30A – Final Reflection

What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?

Probably the most formative experience during this class is the one I gained from 22A Growing your social capital, in which I had to speak to people that could be my allies and business partners, it pushed me out of me comfort zone. My most joyous was 29A Venture Concept 2 because it was all the work I've been doing all semester put into one document, it was really rewarding. The one I'm most proud of is my last elevator pitch because I feel like it showed my growth.

At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?

I definitely think that I have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset because of all the exercises I have done and been through in order to grow my idea to its fullest potential. I think this class has strengthened me and made me a better business student.

What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?

I would recommend that everyone in this class use their time wisely and make schedules for themselves, because sometimes the assignments take a long time. In order to do this I think it's best to look at the assignments on Monday, and then schedule out when you are going to complete them and make sure you stick to that schedule. 

29A – Venture Concept No. 2

1. Easy Seating

Opportunity: My opportunity lies within the libraries on campus and I seek to eliminate the wasted time and energy college students exert while looking for seats to study in. The people who have this need are college students, especially those who study in groups, who need a seat to sit in in the library but don’t want to walk around all of the desks and through all the floors looking for the perfect spot. The nature of this need comes from the desire for convenience and the hatred of wasted time. College students, more than other demographics, hate wasting their time and live for easy solutions, my opportunity will bring convenience to their lives. The forces that create this opportunity is the lack of a system already in place in the library that can tell students where people are sitting. Also, another force is how large Marston and Lib West are, because of their size it is annoying to walk around looking for seats and becomes a huge waste of time really quick, because of their size it gives the perfect opportunity to create this system. This market can be defined as UF students who live in Gainesville, but also tutors and other people who use the library for their own needs. The ages can be around 18-26, depending on the year of the student. Currently, customers don’t really have a satisfying way to deal with this need, they just walk around the library until a spot is found, I don’t think they are loyal to this way of satisfaction. I think this opportunity is really big because this isn’t a problem that will go away overnight, it needs someone to intervene and create a system. This window of opportunity will be open for as long as Marston and Lib West are running.

Innovation: My idea is a system in Marston and Lib West that will make it easier and more convenient to find seating. It will be a system of sensors within the chairs of the library that can register when a seat is occupied, and on a website it can show UF students which seats are occupied or vacant on each floor of the library. The sensors will register weights of 70 lbs and above so as not to mistake backpacks or books as students using the seats. Also, the information for this system will be found on the website in which UF students already use to rent rooms at the libraries so it is not confusing and I’m not adding another element to students’ lives. I would be selling this idea to the students and be getting donations and funds from them in the sake that this idea alleviates some of their wasted time and frustration.

Venture Concept: My innovation will solve and address the opportunity I identified because it will allow UF students to look online and see where they can sit instead of walking around aimlessly. Now they can find the perfect spot just by looking on their phone, saving so much time and wasted energy. Customers will buy my innovation because they hate wasting time. I think customers would use this product because right now there are no alternatives, they need a system. There are no competitors at the moment. The weaknesses and vulnerabilities are the costs. I think customers will help a lot with the fundraising.

I think what will make it hard for my competitors to copy my idea is my prior experience with fundraising and raising money for a long period of time in order to achieve a goal. I worked for 18 months to raise money for women’s shelters across the Tampa area by selling stickers, collecting money, and collecting supplies to donate.

I don’t know what would be my next venture, probably something targeted at the convenience of college students too because I think it is a really good area to exploit and gain opportunities from.

Within five years of my venture, I hope I’d be in other schools by now, not just on UF campus, I feel like this idea can help a lot of schools nationwide, because every school has libraries and students that want fast seating. I want to sell my product after 10-15 years to someone else after I have hopefully expanded across the states and possibly even to other countries.

2. I actually didn't receive any feedback on what I should change in my venture concept so I didn't really change it much, the only changes I made are for what I'm going to do in the future. I stated I am going to sell my product in 10-15 years.

3. I changed it and said I am going to sell my product because I don't know the state of society and technology so I may be a bust in the future, that is why I want it out of my hands and I just want to be in the business when it is growing and thriving.

4. 

28A – Your Exit Strategy

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?

My business is going to start in the libraries within the campus of UF, and then hopefully over the years I'd like to expand my business to other schools in the states, and maybe even out of the country. I will probably keep my business for about 10-15 years and then sell it. 

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

I have chosen this exit strategy because I don't know what libraries will look like in 10-15 due to the fast movement of technology in our society. Obviously students will need a place to study, but I just don't know if that will be in the libraries in the future. That is why I want to sell my business and make profit while I can.

3) How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources?

I don't think my exit strategy influenced how I made my concept or how I identified my opportunity. If anything it just reflects my idea, because my idea is about convenience and my exit strategy benefits the convenience of me. I just want to expand my business and make it big before I sell it.

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

1. What was the general theme or argument of the book?
I read How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. by Scott Adams The theme is that you shouldn't be discouraged or get down because of your failures, because in the end they are helping you find success and solutions to what you've been failing at. He also talks specifically about tips and strategies for finding success, and tips for being happy and your best self. 

2. How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
I think this book really emphasized what Prof. Pryor talks about in lectures a lot, which is your first attempt is never going to be a success, businesses and entrepreneurship is about trial and error and I think this book reflects that perfectly. This book reflects in class how we learn to take our failures and make them into lessons.

3. If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
If I were to design an exercise for this class, I would have people track their failures each day for a week in a journal, and at the end of the week look back at the journal and see if they could derive any lessons or positives out of them.

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

One of the biggest surprises I experienced when reading this story is the parts where Adams talked about being your best self and how it's okay to put yourself first at times if it'll benefit you. I just wasn't expecting to read something like that in this book, I really enjoyed it.

26A – Celebrating Failure

1) Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester, and failed each time. 

One time I failed this semester was on a Saturday morning at 10 AM when I had an interview at the Chipotle on University. I go out almost every Friday to clubs or parties with my friends, but I knew this Friday I couldn't go out because I had to be well-rested for my interview. My first mistake was letting my friends convince me to go out. I told them I'd go out with them but I wouldn't drink because I had my interview. My next mistake was then drinking, I let my friends convince me to drink which I should not have. My final mistake was drinking so much that I ended up blacking out and not remembering a majority of the night. Apparently I ended up home at about 7 AM and showed up to the interview still drunk. Needless to say, I did not get the job.

2) Tell us what you learned from it.  

I learned that I shouldn't let my friends convince me to do things that I know I shouldn't be doing in the first place. I think lesson was about self control. 

3) Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn't it? It's embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we have to change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failure (emotionally, behaviorally). Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were just a few months ago?

I don't think that failure necessarily has to mean a bad thing, I think that they can be learning experiences and means in which to find the right solution. At times though, I do get down from failure and I let it affect my attitude, which I shouldn't. Behaviorally, I tend to shut down when I fail. this class has definitely made me more open to taking risks and possibly failing. 

25A – What’s Next?

Existing Market
Step 1: Talk about what you think is what's next in terms of products and services for your venture.
I think what's next is taking my idea out of UF and spreading it to other universities across the United States. The opportunity I'm looking to expand in isn't one that just happens at UF, it happens at colleges nationwide. That's why I want my idea of implementing a system into libraries in which you can know what seats are occupied or taken at all times to be in libraries all across the United States.

Step 2: Interview three customers who are already part of the market you have identified, and ask them what they believe is next for a venture like yours. Describe to them your business, and simply ask "What should we be doing that we aren't planning to do?" Next, ask them about your ideas of what customers might want next. 
The people I interviewed believed that my idea could make it nationwide because it is a problem that plagues all colleges across campus. They said they thought it was a good idea to start at one school, UF, to test how it goes and then to go across the rest of the states with my idea. They said that convenience is a thing that people want all around the world and that need isn't going to go away until a system is put in place to help them.

Step 3: Based on your own expectations and the feedback you received from customers, set a path for the future. In two to three paragraphs, describe what makes the most sense for your venture in terms of growing in your existing market.
I think what makes the most sense for my venture in terms of growing my existing market is to go to new schools around the country and show them my results that I've had at UF. I would probably starts at schools like USF and FSU because they are close and I could easily get that done and show them what I did at my school.
Next I would go out of state and make my way across the country to spread my idea. I would gain money from the schools in Florida and that would allow me to go all across the country and spread my idea to the different libraries across the nation. It's even possible that I don't have to just do college libraries, but could do regular libraries as well.

New Market
Step 1: Identify a radically different market from what you're currently planning to target. If you're currently targeting B2B, think about going after a B2C market. If you're currently targeting an affluent part of society, think about targeting a very poor part of society.
A radically different market from what I'm currently planning to target would be people without a need for convenience and people who already have a solution to wasted time and energy, such as people who rent rooms in the library.

Step 2: Once you have identified a radically different market, describe how you think your venture concept might be able to create value for people in that market. You may have to get creative with this -- that's OK -- and perfectly welcome!
My venture might be able to create value for people in this market because there could be times when all the rooms in the library are already rented and they didn't get the chance to grab one, in this instance they would have to use my product to find a nice place to study in the library.

Step 3: Interview two people from this new market. Again, describe to each interviewee what your concept is. Then, ask them how they think your business might be help to meet customers like them. What kinds of adaptations to the product/service mix do they think you should make to be successful in this new market? 
I interviewed people who rent rooms in the libraries and asked them what they do in the cases in which there are no rooms available for the times that they want. They said they just sit in the regular spots in the library. I then asked them if they had to sit regularly in the library, would they use my product to find seats? They said yes because it would save them time and be able to find them convenient seats. So, my product could be used for this group of people, but only if their first solution for the problem of convenience didn't work.

Step 4:  Reflect, in two to three paragraphs, on what you learned about this new market. What surprised you the most? Were any of your expectations/assumptions correct? Does this new market, on second thought, appear to be as attractive as your existing market? And so on. 
I learned from this new market that I am even able to target people who aren't necessarily in my own targeted market, it only happens when their first solution doesn't work, but at least it happens. I can extend my opportunity to them and grow my business. 
This market isn't as attractive as my existing market because they aren't guaranteed to use my product every time, but it is still surprising they would use it at all. My expectations and assumptions about this new market were definitely incorrect.

24A – Venture Concept No. 1

Easy Seating

Opportunity: My opportunity lies within the libraries on campus and I seek to eliminate the wasted time and energy college students exert while looking for seats to study in. The people who have this need are college students, especially those who study in groups, who need a seat to sit in in the library but don’t want to walk around all of the desks and through all the floors looking for the perfect spot. The nature of this need comes from the desire for convenience and the hatred of wasted time. College students, more than other demographics, hate wasting their time and live for easy solutions, my opportunity will bring convenience to their lives. The forces that create this opportunity is the lack of a system already in place in the library that can tell students where people are sitting. Also, another force is how large Marston and Lib West are, because of their size it is annoying to walk around looking for seats and becomes a huge waste of time really quick, because of their size it gives the perfect opportunity to create this system. This market can be defined as UF students who live in Gainesville, but also tutors and other people who use the library for their own needs. The ages can be around 18-26, depending on the year of the student. Currently, customers don’t really have a satisfying way to deal with this need, they just walk around the library until a spot is found, I don’t think they are loyal to this way of satisfaction. I think this opportunity is really big because this isn’t a problem that will go away overnight, it needs someone to intervene and create a system. This window of opportunity will be open for as long as Marston and Lib West are running.

Innovation: My idea is a system in Marston and Lib West that will make it easier and more convenient to find seating. It will be a system of sensors within the chairs of the library that can register when a seat is occupied, and on a website it can show UF students which seats are occupied or vacant on each floor of the library. The sensors will register weights of 70 lbs and above so as not to mistake backpacks or books as students using the seats. Also, the information for this system will be found on the website in which UF students already use to rent rooms at the libraries so it is not confusing and I’m not adding another element to students’ lives. I would be selling this idea to the students and be getting donations and funds from them in the sake that this idea alleviates some of their wasted time and frustration.

Venture Concept: My innovation will solve and address the opportunity I identified because it will allow UF students to look online and see where they can sit instead of walking around aimlessly. Now they can find the perfect spot just by looking on their phone, saving so much time and wasted energy. Customers will buy my innovation because they hate wasting time. I think customers would use this product because right now there are no alternatives, they need a system. There are no competitors at the moment. The weaknesses and vulnerabilities are the costs. I think customers will help a lot with the fundraising.

I think what will make it hard for my competitors to copy my idea is my prior experience with fundraising and raising money for a long period of time in order to achieve a goal. I worked for 18 months to raise money for women’s shelters across the Tampa area by selling stickers, collecting money, and collecting supplies to donate.

I don’t know what would be my next venture, probably something targeted at the convenience of college students too because I think it is a really good area to exploit and gain opportunities from.

Within five years of my venture, I hope I’d be in other schools by now, not just on UF campus, I feel like this idea can help a lot of schools nationwide, because every school has libraries and students that want fast seating.