30A - Final Reflection

1) Read through your posts from this semester. Recall all of the experiences you've had a long the way -- the highs, the lows -- the fun moments, and the moments of drudgery, and even the moments of dread.
Looking back at this semester, there were plenty of highs and lows in this class. I remember all the times I've felt stressed about conducting interviews and practicing elevator pitches multiple times. I enjoyed reading the books for this class and designing the customer avatar.

2) 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?
The most formative experience for me was doing the elevator pitches. It was one of the most uncomfortable things I've done and in the moment, I dreaded it. However, looking back, I can see my growth and how I've become more comfortable delivering my pitch. The elevator pitches was the assignment where I could see my progress and apply it for future occurrences as well.

3) 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?
Now that I am at the end of the semester, I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm a entrepreneur, but I would say that I have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset. I'm more receptive to failure and especially after reading books that exemplified an entrepreneur mindset, I have started adopting these characteristics as well.

4) 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?

One recommendation I would make to students who are going to journey down this path in the future is to take your business idea seriously but have fun with it. You're going to be working with this one idea for the whole semester so have a genuine interest in it and experiment with the direction you could take it. Who knows, you could actually start it in the future, and if you do, you've already done some of the groundwork.

29A - Venture Concept No.2

Opportunity: As more and more students graduate from high school, they have not learned important life skills to aid them in the "real world." More often than not, when reflecting back to the past, students remember random information from classes that won't help them in their daily lives. As a result, there is an unmet need to be met in terms of learning skills to tackle adult's challenges before they arise. As stated before, the target market is high school seniors.

• As of right now, the school system does not make life skills a priority - instead they are focusing on academic subjects, student organizations, and sports. Thus, students are forced to find these answers for themselves.
• The market is in the U.S. and typically within the public school system.
• Customers now are currently satisfying their need by either Googling it or asking family/friends. The method of satisfying their need is based off preference and varies depending on the degree of difficulty/complexity of their problem. However, they would probably rely on one method as of right now, but this could change when given the opportunity to learn beforehand during senior year of high school.
• This opportunity is widespread and applies to everyone at some point. However, there are some people who don't see this as a prevalent problem and are satisfied with what they are doing now.
• The "window of opportunity" is hard to judge how long it will be open. Most things are automated or through the internet, but this problem will most likely not be resolved until schools take greater steps to implement this into their curriculum or as a part of their responsibilities.

Innovation: The high school program I'm developing would run throughout the school year and address multiple topics such as credit cards/credit score, good financial habits, insurance, taxes, acquiring assets (buying/renting a house, apartment, or a car), stock market, investments, etc. These topics would be taught by experts in the "field" and would be provided to students through a hybrid system where students can choose to have more emphasis of the content either in-person or online. Ideally, the program would be offered to students in partnership with their high school in order to reach students more directly. To make money, either the program could be offered to students at a discounted rate in tandem with the school or by completing the program, students would benefit by not only learning these valuable skills but would also receive an external reward (such as having their college application fees waived/discounted). This would be similar to taking Driver's Ed to reduce your car insurance payment.

Venture Concept: With the high school program, students would have the ability to learn the skills while at school. This allows the program to be directed to the students as opposed to students trying to figure out their problem themselves. By having the program aimed at seniors, this ensures that students are prepared whether they go to college, enter the workforce, or join the military. With the incentives, students (or schools) are motivated to pay for this service.

• Customers would switch to this product if they realized their unmet need and desired to solve it. Some of these customers may not have reliable people around them that they could go to for help so by having the program, their needs are addressed. It wouldn't be that hard for them to switch if schools partnered with my program.
• Other competitors include companies like Khan Academy that have tutorial/informative videos addressing these topics on their website. A possible weakness they have is that it is not that enforced and that they do not have a direct connection to schools (they are more of a 3rd party service).
• Price points: Students themselves don't have that much disposable income and their budgets tend to be lower so having a program that offers students incentives and discounts was essential to reach my target market.
• Distribution: Students' learning styles are different and with the hybrid system, this caters to their different learning habits. In addition, having experts in their "field" teach is important to establish credibility.
• Customer support/experience: Having the program in partnership with schools allows for more direct access to students at a discounted rate to boost engagement and interaction.
• Business Organization: Like any business, there are multiple departments like finance, marketing, HR, operations, etc. Generally, the main departments would be marketing (those who would be making connections with schools and "field" experts), technology (the coders who actually implement the program), operations (those who actually design the program) and management (those who make sure everything is running smoothly).

1. Most Important Resource: From the last assignment, I learned my most important resource was my social capital. My market is extremely accessible to me, and I, too fit my market segment. This allows me to modify my idea fairly quickly, and gain valuable feedback very easily.
2. What's Next for the Venture: Aside from the program being primarily lecture based, the next step would be to make the program more interactive. This could include introducing different scenarios and having students navigate the situation to find the best solution, designing personal plans for the future as well as alternative options, and possibly even a workshop of some sort.
3. What's Next for Me: In five years, I would hope every subsequent class is graduating high school with more certainty, adaptability, and confidence for the real world and that my program was a part of that process. As an entrepreneur, in the next decade, I hope I have learned a lot and continue to keep learning from both the operational standpoint of my own business - while at the same time taking into account other methods successful business professionals are taking. This first venture is the tip of the iceberg and really sets the foundation of developing an entrepreneurial mindset. Throughout this course, I've done the groundwork for my idea and put in the thought behind it.

Summary of Feedback: The feedback I received mainly highlighted how the organization and format of my venture concept was easy to read and understand. In my "What's Next" blog post, there was a lot of positive feedback about how it could be more profitable to target schools instead of students and how making the program more interactive would be beneficial. 

What I changed: Although most of my feedback was positive, I tried to change some areas of my venture concept that could use more clarification and specifics.

28A - Your Exit Strategy

1) My Exit Strategy

My exit strategy mainly depends on how much I enjoy running the business and how profitable the market is in the future. I probably would intend to sell my business in the next 5-10 years for a large return. However, I would definitely leave my business in the right hands.

2) Why I Chose It

I chose this exit strategy because I don't think my window of opportunity will be available for a long time with everything turning digital and there are already a couple competitors in my market already. There are so many other things I want to explore and do in my life so I don't see this business being a long-term career for me.

3) How it Influenced My Decisions

My exit strategy has definitely influenced my growth intentions as to how far I want to take my business, especially in terms of new things I want to add. I didn't put too much thought into my exit strategy when I initially came up with my business idea, but it will influence my future decisions.

27A - Reading Reflection No.3

I read the book "How to Fail at Everything and Still Win Big" by Scott Adams.

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

The main theme of the book was how Scott used his system of doing things to give him more energy ultimately made him more successful. These mainly included putting yourself first, having a system instead of goals, sample jobs in where you feel the most comfortable taking risks, and the difference between deciding vs. wanting. All of these tips shift the traditional mindset of success and give a more real grasp on successful behaviors.

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

Reading this book gave me more insight into how I actually think now and how it can be improved. For most of my life I have been scared of failure and had the belief that to achieve success there were certain things you had to do (working hard all the time, finding something that you're passionate about, making goals, etc). Especially with this class, I am more receptive to failure and have more realistic expectations when it comes to developing my business idea. At the end of the day, failure is a part of the process.

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

Based on the book, I would create an exercise that identifies goals that you have, and how you can transition those goals into systems. In addition, you can identify talents you have and where you feel comfortable taking risks and research potential jobs that fit that description. With these exercises, it would help transition your mindset and behaviors for success.

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?

I had multiple 'aha' moments while reading this book but one of the biggest surprise moments I had was to maximize personal energy. This includes putting yourself first and doing activities that are best for YOU. For example, it can be as simple as eating, sleeping, and exercising. It sounds selfish, but it's the best way to go about things. I found this to be surprising because in our society, we romanticize overworking ourselves. If you're not putting in 10+ hours everyday and barely staying awake, you're doing something wrong. It was refreshing to have another perspective that took a more realistic view. 

26A - Celebrating Failure

1) My Experience with Failure
During this semester I failed in taking the Excel Certification Exam in my Information Systems class. Before the certification, I prepared for the test by doing practice exams multiple times and even running through the same exams with and without help. The day of the exam came and I felt ready. Unfortunately, I forgot my password that would let me access the exam and was kicked out of the room.

I was in shock afterwords and had a breakdown because without that score, it would be impossible for me to make an A in the class. At this point, I'm considering dropping the class or finding a way to take the exam on my own. My parents talked me through it, so I decided to email my teacher to see if I could take it during another class' time. 

To my disappointment, she flat out told me no, but I brushed it off and decided to go to office hours the next day. This time, she would allow me to take the exam for the sake of getting the certification, but I wouldn't receive any credit.

Over spring break I get an email from her giving me some serious heat about being unprepared, but at the end of the day, she would let me take the exam with a 2 point penalty. The day of the retake comes, and I pass!

2) What I Learned
Going through this experience was very humbling. It's rare that I mess up on things like this because I'm usually prepared for everything so it was kind of a shock for me. Even when I thought my teacher would say no, I asked anyway and it ended up working out. The main takeaway from this experience is that if you don't ask, the answer will always be no - so ask! Not only this, but it taught me to double-check myself even when I do think I'm prepared.

3) How I Feel about Failure Now
I would say that failure is bittersweet. Hurts in the moment, but it can teach you a lot. Even looking back at my past failures, they were always learning experiences for me and even when they felt astronomical in the moment, over time they lose their dramatics. 

I'm a perfectionist, so failure has always been a tough pill to swallow, but overtime I'm learning to be more receptive and accepting of failure. Usually, I talk to my friends and family when I fail, allow myself to feel the emotion in the moment, and then try harder the next time. 

This class has definitely opened up my eyes to failure and I feel more comfortable taking a risk now compared to a few months ago. I think just washing away the stigma of failure and taking it a positive way has really spun the meaning for me. At the end of the day, I want to grow as a person and failure is just a part of that process.

25A - What's Next

Existing Market

• What's Next: The next step for my program is to make it more interactive for students by incorporating possible scenarios for them to solve, workshop, and alternative solutions/options for their own future plans. 
• Interviews
• Customer 1
• I talked with one of my close friends and he said that I could add other life skills other than finance that are applicable. He also suggested that I could make it available to juniors as well - not just seniors.
• Customer 2
• I talked with one of my friends and she said that I could add more about the incentives to get students to take the program. Motivation to take the program would really drive my program's success and that students may not recognize the value in the program. Brainstorming other benefits to students could be profitable.
• Customer 3
• I talked with another one of my friends and she said had similar ideas to my other customers as well. She asked about how structured/unstructured the program could be and would it be the same for every student? In this interview, it was more focused on the details of the program and making sure everything worked together smoothly. 

Based off my own expectations and feedback that I have received from customers, there are small little changes I could add to make the program more unique and widespread. However, I think the best course of action is to test out the service on seniors first, evaluate the effectiveness, and if the demand is there, try it out on juniors too. 

Overall, as great as the ideas I received from my "customers" I think it would be beneficial to start small and then work my way outward if an avid interest is expressed.

New Market

• A different market I could target could be schools themselves, similar to a B2B market. 
• To creative value for schools, my program could increase the quality of education for their students by offering them a more well-rounded curriculum. In addition, the implementation of the program can increase their school rating to gain more funding, a goal countless public schools are trying to achieve.
• Interviews
• Interviewee 1
• I talked to one of my friend's mom and she was impressed by my idea. However, she suggested that I tailor the financial part of my business more to appeal to the school system and to make sure that although I have students at the forefront of my idea, to keep in mind how it benefits schools specifically.
• Interviewee 2
• I talked to a mutual friend and he said that although he really likes my idea, that it could be somewhat difficult for schools to get behind my idea because there are similar services out there for free (like Khan Academy). Similarly, he wasn't quite sure how to incorporate it in conjunction with academic subjects - but if I spend some time figuring out the timing of the program and tailoring the time commitment for both students and school faculty - this could be probable.

Reflection: 

Some of my assumptions were correct about this market. I'm surprised that I didn't think to tackle schools first as my market instead of the students themselves. The financial part of the program is probably the largest deciding factor when choosing a market as well the logistics of the program itself.

This market could prove to be even as attractive as the first since students themselves may not be as willing to pay for this service as schools. Schools are interested in what's best for their students, and if I can somehow find a way to make the financial part of it work, this looks like a promising market. 

24A - Venture Concept No.1

Opportunity: As more and more students graduate from high school, they have not learned important life skills to aid them in the "real world." More often than not, when reflecting back to the past, students remember random information from classes that won't help them in their daily lives. As a result, there is an unmet need to be met in terms of learning skills to tackle adult's challenges before they arise. As stated before, the target market is high school seniors.

• As of right now, the school system does not make life skills a priority - instead they are focusing on academic subjects, student organizations, and sports.
• The market is in the U.S. and typically within the public school system.
• Customers now are currently satisfying their need by either Googling it or asking family/friends. The method of satisfying their need is based off preference and varies depending on the degree of difficulty/complexity of their problem. However, they would probably rely on one method as of right now, but this could change when given the opportunity to learn beforehand during senior year of high school.
• This opportunity is widespread and applies to everyone at some point. However, there are some people who don't see this as a prevalent problem and are satisfied with what they are doing now.
• The "window of opportunity" is hard to judge how long it will be open. Most things are automated or through the internet, but this problem will most likely not be resolved until schools take greater steps to implement this into their curriculum or as a part of their responsibilities. 

Innovation: The high school program I'm developing would run throughout the school year and address multiple topics such as credit cards/credit score, good financial habits, insurance, taxes, acquiring assets (buying/renting a house, apartment, or a car), stock market, investments, etc. These topics would be taught by experts in the "field" and would be provided to students through a hybrid system where students can choose to have more emphasis of the content either in-person or online. Ideally, the program would be offered to students in partnership with their high school in order to reach students more directly. To make money, either the program could be offered to students at a discounted rate in tandem with the school or by completing the program, students would benefit by not only learning these valuable skills but would also receive an external reward (such as having their college application fees waived/discounted). This would be similar to taking Driver's Ed to reduce your car insurance payment.

Venture Concept: With the high school program, students would have the ability to learn the skills while at school. This allows the program to be directed to the students as opposed to students trying to figure out their problem themselves. By having the program aimed at seniors, this ensures that students are prepared whether they go to college, enter the workforce, or join the military. With the incentives, students (or schools) are motivated to pay for this service.

• Customers would switch to this product if they realized their unmet need and desired to solve it. Some of these customers may not have reliable people around them that they could go to for help so by having the program, their needs are addressed. It wouldn't be that hard for them to switch if schools partnered with my program.
• Other competitors include companies like Khan Academy that have tutorial/informative videos addressing these topics on their website. A possible weakness they have is that it is not that enforced and that they do not have a direct connection to schools (they are more of a 3rd party service).
• Price points: Students themselves don't have that much disposable income and their budgets tend to be lower so having a program that offers students incentives and discounts was essential to reach my target market.
• Distribution: Students' learning styles are different and with the hybrid system, this caters to their different learning habits. In addition, having experts in their "field" teach was important to establish credibility.
• Customer support/experience: Having the program in partnership with schools allows for more direct access to students at a discounted rate to boost engagement and interaction. 
• Business Organization: Like any business, there are multiple departments like finance, marketing, HR, operations, etc. Generally, the main departments would be marketing (those who would be making connections with schools and "field" experts), technology (the coders who actually implement the program), operations (those who actually design the program) and management (those who make sure everything is running smoothly).

1. Most Important Resource: From the last assignment, I learned my most important resource was my social capital. My market is extremely accessible to me, and I, too fit my market segment. This allows me to modify my idea fairly quickly, and gain valuable feedback very easily.
2. What's Next for the Venture: Aside from the program being primarily lecture based, the next step would be to make the program more interactive. This could include introducing different scenarios and having students navigate the situation to find the best solution, designing personal plans for the future as well as alternative options, and possibly even a workshop of some sort.
3. What's Next for Me: In five years, I would hope every subsequent class is graduating high school with more certainty, adaptability, and confidence for the real world and that my program was a part of that process. As an entrepreneur, in the next decade, I hope I have learned a lot and continue to keep learning from both the operational standpoint of my own business - while at the same time taking into account other methods successful business professionals are taking. This first venture is the tip of the iceberg and really sets the foundation of developing an entrepreneurial mindset. Throughout this course, I've done the groundwork for my idea and put in the thought behind it.