30

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 was interviewing my close friends and the people that I worked close with to find out how I am different from their points of view. I found out that one of my greatest strengths is simply being organized in doing my work, and that I always reach deadlines, and I am never late to meetings. I am most proud of taking a leap of faith and being able to talk to and have meaningful conversations with strangers for the class.

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?

I don't see myself as an entrepreneur per-say, but I do think that I have developed more entrepreneurial skills after taking the class. For example, I have learned to look for opportunities in my everyday life.

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 for future students would be to have an open mindset and a growth mindset. Don't treat the assignments as pure homework, but have fun with the assignments as you talk to people around you.

Venture Capital 2

Opportunity:

In the Electronic Dance Music scene, there is a problem where attendees of music festivals do not know what kinds of drugs that they are ingesting. Besides the fact that some people actually ingest the drugs that they know they are ingesting, for example, MDMA is a common drug that people like to use during festivals, and is the drug of choice for a lot of people. The problem with this is oftentimes, MDMA is mixed with other drugs such as methamphetamine as a way of cutting the drugs to profit the dealer more that can pose harm to users.

I think the window of opportunity for this need is constantly open as long as there is no competitor and as long as the drug scene is ongoing. I don’t think the drug scene is going to disappear anytime soon, so the window of opportunity is probably very large. The market is geared towards those who are in their early 20’s around the United States.

Innovation:

I want to innovate by creating a service that could test these types of drugs at music festivals without any repercussions. The service would have booths throughout the festival with drug test kits tested by professionally trained testers. Drugs that contain pure MDMA, LSD, etc. would be given back to attendees, but drugs who pose a large risk that festival goers should not take under any circumstance will just be destroyed.

The potential customers would be festival attendees and the nature of the need is that everyone who ingests drugs put themselves at risk. This service will just reduce that risk.

How this work and how I would profit would be to form a contract with music festival organizers, and would just charge the organizers on each person that tests their drugs. There could be a system that scan the bands of each attendee who tests the drugs and each scan can charge say around $10 for each person who tests the drugs. The cost of the service could be included in the cost of the admissions ticket for the festival. There could be a lot of marketing on the website of the festival and signs throughout the festival to encourage people to use the service.



Venture Concept:

This venture concept will solve the opportunity that I identified because it is a way to keep people safe from the drugs that do cause a lot of harm to attendees. I don’t think there is any switching into this service because there just aren’t any competitors in the North American market with this new product, so that is something that is not to worry about. There would be some logistical concepts such as traveling with each festival. For example, Insomniac organizes music festivals throughout the entire United States, so my service will have to travel throughout to catch every festival, and the drug test kits will have to be shipped throughout the United States, but I don’t believe that that is very hard to do. The amount of employees would not be very large, so my variable costs in terms of wages will be pretty low.

However, the very risk of this business is the legal environment in which this business runs. Since this business is dealing with illicit drugs that are illegal, the business could be at risk of not being able to obtain a permit of some sort to run even if it saves lives. In addition, the statuses of drugs are constantly changing in terms of legality, so this business would be somewhat volatile.

In addition, I could expand this service to even greater than just EDM concerts, but rap and country concerts could be a large market. Especially, because rap is very popular.


Three minor elements:

My most important resource will be that I have connections in the music industry that could get me in touch with music festival organizers. I think this is the most important aspect of my social capital because without getting in touch with these organizers to pitch my idea, my service will never be able to take off. I also have great interpersonal skills that can allow me to pitch ideas to executives successfully.

The next opportunity that I want to tackle with my current innovation is a way to separate the bad parts of a drug from the parts that is desirable. For example, if there is a way to separate the compounds of methamphetamine from MDMA, then I would capitalize on that opportunity.

Assuming this would launch, I would just watch this venture come to fruition and grow it from Insomniac, a music festival organizer, to other large festival organizers. I would travel the world to see my idea come to fruition and see the lives I have saved for this service.


2) My feedback is overwhelmingly positive in this concept because I was able to identify extra markets for this service such as rap and concert music festivals. I don't have to just stick with the Electronic Music market. In addition, it came to my attention that my service has a risk of not being able to run because of legal issues with the prevalence of drugs.

3) I changed the venture concept so that I could take into account the legal aspect of the service, and I would encourage expanding to other markets such as other music genres of festivals.

28A - Your Exit Strategy

1. I intend to sell the business in the next 5 years.

2.  I want to sell the business because the business is very risky with the constant changing legal environment. Since it is dealing with a lot of illegal drugs, many may find it to be harmful, and the music industry is also constantly changing through the years that I think would be better to sell my business.

3. My exit strategy influenced the other decisions because I have never thought about the long-term goals of this business. All my decisions seem to be short-term, and so the long-term growth of the business could be held back.

27A: Reading Reflection 3

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

The general theme of How to fail at almost everything and still win big is to teach readers that failure is okay, and that many people who eventually succeed have failed many times in their lives. Failure is a very common occurrence, and as long as one is able to bounce back from their failures and setbacks, then they can get somewhere in life eventually. People should not set goals, but rather systems, so that they can adjust to whatever happens in lives, because life is very dynamic and sometimes things would not work out the way one wants it to work.

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


This book enhances what we are learning in ENT 3003 because Pryor really emphasizes that successful people have often failed in the past. Those who are motivated are undeterred by failure, and would keep going and bounce back from setbacks to get where they want to go. Young people often rush to get successful, but success does not come for everyone very easily.


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


I would design an exercise that is just like a system mentioned in this book. The exercise would be dynamic and have changing parts that would set the person in the exercise back in ways that would be unpredictable so the person could learn to adjust to changes in their environment and be adaptable. The exercise may even end in a different way that the person would have thought.


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?
What differed from my expectations the most is the fact that the book looks down upon goal-setting when goal setting is something that a lot of people do to make sure that they are on track towards the path of success. Goal-setting has always been a big deal to me and something that I have always implemented in my life, but I think with my mentality, I can follow the advice of this book and make changes.

26A: Celebrating Failure

This past semester, I have failed many times. I have attempted to obtain an internship for the summer of 2020 through Career Showcase and emailing a lot of recruiters and just networking in general. I received many interview offers from firms, but even though I prepped a lot for these interviews, I tend to always fall short of the job offer, unfortunately. One particular position that I wanted to take was a position in Virginia with Capital One, and after failing their interviews even though I took two days of my time to attend their interviews at the office, I felt very sad and defeated. However, I learned a lot through those interviews such as how professional interviews worked and what interviewers look for in interviewees.

I agree that failure is hard, and that when one fails, they will always learn from their mistakes or else it was just a waste of time. I handle failure by grieving about the fact for about a couple days before I bounce back and analyze my mistakes or weaknesses. I don't think that this class has changed my perspective on failure, but rather my life experience did.

25A

What I think is next:

                I think what I would consider moving forward with the service would be to expand the service into other avenues of music festivals. This product is currently focused on the electronic dance music scene while there are so many other types of music festivals out there such as Bonnaroo and even arts and music festivals. With all the other types of music festivals, there are opportunities for other demographics.

New Market interviews:

1.       Interview with a rock concert fan named Aidan: Aidan have seen people on drugs at rock concerts, and believes that there is a market for this service. The service could be downscaled because rock concerts are smaller in nature, but he believes that it could be used.

2.       Interview with a rap concert enthusiast named Simon: Simon believes that a lot of drugs are consumed especially at Rolling Loud where anything goes. This would ensure the safety of its attendees.

Reflection:

I was so focused on developing this service for my own music tastes that I forgot that there are many other different music tastes that also have the same problem at their live events. Even though rap, rock, and other miscellaneous musical acts have a considerably smaller number of people who use drugs, the service could be down-scaled to reduce costs, but also have a presence at these events. 

My interviews with these individuals really broadened my perspectives with other musical tastes and types because I did not know that they would also have the same issues, and so this new market would open a large amount of consumers for this service.

Existing Market:

I think that at times, people are distrustful of other people when it comes to handling drugs, so there could be an incentive in getting their drugs tested such as a free piece of food item or snack when they bring their drugs to the booths to entice people to utilize the service.

Existing Market Interviews:

1.       Interview with Aidan: Aidan stated that the food item would not be enough for people to trust other people when it comes to handling drugs.

2.       Interview with Jenny: Jenny said she would not trust other people to handle her drugs just because she could get free food for the risk of getting arrested or some sort of punishment.

3.       Interview with Kaden: Kaden would use the service for its safety, but not just because he would get a food item as an incentive.

Reflection: There is a consensus that people would not approach the booths just because they would get free food, but they would approach it to get their drugs tested for free instead. I think the new idea would fail, but there is always that intrinsic willingness to get their drugs tested.

24A: Venture Capital No. 1

Opportunity:

In the Electronic Dance Music scene, there is a problem where attendees of music festivals do not know what kinds of drugs that they are ingesting. Besides the fact that some people actually ingest the drugs that they know they are ingesting, for example, MDMA is a common drug that people like to use during festivals, and is the drug of choice for a lot of people. The problem with this is oftentimes, MDMA is mixed with other drugs such as methamphetamine as a way of cutting the drugs to profit the dealer more that can pose harm to users.

I think the window of opportunity for this need is constantly open as long as there is no competitor and as long as the drug scene is ongoing. I don’t think the drug scene is going to disappear anytime soon, so the window of opportunity is probably very large. The market is geared towards those who are in their early 20’s around the United States.

Innovation:

I want to innovate by creating a service that could test these types of drugs at music festivals without any repercussions. The service would have booths throughout the festival with drug test kits tested by professionally trained testers. Drugs that contain pure MDMA, LSD, etc. would be given back to attendees, but drugs who pose a large risk that festival goers should not take under any circumstance will just be destroyed.

The potential customers would be festival attendees and the nature of the need is that everyone who ingests drugs put themselves at risk. This service will just reduce that risk.

How this work and how I would profit would be to form a contract with music festival organizers, and would just charge the organizers on each person that tests their drugs. There could be a system that scan the bands of each attendee who tests the drugs and each scan can charge say around $10 for each person who tests the drugs. The cost of the service could be included in the cost of the admissions ticket for the festival. There could be a lot of marketing on the website of the festival and signs throughout the festival to encourage people to use the service.



Venture Concept:

This venture concept will solve the opportunity that I identified because it is a way to keep people safe from the drugs that do cause a lot of harm to attendees. I don’t think there is any switching into this service because there just aren’t any competitors in the North American market with this new product, so that is something that is not to worry about. There would be some logistical concepts such as traveling with each festival. For example, Insomniac organizes music festivals throughout the entire United States, so my service will have to travel throughout to catch every festival, and the drug test kits will have to be shipped throughout the United States, but I don’t believe that that is very hard to do. The amount of employees would not be very large, so my variable costs in terms of wages will be pretty low.



Three minor elements:

My most important resource will be that I have connections in the music industry that could get me in touch with music festival organizers. I think this is the most important aspect of my social capital because without getting in touch with these organizers to pitch my idea, my service will never be able to take off. I also have great interpersonal skills that can allow me to pitch ideas to executives successfully.

The next opportunity that I want to tackle with my current innovation is a way to separate the bad parts of a drug from the parts that is desirable. For example, if there is a way to separate the compounds of methamphetamine from MDMA, then I would capitalize on that opportunity.

Assuming this would launch, I would just watch this venture come to fruition and grow it from Insomniac, a music festival organizer, to other large festival organizers. I would travel the world to see my idea come to fruition and see the lives I have saved for this service.

23A Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

23A: My Venture’s Unfair Advantage

1. Uniqueness of Venture

a. This venture is very unique in nature because I have only ever heard of European nations taking advantage of this service

b. Many people would be afraid of starting this service for fear of breaking the laws.

2. High barrier to entry

a. This venture has a high barrier to entry because for it to work, one has to network hard to pitch this idea to music festival organizers.

b. Also, federal laws could prohibit this venture from happening in certain areas.

3. Social Capital

a. I am a part of a fraternity on campus, so I believe that I can utilize my connections to the greatest extent.

b. I also can ask my network to see if this is a good idea.

4. Lack of competitors

a. Since this concept is pretty new, there are no competitors in this market, so profit margin could be high.

5. Experience with music festivals

a. Because I attend music festivals often, I know what it is like, and I know what consumers want with this service.

6. Publicity

a. I can utilize my social media platforms to advertise the safety and the benefits of this service.

7. Teamwork Experience

a. I have experience working on a team of consultants, so I can use that skill to start a business.

8. Diverse perspective

a. I come from a diverse background, so I can leverage my ideas that others would not have.

9. Willingness to learn and fail

a. I have a growth mindset and I would not give up even if the venture fails.

b. I will just learn from my mistakes and try to make the venture come true

10. Budgeting experience

a. Because I served as the treasurer of my fraternity and as student government’s assistant treasurer, I have experience budgeting the funds of organizations.

My top resource would be to have the willingness to learn and fail. I think that often time when people fail, they would give up on what they want to do in life. With this mindset, they will often set themselves up for…failure. I think with persistence, I will succeed,

22A Elevator Pitch No. 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0O7v-9c5QA&feature=youtu.be

2) I think leaving out the "imagine this" approach is something that I will leave out just like last time because it just sounds very scripted, and I don't want to follow a template of speaking. I like the feedback of cutting out the filler words because I often catch myself doing that when I speak.

3) I think the biggest change on this pitch is my confidence when giving the pitch. I know that I have gotten better on each attempt, and I want to maintain that improvement.

Reading Reflection No. 2

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


The general theme or argument of this book is that there are two mindsets that people have: the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. The growth mindset drives success in people because of the constant need and willingness to improve in the face of failure. The fixed mindset is a mindset where people usually shy away from challenges because it makes them uncomfortable. Because of this, personal growth is hindered in any activity that they do for fear of being judged by their peers. Anyone can change their mindset from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset if they are aware of it happening.


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


The book really connects and enhances what I am learning in ENT3003 because professor Pryor really teaches us to be confident in anything that we do. He encourages us to look in our immediate surroundings and look for opportunities to start a business, and this is a skill that is learned by the growth mindset. Pryor teaches that any skill can be learned if you were to put the time in it, and this is exactly what the growth mindset is. The growth mindset says that if there is enough commitment put into a skill, then the skill would be developed, guaranteed. So for the purpose of taking this class, Pryor attempts to teach entrepreneurship in his students, and I think that he is applying the growth mindset to his students.


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


The exercise would involve spending an hour each day on a skill that they really want to learn for about three months to see how good they become at that skill at the end of the three months. For example, stepping is a fun and interesting skill that can be learned just through practice and observing others. The exercise would involve learning the entire routine of a step performance and many others. I am certain that if this were accomplished in three months, the person would actually be really good at the skill.


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?





What I learned that differed most from my expectations would be that children are usually accidentally taught a fixed mindset when they are praised for doing something really well. This makes the child shy away from things that he does not do well in, and this differed from my expectations because I did not think something that is said so nonchalantly could have such a large impact on a child.

20A: Social Capital

Expert in the industry:

1. Who they are: James, a disk jockey.

2. How this person is a "domain expert.":
This person is a domain expert because he makes music in the electronic music industry, and he has experienced with drug use and also has friends who use the drugs too.

3. How I found and contacted this person:
This person is in contacts because he plays at the local Simon's club. I just asked him for a call.

4.The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
I just asked this person what he thought about the market for my service, and if he thought it would be feasible. There is no return expectation because the conversation did not take up much of his time.

5. How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:
Including them enhanced my ability to exploit an opportunity because they have a name attached to them that could get me into the industry in talking to Music festival organizers.

Market Expert
1. Who they are: Nick, an EDM music fan.

2. How this person is a "domain expert"
This person is a domain expert because he listens to EDM, the genre that has the most illicit drug use of any music genres.

3. How I found and contacted this person:
This person is one of my friends who listen to the music I like to listen to.

4. The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
I just talked about the feasibility of my service and asked for his opinion. There is no return expectation because it did not take much time.

5. How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:
This person could have friends who would be my future consumers.

Supplier.
Since my service is so niche, I could not find a connection that would supply the service. It is just a service and it is not a product to be supplied.

Reflect: I would like to say that any time I network with someone, I gain knowledge and experience in their respective industry and also I would have learned how to network better by being better able to come up with topics of conversations. The experience I take doing this networking will be used in my future events. This experience differs from experiences in the past because in the past, I never really pitch an idea or product to anyone.

19A

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: 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 Duc, and I have held numerous executive positions in various organizations on campus. I aspire to be a management consultant in the future or work at something in finance. This business really does not have anything to do with my aspirations, but if it were to succeed, then I see it playing a large role in my life and become my main source of income.


2) What are you offering to customers? The service is offering a safe way to test drugs for customers who attend music festivals. This way, it ensures their safety in the festivals.


3) Who are you offering it to? I am offering to those who attend music festivals. These people tend to have a very liberal mindset in terms of consuming psychedelic drugs and uppers. They also happen to really enjoy electronic dance music and camping at festivals.


4) Why do they care? They care because it is a way to ensure their safety when they consume the drugs. It is to reduce casualties at music festivals.


5) What are your core competencies? I have the personality that can sell products and services. I am very outspoken and have a very large growth mindset. I don’t stop trying to improve myself in anyway that I could.





To be honest, having the mentality and skills of a salesperson could help in all facets of life, especially trying to pitch an idea could help, but most of my offerings don’t really match up with my core competencies. My core competency of growth could help me in other facets of life, but I do not think it is completely useful for my service.





The feedback I got was to deliver the service in a better way to pitch the idea. Using something other than the “imagine this” approach and adapting to the type of service is very useful.

18A Customer Avatar

For my consumer avatar, I did not make an avatar, but I found some pictures online of people who would be interested in using the service that I have came up with. These people are people who attend music festivals who are in their early twenties with a lot of vibrant energy and liberal tendencies. They will be dressed up to attend these festivals in very revealing outfits because music festivals are so hot to be in. They would not have children, and they would have hobbies that includes listening to EDM festivals, and making kandi. Kandi is a bracelet that has words, phrases, and are colorful that is pictured below. In addition, these type of people would be interested in the appreciation of art and colorful works. What I have in common with this avatar is that I listen to the same type of music with these people, and I also dress up for music festivals and wear the same Kandi that they do. It is not a coincidence that I modeled my business plan after these consumers because I have observed an opportunity in doing what I love.

Elevator Pitch 2

2) I really enjoyed reading my feedback on my first elevator pitch. There was a feedback where using the "imagine this" approach wasn't a very good idea. It stated that I should have just gave the background of music festivals and the illicit drug use in the culture, and I believe that it is a good starting point of my elevator pitch. I think the most silly feedback was my camera control in the presentation, because I do not think that I have any control over it.

3) I changed to use less of the "imagine this" this approach and described more of the music festival scene.

15A

All three interviews that I conducted gave me the same answer to my idea of drug testing in a festival. The alternative to the idea would be to drug test outside of the music festivals instead of inside. I have always known this to be the alternative of my idea, but even then, most people do not bother to test their drugs. I think my service will still come out ahead of the alternative and it won’t be affected by much. I think it still would save lives, and ensure the safety of festival-goers. The products would be able to be purchased online by consumers; whereas, my service would be paid by festival planners to set up booths in the festivals to ensure the safety of its attendees. The biggest difference is that the consumer would not have to directly pay for the drug test. The services’ direct consumer would be festival planners, so its post-service evaluation would be the injuries and deaths that could be avoided with this service. All three individuals agreed that outside vendors selling drug tests would be the service’s biggest competition, and it would not necessarily be a bad thing, because people are taking steps to protect themselves.

16A

Growth Mindset- Whatever I set my mind to, I am not afraid to work towards a skill or anything that I want in life. Even if the skill is completely brand new, etc.

Outgoing personality- I am able to relate to a variety of people very well and can connect with people from different perspectives and cultures.

Organization- My time management is renowned to those who have worked with me. I am never show up late to meetings, and never take on more than I could handle.

Agreeableness- I am able to see many different perspectives with relate to people of different backgrounds.

Strong Work Ethic- I am self-motivated and I work very hard to get where I am because of my work ethic. I will put a lot of time into something completely new to learn it.

Phat's Interview
https://soundcloud.com/duc-huynh-523892867/phats-interview561

The key takeaways of this interview highlights the business aspects of my personality and skills. He regards me as very organized and willing to learn.

Tiara's Interview
https://soundcloud.com/duc-huynh-523892867/tiaras-interview2

The key takeaway from this interview is that I am a very agreeable person and I value my relationships with my peers. This gives me a support group on whatever business endeavors I have, and it allows people to understand what makes my personality attracts others

TJ's Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFYpwChFY9c&feature=youtu.be

The key takeaway of this interview is that I am very confident and I do what I set out to do to reach my goals.

Mikem's Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3wVZuf1JRM&feature=youtu.be

The key takeaway of this interview is that I am very organized in a business way and I have a very structured way to set aside time. I allocate my time very well week by week, and I make sure not to miss meetings.

Josiah's Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYQQOoOPMJE

I am very approachable as a person and can see things from different perspectives. I also am very academically focused and skilled in business aspects.

Differences: I am astounded to the feedback that I have gotten. I don't see myself as approachable and kind as I thought people have thought about me. I think this feedback is very helpful in increasing my self esteem, and also see my true strengths. The things these people have said hav been accurate so I would not make any changes.

14A

1) What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? I have developed a keen eye to be constantly be aware of my surroundings and look for opportunities in the area. I also have developed my ability to keep up with the various assignments with time management. Last but not least, I have been able to talk to people more freely when I interview them.

2) 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 almost gave up when I saw that I did not really like to interview random people. It felt like cold calling at times, but I pulled through because I needed the grade, but it felt fulfilling because I actually felt like I learned how to interact with strangers more.

3) 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' ? I would tell the students to step out of their comfort zone and think about things in everyday life that they have not thought about and also be open to talk to strangers. Sometimes, some people will reject being interviewed, but if you keep trying someone will end up wanting to express their thoughts. Lastly, if you get caught up on life sometimes and miss an assignment, don't sweat it!

13A

I read Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. This is what I think of it:

·         What surprised you the most? What surprised me the most about Steve Jobs was his experience with psychedelic drugs and spirituality. In the book, it explained that Jobs experimented with LSD all the time, and it became a key part of his creativity. This combined with his partner at the time, Wozniak, allowed them to create a computer that was both functional and simple in many aspects. In conclusion, Jobs’ open drug use surprised me the most about him.

·         What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?  What I admire most about Jobs is that his persistence to see his vision. Even when going head-to-head with Michael Scott, the President of Apple at the time, he was able to keep persisting to through what he wanted in his designs. In addition, Jobs was outed by the Board of Directors of Apple, and still managed to bounce back by owning shares in Pixar. With failures such as NEXT, Jobs continued to pull through and bounce right back into Apple. He was able to reinstate himself as CEO at Apple after outing the entire Board of Directors, and single-handedly saved Apple from constant losses.

·         What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? I don’t admire Jobs’ way of doing things when he handles relationships. His perfectionism personality often clashes with others as he is known to have temper tantrums when the quality of work does not meet his standard. In addition, the book described his personality with personal relationships as very passionate or very cold. He seems to not care about those who are not in his immediate circle. In addition, his stubbornness led to his demise as he refused professional treatment for his cancer that could have saved him, but opted for home remedies.

·         Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? Yes. Jobs encountered so many failures in his lifetime, but managed to bounce back every time. This is why he has been regarded as one of the greatest geniuses of our generation. After being outed from his own company many times, he was able to come back every time to bring it back up and succeeded way beyond expectations. With each failure, Jobs seemed to have gotten used to the setback and knew that he would always come out on top.

·         What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? Jobs exhibit a very strong sense of attention to detail, and because of his pure intellect, people respected his decisions, and were able to work with him even when they knew that he was hard to work with. He had a creative mind that was able to create things that were way ahead of the time, and improve upon those aspects. Jobs was also very successful in dealing with failure, and because of his persistence, was able to succeed.

·         Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. What was confusing to me was how he was able to have the support of so many people even though he had such a cold personality.

·         If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why? I would ask why Jobs was able to pay attention to such meticulous detail in his everyday life and how would I be able to mimic it. This is a skill that many people lack, and it is a skill that is very useful in everyday life, and even in the business world. I believe attention to detail is what drives a business from making mistakes.

I would also ask why he opted to take home remedies as treatment for his cancer because there could have been such an easy operation to have saved his life if he could have just received treatment sooner.

·         What do you think the entrepreneur’s opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion? I think that Jobs would think that hard work is at the core of success. Many of his employees reported working for 90 hours a week, and were yelled at when they did not deliver a product that was satisfactory. I share this opinion in that hard work definitely is what success is defined as because without its presence, it would be much harder to make a living.

12A

Choosing a segment:


For my segment, I have friends who have tried MDMA and would try MDMA at festivals. One male said that he would buy from a trusted supplier that he knows, another male said that he would consume MDMA from anyone that could supply him, and the last would purchase MDMA inside the festival themselves from black market dealers.





What I learned:


I learned that these people would actually want the service to be available. Two of the individuals that I interviewed actually know of someone who has died from overdoses from these types of illicit drugs and actually would think it is something that could save lives. Often, consumers would always have a fear of what is in their drug, and they believe that the service would give them peace of mind throughout the event. The last person however, does not trust anyone handling their illicit materials, and would rather test the drugs themselves than allow someone else to take a hold of it.





How I would describe this Segment:





I would describe this segment as the entirety of the customer base. There are no other segments that would fall outside the boundary of this service because this pretty much describes all those who consume illicit drugs at festivals.

11A

Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: 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?





Hello, my name is Duc and I am from South Florida. I attend the University of Florida studying Finance. I have a talent in talking to people, and being able to network hard with professionals in the business world. I aspire to be a management consultant in the business working for a large firm. I see this business as just something to do on the side, and I don’t think it will play that large of a role in my life. It is an opportunity that I would like to capitalize, but it is not something that I am passionate about.


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


The service I am offering is free drug tests without repercussions at music festivals. The unmet need is that often, festival-goers don’t have a way to protect themselves from faulty and dangerous drugs at festivals, and this is a way to encourage safe use.





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 to whoever goes to music festivals and partake in dangerous illicit activities. I want to reduce the impact of these activities on the festival-goers. All my customers have in common is the desire to consume illicit drugs.





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 because this is a service that protects their well-being and could potentially save a life. The main business model would be that festival planners such as insomniac would pay for the service to reduce any type of liabilities and bad publicities that would follow if there were casualties at their events.


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


My core competency is that I believe that this service is entirely new, and no one has thought of it before. What I have that no one else has is the ability to have a vision on things that have not been thought of before.


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.

My business is weak in the spot where it has to have demand from festival organizers to use my service. It is not open to normal consumers, and it would be difficult to market to people. However, I believe in its potential to save lives, and its consumers would appreciate the presence of the service.

Elevator Pitch 1

9A: Testing Hypothesis Part 2

Who:

After interviewing three people that I know that goes to music festivals and partake in ingesting drugs, there are some who are nevertheless afraid of giving up their drugs to my service to test, which is completely reasonable. In the environment of a music festival, it is hard to trust strangers with illegal substances.

One interviewee was afraid to find out that their drugs would be tainted by something else, and would rather much take the drug than give it up for they fear that it would ruin their festival experience. Many people spend hundreds of dollars on music festivals that include the ticket, housing, and plane tickets, and would rather enjoy the festival to the best that they could than to look at for their own safety.

Another interviewee believes that if people were to do drugs, then there is no point testing, because every drug is bad in its own way. He believes that even though it poses a danger to people, people know the risks of taking the drugs.

What:

The need that I identified is different from the need that people need to test their drugs, because in the setting of a festival, this service is a safe haven for people to keep people safe instead of needing people to test drugs in the open where they could be reprimanded. In addition, those who buy drugs at the festival are also putting themselves at risk.

Why:

The needs of people outside the boundary is the same as inside. It just happens that they do not trust the people handling their drugs, and also do not think about their own safety.


Inside the Boundary



Who: Those who are looking out for their

own safety and allowing their drugs to be tested.

What: A service that could test drugs in a safe way



Why: There are many cases of people overdosing

on drugs at music festivals.



Outside the Boundary:

Who: Those who do not trust the service,

and don’t care about their well-being



What: Those who think they don’t need the service



Why: There is a distrust for the service.

8A- Solving the Problem

Instead of a product, I want to create a service where people who frequently consume drugs are offered a safe place to test their drugs at music festivals. Because people are going to consume the drugs anyway, why not set up stands at music festivals with attendants testing the drugs of festival-goers? The policy would be that there would be no reports from any attendants and if a drug were to be deemed “safe” then it would be given back, and if not, then the drug would be discarded by the attendant. No law enforcement would be involved, and this would ensure the safety of the festival-goers. This service would be extended to all music festivals across the nation, and event planners would definitely buy into this service to improve their reputation and ensure the safety of its people.

Testing the Hypothesis Part 1

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Testing the Hypothesis Part. 1

Music Festival faulty drug overdose prevention.


Opportunity: At every music festival, people expose themselves to harm when they consume drugs that enhances the festival experience, but many drugs are not what they seem to be.


The who: Those who attend music festivals and consume drugs such as MDMA, LSD, etc.


The what: Consuming drugs that are of one kind when in reality, they are not.


The why: Many dealers “cut” their drugs with other harmful drugs or substances.


Testing the who: Many festival-goers consume an exorbitant amount of drugs to enhance their festival experience at music festivals, raves. Many also consume them in clubs and bars, but festivals are less controlled, so it is very dangerous.


Testing the what: Dealers often “cut” the drugs with harmful substances to increase profit margins. For example, methamphetamine could be sold under the guise of MDMA. That is just one example, but other drugs could be sold the same way. When these drugs are “cut” with other substances, there could be a larger risk of overdose.


Interview #1: 22 year old male who frequents music festivals.


“I think people are uneducated about the drugs that they take and they don’t know what they are taking because they do not test their drugs. They may not even be overdosing on certain drugs, but rather take a different drug than they thought they did.”


Interview #2: 20 year old male college student


“People overdose on drugs because they don’t know their limits, make bad decisions, and other factors such as peer pressure. People don’t test their drugs because of the prices of drug kits, and they also don’t want to diminish the effects of the drugs. Also, people are not themselves on drugs and can lead to serious injuries between themselves and others.”


Interview #3: 22 year old male college student.


“People overdose on drugs because it is never certain what people are taking. I don’t think drug dealers deliberately cut their drugs with substances, but rather they don’t know what are in their drugs themselves sometimes.”





Interview #4: 21 year old male college student who frequents music festivals.


“People overdose on drugs because they are influenced by their friends to take more and they have not done their own research about the drugs that they take. Drug dealers do not want to cut their drugs, but rather the suppliers. They are simply the middle men for those who want to buy the drugs.”


Interview #5: 22 year old female who frequents music festivals


“I think people overdose because they’re not aware of how dangerous it can be when you take too much or you get something that is created with something that is deadly so they don’t know what the drug actually contains. Also, when they are under the influence, they make poor decisions and think that they can probably take more. Or they could be mixing the drug with other substances and they don’t realize how bad it is.


Reflection:


Most of the people that I interviewed agreed that a lot of times, those who overdose on drugs do so because they are misinformed and they are peer pressured by their friends to take more than they should. Many also do not know the capabilities of the drugs.


What I found interesting was that people who were interviewed did not think the drug dealers deliberately “cut” their drugs. The dealers were just ignorant of what was in the drugs themselves by not testing their own drugs or doing prior research for the suppliers.

6A: Identifying Opportunities.

Four Opportunities

Economic Trend: The Housing Market is stuck in a recession.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/06/05/major-economic-trends-all-downbeat/#bfa83fe13fe6

·         I believe that this is an opportunity to be capitalized on by those who want to enter the housing market because of the low mortgage rates and the low costs of housing.

·         It states that mortgage rates have fallen more than a quarter of a percent in just the last couple months, and that is a pretty large amount.

·         I saw this opportunity because with lowering prices, those who have not been in the market can have a way to break into it. However, the opportunity is difficult to exploit because the housing market is very complex.

·         The customer would be those who are willing to invest in the housing market.

Economic Trend: America is declining in global economic power.

https://www.thebalance.com/top-usa-future-economic-trends-3305666

·         Because of the recession in 2008, America has lost much of its economic power because China, Russia, Brazil, and India regulated their banks to avoid derivatives.

·         There is an opportunity for foreign investors and companies to take advantage of this economic downfall.

·         I think it is hard to pull off because even though America is declining, it is still one of the most dominant economies.

Regulatory Trend: Trump organization announced Tariffs for many countries around the world

https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7671-regulatory-issues-changes.html

·         Tariffs have a ripple effect on economies throughout the world and can impact a lot of industries at once.

·         I see that there may be an opportunity for domestic industries because the tariffs are meant to raise prices for foreign investors to the point where they do not want to conduct business in the U.S that could steal U.S industries’ market share.

·         This opportunity is moderate because even though the industries are protected, international trade is  large part of any corporation.

·         The customer would be businesses in the U.S

Regulatory Trend:  Paid sick leave and minimum wage policies at local and state levels.

https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7671-regulatory-issues-changes.html

·         There is a trend calling for increased minimum wage at the local and state levels and there is an opportunity for employees to capitalize on because many are not paid enough for their work.

·         The customer would be almost all employees because they would also all benefit from paid sick leave.

·         This opportunity is easy to make work because anyone can benefit from this change.

Identifying Local Opportunities

“Vaping-Linked lung problems surface in Florida” by Christine Sexton of the Gainesville Sun

https://www.gainesville.com/news/20190910/vaping-linked-lung-problems-surface-in-florida

·      Recently, there has been an increase in electronic cigarette or e-cig use throughout the United States, especially in the youth because of the prominent advertising of e-cigs and its flavors that appeal to the youth. 

·      The problem with this is that there has been an increase in respiratory illnesses in Florida that doctors have traced to the use of e-cigs. Many patients have reported recently using e-cigs when they have contracted their illnesses.

·      The people who has the problem are those who use e-cigs regularly, and the parents of the youth who use it.

“UF Student reports sexual assault, Police say” by Emily Mavrakis

https://www.gainesville.com/news/20190911/uf-student-reports-sexual-assault-police-say

·      A student has been assaulted on the UF campus near Jennings Hall that took place at around midnight. The student was in a relationship with the assaulter.

·      The problem is that there has been a rise in the sexual assault cases at UF lately. Notably, a case by Ian Milaski, who was released because of his academic standings at the university. Those who have been reported have not been held accountable for their actions.

·      Those who have the problem are those who have been assaulted and those who might be assaulted in the future.

“Florida boy bullied over homemade U of Tennessee shirt; UT makes his design official”

https://www.gainesville.com/news/20190910/florida-boy-bullied-over-homemade-u-of-tennessee-shirt-ut-makes-his-design-official

·      A boy made a make-shift UT(University of Tennessee) t-shirt to support his favorite team and wore it to his elementary school, but his judgemental young classmates made fun of him for it, causing him to be upset.

·      The problem with this is the culture of elementary school kids could be very mean, and people’s interests are squandered because they think it’s “weird.” However, UT was able to make the boy’s day by delivering a care package with a bunch of UT logos, t-shirts, and other UT items.

·      The person being affected is the boy who made the shirt.

“It’s great to be No. 7, but there’s more to be done” by The Alligator Editorial Board

https://www.alligator.org/opinion/it-s-great-to-be-no-but-there-s-more/article_13c06d9e-d438-11e9-aca4-5705d6d6a9b3.html?block_id=1494496

·      Even though UF has risen to 7 in the rankings of national public universities, there are many problems that the university overlooks because of how much focus they have on that goal.

·      The problem of reaching the goal of No. 7 in the nation is that the focus is put away from the well-being of the students in terms of underrepresentation of minority groups, and the mental health of its students. Recently, there has been suicides on the UF campus due to academic pressures that the students face and the underfunding of the student wellness center.

·      The people being affected are all students who feel underrepresented and suffering from mental health at the University.

“American Airlines mechanic accused of sabotaging flight” by David Koenig and Curt Anderson
https://www.gainesville.com/news/20190907/american-airlines-mechanic-accused-of-sabotaging-flight

·      An American Airlines mechanic was charged with sabotage because he was upset over the company’s stalled labor contract negotiations with a local union. The man has been upset because of the reduced pay as a result of this. The man was fired years ago from Alaska airlines due to multiple errors in his work.

·      The problem with this is that American Airlines’ workers are being affected by this stalled contract. Even though there is no excuse for the man, this is the direct result of withholding benefits that the employees desire.

·      This affects all the workers that the contract tries to benefit, and the customers on the airplane that almost took a flight on a sabotaged flight.