Final Reflection

Where to begin... this course has been a mix of things I thought it would be as well as a lot of things that were new and I had not anticipated. From the first elevator pitch, to an idea napkin, and so much more it was a great learning experience for me on everything that encompasses being an entrepreneur. The most formative experience for me was getting out and learning about something I was not previously too familiar with and talking with people to garner all of the information possible. In terms of joyous or most proud moment would probably be the elevator pitches as I am not someone who typically likes to record myself or talk in front of people but I enjoyed it and was rewarding to see the growth from the first pitch to the last. After all of these trials and tribulations, I'm not sure I would go as far as to label myself an entrepreneur just yet but I undoubtedly expanded my entrepreneurial mindset and that is something I will carry with me in whatever future endeavors I take on. Lastly, I would just recommend to someone who is taking this course in the future to stay ahead of the work as it can otherwise overwhelm you and to take each assignment for what it is and to truly embrace it and the course as a whole because that is the only way to fully develop that entrepreneurial mindset.

Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity

• The primary occurrence of this problem seems to be for those commuting to and from work, in the busiest corridors of the more crowded cities. This is really a cause and affect to me, as these are only the more congested corridors due to the lack of solutions to the in these busier areas. 
• Secondly, students that commute to and from schools, especially at the higher level education level experience this in and around their campuses. Again, this is something that stems out of causation and is not necessarily a required outcome in my opinion with a few minor changes.
• Lastly, are those who drive regularly as their occupation, such as truck drivers or Uber/taxi drivers. These are the people who experience this more than others and generally it can be not as circumstantial and not always in the same place, further emphasizing the underlying issue. 

Innovation 

As I stated before, there is really no simple solution and so my concept is more of a mitigation plan that is comprised of three pieces all of which are already existing in one place or another:

1. The first component is rather simple, which utilizes pre-existing means of public transportation. The two primary pieces of this would be first off, to promote the usage of bussing and make it more accessible in the more congested areas. Furthermore, enhancing transit via railway would cut down on a portion of the longer-distance issue that the likes of truck drivers experience.
2. The second piece of this would be the somewhat more uncommon practice of carpooling, which is already used in some larger cities such as Atlanta. Promoting this via means such lowered gas prices as well as certain lanes on highways only accessible to those with more than one passenger in the car, would encourage commuters to lower the number of cars on the roads.
3. The final aspect of my venture would be the most innovative, but something I was exposed to in my hometown of Tampa. That is an overpass that connects over the busier corridors, that allows drivers to avoid lights and would in theory allow for a more free flow of traffic.

Venture Concept 

The "secret sauce" for my venture sounds somewhat cliche, but the culture we would create and demand our employees uphold would be the most vital component to our success. That is something that is relevant to any venture in my mind, and any project I would undertake this would be the essential framework. The next step for the potential project would be to research and begin seeking the necessary funding, as this would undoubtedly be a significant financial investment. Moreover, we would seek to generate that financing from both private entities and governmental resources. Lastly, from a personal perspective, I would have to assess whether this is a project worth undertaking. Furthermore, the size of something like this would be something I must know what I am getting in to and gather all of the necessary resources and weigh my options to make the most educated decision. 

Feedback

Unfortunately I did not receive any feedback on my first venture concept or my "what's next" post so it was difficult to make too many adjustments from my first concept. Thus, I did not make any significant changes as I still believe this would be my best course of action in terms of utilizing assets at my disposal for this venture.

 

Exit Strategy

Depending on the opportunity, I would like to sell my venture business eventually as I don't believe whatever I get in to directly out of college is what I will want to do and where I will want to be until I retire. To me that almost defies the entrepreneurial spirit in having the fluidity to move around and take on new challenges. With that said, if I were to love what I was doing and I was doing well enough to sustain myself and my eventual family in a place I enjoyed living then I would not be opposed to staying put. I don't think it would necessarily impact my actions in the moment as I would be solely interested in the betterment of the business. That is why it would be imperative to keep an open mind and not set yourself on any one course but instead follow wherever the opportunity goes.

Reading Reflection No. 3

For the third and final reading reflection, I chose the biography one of the more influential people of my generation, Steve Jobs. Walter Isaacson does a terrific job outlining the entirety of his life.

1) The thing that surprised me the most was how personally invested Jobs was in his products and if somebody had a critic to make about one he took personal offense to that. What I admire most about Jobs is his determination even in the face of failure which relates well to the exercise I just completed on facing failure and growing from it. It was difficult to find something that I least admired but I would say that some of his employees and contemporaries viewed him as somewhat childish at times and some even calling a "a**hole". Jobs did face failure at times as most great innovators did, and as I said that is thing I admired a lot about him and that he remained always heavily invested and hands on despite some shortcomings and that he persisted regardless of the outcome of his products.

2) The core competencies that stood out are the obvious ones for someone such as Jobs; intelligence, hard-working, dedicated, persistent, etc. What differentiated him for me from some other large business executives was that he was there through it all, not simply just overseeing the company.

3) The whole battle with Google over the Android dispute was rather confusing to me. I understand it was a large competitor, but I never understood his grounds or reasoning for picking that fight.

4) I would start by asking Steve Jobs what his biggest regret was in all of his endeavors and then I would ask him what his greatest accomplishment was both in his personal and professional life.

5) I think the obvious answer to Jobs' view on hard work would be not only is it essential but it is the framework for being successful at anything you do, and I would completely agree. Without hard rock, no matter how smart or creative you are it will be difficult to succeed in any of your endeavors.

Celebrating Failure

This semester has been challenging for me both in this class and out of class, even more so now with all of the chaos that the Coronavirus has caused. With that said, I have tried to stay focused and on top of my classes and avoid letting these turbulent times affect my life too much. However, if I were to note one thing I did not accomplish that I wanted to it would have been to get an internship or a volunteer opportunity this semester. With the virus, part of it was my fault for not getting started on it soon enough and the other part of it was it became nearly impossible with the world as we know it shutting down. Thus, I have learned to get ahead and try to avoid a situation like this in the future by not waiting to the last minute for anything, but especially something like this. Failure is a tough pill to swallow in whatever it is we do, and especially applies to my situation when I won't be able to tell potential future employers about all of the experience I gained this semester. Telling family members or friends you came up short of your goals in whatever it may be is never a fun conversation to have. To me I see failure as an opportunity, it presents you a chance to learn and grow from your mistake(s) or unfortunate circumstances and become better for having gone through that difficult time. That is exactly what this class has further emphasized to me, take risks and view everything as an opportunity. Life is all about taking chances on something you are passionate about and it is not always going to work out, but that is when you analyze what happened and be better off from it.

What's Next?

I touched on what would be next for both my venture and myself in the Venture Concept assignment, so that segues well in to this discussion. When analyzing the markets, it was somewhat difficult to garner a full understanding on the current market without interviewing experts. The existing market for my venture is rather complex with the involvement of governmental entities and large-scale contractors. However within the current market I believe I would have all of the necessary resources.

In regards to expanding into a radically different market, that would be not be as hard as some other ventures as my problem is one that is applicable to the majority of people. The beauty of this venture is it is an issue to people regardless of occupation, status, etc. for the most part. The exception to that would be those who do not have their own cars and are reliant upon public transportation. My idea could be even more appealing to them in the sense of enhancing public transit as a whole. This would be a different market than the initial target audience, but would still likely appeal to these people.

Venture Concept No. 1

Have you ever found yourself sitting in traffic wondering if everybody just drove the speed limit, why is this an issue?

Unfortunately, there is no simple singular solution to this age-old problem. Whether it's car accidents, "rubbernecking", or any other of the countless causes of congestion, it's very frustrating as a driver. Thus, this presents an opportunity for innovation into attempting to mitigate this problem that a lot of us go through on a daily basis. That's where I believe my venture concept can come into play.

Opportunity

• The primary occurrence of this problem seems to be for those commuting to and from work, in the busiest corridors of the more crowded cities. This is really a cause and affect to me, as these are only the more congested corridors due to the lack of solutions to the in these busier areas. 
• Secondly, students that commute to and from schools, especially at the higher level education level experience this in and around their campuses. Again, this is something that stems out of causation and is not necessarily a required outcome in my opinion with a few minor changes.
• Lastly, are those who drive regularly as their occupation, such as truck drivers or Uber/taxi drivers. These are the people who experience this more than others and generally it can be not as circumstantial and not always in the same place, further emphasizing the underlying issue. 

Innovation 

As I stated before, there is really no simple solution and so my concept is more of a mitigation plan that is comprised of three pieces all of which are already existing in one place or another:

1. The first component is rather simple, which utilizes pre-existing means of public transportation. The two primary pieces of this would be first off, to promote the usage of bussing and make it more accessible in the more congested areas. Furthermore, enhancing transit via railway would cut down on a portion of the longer-distance issue that the likes of truck drivers experience.
2. The second piece of this would be the somewhat more uncommon practice of carpooling, which is already used in some larger cities such as Atlanta. Promoting this via means such lowered gas prices as well as certain lanes on highways only accessible to those with more than one passenger in the car, would encourage commuters to lower the number of cars on the roads.
3. The final aspect of my venture would be the most innovative, but something I was exposed to in my hometown of Tampa. That is an overpass that connects over the busier corridors, that allows drivers to avoid lights and would in theory allow for a more free flow of traffic.

Venture Concept 

The "secret sauce" for my venture sounds somewhat cliche, but the culture we would create and demand our employees uphold would be the most vital component to our success. That is something that is relevant to any venture in my mind, and any project I would undertake this would be the essential framework. The next step for the potential project would be to research and begin seeking the necessary funding, as this would undoubtedly be a significant financial investment. Moreover, we would seek to generate that financing from both private entities and governmental resources. Lastly, from a personal perspective, I would have to assess whether this is a project worth undertaking. Furthermore, the size of something like this would be something I must know what I am getting in to and gather all of the necessary resources and weigh my options to make the most educated decision. 

My Venture's Unfair Advantage

1. My unique combination of solutions to the problem
V - the value lies in the other components of this analysis
R - while no one of my solutions is necessarily rare, the combination of the three is
I - it could potentially be imitable but I have never seen anything like it
N - This unique combination is non-substitutable in my estimation.
2. My first focus would be upon increasing public transit
V - there is real value in this factor of the solution alone
R - this is not necessarily rare in it of itself
I - it could be imitated and has been in some instances before
N - this component is crucial to the solution and cannot be substituted
3. My second aspect is increasing carpooling
V - value is there in that this would undoubtedly limit cars
R - this is rather rare from my personal experience as I have only seen it in limited places
I - this could be imitated but it has been around for some time and has not be imitated much
N - This is somewhat substitutable but I believe it would be very beneficial
4. Fourth and final component would be the overpass in congested corridors
V- this is perhaps the most valuable aspect of the solution
R - This is also the most rare as I have only seen or heard of very few of these
I - it is something that could be imitated in limited areas but has not yet been
N - this is also the most non-substitutable aspect of my entire plan
5. The flexibility and diversity of my plan would allow for a strong human capital
V - this also has a lot of value due to the fact we would have an array of personnel
R - this is also rather rare to have this many people incorporated in a project
I - It is really not imitable unless someone combined the personnel of all three facets
N - This piece is really non-substitutable because the people make it happen
6. Financial capital would be that from both private and governmental funding
V - the value speaks for itself from a financial perspective
R - this is rather rare to have both of these means of funding
I - this could be imitable but acquiring both means of funding is not easy
N - the funding is clearly non-substitutable to most projects including this one
7. The capabilities of this project could be endless in certain cities if successful
V - the value of the ultimate capability of the project could be transformative
R - again it goes with the rarity of the project as a whole
I - the capabilities could be imitated but this is the best manner to do so
N - these cannot be substituted as they are the end result
8. The culture we would create is as something we pride ourselves on
V - culture is something within a company that is invaluable to me
R - this is the most rare to me is the culture we can create
I - this is also the part that cannot be imitated by anybody else
N - it cannot be substituted as culture makes the company tick
9. From a cultural perspective, ensuring everyone is represents that human capital
V - having people be representative of your brand is huge to having value
R - This is what a lot of people strive for but you could argue is rather rare
I - some can try to imitate this but it is much easier said than done
N - this is unquestionably not substitutable for a strong culture
10. Lastly, incorporating all of these aspects into a mission statement for the organization
V - this would summarize all of the value into one statement
R - mission statements are not rare but our's would be unique to us
I - a statement is imitable but ours specifically would not be
N - this could not be substituted as it establishes everything for the future

My most important resource would be establishing a unique culture that would fit our company. This would set the framework for everything else to come and we could not be successful without it

Elevator Pitch No. 3

Reading Reflection No.2

For the second reading I chose How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams. The general theme was exactly what the title of the book makes it out to be and that is a detailed history of a guy who has failed over and over only to find success. The book connected to this course and somewhat enhanced what we are learning but providing a personal perspective as Adams embodied the entrepreneurial spirit. If I were to design an exercise for this course centered around the book, it would be a discussion based off of your favorite piece of advice or quote that stood out because there were quite a few for me. Prior to picking this book, I had never read or even heard of Scott Adams so the whole book really came as a pleasant surprise to me. However, if I had to choose one 'aha' moment it would be the piece of advice of prioritizing yourself first in terms of getting enough sleep, exercising, eating right, etc. This may seem rather simplistic on the surface but it really resonated with me because you expect people, especially entrepreneurs, to focus on the ever-evolving world around them but you cannot be successful in doing that unless first considering yourself.