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

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