Final Reflection

The most formative experience that I found were the elevator pitches. I think they are immensely improtant for a lot of people. Many people do not know how to present themselves or their ideas, I myself struggle with it sometimes. I think the assignment taught me a lot on how to think and project my thoughts in the best way possible. I will remember giving away the money years later. I didn't really find any of the experiences joyous. I am most proud of the money assignment. I hate giving away money.

I do not really see myself an entrepreneur. The reason isn't because I think that this class didn't teach me how to be one, but merely that I don't felt like I really pursued anything that has made me an entrepreneur. I have definitely moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset.

I would recommend to go into this journey with an open mind and be passionate about your blog. Always stay on top of the assignments and instead of waiting until the day they are due, do one a day. This fosters a good mindset and lets you be successful.

Week 15 Reading Reflection

What surprised me in this weeks reading was the part about customer loyalty. I find it an intangible part of business and it is difficult to recognize how much it actually effects businesses.
I haven't really heard of micro finance before other than a little here and there and so I was confused about that part of the reading. The two questions I would ask the author would be, "How can you quantify customer loyalty" and "Can a business have success without technology today?"
I don't think the author was wrong about anything nor did I disagree with him.

Elevator Pitch No. 4

What I have noticed that people have told me on my previous pitches is that there are similar services and that if I could offer something new that they would use my service. For this pitch I tried to focus on how my venture is different from others because it will be affordable to students and that will cause them to want to use it instead of going to the grocery store.

Google Gold

1) One of the things that I realized about SEO is that you must include key words that people would look for that is unique to the blog. For example, using the phrase "grocery delivery service" is going to have my blog pop up instead of others because that is my main venture idea. Including labels each week is one of the things I did for each week.

2) I gave 1 example of a few key words I used in the above statement. Some others words I used were, "customer interviews," "target market" and "relationship development."

3) I didn't really use social media to enchace my SEO.

4) My "What's Next?" blog post got the most traffic with 6 comments and 17 views. I think this is because it was the most interesting to people who followed my blog.

5) I did not make it to the first page of google results for my keywords. I couldn't find my post in the pages I went through.

Week 14 Reading Reflection

I did not find anything particularly interesting in this week's reading. Something that I found confusing was what the author meant by corporate venturing. I do not feel like I got a great grasp on the concept. If I could ask the author 2 questions they would be, " Can you further explain corporate venturing" and "What do you believe is the most important part of corporate venturing?" Since this chapter was very straight forward and was not very opinionated I did not disagree with the author on anything.

Very Short Interview, Part 2

1. What do you believe is the most valuable part of a business that makes it successful?

"Well there are many different types of businesses so the most valuable part of a business changes from industry to industry but overall I think the most important thing is finding what your target audience wants and finding an innovative way to provide that desire."

2. How do you feel about emotion in business?

"It's necessary, a lot of the time I interact with people who are just horrible with their finances. They look to me for help and I have to understand where they are coming from in order to understand what happened and how to help them for the future. I think people look at business and believe its a pool of sharks and although that used to be true it isn't anymore. Now business is changing and people are starting to care about others."

3. What is your greatest accomplishment with your business?

"I started at a big accounting company and then left the company to start my own and I was able to take some of the larger clients with me. For example, I was able to get Burger King to side with and because of that I was able to become very successful."

I definitely understand entrepreneurship a lot better and feel better about it all. I understand how I should think about entrepreneurship and have discovered some surprising things. I would say that during the interview she felt like I understood what questions to ask now. 

Week 13 Reading Reflection

What surprised the most in the reading was how important emotion is in business. A lot of people look at the business world and think that it is essential to separate emotion and business to be successful. I thought the same.
The book value part was the part that was most confusing to me.
If I could ask two questions they would be, "what is the most important part of value in a firm?" and "could you talk a little more about anti dilution protection?"
I would disagree with the author about emotion in this chapter. I think that emotion is important but putting too much emphasis on emotion can be damaging to a business.

Celebrating Failure

So this semester I decided that I was going to drop business finance. This is because I basically failed the first exam and considering the entire grade is based off of 3 exams essentially I did not have time to make it back up without doing extremely well on the other 2 exams. I know that I could do well in the class but I did not put in the effort necessary to succeed and that was my fault. Now I have a better understanding of what I need to do to do well in the class so that when I take it next semester I can get an A. I think that failure is necessary. No one is every amazing at something the first time they try it. They may be naturally gifted in it but they are never the best and need practice. In order to be successful in anything you have to fail and learn from it. I handle failure very well, I ask why I failed, I learn from it and move on. I do not think this class has really changed my idea of failure.

My Exit Strategy

My exit strategy at the end of my venture would be to sell the business to the grocery company I work with or to sell it to local entrepreneurs who have held other successful businesses in Gainesville, like StudyEdge. I chose this because I do not think this is the type of thing I want to be involved with in the long run and also because I will not be a student here anymore. This has influenced my idea because it makes me cater to students specifically throughout the development of my venture.

What's Next

Existing Market:
I personally believe that the next step in my venture is creating a service that is more open to what consumers want. So for example, if customers do not know exactly what kind of deli ham they want, if they were in the store they could try a piece each on and decide which one, I want to bring this service to customers. This allows them to have more options in what they want.

I think the thing that makes the most sense for my idea to grow in its existing market is to broaden the target audience. I realized that I have really restricted this service to college students who don't have transportation conveniently. I realize that my main resource is convince and I think it is important but I need to offer something else to open my field of customers.
For example, to continue to grow I should be trying to not just hit the college part of Gainesville but the entirety of Gainesville. This would allow me to get loyal customers who are planning on living here for a long time and not just 4 years before they leave.

New Market:
The radically new market that I believe is the best place for growth of my idea is the group of people in Gainesville who have a means to easily get to the grocery store but would want to use this service. The first step into this market would be college students who do have transportation. This would be a great transition step. I think people would want to use this service because they are already lazy and if they value their time more than the cost of the service then they would absolutely use it. That was one of the responses I got in the interview. I agreed with the interviewee and think that is a great example of a service mix that would make me successful in this market. What surprised me most was that people were so willing to use the service. I guess people really hate chores no matter what wealth class you are in and the higher up you go on that chain the lazier people get when it comes to things they consider "petty." I was not really surprised about anything other than that and I still this market is very attractive.

I have just compiled all of my interviews in one video below.

Week 12 Reading Reflection

The reading this week was very interesting, it was all about growth. One of the things that I found confusing in the reading was the part about misunderstanding an industry's attractiveness. I wish he explained himself a little better when he went over that part. The two questions I would ask him are "What should I do if I am trying to grow but my company requires employees to be highly trained and I do not have the means of doing that training myself?" and also, "Could you explain what you mean by an industry's attractiveness a little more?" I would not say that I disagree with anything he said.

Week 11 Reading Reflection

During the reading my biggest surprise and the thing I found most interesting was innovation. Innovation is the method to creating the future and better understanding how innovation works was interesting to me and was a surprise because I did not know it before. Something that was confusing to me was the impact that risk can have on an entrepreneur. I know that risk can effect people in different ways but that it has such a strong impact on them was confusing to. The two questions I would ask the author would be, "has he ever faced almost complete failure?" and "how would he bounce back from taking on psychic risk?" I did not find anything he said necessarily wrong.

Amazon Whisperer

The revenue driver for my business concept is convenience. I need people to be able to find my product easy to use and convenience enough for them so that they do not go through the hassle of going to the store. The money maker that comes from convenience is the service charge for the delivery of the groceries. The next thing my customers will want is the ability to choose between different types of similar products. For example, they may want to try two different types of deli meat because they are unsure of which they want over the internet so we need to be able to provide that option for that. This will enhance my idea by offering more decisions. This will make a difference to customers because it shows that we actually care about their preferences. 
This is a dinner for 2 that amazon offers. The reviews for the product is that it was simple and easy and tasted good. I think this is important for customers because if they are going to order products like this the main thing they are looking for is convenience. I would not really change anything in this product. I think this would make a good addition to my idea because it gives customers ready made meals.

My Unfair Advantage

1. I have experience in dealing with students because I am a student myself.
VRIN: I understand how students think and what their needs are better than most because those same needs I have. Other people do have this same attribute though. But this is valuable.

2. I understand how Gainesville transportation works through my 3 years of living here.
VRIN: Because I constantly use the local busing and travel services offered here I know what students miss out on or what they find difficult while using these services. This allows me to implement means of solving their issues. This is valuable.

3. I have already discussed my idea with numerous college students and workers of local grocery stores.
VRIN: This allows me to strategically plan out how I want to implement my idea and what I need to change in order to fit exactly what my target audience wants. This is valuable, rare, but is imitable.

4. I already have a network of students that could advertise my idea through Greek life because I am in a fraternity.
VRIN: This is inimitable, rare, and valuable. Because of this I have a means to start immediately and get my venture to people very quickly because Greek life runs or is a part of a lot of the major organizations on campus.

5. I understand how smart phone applications work and how to target my audience on them.
VRIN: This is valuable. Since I understand how they work and how to advertise I on them I can easily create an application that allows customers to submit orders efficiently through a smartphone application.

6. I have a group of friends who know how to make applications.
VRIN: This is valuable, rare, inimitable, and does not have a substitute. Having a group of friends who can easily put together an application for my idea would allow me to get ahead of other services that offer similar functions. The human capital they provide cannot be found elsewhere.

7. I know how often people use the busing system and other means of public transportation.
VRIN: This is valuable. Because of the transloc application for the local busing system I know how long it takes for a bus to get from point A to point B and I know how many people use the bus. This can be used to understand peoples characteristics when it comes to transportation.

8. I have strong people skills because of constantly being around a lot of different types of people.
VRIN: This is valuable and does not have a substitute. Because of my fraternity I have learned how to talk with many different types of people. My venture hits a large range of people and so I need to be able to communicate with them in order to build relationships and grow the business.

9. I understand how to run a company from a managing standpoint.
VRIN: This is valuable and does not have a substitute. My background in economics has allowed me to study and understand finance and financial statements which are the back bone to any company. In order to run a company well you have to understand how these function.

10. I have a firm understanding of what to do to start a company/idea.
VRIN: This is valuable and does not have a substitute. From this class I have learned what it takes to start a venture and the dos and don'ts of what a business requires.

My top resource is my group of friends that I can use as a network to help start my business, create my application, and to advertise my idea. They would allow me to get a head start right out of the box and would provide support when I needed it.

Week 10 Reading

The biggest surprised I found in the reading was the true amount of risk that you take on when you start your own business. I know many people that have started their own business and I always thought it was brave of them but to have so much risk is incredulous to me. There is so much that goes into it. I did not find much of the reading confusing for the most part. The two questions I would ask the author are, "Which financial sheet is the most important?" and "What is the least risky way to start a business?" I did not really disagree with the author on anything in the reading.

Growing My Social Capital

1. Paul is the manager of a local grocer in my home town. The reason I got in contact with Paul is because I think he was able to provide some vital information on the transportation of goods from a store to another location. He is filling in the domain expert position for me. I found him through a friend who works at the local store as a bag boy. He was able to provide me with the information to contact Paul. Paul explained to me the importance of transportation and how having the right method of transportation of groceries to my customers is vital for my idea to work.

2. The market expert I was able to get into contact with was a girl named Hannah. Now although Hannah does not work for a grocery store she targets the same audience I want to target. College students. She works for an advertising organization here at UF called "The Agency." They target millennials and this is exactly who I want to target. I got in contact with her through a friend as well. She was able to explain how to cater to millennials and what to focus on in advertising.

3. The supplier that I was able to get into contact with was the person who supplied Paul's store. His name is Kurt. Kurt is a produce farmer, specifically strawberries, in my home town and he provides Paul's store with fresh strawberries. I talked to Kurt and he was able to provide me with information on how he transfers his strawberries and what is important about them.

Reflection: I think that this exercise showed me that when networking it is important to focus on specifics of the industry you want to pursue. The information I learned here will help me in other networking opportunities. I have not done many networking experiences so this experience is new to me.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

I noticed that in my feedback the comments primarily focused on how I am hitting a very niche market. I think this is important to recognize and try to use it to my advantage. This is the feedback I found most helpful and that I tried to push for in my elevator pitch.

Week 9 Reading Reflection

During the reading I was surprised by the different types of customer surveys. The effectiveness and impact from each different type of survey made me realize how the effect of globalization has on customers. With the ever increasing use of technology certain surveys have become obsolete. Mail in surveys are an example of this. Mobile marketing was the section of the reading I found confusing just because it is the type of marketing that I do not usually notice. I feel like the average consumer does not realize that type of marketing because of how integrated it is in our lives. If I had to ask two questions to the author they would be "Which is the most effective marketing method for millennials?" and "How would you bridge the gap between the younger population and the aging baby boomers?" I did not find the author wrong about much in he reading.

Napkin Idea No. 2

My name is Steven Cutler, I am a great peoples person and I have a strong work ethic. I have been involved with my fraternity for the past couple years and because of that my skills with understanding what people want have improved significantly. My aspirations for my business concept is to interact with customers and provide an experience they cannot get anywhere else. I am offering it to people who do not have transportation and who attend UF. Basically, I am offering it to students who cannot get to a grocery store easily and need help to receive this service. They care because if I am able to provide a cheap and reliable method for students they would have an overall better experience and would lose a lot of the stress in their life. I am able to communicate with people extremely well and this is what separates me from others. For this idea to work you need to have people skills and be able to motivate people to use the service. I think all of these elements work together and synergize to create a desirable service. I think the other issue would be to convincing people to try the service one. As for the feedback from my previous customers interviews I found some important notes. 1: Keep it cheap. 2: Keep it easy. 3: Keep it reliable. 4: Offer something that no one else offers in Gainesville. 5: Stress why you should use the service through advertising to students. All of these points are necessary to make my venture happen and I will keep them in mind moving forward.

Week 8 Reading Reflection

In the reading I am surprised about the banking industry. I am currently attempting to get a summer internship with some of the big name banks like Bank of America or US Bank. Through the interviews I have done I have learned more about the big banks and how they function. I have found that they are trying to create a place where you can complete all of your financial needs. I was originally surprised that the number of banks is dropping but I understand it now because of how banks are becoming. I did not find anything really confusing to me. The two questions I would ask the author would be, should I look for individual investors or should I approach a bank and go through them as investors and secondly, what do you think is the first step to finding investors? As for what the author was wrong about, I didn't feel like he was really wrong about anything.

Half-Way Reflection

The behavior that I have used to keep up with the requirements of this class are keeping a strong work ethic and then also making sure to check the calander each day to make sure I completed every assignment. Because of this I sometimes feel overwhelmed when I see a lot of work to do on one day. This makes me feel like I should just skip all the work and take a zero but I have been able to push through because I go with the mentality to just take on one task at a time. I feel like because of this I have developed a tenacious attitude since I began this class. I think the blog has contributed to this the most. Three tips I would offer are, get work done 2-3 days before it is due, this will allow you to have a lot more free time and break down the assignments if you want to. Secondly, start off strong early, try and get as much work done as you can in one time. Thirdly, have fun with it, make your blog your own and enjoy what you are talking about.

Week 7 Reading Reflection

The biggest thing that made an impact on me in the reading was about how a person's lifestyle may be able to be capture through psycho-graphics but could be weak at understanding what they buy. It is difficult to be able to understand the difference between these two because I would think that a lifestyle would greatly influence your buying preferences. The two questions I would ask the author would be "Do you believe that lifestyle is a determinate of buying preferences?" and "Are customers only segmented into the three types that you mentioned in the reading or can there be a hybrid of the different segments?" I didn't really disagree with anything the author said, I was more just opened up to certain ideas.

Free Money

I walked along University Avenue near my house. I approached people that seemed like they were heading home from some type of event, either a party or a gathering of people. I just introduced myself to them and asked where they were coming from. I wanted to see what they had been up to that night and then ask them if they wanted the dollar. Only one was given away, which was surprising. Out of of all 5 people only one took the dollar which surprised me because I feel like generally would want free money. However, I am not surprised that people do not want free money when they are offered it. I feel like this makes them feel cheap and petty. I think that generally my predictions were wrong because of what I said above but I now understand why they were wrong.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

For my idea, the feedback that I got was generally good. However, the main point people were expressing to me was the actual logistics of this idea. Many people think that it will take a lot of time and effort to put this together, although I agree with this point, I think that at the end of the day, it is not that difficult of service. I think if you create an easy online platform for customers to submit their orders it would be easy to fulfill and deliver these orders. What I changed on my feedback was that I tried to explain that this delivery service would focus on convenience and ease of access. In order to motivate people to use this service they would have to fine it easier than going to the store and getting the products themselves.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

The thing that surprised me the most in the reading was how important competitive advantage is. I felt like in the reading, he explained not only the forces that shape competitive advantage but also how much a necessity it is in any industry. Without it I feel like any company or idea would fail.

Since I have discussed competitive advantage in many other classes of mine I was not confused by the reading. However, I did think that simplifying what shapes competitive advantage into only 5 forces was not right.

I would ask the author if he believes those are only forces that shape competitive advantage or if there are more and he just believes these are the most important. I would also ask him which of the five points is the most important, in the sense that without that one point the entire idea would fail?

Like I said, I think that simplifying the forces into only 5 sections was wrong. This is because I feel like competitive advantage is flowing and constantly changing so it is tough to get a true read on what is more important at any point of time. 

Idea Napkin No. 1

I am a 3rd year Economics major from Jupiter, FL. I like to play basically every sport. If I am inactive I get antsy and bored and have no clue what to do with myself. I am particularly good at talking to people. It is one of my best qualities. I have taken on a lot of positions in my fraternity and have coordinated many different events. I think this business would be great for me to start because it takes string time management and coordinating skills. My idea is to have a grocery delivery service that could deliver groceries while also acting as a food truck for the people using the service. So basically, it would deliver your groceries and you can also have them make you a sandwich or get your meat from an onboard deli when they drop it off. This is targeted at people that cannot make it to the grocery store easily. Specifically, this would be targeted at college students who do have transportation. Most of these college students are lazy, they would do anything to not move and going to the store is always a task for them. If they had this service they would easily pay a few extra dollars to utilize it. What sets me apart from everyone else is that I make sure things get done. I do everything I need to in order to get the job completed. Many people wouldn't have the motivation to make sure this happens but with everything I have ever done I make sure its done, and done correctly.

I think all of these elements fit together. I think the part of my plan that is weak is the food truck part. It would be difficult to double as a food truck and a delivery truck. But, I think maybe a mobile sandwich station within the delivery truck would really convince people to use the service.

Elevator Pitch No. 1

Today I am talking about a great opportunity that would benefit students and other people who find it hard to travel. I found the opportunity for the idea of a grocery deliver student. So many people in Gainesville do not own a means of transportation and are left out in the cold to find a means of getting to the store. Then if they do make it to the store they cannot carry everything as you can with a car so they are limited to how much they can buy. My solution is a cheap and reliable grocery delivery service for people who can't travel. The name of my business would be "Reliable Delivery" to show that it is a reliable service.

Week 4 Reading Reflection

I found this weeks reading very interesting. This chapter is about the creation of ideas. One thing that I thoroughly enjoyed about the reading was about the different parts of the brains. Each half of the brain has different functions and I found it fun to use each half and to understand how you can do that. One of the parts of the reading that I found confusing was the part about creativity. I felt that the chapter was in it self un-creative. What I mean by that is that how can creativity be broken down into different parts? Doesn't that, ironically, box in the idea of creativity. The very nature of creativity is to break outside of the box, to think in a way we haven't before. Therefore, the book segmenting creativity destroys creativity. Two questions I would ask the author would be, "Why would you segment creativity?" and also "What do you believe is the best method to stimulate the brain to start the creation of ideas?" I felt like the author was wrong about the segmenting of creativity but other than that I think they were spot on.

Customer Interviews No. 1

The opportunity I have decided to use for my interviews is the idea of having a cheap grocery delivery service. I have noticed that not everyone that goes to UF has a car. It is difficult for these students to get to local grocery stores and it is even more difficult to get back being weighed down by a large amount of items.

List of questions:

1. Tell me about the last time you went to the grocery store.

2. Do you own a car or any form of transportation?

3. Do you find your local grocer has everything you want?

4. Do you think you would use a grocery delivery service if it was offered to you?

I think that the opportunity now that I have talked to customers is a reasonably priced convenient grocery delivery service that also works as a food truck for the grocery service and their deli market.

I enjoyed interviewing the customers and learned a lot from their answers. I also learned how to ask questions properly and have a better understand of what to look for in an interview. It was interesting to do this exercise. I did not particularly enjoy it but I did get great experience because of it. 

PS: One of the videos cut out so I had to restart it.

Top 5 World Problems

Seriousness List:

1. Education.
2. Hunger.
3. Overpopulation of the Earth.
4. War.
5. Global warming.

I chose education as the top problem in the world today because I believe that most of the other problems on my list are caused by a lack of education. People being able to understand others and how the world works would solve many of the issues.

Solutions in order:

1. Education. Having established economies provide benefits to people who go around the world to teach basic educational concepts to the people in these emerging economies could lead to a smarter population.
2. Global Warming. Controlling emission outtakes and monitoring the population could help stop this.
3. Hunger. Creating Unions that could develop social structures to help one another with hunger through synergy and programs could solve this issue.
4. War. Peaceful negotiations and solving problems through words instead of conflict would resolve this issue.
5. Overpopulation of the Earth. Population monitoring programs would help solve the issue of overpopulation. Offering things like incentives to not have children or to limit the number of children you have could solve this issue.

The reason that I chose education as the easiest problem to implement a solution for is because there are enough established economies and countries in the world to support the under-educated and emerging economies. If we took the time to develop groups or programs to help everyone around the planet and give them all basic education then it would help solve all the other issues that the world has in the long run.

Week 3 Reading Reflection

In this chapter I found that entrepreneurs are not any different than the average person. Now although entrepreneurs do need to have the drive, the commitment, and the work ethic, they are not these extraordinary individuals who are so different than everyone else. They realize their problems and issues and work hard to overcome them. They also realize when some problems can't be fixed but they find ingenious ways to get around them. What confuses me in this chapter is that entrepreneurs are confident in their decisions. When anyone first begins a business how can anyone be sure they are making the right decisions about that business? I think they can't be but I find that entrepreneurs are confident they are doing the right thing from this chapter. The two questions I would ask the author are, "What type of personality traits are necessary for an entrepreneur to have?" and "What is the best way to deal with failure as an entrepreneur?" There was not much that I disagreed with in the reading. I feel like the author has a good sense of entrepreneurship and provides a clear teaching of their thoughts.

Identifying Local Opportunities

1. Taxpayers out $1.9 million to exit parking garage deal
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A88EA7F9D7D898?p=AWNB

Basically, what is happening in this story is that the town planned on building a hotel on one of the lots in Downtown Gainesville and then needed to find parking for the hotel. They then entered a contract with a parking lot but decided to buy out of the contract for 1.9 million dollars. The city believes this is the smart choice in the long run. I think that the city had a problem in getting to involved in deals and having to pay money to back out. They should've had better advisers to tell them that this was not a good idea and that they shouldn't do it.

2. Uber for seniors program to expand
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A88EA7E221EE28?p=AWNB

This article talks about how seniors have had problems getting around and certain programs, like Uber, are going to participate in p
rograms to give rides to seniors. The problem here is that seniors do not have a proper safe means of driving around and need a method that is secure to get them around to places.

3.City opens shelters Friday through Sunday
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A9388B5A5E6590?p=AWNB

Due to the cold weather predicted for the weekend the city has decided to open up the cold weather shelters for the weekend. The problem faced here is that homeless people do not have a place to stay when temperatures are at extremes that if they sleep outside they could freeze and become sick.

4. Blaze destroys Monteocha family's home
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A8E38F7047DD00?p=AWNB

A fire earlier this week has burned down a home of a family in Gainesville. They have been left with nothing and are in need. The problem here is that this family is left with virtually nothing and have to find a way to come back. Also, the community they lived in are scared of the same thing happening to them so providing some type of insurance or security to soothe their fear would be good.

5. Dave Denslow: Conflicting forecasts for a recession
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A88EA8471DD2B8?p=AWNB

This article gives a very broad overview of what the Presidents of the Fed have predicted for the coming year. What it says is that they all expect continuing positive growth in the economy in the coming year. The problem here is that because of overconfidence in the market people are spending more. With the extra spending people are now saving less and spending more which means they are at very high risk to a market crash.

Very Short Interview No.1

The person I interviewed was a close friend of my mother who started her own accounting business. 

What do you think are the principles of entrepreneurship?

"Drive, determination, discipline. When someone has their own business or idea you are essentially doing it on your own so you have to be able to see it through, you must have the determination to complete your goal, and have a strong work ethic to get the job done."

What does it mean to you to be an entrepreneur?

"Independence. Being your own boss and not having to answer to anyone else gives a certain level of freedom."

What do you wish that you were taught in school before starting your own business?

"Some small business tools. For example, corporate structure, payroll, employees, things like that."

I expected most of the answers that she gave. I feel like the main components of being an entrepreneur are what she said, "drive, determination, discipline." I was surprised with her answer about what it means to her about being an entrepreneur. I feeling like independence is not what makes an entrepreneur but it is the ingenuity and ability to create something, whether that is physical or an idea, that makes an entrepreneur. But, I understand how starting your own business leads to a large amount of independence and why she feels that way about things.

World's Biggest Problems

1. Too many nuclear weapons. - Everyone is so concerned about offending each other and possibly starting a nuclear war. World leaders struggle to sit down with each other to attempt to solve problems because they each have so much fire power and believe they do not have to listen to anyone. The limitation of the amount of people who can wield nuclear bombs and how many they can have would solve this issue.
2. War. - There is so much war going on that is has now become to norm. Peaceful negotiations and solving problems through words instead of conflict would resolve this issue.
3. Disease. - The statistics behind the amount of sick people in the world is astounding. Creating world wide social groups that catered to stopping the spread of disease would help to relieve people of sickness.
4. Overpopulation of the Earth. - Population monitoring programs would help solve the issue of overpopulation. Offering things like incentives to not have children or to limit the number of children you have could solve this issue.
5. Global warming. - Due to overpopulation the use of fossil fuels has caused the global temperature to rise which has caused many environmental issues. Again, controlling emission outtakes and monitoring the population could help stop this.
6. Terrorism. - The extremists of the world have felt like they have to create these massive attacks to bring attention to issues they believe they can solve. Creating analysts to identify extremists in countries where they are most likely to happen could help identify and then help these individuals.
7. Hunger. - World Hunger is a huge issue. Creating Unions that could develop social structures to help one another with hunger through synergy and programs could solve this issue.
8. Education. - The lack of education in emerging economies is astounding. Having established economies provide benefits to people who go around the world to teach basic educational concepts to the people in these emerging economies could lead to a smarter population.
9. Species Extinction. - As we continue to destroy the environment we kill off species of animals that might be vital to that environment. Monitoring the amount of environmental damage and creating a means of establishing that environment somewhere else or building somewhere else would help raise animal population of the species. 
10. Natural disasters. - All around the world the help given after natural disasters in minimal. Having first world countries provide relief efforts immediately after a natural disaster to impoverished countries would make it so that everyone have a better life style and is not scared.

Week 2 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise in the reading for me was the statistic about the gazelles. That companies growing at at least 20% sales growth every year is incredible. Most of the other things discussed in the chapter did not surprise me though. I feel as though I understand a broad view of entrepreneurship and that the ideas presented in the chapter supported my ideas. I did not expect entrepreneurship to be such a large part of the economy though. What was confusing to me in the reading was the integrative approach to the entrepreneurial process. If I could ask the author two questions I would ask, "what do you believe are the necessary components that any entrepreneur must have in order to succeed?" and "do you think that any entrepreneur can succeed or does it take the perfect setup of circumstances to be very successful like Bill Gates?" The reason I would ask these questions is because I believe that in order for someone to be successful they must not only have the drive, the intelligence, and the will to make something work they must also have a set of opportunities and circumstances that must be met in order for them to succeed. For example, Bill Gates just happened to attend an all boys boarding school that the mothers of the boys attending raised money and bought a computer for the school. This allowed him to get involved in programming at a young age and started his interest in the skill. He then went on to find any way possible to program. Without his coincidence of being at this boarding school and the group of mothers there to buy the computer he never would've been the entrepreneur he is today.

Bug List

Bug List

1. I keep tracking dirt into my house.

My driveway is dirt and not cement or gravel.

2. My charging cable is not large enough to reach from my desk to my bed.

The length of the cord is too short so I cannot charge my phone while I'm on my bed

3. My cup keeps making water rings on my desk.

The cup has condensation build on the outside.

4. The icecream machine at the McDonalds on University never seems to be working.

It is either broken or they do not keep it turned on.

5. The people at the bars on University late at night take forever to pass in a car because they are in the street.

They are drunk and are not watched or regulated by anyone.

6. My key for my car ran out of battery and I couldn't figure out how to replace the battery.

My owners manual is not very organized and hard to use.

7. My car windows always get fogged up when I start the car so it takes a while until I can drive.

The defrosters in my car are not very strong.

8. My headphones always get tangled in my pocket.

They are not kept organized and bounce around while in my pocket.

9. My pen always causes me to have ink on my hand because I drag my hand across the paper when I write.

The ink does not dry quick enough or the amount of ink that comes out is too much.

10. My hand starts to hurt after writing with a pen for a long period of time.

The pen is not comfortable to use because it does not have any gel or foam where you hold it.

11. My desk is too cluttered with books.

I do not have a space organizer for my desk.

12. I have wires running all through the back of my desk.

The wires come in from all different directions.

13. My blinds on the windows let in too much light.

They are white and are not close enough together to block out light.

14. My carpet constantly gets moved around because it is on wood floors.

The wood floors are slick and the carpet has no grip to it.

15. My fan makes a lot of noise when it is spinning past a certain level.

The fan bracket is loose.

16. It is difficult to understand the specials going on at Gumby's Pizza because their website is difficult to use.

The website is disorganized and needs to be easier to use.

17. My books keep getting wrinkled in my backpack.

The backpack has too much space in so the books keep getting knocked around.

18. The gym is too cold when I play basketball so I find it hard to play.

The air conditioning is turned up to high.

19. My computer's audio is too low so that when I am more than 4 feet away it is hard to hear.

The speakers are not the best and have bad bass.

20. My checkbook keeps getting lost.

I write checks for things then forget where I put it because I take it with me places.

Reflection: I did not really find this list difficult to make because I have thought about these issues before. I also like to think of ways that these problems could be fixed. For example, a silencer for a fan that could be placed in the bracket of the fan in my room could lower the volume of the fan if not muffle it completely. That silencer could be just a small pad of linens or something more complex.

My Entrepreneur Story

When I was highschool I was a summer camp counselor for a local summer camp called SportsTyme. The company was set up by my boss about 5 years before I joined the organization. He and his wife created it together and they were both elementary school teachers that had the summers free. They grew the business until the camp had employed about 10 counselors that looked after about 300 kids.

I am taking this class because I decided I wanted to pick up a minor in Entrepreneurship and this was the opening class. This class seems interesting to me because although most of the business classes are similar they teach you how things run instead of teaching you how to run them. I hope to be able to understand what it takes to be an entrepreneur and be confident enough in my knowledge of the industry that I could do it myself.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Steven Cutler and I am a junior at the University of Florida. I am an Economics major and my goal is to pursue investments after college, whether that is through investment banking or personal wealth management. Here are the university I am apart of the Delta Chi Fraternity. I have gone to Italy, China, Mexico, Canada, and all throughout the United States so I think of myself as well traveled. I really enjoy to play volleyball and soccer and played those sports through highschool and now play them in intramural leagues. My parents are together and I have two older brothers.

My Entrepreneur's Mantra - Week 2

Test Post

Check check.