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 was surprised to see how quickly and dramatically the sources of capital are changing. I didn’t not know that commercial banks are decreasing so much while venture capital firms are growing rapidly since the economic recession. 

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

I started to get a little confused when the author was talking about the different types of stock within equity financing. That’s something I know very little about but that I recognize is very important when I will be looking to invest.

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

I would ask what they personally think is the best source of capital for a start-up venture. I would also ask him what is the biggest deciding factor for VC firms when they are considering investing. If I ever have to present an idea to a VC firm I would be sure to focus on that.

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

This chapter was pretty straight forward without many opinions or abstract ideas. There wasn’t anything to disagree on, especially since a lot of the information was new to me.

The Twenty Percent

1) The local entrepreneur that I spoke to, who did not want to be recorded, is the part owner of a popular local Mexican restaurant “Takos al Pastor”. The owner described his “20 percent customers” as young adults and college students who want a place that serves good food at cheap price. He described most of his customers as outgoing, social and very friendly. He also said that most of them probably go to the restaurant right before they go out to bars or clubs, especially during the weekeneds.

2) Below are the voice recordings or the three people I talked to that seemed to fit the description the owner gave me.

3) For the most part the entrepreneur was right since the customers were young students who do go out frequently. However, the customers did not specifically identify their need for good food at cheap prices as the owner thought. They all seemed friendly and approachable like most of the people you find at that restaurant, but the last customer seemed to fix the profile better than anyone. I think the entrepreneur has a good idea of who his key customers are, especially since the restaurant is really small and all the customers closely surround the kitchen. I think the close, intimate environment really helps the kitchen and the owners connect with their customers.

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?

- I have forced myself to be more organized and disciplined in my planning and in my work for this course. Some of the assignments for the course can be very complex or time consuming, so I have had to plan ahead of time and stick to the my personal work schedule for the course in order to complete everything on time.

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?

-Some of the assignments for the course require a good amount of preparation and interaction with total strangers. A couple times during the preparation for these types of assignments I just wanted to quit and not do the assignment at all. However, I think these assignments can helped develop useful skills and a tenacious attitude so I completed the assignments even though they weren’t easy or convenient.

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' ?

1. Be organized- Without some level of organization you will definitely miss assignments or not have enough time for the tougher ones.

2. Work ahead when possible- Some assignments will not go as planned and there will be some adversity along the way, but by working ahead you will give yourself enough time so try again or make corrections.

3. Put in an honest effort- If you take the assignments seriously and put in the right effort it will help you in future assignments. Especially since most of them rely on previous assignments.

 

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?

-I did not expect the article to talk about how nondemographic segmentation can be just as bad or useless to corporate decision makers as demographic segmentation. I thought nondemographic segmentation would be able to give the decision makers details and information about consumers that demographics information cannot, and therefore it is always more useful.

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

-I didn’t quite understand the foundation for how the author distinguishes or separates a shallow decision from a deep one.

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

-I would ask the author what the best nonmarket segmentation is and why. I would also ask him how he thinks market segmentation will evolve with the use of social media in the future.

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 find anything that I disagree with, but I did find the article and his views very interesting. I do wonder how his opinions and ideas have changed the emergence and dominance of different social media platforms.

Free Money

Where will you go?
-I’m going to search around the university for english speaking students.
What kind of people will you approach?
-I’m going to approach college students on their phones or their computers.
What will you say to get the conversation started?
-I’m going to simply ask them if they speak English and if they want the dollar.
What is your plan for the conversation?
-I will see if they are willing to take the dollar right away without asking any questions. If they ask me why I’m giving the dollar away then I’ll tell them it is my good deed for the day.
Out of five attempts, how many dollar bills do you think you will be able to give away?
-I think I will probably be able to give away all 5 dollars as long as I can convince them it’s a random good deed.

Reflection:I think this was a very difficult exercise. Not only was it hard to give money away because people didn’t trust me, but it was also very uncomfortable to try and record them without them knowing or getting upset. I thought I was going to be able to give most of the money away, however I did not think people would be so skeptical about a free dollar.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch. Describe what stood out to you as important, what feedback surprised you the most, what feedback you think was outright wrong or silly.

All of the feedback that I got was very positive and they all supported my idea. The only suggestion I received was to implement a mentorship program, which I thought was a great idea. The rest of the feedback was general positive statements.

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

I made sure to mention a mentorship program which I will include as part of Career Quest. I think its something I did not think of at first but I now realize its a great idea and a great tool for young students.

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 have reviewed this article before in previous classes, so there wasn’t anything necessarily surprising.

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

I understand most of it but the concept of supplier having bargaining power can be a little difficult to understand because naturally you would think the buyer has all the power.

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

I would ask the author when substitutes can have a good effect instead of bad effect. And why he didn’t mention the fact that buyers, competitors, and suppliers can work together against you.

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 fact that isn’t considered a force because it can affect all of the other forces through policies.

Customer Interviews No. 3

1) I’m going to ask 5 U.S students what they think about my idea. I’ve decided that I'm going to trim down my questions to three and have them be really open questions. When I had too many questions a lot of them were being answered in their responses anyway so I think it’s better to have fewer questions where they can elaborate.

2) Since I’m studying abroad in Madrid for my first interviews I interviewed U.S students in Madrid that attended the same university but that I did not know. However I could not find any other english speakers that could give relevant insight so for this round of interviews I conducted phone interviews with students in the U.S that I did not personally know. I sent them my paragraph and asked for their reaction. Here is the paragraph and their responses:
“I believe that there is a major flaw with our education system because there is very little if any career guidance for students throughout their years in elementary, middle and high school. My organization would help guide them to the career that is right for them by exposing them to different career paths through a shadowing program. The organization would work along with their education institution to come up with possible careers that would be right for the student according to their academic strengths, their preferences and their interests. The program would allow the kids enrolled to shadow professionals every couple years as their preferences, interests, and academic strengths change. My organization would try to eliminate or reduce the amount of high school graduates that start college without an idea of what they want to major in.”
1. What is your reaction?
-(Jake): I think that a program like that would be great but I’m not sure if that’s possible because kids have to be in school for a certain amount of time each year. So I’m not sure if they would let you take some kids out of school. There also might be an issue with the safety of the children because parents are always very cautious of having their kids go out of school on field trips to different places.”
-(Marie): “I would have loved to be in a program like that because I came into college not knowing what I wanted to do so I wanted a lot of time and money taking classes for different majors.”
-(Itzel): “I think kids would really love that a program like that. Especially the older kids that are starting to think about what they want to do. The small kids might get bored if they shadow someone boring so maybe they should shadow more exciting jobs.”
-(Harry): “It sounds like a cool program. I’m sure a lot of kids would really benefit from that.”
-(Anne): “ Yeah, I love that idea! I think it would help plenty of kids find their careers or at least give them a better idea of what they want to do. I would have definitely signed up for something like that. Especially during high school when I was deciding what school to go to.”
2. What would you change about the program?
-(Jake): “I would make it an after school program that parents can sign their kids up for. That way the kids won’t miss any school and there are no time constraints.”
-(Marie): “ I would let the parents have a say in what jobs the kids shadow. I think parents would have a good idea of what kind of job is good for their child. And that way the kid doesn’t go shadow a job that will never be good for them.”
-(Itzel): “I think the program should only be for high school kids. Or maybe for middle school and high school because little kids might get bored and misbehave. I think middle school and high school students will be able to appreciate it more.”
-(Harry): “I think that it would be cool if they got to shadow jobs in completely different fields, including some that maybe aren’t the most lucrative or sought after jobs. Because everyone can’t be a lawyer or doctor and those jobs aren’t for everyone. So it would be nice for the kids to see a broad range of jobs that all sorts of people do.”
-(Anne): “No, that program sounds pretty cool. I can’t believe that someone hasn’t thought about something like that before”
3. What do you think would be the biggest hurdles in implementing a program like this?
-(Jake): “I think the schools and parents would probably not allow kids to leave school for a whole day to shadow someone. So you would have to somehow convince them or change the program somehow.”
-(Marie): “The biggest hurdle would probably be the parents allowing their children to go shadow some stranger. I think a lot of parents are over protective, especially with really young kids.”
-(Itzel): “I think it would be hard to get small kids interested in shadowing and watching someone for a whole day. I feel like their attention span is probably too small to do something like that.”
-(Harry): “I think it might be hard to find people that would let a bunch of kids walk around their office all day because they might get annoyed or they might think the small kids will break something.”
-(Anne): “Maybe it will be hard to find the people to financially back the idea at first because I think that’s probably the hardest part of starting any organization.”
3) These interviews definitely gave me some new insight and ideas. I think it might be a good idea to have the program be only for kids in middle school and high school. I think kids that are any younger might not be so interested in shadowing and maybe they will be more likely to misbehave. I’m surprised that so many people considered the parents as a key part of the organization or as the biggest hurdle for it. I always thought that as long as I receive support from the school I would be fine. But now I definitely have to consider the parents as a bigger factor.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1. My name is Juan Muñoz and I am a third year economics major. I have a background in art and design and I am currently working on a minor in studio art. I have worked for several small private businesses including hotels, county clubs and dental practices. I see my idea as more of a non-profit organization rather than a business. My hopes are that this idea grows enough to be able to help many kids nationwide and that I am there to help it grow and succeed until it reaches a point where it is making a big difference. I think this idea could potentially be a major part of my life and possibly a lifelong career or a major stepping stone to a lifelong career.
2. What I am offering to students k-12 is the opportunity expand their knowledge and understanding of different careers and occupations. I believe that there is a major flaw with our education system because there is very little if any career guidance for students throughout their years in elementary, middle and high school. My organization would help guide them to the career that is right for them by exposing them to different career paths through a shadowing program. The organization would work along with their education institution to come up with possible careers that would be right for the student according to their academic strengths, their preferences and their interests. The program would allow the kids enrolled to shadow professionals along with other kids and trained personnel every couple years as their preferences, interests, and academic strengths change. My organization would try to eliminate or reduce the amount of high school graduates that start college without an idea of what they want to major in.
3. My program would be aimed towards students k-12 of all different types of backgrounds that display good behavior and a promising academic future. Ideally my program would eventually be available to all students k-12 but at least in the beginning the program would have to start small until gathers more resources and support. My program would be offered to private as well as public schools although I imagine that it would be very difficult to gain approval by a public education board because of the long, complex process of approval.
4. I think that many organizations, educational institutions, families and even the government would be interested in financially supporting my idea because it would improve the education system and the economy in the long run if it is utilized nationwide. By having students start college with a good understanding of what they want to do and what they are good at, students will graduate faster and will enter fields and industries which are better suited for them. This would help improve the workforce and bring a new generation of professionals with more competence and potential in their fields. The students would be interested in participating in the program because it would help them explore different professions, expand their perspective, and alleviate the anxiety of not knowing what they want to study as college approaches.
5. I don’t think that I necessarily have any special competencies or experience that would set me apart from anyone else. However, this is an issue that I am passionate about and that has been troubling me since my senior year of high school. This issue has also been brought to my attention over and over during my college years as I talk to students who never received the professional guidance that they needed during their k-12 years. I firmly believe that my idea could make a big difference for many students and could help people live happier, more fulfilling lives. This belief and this passion for my idea sets me apart from other people that could start an organization like this.

Week 5 Reading Reflection

I did not expect the author to mention “unclear business definition” as one of the reasons businesses fail. I never thought of that as a major issue in starting a new business venture. What I did not understand is why the author had “initial undercapitalization” and “assuming debt too early” as reasons why ventures fail. I would ask the author why assuming debt too early is bad when undercapitalization is an issue. Wouldn’t you want to invest in your business properly from the beginning? I would also ask the author why they think no product is instantly profitable. I think now more than ever products can be instantly profitable. The mobile app market is the perfect example of this. Games like Candy Crush, Temple Run and Angry Birds are great examples of apps that seemingly took off out of nowhere. I also disagreed with the fact that the author believes that founders who focus on their weaknesses rather than strengths is a reason why businesses fail. I think if Blackberry would have focused on their weaknesses, they would have kept a fair share of the mobile phone market. Instead, they focused on their “strengths” and lost all their market share to android and apple.

Interviewing Customers No. 2

1)      Fine tune your opportunity. You began with an idea of what an opportunity might be. After your first round of interviews, what do you think, now?

·         I was not able to do the first round of interviews, but I think these interviews went really well and they were really informative. I feel really good about my idea because the people I interviewed thought it was a good idea.

2)      Fine tune the "who." Did you talk to the right customers last time? What did you do differently this time? How did you adjust your conceptualization of who your customers are?

·         I was not able to do the first round of interviews but in this round I focused on the people who would have the best insight on how successful and helpful my solution could be.

3)      Tweaking your interview questions. You might need to ask different kinds of questions to get at a fuller, richer idea of what your opportunity is. What kind of changes did you make?

·         When I started writing the interview questions I realized that I had to change the questions so that they would be more open ended.

4)      Go talk to customers! This is the same deal as last time: 5 people, you can't know them, you must video record them.

5)      Tell us what you learned about the opportunity. You now have 10 interviews under your belt. What do you think about your opportunity now that's different from where you started? 

·         I feel really good about my opportunity. A lot of the people I interviewed shared the same feeling about how important and how helpful my program could be.

6)      Tell us what you learned about interviewing customers. You're practically an expert on interviewing customers. Please write three tips that you'd like to offer students in this class next semester about interviewing customers.

·         I think talking to them for a while before starting the interview is really helpful.  I also think that explaining to them what the interview is for and explaining that it won’t reach a large audience helps them relax and feel more comfortable. I also improvised some of the questions in each interview because their response triggered a new question that provided really useful information.

Elevator Pitch No. 1

There is a huge need for a program that helps guides students from a young age to the career that is right for them. Career Quest is an extensive career shadowing program that is integrated and financed by their public or private education institutions that guides them along the way from elementary school all the way until they graduate high school. By using data analytics and career specialists that work with each student personally CareerQuest helps students learn about and understand a wide variety of professions across different industries. This way, students will have a better understanding of the career path that is right for them by the time they graduate secondary school.