Assignment 30A- Final Reflection

• What sticks out to you as the most formative experience?
• To me the most formative experience was making the bug list because it helped me realize how difficult it is to find an issue that people may have. I had a hard time figuring out issues that I had. It helped me to truly appreciate how hard it is to find a potential opportunity that we can use.
• The experience that you'll remember years later?
• The thing I will remember the most is when I had to turn my personal connections with my mothers coworkers into professional ones. This helped to open up many different options for my future endeavors and other possible connections through these connections.
• What was your most joyous experience?
• My most joyous experience was being able to conduct interviews and receive real feedback about an idea that I came up with. This makes me really happy because it makes me feel like I have helped people and they help me and themselves in return by helping me to polish up my ideas.
• What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing? 
• I am most proud of the elevator pitches that I did. I usually have issues with speaking of any kind and the fact that I was able to do those pitches just shows how far I was pushed out of my comfort zone. Leaving my comfort zone helped me to see things in a new perspective that helped me to grow.
• Do you see yourself as an entrepreneur?
•  I honestly don't believe that I am an entrepreneur right now. I do think that I am on the road to becoming one. I don't think that I can consider myself an entrepreneur until I have started and got a product up and running. I do believe that this class has started me on the path that I need to follow and develop.
• Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?
• I do believe that I have moved closer to an entrepreneurial mindset. It has constantly made me think in different ways that have helped me to look for things I never would have looked for before taking this class.
• What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future?
• I would recommend to take each assignment as a new opportunity and go at it with everything you have. This is because each assignment gives you something new to develop and use on your journey to starting up your business.
• What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course?
• I would suggest to them to work ahead and make a solid plan on how you are going to complete the assignments. This will save you a lot of time and effort throughout the duration of the class as a whole.
• What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?
• I recommend that they have an open mind to each assignment even if it requires them to do some things that are outside of their comfort zone. Doing everything that is asked of you to the fullest extent helps to train your brain to recognize things that it normally wouldn't. This is the best advice I could give to an incoming student into this class.

Assignment 29A- Venture Concept 2

•        Opportunity

o   Many people want to move into an apartment, but many times don’t have the time to go to every single possible living space by themselves. Many then turn to online resources for a quick and convenient solution. However, many of these websites have outdated or completely inaccurate information. This can cause a lot of frustration and wasted time.

o   The ones who could use my product are people trying to move into apartments that don’t want waste their time searching for the perfect place and is advertised as it is sold.

o   The forces that create this opportunity is the simple nature of the apartment market. It is ever changing with multiple different kinds of markets within the overall market of apartments. This opportunity will continue to be available until the apartment market becomes non-existent or new regulations are put in place to stop the fluctuating prices. Seeing as neither of these things will happen this opportunity will remain for a very long time.

o   Customers currently use websites and personal visits as their means to satisfy this need. However, both methods can be time consuming and frustrating especially since much if the information received from the current products online is inaccurate.

•        Innovation

o   My product is not anything new or radical because of the fact that it exists already. It is a website online that provides information on apartments and helps potential customers of the apartments to save time and patience. What makes my product different is the fact that it updates day to day and always has the most accurate information possible. This keeps people from having to spend an entire day searching for accurate information on one possible place to live. I am attempting to sell what every other similar product tries promising but falls short on. The way I am selling this is it will be a membership-based system that is five dollars a month. With it being a website, I could also sell advertisement space, which I will sell for 30 dollars per week originally.

•        Venture Concept

o   People will want but my product because of the convenience and the amount of time it will save them. My product will solve the issue of wasted time and misinformation being spread around by other services that claim they have the information that they promise. This is something that people would be more than willing to switch over to because of the fact that they are fed up with receiving information that is not reliable and makes you double check all of your research.

o   My competitors would be any place that one can receive information on apartments at. Even if they are dispensing inaccurate information, they take away potential customers and can also cause distrust towards products like mine. Their primary weakness is the fact that the information they provide is not accurate. This causes people to get angry with them even if it may not be their fault for the information being inaccurate in the first place.

o   For my business I would need quite a few employees. Starting out I would say about 20 or so employees. There are several roles that these employees would need to fill. At least three of these would be programmers to create my website, update it, and maintain it. Another position that will need to be filled is individuals to go out and collect the information on the apartments. I would think that I would designate about ten people to this task. It is the life line of the company and therefore it needs to be as efficient and accurate as possible. I would also need individuals to work in the customer support area. This is to ensure that customers can call and ask questions that they have in order to make their experience as quick and enjoyable as possible.

•        Unfair Advantage:

o   My biggest advantage compared to other competitors is my vast amount of connections into the market of apartments. My mother has worked in the market for over 20 years and is now one of the heads of a prominent company in the market. This rare opportunity has helped me to foster connections to high up individuals in multiple companies involved with apartments and management of apartments. This in turn gives me a unique perspective on the market as a whole as I have grown up with it being a part of my life.

o   These connections also provide me with a place to receive help and guidance in times of stress and difficulty. This is something that not many people have in their corner and can often times need.

•        What’s next for the venture:

o   Something I have wanted to do with this innovation but haven’t worked out quite yet is using it to shop renter’s insurance. This is also a very important part of moving into an apartment. This is also a very long and tedious process just like looking for an apartment to move into. This market has many of the same issues as the apartment market as well. It can change very rapidly and unexpectedly, making it difficult to keep track of. This aspect could also help to bring more people to either product because of their needs and the timing of them using the product.

•        What’s next for me:

o   If I was to launch this product, I would hope to still be working closely with it in the future. By the time a few years have passed I hope to have expanded my employee base and will have expanded the area in which my product will be available. I hope that this business will serve as my base that helps to push me into other ventures and markets so that I can continue to expand my opportunities for profit that can go back into all of my businesses.

Summary of feedback and changes

     The feedback that I received had many good things to say. They thought that my selling advertisement space was a good idea and that knowing my edge against the competition was important. I did shift some of my numbers in my employees due to them pointing out that having one person to take care of the entire website wasn't going to work well. They also saw my connections into the market as a huge bonus for my product. I also changed my price for advertisement slots to thirty dollars because it seemed like the feedback thought if I was going to leave the subscription low I would need all the money I could get from advertisement space.

Assignment 28A- Your exit strategy

• 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 plan on how to exit this business is to stay with it for a couple decades, while branching out into other areas, and then eventually retiring. When I do retire I plan on selling the company to either a company I have created strong ties with or an individual I fully trust to run it the way I would run it.
• Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?
• I decided on this strategy because I want to continue to help and watch this business grow and develop into the business I imagined it to be. I also decided on this because the thought of some faceless and money hungry individual or group of individuals controlling the company makes me uneasy. In order to make sure this doesn't happen I plan on staying for a long time.
• 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?   
• I think the biggest influence it made on my decisions is the in the way I set up my business. I planned on it to be a starting point that helps to grow other ventures and for it to be a constant in my business plans. I never thought I would sell the business after a few years or when it became really popular. I always thought of it as a personal experience that I should be a part of and this lead me to handle the details and structure of the business in different ways than I would have handled it had I even thought about selling it before I retired.
• In the end the main reason I picked this strategy is that I don't trust anyone else to run the business the way I would want it to be run. For this reason I feel the need to stay involved in the company for many years until I can find someone that can and will run the company the way I would want it to be run.  

Assignment 27A- Reading Reflection 3

•  What was the general theme or argument of the book?
• The general theme of the book Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky is that we have so much free time today but we don't utilize it properly and instead waste it on pointless and unfulfilling actions. One of the largest ways that Shirky says we "use" this time is by indulging in broadcast media. He then proceeds to offer suggestions on how to retake our free time and use it more productively.
• How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?  
• I believe one of the main ways this book connects back to what we are learning is the idea of not wasting an opportunity. This book points out that we simply pass up on potential opportunities by wasting our spare time with pointless actions such as watching television. This class helps us to focus on situations where we can exploit opportunities and this book does much of the same. It helps individuals look at their life and figure out where they can improve themselves and their use of their time.  
• If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
• The experiment I would design is to have individuals keep track of their free time and the amount of time doing anything productive. After they have done this I would have them begin to start doing activities or exercises of some kind during their free time instead of what they were originally doing. I would have this go on for a couple weeks and at the end of these couple of weeks I would ask them a set of questions that measure how they feel these changes have affected them. I would also try and gauge how they think their lives have improved after starting to use their free time more productively.
• 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?
• My biggest surprise from this book was the part where it talks about new mindsets. One example of this was the part where Shirky talks about how there are times when we would rather have something done by people other than professionals in that area. I had never stopped to think about how accurate this actually is. One example that is given is restaurant reviews. I would put more stock in a review from a friend than a professional restaurant reviewer. I never stopped to think this over but it is very accurate.  

Assignment 26A- Celebrating Failure

• A time that I failed this past semester:
• The time I failed this past semester was in my Biology class and Spanish class. Both of my first exams did not go to my liking. It came as a shock to me because of the fact that I had devoted a few days to study for both exams. I did not take these grades with grace either. I was incredibly angry with myself and said that I needed to do better. I am still using these past failures as motivation in those classes to try and insure that it does not happen again. Unfortunately my other exams did not fair much better. They were better than the first ones but still not what I was expecting.
• I learned a lot from these failures. One thing that I learned and took to heart was that grades aren't everything. My entire life I have had one goal in life and that is to do well in school and almost nothing else. This lead to some areas in life to be severely lacking. After a few times of not doing as well as I wanted I realized that I need to take time to smell the roses and enjoy being who I am and do things that I want to do. This is a difficult mindset to adopt from the one that I had before but I am confident that I can.
• Reflection on Failure:
• Failure is always difficult to deal with no matter who you are. In many ways I do not handle failure well at all. I very often just get upset with myself and try to use anger as motivation to try and not fail again. This was not a healthy way to handle failures, especially when you have a few failures in a row without any real success. This class has helped me to realize that failure is not always something to hate or despise. It can be a great opportunity to improve not only yourself but the situation you are in. It helped me to think more about why it is I am failing and not focus on the fact that I did fail. I would say because of this I am more likely to take a risk and not be afraid to fail. 

Assignment 25A- Whats Next?

• What's next for me:
• I believe a good next step would be to take my product into the realm of renters insurance. This is not an unreasonable jump from shopping around for apartments. Many people who will have used my product for finding apartments will also need renters insurance while they live in the apartment. This search is a long and tedious one as well as you need to find the plan that best suits your needs but finding it can take time. My product should be able to help cut down that time and help people find the plan for them
• Existing Market:
• In my first interview with a floor mate in my dorm he stated that a good next step would be going into the market for houses. He stated that it is not a large leap to jump into that market and that it could be just as profitable. After I told him of my thoughts in going into renters insurance he said that he understood where I got that idea from.
• In my second interview with a friend of mine from high school she told me that she could see this business going into the job search market. I thought that this thought was interesting because of how different it is from my original market. She told me that I could use the same concept in this new market. She told me that in this market it is taking large amounts of information and making it accurate and more accessible.
• In my third interview with another floor mate of mine he told me that he could see a business like this also going into the housing market. He gave many of the same reasons as my other floor mate saying that it is a logical next step and that it would be an easy transition.
• Reflection 1:

Based on my feedback and my own plans I believe a good path to take would be to take my product into the housing market. I had originally thought about doing this but dismissed it earlier. With this round of feedback it has opened my eyes to the fact that I should have talked to people before dismissing the idea entirely.
My first and second interviews showed me that people would be interested in this product in the housing market. I do agree that moving into this market would probably be the best move for my product. Even though there are realtors within the market already many people still like doing their own research as was pointed out to me by my third interviewee. I believe that if I adapt my product for the housing market I could be very profitable for me.

• New Market:
• The new market I believe that would be best for me to go into the housing market. After receiving feedback that supports this idea I feel more comfortable pursuing this venture. Many people do their own research on houses and where they want to live before meeting with a realtor. This is where my product can come in and provide the information to them so they can be confident going into their dealings with a realtor. I believe that this is a very important step in the house buying process and many people need help with it.
• Interviews:
• The first person I interviewed was my friend who has moved around his entire life. I explained to him my product and then asked if he thought people like his family would ever use it. He told me that his family would definitely use the product if it delivered on what it promises. He did say that one way that would help the product adapt to the market would be to have it maybe partner with realtors so that you can insure the customers are not skeptical of what it is offering.
• In my second interview I talked to my father who recently moved. He did say that he would be hesitant to use a product like this for finding a house. He said that he would be hesitant because of the fact that realtors are still needed and they can do this job as well. He suggested that if I could make the product easier to use than having a realtor look for you that he would consider using it. He also agreed with my friends suggestion of finding a way to partner with realtors when I told him about it.
• Reflection 2:

What I learned from these interviews is that some people would be more than willing to use this product in the housing market. Another thing I learned is that some people would not take to it without me doing some serious reshaping of the product. One thing that surprised me was the fact that people are so reliant on realtors within this market. My assumption that people would use my product to simply "window shop" was actually correct for some of the market which actually surprised me.
I will say that this market is not as appealing as my current market. Many people who I interviewed in the existing market were more than happy to use a new product that could make their search much less difficult. However in the new market many people seem to put most of their faith into realtors. This concerns me because it leads me to believe that many people won't take to my product in this new market. It doesn't seem like a good idea for me to leave a market where I know people will use my product, for a market where I am unsure if people will take to my product.

Assignment 24A- Venture Concept 1-Seek and you shall find

Business name: Seek and you shall find

·       Opportunity

o   Many people want to move into an apartment, but many times don’t have the time to go to every single possible living space by themselves. Many then turn to online resources for a quick and convenient solution. However, many of these websites have outdated or completely inaccurate information. This can cause a lot of frustration and wasted time.

o   The ones who could use my product are people trying to move into apartments that don’t want waste their time searching for the perfect place and is advertised as it is sold.

o   The forces that create this opportunity is the simple nature of the apartment market. It is ever changing with multiple different kinds of markets within the overall market of apartments. This opportunity will continue to be available until the apartment market becomes non-existent or new regulations are put in place to stop the fluctuating prices. Seeing as neither of these things will happen this opportunity will remain for a very long time.

o   Customers currently use websites and personal visits as their means to satisfy this need. However, both methods can be time consuming and frustrating especially since much if the information received from the current products online is inaccurate.

·       Innovation

o   My product is not anything new or radical because of the fact that it exists already. It is a website online that provides information on apartments and helps potential customers of the apartments to save time and patience. What makes my product different is the fact that it updates day to day and always has the most accurate information possible. This keeps people from having to spend an entire day searching for accurate information on one possible place to live. I am attempting to sell what every other similar product tries promising but falls short on. The way I am selling this is it will be a membership-based system that is five dollars a month. With it being a website, I could also sell advertisement space, which I will sell for 20 dollars per week originally.

·       Venture Concept

o   People will want but my product because of the convenience and the amount of time it will save them. My product will solve the issue of wasted time and misinformation being spread around by other services that claim they have the information that they promise. This is something that people would be more than willing to switch over to because of the fact that they are fed up with receiving information that is not reliable and makes you double check all of your research.

o   My competitors would be any place that one can receive information on apartments at. Even if they are dispensing inaccurate information, they take away potential customers and can also cause distrust towards products like mine. Their primary weakness is the fact that the information they provide is not accurate. This causes people to get angry with them even if it may not be their fault for the information being inaccurate in the first place.

o   For my business I would need quite a few employees. Starting out I would say about 20 or so employees. There are several roles that these employees would need to fill. One of these would be a programmer to create my website, update it, and maintain it. Another position that will need to be filled is individuals to go out and collect the information on the apartments. I would think that I would designate about ten people to this task. It is the life line of the company and therefore it needs to be as efficient and accurate as possible. I would also need individuals to work in the customer support area. This is to ensure that customers can call and ask questions that they have in order to make their experience as quick and enjoyable as possible.

·       Unfair Advantage:

o   My biggest advantage compared to other competitors is my vast amount of connections into the market of apartments. My mother has worked in the market for over 20 years and is now one of the heads of a prominent company in the market. This rare opportunity has helped me to foster connections to high up individuals in multiple companies involved with apartments and management of apartments. This in turn gives me a unique perspective on the market as a whole as I have grown up with it being a part of my life.

o   These connections also provide me with a place to receive help and guidance in times of stress and difficulty. This is something that not many people have in their corner and can often times need.

·       What’s next for the venture:

o   Something I have wanted to do with this innovation but haven’t worked out quite yet is using it to shop renter’s insurance. This is also a very important part of moving into an apartment. This is also a very long and tedious process just like looking for an apartment to move into. This market has many of the same issues as the apartment market as well. It can change very rapidly and unexpectedly, making it difficult to keep track of.

·       What’s next for me:

o   If I was to launch this product, I would hope to still be working closely with it in the future. By the time a few years have passed I hope to have expanded my employee base and will have expanded the area in which my product will be available. I hope that this business will serve as my base that helps to push me into other ventures and markets so that I can continue to expand my opportunities for profit that can go back into all of my businesses. I hope that I can say that my products helped people live a better life and that I can feel proud of the things that I will have accomplished in my years as an entrepreneur.

Assignment 23A- Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

      1.Connections into the market: I have many connections with high up individuals in the apartment market that would be willing and ready to help me.

• Valuable: This is very valuable for my product. I would say the most valuable resources I have.
• Rare: The amount of connections I have in the apartment market is rather large which makes this a rare resource. 
• Inimitable: Connections are inimitable as they are a personal aspect and a relationship that I have built.
• Non-Substitutable: This resource can't be replaced in any way. It puts me far above anyone else entering into or currently in the market of my product.

      2. Connections with other individuals looking to get into the field of business:

• Valuable: This is valuable because I can have them check my plans for the business and give me advice on the business aspect of my product.
• Rare: This isn't as rare as some of my other resources because you can have someone who has a business degree give you advice. You don't have to know them personally.
• Inimitable: This can be imitated because you can go to a place to get consultation on your
• Non-Substitutable: This is possibly substitutable by someone else that has an understanding of business and even may have worked in this field.

      3. Connections to individuals who are able to create software and websites for my product:

• Valuable: This is incredibly valuable as it can allow me to make my product with people I know will do a good job.
• Rare: This can be quite rare as not too many people know someone or multiple people who are capable of creating code for such a product.
• Inimitable: It is technically imitable but I would have to pay someone a lot to do what my friends could for less. 
• Non-Substitutable: This is substitutable but as I said above it would be more beneficial for me to use my friends.

      4. Ability to create lasting relationships:

• Valuable: This is incredibly valuable as it will allow me to get companies to let me put their apartments into my product and keep my business alive.
• Rare: This is becoming increasingly more rare as many interactions now are through electronic communications that make everything more impersonal.
• Inimitable: This is not hard to imitate but many people still struggle with this and are incapable of understanding why they can't connect with people.
• Non-Substitutable: I do not believe that any other resource can replace this ability as it allows me to grow my resources further.

      5. Current connections at UF:

• Valuable: This incredibly valuable because they could be potential partners in business later or even potential customers.
• Rare: This is a pretty rare opportunity as most people don't have a potential customer base or partner pool around them and so easily accessible.
• Inimitable: This is not easily reproduced elsewhere. It is a very specific set of variables lining up in the right way. That makes this resource so hard to copy somewhere else.
• Non-Substitutable: I do think that this resource is unable to be replaced by another one because it provides many possible outcomes that can be beneficial.

      6. My ability to keep a calm head and think things through:

• Valuable: This is a very valuable skill as it allows me to think through a situation and not panic when things get difficult.
• Rare: This is, in my opinion, a rare skill since people tend to panic and lose control of themselves when things begin to get difficult. 
• Inimitable: This is an imitable skill but it goes against peoples nature so it is quite hard to use.
• Non-Substitutable: I don't believe any other resource could do what this skill can do. This skill allows me to make the best possible decisions under extreme stress, which will help my product be successful.

      7. My background in the apartment market:

• Value: This is very valuable because it gives me insight into how the market acts, which in turn allows me to adjust my product to better suit the users needs.
• Rare: This is quite rare. Not many people have a parent in a high up position in a company that handles apartments.
• Inimitable: This is impossible to copy. These are my own personal experiences and no one could analyze them like I do.
• Non-Substitutable: No other resource gives me the background and insight that this one does.

      8. Easy access to the market and their opinions:

• Valuable: This very valuable because it allows me to receive information on how to attract more customers and how to keep them.
• Rare: This isn't as rare as some of my other resources but it is rare enough that it will give me a leg up against competitors.
• Inimitable: This is a hard one to imitate since the needs of people vary so widely. This means without this resource it is very hard to obtain it.
• Non-Substitutable: I would say that this resource is not replaceable because it is nearly impossible to know exactly what people want.

      9. The fact that the market is so expansive:

• Valuable: This isn't as valuable as some of my other resources but it means that there is almost an infinite amount of opportunityfor me.
• Rare: This isn't all that rare. Most markets are usually very large.
• Inimitable: This is very imitable and is something that many companies take advantage of.
• Non-Substitutable: I do believe that no other resource can take its place since it is the customers.

      10. The ability to adapt and learn new traits quickly:

• Valuable: This is a very valuable skill to have in a market that is constantly fluctuating and changing.
• Rare: This is a rare trait because most people try to become comfortable and stay comfortable.
• Inimitable: Many people could do this but it is very difficult because they would rather stay with what they are comfortable with.
• Non-Substitutable: This isn't substitutable because it allows me to succeed in not only this market but almost every other aspect of my life.

The most valuable resource I have is my connections into the apartment market. It allows me to enter the market with an advantage most people don't have. It also helps me to have information streamlined to me when I need it. Many people don't have the kind of connections that I have and that is why I see this resource as my most valuable.

Assignment 22A- Elevator pitch 3

Link to pitch:
https://youtu.be/MVDPr6u199k Reflection on feedback:
One of the things that I thought that was important was keeping the viewers interested in the pitch. I tried to do this by doing the same thing I had done in the past pitches which is put the viewer in the situation. I believe this engages and makes viewers more likely to internalize what your saying. The part of the feedback that was most surprising was how much people seemed to find it intriguing. The product I am pitching is not the most interesting but people seem to look past that and focus on the pitch. There wasn't any feedback that I would say is wrong or incorrect. I believe that all the feedback I received was well thought out and was truly meant as valid criticism.
What I changed:
With this being my third pitch I felt much more comfortable in front of the camera and I tried showing this by being less stiff and static. I also tried changing the tone of my voice to sound less panicked or uncomfortable. To this point I had to rehearse multiple times in order to somewhat memorize my pitch. After all the pitches I pretty much had the script I had thought up memorized. I do believe that my pitch has gotten better throughout all of the ones I have done. I believe this because I constantly felt more comfortable and was able to do minor tweaks throughout. I think that all of these things made the pitch better.

Assignment 21A- Reading reflection 2

• What was the general theme or argument of the book?
• The general theme of the book Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman is how we operate on not only a natural level but how we act through past experiences and memories and how these can affect our decisions later. He focuses on the two "systems" of thinking in the book. These are System 1: fast thinking and System 2: slow thinking. He explains how we go through the process of making decisions and how both systems play into these decisions. He also talks about how these systems are affected and how that in turn changes the things these systems can control. He also talks about the way we handle risks and how the idea of risk is created by us and that we will do almost anything to avoid it.
• How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
• I believe that it helps to show us the thought processes of people in general which can help us to understand how they will perceive our products and how we can manipulate our products to make them more desirable for possible customers. It also helps to show us how the thought process of entrepreneurs is different to that of normal individuals. This allows us to read the ways in which individuals overcome the fear of risk and failure and turn that into successful ventures, which we can take and apply to our own journey with our products. 
•  If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
• If I had to create an exercise for this class it would be to interview an entrepreneur and someone who has a comfortable job that will be in that position for the foreseeable future. When they are interviewing them they should focus on there thought processes when it came to making the decision of what to do. They should ask questions like "What was your initial thoughts on your decision?", "How did you feel about your decision when you thought on it more?", and "How did you manage your fear of risk when making this decision?" just as examples. This allows them to not only see how entrepreneurs minds differ from a normal individuals mind for making decisions, but also allows them to see how the two systems of thinking differ.
• 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?
• The biggest aha moment for me was when it was stated that system one was the real front runner out of the two systems. This surprised me the most because system one is the quick decision making system that is used more often. This surprised me the most because I assumed that the system that can handle the harder work would be the dominant one but it is actually the opposite. Thinking about it more it makes sense seeing as it is used for almost everything we do. It is just hard to see it before it is pointed out to you because it just something that you do, you never actually think about it.

Assignment 20A- Growing your social capital

• Domain Expert
• The person I made contact with is named Brian (I will not include the last name to comply with the wishes of the individual. This applies to all of the people I talked to). He is the President of CED Holdings, which is the company my mother works for. He has been with the company for many years now. However before joining the company he was a stock broker on wall street. He is incredibly intelligent and is a great resource. He fills the role of a domain expert because he works very closely with the prices and charges of the apartment industry. He also is very familiar with the laws and limitations that are involved with the market. I have met him many times before and have even had him at my house before to have dinner with. I contacted him by calling him and asked him to listen to my pitch for my product and give me feedback on the product. He gave me some great feedback and ways to adjust the product to better fit the market. He expects me to use him as a resource again and wants me to keep him updated on how I would develop the product further. He will be able to help me exploit an opportunity in many ways. First he gives me honest feedback on ways to improve the product and ways to make the product fit better into the market. He also tells me the way the market works and how people react to many various changes in the market.
• Expert on the Market
• The second person I contacted is Johnathan and he is the President of Concord Management. He has been with this company since I have known him. He has a lot of insight into the market as well. He knows a lot about the customers that I am targeting considering he is the supplier of apartments. I have also met him multiple times just like my previous contact. I contacted him with a phone call and did the same thing as I did with my last contact. I had him listen to my pitch and give feedback as an expert. He gave me some great feedback and also expects me to stay in contact. Including him in my network will be a great advantage for many of the same reasons that having Brian in my network will benefit me. 
•  Important Supplier
• The last person I contacted is named Sally. She is the Vice President of Operations at Concord Management. For as long as I have known her she has worked with my mother in the company. She handles many of the interactions with other companies, such as selling apartment properties to other companies, and management of apartment properties. She is an important supplier in that she manages a large number of apartments across the United States that could end up being places that end up working with my product. I have known Sally for many years and she has seen me grow up. I contacted her with a phone call and asked her to listen to my pitch and tell me whether or not she would have her properties listed on my product and if not why. She wants me to stay in contact and let her know how I continue to develop this product so she can continue to provide me with feedback. Having her in my network is a huge advantage since I could have places to put into my product and get my business underway.
• Reflection
• This experience will have me reach out to people that I already know in order to grow the connections I have and maybe reach out to people that they know. This experience definitely differed from past experiences since it required me to pitch to professionals in the market I intend to go into. This was nerve racking even though I already knew these people. It also required me to build a little confidence in order to effectively pitch and try to develop this product as far as I could.    

Assignment 19A- Idea Napkin 2

1.Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?
My name is Cameron Matos and I am a second year general chemistry major. One of my talents is to talk to people and provide them with honest feedback and information. I rarely sugar coat things, so when people talk to me they know they can get my honest opinion and won't have to read between the lines to find what I mean. I also have a talent to approach people who may be in a delicate situation and help them to figure it out. This is due to many experiences in my life. Many people that have been around me have needed someone to help them in a difficult situation and this has helped me to develop characteristics to cater to this need. My aspirations are to simply live a comfortable and sustainable life. I don't want to make billions of dollars and buy expensive things, I simply want to make enough money to live the lifestyle I desire and maintain it. If I was to start this business I would invest a large majority of my time into it and have it grow to it's fullest potential. If this hope is achieved I would use the profits to branch off into different areas in order to create more profit to either put into the other ventures or back into the business. 
2.What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs).   
The product that I am offering to potential customers is a more accurate and convenient way of finding an apartment to live in. The product will be offered primarily online but will also have a physical location for those who are not trusting of an online product such as this. The physical location will also be for anyone who may need help with the product or help with their search in general. The primary unmet need that I am filling is the ability to find accurate information in a convenient and quick manner. Many products like mine today have information available but it is often times inaccurate, which forces you to go to the source and find out what the prices and other key factors are in person.
3.Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?
The people this product is being offered to is those looking to live in an apartment. This happens to be a very wide range of people from all different backgrounds. People of all different incomes, backgrounds, and dispositions will want to use this product to save themselves precious time and patience. The one thing that all of these people will have in common is their belief that finding an apartment to move into will be a long and harrowing process.
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 use this product because of the fact that wasting time and resources is against their nature. What I mean by this is that people don't do things that are counter productive for them when they have a choice to streamline what they are doing. My product will be the best possible option for them because other products like mine aren't accurate in a lot of cases. This causes unneeded work after using them by having to recheck the information and make sure that is completely accurate, which wastes time.
5.What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 
I know for a fact that there are many products out there now that are very similar to my product. However these products are not as accurate as mine since many give you a range of prices or a price at the end of a leasing period. These prices do not help people who are considering moving somewhere as they will more likely than not change when they go to move in. That is why my product will have day to day updates to ensure that when someone decides where they want to go they exactly what they are getting into. The primary thing that sets my product apart from the rest is the constant updates to information and the accuracy of the information.
In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others.
I still believe that these elements blend very well together and help to strengthen my business. I do still have concern on how to make the product stand out in order to draw customers in originally. My concerns with limiting my market have been solved and I am happy with the target that I have. My thoughts on using this product to search for houses as well was put to rest after an interview I had in a past assignment. The apartment market is a better place for this product since it is much more fluid and harder for people themselves to keep up with. Other than my one concern I believe that this product has come along quite well and I hope it continues to come together.
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.
 The first take away that I had from my feedback was that my original was well put together and well thought out. So from this point I tried to further think out my product and organize it better so that it is even easier to see where I want to go with my product. Another piece of feedback I got was that the use of day to day updates were a very desirable feature of the product. I have started to think more about how to apply this feature and how to make it more convenient for my product to obtain this information. These two points of feedback primarily made me think more about the product and develop a more well thought out plan for the product. I applied this new plan into the napkin in order to better showcase what this product will be like and how it will help my potential customers. 

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Assignment 17A- Elevator pitch 2

Second pitch Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOfYLyR4bpg Reflection on past feedback:
Based on many of the comments on my last pitch one thing that stood out as important was the way I put the viewer in the situation I was describing. It seemed like it made the viewer care more about the product because it wasn't as if I was purely selling them something. One of the comments that surprised me the most was one where they told me that they found the way in which I presented the product to be interesting. This surprised me because  I felt very stiff and uncomfortable while doing the pitch. However, if that is the way people want to see a pitch I can get used to it. There were no comments that I thought were outright unfair or silly. They all seemed to be thought out and truthful comments. The most useful comment was most certainly the one where they told me that putting people into the situation to make them care for the product was intriguing. This is because it helped to give me a clear strategy of what I need to do during my pitches.
What I changed this time:
Based on the previous feedback I tried to keep the strategy of putting the viewer into the situation in order to make them care about the product. I also tried to be a little more animated and lively so that people don't get bored of the pitch. I kept many the things the same from the last pitch because a lot of the feedback I received was what people thought I had done right. There were very few comments on what I did wrong or what could be improved. One thing I tired working on with this pitch was feeling more comfortable and less stiff in order to make the pitch seem more organic and natural.

Assignment 18A- Create a customer avatar

My product is almost exclusively for individuals. The individual I imagine using this product is an individual that is anywhere in the age range of 18 to 30. This is my most likely age range as they are less likely to be looking for a house to live in and more likely to be looking for an apartment. They live in Gainseville, Florida and attend the University of Florida. They currently live in a dorm on the campus and are tired of having to deal with the dorms. They do not have kids or family within the area. Their family lives in Cocoa, Florida and are in the middle class and can afford to pay for the apartment so that the individual can pay for school. They often visit their family in order to get home made meals and do laundry so they don't have to pay to do it. On the few occasions they have free time they enjoy reading and taking naps since they don't sleep much at night. They are constantly doing school work and hardly anything else.
The individual drives a red Nissan Altima to and from their house to campus and back. They enjoy listening to music while in the car at loud volumes. They do this because they tend to get tired while driving. They are constantly frowning and thinking about all the things they still need to accomplish that day. They rarely smile and when they do its because they have finished their work for the day. With their patience quickly running out due to all their work and late nights they are starting to resent their current living situation. They finally make the decision to move into an apartment for a more private setting so they can do their work in peace without any interruptions from their roommate. Now they face the insurmountable task of sifting through a nearly unlimited amount of apartment information in order to find their perfect place to live.
 

What do you have in common with the customer avatar? 
I have a lot in common with my customer avatar. Their mannerisms, their look, and their situation. I do not think that this is a coincidence at all. I believe this is because I believe that solving issues that I have can help many others because I am a very average person. I have talked to many people and a lot of the issues they have in their life I also have. So I came up with a product that would solve an issue I was currently having.

Assignment 16A- What's your secret sauce?

• The five ways in which I am unique:

1. I would say my one the things that makes me unique is my ability to shut out unnecessary emotions in times of stress so that I can keep a cool head. It helps me to make the best possible decision in the moment.
2. Another thing that makes me unique is my ability to create a mood of calm around me. This helps people to feel less stressed and more comfortable interacting with me. I think this is a very important skill of mine as it helps me in many situations. 
3. One of my greatest attributes in my mind is my lack of apprehension to say whats on my mind. This is because I believe that people appreciate it when they are told the truth, even if it may seem harmful or malicious at the time. The truth is something hard to come by when you are dealing with people so I believe being someone who tells the truth is a very important resource.
4. Another thing that makes me unique is my affinity for listening to others. I am constantly someone that people come to talk to because I will listen to them and give them the feedback I believe they need.
5. Another of my attributes that I believe makes me unique is my humor. I have always found that making someone smile or laugh is a great way to become closer to them and diffuse any animosity that they may have. I always strive to make things less tense by cracking a couple of jokes and poking fun at sometimes serious situations just to make people laugh.

• Interviews

All of my interviews were conducted with people who live on my floor and are constantly around me.

1. https://soundcloud.com/user-803243324/assignment-16a-interview-1

This interview showed me that some people see me in ways that I don't see myself. Some people see me as more than what I think of myself and that I can be more than what they already experience. They also seem to think that I am way more confident than what I actually am.
       2.https://soundcloud.com/user-803243324/assignment-16a-interview-2
This interview showed me many of the same things that the others did as well. Many people see me as confident and ready to tackle any challenge that comes my way. In reality I think I am confident but not to the extent that may of the people I interviewed seem to think.
      3.https://soundcloud.com/user-803243324/assignment-16a-interview-3
In this interview I noticed a pattern that I actually find myself agreeing with. This interview showed me that people do notice when I keep a cool head and think things through. I never thought people would notice because of when I have to have a cool head, primarily when they are mostly panicking.
      4.https://soundcloud.com/user-803243324/assignment-16a-interview-4
In this interview what others have been saying has been reinforced. Many people seem to see me as a calm and collected individual that can help others by listening to them and providing them with the information that I believe will help them.
      5.https://soundcloud.com/user-803243324/recording-5
In this interview more of my previous thoughts are supported. Many people seem to think that I am an individual that they can count on and use as support. They also seem to think that I am a very hard worker that does not stop until I reach my goal.

• Reflection:

In general people seem to see me in a much better light than I see myself. Many people find me to be a calm and collected person whom they can talk to and feel comfortable around. While I agree with this part of the way people see me I don't agree with the extent they see it too. I generally feel that I am more subdued and that leads people to assume that I am not as present as most others. What these interviews have showed me is that people do still take notice of me even though I think I have faded into the background.

Assignment 15A- Finding out buyer behavior 2

    My interviews provided me with some great insight into developing my product even further. In my first interview I was told that a website was their most desirable method of access to the product. However, they stated that a subscription method of paying would be preferable to a flat rate with constant access. I was told that they would prefer this because they won't always be using the product because they won't always be searching for a place to live. They also told me that if I was to use a subscription method that I may be able to make a larger profit by getting a flow of revenue from customers until they are finished with the product.
    My second interview helped me to develop the human side of the business. They told me that they actually preferred human interaction when it comes to events such as these. They told me to open up the search office into a place for customers to interact with employees and maybe have a tour service. This could be a new line of revenue for the business and a great way to help customers to be able to find the place that best suits them. In both interviews the interviewees told me that they feel that their purchase would be justified if and when they found the place that suits them the best and they have moved in. They would then cancel their membership and that makes them feel like they have used the product to it's fullest.
    My third interview told me many of the same things that the first two interviewees told me. They also felt that I could expand the human part of my product further with a part for face to face interaction. They did provide me with a different idea by making the scouting locations more of a question and answer center so that people feel more comfortable with the product.
    In the end the segment that I interviewed helped me to look at my product in different ways. One of the ways that it helped the most was to expand the human portion of my product. I had been assuming that people would prefer a purely online product, but these assumptions were off base. I also learned that a membership type payment would be a good way to charge for the product. The most important take away form this segment is that people would feel confident with their purchase of this product if they found a place that had everything that they were promised. These interviews have also shown me that there is still room for a lot of improvement for this product.   

Assignment 13A- Reading Reflection 1

I read the book Andrew Carnegie by David Nasaw.

• What surprised you the most?
• I was legitimately shocked by the ways in which Carnegie made most of his money. From my limited knowledge before reading this book I thought his primary source of income was his steel business and other businesses, not outside sources. Looking back on it I should have figured that but I never made the connection. It would make sense that he amassed that amount of many through multiple ventures and opportunities. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• I admired his drive and unrelenting pursuit of a larger goal. He never let anything get in his way and stop him. Even if this meant doing things that may not have been the most ethical. Towards the end of his life he became more and more intrigued with the goal of world peace. This is an incredibly large task obviously, yet he approached it and did everything he could to try and develop a path towards this end. This included but is not limited to large contributions to charities and to President Taft and his platform.      
•  What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• The thing I least admired about him was also the thing I most admired him for, his drive to try and tackle giant challenges. A prime example of this was the attempt to reach world peace. I do not admire this trait because of the fact that it wastes time and resources that can further other goal that are much more reasonable. While I believe that it is a good thing to aim for challenging goals, I also maintain that it is a better thing to reach for actually attainable  goals.
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
• He most assuredly ran into failure. The largest was most likely the time he used new British methods for creating stronger steel railroads but these methods ended up being useless. The biggest problem with this was the fact that he used the family's money. He did eventually recover this money through many underhanded tactics that were legal at the time but are not now. He just continually moving forward at any cost and by any method.
• What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?
• He had many competencies. The most noticeable one by far though was his ability to bend the rules and regulations to be able to do what he wants to. The things he did where not even close to the most straightforward or fair but he always managed to get away with it and make a large profit. Another of his competencies was his skills in mathematics. This skill allowed him to assess the risks and rewards of his decisions so that he could go into an opportunity fully aware of the consequences.
• Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. 
• One part that I found confusing was the decision to lie to his brother about obtaining the patents for the techniques to create the rails for the railroad. This confused me simply because of the fact that he could have been able to assess the plans more carefully had he not been worried about hiding the way he obtained the patents.
•  If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?   
• The first question I would ask him is why he thought that he needed to use such underhanded tactics so often when it came to new ventures. I would ask him this because there are plenty of less risky ways to accomplish these goals and ventures. He could have been more transparent and forth right so that he could avoid gaining an unsavory reputation. The second question I would ask him is what the transformation from poor immigrant to wealthy almost american hero. I am incredibly curious how much this factored into his drive and passion. I know he was very proud of what he became, but i'm more curious as to how much this goal drove him forward and upward.
•  For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?  
• I think that his definition of hard work is to use anything that you can to your advantage and propel yourself forward at any cost. I think he would say something like "you have only worked hard when you have obtained success" or something along those lines. I do share this view to a certain extent, but I also believe that one has worked hard even if they haven't achieved success, fame, and fortune. I believe that many people work incredibly hard every day but are not well known and awarded.

Assignment 14A- Halfway Reflection

• What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? 
• One skill that I have developed is a way to effectively communicate with people that I don't know. Before these first two months of class I was kind of shut in and shy, but having to do multiple interviews and reflections on those interviews I have further developed my communication skills. Another skill that I have used is public speaking in the elevator pitch assignment. You can't simply talk to the camera about your product, you need to sell it without being to overbearing. Most importantly you need to have emotion when you speak and make it relate able because no one wants a product they can't see being used and one that no one is excited about.
• 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 moment I felt like giving up over the last two months was when my exams occurred. I was really busy studying and preparing to the point where I was neglecting this class and others that were not the ones I had exams in. I simply had to put my head down and get through it. I think I have developed a bit of a tenacious attitude over the last two months. I would say getting through the time period where I wanted to give up was the thing that developed it the most. I just knew that things would be better on the other side of it so I kept going.
• 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' ?  
• The first tip I would give is that no matter what you think you are capable of always try to do more. If you force yourself to go past where you think you can it will slowly but surely expand what your capable of and what your comfortable with. I think this is what helped to develop my "tenacious mindset" the most. The second tip I would give is to understand that as resilient as you may be, reach out to others for help when you really need it. There is no reason to break yourself when you can have someone help you. They can help in many ways, even in small ways like telling you their opinion on some of your thoughts. The final piece of advice I would give is to enjoy the challenges you are presented with. This may be the most important tip I will give. If you enjoy the challenge then you are able to see it in many different ways and this allows you to tackle it easier. The way that you view things allows for many more opportunities throughout life and this class.