Half-Way Reflection

1. The behaviors I used for this course so far are stubbornness and perseverance. I stubbornly got through my weekly assignments in a timely manner and did what I could to complete them early and not finish them on the last assigned day. For perseverance, I pushed myself to keep going to other people for the assignments involving interviewing different students. This was hard because I prefer to keep to myself and not do events like these, but I pushed through it and succeeded.

2. I felt like giving up around the second or so week of class. There were so many assignments I had to do, and even though they were small and able to be done, the overall look of the multiple assignments overwhelmed me and made me stressed. I made myself pull through by thinking logically that it was only first few days of school, and I just needed to adjust to my new workload, and this helped me in the end. I feel like I have matured more in regards to entrepreneurship, but I tenacity is something I still have space to grow in. Assignments like the interviews are areas I still struggle in, so I see this as a sign that I have space to improve.

3. (1) Stay on top of your work. There is no need for you to freak out over your school work, especially if you worked on them in a good amount of time. (2) Give the class a good try. Yes, it will make you do things you may feel uncomfortable about, but the teacher will not ask the impossible from you. Also, if you have objections to an assignment for some reason, try to explain it to the teacher in a reasonable manner. This can make the overall situation less stressful for you and the instructor. (3) Don't put doubt in yourself. Doing assignments like interviews are intimidating, but you won't ever complete them if you keep doubting yourself. Ready yourself, assure yourself that the worst thing that can happen is someone says no, and then go for it.

Week 8 Reading Reflection

1. The biggest surprise for me was how I better understood this chapter, and thus I believe I was able to understand the topics on Angels and VCs. Usually the assigned reading is difficult for my mind to digest and comprehend, but this time I had an easier time with it. Because of this, the talk of Angels specifically brought my mind to the TV show Shark Tank and this helped me to better understand the purpose of Angels in general.

2. VCs are still a confusing part for me. While I think I understood some parts of the VC career and motives, I better understood the use of Angels. I still came off with the feeling that VCs do want to control, at least in some aspect, someone else's business. I know that this is said to be a myth in the chapter, but I still feel this way. Are VCs like counselors/advisors for businesses? If not, then what is the true significance of their careers?

3. My first question would be, "What really is the purpose of VCs?" I still lack a proper understanding of VCs and maybe a more simple clarification would help me. My second question would be, "Would the people in Shark Tank be considered Angels?" The commission helped me to understand the concept of angels, but maybe I am wrong. Are the people on the show Angels, or are they a different brand of entrepreneur altogether?

4. No, I found nothing to disagree with. I was just mainly confused over VCs in general.

Free Money

Because this assignment involves giving away money, I do not think it is best for me at this time to complete this assignment. I am dependent on my parents, and I do not believe they will appreciate me giving away money to random strangers for a class assignment. For this, I accept the zero to my grade on this assignment. I apologize for the inconvenience and I will continue to do my best on future assignments.

Week 7 Reading Reflection

1. For me, the biggest surprise in this week's reading was how complex it all come off to me. I know that areas in entrepreneurship can be complex and specific at times, but this brought it to another level. I admit that it was difficult for me to comprehend some parts of the reading because of the level of difficulty involved. Still, I read through the article and I believe I at least have a general understanding of what they were trying to say in regards to segmentation, that it has been poorly used before and this new, more innovative approach could improve the situation regarding these.

2. How about almost everything? Again, the complexity of the article was difficult for me to comprehend. I guess one area that confused me was how the original approach failed to produce good results. Is it possible to combine both the original and new approach together and see what results unfold?

3. Is there more that can be done to further innovate segmentation, possibly even re-haul the entire thing and start fresh? I ask this because so many companies messed up on using segmentations. Maybe the problem is both how the companies handled segmentations and the overall concept of segmentation themselves. Also, can segmentation also apply to non-profit businesses, like charities? I ask this question because it intrigues me on whether or not the use of segmentation can either help or hinder a business that is not for profit. The examples I read in the assigned reading kept using for-profit businesses, so I wonder if non-profits can benefit from segmentations.

4. Because I struggled to fully understand the article and what it meant, I will stay on the side of caution and say that, no, I have nothing so far to disagree on in the piece.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

1. https://youtu.be/bkwFO2fxG6Q

2. With the feedback, what was most important is that the people who commented on my post agreed that this was a good idea and that the service will help provide a much-needed solution to a problem in studying at the library for students. This issue is not something that only I have problems with, but others do too. One even said that renting the chargers would make for a good investment for students without costing too much.

3. Since all my feedback was positive, I chose to improve myself from the first video and be more clear in my words and to speak my pitch in a more concise manner without droning on.

Customer Interviews No. 3

1. The questions I intended on asking were specifically related to studying, disadvantages found in studying, and the location/significance of the library. I intend to ask students at the college level, preferably those I have never even seen before and do not know personally.

2. The interviews are linked down below. I was only able to get 4 total this time.

3. I learned that once again I still do not like interviewing people out of the blue and recording them on video. It's just not something I am used to, even after doing this three times. I also learned that you need to have a balance of general and specific in your questions so people being interviewed know what the topic is about and still have space to speak their mind on it. What surprised me the most was that the vast majority of people I interviewed said yes when I asked the first time to interview them. I only received one no and one person being a no-show in these three assignments. For change, I want to be able to better plan my interviews ahead of time like I did with the first two so I don't fall short of the instructions. Due to going home for the weekend, I did not have time and people to interview on these particular questions and topic.

Videos:
https://youtu.be/wLSQfInjaqE

https://youtu.be/Lu5haQZCcRI

https://youtu.be/trLvLGLD6P4

https://youtu.be/lfm0aAhxTPY

Week 6 Reading Reflection

1. My biggest surprise was how short the overall article was. I was expecting something as long as the book chapters. Also, I was surprised over how the significance/strength of the factors could alter the playing field of businesses in general. If one factor is stronger than the one, it can lead to both good and bad forms of progress.

2. I admit to being confused when the article said "how to use the forces to understand complements".  I don't know what complements are in this particular case, and how they serve a purpose to the overall function of a business and competing businesses in general.

3. What led you to make such a model? There had to be some inspiration and/or motivation that led him to go through making the Five Competitive Forces in the first place. Also, is there a possibility that there could be other factors, unknown, that have an impact, or even a greater impact, than the traditional five mentioned? I think we still need to questions subjects like this so not only do we get more out of it and understand it better, but we also can possibly lead ourselves to discovering something new.

4. At this point, I don't necessarily find anything that I disagree with the author on in this article. While I do think there is the possibility of there being more factors involved that may not have been mentioned, I did not disagree with anything in the article at this point.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1. I am a college student pursuing a major in English and a minor in Innovation. These two degrees strengthen my natural talents in writing and literature while also helping nurture my entrepreneurial side. My talents are heavily stemmed from writing and reading/analyzing in general. My skills again involve writing, writing under a deadline, pursuing research and sources for articles, and experience in committing to a long-term cause. With my business, I see it as a way to help me grow in my leadership skills and capabilities of managing a business well.

2. To my customers, I offer them free/rentable chargers. College students in general study in multiple places, and the library is a hotspot. However, there are only so many places for a student to charge their studying devices. With a system that rents out chargers or offers wireless chargers that can charge computers and phones, my customers will have greater access to their overall studying, which in turn will increase their success in college.

3. My demographic will college students. Basically anyone who is enrolled in a college is given accessibility in being able to obtain a charger or wireless charger for their own personal studying while at the library. Students studying at the library are concerned more about being able to put their time to good use to earn good grades and not be frustrated over lack of plugs because other students reached these areas for themselves first. All my customers have in common their desire to study, and study well.

4. When it comes to effective studying, my customers will of course want nothing but the best product to help them achieve this. How can they study well if they don't even have enough battery life for their laptops? My product will be a simple solution for a large problem that affects students in varying forms as they study for their exams. With my product and overall service, my customers will worry about one less thing and can devote their time to earning good grades.

5. What sets me apart from everyone else is that I have gone through the same dilemma. I have studied multiple times at the library, and at one point I needed to leave early because there were no plugs for my charger, limiting my time and access to study. I know how this dilemma feels for other students. What I have that nobody else has is patience, and a lot of it. Building a business from the ground up requires delayed gratification and going step by step through the setting up of a business in order to succeed well in entrepreneurship.

I believe in general that my five points coincide with each other well. They all involve the problem at hand and the various factors involving it, as well as the possible solution to said problem. Maybe with 3 I can specify my demographic even more, like aim for college students that belong to other factors such as long study hours and more intensive classes/majors to study for. My product and service is a simple solution to a common problem that can be easily fixed, and these 5 points further specify what I can attempt to do.

Interviewing Customers No. 2

1. My overall opportunity was in the problems involving college life/experience in general. I fine-tuned my questions to then be based more on studying overall. Now, I think I need to fine-tune them even more, because my second set of questions did not give me enough in the overall assignment. If I work on them a little more, maybe then I can gain a wider variety of answers and responses.

2. I spoke with only people at one building. This time I picked people in my dorm area to branch out from the previous area. The students were by majority both first and second year students. I went to students and refrained from interviewing faculty staff members.

3. I specified my second set of questions to be based more on studying instead of general college experience/life in general. I did this to see if I could get a more specific opportunity I could handle with my own two hands instead of a large opportunity I would not be able to resolve on my own.

4. Videos are linked down below.

5. I still feel very uncomfortable going up to people and asking them for video-recorded interviews. If this was done through e-mail, it would be so much easier to do. I think I was less anxious and hesitant on asking people for interviews though, and I wasn't as nervous as I was in my first round of interviews. I think if I work on fine-tuning my questions just a little more, they can lead to me hearing interesting and more varied opinions.

6. Always say thank you instead of I'm sorry. This shows the person being interviewed that you appreciate their time and you're not seeing the overall experience as burdensome, so they in turn will treat the interview in a better light. Also, tell your interviewee that they are going to be recorded on video ahead of time. This prevents them from being nervous/startled when you pull out a camera and record the interview. Finally, give them space on how they want to look and where they want to be interviewed. Being recorded on video makes people more aware of their appearance and people generally want to look nice for the camera and be in a comfortable area.

Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZJvt-U4018

https://youtu.be/VoEha6qAvIY

https://youtu.be/7S2VskMBSQI

https://youtu.be/qUZRPKs32DA

https://youtu.be/AU5q6NsXrq8

Elevator Pitch No. 1

1. Link to my video:

Youtube: https://youtu.be/Y_MCC7C7hBU

2. Study Buddy is a company that provides for the needs of students everywhere. In college students struggle to find good places to study for their exams and upcoming projects because of lack of space, noise, etc. One major problem is lack of plugs for students to use for recharging their laptops. Since so many students complete their work and study through their computers, they will become unnecessarily stressed from the lack of plugs in the wall. The solution are portable chargers, able to rented or loaned out by the libraries. If a student finds themselves without a plug, they can simply head to the library desk and ask for a portable charger, one that can automatically recharge their device without the use of it being plugged in the wall. This has already been seen with phones that have chargers that don't require being plugged in a wall to recharge cellular devices. Why can't the same be done for computers?

Week 5 Reading Reflection

1. The biggest surprise for me in this chapter was all the legal jargon. There are so many rules, regulations, and laws that have to be kept up and maintained. If any of them are broken, you are liable to being sued and forced to pay heavy fines. I thought entrepreneurship in general was just a free-flowing, thought-based process that only rarely involved grounded routines.

2. Again, it was the legal jargon throughout the chapter. I'm more of an artistic minded person, and so reading about bankruptcies, corporations, patents, and so on just made my mind swim in confusion. I know the person who wrote the book tried their best to explain what was involved in the chapter, but it still came out as overloaded and complex.

3. Should entrepreneurs know about legal issues? This is to make sure if entrepreneurs should spend that time learning about the law or just hiring someone else to do it for them. Why are there so many rules in the first place? I ask this because it seems that the multitude of rules would inhibit people from starting and leading businesses instead of encouraging them.

4. At this point in the chapter, I don't see anything that I disagree with. If anything, I wish there was more of an easier and clearer understanding of the legal jargon read throughout the chapter. That would have made things easier to digest in my mind.