Final Reflection

1) 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 definitely be the What's your secret sauce assignment. It taught me a lot about myself that I didn't previously know and gave me in depth information of what the closest people to me thought about who I am. The experience I will remember years later will definitely be the reading reflection 2 since it taught me a lot, not only about entrepreneurship but life in general. Learning about being selfish and having to think for yourself before you can think of others is an important lesson that I think I will remember for a while. The experience I am most proud of accomplishing is the first reading reflection since I left it to kind of the last minute. Being able to sit down and pump out the assignment really gave me a sense of accomplishment since I didn't just sit down and give up and take the loss on the grade.

2) At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?
I don't think I have quite reached a complete entrepreneurial mindset but I can definitely put myself into the shoes of one and think how they would. I currently do not think as an entrepreneur over a regular person but I can see opportunity when it exists if I buckle down and put my mind to it. In order to further develop my entrepreneurial mindset I will have to continue my efforts and keep talking and interviewing other people to help better form my opinion on the opportunities that exist in the world that can be taken advantage of.

3) What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?
I have two recommendations for students who are thinking of taking this course for a semester and those recommendations are to have good time management and to think with an open mind when it comes to the assignments. Time management of course comes into play since you get to choose when you do the assignments so if you leave them all to the last minute then you really are hurting yourself and making the course extremely hard for yourself. With proper time management the class is very doable and provides a great learning experience for the class. In order to foster this mindset just get good at getting yourself organized and try not to procrastinate and if you do this than all aspects of your life will end up improving. The second advice is to think with an open mind when it comes to the assignments. A lot of the assignments will have you interview complete strangers and instead of dreading this think of it as an opportunity to become well versed in communicating with others and gathering intelligence. This course provides a great learning experience for people of any major.

Venture Concept No. 2

1.

Opportunity: The opportunity for a new type of shorts hanger currently exists in the marketplace of today and the citizens need an improvement. The current shorts hangers are not durable and often break when pulled upon. This problem presents the issue that our new product is intended to seize upon. The forces that are making this need is an unmet need for a better short hanger that doesn’t break when pulled on. With increased technology it is both easier and cheaper to produce a higher quality product that would appease the unmet needs of the customers. This market for the hanger product exists globally and everyone has a need for it but the focus of marketing for the product will be parents with children and people who have just entered college buying new clothing supplies. These target customer groups were chosen since both groups are constantly buying new supplies and is perfect for the product to be introduced. Another possible target customer group involves the elderly who they themselves may have a hard time getting their clothes off the hangers. This new product design could make it easier for them to get the clothes off the rack and provide one less headache in their lives. Customers are currently satisfying their need for shorts hangers by using plain old shorts hangers that are simply not up to par with the new product's design. The old product is out of date and doesn’t provide the needs that customers demand. This opportunity is immense in size since it is a product that would exist in a very vast market meaning lots of demand for the product. Having high demand for the product means a larger profit and that the product launch will be that much more successful. This is a huge opportunity and should not be missed. This window of opportunity for the new hanger product will be open until a product of similar specifications is presented in the market and takes over the desired replacement of current shorts hangers. This invention could happen at any time which is true with new product inventions which is why jumping on this opportunity as soon as possible to get the patent and be the sole producer of the new product.

Innovation: The new product is a new type of hanger that is an incremental improvement upon modern day shorts hangers. Current shorts hangers are very flimsy and fragile and will break easily when tugged upon even with the slightest of forces. The new product design intends to be more durable and have a better clip design that makes it much easier to pull shorts off the hangers without the hanger breaking. Of course, with the increased usability and durability the cost would be greater than that of modern day shorts hangers. The main trick will be finding the right price point that makes a decent profit off the market but also one that is not so high that it will deter customers from venturing out to try our product and may reinforce the idea of them buying the classic shorts hangers. The goal is to use a new type of plastic that is not only more durable but also more break resistant and this could up the costs of production when producing this product at extremely high quantities as will be required when making shorts hangers for the globe. The current price for a standard 25 pack of shorts hangers today costs around $15. Using this as a baseline and assuming that people are willing to spend more on the short run to save money in the long run, the price point for our products would probably be sent around $25 for a pack of 25 shorts hangers. Although this is a price jump the increased quality of the product should still attract the desired customers to the product and bring about enough demand to match the supply we would produce.

Venture Concept: The main reason that customers will switch to the new product would be because they see the value of the product and understand that they will be saving money in the long run by investing in the new product today. Switching them to the new product may be relatively hard because a lot of people are short sighted and only see the price point currently when considering on which new product to buy. Since shorts hangers are relatively cheap to replace many won’t think twice about possibly investing in a more durable product that lasts longer. The competitors are seemingly numerous since there are so many producers of shorts hanger out in the world today but they all share the same weakness. The quality of the hangers they produce are not up to par with the desires of people of today that want a strong product that will last long for a relatively good price. The main role that business location would play in the business concept would be the need for our product centers to be in places that have major shipping such as California. This will allow the business to flourish since it will be pumping out and shipping so many products for the customers. The main employees would be working around the office but of course many workers would be involved in the producing, packaging, and shipping of the product. The lower jobs would be the factory work and the higher jobs would be the office work.

The three minor elements:

The most important resource will be the uniqueness of the product design and the work effort brought forth by the company to make the vision become a reality. With a patent other companies will be unable to copy the design which will give us a significant advantage in the market. The next product would be to produce something along the lines of a stronger closet or closet hangers to support more weight or something along that line. I would like to be a successful business owner but if the product really kicks off and a good offer is thrown my way I would probably seize upon it and consider venturing into the technological field.

2.

Summary:

I only received one comment on my previous post for the Venture Concept and it was extremely positive so I didn't have a lot to work with when it came to revisions of the work. They explained how finding the right place for the hangers shouldn't be too difficult and not to worry. The other feedback I got was from my What's Next? assignment where I found out about a possible new market for the product.

3.

Changes Made:

The only major change made to the assignment from the previous was the inclusion of a new target customer group that was discovered in a previous assignment. The new addition added the elderly to the possible target customers which would broaden the marketplace providing opportunity for an increased profit.

Your Exit Strategy

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?
My exit strategy would definitely involve selling my business in the next 5 years for a decently large sized return. I would not intend to stick with the business over a long course of time and would rather just sell the business and make a profit.

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?
I have selected this exit strategy since the hanger business seems like it can only go so far by myself and I think that some much bigger businesses would show a great interest in my business and my product which is patented. They would probably be willing to pay much more for the product than I would rather work and earn myself. With such a great offer from a larger business I would obviously sell and make a pretty penny off of the deal. Some businesses that would probably be interested in my product would include both Walmart or Target as they sell a bunch of clothes and clothing supplies.

3) How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources?
I don't think my exit strategy would modify my decisions all too much throughout the business the cycle. The main change that would occur as a result of this exit strategy would be a refrain from putting too much capital into long term investments in the company such as large investments into production and or storage plants since I would have the intent of selling the company within five years if it was popular. By reducing the amount of capital invested it would increase my net profits received from the project and therefore benefit me in the long run.

Reading Reflection No. 3

Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Peter Drucker

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?
The general theme of the book was explaining the relationship between innovation and entrepreneurship. It explains how entrepreneurship is the main source of innovation and that entrepreneurship carries and drives innovation. It also explains how innovation doesn't have to be super technological or all that tech savvy and that the majority of the innovation is low tech or even no tech. Then it goes onto explain some sources of innovation in entrepreneurship and the different types. It also explains the do's and dont's of innovation and then explains some entrepreneurship principles and strategies that can be used.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
The book was all about the connection between innovation and entrepreneurship and went into both of these areas in extreme detail. It taught me a ton about the practice of entrepreneurship and the different policies involved around entrepreneurship. Innovation cannot just happen for no reason it needs to enhance some aspect of the business which goes right alongside with what we are learning in ENT 3003. All current existing products or services all have a limited life time until something new takes over and improves upon the once norm. This gives opportunity which entrepreneurs need to seek out and take advantage of in order to succeed with their business.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
The exercise would involve looking at a company that has recently innovated something in the market and took advantage of an opportunity before them. It would make the students look at the past history of the business and then reflect on the steps they took on making that new innovation into an opportunity for them that they could use for their own advantage. This would give the students some outside knowledge of how previous entrepreneurs succeeded in the world.


4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
The biggest surprise that I got from reading this book was that innovation needs to be taken slowly and that you shouldn't be too clever with the innovation. Innovation should be made for today and not for the future which of course some people may disagree with such as Elon Musk. The book explained that innovation should be a gradual process where you do not break too far away from the norm initially which really surprised me because when I hear the word innovation I think of some brand new invention that really makes a big difference in society.

Celebrating Failure

1) Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester, and failed each time. 
This semester I failed at getting a B in my Business Finance class. This was the hardest class I have ever taken in my life and the class completely revolved around three tests all of which were extremely difficult. I had to get a B in the class but ended up receiving a C+ which is a little bitter sweet since while I did pass I did not get the required grade for my Finance Major. I studied weeks in advance for these tests and no matter how ready I felt there were always questions that just threw me for a loop and really confused me and honestly just game me straight up headaches. This class was one of the most taxing experiences in my life and took me for an emotional roller coaster and it really put a lot of stress on me.

2) Tell us what you learned from it.  
I learned from this class that no matter how hard you work for something you can always work harder. This class taught me extreme discipline and really teaches you how to time manage since you need weeks in advance to study for this course. While it was extremely sad that I did not get the required grade I took a lot away from the experience along with some major headaches of course. This course is a part of a learning course in life where not everything is fair but discipline and hard work are not the only things needed to pass an intense class that really makes you think outside the box for some of the questions on the tests.

3) Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn't it? It's embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we have to change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failure (emotionally, behaviorally). Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were just a few months ago?
I took this failure pretty hard because I have never put so much work into a class before to only receive a C+. I was really devastated when I first received the grade and depressed for a while because I thought there was nothing more that I could do to increase my grade and that maybe I just wasn't good enough to get the grade I needed. But having had time to mull it over I realized that I could start studying every single day since the time of the start of the class and just extremely discipline myself into getting the grade I need to get a B in the class. This class has taught me that failure shouldn't mean it's time to throw in the towel but it's time to rethink your strategy and formulate a new plan that will lead to success. I plan on taking the class again and getting the grade I need with this mentality.

What’s Next?

Existing Market

Although the current market is very strong it is quite easy to see that we have not been capitalizing on all the potential of our existing market. The three customers interviewed gave some great insight on where to focus the direction we will take when considering growing our market. They advised making it somehow well more known to the target customer group since fact of the matter is that people don't give much second thought when buying clothing hangers. They advised trying to get the hangers shown on either a news station or something else that will raise attention to the target customer base that the product exists.

They also advised to make it stand out more through its product design by either using unique color schemes or by giving it a unique name. By having a more unique product will allow customers to recognize the product and understand that it is different from the everyday shorts hangers that every store seems to sell. They also advised perhaps putting it on an infomercial where people can learn about the product and the functions that it serves which will help to further differentiate itself from the regular hangers on the market.

New Market

I think the new market that we could possibly target towards would be the elderly since there is a vast market in that age segments. These people can have a hard time moving around and getting shorts off the hanger may seem easy for some but for the elderly it could be a difficult task depending on the hanger and their physical capabilities. By having a hanger that is easier to pull shorts off of may make a somewhat difficult task into something much easier for the elderly and thus provide one less problem throughout their days which is always a good thing.

The only problem would again be raising awareness in this market which the customers said could be fixed by putting it on the most popular TV channels for the elderly. They also said to make sure its possible to purchase online and ship to the house since they have a harder time moving around and going to the store. They said the product might be a real help in the morning when trying to get the shorts off of the racks.

The interviews gave me a great insight on how to advertise to the elderly and that the elderly market actually has a lot of potential for the business.

Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity: The opportunity for a new type of shorts hanger currently exists in the marketplace. The current shorts hangers are not durable and often break when pulled upon and this is the problem that the product is intended to seize upon. The forces that are making this need is an unmet need for a better short hanger that doesn’t break when pulled on. With increased technology it is easier and cheaper to produce a higher quality product that would appease the unmet needs of the customers. This market for the hanger product exists globally and everyone needs it but the focus for marketing of the product will be towards parents with children and people who have just entered college buying new clothing supplies. These are the target customer groups since both groups are constantly buying new supplies and is perfect for the product to be introduced. Customers are currently satisfying their need for shorts hangers by currently using plain old shorts hangers that are not up to par with the new product design. The old product is out of date and doesn’t provide a strong enough function to warrant continued use. This opportunity is large since it is a product that would exist in a very vast market meaning lots of demand for the product. Having high demand for the product means a larger profit and that the product launch will be that much more successful. This is a huge opportunity and should not be missed. This window of opportunity for the new hanger product will be open until a product of similar specifications is presented in the market and takes over the desired replacement of current shorts hangers. This invention could happen at any time which is true with new product inventions which is why jumping on this opportunity as soon as possible to get the patent and be the sole producer of the new product.

Innovation: The new product is a new type of hanger that is an incremental improvement upon modern day shorts hangers. Current shorts hangers are very flimsy and fragile and will break easily when tugged upon even with the slightest of forces. The new product design intends to be more durable and have a better clip design that makes it much easier to pull shorts off the hangers without the hanger breaking. Of course, with the increased usability and durability the cost would be greater than that of modern day shorts hangers. The main trick will be finding the right price point that makes a decent profit off the market but also one that is not so high that it will deter customers from venturing out to try our product and may reinforce the idea of them buying the classic shorts hangers. The goal is to use a new type of plastic that is not only more durable but also more break resistant and this could up the costs of production when producing this product at extremely high quantities as will be required when making shorts hangers for the globe. The current price for a standard 25 pack of shorts hangers today costs around $15. Using this as a baseline and assuming that people are willing to spend more on the short run to save money in the long run, the price point for our products would probably be sent around $25 for a pack of 25 shorts hangers. Although this is a price jump the increased quality of the product should still attract the desired customers to the product and bring about enough demand to match the supply we would produce.

Venture Concept: The main reason that customers will switch to the new product would be because they see the value of the product and understand that they will be saving money in the long run by investing in the new product today. Switching them to the new product may be relatively hard because a lot of people are short sighted and only see the price point currently when considering on which new product to buy. Since shorts hangers are relatively cheap to replace many won’t think twice about possibly investing in a more durable product that lasts longer. The competitors are seemingly numerous since there are so many producers of shorts hanger out in the world today but they all share the same weakness. The quality of the hangers they produce are not up to par with the desires of people of today that want a strong product that will last long for a relatively good price. The main role that business location would play in the business concept would be the need for our product centers to be in places that have major shipping such as California. This will allow the business to flourish since it will be pumping out and shipping so many products for the customers. The main employees would be working around the office but of course many workers would be involved in the producing, packaging, and shipping of the product. The lower jobs would be the factory work and the higher jobs would be the office work.

The three minor elements:

The most important resource will be the uniqueness of the product design and the work effort brought forth by the company to make the vision become a reality. With a patent other companies will be unable to copy the design which will give us a significant advantage in the market. The next product would be to produce something along the lines of a stronger closet or closet hangers to support more weight or something along that line. I would like to be a successful business owner but if the product really kicks off and a good offer is thrown my way I would probably seize upon it and consider venturing into the technological field.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

Link: https://youtu.be/W1ZQDZQurDg

Feedback:
I didn't actually receive any feedback since my last video but I made sure to make a catchy but concise hook and to also have different levels in pitch to show interest in the product.

What did you change:
Initially in my first video I was very frantic when talking and had a long intro but have since reduced the duration of the introduction and made sure to talk fluently and clearly while also remaining interesting in my tone and refraining from becoming monotone.

Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

1. Generate a list of all of the resources in your venture (produce a list of at least 10 resources that you already possess). This can include your human capital, social capital, financial capital, and capabilities. You may also discuss the organizational culture you intend to create (but, obviously, it's not a resource that you have, now.) Conduct a "VRIN" analysis for each resource. That is, describe, for each resource, how it is valuable, rare, inimitable (how hard it is to copy by others), and non-substitutable (are there other resources that can provide the same benefits?). Remember, not ALL resources will measure up well. That's OK. You just need one. 

1. Drive
V - A strong drive makes you work for what you want and make whatever decisions necessary to meet your goal.
R - Not super rare the degree of the drive does definitely differ among people and the strongest of drives is extremely rare and brings success.
I - Drive is not imitable, you either have a drive to succeed or you don't.
N - There is no substitute for a strong drive, without a strong drive you will try the utmost to succeed.

2. Organization
V - Strong organizational skills allow a business to be organized and keep up with a hectic schedule without letting something fall through the cracks.
R - Not very rare since many people have the skill.
I - Is imitable since anyone can decide to dedicate time to increasing their organizational skills.
N - There is a substitute since you could hire someone to help with the organization.

3. Financial Knowledge
V - As a Finance major I will have extensive knowledge of the Finance field which is a huge plus in the development of a business.
R - Fairly rare since not many people graduate from college especially with a Finance degree.
I - Is imitable if someone dedicates the time to learning finance which can take upward of 4-8 years.
N - No other substitute exists for having strong Financial knowledge unless you hire someone who has gone through the training.

4. Strong Contacts
V - It's not what you know but who you know.
R - Not extremely rare but still rare enough to have a strong impact.
I - Is not imitable because it depends on the person and the connections they have made through past experiences.
N - There is no substitute for having strong connections. You can be the smartest person in the world but if you have no good connections than you will not go as far as you could.

5. Creativity
V - Creativity makes products stand out and show a certain level of inventiveness which customers value.
R - Not everyone has a level of creativity that allows a company to really show off its differences among the competitors.
I - Each person's creativity is not imitable because everyone's brain functions differently.
N - No other substitute exists for a person's creativity when it comes to a business viewpoint.

6. Stock Experience
V - Allows to know which markets are being valued highly which helps when deciding advertising goals for the business.
R - Pretty rare since most people do not work with or have experience with stocks.
I - Is imitable by other people who also have experience working with stocks.
N - No substitute exists for having experience predicting the stock market.

7. Charm
V - Having good charm allows for making better connections and therefor relationships which is important for any business.
R - Most people do not have good charm and having this is a huge advantage in making relationships.
I - You can't imitate charm because you either have it or you don't.
N - Charm cannot be substituted when trying to form relationships.

8. Can remain unattached emotionally
V - Although it is good to get very involved if you get too emotionally involved with people you have worked with than it can take a toll on your success.
R - Very rare since most people grow fast emotional connections when working with people.
I - You can't imitate this quality since it is a personality trait.
N - Cannot be substituted.

9. Strong Advertisers
V - Having strong advertisement makes your product stick up among others and makes people choose your product over your competitors.
R - Only some companies really stand out as having great advertisement campaigns.
I - Can be imitated by other companies that decide to follow a similar advertising campaign.
N - Can be substituted with other ways of bringing attention to your product.

10. Organizational Culture
V -Intend to have  a culture organized around having success while also seeing failures as a stepping stone into finding even greater success as a business.
R - Somewhat rare since many companies implode when success isn't immediately achieved.
I - Can be imitated by other companies who adapt the same approach to the culture of the organization.
N - Can be substituted by other cultures but may not prove to have the same levels of effectiveness.


2. After conducting the VRIN analysis, determine what your top resource is. Explain why it's more important to your venture than all of the other resources.
The most important resource would be my personal drive. Having a strong drive is the key to achieving success in a venture and nothing is truly more valuable. With a strong drive you can make sure that nothing gets in your way and that you will take whatever paths necessary and dedicate as much time as necessary to achieve the desired results.

It's Who You Know, Not What You Know

Person 1

1) Who they are and what their background is.
Shannon Richardson who is a manager at the Target back where I live at home.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
She would be the domain expert since a retail outlet such as target is where I would plan to sell my product to the public.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
My aunt knows her through work and gave me her number which allowed me to come in contact with her.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
I called her and asked her about the basic stuff such as how many typical hangers they have to go through and how many a typical person would buy at a single time.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
It would help give me a contact who is involved at Target which is a retailer that I could see my product being sold at.

Person 2

1) Who they are and what their background is.
Bill Springs

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
Bill would fill the slot of market expert since he works at Amazon in the Finance department and would bring knowledge to me about customer research for the majority of my market.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
I called Amazon and asked if there was any way they could get me in contact with anyone who knew something about hangers and they politely gave me Bill's email address which allowed me to make contact with him.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
I emailed Bill asking him about the sales generated from selling shorts hangers and the average amount of shorts hangers sold per customer to allow me to see if the people need a sturdier shorts hanger.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
Having a big contact at Amazon is always great to have since Amazon is one of the fastest growing companies and has recently dominated the market.

Person 3

1) Who they are and what their background is.
Sasha Ibrahem and she is the account manager over at storesupply which is a major shorts hanger supplier.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
Sasha definitely fills the slot of supplier since she is the account manager at a major supplier for shorts hangers.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
I found the person by researching the web for people involved with the supply of shorts hangers and I found her email address listed on her websites page.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
I emailed her asking about how well she thinks the new product would do in the market and she said she was doubtful since there are just so many different people who produce clothing hangers but there was an off chance that the product could work.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
This gives me a clear contact to a person involved with shorts hangers which is a big boon for my business plan.

This experience requires you to do a little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How?
This experience gave me some valuable contacts and some courage I needed to be able to spread myself out and make new and valuable contacts. It differed a lot since I had no prior connections to the majority of the people I interviewed so it felt pretty strange going into open waters with no knowledge of what was gonna happen.

Idea Napkin No. 2

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?
My name is Andrew Szatkowski and I am a third year Finance major at the University of Florida. My talents involve having a very fast learning curve, extensive knowledge about computers, and also have a talent for recognizing a good idea when it is mentioned. My skills lie with computers and also I have some experience swimming and working out at a nationally competitive level in the past back in high school. I also have experience with working in a restaurant and teaching swimming to people of all ages along with life guarding since I have been guarding for the past three summers down at an Olympic training facility in Coral Springs, Florida. My main aspiration has always been to be monetarily successful in life and a lot of decisions I have made have been in an effort to meet this aspiration. I also aspire to be the best at whatever I do when I do go out into the work force since I want my name to be known when talking about a certain profession. I mainly see this business being a secondary thing in my life and serving as more as a hobby rather than the main source of work for myself. My intent is to make the majority of my success through successful financial analysis rather than this business idea but of course if the business took off I would transition my resources over more towards the business rather than my main job at the time.

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 
The product that I am offering to customers is a new type of shorts hanger that does not snap or break when shorts are ripped or pulled off the hanger when the release clips are not being pressed down on. The shorts hangers of today are extremely flimsy and often when pulled on break without much stress being put upon them. The idea of the new design is to allow customers to spend slightly more money when buying new hangers but having to go out and buy new replacement hangers less often thus saving money for the customer in the long run.

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psycho-graphic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?
The main demographic that this product will be offered towards is parents who have children. These parents value saving money in the long run and do not mind spending a little bit more money to get a better product that will save money in the future. These parents also value their time since they do not want to have to be going out to the store getting hanger replacements.

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 
As explained in the previous question the customers will value their time and money when purchasing this product. They will see the long term benefits of purchasing a more durable product and will not mind spending a little bit more money initially in order to save money and the hassle of going to the store in the long run.

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 
My core competencies are my strong drive to succeed when I am very passionate about something I am working on. Usually I do not put all of my effort forth but when I want something I give it my all and usually find success in it. A strong drive is necessary to succeed in the world and I believe that I have one of the strongest drives out there when it comes to finding success in what I am passionate about. I have my own pride and nobody else can know what that kind of pride is and this pride helps me find success.

In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others. 
I believe all of these five elements gel quite well together into one cohesive business concept that I actually believe has a lot of potential for success. In order to succeed in an entrepreneurial venture there needs to be a good business idea along with a strong drive to see that idea find success and I personally believe that both of these aspects are present in this concept. Success relies heavily on the drive of the person behind the concept and I see myself as someone who has all the right qualities to find success in a business venture. I am not scared to break out from my norms and take risks in order to see results and this will put me ahead of others.

Reading Reflection No. 2

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big - by Scott Adams

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?
The book talked a lot about being selfish in a good light. Adams explained how energy was the most important way to find success in life whether this be eating healthy and correctly or exercising daily. Another way to increase the energy to help yourself is getting plenty of sleep and avoiding unnecessary stress. Adams also explains goals vs systems and says that goals are demotivating because you are in a constant state of failure until that goal is reached. Adams suggests to work on a system where you make sure to follow a routine and just succeed at following the routine rather than reaching a goal. The last main point that he makes is about the levels of selfishness and that the number one person you should be focused on taking care of is yourself through proper health and keeping up good finances. If you don't take care of yourself first through health or finances than you will just end up being a burden upon others. One of the last points he makes throughout the book is to always look to acquire new skills because the new skills can help increase your chance of success in life.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
This book actually ended up being a lot more useful for me than I thought it would be since I was just picking a book at random and reading it for some assignment. Adams really made some solid points about life being a bulls-eye with you in the middle and then everyone else spreading out around you. I've always been taught to put others ahead of myself since I grew up through the Catholic education and I never realized that if I didn't put my own health first that I could end up just being a burden upon others. By putting myself first I can better my own life and then proceed to affect those around me in a positive way. This new way of thinking will really help me out and definitely enhances the class.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
The exercise would involve first asking whether you tend to plan goals or systems in most of your every day life. Then ask the students to plan a system out for a routine in their lives and have them talk about how they intend to follow that routine and how they see the system improving their own health or lessening the stress in their day to day life.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
Be selfish. When I started reading the book and kept reading about how being selfish is important to find success I was honestly shocked but Adams went through great lengths to explain his reasoning and by the end of the book I found myself agreeing with a lot of the points he was making. Not only this but when he started to talk about passion I was also surprised. Adams explained that passion does not lead to success but it more being the other way around. If you continue to find failure in what you are passionate about you will lose that passion over time and I found that to be really true.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

Elevator Pitch

Link in case not working: https://youtu.be/d4NgshynqQQ

Reflection
I did not get much in the form of negative feedback but one of the few critiques I did receive was that in my original pitch my intro was too long. Too long of an intro can bore audience members and lose the appeal of the product since most people do not enjoy listening to a man ramble on about nonsense and hangers. They want to hear the meat of the subject and what the goal of the product is and how it will improve their lives.

Changes
Due to my previous critique my goal was keeping the intro shorter but also the same effectiveness. I also made sure to maintain a slow and steady speaking pace while also delivering all of the necessary information to the audience members.

What’s Your Secret Sauce?

Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique
1. Skill with technology
I am very handy with the computer and have even built two computers of my own and am also very familiar with the most popular compute applications such as Microsoft office and some of the adobe products such as Photoshop.

2. Easy Going
I try and not take things too seriously which gives me an easy going attitude and this makes me very open to some ideas along with laughing about mistakes that are made.

3. Strong Drive
I find myself having a stronger drive than most people but only when it comes to stuff that I am passionate about. I could care less about things I don't find important but when I have a goal in mind nothing will stop me from achieving it.

4. Likable
This one is hard to explain since some people just have this quality to them and I think I am on of them. People just seem to like me and maybe its because of my easy going personality or I don't know what but most people just seem to not feel worried about me too much.

5. Strategist
I think I plan out stuff a lot before I go and actually do something and sometimes this is good but other times bad. Having a good strategy is usually a good idea in the business area though and I think I excel at analyzing the situation at hand and thinking about the best solution for myself even if others may have different ideas.

Interviews
Interview 1: Nick
In my interview with Nick he explained how some of my unique human capital involved my analytical skills and basic general knowledge of stuff. He also went on to explain my skills with computers and how that sets me apart since he sees me as very technological. He said how I built my own computer even though I am not a computer science major and how that shows good things about my handling of technology.
https://soundcloud.com/user-781625843/interview-1

Interview 2: Alex
In my interview with Alex he opened up by saying how I could talk to anyone and always be nice and open with anyone I talked to. He went on to explain how I am a good leader and always make sure to include everyone while considering their strengths. Along with Nick he expressed my analytical skills and skills with building computers.
https://soundcloud.com/user-781625843/interview-2

Interview 3: Mom
My mom started off explaining how I had an exceptional memory and how it helps with my knowledge base. She also went on to explain how I am unique in that I use both side of my brains using creativity and scientific. She then said I was naturally curious and explained how I resourceful in finding the answers to my questions. Then she continued talking about how I could keep my emotions in check and how I have a good poker face and play my cards close to my hand which is good for the business world. Very driven once I set my mind to something including both my swimming and my school work.
https://soundcloud.com/user-781625843/recording-2

Interview 4: Aunt Cathy
My Aunt Cathy took the question through a more business mindset since she is a bit of an entrepreneur herself and runs the business. She saw some of my potential and explained that one of the most important parts of being an entrepreneur and a quality that I have is a strong drive. She went on to explain how I have certain qualities that make me likable to some people. She also said how I don't commit myself too emotionally which is a good thing since you want to be personable but not too emotionally attached.
https://soundcloud.com/user-781625843/recording-4

Interview 5: Brother
He explained how I was very smart and kind of a role model for him while going through school. He also explained how I can be headstrong and even a bit stubborn at times. He was quick to mention that sometimes being stubborn isn't a bad thing since when I put my mind to something it will get done.
https://soundcloud.com/user-781625843/recording-3

Differences
There are a few differences between the way I saw my human capital and the way the people I interviewed saw my human capital. The most noticeable was probably my reserved emotions and my really headstrong attitude. Both my mom and aunt said I could be reserved at times which isn't a bad thing but can actually help out in the business world. My brother made sure to mention how headstrong I could be because I am sure he has been on the opposite end of an argument with me more times than I care to count. I would change my list and make sure to put reserved and extremely headstrong since the majority of my family came to an agreement on the subject.

Create a Customer Avatar

Customer Avatar

The prototypical customer for the selected market segment would be a parent this case a father. This father is 40 and has two teen boys living at home, non of which are adopted, and hes an average middle class worker. This dad enjoys getting off of work and having a drink or two when he gets home and sometimes will play some video games with his kids. He drives a silver 2015 Toyota Camry to and from work and enjoys watching Game of Thrones. He is a Trump kind of man although he doesn't agree with everything he does. He enjoys reading Stephen King novels at night after his wife falls asleep. He feels pretty bored since he is doing the same thing everyday but he also loves the decisions hes made and wouldn't do it any other way. 

What do you have in common with the customer avatar? 

Both me and the prototypical customer have a couple of things in common. We both enjoy watching Game of Thrones and I slightly enjoy Stephen King novel's even though I usually do not read or want to spend the time reading very thick novels.

If you have anything in common with the avatar, do you think that is a coincidence? Why?

No it's not a coincidence considering I just made up the avatar on the spot based on my own personal experiences. Since it is based on my experiences I just wrote down what I felt was right and therefore some common things exist between me and the avatar.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

1) Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them.
Person 1: A mother of age 56 who has to raise two sons on her own.
Person 2: A father age 46 with four daughters and a son.
Person 3: A mother age 35 with one son.

2) Begin with alternative evaluation.
I already found out from my past interviews that the majority of people would have found out about the new hanger product by doing research while looking for new hangers on the internet. All three of the customers interviewed did not care too much about the style of the hanger since the only thing its used for is to hang shorts. The father with four daughters and a son showed a lot of concern about the price of the product since he explained that he had to shop for so many people that cost was the main concern for him. The other two customers were split between quality and price since they wanted a durable hanger but explained how they didn't wish to pay an absorbent cost just for a replacement hanger.

3) How/where do they buy?
The interviewed customers on how they would go about purchasing the items. They all agreed that it would be convenient to have them at local stores such as Target and Walmart so they could just pick them up while getting other groceries or items for school. They also thought the internet and more in particular Amazon would be a good place to purchase the product. With Amazon Prime free shipping many people do easy shopping online and with the delivery only taking two days it saves the time of having to drive out and go to the store.

4) Post-purchase evaluation. 
Since the hanger is aimed to be more durable towards shorts being pulled off the hanger the customers all agreed that the products longevity and usefulness would be the main factors when determining the rating of the product. If the product broke just like any other hanger than they said that they would feel cheated out of spending extra money on a hanger that broke doing what it was supposed to do.

5) Report the findings.
Customer one was very aware of the issue that the shorts hangers break when her sons would pull the shorts right off the rack. She explained how she wanted a more durable hanger and wouldn't mind paying a little extra for a working hanger. Customer two was more concerned with the cost savings he would receive from purchasing the new product. Customer three pretty much agreed with customer one.

6) Draw conclusions.
In conclusion the majority of people would prefer to purchase at a brick and mortar store and have the product be a mix between durable and cheap.

Halfway Reflection

1) Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? 
The biggest behavior I have developed to help keep up with the course is the better use of time management skills. The class actually takes a lot of time between the lectures and the weekly BLOG posts along with the comments on your fellow classmates blog posts. I have had to learn how to divide my time between this class and other classes. This is a great skill to develop since time management is important at all points in life even outside of this course and can be applied to future courses or even future jobs and endeavors.

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?
The main moment throughout this course that I thought about giving up was during our most recent assignment regarding the reading reflection. I did not realize we had to read an entire book about an autobiography of a person of our choice until about two days before the assignment was due. I was freaking out cause all I could think was that it's impossible to read a book like this in two days and so I almost took the 0 for the points that week. But once I read through the list I recognized Steve Jobs and having seen the movie about him already I felt a pull to learn more about this entrepreneur that has started one of the most successful companies in the world. I buckled down and started reading and I actually found myself enjoying the book and I was actually able to finish the book in about one day because I just enjoyed it that much. Being able to sit down and really kick out a problem is something I have had to learn to be able to do at my time at UF since so many classes require massive amounts of work to be done with either homework or constant studying.

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?
1. Sit down and get it done:
For me, I personally found it to be the best when I would just sit down and do all of the assignment for the weeks at the same time. Just sit down and get it done with.

2. Think for yourself:
Your ideas are your own and you should use them to benefit yourself. If everyone had the same ideas and cared about what others thought than many entrepreneurs would not be where they are today. If you have an idea and you think its awesome and can find a group that would want your idea then pursue it.

3. Get out there:
During your assignments some may ask you to go out and interview a number of people. Go out there and ask real people about your ideas and get honest opinions so you can help better shape the idea that you have created.

Reading Reflection

Book: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

You read about an entrepreneur:

What surprised you the most?

What surprised me the most was how much impact his early life had on his personality and way of thinking as a whole. Steve Jobs was the biological son of John Jandali and Joanne Schieble but the disapproval of the relationship caused the couple to put Steve up for adoption and he was then adopted by Paul Jobs and his wife Clara. Paul was a mechanic and this had a profound influence on Steve pursuing engineering and design. Steve felt a mix of emotions growing up since a part of him felt like he had been abandoned by his biological parents but then chosen by his adopted parents because they saw something special in him. This affected Steve and the way he would do business as an adult and how he would interact with others.

What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

I admire Steve's courage to break away from the flow of the stream and forge his own path through life rather than just flow along with everyone else. Steve often found himself bored and always searched for ways to add some kind of excitement into his life which unfortunately led to drugs but he was the type of person willing to experiment just to have the experience under his belt. He was also brave enough to drop out of Reed College and instead pursue his own career path. About a year and a half after dropping out of college he went to Atari and demanded he get a job which he did end up receiving. He also left this job to pursue his interests of eastern culture when he went away to India. Steve was unafraid to enter uncharted territories and use his connections to his advantage as when he got Mark Markkula, a retired millionaire, on-board to help with the sales and advertisement of the Apple II. His bravery to enter into uncharted waters not knowing what is on the other side is something I can really admire about the man.

What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

The thing that I did not like at all about Steve was the way he would treat and act towards other people around him. Of course as a successful entrepreneur Steve had to have some out of the box thinking and quirky traits but the way he would treat people around him and even fellow employees was quite frankly unacceptable. He would attack his employees when they would present an idea to him that he found inadequate and was not afraid to tell them how stupid and idiotic the sheer idea that the employee came up with was. Then as if in spite of the employee he would present their idea as his own and take credit for the idea showing a much darker side to the entrepreneur and why many people who knew him showed no animosity towards him.

Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

The entrepreneur often countered most of his adversity from a personality clash between himself and another person. Perhaps the biggest clash came about between Jobs and Scully and the way that Apple should be run and the price points that should be set on the products. Jobs blamed Scully for Microsoft winning control of the personal computer market when Scully insisted on setting the price of the Macintosh at $2,495 instead of Steve's suggested price of 1,995. After this fiasco Steve left Apple and started NeXT which didn't perform to well but he also started Pixar which he found a lot of success with. Apple purchased NeXT later on and this put Jobs back into Apple where he served as an adviser to the CEO and helped to make Apple's stock prices skyrocket. 

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

Steve Job's main talent was his pursuit for perfection in technology to show through in an artistic kind of way. His ideals helped shape the way that many products strive to reach perfection while also having the elements of beauty in their design and layout. Another boon to his success was his great amount of connections that he made throughout the years which helped him to increase the success of his business. Steve's eye for talent allowed him to select very strong employees which helped with the success of the design and overall idea of his products

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

I couldn't really relate to Steve's anger at Gates' when Microsoft came out with Windows. Steve was furious at Gates because he felt as though Gates used his friendship with Steve to gain inside knowledge on Apple's technology and used that to create Windows. But Bill Gates clearly explained that both Windows and Apple were a clear ripoff of Xerox which I really have to agree with. Both companies clearly ripped off Xerox so I could not really agree with Job's sheer rage at Bill Gates who simply performed the same thing that Steve Jobs did.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

The two questions I would ask to Steve Jobs are what qualities do you look for when hiring your employees and what do you look for when starting a new venture. I would ask about the qualities in employees because this could help me see what really makes an outstanding employee really show that he is leagues above others with the same experience and I could use this not only as a basis when looking for employees in the future but also as self guidelines to help myself grow in the business world. Next I would ask about the opportunity ventures because I would like to know what makes one venture stand out as a success and another a failure. This would help me when pursuing my goals in entrepreneurship.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

The entrepreneur's opinion of hard work was that a product was not finished being designed until it was absolutely perfect. He would not allow a product to be released unless he himself thought that nothing else could improve upon the product at the current point in time and this infuriated some of his employees since they could see no reason for the insides of a computer being organized in a neat way. I agree with Jobs' sentiment towards perfection to an extent but not to the level that a product cannot be released until I personally can see nothing else to add to it. I would take my employees opinions on when they thought perfection was reached and if I had hired the correct employees I would have a very good product.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Pick a Segment:
For the segment, I chose parents of any age with children still living at home within the house.

Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them:
The three people used for interviews
- A 30 year old father with three daughters
- A 38 year old mother with two sons and a daughter
- A 50 year old mother with a son and a daughter

Report the findings of your research:
Need Awareness:
I proceeded to ask the three people being interviewed about the timeliness of their need in regards to the situation. They explained the biggest need for the new hanger product would be when one of their old shorts hangers broke and they had to go out to buy new hangers. The father was more relaxed about the whole broken hanger situations but the mothers expressed anxiety when thinking about having to replace a broken shorts hanger. The mothers explained how the hangers could break at anytime without any warning and that it would be a real thorn in their side when they had clothes but nowhere to put them causing them to have to drop what they are doing and go out to the store to buy new hangers. The dad was more relaxed on the whole situation and said if he heard they needed hangers he would just pick some up next time that he went out to the store and was in no rush to replace any of the broken hangers.

Information Search:
The very first thing that all the people I interviewed did was google online for places that sell hangers near them so they know where they can pick up some replacements. When they search up their need in google they explained how they usually type in "shorts hangers near me" or something along similar lines to that phrase. They explained how if something about a new type of hanger that could save money popped up while they were searching on google they would probably click the link just to see what the commotion was all about. When I asked them about family and friends they said that if anyone had learned about the hangers and tried them out to find them a success than the whole family would know since all of their families are very close together and have a tight knit relationship sharing almost everything. So spreading information by word of mouth through friends and family would be a strong way to promote the new product.

Draw Conclusions:
Based on all of the interviews I can conclude that the parent segment of the marketplace has no real seasonal time that they would need the product but more on a per old hangers breaking and having to buy new hangers type of buying style. As for information search it is very clear that they would become informed of the product if the product pops up as a top search when searching for new hangers. Also if the product works as intended then word of mouth would also be a very viable way of spreading the news about the new hanger in the marketplace to others.

Elevator Pitch No. 1

Elevator Pitch for New Hanger Design Product
https://youtu.be/-HK0cXXfA-U
Link just in case video does not work.