30A: Final Reflection

1. After the completion of this course, I can confidently say that I have learned a lot more than i expected. One thing that I sorta questioned in the beginning is that the the entire class is just assignments. I wasn’t sure if I would learn from the class. But I could confidently say that the assignment, maybe in the moment weren’t that helpful, but when you put them all together you could see that I started to think more and more like an entrepreneur.
2. The most formative assignment that I enjoyed the most was the reading reflections. The reason behind this is that you got to see how people went out and became entrepreneurs. This was a specific assignment where we weren’t working on our own concepts and we got to see other peoples concepts. I also enjoyed doing the peer reviews because you can’t improvement without failing and getting help from your peers to strengthen your skills.
3. I feel like this class has really helped me develop an entrepreneurial mindset. I say that because I finally learned some terms and ways to start a business and make sure your business succeeds. For example the venture concept is something that needs to be done by all entrepreneurs in that it is a good way to organize yourself and make sure you stay on track. If I didn’t take this class then I would not know what that is and therefore would not be organized in gathering my thoughts and plan.
4. To future students taking this class my one recommendation is to not take this class as a joke because this is something that you will most likely use in the future. For example I had to give an elevator pitch the other day at a career seminar. Even though it wasn’t about a specific opportunity belief it was about myself. Also I would recommend staying on track and making sure you complete all assignments to the best of your ability.

29A: Venture Concept No.2

29A: Venture Concept No.2

Opportunity: The unmet need that I wish to solve is the amount of traffic at the University of Florida and also the safety of Pedestrian walkers during the school day at the University of Florida. The people who this most affects are students, teachers, and any other people walking/driving around the university of florida campus on a daily basis. The nature of this need is that for years there have been a problem of traffic and safety but no one ever decided to speak up and try to put an end to the problem. Some people might not see this as that big of a problem but being from New York i hate waiting in traffic and work on a faster pace than others. That is why I see this as a problem. I also think this is something that wouldn’t be that hard to be solved.

• There are no changes in forces this is just my opinion and something I want to do to help the environment and make campus better
• The market is UF students and the demographic is the UF campus
• Customers are currently doing nothing about the problem, they are just continuing to go on with their everyday life.
• This opportunity could solve a lot of things around the UF campus
• The window of opportunity will be open as long as it takes to get construction done

Innovation: The new idea, service that I propose is the building of either bridges or tunnels to allow easier access for students to walk around campus especially on the main roads. It would also help speed up traffic that is caused by pedestrians who are walking because they cause cars to stop and wait for them. The process that I wish to take is to start production of more bridges around campus especially near places like reitz. What I am selling isn’t exactly a product but more of a landmark. This is less of a business thing and more of an environment and a service to the University of Florida.

Venture Concept: My innovation would help to solve a few problems on campus of the University of Florida. The few things that It would solve involves the traffic situation on campus and the safety problem that some people have on campus. The reason I think customers will enjoy this product because it would be a good sight to see on campus. It would look beautiful on campus, and also would make the University of Florida a safer campus.

• People would not be switching to this product, They would be agreeing with me that something needs to be done to speed up traffic and increase safety on the campus.
• There are no competitors in this because it is more of a campus project then a product.
• Prices have an impact on my business product because we have to map out the blueprint and prices of a bridge or tunnel. We also have to figure out the time period we could do construction during.
• We would need to hire employees to do the construction of these projects.

Three Minor Elements:

1.Most Important Resource: My most important resource is my friends dad who is a big time architect in Miami. I will be in contact with him on the construction aspect and starting the construction. We will make layouts of all of the blueprint and get a price laid out.    

2.What’s Next: My next plan is to come in contact with the person at UF who would be able to help me go through with my plan. Obviously I don’t plan on paying for this, my goal is to get the University of Florida transportation to look more into it.

3.In 5 years: In 5 years I wish to not be involved in this situation, my goal is to just start us this as a start up and pass it on to campus officials to go through with it. I want to raise awareness of this situation and get people around campus to agree with me that something has to be done.

Adjustments: I made adjustments to my venture concept in that I decided to go into more details on specifics of the construction that I will be doing. I thought it was a good idea to go into more details because this is the last time I could really explain my plan for the campus and what I plan to do.

28A: Exit Strategy

28A: Exit Strategy

1. My exit strategy for my opportunity belief is easy because it is just the end of construction of the building of tunnels and bridges around campus. There is no future for my opportunity it is an in the moment kind of event. I guess my future if this is successful would be to look at other campuses around the U.S and see if maybe I could help them get together and start a movement like I did to get the construction of some bridges and tunnels around their own campus.
2. The reason why I selected this particular exit strategy is because it is a one way opportunity belief. There is a beginning and an end. There is no transitioning or staying in the business. Once the event and construction is finished then my work is done.
3. My exit strategy had no influence on my other decisions that I have made. I completed the construction of these tunnels and bridges to the best of my ability for the hope that someone in the near future trusts me to build/construct something else for them. Going into this opportunity I had the belief that this was going to be a one time thing just to help out my university and the area around the campus at the University of Florida.

27A: Reading Reflection No.3

27A: Reading Reflection No.3

1) For my reading reflection I chose to read Shoe Dog which an autobiography by Phil Knight who is the founder of Nike for my reading reflections. I saw that even though Nike was almost certainly was going to fail, Phil Knight pushed through plenty of mistakes, conflicts, and hardships to eventually make Nike into one of the most successful shoe companies ever. I really saw it admirable how he started selling Japanese shoes out of the back of his car and turned his dreams into real life. Almost everyone you see walking around has a pair of Nike shoes on now. What I found least admirable was that some of the peers said that it was difficult knowing Phil Knight on a personal level. This can be because he was so dedicated to making his business the best, but as a CEO you should be approachable to all kinds of people. Phil Knight went through a lot of difficulties before he made Nike a big thing. He started the company with only fifty dollars his father gave him and lived in debt for many years of his life. He had to beg investors at banks to give him a chance time. After years of struggling and barely keeping Nike in existence, he was able to make it a global brand and made it become what it is now.

2) Phil Knight’s biggest achievement I believe from the reading I saw that Phil Knight was not scared to fail in order to be successful. I feel that him not being scared of failure, it opened his eyes to what truly would lead to his success. He showed that he was willing to work with all kinds of people and put his trust in people that he wouldn’t have done for anything else. He too showed humbleness even though his company had a lot of success.

3) Phil Knight’s lack of depth for the making of the shoes was confusing to me. I don’t understand why he didn’t detail the makings of the shoes in the factories and what it takes to make a product that consumers would like.

4) The two questions I would ask Phil Knight is do you wish you did anything differently? And what made you want to be in this type of business? I’d ask these type of questions because I love to hear about the process of how people become successful and while on the way to being successful are there any tips I can learn from that you had to go through.   

5) I am confident that Phil Knight would say working hard is one of the most important things to success. Also feel that he would say that you cannot be afraid to be wrong and make mistakes because all great things are not perfect in the beginning. I sure can agree with these ways of thinking as I continue my life.

26A: Celebrating Failure

26A: Celebrating Failure

One time this semester that I failed was on my Calculus 2 exam. This is an example of a literally fail as in, I got an F on an exam. This was my first calculus 2 exam and I didn’t know what to expect going in. I didn’t put in the effort that I needed to do well. I only started to study two days before the exam, and that was my first mistake. My second mistake was that I tried to teach some of the stuff to me by myself and I didn’t go to class. I tried to be a one man show and in the end it ended up hurting me.

What I have learned from this experience is that you need to put in the time and the effort to succeed especially at our school. You might not be the brightest in the class, but if you work hard and think you will succeed then you be able to succeed. This includes both life, work and school.

I view failure just like Thomas Edison did. Not as failure but as a way to not succeed. Failure is a tough word and in life for the most part failure eventually leads to success. This means that failure isn’t as bad as people think it is because it leads to success either in the near or far future. How I handle failure is by thinking of things I could have done to not failed and look to the future on what I am going to do in the future when this pops back up. I am always up for the challenge of risks because I don’t like things given easy to me and it is always sweeter to succeed when you really worked for it.

25A: What's Next

25A: What’s Next

Existing Market:

In terms of product and services what next is to lay out a blueprint of some bridges or tunnels for places around campus. We need to start planning out prices and costs of building these projects

Interview 1: Girl student at University of Florida, says I should plan to start construction over slower times such as Winter break or Summer break. Winter break is probably the smartest idea because it doesn’t get too cold and all the students are gone.

Interview 2: Guy student at University of Florida, says I should expand the people i have already started to reach out to. He suggests for me to start a rally or put signs around campus to promote.

Interview 3: My friend, also a student at the university of florida suggests that i come in contact with UF transportation and give them a layout of my idea

New Market:

1.A different market group would be going to a different school and giving the same ideas. Preferably a very populated university such as the university of Michigan or Ohio State University. There isn’t really a new market for my idea because it directly involves everyone at the University

2.My concept would be valuable to these universities because I feel that universities all around the U.S have problems with traffic and people walking around campus.

3.

Interview 1: I interviewed my friend who goes to the University of Michigan he said that walking around campus is tough especially because of how cold it is. They already have some tunnels that keep students warm when walking around campus but there are a few more major roads that could use these tunnels

Interview 2: Similar to my first interview i interviewed my friend who goes to Ohio State University, He said the same thing that especially on game days, the traffic is so bad that it takes hours to get around campus.

4. What I learned most about these new markets is that we aren’t the only campus around the U.S that is struggling from transportation issues whether it is walking, on a scooter, or in a car. Each campus is affected in their own unique way whether it is because it is too cold, or gamedays are too busy.

I also learned that this irritable thought and hate i have for traffic is different for every person. Some people don’t see it as that big of a deal. They do things much slower than me and that is probably why i get upset when I am driving and it takes me 30 minutes to get somewhere that should take me 5.

24A: Venture Concept No. 1

24A: Venture Concept No.1

Opportunity: The unmet need that I wish to solve is the amount of traffic at the University of Florida and also the safety of Pedestrian walkers during the school day at the University of Florida. The people who this most affects are students, teachers, and any other people walking/driving around the university of florida campus on a daily basis. The nature of this need is that for years there have been a problem of traffic and safety but no one ever decided to speak up and try to put an end to the problem. Some people might not see this as that big of a problem but being from New York i hate waiting in traffic and work on a faster pace than others. That is why I see this as a problem. I also think this is something that wouldn’t be that hard to be solved.

• There are no changes in forces this is just my opinion and something I want to do to help the environment and make campus better
• The market is UF students and the demographic is the UF campus
• Customers are currently doing nothing about the problem, they are just continuing to go on with their everyday life.
• This opportunity could solve a lot of things around the UF campus
• The window of opportunity will be open as long as it takes to get construction done

Innovation: The new idea, service that I propose is the building of either bridges or tunnels to allow easier access for students to walk around campus especially on the main roads. It would also help speed up traffic that is caused by pedestrians who are walking because they cause cars to stop and wait for them. The process that I wish to take is to start production of more bridges around campus especially near places like reitz. What I am selling isn’t exactly a product but more of a landmark. This is less of a business thing and more of an environment and a service to the University of Florida.

Venture Concept: My innovation would help to solve a few problems on campus of the University of Florida. The few things that It would solve involves the traffic situation on campus and the safety problem that some people have on campus. The reason I think customers will enjoy this product because it would be a good sight to see on campus. It would look beautiful on campus, and also would make the University of Florida a safer campus.

• People would not be switching to this product, They would be agreeing with me that something needs to be done to speed up traffic and increase safety on the campus.
• There are no competitors in this because it is more of a campus project then a product.
• Prices have an impact on my business product because we have to map out the blueprint and prices of a bridge or tunnel. We also have to figure out the time period we could do construction during.
• We would need to hire employees to do the construction of these projects.

Three Minor Elements:

1.Most Important Resource: My most important resource is my friends dad who is a big time architect in Miami. I will be in contact with him on the construction aspect and starting the construction. We will make layouts of all of the blueprint and get a price laid out.    

2.What’s Next: My next plan is to come in contact with the person at UF who would be able to help me go through with my plan. Obviously I don’t plan on paying for this, my goal is to get the University of Florida transportation to look more into it.

3.In 5 years: In 5 years I wish to not be involved in this situation, my goal is to just start us this as a start up and pass it on to campus officials to go through with it. I want to raise awareness of this situation and get people around campus to agree with me that something has to be done.