23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

Resources of my venture:

1. Employees

a. Valuable: very valuable to get the business going

b. Rare: Depending on where you are located (cities/college towns it’s probably easier). Can be rare at the beginning of the start-up to have many employees

c. Inimitable: Anyone can find employees, but they might not be good ones

d. Non-substitutable: No, you need employees to start a business

2. Funding

a. Valuable: Very important for a start-up

b. Rare: not too rare; depends on your idea/who you are

c. Inimitable: You can’t really copy funding, but anyone can copy the amount of funding I guess

d. Non-substitutable: No not really. Money is money so if you don’t have it there’s not really any other options

3. Customer loyalty

a. Valuable: very valuable

b. Rare: Rare but once you have it not too hard to keep. Usually builds itself

c. Inimitable: Not inimitable, but anyone can have it with time.

d. Non-substitutable: No!

4. Equipment

a. Valuable: valuable in making the product

b. Rare: not rare, most people have computers

c. Inimitable: Most people have computers, but do they have the correct ones to program apps?

d. Non-substitutable: yes, there are other resources

5. insurance

a. Valuable: very import

b. Rare: not rare

c. Inimitable: not hard

d. Non-substitutable: essential to have business insurance

6. Good Management

a. Valuable: important for employees and businesses

b. Rare: not too rare, but very nice to have

c. Inimitable: not hard if you know the right person

d. Non-substitutable: yes, human resources. The more people you know the better chance of finding someone to be a good manager.

7. Educational resource

a. Valuable: it is essential to know your industry

b. Rare: rare to find people that are professionals in it and willing to work/help you.

c. Inimitable: Hard to find people with the necessary skills/knowledge

d. Non-substitutable: Anyone can technically go to school/college to learn the necessary educational resources.

8. Organizational culture

a. Valuable: very valuable

b. Rare: not too rare but definitely very good to have in order to succeed

c. Inimitable: Unique for every company

d. Non-substitutable: No, you must create this on your own

9. partnerships

a. How Valuable: very valuable

b. How Rare: rare and hard to form

c. Inimitable: all about relationships with others and personal skills

d. Non-substitutable: yes, many partnerships available but still hard to actually get

10. Little Competition

a. Valuable: Extremely

b. Rare: very rare

c. Inimitable: It isn’t. Very hard to get. Most businesses have competition as competition is in nearly every industry

d. Non-substitutable: Anyone can technically make an industry that is new without competition, but it is very difficult to find/make.

My most important resource is the competition. A businesses hardest task is convincing the public to switch to their business from another. Lucky for me, there is nothing currently available that is similar to this, thus I will not have other competition, making it my “unfair advantage”.

22A – Elevator Pitch No. 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fQS2BAY5Y8&feature=youtu.be

On my last elevator pitch, I received mostly positive feedback and some negative feedback as well. It seemed pretty consistent that my peers really like my attention getter. They also mentioned how I was very descriptive which allowed them to paint a mental picture of my solution/problem in their head. The negative feedback was that I should just choose one solution and hone in on that one. I also need a better, less abrupt ending.

I tried to do all the positive things that I did in my last class and I tried to incorporate some of the other things that my peer said I could improve upon, such as choosing one solution to hone in on rather than multiple. I also tried to add a better, less abrupt ending.

21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

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

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

This book tries to allow you to think of life in a new perspective. It gives many life lessons that allow you to grow as a person, and ultimately as an entrepreneur. Some lessons taught from this book include do creative work first, the most important form of selfishness, changing your mind, don’t read the news for the truth, fake it till you make it, systems trump goals, and more. Overall, this books meaning is told in its title. Success comes from failure.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

Both this book and ENT 3003 teach basic but general skills on how to be an entrepreneur. Both focus more on basic personal skills rather than actually becoming and entrepreneur, so they both go hand in hand. In ENT, we learn basic skills such as how to identify the market, how to connect with the market, and how to identify opportunities. The book, however, focuses primarily on yourself and your outlook on life. With the combination of the lessons taught from this book, as well as the lessons taught from ENT 3003, someone could have a very strong basis for one day becoming a very successful entrepreneur.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

Something that Scott Adams hones in upon is the idea that systems beat goals. He mentions how goals have two problems: they are in the future and they’re specific. Systems, however, leave room to adjust your plans and make timing irrelevant. For this assignment, I would have every student write up three systems to help with their new startup/company/product.

Another one of the key takeaways from this is the lesson of changing your mind. Adams mentions how the ability to change your mind is probably one of the best life skills you can ever hope to develop. For an assignment, I would ask to hear about something you were set on and then changed your mind completely and why. Give two examples.

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 craziest moment of the book for me is when he completely redefines the connotation of being selfish. We’re taught that being selfish is bad, but it all depends on how you look at it. Being selfish can be good. Adams mentions how “the most important form of selfishness involves spending time on your fitness, eating right, pursuing your career, and still spending quality time with your family and friends.” You can’t be generous to others if you’re not in a good place. Adams argues that once your needs are met, you can focus on the needs of others. I have always been taught that being selfish is a bad thing, but when looking at it from this viewpoint, it is not bad at all, but in fact good.

20A – Growing Your Social Capital

1.     Mark Zuckerberg: An American computer programmer, internet entrepreneur and philanthropist. Zuckerberg is known for co-founding and leading Facebook (a social networking site). He is currently Facebooks namesake social networking website as its chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling shareholder.

2.     Domain expert – Zuckerberg is one of the most successful and famous computer programmers and designed probably the most well-known app to date.

3.     Pretty much everyone knows who Mark Zuckerberg is. If you don’t you most likely live under a rock. I searched on google for his email and it came up. I verified on many sources that this was the correct email. (zuck@facebook.com)

4.     He has not yet responded – shocking! If he hopefully does respond, I can gain some extremely insightful knowledge about designing a successful app, especially at such a young age similar to Zuckerberg. I also asked for advice at doing something like this at such a young age.

5.     Having Zuckerberg as part of my social network can change my life so much. He is an EXTREMELY powerful man that can take my app to unforeseen levels. He literally can turn anything into a money-making tool.

1.     Travis Kalanick: An American billionaire businessman. He is the co-founder of Scour, a peer-to-peer file sharing application; Red Swoosh, a peer-to-peer content delivery network; and Uber, a transportation network company. Most recently he has created Uber Eats which is what I am focusing on now.

2.     Market expert – he is extremely experienced with the market of people who want to get food in a fast and convenient way (Uber eats).

3.     I am very familiar with Uber Eats as it is extremely popular for college students. I just google searched CEO/founder of Uber Eats and his email address (Travis@10100fund.com).

4.     Kalanick has not yet responded to my email. I asked for advice for the market of people who want fast and convenient food. We would be looking at pretty identical markets for my product and Uber Eats so he can be a very valuable resource and mentor.

5.     Yes. I am thinking that in the long run, we would be able to combine my app with Uber Eats. I think having a combination of these could become very successful. Having him aboard my team would make this merge much easier!

1.     Brian Niccol – CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill (aka my favorite. Advice: get a burrito bowl with a tortilla on the side – same price, twice as much food)

2.     Supplier – when creating my app, I was inspired by Chipotle as the lines are sp irregular. Sometimes the line is supper long, sometimes there is no line and you can never predict how it will be.

3.     I just searched up CEO of Chipotle and his email address (bniccol@chipotle.com)

4.     My return expectation from this is to see of restaurants such as Chipotle would be willing to take part and join this app. I believe it can help their businesses grow so I hope they join. If Chipotle would want to take part, I think most restaurants would.

5.     Ultimately, Chipotle is just one of hundreds of restaurants I would like to partner with. This would just be a very good first step to the entire process.

Reflection: Networking is not something I am used to or have experience with. My first experience with networking ever was this semesters career showcase at UF and I had no idea what I was doing. This assignment definitely helped with my networking skills and I feel more comfortable with profession emails as well. I am glad to have had this experience for when I am searching for jobs in the future!

19A - Idea Napkin No. 2

1.     My name is Aaron and I am a freshman business major from Potomac, Maryland. I am extremely passionate in helping others and I strive to live my life being as selfless as possible. I also consider myself a hard-working, driven and ambitious individual. I believe I am very creative and innovative and one day hope to make a difference in the world. I am a huge food fanatic and my biggest hate in life is waiting in line, thus where my business idea was born. If I were to actually start a business, I would see it having a large role in my life. I do everything with 100% of what I have in me and me never half-ass anything. Therefore, I would give it my all.

2.     I am offering a product/app that will solve everyone’s favorite and least favorite things in life: food and lines! As humans we are extremely busy every day. Eating is a must to live, however most of us just want it to be a quick and easy activity especially during our busy weeks. Every day we walk and drive to restaurants only to find there is an hour-long wait. What now? We then either miss our plans for later that day since were waiting in line for hours or we are forced to skip a meal so we can get on with our lives. Either way doesn’t seem like a win to me With the New app “No wait”, all restaurants will have access to post the current wait time at their respected restaurant. These will be updated every 30 minutes, so people know the current wait times of that restaurant. It will be a $2 per month subscription fee for users which in the long run will save you money since time is money and with the amount of time you will be saving by using this app, you will be a millionaire in no time!

3.     My customers could be literally anyone. Nearly all people go out to eat at some point and I can guarantee no one genuinely enjoys standing in lines. Although this app is meant for anyone, it is specific for those who are food fanatics but also hate lines. People with less patience would enjoy this app most.

4.     It is as simple as time is money. People would much rather pay a few dollars a month rather than spending hours in lines every month. People could spend more time at work, with family, and with friends which ultimately could help save money in the long run.

5.     I strive for success and I believe I care about others more than most business owners. I truly want the best for my customers, and I am not just worried about how much money I am making. In regard to core competencies, I will need to learn how to code ASAP and honesty practice a lot, so I become good at it. I should also practice making different apps to perfect my skills.

I believe my 5 elements fit together fairly well, except for my core competencies. That is definitely my weakest concept which needs to be improved upon (this is part of my feedback which I will talk about in my next summary below). My first four concepts go together very well and once I can improve upon my core competencies, I can actually follow through with the first four elements which will hopefully result in success.

I only received one comment on my first idea napkin . Therefore, I did not change too much from my original post. I did however take the one piece of feedback I got to improve my idea napkin. The feedback I got was “If you are serious about this application, I would definitely suggest learning the basics of coding as soon as possible.” I completely agree which is why I added a portion of this I into my core competencies concept, which also happens to be what I believe is my weakest concept.

18A – Create a Customer Avatar

My prototypical customer, Adam, is a sophomore at The University of Florida. Adam currently lives off campus but he is a mechanical engineering major, so he has to be on campus every day for his many classes. He also greatly enjoys studying at Normal Library (he hates lib west and Marston). Adam drives a bright blue Honda Civic because he is big into the environment and likes to drive a fuel-efficient car! He currently is not dating because he Is focused primarily on his studies. In his free time, he enjoys making gains at Southwest recreation and likes going to Grog with friends.

I have a lot in common with my avatar (basing off me next year at college). I will be living off campus and I will be driving my bright blue Honda civic! I am a business student, but I still have many classes to go to everyday. I also love Norman library and hate west and Marston. I pretty much made my prototypical customer about myself as I am the prototypical customer. I will be living off campus so I will be having issues finding parking spots on campus.

17A – Elevator Pitch No. 2

https://youtu.be/Lb9504LEba0

I did not receive any negative feedback on my last elevator pitch. I only had one comment on it and it was all positive feedback! She said my elevator pitch was clear, concise, and convincing; it was very easy to tell why I picked this opportunity. Additionally, I engaged your audience and were very clear about how I planned on bringing your idea to fruition.

I tried to do all the positive things that I did in my last class and I tried to incorporate some of the other things that Professor Pryor mentioned in the video lecture after the last elevator pitch.