Saturday, April 2, 2016

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.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

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
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Monday, March 28, 2016

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. 
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Friday, March 25, 2016

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. 

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

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.