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?

The experience that sticks out to me the most out of any assignment actually was my elevator pitch #2. For that assignment I thought I had already submitted the assignment but only when I was out at Mid Town did I realize that I had the wrong youtube link for the assignment. So while at Swamp I went into the back area and recorded my assignment with my buddies... in the back of swamp. All my friends were cracking up and it is definitely one I wont forget for awhile. This was also the most joyous of assignments because of the comedy that was involved while making this recording. 

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?

I would say 100% my eyes have adjusted to the world of an entrepreneur. After taking this class it really helps one realize there own self worth and helps one pay attention to the smaller details in life. I do see myself as an entrepreneur now.  

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?

I would recommend for kids in this class to actually take this class seriously. If you actually go out with an initiative and actually participate in the assignments listed it will be very beneficial towards oneself. To help foster a mindset like this in the early assignments go out and actually test for yourself the benefits you will receive from going out and hearing other people feedback. 

29 A Venture Concept #2

1) Provide, again, your venture concept description, using this formPreview the documentView in a new window. We understand it will be extremely similar to your first Venture Concept and do not expect you to re-write your entire Venture Concept. Don't worry about self-plagiarism for this assignment. However, make sure you do provide some type of change based on feedback and personal growth. You will describe this in part 3.
   Opportunity
To start the organization I have decided to create is "Books-To-Go". The need I have decided to fulfill is the need for people who are dealing with airline travel or other forms of traveling and don't have a sufficient way to past the time. To be able to past the time my business will be offering books and or magazine of numerous genres to be sold and to follow the same design or RedBox for book/magazine renting and returning. The nature of this is pretty high as numerous people in airports rely heavily on some form of text to past the time either while traveling or waiting to travel. The main issue is that airport's up-charge all of their prices and everything to ridiculous prices making a dent in anyone's wallet. The forces in the environment that are creating this opportunity is a mixture of natural elements that is creating delays in arrival or departures and failure of management by airports to accurately reach objectives on time and in a fashionably manner. The market is defined geographically by anyone traveling within North-America, this service hasn't been able to make the transfer to across seas yet at the moment. Demographically this market is for people who have a passion for reading and want to learn more and read more in their spare time or as a way to past time. The target market can also include gamers and other people who enjoy video games and want to read about the games they play. With the inclusion of gaming books/magazines this is possible.  Customers are currently satisfying this need by a few ways but none of them seem to be that effective. The number one way this need is being satisfied is through the use of Kindle Fires. Kindles provide the people ways to read numerous books all through the use of a handheld device. The other way this opportunity is being fulfilled is by people spending an extra amount of money from airports to buy books/magazines from stores within the airport. The people who are using Kindle's are most likely going to stay loyal to Kindle's but that is only a small amount from the actual people who will receive benefits from this opportunity. Many people prefer to read hard physical copies of text they are reading so many would choose hard books/magazines over a kindle. Also with way lower prices to rent these books/magazines many more people who prefer this alternative. The window of opportunity will be available until technology advances to the point where everyone has some sort of handheld device they can use to read whatever they want whenever they want no matter of the situation at hand.
    Innovation
My innovation is the creation of "Books-To-Go". This is an in person service that allows for people to come into the store (in airports), explore through numerous genre's of books/magazines, selectively pick the ones they want to read and indulge in during their traveling time, and use as a way to past traveling time. Basically what would happen is a person would come into the store and find a book/magazine they want to read and would rent it from the store. The cost of a book is $3 per day and the cost of a magazine is $2 per day. Once they found what they are looking for they would confirm with the worker at hand that this is the book they are renting and they would have to pay the flat fee of how many days they think they would use the service for. Most people would only rent for a day however as they would use their choice of a book/magazine as a way to past the travel time for the day. Then once that person gets their fair share of the book and are done traveling they would return it to another store located within the airport. All that would need to be done is scan the book barcode and double check that the person has returned everything they have rented. If a book is ever held for and not returned in the time specified by the customer then each additional day there will be a $3 surcharge until it reached the price of the book. If that price is reached the following day the price charged will jump an additional $10 and the person who rented the book can keep the book but now has to pay the full price of the book along with an additional $10.
   Venture Concept
My main reasons why I feel customers will switch this product is based on two idea's. The first being that much of the people who enjoy reading and feel passionate for reading are people who are not all the technologically savvy. These are the people who would prefer to read from a hard copy book or some material within their own hand as they cannot operate and use a Kindle or other sources like this for reading pleasures. Another reason why I feel customers would switch would be the price. The pricing if used how the business planned for customers to use the product is very cheap compared to any other service that is similar in manner. I feel these two groups of people it would not be all too difficult to get them to switch. The competitors are other airport markets selling similar products but at a much higher price and Kindles/ other forms of electronic media that allows users to read. This issue with other airline stores is their incredibly high prices of purchasing and with kindles it has to do with understanding how to use one. In defining my business concept: packaging does not play a huge role in it, price differential plays a huge role in obtaining customers from other markets and wanting them to switch to mine because of such low and affordable prices, and customer experience will also play a huge role in my business concept. I want operations to run smoothly and for customers to get the most out of their money's worth. Quick, efficient, and cheap are three keywords in the whole process of Books-To-Go. I would create a business that uses two employees are every store. These employees are their to help customers find books and to rent-out/return books. With all this my market has also been able to expand as through recent on the field reserach has proven that I can target gamers and others as long as I provide gamer magazines/books as an option to rent. This expansion of the market can open many new windows and will allow the business to expand even more.

3 Minor Elements
1.) I think my businesses secret sauce is such a unique and interesting idea. Many people love the service Redbox as it gives users quick and easy access to popular movies, just like RedBox my service will give the same opportunity but instead of movies they are using books. This new idea of passing time and a efficient, quick and cheap way will generate interest and a customer base
2.) My next venture is to create a website for my business with this people could become more acquainted with the service at hand and also would be able to figure out prices, for renting books, while traveling and incorporate that into their traveling budget.
3.) In five years I want my business to be located within all major airports of North America. This will allow for a huge expansion of business as people from all over North America could rent a book from one coast and could deliver that book after they are done with it to the other coast they are going too. I want to be the owner of this successful business and in 10 years I hope this is a business that could be attracting global attention. I don't see it branching out to the global market yet as their are so many cultural, language barriers between seas which would make it very hard to expand out too. This first venture will give me a taste of the real market and will allow me to see how will this business can really flourish.
2) Provide a summary of the feedback you received from your previous venture concept description. You certainly want to include the student feedback, but you may also include the feedback you received from others during the "What's Next" exercise. You want to summarize all of the feedback, but be sure to place an emphasis on what people recommended you change about your idea. (In other words, don't just describe the positive feedback.)
The feedback I received from my venture concept was all positive. They touched on the idea of how my business is very unique and is one that could be very useful for those you can find the use of this service. However, people also mentioned that I need to make it clear my protocol of returning and renting books. But that suggestion was more of a reinforcement of what I already discussed in my venture concept. Now from the feedback I got from whats next is that I can reach my market out to  wider market. in the Whats next assignment I learned that my target market could include gamers who usually pass time by playing video games and that if I included gamer magazines/books they would be interested in reading those. 

3) Describe how you changed your venture concept, based on what you learned from the feedback.

My venture concept changed both within my opportunity and my actual venture concept as a whole. With the opportunity from the feedback i generated it was made known that i can expand my target demographic to people who like to game. All I have to do to draw the attention of the new market is too include gaming books/magazines as a genre of choice. This will make profit and growth a lot easier with the expansion of my target market. 

28A- Exit Strategy

Here's what you should do and write up for your post:

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?

My exit strategy all depends on the success of my business. Within five years will be too short of a time for me to determine whether or not I want to stick with my business. But after 10 years if my business has expanded to all national airports in North America I will stay with the business and continue to expand it's market. If this occurs I will stick with the business for as long as I can till I can retire than if any of my children want to take the handles from me I will pass it down. 

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

I have choose this strategy because I feel it would be most beneficial towards myself and my family. If I handle the whole situation right I will be able to take care of my close family and friends for many years.

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?

It has had an influence on my growth strategies. I plan to be able to expand my market all throughout North America and depending on if I can achieve this or not will really be the make or break point for myself to continue the business and keep trying to expand it. 

27A Reading Reflection #3

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Ashlee Vance

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most?

The most surprising thing to me about this book was the open relationship that was discussed between Musk and his lady companions. He's been married three times now and twice to the same girl. For a genius of the 21st century I was surprised to learn this about Musk.

• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

The most admirable trait that Musk exhibits is his lust for wanting to save humankind. He is searching, working, sweating trying to find the solutions to a plethora of human issues. He is trying to make a positive impact on the world and ultimately wants to save it. I also love his passion for wanting to colonize Mars. He has such an outside the box mentality that I truly admire. 

• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

The least admirable thing about Musk from what is seen is his indecisive manner when it comes to handling real-life situations (like with his wife) and sometimes would always put work before family. I understand he is the "Iron Man" of our society but he still needs to put his family first. 

• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

Musk came across the issue of either having to fund Tesla or SpaceX. When funds were starting to become an issue he had to make the ultimate decision of which branch to shut down for awhile and which branch he needs to keep working on and improving. 

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

Musk's most obvious competency was his ability to finish a job by the deadline no matter the circumstances. He would grind for hours very day of the week until he finished what he was starting on. He is one of the most determined and hardworking individuals in world history.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

I was confused about the part where Musk got involved with the whole PAyPal thing and how he sold it to Google. I didn't quite understand how the transaction came to be.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

1.) Why did space colonization become such a passion of yours?

Really curious as why this became something he so passionately loved 

2.) Who was your idol growing up?

Everyone has a role model that they want to follow and grow up like, curious as to this was for him.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

I think Musk's opinion of hard work was when you start a task you fulfill all the duties that the task requires and to go above and beyond the most basics for the task. I feel I share an opinion similar to that of Musk but his passion and dedication are unmatchable. 

26A- Celebrating Failure

A time I failed in this class was when I submitted the wrong URL for one of my blogpost. It was for the first elevator pitch as well so i was super pissed that I put forth so much work and received 0 credit for it. I learned to always triple check my work and pay attention to the fine details when submitting future assignments for this class and other classes. 

Failure is one of the key aspects of maturing and growing up as an individual. The hardship of failure is what allows for a person to build on their mistakes and become a better person. Whenever I fail I try to realize my mistakes and build upon them. It is always best to look to failure as a way to build instead of it being a negative aspect of your life. This class has reinforced my ideas of failure and it is okay to fail every once in awhile. Failure is a part of every entrepreneurs life. The most successful one's are the ones who can adopt best to their failures.

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 think what's next for my product or service would be the creation of a website and the expansion to more airports located within North America. The website would provide insight of what the actual business is, how the service itself works, and pricing for the service. This would be huge in optimizing satisfaction in customers as they have a basis of what to branch the business off of. 

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. 

Interview #1 Morgan Crumley, frequent traveler, 22 years old. When asking Morgan about what I should do next for my company she mentioned making it available in places besides airports to return the book. She said a lot of times she likes to read the books slowly to truly understand the book and said she feels the limited time of the flight could prevent that. She said if there were more convenient locations for drop-off/ renting could allow for the business to expand even further. 

Interview #2 Cole Maxey, 26 year old, student at UF. When talking to Cole he really loved my idea for a business but then mentioned about giving people to option to completely buy any book/magazine they wanted to keep right at the point of purchase and not have to deal with renting it. He brought up the idea of how people like to mangle and mark up book as they read and if they could buy books that would allow them to do so. 

Interview #3 Stacia Smith, mid 40s, Mother of 2. When chatting with Stacia she brought up the point to me of making sure that people don't get confused with places for drop-off as when my business first starts I won't have store locations in all major airports yet. This could lead to confusion of customers and the need to have numerous stores open in all major airports is a huge key to success.

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.

Based off of what I heard and what I already know there is some key points that need to be addressed in the future that will determine its survival in the market. 

The first of this involves being able to expand my business to all major airports that would be able to use this service. This will allow the expansion of the business to be able to be effective in all parts of North America and not limit my service to only the select few that would receive benefits from this service. I need to test the market t accurately decipher trends within the market and once this is done and research gathered I can figure out the main airports that are used, favorite genre of books/magazines, and greatest number of frequency of flyers would find this service useful. Once all this info is gathered I will be able to determine which airports I should be focused on using and implementing into my service to make it more nationally expanded. 

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.

The target market that I am aiming is people who do not have a passion for reading and like to past time through technology. (Specifically kids who play games all the time to pass time)

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 think my venture concept could create value for these people by providing them with gamer informer magazines and others that relate to whatever games they are playing currently. These magazines could have some cheats or other tips that can make the game more enjoyable so they would find interest in actually reading. They would in essence be reading about a game they are about to play but in the moment they would find benefit from my service by providing them with the info to read.

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? 

Rylein, one of little girls my roommates girlfriend baby sits. I talked with her over the phone and she told me how much she loves to play a game called Baby Mama's coking game. I asked Ryelin if she would read a book, and she instantly replied no, but when i asked her if she wanted to read about Baby Mama cooking she was all for it. She told me that anything about Baby Mama or Nintendo switch games are some of the only books she would enjoy reading.

Dylan, 22 year old gamer. Dylan is one of my close friends and is addicted to playing video games. of course his favorite is Fortnite which is very popular game amongst everyone in this generation. I asked him the last time he read a book and he said he couldn't even tell me then i asked him the last time he played fortnite and he replied 15 minutes before i came over. I told him about my business and asked him if he would read anything. He said the only thing he would even have an interest in reading would either be fanatsy football or Fortnite, both of which have magazines that talk about both heavy in detail.

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

What I learned from these interviews in this new market is that there is a way to bridge the gap between an old and new market. For my market specifically to appeal to a market who prefers to play video games or use technology as an alternative to past time I learned that if I included books/magazines that were about they topics they enjoy they would be willing to bridge the gap and read. 

This new market is attractive but not as attractive as my old market. Much more research and dedication needs to go into the appeasing of the new market compared to my older one. Once my business has developed and is running smoothly I will make this bridge of the gap to incorporate this new market into my most desired. 

24A - Venture Concept #1

1.) Opportunity
To start the organization I have decided to create is "Books-To-Go". The need I have decided to fulfill is the need for people who are dealing with airline travel or other forms of traveling and don't have a sufficient way to past the time. To be able to past the time my business will be offering books and or magazine of numerous genres to be sold and to follow the same design or RedBox for book/magazine renting and returning. The nature of this is pretty high as numerous people in airports rely heavily on some form of text to past the time either while traveling or waiting to travel. The main issue is that airport's up-charge all of their prices and everything to ridiculous prices making a dent in anyone's wallet. The forces in the environment that are creating this opportunity is a mixture of natural elements that is creating delays in arrival or departures and failure of management by airports to accurately reach objectives on time and in a fashionably manner. The market is defined geographically by anyone traveling within North-America, this service hasn't been able to make the transfer to across seas yet at the moment. Demographically this market is for people who have a passion for reading and want to learn more and read more in their spare time or as a way to past time. Customers are currently satisfying this need by a few ways but none of them seem to be that effective. The number one way this need is being satisfied is through the use of Kindle Fires. Kindles provide the people ways to read numerous books all through the use of a handheld device. The other way this opportunity is being fulfilled is by people spending an extra amount of money from airports to buy books/magazines from stores within the airport. The people who are using Kindle's are most likely going to stay loyal to Kindle's but that is only a small amount from the actual people who will receive benefits from this opportunity. Many people prefer to read hard physical copies of text they are reading so many would choose hard books/magazines over a kindle. Also with way lower prices to rent these books/magazines many more people who prefer this alternative. The window of opportunity will be available until technology advances to the point where everyone has some sort of handheld device they can use to read whatever they want whenever they want no matter of the situation at hand.
2.) Innovation
My innovation is the creation of "Books-To-Go". This is an in person service that allows for people to come into the store (in airports), explore through numerous genre's of books/magazines, selectively pick the ones they want to read and indulge in during their traveling time, and use as a way to past traveling time. Basically what would happen is a person would come into the store and find a book/magazine they want to read and would rent it from the store. The cost of a book is $3 per day and the cost of a magazine is $2 per day. Once they found what they are looking for they would confirm with the worker at hand that this is the book they are renting and they would have to pay the flat fee of how many days they think they would use the service for. Most people would only rent for a day however as they would use their choice of a book/magazine as a way to past the travel time for the day. Then once that person gets their fair share of the book and are done traveling they would return it to another store located within the airport. All that would need to be done is scan the book barcode and double check that the person has returned everything they have rented. If a book is ever held for and not returned in the time specified by the customer then each additional day there will be a $3 surcharge until it reached the price of the book. If that price is reached the following day the price charged will jump an additional $10 and the person who rented the book can keep the book but now has to pay the full price of the book along with an additional $10.
3.) Venture Concept
My main reasons why I feel customers will switch this product is based on two idea's. The first being that much of the people who enjoy reading and feel passionate for reading are people who are not all the technologically savvy. These are the people who would prefer to read from a hard copy book or some material within their own hand as they cannot operate and use a Kindle or other sources like this for reading pleasures. Another reason why I feel customers would switch would be the price. The pricing if used how the business planned for customers to use the product is very cheap compared to any other service that is similar in manner. I feel these two groups of people it would not be all too difficult to get them to switch. The competitors are other airport markets selling similar products but at a much higher price and Kindles/ other forms of electronic media that allows users to read. This issue with other airline stores is their incredibly high prices of purchasing and with kindles it has to do with understanding how to use one. In defining my business concept: packaging does not play a huge role in it, price differential plays a huge role in obtaining customers from other markets and wanting them to switch to mine because of such low and affordable prices, and customer experience will also play a huge role in my business concept. I want operations to run smoothly and for customers to get the most out of their money's worth. Quick, efficient, and cheap are three keywords in the whole process of Books-To-Go. I would create a business that uses two employees are every store. These employees are their to help customers find books and to rent-out/return books.

3 Minor Elements
1.) I think my businesses secret sauce is such a unique and interesting idea. Many people love the service Redbox as it gives users quick and easy access to popular movies, just like RedBox my service will give the same opportunity but instead of movies they are using books. This new idea of passing time and a efficient, quick and cheap way will generate interest and a customer base
2.) My next venture is to create a website for my business with this people could become more acquainted with the service at hand and also would be able to figure out prices, for renting books, while traveling and incorporate that into their traveling budget.
3.) In five years I want my business to be located within all major airports of North America. This will allow for a huge expansion of business as people from all over North America could rent a book from one coast and could deliver that book after they are done with it to the other coast they are going too. I want to be the owner of this successful business and in 10 years I hope this is a business that could be attracting global attention. I don't see it branching out to the global market yet as their are so many cultural, language barriers between seas which would make it very hard to expand out too. This first venture will give me a taste of the real market and will allow me to see how will this business can really flourish.

23A- Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

10 Resources for my Venture

1.) Connections with others (social capital): Being friends with salesmen and people who are in my market allow me to gain knowledge and experience through them. It is a rare opportunity to be able to hear tips and advice from people with 15+ years of experience making it  very rare and valuable aspect.

2.) Dedication (Capabilities): My dedication for task I set my mind that many people cannot match. If I have a goal in my head I will do anything in my power to obtain this goal. I can fail and fail again till I figure out to get over the hurdle and succeed 

3.) Differentiation Business Model: offering vary products of both books and magazines. Very unique type of business that allows for preferences of book/magazine genres. 

4.) Cheap Entry Cost: very rare nowadays for start u businesses to find a cheap entry to business like this. Smaller market allowing for the cheaper entry into it.

5.) Coworkers: are valuable as they help business operations run smoothly. Will be rare because they will have expanded knowledge on the subject at hand. Difficult to find substitutes with the same knowledge.

6.) Ability to build an online marketing segment (capability): I can create and devise a website that could be used to allow consumers to know what our business represents and how it can be beneficial to them making it valuable. Can be copied by others if they decide to choose a similar business model. No other substitutes besides the one website.

7.) Leadership (capabilities): ability for myself to stay calm cool and collected as a leader and owner of the business, this trait is very valuable. This is a rare trait as many people cannot handle the stress and difficulties that come with as being a leader. These difficulties of being a leader make it non-substitutable. 

8.) Being apart of entrepreneurship (social capital): I may be able to receive help from others in the class, and the people within the class are all smart, bright students. Making this a very valuable resource. Rare because a whole class of entrepreneurs is very difficult to come across. These people possess many skills that are unique making it non-substitutable. 

9.) Ability to self-learn and progress (capabilities): wanting to dive in and learn as much as I can everyday becomes a very rare and valuable trait. This is substitutable as other people can use other traits to match this one but it still is very important to have. 

10.) Receiving money from the bank to help start up the business (Financial capital): This is valuable because a business needs money for it to start. Not that rare as there are numerous individuals who possess the money to already do so. Other people have money but it is non-substitutable because money is money.

I think the most important resource out of all the ones I listed would have to be my leadership ability. I feel that all strong and empowering businesses all have one correlation and that is having strong managerial leadership. Being able to set plans, be emotionally stable in all situations, be able to look toward the future and be able to make predictions of the market and much more is what really defines a businesses' success. This resource is not one that you are born with but one that must be adapted and modified to best fit oneself. It is a very rare and non-substitutable trait that many people lack. 

22A- Elevator Pitch #3

1.) The Pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvgkweyfaj8&t=5s 

2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch. 

The most important feedback I received was being concise, to the point, and talk in a very uplifting and enthusiastic tone. If I can keep people entertained enough they will actually listen to what i have to say and elaborate on the ideas I propose. Also someone suggested using actual physical copies of books/magazines as a reference which I thought helped support my ideas and was a very smart idea. One of the idea's I thought were silly was to actually propose my pitch in a library. 

3) What did you change, based on the feedback?

The pitch itself was way more smoothly and easily recited. Memorization started playing key in allowing me not to stutter and get to my points much more quickly and elegantly. I never really had a problem talking in front of people but for some reason talking in front of a camera at first was very awkward. But after the numerous tries I just imagine I'm talking to the person behind the camera and feel a lot more comfortable now doing so.

21A Reading Reflection #2

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Scott Adams

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The general theme of this book was to always be proactive with your day. Make the most out of each and everyday and if one can set systems for each day they will have a drive to get up and want to accomplish these on a daily basis. One needs to be able to accept failure and turn it into positive energy and adapting to it.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

This book really opened my eyes and made me realize that the only person who can truly control how you act is yourself. One needs to understand themselves first and harness their own strengths before trying to accomplish anything. Once one is able to control their personal energy they will expand their opportunities to the next level. This book was helpful for ENT because it showed me that I need to believe in myself and my business (Books-to-Go) in order to be successful. It taught me to accept failure and to turn failures into positive experiences.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

The exercise I would devise for the class would be one that is not too complicated but at first no one could accomplish. They would have to fail first in order to realize what they need to do next time in order to pass.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

I think one of the biggest 'aha' moments for myself was when Adams talked about in his book about forgetting goals because they are for te weak and create systems. Systems are basically a set of procedures one should do everyday in order to give them something too look forward too each and everyday. Adams talked about this idea when he was working and how it helped him stay positive all the time and loaded with good vibes and energy.

20A - Growing your Social Capital

1) Who they are and what their background is.

The three people I talked to to grow my human capital are:

Rocky Shiffner (Pre-School Teacher)

Betty Joostema (Retired Nurse and Librarian) 

Pete Mozes (Traveling agent)

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot. 3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

Rocky (Domain Expert): Rocky is actually a close friend of mine mom and she fits this aspect for me because she herself is a pre-school teacher and has a passion for making sure children are reading books at a young age. She told me she has a passion and want to write children books, which would be incorporated into my business as some book options to choose from. She has a good idea of the overall market of how books trade and sell. She came up for a baseball game and it was a perfect time to talk about this assignment.

Betty (Market Expert): Betty is actually my grandmother but she has a vast knowledge of the book market being she was a former librarian. She has an understanding of the book market and has research about what people want and the books people could care less for. Her and I came into contact after I gave her a phone call. 

Pete (Supplier Expert): Pete is one of my dad's best friends and I gave him a phone call to talk about what he does. Basically he travels around for his business to places across the nation and tries to make other companies/institutions buy his product. His products range from electronics to books and much more. He has an idea of how to persuade and talk businesses into accepting your product and wanting to make it one of their own which would be huge for my business.

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

Rocky: Rocky told me the difficulties that include trying to mass produce and find someone interested in the product one is trying to sell. She told me sometimes its a dirty business and just because your idea seems like the best it sometimes will go unnoticed and she told me to never give up. She emphasizes this idea because Rocky herself has been trying for a few months now to have some books approved for publishing. Her ultimate goal is to get books into the market that can be used by many ages for enjoyment and knowledge.

Betty: We talked about the true difficulty of determine the types of genres and style of books that people nowadays tend to read or want to read. She told me how the trend has become more expansive as more and more people want to read such different subjects. But she ensured me one thing and that was as long as people are alive and breathing there will be people interested and wanting to read.

Pete: Pete and I actually talked for awhile a lot about life and then I basically ran through my elevator pitch with him. He told me it was a good start but needed much improvement. He told me I have a great tone but I lack in the ability of persuading others that my product far outweighs other competitors and it would be hard to get accepted if I cant overcome this.

All three listened to my business idea and helped me develop pointers and tips on what my strengths and weaknesses are and how I can try to improve them.

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

Rocky: Rocky has experience in trying to sell to the market and with her and she knows how to produce books/ services. She has way more knowledge then I do with actually trying to enter the market and has many tips that would be beneficial to my service. 

Betty: Betty has such an array of knowledge as has been alive to witness all the trends that have shaped the the book market to what it is today. She has a good idea of what books are a "hot read" and which ones I shouldn't even worry to include within my business. She has a background knowledge of the subject to help my service progress to maximizing its opportunities. 

Pete: He would be a perfect addition in my network because he really would give insight for my service of being persuasive and showing that we are the best company for the service that is needed to be provided. He has extensive background history in selling to firms in my industry and has a great idea of the best ways of how to do that.

Finally: Reflect. 

This experience actually really will help me in numerous aspects of future networking events that come my way. I've learned from this that 1.) it is so beneficial to look for others for advice. You need a team in order to fulfill all the needs of a successful business and talking with everyone made me realize this. 2.) It will make me also always looks for outside the box solutions of how to differentiate myself from others and be a unique service. This experience differed a lot from other networking experiences i've had because I actually had to make initiative to go out and find very compatible sources that I could learn a lot from. I did research and much more to find suitable people.

19A Idea Napkin #2

1) You. 

I am Daniel Plattner, a third year Junior at the University of Florida looking to obtain a degree in both APK and Business. My Skills involve being very friendly and being able to speak in front of large groups. I am creative, intelligent, and a very determined/hard-worker. when faced with adversity I will do my absolute best to overcome and achieve whatever goal i have set forth. My main aspiration is to better myself everyday that I live. This could be from learning or some sort of physical experience. Regardless of how i'm improving I am doing it one way or another. If i were to start this business I could see myself becoming completely devoured by it. I would want to make it the best service possible and do everything in my power to achieve this.

2) What are you offering to customers? 

What i am offering for customers is a way to past airline travel time down by the old but efficient way of reading books/magazines. My service follows the same system of RedBox where you would rent a book for a specific amount of time and then return the book/magazine once you are done with the use. 

3) Who are you offering it to?

I am offering this product to basically anyone who likes to read books/magazines and finds this a suitable and effective way to past the time while traveling. The people in my target segment don't have the best understanding of technology and because of this uses old fashion way to past the time (by reading). These people have the same passion of mine and want to improve everyday and they could accomplish this by learning more through what they read. 

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 

People will actually pay money to use this service for many reasons. But two of the most important would be because people actually enjoy reading and would prefer to read a physical copy of something in front of them instead of on a phone or any other electronic device. Also, people would choose this method because the pricing for it would be affordable for basically anybody.

5) What are your core competencies? 

What sets this company apart from others is that there is nothing else that even matches this type of service. Kindles are the closest thing to competition for this service but many people do not have kindles and prefer a physical copy to actually read from. 

For the "feedback memo" -- please summarize at least two main points that you took away from the feedback you received. Also, please describe how you incorporated the feedback into this idea napkin. 

Elements

I believe that all of the elements of my business concept do fit together pretty perfectly. I feel that they all have a connection to each other one way or another and all of the aspects are needed from my target market in order for my business to be successful. I feel the one weakness my business faces is the evolution of the advancement of technology. As technology keeps advancing who knows what the world will be like in a few years from now and if my service will even be needed by then.

Feedback

The feedback i received I gathered two main points away from it. The first was to be able to create an actual system of renting/drop-off that would be convenient for both the buyer and seller and allow for both of them to maximize from the service they are receiving. When this becomes implemented it will put the business in the right steps to be successful. Another point from my feedback was to make sure I can efficiently promote my service to people who would actually want to use this service. I need to make it clear who exactly my target market is and I need to make sure I aim to make that as clear and evident as possible. These two points allowed me to really decide and focus who my target market would be and that a business has many more steps that are needed to maximize its potential.

17A Elevator Pitch #2

The Pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GR9ThRXmqM \


Feedback from the last pitch:
The greatest feedback I received from my last pitch was the use of my enthusiastic tone and the use of painting a mental image of exactly what my product would do and how it would fulfill the unmet needs. I feel the feedback that was not so useful for myself was trying to explain how my service is similar to matching Redbox. My service is basically the same idea but it is my own company and has many differentiations to that of Redbox.

What I changed:
I decided to try and be even more enthusiastic and use more visuals in giving my pitch. An attention grabber is key for success. I also decided to try and more slowly talk about the aspects of my business and how this business can be used to target the unmet needs of many people who would find use of my business.

18A- Create Your Customer Avatar

What kind of hobbies does your customer have? 
My customer has hobbies that would include reading, writing, and wanting to learn more throughout all aspects of their life. They are people who empassion reading and truly digesting into a good story or article. They form their own opinions and ideas from what they read and embody their own ideas. 
What kind of car do they tend to drive? (What color is it?)
I would say a customer of mine would drive either a smart car, Prius, tesla, or a Nissan. Cars good on gas and the environment.
 What TV shows do they watch?
History channel, discovery channel, or documentaries 
 Do they have children? 
Probably have a family
 How old are they?
Somewhere anywhere ranging from 25-45
 How old do they feel? 
They feel youthful but has awareness of their limits

 What do you have in common with the customer avatar?
I would say one of the biggest things the custom avatar and myself has is the desire to read and want to learn from we are reading. We prefer nonfictional books that have meanings and backstories to them that help readers develop feelings and opinions for what we are reading.
 If you have anything in common with the avatar, do you think that is a coincidence? Why?
I feel like this is not a coincidence we share such a common interest as Books-to-go was first thought of and created by combining a nuisance that occurred to me and a personal passion of mine that was used to solve the nuisance. 

16A- what’s your secret Sauce

What makes me who I am:
I consider myself a very intelligent, essay minded, decdiated and caring person. I feel my tenacity of wanting to always succeed and win are one of the best reason why I can separate my selves from others. I really care and always will give my all no matter how against the odds i am from succeeding.

Interview on Youtube: names correspond with people in interview in order)

https://youtu.be/tOUB8hOMIaE

Interview #1 (Ryan Cutright my cousin):
From my interview with Ryan I realized that he was right and family does mean a lot to me. I always want everything working as a whole and that includes my family. Bridges need to be made to make connections.
Interview #2 (Justin Cutright cousin)
From my interview with Justin I realized that being self determined is one of my key traits  of making myself who i am. I want to be someone who is committed to my goals and is someone who can always follow through.
Interview #3 (Brandon Conti friend)
From my interview with Conti I realized that i have a want for self improvement. I strive everyday to be better than the last.
Interview #4 ( Josh friend)
From my interview with Josh I realized how trustworthy of an assets i can be.  being able to maintain trust is key to successful relationships in life.
Interview #5 (Sydney )
My interview with Sydney helped me realize to be happy with life i need to understand how to have fun but be serious at the same time.

Reflection:
After all of my interviews i’ve reaized that what makes me who i am is starting with my roots and that’s my family. I idiozlied how I was raised and promote the same caring, dedicated and free flowing lifestyle. When seeing how others would talk about me I noticed they would keen in on how supportive I was. I feel these ineterviews were correct and going back to my list i feel they all are pretty consistent and that I should add being supportive.

15 A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

Summary of Interviews:
After doing a thorough conduction of three interviews, with a 23 years Uf Senior, a 31 year old who does business selling products to customers and a 20 year old Uf sophomore. Starting with the alternative evaluation it became obvious that one of the most important thing for this product was the price associated with the quality. Many buyers made it clear that the best alternative for my service Books-to-Go was the Kindle Fire. People didn’t like this alternative though because for some the price is way to much for a service they would only use so often. The benefits of Books-to-Go would provide a cheaper alternative to rent a book for such amount of time and get the full use of your paying amount. Leading off of that many people who would use my service would prefer the buying in person method as they would hold physical book in there hands to read, just like the old fashioned and convenient way to do so. The best way I would be able to tell about Post-Purchase behavior would to base that off of offline reviews and quetionarres we assess to customers of the service. A bad response would obviously elicit the customers disapproval of the service.
Conclusion:
The segment market of mine would be people looking to pay time by reading books/magaazines the conventional and efficient way by physically having the said item in their hand. People who like the buy a book to read a book/magazine for cheaply and liking the service to be in person would be the ideal target market.

14A- Halfway Reflection

1) Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? 

I think that one of the most key behaviors for this class is being oriented and efficient. With these two skills I have been able to turn in all of my assignments on time and have learned on how to branch any type of business or service I create to others and learn ho fulfill unmet needs of consumers.

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

A time I actually felt like giving up was for one of my classes called Biomechanics. I realized beforehand that the class was going to be very difficult as it is a mixture between both physics and anatomy, and in the earlier weeks of school I bombed my first quiz. As a result I was stressing that I was already taking 19 credits this semester and figured screw it I don't need this class I am already taking so many other classes as is I should just drop this one. But then I realized something, that there is a reason why I got into Uf and that one quiz does not define me as a person in a class or in the outside word. I realized that instead of beating myself up and looking for excuses I needed to figure out a way to solve my issue instead of running from it. I created a study group and for the next quiz I got a 95% a huge improvement. I feel like I have developed tenacious attitude over the past two months. I would say just growing as a human has contributed to this. Sometimes life can be really shitty but how one handles those experiences i what really makes a person who they are today.

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?

1.) Don't ever doubt yourself. Doubt is the number one confidence killer in the world.

2.) Don't compare yourself to others. You are who you are today for a reason, don't try to emulate someone else that you're not. Being unique is what separates you from others

3.) Always say yes. You only live life once so try to make the most out of any opportunities to come your way. Don't be lazy and get out their in the world. 

13A- Reading Reflection

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most?

I think one of the most surprising things actually pertained too Walter Isaacson, the author of the book, who also composed top selling biographies on also Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein. I thought it was very interesting that Steve Jobs selected him as the one who should write this book as he wrote two other elegant biographies on two of the most influential people in the history of the world. Was Steve Jobs trying to go down as equal equivalence of value as those two and hoped to achieve that through this author? 

• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

The most admirable trait that Jobs reflected was his determination to be the best out of any other competitors. To start, just with the name Apple for his company, he choose just a said name just so that his company Apple would be ahead of Atari, which was is old job, in the phonebooks. Also, Steve Jobs never gave up his dream of making it. He was a troublemaker in school and did not care all too much for it. Because of this he dropped out and never finished but that didn't stop him. He put his head down and grinded his way up through multiple jobs till he finally made it to where he is today.

• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

One of the things I actually found least desirable of Jobs was what lead to his most desirable traits and to me Job's least admirable thing he did was not finish up college at Reed and instead choose to drop out. He did so not because school was to hard for him but because he was basically a "hippie" and was experimenting with different sort of substances and choose to do that instead of attending classes.

Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

      Jobs faced adversity all throughout his life. Starting when he was young he was adopted by a family, to a point where he started to invent things like "Blue Box" and was robbed at gunpoint, too looking for a wealthy sponsor to help him create the Apple I. Jobs whole life he had to face adversity in order to reach his goals. But he looked at adversity with a positive attitude and never lost faith in himself. He knew that bigger and better was meant for him and realized that if he put forth the hard work and effort he would be able to overcome these obstacles and do great things.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

Jobs exhibited being a hard-worker, an innovator, communicator, leader, great at creating long-time lasting relationship and amazing at creating a business scheme for his fellow workers to follow.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

One of the odd parts of the reading for myself was Job's relationship with Christann Brennan. They dated for a few years but were very on and off and the whole thing about Jobs denying that the kid she was pregnant with or not was very confusing. I was just more confused with why Jobs was denying the idea that the kid was his for such a long time.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

1.) What in your life would you say was the defying moment that made who you are today?

2.) Who was your role model throughout life?

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

I feel that job's opinion of hard work was to not half ass any assignment given to someone and to accomplish said assignment as efficiently as possible. Jobs exemplified this idea time and time again. I feel that I do share this opinion because when I am ever given a task I always try my best with said assignment and put forth all my effort to complete it.