30A – Final Reflection

1) Read through your posts from this semester. Recall all of the experiences you've had a long the way -- the highs, the lows -- the fun moments, and the moments of drudgery, and even the moments of dread.

2) What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?

• For me, I would say that the most formative experience of this class would be my evolution of the elevator pitches, and how I improved each time.
• The experience I will remember years later, which also brought me a lot of joy, is the Free Money assignment, and how much fun it was to watch peoples reaction as a stranger randomly gave them free money.
• The experience I am most proud of would be Growing your social capital because it forced me to make connections with others as I would if this were a real job. 

3) At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?

• This class has done an excellent job of developing an entrepreneurial mindset because of how it has changed the way I think about issues around me. I never thought of how much goes into starting a business, and now I notice these small details everywhere I go. 

4) What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?

• One recommendation I would offer for students about to take this course is to enjoy the journey. While it may seem like an assignment, treat it like it is actually a business, and you will enjoy  the class more than if you were doing the bare minimum to get by. I would also encourage students to really develop a sense of time management for this class. In order to foster these mindsets, I would encourage students to understand that while most classes can be boring, this one is not, and will be exiting if you choose to adopt a positive mindset throughout the semester. 

Free Money

For this assignment, I decided to go outside of my fraternity house. My house is located right on university avenue, so there is almost always foot traffic in front of the house. I plan to approach someone who is walking on the sidewalk, and simply offer them the dollar out of generosity. My plan for the conversation is to simply offer a dollar and react to their reaction. If the person is excited, easy to give away the dollar. If the person is hesitant, I might push a little bit and helps them understand that I am doing it purely to be nice. If the person outright refuses, I will simply walk away. I believe I should be able to give away at least 3 of the 5 dollar bills. 

After conducting the experiment, I found that it went about how I had planned. I only had 1 person outright refuse me, but I did have 2 people hesitate before I told them it was free, and 2 people simply took the dollar. It was about as easy as I had expected, and it was obvious that people who appeared busy did not want a dollar, and people who were just walking did want a dollar. 

28A – Your Exit Strategy

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?

• For my business, I plan on staying with the company for as long as possible, and then selling when I go to retire. 

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

• I selected this particular exit strategy because if my product has success at UF, I believe it could succeed at other universities. If my product is successful on one campus, then it will likely be successful on almost all college campuses. Because of this, if I sold out after 5 years I would not even get close to potential return value on my products abilities. 

3) How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources?

• My exit strategy has not influenced my decisions I've made regarding my concept. I never believed in creating a cheap product that breaks easily, so I can make a quick buck and then exit the market, my plan was to always make a quality, reliable product for sale. It has not influenced my growth intentions or how I use resources at all.

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

1- What surprised me most about Steve Jobs was his upbringing. He was abandoned as a
child and adopted by a middle class family. His intellect was so high, placing him at a
high school level while in elementary school. I admired Steve Jobs’ drive. When he
wanted to do something, he would bring that intensity to it and find a way to succeed.
The thing I least admired about Jobs was his approach to family. He would later abandon
his own child and would sometimes treat his parents with disrespect and be emotionally
distant. Jobs encountered adversity early on in his life. He was a loner in school as he
skipped a few grades. Earlier grades were too easy for him and he could not focus.
He challenged himself, he pulled pranks and he learned a lot of about technology.
When he had to find a job, he would not leave until he was hired. When he wanted
to develop something with Steve Wozniak, he figured out how to market and make
a profit. When he was selling their blue boxes, he was held up at gunpoint but stayed
under control. Jobs brought his passion to market products and innovate an industry.

2- Jobs had passion, drive, a controlling nature, innovative ideas, and a level of focus that
made him very successful.

3- One thing that confused me was about Job’s relationship with his parents. He always was able to get his parents to bend to his will and got what he wanted. Despite that love and care they gave him, he was so cold and cruel to them at times that it made me dislike him. I know that his intensity and independent nature is why he acted like that to most people but I do not understand how he treated his parents like that. They supported him through everything.

4- My first question would be, “Did you enjoy working at Atari?” I love video games and I want to see his passion in technology. My second question would be, “How did Zen help you become successful?” Jobs really studied Eastern Hinduism and meditation and I want to hear his experiences with Zen.

5- I think Jobs felt hard work was working until you have nothing left to lose. Even if it is  risk you put your heart in what you believe in. I feel the same, if your dream is not worth taking risk to achieve, what kind of dream is that?

26A – Celebrating Failure

1) Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester, and failed each time. 

• A time that I failed this semester was when I bombed my first exam. I took it in a class that I assumed was going to be easy, and discovered that the content on the exam was much more difficult than I had expected, and my grade was horrendous. Fortunately, I was able to talk to my professor and he helped me develop a better way to find and study the material that will be on future exams.

2) Tell us what you learned from it.  

• From this experience, I learned to always study everything for the first exam of every class, bolded notations, details, and even story boxes, as they all could be on the exam. I also discovered how important it is to talk to your professors, as they are more than willing to help do things.

3) Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn't it? It's embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we have to change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failure (emotionally, behaviorally). Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were just a few months ago?

• I believe failure is an excellent tool to use for anything in life. Whether it is sports, academics, or life in general, failure can be used by all to make us as people better. Emotionally, I try to not let failure determine my attitude, but behaviorally, I sometimes let failure ruin my mood, which I know is not healthy. I do believe that this class has caused em to take more risks because I believe now that failure is not a closed door, but the opening of another door.

25A – What’s Next?

Existing Market. 

Step 1: Talk about what you think is what's next in terms of products and services for your venture. 

• I believe the next step in my products venture is to gain access to a place of entry in the market. I believe that means to start talking to HP, Best Buy, and the UF book store to look for places I can place my product, whether it be on shelves or at a table outside. 

Step 2: Interview three customers who are already part of the market you have identified, and ask them what they believe is next for a venture like yours. Describe to them your business, and simply ask "What should we be doing that we aren't planning to do?" Next, ask them about your ideas of what customers might want next. 

1. My first interview with Brad was fruitful, as he helped me research different computer places in Gainesville that would sell my product for me. Brad also said he would like a colorful display, something I had not planned for.
2. My second interview with Kameryn was not very fruitful as she did not have many ideas for the future of my product, except that I should get a prototype for my product before I start marketing it.
3. My interview with Jeff was also successful because Jeff really pushed me to think digitally, and how I can start advertising my product on Instagram before its release date.

Step 3: Based on your own expectations and the feedback you received from customers, set a path for the future. In two to three paragraphs, describe what makes the most sense for your venture in terms of growing in your existing market.

• After talking with these three people, I came away with 3 different ideas, all of which are important. Brad discussed the importance of in-store advertising, and what it means for my products appeal to customers. Kameryn talked about the importance of making sure my product runs smoothly and correctly first before I market it. Jeff encouraged me to start marketing my product online with a countdown to the day the product is available for purchase online.   
• While all these are excellent ideas, I believe Kameryn's idea is the most important because I need to have proof the product exists before I can market it. it would be a very sticky situation if I marketed for an August 20th release date, and then August 1st I get the product and it does not work the way I planned on it. This would cause chaos in my market as upset customers would want their product but the product is not ready to be sold. I believe that is why i should first focus on making the product before I market it.

New Market.

Step 1: Identify a radically different market from what you're currently planning to target. If you're currently targeting B2B, think about going after a B2C market. If you're currently targeting an affluent part of society, think about targeting a very poor part of society.

• A radically different market from my current market would be the military.

Step 2: Once you have identified a radically different market, describe how you think your venture concept might be able to create value for people in that market. You may have to get creative with this -- that's OK -- and perfectly welcome!

• I believe my product could be of use to those in the military. Military personnel often use electronics when out in the field, so it is not outside the realm of possibility for them to need a charging pack when on the job. If I could design a metal charging case to keep the charger safe, it would be relatively easy for soldiers to clip the charger on their bag, and have the security of knowing that if their phone or computer died when they need it most, they would have the ability to recharge it quickly. 

Step 3: Interview two people from this new market. Again, describe to each interviewee what your concept is. Then, ask them how they think your business might be help to meet customers like them. What kinds of adaptations to the product/service mix do they think you should make to be successful in this new market? 

1. My interview with Travis was not very successful. Travis is about to head out to Basic training, and told me there is little need for this product in the military. He says the devices they use have more than enough battery power, and even some are solar powered. Travis said that potentially a bullet proof, solar powered charger would potentially be of use, but he highly doubted it.
2. My interview with Tymeir, who just finished basic training in San Antonio for the Air Force said the same things as Travis. Tymeir had no suggestions to my product as he believes it would not be successful.

Step 4:  Reflect, in two to three paragraphs, on what you learned about this new market. What surprised you the most? Were any of your expectations/assumptions correct? Does this new market, on second thought, appear to be as attractive as your existing market? And so on. 

• This new market was not as fruitful as I first anticipated. I assumed that there might be a need for my product in the military, but that was not the case. The equipment they use in the military is beyond a portable charger, and rightfully so. My expectations were not met, and this market is not as appealing as my original market. 
• My interviews with Travis an Tymeir helped dispel any ideas I had of pursuing the military market. While I originally thought there was potential for my product to succeed in this market, I am however wrong. I am glad I was able to interview Tymeir and Travis before I assumed this would be a successful market, as I now know that this new market would be a dead end for my business. While I would love to grow my audiences range, it is obvious that this will not be a way that I am doing that.

24A – Venture Concept No. 1

ENT 3003: Venture Concept Write-Up Guide

Opportunity

          The opportunity that is presented for my product is college students, professionals, and anyone who uses their laptop a lot. Students are the specific target audience, but there are others, specifically business professionals. These two groups have a prime opportunity to be marketed to, and purchase, my product. Both of these groups rely heavily on their laptops for their work, whether it be students for class work, or professionals for business ventures, there’s is a clear need for laptops amongst these two groups, and where there is a need for laptops, there is a need for battery life. Both groups are often caught in a dilemma where their laptops are dead, and my product solves that issue, so there is an obvious need for my product in these two circles. Ideally, I would initially target college students at UF, as I feel there is easy access to a large market with this need. The forces or changes in the environment creating this opportunity are the demand for the use of laptops, and laptops abilities to die quickly when they are needed most. Geographically, the opportunity for my product is primarily UF students, or specifically incoming freshmen on campus in Gainesville. Demographically, there is an opportunity to market, at first, to freshmen who often forget to charge their laptops and are late to class, or to their parents who know their students will struggle with tardiness and remembering to charge their laptop for their books. Currently, customers are not satisfying their need, and are often forced to spend class time without their laptop, forcing them to miss important in class without their books. They are currently not loyal to any other product similar to mine. This opportunity is huge, as there are thousands of freshmen who enter UF every year, as well as thousands more upperclassmen who would be interested in this product. The “window of opportunity” will be open for the foreseeable future as I do not know of any other products that fit the niche need that my product does.

Innovation

         My product is a portable charger that charges twice as fast as a regular charger, but only to 50%. While this may seem odd, there is a need for this product, as it plays a specific role. My product will charge a laptop to 50% within 5 minutes, giving the user a laptop that is ready to go for class in the time it takes them to walk or bike to their class. The product itself is a small battery encased in either metal or plastic, with a USB port at the end of it. The USB port is able to be plugged into a specific cord charger that plugs into a laptop. The cords will be sold separately so they can fit all different power ports on a laptop. The charger itself will ideally be the size of an iPhone and will be customizable. For example, the charger will be orange, with a blue Gator head on the top of the charger. Other ideas are that the charger can be any color, with any mascot, or even fraternity and sorority letters on the top of the charger.  Ideally, I would like to make my product for around $10, and sell it for close to $25, but it depends on the price it costs to make my product.

Venture Concept

Ideally, my product would work like this, a student realizes they are late to class, so they grab their laptop, but realize it is dead. The student plugs the laptop into my charger, puts the laptop and charger in their backpack, and head to class. By the time the student makes it to class, their laptop is at 50% charge, allowing them to have access to their books for the entire class period. My product would also work if a student wants to go to the library, take a shower before starting homework, etc. My product also works for business professionals who need to charge their laptops on the way to work so that they can present their ideas to others. I believe costumers would switch to this product because it is portable, relatively cheap, and saves them a lot of hassle down the road. Currently, there are no competitors for my product. Packaging is a large selling point for my product, as having a package that catches the customers eye with their school’s logo is very important. Distribution is also important because being able to reach UF students at first is a huge plus. Business location only matters at first when I am selling to only UF students before I go digital. The business I would establish would consist of 3 teams, sales, marketing, and logistics. I would have sales be representatives who go sell the product and exam revenue. Marketing team would work almost all on social media, as well as with book stores and electronic stores. Logistics team would work with the industry side of making sure the product is manufactured and delivered correctly. Ideally when starting out I would have roughly 20 employees, with a few designated to customer service.

The three minor element

          My most important resource will be the market I have, and the control I will have on the market, at least in Gainesville. With a one year head start, I believe I can capture Gainesville’s interest in UF portable chargers and create a monopoly in the city.

          Ideally, the next step in my products success would be Bluetooth charging for all devices once that technology is created of course.

          In 5 years, I would like to have a strong hold on Gainesville’s demand for portable chargers as well as potentially a foot-in UCF, USF, Miami, or FSU, as well as smaller schools. Within a decade, I would like to be in control of at least 3 successful start-ups. This product helps me achieve that goal by giving me a baseline of success.

23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

1. Large market- The market for my audience is very large as my idea is appealing to anyone who uses a laptop

• Valuable: High demand means there is opportunity for high supply
• Rare: Not very rare as many industries have large markets
• Inimitable: Not very hard for other products to jump into the large market
• Non-Substitutable: No other market has such a high demand and low supply

2. Daniel J- Daniel is human capital who has access to many HP and Best Buy representatives who could help boost my product.

• Valuable: Having a person can connect me with a large retail chain such as HP and Best buy opens many doors for my product
• Rare: Not very rare as there are many with connections like these
• Inimitable: Not hard to be copied by others as they could have connections as well
• Non-Substitutable: Daniel could be substituted by another 

3. Instagram Marketer- Someone with 4.6 million followers, majority are in college or high school

• Valuable: The person who would potentially market my product on Instagram has 4.6 million college age followers, very valuable
• Rare: Kind of rare, there are not a lot of Instagram stars with a specific niche for college students
• Inimitable: Easily copied by another Instagram star
• Non-Substitutable: This person could be replaced by someone else just as famous

4. Unique idea- My idea is the first of its kind in this market of laptops and chargers

• Valuable: Having a "first" product is valuable since there are no other competitors
• Rare: Although there are many "firsts," none apply to my desired market
• Inimitable: As long as I gain copyright access, I should have control of market long enough for it to not easily be copied right away
• Non-Substitutable: Few resources could provide the same idea

5. Sean R- Sean's ability to help with product placement as a preview staffer really puts me in a great position to start marketing in the fall

• Valuable: Very valuable as Sean can put me right in the path of freshmen, ideal avatar
• Rare: Many preview staffers could do this
• Inimitable: Easily copied by many other campuses or staffers
• Non-Substitutable: Sean could be replaced with another preview staffer

6. Target audience- Having a specific audience to target gives me a chance to specifically develop marketing strategies for them

• Valuable: Very valuable as I can plan marketing and advertising strategies geared towards college students
• Rare: Not very often a brand new product has a perfectly selected audience, pretty rare
• Inimitable: Hard to copy by another product as they cannot gear products to target audience like I could
• Non-Substitutable: No other resource can provide me with a target audience of up to 50,000

7. Clear interest from peers- Knowing there are people who would buy my product is a huge plus

• Valuable: Very valuable knowing I already have consumers
• Rare: Many startups often have pre-set customers so not very rare
• Inimitable: Hard to copy genuine interest from actual people
• Non-Substitutable: Not many resources can offer genuine public interest

8. No competition- Having no competition allows me to hopefully create a monopoly

• Valuable: Extremely valuable as I have the entire market to myself
• Rare: Seeing as there are few monopolies that are popular this is very rare
• Inimitable: Could not be copied by another
• Non-Substitutable: Hard to be substituted for another market this ideal

9. Access to engineers- Going to UF allows me access to engineers who can build my product

• Valuable: Extremely as my product has not been built yet
• Rare: Not very rare as there are a lot of engineers in the US 
• Inimitable: Easily copied by another group who has their own engineers
• Non-Substitutable: Could be replaced with a company of engineers

10. My own design- Having a design that I have worked on personally and have full ownership of is extremely beneficial 

• Valuable: Very as I can put all of my talents to work
• Rare: Not rare as many startups are solo run
• Inimitable: Could not be copied as only I have my talents and skills 
• Non-Substitutable: My passion to see my idea succeed could not be replicated by someone else

After conducting this VRIN study, I have decided that my most valuable asset is the lack of competition in my market because it gives me the opportunity to role out my product into a high demand field and offers me the ability to create my product my way while also marketing and advertising how I chose to the audience. 

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

I read Mindset: The New Pyschology of Success by Carol Dweck

1. The main theme of this book revolved round peoples mindsets, and how failure affects the way they think. Mindsets are so important to peoples outlook on life, and failure can change that outlook. An example of this is called a fixed mindset, which occurs when someone believes that success cannot be obtained by those who are not naturally talented. The growth mindset, was the mindset I enjoyed the most from this book, as this mindset is one that sees failure as a way tog row and learn from ones mistakes.

2 One theme in this book that goes well with the theme of this course is the growth mindset. The growth mindset requires us to look at our past failures, examine what went wrong, and work smarter than before. This goes well with what we are taught in class about the concept of failure, and how a lot of successful business fail.

3 An assignment for the class that reflects this book would be assignment 26A-Celebrating Failure. This assignment is an excellent example of asking students to examine a time where they failed, and then figuring out how they can improve. This assignment goes hand-in-hand with the growth mindset talked about in the book.

4 The biggest surprise to me was the stories of those who had failed, yet still found success. My personal favorite example of this is Michael Jordan not making his high school varsity basketball team, yet he still went on to become one of the greatest to ever play the game. Stories like these inspire me and I found the similarities extremely interesting in the book. I loved learning about failure and about how it does not impact those who have success in life.

20A – Growing Your Social Capital

Domain Expert

1) Who they are and what their background is.

     Ricker is a friend of mine who is studying computer engineering here at the University of Florida. 

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

     Ricker fills the slot of domain expert because he knows a lot about computer engineering, and could potentially help with the building of my product. 

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

     Ricker is brother in the same fraternity as me, and we talked in person in his room.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

     Me and Ricker talked in his room about my idea and what he thought of its potential, as well as logistics. Me and Ricker are good friends and he does not expect anything in return. 

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

    Including Ricker in my network enhances my ability to do more research into ways that my product can be made, produced, and sold.

Market Expert:

1) Who they are and what their background is.

     Sean is a member of preview staff at UF and is an expert in dealing with freshmen and their needs for when they get to college, which is my targeted audience.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

     Sean fills the slot of market expert, as he has a vast knowledge as to how and when to appeal to freshmen and their parents when they first come to UF.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

     Sean is a friend of mine, and has been working at UF all summer doing preview stuff.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

     Sean is an excellent source of information in my potential market, and was more than willing to sit down for 10min and talk about the market surrounding my ideas potential consumers.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

     By including Sean in my network, I have given myself access as to how to maximize my marketing to UF freshmen students. Sean knows all the places and times that these students will be able to make a purchase, and could potentially even push my product or become a sales representative.

Industry Supplier:

1) Who they are and what their background is.

     Daniel is an HP representative at Best Buy, who works with computers. 

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

     Daniel fills the roll of Industry supplier, as he not only works for a large supplier of laptops and chargers, but knows many others in the computer industry who sell to consumers within my demographic.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

     I was put into contact with Daniel through a mutual friend. I had seen Daniel before, but did not know him personally. Me and Daniel talked on the phone for about 10 minutes about the industry around laptops and portable chargers.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

     Daniel did not really expect anything in return for the information, he said he really liked our mutual friend and was willing to help another UF student out. 

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

     Including Daniel in my network opens many doors to potentially take my product to a sponsorship opportunity with HP, or even put my product in Best Buy if I chose.

Finally: Reflect. This experience requires you to do a little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How?

     This experience was very fruitful, as I was forced to reach out to others within my industry and gather information for my product. It was important for me to make these connections, and this assignment made sure that i connected with others who could help me. In the future, I will definitely hope to reach out to people who know about the industry. This experience did not differ from any previous networking I had done.