Final Reflection

1) Read through your blog from this semester. Recall all of the experiences you've had a long the way -- the highs, the lows -- the fun moments, and the moments of drudgery, and even the moments of dread.

Honestly I would say that there were highs and lows in that some exercises were great others like reading seemed to drudge on. My biggest dread was all the recording people. I understand why we did it but a lot of people don't feel comfortable with it.

2) 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?

My most formative experience would have to be the aforementioned recording people but my most joyous I would say was coming up with the idea itself.

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

I don't see myself as an entrepreneur. I think I learned skills that are required to be one but just because of this class I don't think I just magically became one. I do think I moved closer though.

4) 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?

Do the assignments no matter how shitty they may seem. They do help you grow even though they are so out there. I would throw out preconceived notions and step out of your comfort zone. 

Week 15 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

I was surprised that India still has indentured servitude still not so much the $1 a day but the slavery part.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

Are they just international or local I was confused on the business model until later on in the article. 

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

What is SKS and why is it important?

How does a business even get into micro financing in other countries?

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

Nothing really seemed wrong because he was talking about his story. 

Elevator Pitch No. 4

I just shortened my pitch because all the feedback was either tell more about the features or shorten it because the last was 1:15.

Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity. 

My opportunity is two fold in that the potential customers are consumers and business. The customer side deals with the unsatisfactory commitment to customer service they feel and the anger they have when shipping and/or receiving packages in the mail whether via family, friends, or businesses.  The second side is the businesses themselves like the shipping companies but also amazon and other companies. The shipping companies benefit from the added customer service and the "last mile" as well as the B2B exchange. 

Ideally; geographically the territory is open because uses ships everywhere so does UPS and Fedex so therefore our clientele could be limitless in potential. Realistically we would start small and then scale so start with one company and then use our proof of concept to roll out to the others. The current satisfaction is based on what each company offers. There is no universal standard you expect better quality from the private companies but at a much higher cost sometimes. This opportunity as previously mentioned is enormous in a potential aspect because almost everyone as some point ships things and every business does as well. I believe this window of opportunity will be open until there is a radical shift in the way we send mail whether it be much faster or what have you. 

Innovation. 

The innovation in my company is incremental but necessary and crucial. It doesn't radically change the entire landscape of shipping but companies always strive to help their last mile and bottom line numbers which this does exactly so. Essentially this is a two way app on the customer side they create an account, set up personal info and can combine any shipping companies in their area i.e. ups, uses, fedex, dhl etc. They can see the price comparisons for each company when they go to ship things and even print labels from their phone/computer. They also can put any tracking number and do anything from their end on the receiving side like specify where to drop off, change of address etc. 

On the business side they don't have to worry about customer complaints and issues as far as once things have been shipped we become a middle man for them to free up some crucial time and more importantly less lines in store. We deal with the complaints as well as relay things over to the companies. As far as pricing goes we would charge a monthly fee depending on how much people ship starting at $5 up to $50 for ebay people but also offer discounted shipping for each tier to entice them. The business side I am not 100% sure as to pricing because I do not know that area as well.

Venture Concept. 

The reason I see people wanting this product on the consumer side is personally for me and many other people who ship things on a semi regular basis there is damage as well as lost items and so on. I personally see photos sent in the mail with do not bend all over it and they bend them in half to jam into a mailbox. Those kind of things will be addressed and stopped through this to help the shipping companies offer better customer service as well. Switching to this is very easy because one of our core competencies is convenience of the app. A lot of the ancillary questions regarding this would be specific to a product but as a service based company we would have to roll it out and then see where people have the most complaints and adjust that way. 

Secret Sauce: I think that once we get going and the first to market by the time people get into the large shipping companies we would be established and hard to undercut us. 

Next Steps: I think a secondary service is for local shipping instead of driving to drop something off or spend a stupid amount of money and take 3 days to go an hour we would offer almost an Uber of sorts for shipping.

Me: If this was a real venture within five to ten years I would want to see myself working with every American shipping company and shifting to international as well and learning how to better suit those clients. 

I had overall positive feedback the few negative feedbacks were mainly about fleshing it out and continuing on the idea. Everything else was just expanding on the app more so it works better and is easier for novice shippers. I didn't change anything but I spent more time developing the product. 

Very Short Interview, Part 2

I think the first interview went well overall. It was very informative and looking back on it a lot of the stuff he discussed was brought up during our class this semester.

1. What do you believe makes your company different/better then others?
I believe that we offer a wide variety of coffees that are completely organic and cheaper then other places because we get it directly from the farmers.

2. How do you feel your company does at attracting new customers?
If I were to rank it on a scale of 1-10 I would say 7 because we do get good referrals but we have a limited budget so we can't advertise like we want to. 

3. How realistic is it to start a company on your own?
Honestly it is a lot more difficult then I thought. Not so much the initial idea but the logistics of everything. It was hard managing the money and buying inventory and all of the start up costs without having the personal monetary backing. 

I think that I am slightly more comfortable interviewing him. I knew him before and I was always good at presentations so it wasn't a big difference. They felt that I did good before and just as well now.

Week 14 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

The five important practices to innovative organizations was very interesting. Some were obvious but the not punishing failures is key.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

Corporate venturing and strategic entrepreneurship seem to be very close I want to know more of the difference.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

Are there specific companies and examples that you can show the 5 important innovative practices?

Is ecopreneurship a realistic goal in the aspect of starting a business focusing on that?

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

Don't kill a project. That is too general a term whereas you fall into the sunk cost fallacy.

Google Gold

1) A discussion of your general approach and strategy to search engine optimiation (SEO). What were some of the activities you did for each blog post to pursue SEO? 

Honestly I didn't think explicitly about this aspect of it even though we talked about it. I tried to use shipping and my business name as often as possible in order to portray a sense of continuity.

2) What were your keywords. How did you select those keywords? Did you change or refine your keywords through the semester?

My main keywords were shipping, Shiphappens, USPS. I chose those because they apply directly to my business either through a service competitors or my company. 

3) How did you use social media to enhance your SEO efforts? What your your surprises or general impression of using social media to improve your blog's profile? Was social media generally receptive of your blog, or did it get ignored?

I didn't do any of these things because I wasn't really looking to draw people to look t my class blog honestly this isn't a viable business at this time. 

4) What was your most "viral" post? In other words, which post obtained the most traffic? Why do you think?

My most looked at post was my first idea napkin. I am honestly not sure why that got more then my second idea napkin though.

5) Finally, did you make it to the first page of Google results for your keywords? If not, what page of results did you make it to?

Week 13 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

The whole idea of business and venture capitalists is entertaining and interesting to me.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

Book value always confuses me because I feel like that is just a group of people deciding oh that is worth this amount it isn't a real amount. 

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

What part of the due diligence outline would you consider the most important part??

Is there a shorter checklist when acquiring a business?

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

I think that he underestimates people's emotions. He is like oh just don't be emotional about it and sell it but I know people who own businesses unless they have the money already and its just fun they will get attached.

Celebrating Failure: YAAAAY

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. 

Well for my other class in Sales Management we have a fundraising project and I have failed multiple times trying to get donations for our cause. Ive failed at individuals and businesses but had to keep asking.

2) Tell us what you learned from it.  

I learned how to personal sell from failing over and over. I had to raise money so I couldn't just give up and it is really awkward trying to ask random people to donate.

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 four months ago? 

I guess I hate to fail but honestly My view of failure used to be anything but an A in school now I feel like it is anything above a C as long as I put my effort into it and learn things from the class. This class kind of helped feed into it because entrepreneurship is similar to trying to raise funds and experiencing failure is common. 

My 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?

In all honesty if I was to start this business from the time I launch till like 5-10 years after I would hopefully be a big enough player that at least one of the large shipping companies wants to buy us out for a good chunk of change. 

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

Basically I want us to be a big enough partner/competitor that they want to buy us out because we proved it was a good idea but we want out because we can't compete with those companies that is not our goal. Our goal was never to start a shipping company from scratch. 

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 it effected everything because the capital would be crazy to start a shipping company. We are essentially acting as a middle man so we are not trying to compete with the big box shippers

.

Week 12 Reading Reflection: Some more reading

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

The biggest surprise to me was the Categories thing and the percentage used. I had no idea what those even were.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

The entrepreneur Strategy Matrix Model was confusing because there were a lot of things happening in that section. 

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

In figure 13.1 what is the differences between the strategic actions beside just naming them?

What us the difference between bureaucratization and decentralization?

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

I did not see anything wrong with the chapter I didn't know most of the stuff so its hard to know its wrong. 

Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity. 

My opportunity is two fold in that the potential customers are consumers and business. The customer side deals with the unsatisfactory commitment to customer service they feel and the anger they have when shipping and/or receiving packages in the mail whether via family, friends, or businesses.  The second side is the businesses themselves like the shipping companies but also amazon and other companies. The shipping companies benefit from the added customer service and the "last mile" as well as the B2B exchange. 

Ideally; geographically the territory is open because uses ships everywhere so does UPS and Fedex so therefore our clientele could be limitless in potential. Realistically we would start small and then scale so start with one company and then use our proof of concept to roll out to the others. The current satisfaction is based on what each company offers. There is no universal standard you expect better quality from the private companies but at a much higher cost sometimes. This opportunity as previously mentioned is enormous in a potential aspect because almost everyone as some point ships things and every business does as well. I believe this window of opportunity will be open until there is a radical shift in the way we send mail whether it be much faster or what have you. 

Innovation. 

The innovation in my company is incremental but necessary and crucial. It doesn't radically change the entire landscape of shipping but companies always strive to help their last mile and bottom line numbers which this does exactly so. Essentially this is a two way app on the customer side they create an account, set up personal info and can combine any shipping companies in their area i.e. ups, uses, fedex, dhl etc. They can see the price comparisons for each company when they go to ship things and even print labels from their phone/computer. They also can put any tracking number and do anything from their end on the receiving side like specify where to drop off, change of address etc. 

On the business side they don't have to worry about customer complaints and issues as far as once things have been shipped we become a middle man for them to free up some crucial time and more importantly less lines in store. We deal with the complaints as well as relay things over to the companies. As far as pricing goes we would charge a monthly fee depending on how much people ship starting at $5 up to $50 for ebay people but also offer discounted shipping for each tier to entice them. The business side I am not 100% sure as to pricing because I do not know that area as well.

Venture Concept. 

The reason I see people wanting this product on the consumer side is personally for me and many other people who ship things on a semi regular basis there is damage as well as lost items and so on. I personally see photos sent in the mail with do not bend all over it and they bend them in half to jam into a mailbox. Those kind of things will be addressed and stopped through this to help the shipping companies offer better customer service as well. Switching to this is very easy because one of our core competencies is convenience of the app. A lot of the ancillary questions regarding this would be specific to a product but as a service based company we would have to roll it out and then see where people have the most complaints and adjust that way. 

Secret Sauce: I think that once we get going and the first to market by the time people get into the large shipping companies we would be established and hard to undercut us. 

Next Steps: I think a secondary service is for local shipping instead of driving to drop something off or spend a stupid amount of money and take 3 days to go an hour we would offer almost an Uber of sorts for shipping.

Me: If this was a real venture within five to ten years I would want to see myself working with every American shipping company and shifting to international as well and learning how to better suit those clients. 

·

Week 11 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

"I have found that rms rarely articulate strategies to align their innovation e orts with their business strategies" This excerpt I found interesting just because it is practical as well as surprising for him too!

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

I guess what was confusing to me was when talking about myopic innovation what really would that constitute. How far different does something have to be for it to be special?

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

What would you say after working in different arenas or areas are the most innovative industries?

How should an entrepreneur view innovation versus strategy? Should they try to reinvent the wheel or invent a new thing altogether? 

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

People now like to use innovation and Apple together but one thing he was wrong/failed to mention was how its more of the people then the company. Apple has lost its innovation as far as creating new things instead of making it better since Jobs died. 

Amazon Whisperer

• Describe the revenue drivers you currently include in your business concept for this class. Revenue drivers are the different ways you make money. 

App sales, Membership opportunities, Direct to customer, Direct to business

• Describe what kind of product offering you believe should be next. What's the next thing your customers want?

This is hard to answer because my idea is a service not a product but I think the next step would be offering a way to print and ship from your phone almost like just a barcode or qr code and scan that to know where your product goes. 

• Describe how this "next" thing will enhance your existing product/service offering. Does it improve the user experience, does it increase customer switching costs, does it foster customer loyalty, etc.?

I think being able to print from your phone directly makes things more convenient for the consumer and if the technology works a barcode or raid would be easier for the shipping companies as well.

• Go to Amazon and try to find a product that is similar to the one you want to offer next. Describe the product. Include a picture of the product.

Not applicable because Im selling a service...

• What are the customer reviews for the product? What, exactly, do customers not like about the product? What do they like about it?

Not applicable because Im selling a service...

• Describe what design/usability changes you'd make to the product. 

Not applicable because Im selling a service...

• Describe why you think this product would make a good addition to your current product/service offering.

I think this offering would be an extension of my brand not a new product because it helps the customer shipping things.

My Unfair Advantage

1) Me
VRIN: I am unique just like anyone else which gives me a different perspective. Basically the VRIN definition.
2) My contacts through friends and family friends
VRIN: The contacts that I know aren't 100% unique to me because other people can know them but the combination sets me apart.
3) Likability across different individual groups
VRIN: Again this is the same as #1 now looking back on it so the same as the first point.
4) Everybody has to ship things
VRIN: Literally everyone ships which makes this important and valuable but people can ship through other companies.
5) Lots of people are upset about shipping prices and damaged items
VRIN: A lot of people have many complaints which makes this important and valuable but not all people have issues.
6) Fun friendly young environment
VRIN: I find that especially the millennial age like to work in places where it is relaxed which makes it valuable but it isn't that rare now a days.
7) Technological copyright of the app
VRIN: The app being proprietary would be very rare and valuable because no one can copy what we do. Honestly I believe that this is one of the most important things.
8) Convenience
VRIN: The convenience is valuable but not rare or inimitable.
9) Experience in shipping a lot of things
VRIN:Me being good at shipping things again isn't very rare.
10) Willingness to work hard to get it done
VRIN:This is kind of a hard thing to quantify where everyone in entrepreneurship has.

My most important resource is the app itself because it optimizes the rare, valuable and inimitable thing because its proprietary.

Week 10 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

I knew most of these sections but the pro forma statements were new to me.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

Why does simple linear regression help the operating budget. That section was pretty confusing to me.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

Wit do you think is the best way to approach accounts receivable payments from people who aren't paying? 

Ive always been curious who decided what to put on each balance sheet and income statement and why that was the case beside it just is?

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

I didn't find anything wrong considering this chapter is mainly just facts and definitions.

Growing My Social Capital

Person 1)

1) Who they are and what their background is.

Elio Navarro Went to USF and has been a solutions cod developer for the past 8-9 years.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

I am filling the domain expert slot with Elio because he is a programmer coder and I need someone who knows how to build an app.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

I know Elio from working with him and he also worked with my dad in the past so he is a family friend. I just connected him through Facebook because we were already friends. 

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

Im not sure what this point is but there isn't a return expectation because we get along already and he helped me in high school so he mentored me a little. 

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

Well including Elio to either personally help or use his network to meet other coders would help me in building the actual product. 

Person 2)

1) Who they are and what their background is.

Carl F. Downing has worked with USPS for a while and worked up the company to manager in the Gainesville area.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

I am filling the market expert because he is a manager for usps so he is in the field I would work in or even directly with. 

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

Honestly I wasn't sure how to find this person so I just went online and found out and then went to the local post office and got his contact info. 

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

Again this doesn't really apply I just spent a few minutes with him to satisfy the requirement and make an establishment together.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

Hopefully his knowledge would help me with USPS in general and the market. 

Person 3) Honestly this is hard because I am providing a service so there isn't really similar things out there currently.

1) Who they are and what their background is.

Mason Padgett works for one of those self shipping services in a strip mall. He worked for a couple other shipping companies before getting close to retirement and starting his own store.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

Supplier slot because he offers a similar shipping service although it is a physical store.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

I actually used the store last week so I went in and he's a very nice older man who was willing to talk to me a little because he wasn't busy. 

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

n/a

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity? 

Like i said it doesn't really help much but it was interesting to see a similar style of business. 



This experience was more like prospecting where you have to do research on a potential client or customer to see who fits your bill. It helped in that aspect of research and development.