” The idea for Ascent is at the early stage. We’re researching the market to better understand customer needs and how we can best meet them.

My own personal journey is a great one. I recently began the process of founding a wedding and events company here in Los Angeles called Annie McNutt Event Consultants. I had a friend create my logo and I managed to build a website. But when it came to getting on solid legal footing, I had no idea where to start. I reached out to my undergraduate business law professor and she connected me with a business lawyer in Atlanta. He was helpful in identifying the initial steps I needed to take, but he was unable to assist me further because he was not licensed to practice in California. He referred me to a lawyer in Los Angeles, but she nickel-and-dimed me for every conversation, so I terminated that partnership. I then reached out to a friend who had founded a company in L.A. She connected me with her law firm, but they informed me that they no longer help small businesses. They referred me to another attorney in Los Angeles who does specialize in small business. So it was a long and arduous process to find the legal team with whom I ended up working. Had a company like Ascent existed, I could have paid a subscription for access to vetted resources, including legal resources, and chosen the most appropriate law firm immediately..

Learning about the founding process in my Entrepreneurship & Venture Initiation and Business Plan Development courses has been incredibly helpful. Understanding how female founders, specifically, receive funding has also been very eye opening. I’ve learned that the founders who most need our help are not going to be found in an MBA program but are those people who lack access to a network and the vital resources needed to start a business. It’s a learning process, and it will take some time before I am fully equipped to assist other founders but sharing my journey and my network with those who are seeking to follow a similar founding path seems like a great place to start.

Absolutely. Before coming to Anderson, I knew I wanted to pursue entrepreneurship. I spoke with multiple alumni and many of them told me about the fellowship. The Wolfen Fellowship was one of the main reasons that I came to UCLA Anderson and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to work on my business idea full time over the summer.

Ooh, this is a great question! I’m not sure yet. I think a mix of both. I tend to get very passionate about my ventures, so I’m not sure I could ever move on completely. But I love the idea of starting multiple companies. In the short term, I’ll probably focus on one or two main ventures and, in the future, possibly take a step back from some of the early ventures to pursue other ideas as they arise.

Yes. I have spent a lot of time speaking with Sarah Grifferty (’22), a second-year MBA who is pursuing her company LooseEnds after graduation. The fellowship helped her to really work on and develop her idea, which is a platform to help people manage logistics following the loss of a loved one. It is so personally meaningful to her. She has been supportive of me throughout this process and I cannot thank her enough. From sharing her perspectives to interview prep to chats about business plans, she has been there every step of the way, offering her ear and helpful advice. I look forward to staying in touch with her and seeing where she takes LooseEnds after graduation and beyond.

Anderson’s programming around the entrepreneurship curriculum was 80% of the reason I chose to come here. Leveraging the BCO program, Venture Accelerator, Entrepreneurship Association and Wolfen Fellowship were all pivotal in my decision process. On the cusp of finishing my first year, I could not be more pleased with my decision. Also, if you’re wondering, the other 20% of my decision is the people here. My classmates are phenomenal and they truly encapsulate Anderson’s pillars of shared success, thinking fearlessly and driving change.

I’ve really enjoyed Professor Alderton’s Entrepreneurship & Venture Initiation class. His practical “this-is-how-it’s-done-in-the-real-world” approach to starting a business venture is what I think every entrepreneur needs to hear. My family is from Monrovia, Liberia, and there is saying: “It takes a village to raise a child.” The Price Center and Accelerator leadership team — including Trish Halamandaris (’92), Al Osborne, Elaine Hagan (’91), Beatina Theopold and Fallon Coleman — have been instrumental in helping CFO develop. Finally, there’s Professor Funk’s Business Plan Development class that has forced our team to think critically about our business and the assumptions surrounding it.

At CFO we believe in putting our customers first. I believe that in order to best serve our customers, my personal time would be best spent improving our application and listening attentively to the feedback we are getting from our trainer-customers, and how their clients are interacting with the application. Events we’re planning this summer will be aimed at building community, which is a core pillar of CFO.

The Wolfen fellowship has helped catapult me toward my lifelong ambitions, aiding me financially so that I can fully explore this venture over the summer with laser focus. My mentor always tells me, “Life doesn’t get easier; you just get better. So if you’re going to start something you might as well start as early as possible.”

Absolutely. Before coming to Anderson, I knew I wanted to pursue entrepreneurship. I spoke with multiple alumni and many of them told me about the fellowship. The Wolfen Fellowship was one of the main reasons that I came to UCLA Anderson and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to work on my business idea full time over the summer.

I’ve been especially inspired by Bo Abrams (’22), and his home-swapping platform Kommu’s ability to be scrappy in a very competitive marketplace. He and his cofounder Gus Woythaler (’22) continue to innovate and iterate to put out the best product possible. I truly believe they represent the spirit of entrepreneurship that the late Larry Wolfen embodied.