Week 15 Reading Reflection

This week, the reading discussed how businesses among the extremely poor were not like the rest of the businesses in the world.  The most surprising thing to me was the shocking story of how SKS Microfinance was ostracized and even physically attacked.  The people in power spread rumors about the company, and that led to the locals attacking the company.  Nothing was particularly confusing to me in this reading.  Originally, I struggled to understand exactly what a microloan was.  However, after re-reading it, the answer was clearer, and I understood it.  If I could ask the author anything, it would be what his biggest risk was.  He shared many risks and several frightening circumstances.  I would love to know what he would classify as his biggest risk.  Also, I would ask what the best moment was for him.  Where did this whole idea really click for him?  The company makes a huge difference in so many people's lives.  That idea is a novel one to me, and I really enjoyed hearing about it.  I didn't disagree with the author on anything this week.

Final Reflection

As I sit here and reminisce about this semester, it is crazy to me how fast it has been.  It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that I was setting up a camera and repeating a few words I didn't understand about being an entrepreneur.  There have definitely been some highs and lows throughout the semester.  However, I do feel much more prepared and equipped with an entrepreneurial mindset.  The most formative experience for me was actually a series of experiences: the interviews.  I learned how to do them better after each and every one, and I am definitely a lot more comfortable with them.  The assignment I look back at with the most pride was the most awkward experience for me this semester: trying to give people money.  Normally, I would think that asking people for money would be more awkward.  However, this assignment taught me that trying to give people free money can be nerve-racking as well.  If I were to give one piece of advice for future students, it would be to write down every assignment on a calendar at the beginning of the semester.  Doing that really helped me stay on top of the projects as the due dates approached.  It really helped me settle into a routine, and it was a big difference maker for me throughout the semester.  Finally, while it is important to take these assignments seriously, it's ok to have some fun with them.  I genuinely enjoyed this class.  I very rarely dreaded assignments.  Instead, I looked forward to the challenge and embraced it.  I feel that this class has made me better for it.  At the beginning of the semester, I was just saying words.  But now I truly believe that I am an entrepreneur.

"Boston Marathon Finish Line" by Steve Garfield.  https://flic.kr/p/6gdeDj

Venture Concept No. 2

This week, I revised my venture concept.  I made changes based on the comments presented, which were almost completely positive.  Here are some snippets of the comment section fro my first venture concept.  

"I think your idea is the most brilliant one yet! It is unique and inventive."

"I love your idea and would absolutely benefit from a durable, retractable charging cord. I cannot tell you how much money I have wasted on buying new cords and cubes for my phone to charge, all while they break so frequently."

"I love the concept of retractable cords so I very much like what you are proposing. Adding the element of a durable cord is icing on the cake."

"I like your idea, because I think long cables are super annoying. However, there are already retractable and durable phone chargers out there, what makes yours so different?"

The only criticism offered was that my product might not be unique.  I think that is definitely something that needs to be addressed.  I didn't change much in the opportunity and venture concept sections.  However, I did add a few things to the innovation section about setting my product apart.

Opportunity

The first area I am addressing is the opportunity I see and am trying to profit on.  In case you aren’t familiar with my product, for clarity’s sake I will go ahead and briefly describe it.  I am making a retractable phone charger that emphasizes a durable cable.  When I asked myself who has this need, the answer was quite simple: anyone with a cell phone.  You don’t have to do much research to know that is quite a large market, and therefore, a huge opportunity.  When I interviewed people about this idea, almost all of them said it was something that they would spend money on.  First, I just asked people about charger cord length.  That was something that an overwhelming majority of the people I talked to had an issue with.  However, the issue of cord durability kept coming up as well.  That was when I decided to focus on making a durable cord as well.  This brings us to the next segment.

Innovation

There are several products on the market currently that have certain characteristics of my product, but nothing that puts all the elements together like I will.  For example, I found a retractable car charger that was only $6.  However, people complained that it broke easily, sometimes never worked, had a very flimsy cord, and just did not seem like it was very well made.  I also found a company that sells durable, long iPhone charger cords.  They sell for about $18, and their reviews are fantastic.  They last a long time, the cord length is excellent, the design on the braided cords is flawless, and they seem to work very well.  However, this company does not offer any cords that are retractable.  With my product, I would like to take positives from both.  Recently, I had to purchase a new charger cord.  My old one had gotten so worn down and frayed that the wiring was protruding from it.  I looked around for something like the product I am wanting to make.  However, I was unable to find anything.  The retractable chargers mainly had very thin, frail looking cords (even more so than the standard Apple one).  I ended up settling for a long, braided cord, and I am much happier with this cord than my previous one.  When making my product, I want a charger that is retractable, but I do not want to sacrifice quality of the cord in order to do so.  I don’t know for sure what price I will set on it yet.  However, I think it could be very competitive with a price somewhere around $18-20.  Eventually, I would be happy licensing my product out to a larger company, but I want to do my own manufacturing and sales in the beginning. 

Venture Concept

The first part of the venture concept I want to talk about is resources.  There are many valuable resources at my company’s disposal.  I talked at length about these in the “secret sauce” blog post recently.  In my opinion, the most valuable resource or opportunity for me is the sheer size of the market.  There are so many people that have cell phones.  Not only that, but tablets, music players, and other devices need charging as well.  It is also a growing market as well.  For the first time, people are using mobile devices to search the internet more than computers.  As you can imagine, this drains battery quickly.  Our product offers a longer cord to make using your phone more convenient while it is charging.  When I look at the near future for this product, the obvious next step to me is to look into car chargers.  After that, we could look into other applications for our retractable technology.  As long as we can get a patent, we can put our technology on other things as well.  This brings me to asking what the next step is for me.  I would love to get a patent on the charger.  That would give me all kinds of options.  The one that pops out to me is actually selling my product to a larger company.  I could keep some equity in the company, have a royalty, or if the offer was good enough, sell the entire thing.  This would allow me to continue investing and growing new products and ideas.

"Tangled" by Jabiz Raisdana. https://flic.kr/p/aSZZU6

Elevator Pitch No. 4

This week, I made my final sales pitch.  As the comments continued to be positive, I didn't make any huge changes.  The only thing I added was a personal story about how I recently had to buy a new charger cord due to my old one fraying and breaking.

Week 14 Reading Reflection

This week, the reading was on the entrepreneurial mindset in organizations and social entrepreneurship

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading?  

The biggest surprise to me was all of the variables that were required for innovation to happen.  I had always thought someone just had an idea and made it happen.  We learned that you need to have a "champion" of the cause, top management support, and a willingness to tolerate failure.

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

I was a little confused on what a "diaspora" is.  I didn't quite understand how you determine what is and is not a diaspora.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask?

How do you draw the lines on a diaspora?  What is the most effective way to take advantage of such a group already in existence?

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

I did not come across anything that I disagreed with the author about this week.

Google Gold

This semester I practiced search engine optimization.  Some of the things I did included using similar phrasing, wording things in a consistent manner from post to post, and trying to use my keywords often.  This brings me to the subject of keywords.  Early in the semester, my keywords were: retractable, phone, and charger.  I added the word "durable" a few weeks later to help narrow the search.  I didn't do a particularly stellar job of using social media with my blog.  I don't use it very much myself, and I probably didn't put enough of an emphasis on it.  My most viral post was actually my "Half-way reflection" post.  I don't understand why it was, but it wasn't even a close race.  That post had over 6 times the number of views as my second most viewed post did (133 to 21).  Unfortunately, I was unable to make it to the front page of Google.  In fact, I was unable to locate it on any of the pages unless I searched for "durable retractable phone charger" in quotes.

"Gold coins." by Anthony Joh.  https://flic.kr/p/27RBCn

Very Short Interview, Part 2

The end of the semester is rapidly approaching.  I revisited the entrepreneur that I interviewed at the beginning of the semester, Robert Minchin.  The first time I interviewed him, I had no idea what to expect from this semester.  I didn't realize just how often I would be thrust out of my comfort zone by assignments.  Now that I've done those tough tasks, I have a better understanding of what being an entrepreneur actually means.  Mr. Minchin is incredibly busy preparing for law school and editing full time, so we communicated via email again.  Here are the questions I asked and his response.

1.  Throughout this semester, I have repeatedly had to interview people about my product ideas.  How would something like this have prepared you for your entrepreneurial endeavors?

"When I was working with the start-up, we had to approach potential donors and ask them to invest in our product.  But more important than that was getting them to invest in us as entrepreneurs.  If people don't see the fire in your eyes and a passion for what you're doing, they won't buy in.  Doing projects like that can only help give you perspective on what it is like to do that with money on the line."

2.  My most recent assignment was a celebration of failure.  How has failure helped shape your career?

"I started out by getting my engineering degree at UF.  About 2/3 of the way through, I decided that wasn't what I really wanted to do.  However, you don't just throw away several years of hard work and study, so I finished my degree.  I didn't fail in the typical sense.  I just didn't land where I was expecting to after several years.  Next, I got my MBA from Harvard.  That was moving more towards the direction I wanted, but I still wasn't quite there.  This fall, I will be beginning law school at George Mason in DC.  This is exactly where I want to be.  I will be surrounded by an environment I love and a job I want to do.  it just took me a few tries to get there."

3.  What advice would you give to an 18 year old you?

"Don't be afraid to try new things.  I had my sights so set on engineering that I didn't branch out as much as I could have back then.  I would just liked to have tried a few more things back then when I wasn't as busy."

I felt more prepared for this interview than the last.  After all, I have done a few interviews between then and now.  I was encouraged by his advice to "try new things."  I think that is something we can all take to heart and benefit from.  ENT 3003 has forced me to do new things, and I will do my best to continue trying new things outside of this class.

Week 13 Reading Reflection

This week's reading was on valuation of entrepreneurial ventures.  The biggest surprise to me about the reading was in regards to the control factor.  Shareholders in many companies can be the swing votes in big decisions regarding the company's future.  I guess I had never really thought of stock in that way before.  I had only looked at it in regards to its value increasing or decreasing.  But when you purchase stock, you are actually buying a small portion of the company.  The only part that confused me a bit was the math section.  I got  bit lost in the adjusted tangible book value and price/earnings ratio.  Other than that, it seemed pretty straightforward to me.  If I could ask the author something, I would go a different route.  I would ask him about stock, and what he looks for when making stock purchasing decisions.  I would also ask what are the biggest red flags to look for.  There was not anything in this week's reading that I particularly disagreed with.

Celebrating Failure

This week's post is a celebration of failure.  The example I have chosen to examine is from this semester.  However, it is from a different class.  There is a group project in my international business class, and it lasts the length of the semester.  We had 3 practice rounds at the beginning of the semester.  My team and I felt very confident going into the first practice round.  We had our product's specifications and finances completely figured out... Or so we thought.  After the results were published, we found ourselves in dead last, and it wasn't even close.  From that last place start, I learned not to get too overconfident.  My team made lots of adjustments, and when the real round rolled around, we did much better!  Personally, I hate failure.  I think that I hate losing more than I enjoy winning.  However, I am trying to get better at taking my failures and learning from them.  Failure can actually be an incredibly useful tool.  But you have to approach it with the proper mindset of bettering yourself.  Otherwise, failure can eat you alive and bring you down.  This class has taught me not to be afraid of failure.  There have been many assignments that I really did not want to do.  I felt uncomfortable doing them, and I almost just wanted to skip it and move on.  However, I pushed myself to do everything, and I think I am better for it.

Fail Early, Fail Fast, Fail Often.  by Aaron Davis.  https://flic.kr/p/r4Y3pr

My Exit Strategy

"Joining to jump: Force Recon Marines perform parachute training with SEALs, pararescuemen" by DVIDSHUB.  https://flic.kr/p/9d3QYt

As entrepreneurs, it is good for us to have a solid exit strategy.  For the Navy SEALs pictured above, their strategy was simple: jump.  Mine is relatively simple as well.  It is a plan that I have actually been saying since the very first elevator pitch video, and I see no reason to change course now.  My plan is to make a solid product, then sell the rights to it to a larger company.  I would preferably keep some stock in the company or a royalty agreement.  But if a good enough deal can be agreed upon, I would sell the entire thing outright.  I selected this strategy because it is the most logical way to make money.  Make a product that does well, then sell it and invest the money into something new.  I don't think this particular exit strategy has influenced my decisions a great deal.  Since my goal when owning the product is also to make a profit, the decisions I made haven't really been altered by this plan.

Week 12 Reading Reflection

This week the reading was on strategic entrepreneurial growth.  The biggest surprise to me was the section about things that hinder strategic planning.  Although some of these are quite simple, they were still a tad surprising.  The list included things like lack of time, knowledge, expertise, skills, trust, and openness.  To me, these seemed like the things any aspiring entrepreneur would want to iron out in the very beginning stages of his or her endeavor.  It never ceases to amaze me how often a lack of planning will cause things to fail.  The entrepreneurial strategy matrix was a lad confusing to me.  It was difficult for me to differentiate between the high and low innovation and risk.  If I could ask the author questions, I would ask him about that.  How does he know how to label innovations and risks?  How often are these things mislabeled?  I would like to have those questions answered a little more clearly.  I didn't see anything that I thought the author was wrong about.  Other than being a little confused by the matrix, the chapter was clear and concise.

What's next?

This week was very forward focused. I had to interview people about 2 things: a new product and a new market to enter. As for what I think about the next step, I have already covered that in detail in the "Amazon whisperer" assignment. However, so we're all on the same page, I'll recap it again. I think the next step for my company is to manufacture retractable car chargers as well. With the overwhelmingly positive feedback about my current product idea of a durable, retractable charger, moving on to car chargers seems like a natural progression. When I thought about what additional market to target, I thought about car manufacturers. Since I want to make car chargers, I could approach the manufacturers and sell my product to them. If I was successful, they could make my product standard in their new cars, and I would collect a royalty. Here are the interviews where I asked 3 people about these ideas.

At first, I liked the idea of selling my product directly to the manufacturers. However, after conducting interviews, I have rethought that strategy. People who buy used cars wouldn't get my product. And it isn't enough of a selling point to make a difference. I believe I will be better off selling it directly to consumers. 

Venture Concept No. 1

This week, I am writing my venture concept.  In this, I will be addressing three main areas: Opportunity, Innovation, and finally the venture concept.

Opportunity

The first area I am addressing is the opportunity I see and am trying to profit on.  In case you aren’t familiar with my product, for clarity’s sake I will go ahead and briefly describe it.  I am making a retractable phone charger that emphasizes a durable cable.  When I asked myself who has this need, the answer was quite simple: anyone with a cell phone.  You don’t have to do much research to know that is quite a large market, and therefore, a huge opportunity.  When I interviewed people about this idea, almost all of them said it was something that they would spend money on.  First, I just asked people about charger cord length.  That was something that an overwhelming majority of the people I talked to had an issue with.  However, the issue of cord durability kept coming up as well.  That was when I decided to focus on making a durable cord as well.  This brings us to the next segment.

Innovation

There are several products on the market currently that have certain characteristics of my product, but nothing that puts all the elements together like I will.  For example, I found a retractable car charger that was only $6.  However, people complained that it broke easily, sometimes never worked, had a very flimsy cord, and just did not seem like it was very well made.  I also found a company that sells durable, long iPhone charger cords.  They sell for about $18, and their reviews are fantastic.  They last a long time, the cord length is excellent, the design on the braded cords is flawless, and they seem to work very well.  However, this company does not offer any cords that are retractable.  With my product, I would like to take positives from both.  I want a charger that is retractable, but I do not want to sacrifice quality of the cord in order to do so.  I don’t know for sure what price I will set on it yet.  However, I think it could be very competitive with a price somewhere around $20.  Eventually, I would be happy licensing my product out to a larger company, but I want to do my own manufacturing and sales in the beginning. 

Venture Concept

The first part of the venture concept I want to talk about is resources.  There are many valuable resources at my company’s disposal.  I talked at length about these in the “secret sauce” blog post recently.  In my opinion, the most valuable resource or opportunity for me is the sheer size of the market.  There are so many people that have cell phones.  Not only that, but tablets, music players, and other devices need charging as well.  It is also a growing market as well.  For the first time, people are using mobile devices to search the internet more than computers.  As you can imagine, this drains battery quickly.  Our product offers a longer cord to make using your phone more convenient while it is charging.  When I look at the near future for this product, the obvious next step to me is to look into car chargers.  After that, we could look into other applications for our retractable technology.  As long as we can get a patent, we can put our technology on other things as well.  This brings me to asking what the next step is for me.  I would love to get a patent on the charger.  That would give me all kinds of options.  The one that pops out to me is actually selling my product to a larger company.  I could keep some equity in the company, have a royalty, or if the offer was good enough, sell the entire thing.  This would allow me to continue investing and growing new products and ideas.

Week 11 Reading Reflection

The topic of this week's reading was innovation.  I was surprised by the strategy that went into innovation.  When I think of something innovative, I usually don't think of people sitting down and planning how to be innovative.  I think of someone having a spontaneous idea that leads to innovation.  I was confused at first when I read about "routine innovation."  The author referred to it as "myopic or suicidal."  That was a bit surprising, as I didn't realize that some forms of innovation could be bad.  I would like to ask the author how to clearly differentiate between routine innovation and radical.  I would also ask him how he personally plans to avoid being routine.  I felt like Gary Pisano gave a very detailed, thorough analysis of  innovation, and there wasn't anything I particularly disagreed with.

Amazon Whisperer

This week, I will briefly examine what I think the main selling points of my product are.  Then I will try to determine what is next for my company.  The support for my product idea has been overwhelmingly positive.  People love the idea of a retractable phone charger, and almost everyone seems to have issues with cord durability.  The combination of durability and retractability should make my product a winner.

When I think about what the next step should be, there is an obvious choice: car chargers.  In fact, a few of the people that I interviewed several weeks ago mentioned that they would be interested in that as well.  I went to amazon to find a product like this.  The one I found is made by EpicDealz.  It is incredibly affordable, but it has some mixed reviews.  Many people said that they loved it, and it really made their lives easier.  They loved the price (only $6) and that it avoided tangled cords and a mess.  However, some people had problems with it. Several people reported that they simply couldn't get it to work.  While others said that they cord seemed very flimsy and breakable.  Here is a picture of the charger.

I like the design just fine, but I would make a few changes.  The main thing that would have to be different is durability.  That is going to be one of the main selling points of my products, so I can't afford to have people complaining about the frailty of the cord.  I think a car charger line makes a lot of sense for my company.  It seems like an easy way to expand our brand without having to differentiate production and branding too much.

My Unfair Advantage

This week, I am putting together a list of all of my "resources."  Then I will pick the one I currently deem to be the most valuable.

1.  No debt.  I don't currently have oodles of cash to throw at this product, but I currently am not in debt.  That is a huge asset while starting up a product or company as many people have student, credit card, or mortgage debt.
2.  Leadership.  When I asked the people closest to me what my biggest human capital was, they said that I was a good leader.  I feel like this is a rare trait.  Many companies fail for lack of good planning and leadership.  I am by no means completely ready to run a business, but I feel like I could do a good job managing people.
3.  Making people comfortable.  Another strength listed by my friends and family was the ability to make people feel comfortable.  That can be very big if I am in a position of leadership.
4.  Supportive friends and family.  My family and closest friends are very supportive and encouraging.  If I was to start up an entrepreneurial endeavor, they would jump all over any opportunity to help.  This is not incredibly common, and I do not take my strong family relationships for granted.
5.  A strong product idea.  Of the people I have interviewed, almost everyone was strongly in favor of my product idea.  That is something that can be very hard to replicate, and it can make a product very successful.
6.  Technology knowledge. While I wouldn't say that I am "technologically brilliant" like some of my friends, I have a very good understanding of how to use technology and social media.  I am sure this will come in very handy for my down the road.
7.  Friends with entrepreneurial experience.  Throughout this semester, I have mentioned people I know who are entrepreneurs.  The one that sticks out to me the most is Maple Street Biscuit Company.  Knowing people who have that first-hand knowledge and experience is very valuable!  An not everyone has the luxury of being able to ask their friends about those kind of experiences.
8.  Tenaciousness.  Another one of my strengths (according to my friends and family) was my competitive spirit and ability to get things done.  Not everyone has a fiercely competitive spirit, and I can certainly use that to my advantage.
9.  Humor.  This is a tool I can use the break the ice.  It ties in with my ability to make people feel more comfortable.  This can have immense value in an entrepreneurial environment.
10.  Huge market.  There are so many people that use chargers.  Cell phone chargers, computer chargers, chargers for their car, etc...  The growth potential for this product is massive.  This is a huge opportunity for a product like this, and I hope to be able to use that to my advantage.  

All of these are very important, however, I would say that the large market is my top resource.  I could have the other 9 resources, but if there isn't a market for my product, I can't succeed.

Week 10 Reading Reflection

This week, the reading was about being financially prepared before embarking on an entrepreneurial venture.  The thing that surprised me the most was how much the entire chapter was just a reflection of accounting classes I've taken in the past.  We covered the income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, and operating budget.  All of these were chapters in my accounting books.  I was also mildly surprised at how much of that class came back to me after reading this chapter.  The thing that I found confusing was the plethora of financial ratios.  There were over a dozen listed, and they all felt very similar.  If I could ask the author questions, I would ask him how much he uses the ratios in real life and if there was an easier way to use them when calculating finances.  I don't think the author was wrong about anything in this chapter.  He is way more knowledgeable than I in this subject matter.  This was a very informative, but mildly overwhelming chapter.  Still, I felt like I was able to learn a lot from it.

Growing My Social Capital

This week I had to contact 3 experts in the field in which my product is located.  Below is information about each of the "experts" and what they had to offer me.  I found all of the companies I contacted the same way.  I looked online for companies who focused a large part of their business on selling phone chargers.  Then I emailed them, and I asked them what they thought about my idea and if they had anything similar.

1. Charge Cords

Charge Cords is a company that specializes in durable, long-lasting electronics.  Specifically, chargers.  They fill the role of "domain expert."  That is, someone who is engaged in the same type of activity I'd like to be.  They cater to a niche market, those wanting longer, more durable charger cords. Charge cords does not carry retractable cords.  All of their cords are 5 feet in length, and they are made from the original Apple cables.  They just add two feet of length and wrap it in a protective casing.  They like my idea, even though they don't carry anything similar.  I learned about their process and that it's definitely possible to make my product.

2.  Anker

Anker is a little bit more diverse than Charge Cords.  They not only carry cords, but they also sell things like: portable, car, and USB chargers, audio cables, speakers, and headphones.  They are my market expert.  I emailed them, and they too liked the idea of my product, but weren't aware of the specifics needed to manufacture it.  There are lots of things that go into making a product.  They aren't sure what exactly I would need to involve to be competitive, but they agreed that quality and durability were very important.

3.  Recoil Winders

Since 2012, Recoil Winders have been helping solve the problem that I identified.  They created a product that helps keep cords untangled.  It can be used for charger cords, headphones, and USB cords.  They like my idea, but they prefer their method of having a product one can use for multiple different cords.  They did agree that some cords (like iPhone cables) can still fray and break over time, but that is attributed to the poor quality of the cable, not their product.  In order for me to have success, they said my cable would have to be of very good quality, not just retract.

This assignment really pushed me to research and reach out to people I normally wouldn't have.  I feel like it helped me grow, and it showed me that sometimes you really do just have to ask for someone's help.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

The feedback I received from round two of this assignment was very positive.  Therefore, I did not change very much.  I tried to keep it as similar to the previous video as possible while polishing it up slightly.  Here is the video.  I hope you enjoy.

Week 9 Reading Reflection

This week's reading focused on marketing challenges that entrepreneurs will face.  The biggest surprise in the reading was that on of the biggest inhibitors to marketing research is irrelevancy.  In other words, the researchers can potentially spend a lot of time collecting data that is completely unhelpful and irrelevant to them.  The only thing that was a little confusing this week was all the different pricing models.  Things like subscription, "freemium," affiliate, virtual goods, and advertising models were all covered.  I was a bit unsure about when it would be most advantageous to use which one.  That is what I would have asked the author. How do you know which model gives your particular endeavor the greatest chance of success?  Which model or models would he say is most prevalent?  I thought this week's chapter was pretty straightforward, and I didn't have anything I particularly disagreed about.

My Secret Sauce

This week, I have a very introspective assignment.  I had to come up with a list of characteristics about myself that set me apart.  Here is my top 5:

1.  I work well with others.  By this, I don't mean that avoid fights.  Instead, I mean that I am very good at making others feel welcome and comfortable in an otherwise uncomfortable situation.

2.  I have a good sense of humor.  At least, I think so anyway.

3.  I don't take "no" for an answer.  This is both a positive and negative attribute, depending on the day and situation.

4.  I have a good memory, especially for facts and statistics.

5.  I am a good leader.  I am able to take control of a situation and help get things going in the right direction.

Next, I interviewed the five people closest to me and asked them their thoughts on the matter.  The people that I interviewed are, in this order: My grandmother (whom I am currently living with), my mom, my dad, my girlfriend, and my sister.  I had to do the last 4 interviews over the phone.  As a result, I didn't want to make a video just looking at a phone, and I didn't want to film myself talking on the phone.  So I made all those interviews just have a black screen.  Here are the interviews:

I think that I saw myself pretty much the same as the people I interviewed.  Most of them at least mentioned that I help others feel comfortable.  To me, that is the attribute that stood out the most, so I'm glad they all saw that as well.  I would not change my original list, as I think that I fairly assessed myself.

Idea Napkin No. 2

This week, I am making some changes to my first "idea napkin."  I will be making changes based on the feedback I received.  Some of the sections will be identical to my first attempt.  For example, the feedback I received won't change anything about me, so that section will remain largely unchanged.


First, I will look at myself.  I am a junior in college, and I don't have any experience starting a business.  However, I have had some previous exposure to startups that succeeded, and a few that didn't.  I can take things away from both of those by learning what to do and what to avoid.  One of my strengths is working with people.  That has always been a passion of mine.  From competing in high school forensics, working with elementary age students, and teaching high school debate, I have always enjoyed being around people.  This particular business endeavor I would see being a large part of my life, while still allowing me to have a full time job to provide for my family.


Next, I will briefly examine the product.  I am considering a retractable phone charger.  Think of a mechanism similar to that in a measuring tape.  You can extend it for quite a ways, then lock it once you have enough length in the cable.  Something that people really wanted to see in this product is durability.  Almost everyone seemed to have issues with their cords fraying and breaking.  I want to make sure that my product is very durable and long-lasting.


For the target market, I would be offering it to anyone with a cell phone.  I would probably start with an apple charger, but I would quickly put other chargers on the market as well.


So why would customers care about this product?  Of the 10 people I have interviewed so far, 9 have said they would be willing to pay for longer cord length when they purchase their phone.  I know several people that have bought a longer cord, and they all love it.  However, most of them complain that the extra length gets cumbersome from time to time and can be in the way.  This is what would set my product apart from others: you would be able to adjust the length as you need it.  Sometimes, you only need a foot or two to charge your phone.  Other times, it would be very convenient to have 5 feet of cable.  This product would give my customers the best of both worlds.  In addition to that, I will be making a durable cord as well.  That is a big concern for many people, so this product will help people fix a need. 


The challenge we would have is demonstrating our product.  People will know if their charger is inconvenient or bothersome.  However, the challenge we will have is showing people how our product works.  I believe that if people saw it, they would be very excited about it, and the product would succeed.  However, it would take some creative marketing to get the word out.  Overall, I believe there is good potential in the product, but it would take time and a lot of effort to make it work.


These are the main things that people left in the comments of the first "idea napkin" I wrote:


1.  They had issues with cord length.
2.  They love the idea of a retractable cord.
3.  Cords tend to fray and break.
4.  They would consider buying a product like it.
5.  Making the cord longer AND stronger would be ideal.

Week 8 Reading Reflection

This week, we read about different sources of capital for entrepreneurs.  I was not surprised to hear how popular debt financing is.  However, I was very surprised that many entrepreneurs go to the bank with no idea of how much they need.  They just want to get some money, and they will use whatever they get.  The strikes me as something anyone with entrepreneurial aspirations should strive to learn quickly.  After all, failing to plan is planning to fail.  The only part that got a little confusing to me was the section with all of the different kinds of financing.  Preferred stock, common stock, convertible debentures, private placements, and IPOs are just a few of the ones listed.  The author listed so many different types of ways to raise capital.  I would have asked him what he would personally recommend, and when some ways were superior to others.  As this was something I don't have a ton of prior knowledge in, I didn't disagree with the author on anything this week.

Half-way Reflection

The first half of this semester has been an absolute blur.  I credit a large part of that to this class.  Some of the assignments seem more daunting than others, but you can expect them to keep rolling in at a steady pace.  So now I will be sharing 3 things that will hopefully help future students who take this class.

1. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? The biggest thing is to stay on top of the assignments.  As a former professional procrastinator, had I approached this class like I have others in the past, I'd be doing very poorly.  As it is, my grade is doing very well right now.  The main thing you can do to help yourself is avoid procrastination.
2. 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?  The only time I've really felt like giving up was last week when I had to give money to people.  That was an inherently awkward assignment.  But I wanted to maintain a good grade, so I pushed through it.  I don't know that I'd say "tenacious" is how I would describe it.  I think "persistent" is a better word.  And the constant stream of projects is what contributed to that most.
3. 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'?  Use your calendar.  At the beginning of the semester, I went through and wrote down every assignment and test for every class on my calendar.  That has been the biggest help to me.  It's something I haven't done before, and I'm noticing a huge difference for me!  I wish you the best of luck!

"Calendar" by Studio Curve
https://flic.kr/p/2a3hQ

The Twenty Percent

This week, I spoke to Mike Dougherty, owner of the Burger Barn in Hawthorne, FL.  He was too busy to do an in-person interview, so he gave me his cell number, and we talked on the phone.  I will list the questions and answers below.

Q: How long has the Burger Barn been open?
A: We opened it in 1982 and have been going strong ever since.

Q: What are your target customers?
A: Anyone who enjoys a good burger.  But mainly, we like to have families come through and enjoy the experience here.

Q: What are some unmet needs your customers have that you try to help them meet?
A: We try to provide a tasty, affordable burger.  So I guess you could say we meet the needs of hunger and affordability.

Q: Where do you find your customers?
A: I'd say most people are pretty much local.  We are one of the few burger places around, so that's who mostly comes here.

Q: What are your customer's demographics.
A: Oh, we get a pretty wide variety.  But mainly, it's people who need something quick or families who are coming to sit down.

Q: Last question for you: What kind of media do your customers consume?
A: Oh, I don't know.  I would guess the main ones.  Twitter and Facebook probably.  We have a page on Facebook that gets pretty good reviews, so I would assume that's where most of our new customers come from.


I then interviewed 3 customers.  I would say that the owner has dead-on knowledge about the demographics.  There was always a solid line at the drive-thru, and several families went to the walk-up counter to order. However, none of the people I talked to mentioned seeing their facebook page.  They heard from Yelp and word of mouth.  Other than that, mr. Dougherty was very accurate.  Here are the interviews.

Free Money

My strategy for this week's assignment was to walk around the neighborhood and try to give money away to random people living their everyday lives.  I was trying to think of a legitimate reason to want to give away a dollar, and the only thing that made sense to me was a random act of kindness.  Since people are skeptical anyway, that at least seemed like a plausible reason to be handing out a few bills.  I have included two of my interactions with people.  Everyone took the dollar, but it was a very awkward encounter.  It was pretty clear that no one really knew how to take some strange person walking up and handing them a dollar.  To me, this was the most awkward and challenging assignment yet.

Week 7 Reading Reflection

This week's reading assignment was by Daniel Yankelovich and David Meer.  The subject was market segmentation.

The biggest surprise to me in this reading was how narrow market segmentation has become.  I think of that as a rather broad term.  However, Yankelovich and Meer point out that it has become narrowly focused on advertising over the past several years.  Instead of accurately segmenting the market, we have become hyper-focused on commercials.  We try to find something likable, relatable, or funny, instead of focusing on market segmentation.  
Yankelovich and Meer made the assertion that if companies used more informational tactics towards a segment of the population, they would have more success.  They then cited an example of Miller Light.  With the Super Bowl just past us, we have just seen the biggest commercials of the year.  It is less than 2 weeks later, and I can only remember a handful of the dozens I watched that night.  I was a bit confused as to how someone would alert companies to the more successful approach, but that wasn't exactly made clear.  Just that facts would be more effective than humor or "making an impression."
I would have asked the authors about how to know when a factual ad is more effective.  I would have also asked how these companies are supposed to fin the data that says their current way isn't working as well.
The only thing I really disagreed on was that facts are more effective.  I am always skeptical when I see an ad that promises something or states a "fact."  I am usually swayed more by emotion and humor than "facts" which may or may not be accurate.  Other than that, I loved this article.  It was very well written, and I believe I learned a lot from it.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

This week, I changed up my approach a little bit.  After conduction more interviews, I decided to change slightly from making just a retractable phone charger.  One of the common complaints people had about their charger cords was they they weren't durable enough.  So I added that as a point of emphasis this week.  I focused on making a "durable retractable phone charger."  Here is the video of my elevator pitch for a durable retractable phone charger.

In the comments on my previous video, people didn't have a ton of things they wanted me to change, so I tried to keep the format as similar as possible.  However, I did change the order of the things I talked about.  I started out by talking about a problem, then proposing a brilliant solution: a durable retractable phone charger.  Thanks for taking the time to watch this!  Please leave a comment with suggestions to improve or things you liked that I should continue to do.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

This week, we were not reading the normal textbook by Kuratko.  Instead, we focused on an article written by Michael Porter of the Harvard Business Review.  The article was:  "The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy."  Porter's postulation is that there are 5 main forces that drive competition and force people to create effective strategies.  Four of those forces are external, and one is internal.  The internal force is rivalry among existing competitors.  The external ones are threat of new entrants, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitute products or services, and bargaining power of suppliers.  The biggest surprise to me this week was just how many potential threats there were and how difficult it is t succeed.  In the category of "new entry," there were several barriers.  These ranged from supply and demand to government policy.  With each force, there were more and more ways for a company to buckle under the pressure and fail.  Even if one was able to get a desired product to market, while maintaining a competitive price, they would then have to fend off existing competitors and substitute products.  That was what jumped out at me the most in this week's reading.  The reading seemed pretty clear, and I didn't have anything I disagreed with.  If I could ask Mr. Porter a few questions, I would focus on surviving in such a tough environment.  I would ask him how to stand out from substitute products.  Porter said that substitutes often get overlooked because they don't have to just be one particular thing.  The example he gave was of father's day gifts, and how neckties and tools could be substitutes.  So, I would ask him what was the best way to prepare for that sort of issue.  This article was very well written, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I feel much better educated on the forces that shape competition and the strategy that goes into it.

Customer Interviews No. 3

This week, the format of my interviews changed slightly.  Instead of asking people questions, I handed them a 3x5 note-card with a synopsis of my business plan.  On the card, I had this written:

Many people find phone charger cords to be too short in length.  My plan is to make a longer, durable cord that is also retractable.  Think of a tape measure and how it retracts.  That way, you get however much cord length you need at the time.

Then I simply asked them to share thoughts on the idea.  Here are the interviews I did.

Personally, I enjoyed the format of the first two sets of interviews more.  I actually felt like people gave better feedback when I was asking them a question than when I had them comment on my idea.  Either that, or my idea is just so brilliant that everyone loves it.  I've narrowed it down to those two options.  but I am leaning towards the first.  ;-)  The more I ask people about this idea, the more convinced I am that a retractable charger cord with a super long cord would be a great idea!

I hope you enjoyed this week's interviews!  Thanks for taking the time to watch.

Idea Napkin No. 1

This week, I will be putting more pieces of the entrepreneurial puzzle together.  This is my "idea napkin."  It is where I will be jotting down thoughts on potential strengths and weaknesses and trying to be as objective as possible.

First, I will look at myself.  I am a junior in college, and I don't have any experience starting a business.  However, I have had some previous exposure to startups that succeeded, and a few that didn't.  I can take things away from both of those by learning what to do and what to avoid.  One of my strengths is working with people.  That has always been a passion of mine.  From competing in high school forensics, working with elementary age students, and teaching high school debate, I have always enjoyed being around people.  This particular business endeavor I would see being a large part of my life, while still allowing me to have a full time job to provide for my family.

Next, I will briefly examine the product.  I am considering a retractable phone charger.  Think of a mechanism similar to that in a measuring tape.  You can extend it for quite a ways, then lock it once you have enough length in the cable.

For the target market, I would be offering it to anyone with a cell phone.  I would probably start with an apple charger, but I would quickly put other chargers on the market as well.

So why would customers care about this product?  Of the 10 people I have interviewed so far, 9 have said they would be willing to pay for longer cord length when they purchase their phone.  I know several people that have bought a longer cord, and they all love it.  However, most of them complain that the extra length gets cumbersome from time to time and can be in the way.  This is what would set my product apart from others: you would be able to adjust the length as you need it.  Sometimes, you only need a foot or two to charge your phone.  Other times, it would be very convenient to have 5 feet of cable.  This product would give my customers the best of both worlds.

The challenge we would have is demonstrating our product.  People will know if their charger is inconvenient or bothersome.  However, the challenge we will have is showing people how our product works.  I believe that if people saw it, they would be very excited about it, and the product would succeed.  However, it would take some creative marketing to get the word out.  Overall, I believe there is good potential in the product, but it would take time and a lot of effort to make it work.

Interviewing Customers No. 2

After conducting last week's interviews, I concluded that a many people shared my problem of charging cords being too short.  Mine is barely ever long enough for me to use it while charging.  Four out of the five people I interviewed last week also had issues with their cords being too short.

Last week, I talked to a good mix of people, and they were definitely the right target: smartphone users.  Interestingly enough, all of them used iPhones.  This week, I had a little bit more variety in the phone department.  I had one person who was an Android user and another who just used an iPod touch.

I asked pretty much the same questions as I did last week.  The only thing I changed was being a little bit more specific, particularly with the last question.

Again, I interviewed 5 people.  This week, all 5 had varying levels of issues with their charger cords being too short.  ::Spoiler alert::  All of them said they would be willing to pay a little extra for a few more feet of cord.  One of the people I talked to even mentioned how cheap this would be, which really leads me to believe there is a big opportunity here.  Here are this week's videos.  Enjoy.

Week 5 Reading Reflection

This week, we discussed entrepreneurial opportunities.  Most of this chapter was in line with my assumptions about entrepreneurship.  Kuratko wrote that many entrepreneurial endeavors fail for several different reasons.  Among the reasons listed were: lack of objective evaluation, little insight into the market, poor financial understanding and management,  and lack of uniqueness.  All of these seemed pretty logical and  and made sense to me.  What did surprise me was how many entrpreneurs fail because of an early entry into the market.  According to Kuratko, 40% of the cases they studied failed due to a premature entry into the marketplace.  That number seems very high to me!  Nothing was particularly confusing in this chapter, but I would have liked a little more insight on the "premature entry" problem that appears to be plaguing entrepreneurs.  Because of that, I would have made my questions to the author about that area.  I would have asked him how one can know when is a good time to enter a market.  I would have also asked what one can do to attempt to redeem a situation where you entered the marketplace too early.  These might be covered in a later chapter, but for now they leave a large unknown to readers.  This week, there was not anything I disagreed with.  The only minor thing I would have liked different is more detail about avoiding entering a market too early.

Elevator Pitch No. 1

The opportunity I have is linked to the interviews I did last week.  Most of the people I talked to said that charger cable length was an issue for them and something they would pay more to fix.  It has been problematic for me as well, and I would love a longer charger cord!  So I thought of a plan to fix this issue.  My imaginary company "Smart Tools" will create a retractable charger for phones, and will have a longer length than standard cables that come with phones.  Here is my elevator pitch for this new product.

Week 4 Reading Reflection

     This week's reading was about innovation and creatively pursuing ideas.  The chapter talked in depth about the sources of ideas and the "creative process."  This was perhaps the biggest surprise for me this week.  I didn't think there would be specific steps to a creative process, but instead it would be constantly adapting and changing.  Once I had accepted that there was indeed a generally agreed upon "creative process," the author then said that the order of the steps often change, and chaos is necessary.  This was a bit of a shocker, as I find that I am usually distracted by the chaos instead of focused.
     If I was able to ask the author any questions, I would ask him about about the steps of the creative thinking process.  That is something that is still a little fuzzy to me: how the order of the steps can change.  I would like to ask him how they can change, and which orders do you usually see swap when there are changes.
     The only thing I disagreed on this chapter was a minor thing.  In the creative process, the author stated that the most difficult of the steps was evaluation and implementation.  He said that implementing ideas takes a great amount of courage, perseverance and self-discipline.  While I agree that this is true, I think another step is potentially more difficult: background and knowledge accumulation.  If someone has the perseverance to learn all they can about the field and the product. come up with the idea, and work on it, I believe it's just the next step for them to try to implement it.  I think more people fail at the first step of gaining knowledge.  They give up early on or become overwhelmed.  To me, that is the greatest hurdle an entrepreneur will have to overcome.

Customer Interviews No. 1

This week, I was tasked with thinking of a potential need.  I was able to think of a small one (compared to the lists of world problems I've been working on recently).  Whenever I charge my phone, it seems that the cord is just a bit too short.  This peaked my curiosity.  Were other people having similar issues?  I asked 5 people about this, and with their permission, recorded them.  Here are the videos.

After conducting the interviews, I now see even more of a need for a correction with cord length.  I'm sure I will be getting further in depth about the specifics with the next set of interviews.  These preliminary interviews just confirmed that there is a potential need here.

Top 5 World Problems

"It's about time to help others..." by Leticia Bertin
https://flic.kr/p/99QbRd

Last week, I compiled a list of what are, in my mind, the 10 biggest problems our world faces.  This week, I will be shortening that into 2 separate lists.  First, I will be ranking my top 5 problems off that list in order of my serious to least serious.  Granted, the "least serious" one on the list is still a huge problem.  These are also only my opinions about the severity of them.  Next, I will be ranking 5 of my solutions in order of most possible to implement to lease possible.

5 Biggest problems:

1.  Unclean water.  This is such a massive problem in so many parts of the world.  It affects quality of life, life span, and just about every aspect of the lives of the people who have this issue.

2.  Hunger.  This is similar to the unclean water problem in a lot of ways.  It really impacts everyone that it touches, from the young to the old.  Both of these problems are something that most people reading this won't be able to truly understand unless they are able to see it first hand.

3.  Disease.  I am lumping AIDS and disease into one category here.  This comes in right behind the first two, and the areas of the world stricken by one of these afflictions, often have one or both of the others as well.

4.  Slavery.  No one should ever be subjected to any style of life that even remotely resembles this.  It is absolutely atrocious how someone could inflict this on another human.  That kind of cruelty is something I don't think I'll ever be able to comprehend.  However, it is a huge problem, and it continues to grow.

5.  Nuclear proliferation.  This is something that could instantly jump to number one on the list in the event of a nuclear war.  Right now, it is a developing issue, but it could quickly escalate into a cause of millions of people losing their lives.

5 Solutions:

1.  Hunger.  The most easily "fixable" of these issues to me is hunger.  With the link I provided, anyone can give money to feed a child completely.  This is something that we could fix simply by cutting our own wasteful spending and putting that money to better use.

2.  Unclean water.  This issue is just about tied for first with hunger as far as its "fixibility" is concerned.  Personal donations go directly into building wells and purifying unclean local water.  And again, we are just oblivious to the problem or how easy the solution could be.

3.  Slavery.  This issue should really be in the spotlight a whole lot more than it is.  Raising awareness is an effective way of helping.  But there are also tangible ways to help also.  You can find alternative products that are verified to be made without slave labor.

4.  Human rights.  In the age of social media and instant news, we can make human rights violations go global almost instantly.  Twitter has raised awareness and support for revolutions and bringing down corrupt government officials multiple times.  Unfortunately, we often have our heads in the sand when it comes to global issues.  For some reason, we seem to care about things that don't have "immediate implications" to our daily lives.  We can all raise awareness for these issues and the people affected by them.

5.  Disease.  Some of this we can't stop.  However, I mentioned earlier that disease is closely linked to unclean water and lack of food.  By helping those, the disease problem would also be helped.  In addition, there are ways of combating specific diseases.  The first example that comes to mind is malaria.  We can spread awareness about the mosquitoes that carry the disease, and provide locals with ways to combat it, like mosquito nets.

I hope that after reading this you feel more informed about the issues going on daily around us.  I have provided you with information on some ways to help.  If you feel led to, I hope you take the opportunity to make a difference in whatever way you can.  If that is donating money, great!  If that is simply spreading awareness through social media or word of mouth, fantastic!  The important thing is that we all do our best to make a change.

Week 3 Reading Reflection

There were a few surprising moments in this week's reading.  The first of these moments was at the very beginning of chapter 2.  Kuratko gave this statistic: "one-third of new entrepreneurs are younger than 30."  This semester, as we have been learning about entrepreneurs, I have thought of them as people older than myself.  This statistic just points out how I still have a long way to go before I am truly thinking like an entrepreneur.  The other thing that jumped out at me was just how many internal battles entrepreneurs has to fight.  The internal potential downfalls listed in this chapter include: grief, financial risk, career risk, social risk, loneliness, people problems, need for control, sense of distrust, unrealistic optimism, and inflated ego.  Some of these are polar opposites, and this shows me that different people handle situations differently.  I was a little bit confused at how to deal with some of those issues.  The book pointed out a lot of these issues, but failed to recommend a course of action for someone dealing with one or more of them.  As a result, this is what I would ask the author this week.  I would ask him: Which of these struggles did you see in your own endeavors?  What did you do to work on/solve them?  This week, there wasn't anything in particular that I disagreed with.  I just would have liked for the section on personal issues to have been more fleshed out.  I think that is something that all entrepreneurs could use.  However, I believe it to be especially relevant to my age group.

Identifying Local Opportunities

1.  Mayo Clinic's lung restoration center ready to break ground in Jacksonville
http://jacksonville.com/news/health-and-fitness/2016-01-19/story/mayo-clinics-lung-restoration-center-ready-break-ground

The Mayo Clinic is building a center to help fix a problems with lung transplants.  There are about four times as many lungs available for transplant as can be transported to hospitals,  Therefore, the majority of these lungs will never be used.  The clinic is working on technology to "rejuvenate those lungs, making them suitable for transportation."  This clinic has the potential to save many lives with this new technology.

2.  LNG conversion facility under development for Jacksonville's Crowley
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2016-01-19/story/lng-conversion-facility-under-development-jacksonvilles-crowley

In order for natural gas to be usable for fueling ships, it has to be converted into a liquid state.  This is referred to as "liquid natural gas" or "LNG."  Crowley Services is building a plant to convert natural gas to its usable liquid form.  It will have to be cooled to a brisk negative 260 degrees Fahrenheit, but it is a huge opportunity for shippers in the area.

3.  UF Health Proton Therapy Institute to undergo $39 million expansion
http://jacksonville.com/business/2016-01-15/story/uf-health-proton-therapy-institute-undergo-39-million-expansion

Since 2006, about 100 people a day have undergone treatment at the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute.  However, this expansion will allow them to reach up to 25% more patients.  The main type of people who seek treatment at this center are cancer patients.  Proton therapy has been shown to do less damage to surrounding tissues than other forms of treatment.  This expansion will save many lives, and significantly change families lives.

4.  Bill to end local rules for Uber, Lyft moves to floor
http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2016-01-14/story/bill-end-local-rules-uber-lyft-moves-floor

The Florida House and Senate are debating legislation that will affect companies like Uber and Lyft.  The legislation deals with injury and life insurance for the passengers in the event of a crash.  Drivers will be responsible for having coverage of up to $50,000 per passenger, and a few other stipulations.

5.  Large office park planned for Nocatee
http://jacksonville.com/business/real-estate/2016-01-08/story/large-office-park-planned-nocatee

One of the most rapidly growing areas in Florida is getting what could be a huge boost for local businesses.  Whitehall Realty is saying that the plans just need to be drawn up.  Building is scheduled to begin in less than a year.