Final Reflection

1. After going through all of my previous postings I can effectively say that the most formative experience that I received in this class was learning how to develop as entrepreneur. By this I mean getting into the mindset and developing a concept, and re-designing it based on feedback. I found the repetition of certain assignments very useful, and actually made me feel that I was part of something that could potentially really be an idea. I think the experience I will remember for years to come will be the interviewing. I found these to be at times very funny, as it was sometimes awkward asking random people about a concept that does not exist and may never exist. It was also very eye opening to see how people thought, and to understand their needs. My most proud experience would be creating the idea for the app. I would say even though it was something small, it was kinda cool to come up with an idea that could actually work and help people.

2. I do see myself thinking more like an entrepreneur, but I would not consider myself one. I think most entrepreneurs are more dedicated and also constantly looking for opportunities for success. I definitely have begun looking for more opportunities to succeed, but the motivation is still hard for me.

3. The one recommendation I have for future students is to make sure they really put time into these assignments. I think they really help you learn how to think differently, but also allow you to develop a potential lucrative or helpful idea. I also recommend they complete every assignment, not just for the grade, but because each assignment builds of each other. To foster an entrepreneurial mindset, look at business see why they are successful, and then brainstorm, find needs that can be solved. 
Image source: https://articles.bplans.com/14-business-resources-every-entrepreneur-should-know-about/

Venture Concept No.2

The opportunity that I identified in this section is creating an app for college kids that can help them experience a better night out. The need is college students, specifically in Gainesville, Florida who wait in long lines in order to experience a night that is cut short by this wait time. The customers are also college students, who are on a relatively small budget, so I hope with the help of this app students will also be able to pay cover and receive discounts to venues. The forces in the environment creating this opportunity is the demand of students wanting to go out and have fun. The market is defined geographically by the community of Gainesville, and demographically by students that attend UF or even Santa Fe. I would say that this opportunity is quite big, primarily because many students want to use their time wisely, especially when creating an experience. I think the window of opportunity is quite small, as there are similar apps being created in order to help people on their nights out.

The incremental innovation that this app brings is adding on too many social media platforms. I intend to make the app a social media app that brings friends together, but also informs. Specifically, about deals and wait times at clubs and bars across Gainesville. The app uses real time information from users on how long they are waiting in line. If the user is accurate with his information, they may be able to get free cover or drinks at certain partnered venues. The app, once successful, will be able to partner with more venues and bars in order for them to promote their events or special offers specifically to our customers.

I plan on making money at the beginning primarily from downloads and usage. With some success I believe I could make money from different bars or clubs for advertising space.

I believe that customers would switch to using this app because at the moment Gainesville does not offer a successful or accurate app like this. The app is designed to enable an experience; therefore, I do not think it should be too hard for target customers to switch. I would say the competitors of this app would be other social media apps. Other social media apps also allow the possibility of communication to friends or specific groups. The possible weakness I can see is that they won’t be able to deliver accurate times or offers to everyone at one time. I think this is the vulnerability that I need to maximize on. Customer support would definitely play a massive role in the creation of this app. If the app is to be successful, it must also services for the customer using in case they have problems. With good customer service we can solve the problem and also improve the app. Since it is an app it needs only to be put on the app store.

The organization will be organized into different departments, but where each department works together in order to provide a steady flow of information. There would need to be at least 100 employees. The roles would vary from engineers to advertisement.

The most important resource for this company will be its local attraction. I think by working in a community it allows the product to be tested in almost a controlled environment. I think this can be hard to copy, as big apps are usually available to the masses right away.

The next venture would be to tackle bigger cities, and possibly expand into restaurants. It will still be aimed at younger people, especially people aiming to go out.

For me, I think I want to have helped this company grow successfully locally. Hopefully in the future it can gain national or international success, but I feel like that would have to be done with someone else other than me. I think I will continue to be an entrepreneur but work on smaller projects.

From feedback I have received in this class I would say that the app is quite a good idea. I actually took the idea of providing cover from the feedback I received and made sure to stay true the customers. I found that many people truly wanted to have an efficient, but also eventful night out. The main consensus from all the feedback was making sure that the wait times are accurate, and that would be the most vital service the app could provide. 














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Your Exit Strategy

1. I think that for my venture I plan on selling it if the opportunity arises. I think that personally I can only accomplish so much as a start-up company, and for my vision to be realized I may need to hand the project off to others who are more capable. I think this would allow me to pursue other ventures and hopefully find something that I can truly accomplish fully.

2. I selected this exit strategy, because there are already established tech giants in the business. They have more resources and more man power to fully develop apps like these. They can truly make my idea worth something to millions of people, not just one community

3. I would say it definitely influenced my growth intentions. I did not want this project to become huge, just big enough to where I can see it passed on to someone else. I think It might of influenced some opportunities, as I was not looking to acquire many resources in order to make the venture a national or international brand.

Reading Reflection Num. 3

I chose the book, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, by Ashlee Vance.

1. What surprised me the most about Elon Musk is his intellectual capacity, and how he is so driven to acquire new and useful knowledge. What I admire about Elon Musk is that he decided to create a solution to help humanity, not just to make him rich. I think this shows a certain amount of humbleness that is not portrayed by the media. There was not much I did not admire about Elon Musk, his personality was a little brash, but nothing out of the ordinary for a successful person. I think Elon Musk encountered adversity early on, with his struggle to make meaningful relationships. I think that being bullied, and almost forgotten by his parents, made him more driven to become his own man.

2. I think the most prevalent competency was intelligence. Elon Musk seemed very intelligent, and very knowledgeable on the ventures he was trying to start. Also quite driven from an early age. He was bullied as a kid, but kept doing the things he found to be fun, not just complying with those around him.

3. I would say one part of the reading that I found confusing was his obsession with being liked. For me, it is quite hard to see why someone who has accomplished so much is so obsessed with being liked by people around him. I think the example of how he met and started dating his ex-wife is a clear depiction of that

4. My two questions to Elon Musk would be:

• Do you actually think you can save humanity?
• Do you think if you grew up in a different family environment you would be as successful?

I chose these to questions because they inquire on two different aspects of Elon Muck. One being about his goals, and one being about him personally. 

5. I think it is quite evident that Elon Musk believes in hard work, but I think he strives to make sure is hard work is useful to others. I think I share the same opinion, but do not necessarily need my hard work to be seen by others to be successful. 

Celebrating Failure 26

1. This and last semester I have taken up playing the guitar. As many fellow musicians may know, playing the guitar doesn't happen from night to day, it's a lot of practice. In particular I was trying to learn the song "All I Want" from Kodaline. The song is not very hard, but I was struggling with the strumming pattern. I kept on getting really close, but could not get the rhythm and the timing right. It was almost painful, to keep going and just failing. Eventually, after many weeks it started to come together.

2. What I learned was that practice doesn't make perfect, but it can get you close. Persistence, on the other hand is what will allow you to achieve your goal

3. Failure is the worst. I think like many people we hate to fail, we hate to fail, but it's a part of life we can't shake. However, I think through failure we learn a lot. Not just how to overcome failure, but also who we are and what parts of us we can improve to fail less. I think this class has thought me that failing is really just part of life, and in order to be successful you might need to fail.

Your Ventures Unfair Advantage

1. Human Capital:
• Value: This is really important, as I cannot be the only working on the app once its up and running
• Rare: It's not rare, but it can be rare to find long-lasting good workers 
• Inimitable: I would say this is hard to imitate, as each person brings their own value 
• non-substitutable: There are always other people that can be hired, but again, a good worker is hard to substitute 
2. Public backing 
• Value: I would say this also quite important. As people wanting an app like this means there is a market for it. 
• Rare: I would say it's not too rare to find yourself in market or have people who would support your idea.
• Inimitable: Not easy to imitate, but possible. Would require a similar product
• non-substitutable: It is also not easy to substitute, as they are backing a singular product
3. Social Capital: Greek Life:
• Valuable: I would deem this very valuable, as being a part of Greek Life at UF I can already start sharing the product with my brothers. Using there connections to get the app around as quickly as possible 
• Rare: I would say this is rare, as you are able to spread the apps popularity in a more direct and efficient manner 
• Inimitable: Hard to imitate, as this is direct marketing with people 
• non-substitutable: The idea of marketing directly to your target market can be hard to substitute
4. Personal Relationship with computer engineers
• Value: I find this to be valuable, as they can help me develop and maintain the app
• Rare: I think this super rare, as having a direct relationship with someone that can build your app and maintain it. I think it also helps as I can comfortably say what the app should be like
• Inimitable: Not hard to imitate, but hard to establish another relationship 
• non-substitutable: Can be substituted, but would not be easy or convenient
5. Uniqueness:
• Value: I think this quite valuable, as my app presents a unique way to experience nightlife in college 
• Rare: Is rare. As the uniqueness of the app is what defines it
• Inimitable: Can be imitated, but would never be identical I would say. But the idea itself is already established
• non-substitutable: I think you cant substitute its uniqueness. But you can definitely come across a similar app
6. Communication skills:
• Value: This is quite valuable. Helps me negotiate with venues, events, and etc. 
• Rare: I would say it is rare to be a good at communicating
• Inimitable: Of course you can imitate these skills, many people are good at communicating 
• non-substitutable: I would say that being a good communicator is hard to substitute 
7. Financial 
• Value: I do have some financial backing for the app, I think this is something that is truly valuable  
• Rare: it is rare to get financial backing, but of course not that uncommon 
• Inimitable: Well it can be imitated and has been done in the past 
• non-substitutable: I do not think you can really substitute financial backing 
8. Universality 
• Value: I think the app being able to be used by most people, and useful to most people 
• Rare: I think its hard to find many apps that are universal, and can be used by most people. The ones that are the successful apps I would say. 
• Inimitable: I would say that this is easy to imitate. But may actually not be something app designers choose to do.
• non-substitutable: You could substitute universality in order to make you product very singular and for a small, niche, market
9. Easy to use 
• Value: Very important. Stimulates popularity for the app
• Rare: At times it's is pretty rare, but can be found in most successful apps 
• Inimitable: Has been imitated by many app makers
• non-substitutable: Yes, but I would say it is not a smart idea. As it allows the app to be used
10. Marketability 
• Value: I think the apps ability to be easily marketable is very highly useful value  
• Rare: Is very rare, and why some apps fail 
• Inimitable: Yes, can be used to make an app more appealing to their customers 
• non-substitutable: I would say it is hard to substitute and should be something that should not be substituted

I would say after doing the VRIN analysis on every resource, they are very equally important to my product. I would have to say universality and marketability are the two stand-out features. I think they are important because they allow you to break in to the market.