Week 8 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

I thought it was really interesting that they chose to discuss the importance of evaluating venture capitalists for a proper selection. It was interesting to see them noting the levels of the Factors in Venture Capitalists’ Evaluation Process.

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

I was confused on the whole business angels portion of the reading. I wasn’t too sure why there were both advantages and disadvantages to it. There seems to be more advantage than disadvantages.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

Why did there seem to be more advantages than disadvantages of the business angels? The percentages of Frequently Rated Essential in New-Ventures are based off of what?

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

I disagree on some of the ratios, such as the typical deal sizes and the expected return percentages. I would like to know where those ratios came from.

Half-way Reflection

1) Tenaciousness is a skill. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course?

In order to keep up with the requirements, sign onto eLearning at least once a day to see when your next assignments are due. Also, you must look at the assignments and its requirements. If you need to record, you must find time in the week to do the recordings. It is better to plan your week ahead of time than letting the assignments catch up to you.

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?

I felt like giving up after the 3^rd or 4^th recording because I truly just did not have time in my schedule to walk around Turlington and find people to interview. The thought of failing a simple assignment because I couldn’t find time to record really bothered me. This class is what you make of it.

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' ?

This class is what you make of it. This means that if you actually put in the effort to do the assignments and meet the requirements, you will definitely pass this class. Although it is a lot of busy work, it’s manageable if you keep an open mindset. If you go in thinking that there’s no way for you to complete the assignments, then there is no way you will be able to pass this class. Also, when you do the recordings, make sure you add them into your post to get credits. Also, keep in mind that it could be a lot worse than you have it right now. I find it better to do hands-on assignments than to have quizzes and exams every couple weeks.

The Twenty Percent

1) Find a business owner and talk to them about their customers. Who do they think their target customers are? Where do they find their customers? What are their customer's demographics? What kinds of media do their customers consume? Etc.

The business owner that I talked to was Kayla. She sells her own jewelry through an online site called “Etsy”. Her target customers are online and the customers usually go to her site by the word-of-mouth. She usually posts her website and new jewelry pictures on Facebook for all her friends to see and buy. If the customer has problems, they usually send her a message through her online website and it sends the complaints straight to her email.

2) Ask 'target customers': What are their customers' problems? What are customers currently doing to fix their problems? How big, on a scale of 1-10, is this problem in their customers' lives? What are some of the bigger problems their customers are dealing with? Do their customers have a budget allocated to fix this problem?

(Sorry for shaky camera work)

3) Reflect.

Although the entrepreneur did not want to be filmed, I did find out that she does get frequent complaints through her email. However, I quickly found out that she does reply to those emails and does whatever she can to accommodate the issues that people face. The complaints that she usually gets are included in the customer interviews.

Week 7 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations?

The biggest surprise for me was how one’s beliefs are ingrained into even the smallest decision making choices, such as buying a razor. (As noted in the reading.)

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

I was confused on why social status and self-image is considered a middle-of-the-spectrum decision.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

Does the degree of decision importance (shallow, middle-of-the-spectrum, or deep) change over time and in different cultures? How are you able to generalize what the population denotes as a “shallow decision” when it could be a crucial decision for many others? I am curious of how they formed the chart and how reliable it is.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

I disagree with the chart that the reading provided that is titled, “What is at stake?”. I personally do not believe that deciding on a place to live is more important than visiting a clinic in regards to a medical condition. I think that fixing the medical condition would be more in need of attention than picking the perfect place to live.

Free Money

1. Where will you go?

I went to a residence hall where most people tend to be located at night.

2. What kind of people will you approach?

I approached the RA (Resident Assistants) on each floor who weren’t expecting me to walk towards them.

3. What will you say to get the conversation started?

I walked up to them and asked if they were the RAs on the floor.

4. What is your plan for the conversation?

I walked up to people who were in the commons area to see if they are the RAs. If they were, I told them that they were appreciated for being a resident assistant in the dorm and asked if they would accept my dollar of appreciation.

5. Out of five attempts, how many dollar bills do you think you will be able to give away?

I thought I'd be able to give away at least 3 dollars and I was able to give away all 5 dollars.

6. Second, be sure you record these encounters. Feature at least 2 recordings.

Here are two of my customers who gave a very positive response:

7. What are your reflections on this exercise? Was giving away a dollar easier or harder than you imagined? Were your predictions correct or incorrect? If they were incorrect, why? What assumptions did you make about the people you planned to talk to, which were wrong?

I realized that complimenting people on their rarely recognized/ appreciated performance helps put people in a better mood. Giving them money also made all of the customers smile. Giving away a dollar was much easier than I imagined because many people weren’t opposed to accepting free money. I assumed that people would be super cautious and hesitant on accepting money from a stranger unexpectedly.  

Elevator Pitch No. 2

1) The pitch. Same as last time.

2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch.

Many people told me that it would be better if I wore business attire and I decided to change into business attire for this video. My last pitch was lengthy so I kept it short and simple this time, as requested. I was also told to make less pauses and have the pitch flow better.

3) What did you change, based on the feedback?

I wore business attire this time. I kept my pitch short and simple this time. I did not pause for long periods of time.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations?

I thought that the profitability chart in the reading was really interesting. I had no idea that security brokers and dealers where considered a more profitable industry than the soft drink company.

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

I was really confused because all throughout the excerpt, it kept mentioning the five forces that determine the long-run profitability of any industry. However, I was not able to locate a list of the five forces in the reading.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

Why didn’t you provide a clear list of the five forces? It would be very helpful in having people follow along in the reading. Why were there thirteen subject terms listed in the beginning reading, but only five forces that were important enough to mention in the reading? It didn’t make any sense to me.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

I didn’t think that there was anything wrong with the reading because the author seemed to have sufficient charts and graphs to support the comments.

Customer Interviews No. 3

1) Describe your interviewing strategy.

The interviewing strategy we were told to approach comes from John Mullins, a business/strategy expert at the London Business School. I wrote a short description on what my business entails on an index card/booklet and asked for the customer’s reactions. The paragraph written on the card is read to you by the first customer I interviewed. I asked a range of people in fraternities and sororities because that’s the audience that “GreekGarden” aims at. “GreekGarden” helps provide healthier meals throughout the week. It is a catering service, once a week on Mondays, where fresh, organic fruits and vegetables would be delivered to fraternities and sororities. In this one day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner will contain only freshly cooked meals. “GreekGarden” gradually incorporates healthier food options everyday into Greek life on campus.

2) Conduct the interviews. As always, 5 interviews, video recorded.

3) Reflect on what you learned. What did you learn from the interviews? What surprised you the most? What do you expect to change as an outcome of these interviews?

I found it very surprising to know that it would be hard to implement because the sorority Housing Corps. controls a strict ordering schedule. I didn’t know that existed from this side of interviewing. However, a lot of sorority sisters thought that it would be a great idea to implement if I could start out small in one sorority house and gradually work my way up to other houses.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. 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 Cindy and I am actively involved with my sorority on campus. Being in a sorority helped me identify potential opportunities that was brought to my attention. One of which is the lack of healthy food options available to sororities and fraternities. Although there may be a salad bar or vegetables, many of them are not fresh/ organic. Therefore, I came up with “GreekGarden” which is a catering service for Greek life on campus. It would definitely help fix unmet needs in my own sorority as well as others.

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs).

Aimed at sorority/ fraternity meal plans, “GreekGarden” helps provide healthier meals throughout the week. It is a catering service, once a week on Mondays, where fresh, organic fruits and vegetables would be delivered to fraternities and sororities. In this one day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner will contain only freshly cooked meals. Since Monday is usually set off for “chapter” (meetings) in many sororities, many girls have to dress up for these meetings. I thought that if they had to dress up nicely for dinner, the food itself should be highly authentic. Therefore, it would be a great day to make the majority of Greek life on campus happy by bringing fresh fruits and vegetables to the table. I am only starting off with one day a week, because many people that I interviewed loved the food as is. Starting off with one day and gradually incorporating healthier food options everyday into Greek life on campus, is my goal.

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

I am offering this service for those in sororities and fraternities on campus because my catering service is aimed specifically at Greek life.

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.

They care about my service because it is a common unmet need. People constantly want to eat healthier and live a healthier lifestyle. My service helps to kick start that aspiration. What you eat affects you in the long run, and eating healthier is always a great option.

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has?

“GreekGarden” aims to help the sororities and fraternities on campus recognize the benefits of eating healthy. There is no meal catering service in Greek life, here on campus, which I have heard of yet. This is what sets us apart.

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 that the elements written fit together. “GreekGarden” aims to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to sororities and fraternities, contributing to a healthier lifestyle in the long run. Majority of Greek life find that lack of healthier food options in sororities and fraternities is an unmet need. I do not notice any out-of-joint concepts.

Week 5 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? I found it surprising that there was actually a formula for profitability and liquidity. I liked how the equations were neatly written and you could see what was being multiplied with what.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. I was confused when the book stated that assuming debt too early lead to new venture fails. If you know that there is going to be debt, shouldn’t it be inevitable that there is going to be a flaw in your business anyways.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

What exactly constitutes over-reliance on one customer? Is there a line that one shouldn’t cross? Should I know what the small profit ventures are as well as the high profit ventures are?

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?  I disagree that they said that product design leads to failure. I think that this can lead to new innovations. 

Interviewing Customers No. 2

1) Find an opportunity. The opportunity I chose to investigate was the quality of the foods in sororities/ fraternities.

Afterthoughts: The opportunity I chose to investigate stayed the same as previously.

2) Figure out who might have the unmet need. The people who would have a say in the quality of food served by sororities and fraternities would be the sorority sisters and fraternity brothers themselves. I went and interviewed girls who were in sororities, as well as guys who were in fraternities.

Afterthoughts: I interviewed the right people last time however I think that I could have intervened the chef of the sororities instead. Therefore, this time I went ahead and interviewed the chefs of a couple sororities as well.

3) Come up with a list of questions. The general questions I would ask each person varied according to their responses, but for each interview, I stuck with the same general questions.

a) What sorority/ fraternity are you in?

b) Tell me a little bit about the quality of food in your sorority/ fraternity. Healthy? Unhealthy? What are the options?

c) Do you usually go to the sorority/ fraternity for lunch and dinner? If not, do you grab a late plate?

d) Do you have any foods that you wish were in your sorority/ fraternity?

e) During the weekends, when there are no meals, how do you get food? UF meal plan?

f) Would you say eating in a sorority/ fraternity is good or a bad idea?

 Afterthoughts: I made a change in the questions for the cooks in the sororities.

a) What sorority/ fraternity are you cooking for?

b) Tell me a little bit about the meals each week, is it always the healthy options? What are some examples of meals that you cook the sorority sisters?

c) Are the meals always freshly cooked from scratch? Is it canned foods?

d) Are there a variety of options for fruits and vegetables?

4) Go talk to customers! I interviewed 5 different people who are in either sororities or fraternities. They did not want to be filmed due to some honest comments on the foods, and I respected that.

a) Shonglee- Chi Omega sorority sister

a) What sorority/ fraternity are you in? Chi Omega

b) Tell me a little bit about the quality of food in your sorority/ fraternity. Healthy? Unhealthy? What are the options? It is health for the most part, wish I could be healthier.

c) Do you usually go to the sorority/ fraternity for lunch and dinner? If not, do you grab a late plate? Yea, for what I pay I grab a late plate. Sometimes I don’t wake up on time.

d) Do you have any foods that you wish were in your sorority/ fraternity? Fresher vegies.

e) During the weekends, when there are no meals, how do you get food? UF meal plan? I go to Publix to get my own food.

f) Would you say eating in a sorority/ fraternity is good or a bad idea? A great idea because it reminds me to eat.

b) Sonnie- Chi Omega sorority chef

a) What sorority/ fraternity are you cooking for? Chi Omega

b) Tell me a little bit about the meals each week, is it always the healthy options? What are some examples of meals that you cook the sorority sisters? I cook potato casserole, green beans, poppy seed salad, and grasshopper pie

c) Are the meals always freshly cooked from scratch? Is it canned foods? I cook most all meals from scratch. Fresh chicken mostly.

d) Are there a variety of options for fruits and vegetables? Yes, we usually have broccoli, and a fruit bowl available.

c) Patrick- Kappa Sigma fraternity brother

a) What sorority/ fraternity are you in? Kappa nu

b) Tell me a little bit about the quality of food in your sorority/ fraternity. Healthy? Unhealthy? What are the options? It is really unhealthy. I wish that there could be healthier foods.

c) Do you usually go to the sorority/ fraternity for lunch and dinner? If not, do you grab a late plate? I don’t have a house on campus, so I get my late plates.

d) Do you have any foods that you wish were in your sorority/ fraternity? I wish there was more fish.

e) During the weekends, when there are no meals, how do you get food? UF meal plan? I go out to Subway to eat.

f) Would you say eating in a sorority/ fraternity is good or a bad idea? It’s a good idea to get all the meals in for the day.

d) Tanner- Theta Delta fraternity brother

a) What sorority/ fraternity are you in? Theta Delta

b) Tell me a little bit about the quality of food in your sorority/ fraternity. Healthy? Unhealthy? What are the options? It is okay, not too healthy.

c) Do you usually go to the sorority/ fraternity for lunch and dinner? If not, do you grab a late plate? I eat whenever I can.

d) Do you have any foods that you wish were in your sorority/ fraternity? I wish there was more of a variety of fish.

e) During the weekends, when there are no meals, how do you get food? UF meal plan? I go out to eat at restaurants.

f) Would you say eating in a sorority/ fraternity is good or a bad idea? I don’t think it’s a great idea, because I pay too much.

e) Felicia – Tri Delta sorority sister

a) What sorority/ fraternity are you in? Tri Delta

b) Tell me a little bit about the quality of food in your sorority/ fraternity. Healthy? Unhealthy? What are the options? I don’t have a meal plan in the sorority on campus.

c) Do you usually go to the sorority/ fraternity for lunch and dinner? If not, do you grab a late plate? I am inactive in the sorority.  

d) Do you have any foods that you wish were in your sorority/ fraternity? I do remember wanting more fruits that were fresh.

e) During the weekends, when there are no meals, how do you get food? UF meal plan? I buy gfood from Walmart on the weekend.

f) Would you say eating in a sorority/ fraternity is good or a bad idea? I think it’s a great idea, I am just inactive this semester.

5) Tell us what you learned about the opportunity. After the interviews I feel that the opportunity is a great one to fix/ implement. It is definitely a rising issue among Greek life on campus. The quality of food can be increased.

Afterthoughts: This stayed the same after the seconds round of interviews. The quality of foods could be fixed, and there is still and unanimous approval of healthier foods.

6) Tell us what you learned about interviewing customers. I learned that finding people for a taped interview isn’t always easy. The first step is finding the potential audience and having them agree to an interview with you. The next is to have them know that you are taping them, and they might not always consent to it. I learned that the quality of Greek life food is a preferred option over UF Gator Dining. They all believed that paying for Greek life food is worth their money. Although healthier options of foods are favored, they food currently served isn’t widely opposed.

Afterthoughts: I think that still all applies. I recommend finding people who would want to be interviewed. I recommend, not being nervous. I recommend being calm and collected.

Elevator Pitch No. 1

The opportunity I chose to act on was the need to efficiently find scooter parking. I chose to implement a new app called “ScootSafe”. This app works in conjunction with a sensor that would be put in front of a scooter zone. Every time that the scooter would occupy a spot, the sensor would tell the app that the spot is taken. This way, no one would have to drive around in circles and find a scooter parking spot. Additionally, this would eliminate the traffic that would occur when students on scooters block the road, waiting for someone to drive out of a spot. I thought that this would be most effective in helping people get to where they need to be on time.