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.

I have had a lot of fun this spring semester with this class. I never really had a blog or even a diary to write down weekly things in it. So this was definitely something I had to get used to doing. It was particularly hard to get into a rhythm at the beginning of the semester because I had just started my new job as well as a TC, Technology Consultant, for UF. But, I enjoyed the first one with bugs and I dreaded those we had to interview other people for my new app. I also did not like doing the elevator pitch because I had to step out of my comfort zone. 

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?

I guess the most formative experience was that I had to think and kind of perfect or develop this idea, and mine eventually became a parking app at UF. I will remember this for years to come because no other class has made me do anything close to this class. I am most proud of having this idea and developing it over the semester. 

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 see myself more as an entrepreneur than I was before the start of this semester. I had no idea all of the research and developing that goes behind an entrepreneur. It was challenging, but satisfying and rewarding. I feel I have moved closer to an entrepreneur mindset. 

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?

I would recommend that if you were to want to become an entrepreneur, that is what you should be very passionate about then. It takes a lot of heart and soul to really pull it off because there is so much investment in yourself and your product or company. Lot of stress as well that can go into it. 

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

1) You read about an entrepreneur: Coco Chanel, by Lisa Chaney

• What surprised you the most? I did not know much about Coco Chanel prior reading this book for this class. I really only knew her "Chanel #5". So I was most surprised to find out that her actual name is Gabrielle and that she was raised in poverty before becoming one of the most renown designers.
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? I admired the fact that even though she did not have an ideal upbringing, like with her addiction to morphine and more drugs, she did end up becoming to be very successful. It goes to show not everyone has a perfect life. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? I guess the thing I least admire about Coco Chanel was that she did abuse drugs and that of course is not good to do. But I cannot blame her for her past because there are better outs to go through besides going to drugs to relive the adversity that was going on throughout her life at that point. 
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? Yes she did, and more than I would have ever guessed. She was the child of two nomadic traders that were impoverished. She was then placed in an orphanage. The book did not focus greatly on the obstacles for her fashion, but more on her personal struggles, which I did like and learned a lot about more to respect her and her industry. 

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

I noticed that she did not give up, no matter what the circumstances are. She always pursued and would get right back up if she was pushed down. 

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

I had always been a little confused or was fuzzy on her and her relationship with Arthur Capel. The books describes as the love of Chanel's life and the person that would help and aid her with her business to grow and become more successful. I did not know really how Arthur helped the company grow or how he supported Chanel.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why? 

• The first question I would ask would be "What kept you motivated through thick and thin in your life?" I would ask this because dealing with adversity can make people become very unmotivated and sluggish in life. 
• The second question I would ask would be "Did you ever feel like giving up?" I would ask this because I feel as though there are times in my life where I want to give up but I keep going so my future can be better with my degree. 

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion? I think Chanel's opinion of hard work was that it was important never to give up. She, ideally, did not have the most perfect upbringing and to end up where she did today, I feel it was perseverance.

28A – Your Exit Strategy

1) For my own exist strategy, I would most likely not sell it, because I know this app could become successful, but if the correct price comes, then I may think about selling it to a larger company. I just do not know how much I personally want to invest in this app because I do not see myself sticking to it and running my own business. I had always seen myself working for a company and just living my life comfortably. But you never know what the future holds.

2) I selected to not sell it because I know this app could potentially become successful because there is a market for it. If there was no market for it, and I found this out through interviews that there is a market for it, then I would sell it. Also it is kinda cool to put on your resume that you created your own company and ran your own business. But that comes with a lot of stress as well.

3) I never really thought about how I would exist for the past exercises. When I was trying to think of how to grow the company, I guess I just never thought to myself "am I gonna sell this company later on or keep it in my family for generations". Sometimes, having a family business can be a burden to future generations because it hinders their ability to truly find out what they want to do with their own life.

29A - Venture Concept No. 2

1) Venture Concept Description
   
  Opportunity:

• There are many students and faculty that need to either go to work or class. But, there are not as many spots as there are people who need them. So there is a deficit and therefore, a need for my app to allow people to see how many, if at all, spots are available to park. 
• UF students and faculty who need to take their car to park before or after hours are the people I need and they need to try to park at the garage
• Currently, students and faculty just go round and round the garages wasting time to park if the garage is full. They are loyal to it now cause it is free and there is no other way to find a spot.
• This opportunity is big because no one else has done anything like this for UF.
• The "window of opportunity" will be open until someone comes up with a system to find parking spots other than circling around the garage.

    Innovation:

• This invention is an app that allows the users to see what spots are available and in what decal sections of the garage are available  too before they spend their precious time and gas on looking for a spot. I would make a profit from it with sponsors or doing ads as well through the app. The app itself would be free to users. Basically there needs to be a system where I can get accurate readings of how many spots are in the garage. There can either be a system installed the garage itself like how they do down in South Florida and other garages that lets the user know with either a red or green light atop of the spot. Then that will update the app for users to know accurately. 

   Venture Concept:

• People would switch over to this free app because it can only benefit their time, and they will lose nothing from just downloading it and using it when need be. It will not be hard at all. 
• Competitors are those who do not know this app, as far as I know, there are no other forms of ways to make parking easier on campus, so the only competitor are those who do not know about the app. 
• Having this app free is very important, since our main target are UF students and they want free apps. 
• For starters, I would only have a group of maybe 5 people to do it. When the app gets bigger and maybe I can expand to other universities or even bigger cities I would hire more people. There would be a programmer and designer of the app and then those who advocate for the app and those that help to see any flaws in the app.

   Three Minor Elements:

• The most important resource would be how to code and design the app. If there is no app, then the whole idea is useless. So my knowledge would be the most unfair advantage. 
• Next opportunity would to go to other universities and do the same thing. 
• In five years, I would like to have perfected this app at UF

2) Summary of Feedback

    

• The feedback I received were all positive. They said marketing is a great next step to getting my app ready for  the app, aside from figuring out the logistics of the app. Marketing is the next best thing I can do to get my app ready to launch. The other feedback I got was good on how I am trying to make this app free and not charge anyone, because I as a consumer would not really want to buy an app, especially as a college student. 

3) Changed Venture Concept

• The change I made in my venture concept was how in five years, I would like to have perfected that app, instead of seeing it at other universities. I felt that was not realistic, because developing an app and perfecting it does take time, so seeing it work at other universities just is unrealistic. 

4) Picture

26A – Celebrating Failure

1) Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed

• During this past semester, I failed at time management. I am taking one of the hardest core business classes offered at UF, Business Finance. There are three exams, and that is it. The first exam is usually the hardest out of the three, the second is typically the easiest, and then the third is in the middle of the two. Well, at the beginning of the semester, I was all fired up and going to parties and not buckling down like I should have been. I have study edge and they said to do practice problems at least one to two hours a day to be prepared for that exam. Well, I procrastinated and did crammed all the way up until the last few minutes on the exam. I did not do that great, needless to say. Well, I did about average, which is basically an F to D. So I thought I had learned my lesson on time management until the second exam came around, just a few days after we got back from Spring Break. Well, over spring break I went home and worked at my old job as a Hostess. I was scheduled to work every day of break and had no time to actually hard core study. So second exam came and once again I was cramming. I did better and about average but, I could have done better. Now the third exam is next week and I am preparing for it more.

2) Tell us what you learned from it.

• I learned that no matter what, I need to be on top of my school work and have better time management. I also should not put my social life ahead of my school work to the extent that I am cramming for exams. Even though I do not go out that much, I definitely need to buckle down for my senior year.

3) Reflect

• I feel like if I truly push myself and discipline myself for the rest of this semester and senior year, I could be very successful. Looking back my freshman and sophomore year, those were the easiest years here at UF, but at the time they did not at all. They felt literally like hell with school work, but now it is even worse and I am pushing myself even harder to not fail. I handled this failure emotionally by saying "it is all gonna be okay in the end, I just need this degree and get out". This class has changed my perspective on failure by saying it is no big deal and everyone tries and fails, at almost everything. 

25A – What’s Next?

Existing Market:

• Step 1: Next I feel that I can do more garages at once and then go to other schools and make an app for them as well to help with parking. Spreading the word about this app.
• Step 2: 
• Claire Katters: Claire says that my next venture should be to spread the word about this app since not many people will know about it at first. She says then to perfect it and then go out to other places that have a need for this app. She says she wants an app that reliable and is free.
• Jacob Stephens: Jacob also said that I should spread the word and print flyers out to help spread the word faster, or post it on facebook as well. He also wants a free app and one that actually works.
• Terrell Torez: Terrell says I should first make the app perfected as best I can before telling everyone about it and to make it very user friendly. He also wants a free app.
• Step 3: 
• To grow in this market, I feel that I should first get a system that works to accurately say what spots are available. Then I should make a design very user-friendly. Then I should spread the word around campus and advocate for this app.
• Next I would say the future holds to go to other college campuses or other local places that have trouble with parking garages. This would be a great business for that type of need in bigger cities with heavily populated destinations. 

New Market:

• Step 1: A radically different market would be one that instead of targeting students at garages, it would target the specific software needed to successfully implement it through the app. I  would target the software for other businesses to use.
• Step 2: I could create value by using the software and selling it to them.
• Step 3: 
• Jemere Plummer: Jemere is a computer science major and he wants to use software to create and start up apps for his living. Jemere says he would actually help design this app and would want to partake in it. He says he would try different styles to help create the perfect user-friendly app.
• Sydney Utz: Sydney is also a computer science major and wants to go work for Google Play to help maintain the app store of all google devices. She believes the best apps are those that work perfectly and have minimal bugs or issues. She would want to ensure the safety and security of this app and that his is flawless before putting it on the market. 
• Step 4: I liked my original targeted audience. The new market is not what I had envisioned myself to even touch, a lot more technical.

24A – Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity:

• There are many students and faculty that need to either go to work or class. But, there are not as many spots as there are people who need them. So there is a deficit and therefore, a need for my app to allow people to see how many, if at all, spots are available to park. 
• UF students and faculty who need to take their car to park before or after hours are the people I need and they need to try to park at the garage
• Currently, students and faculty just go round and round the garages wasting time to park if the garage is full. They are loyal to it now cause it is free and there is no other way to find a spot.
• This opportunity is big because no one else has done anything like this for UF.
• The "window of opportunity" will be open until someone comes up with a system to find parking spots other than circling around the garage.

Innovation:

• This invention is an app that allows the users to see what spots are available and in what decal sections of the garage are available  too before they spend their precious time and gas on looking for a spot. I would make a profit from it with sponsors or doing ads as well through the app. The app itself would be free to users. Basically there needs to be a system where I can get accurate readings of how many spots are in the garage. There can either be a system installed the garage itself like how they do down in South Florida and other garages that lets the user know with either a red or green light atop of the spot. Then that will update the app for users to know accurately. 

Venture Concept:

• People would switch over to this free app because it can only benefit their time, and they will lose nothing from just downloading it and using it when need be. It will not be hard at all. 
• Competitors are those who do not know this app, as far as I know, there are no other forms of ways to make parking easier on campus, so the only competitor are those who do not know about the app. 
• Having this app free is very important, since our main target are UF students and they want free apps. 
• For starters, I would only have a group of maybe 5 people to do it. When the app gets bigger and maybe I can expand to other universities or even bigger cities I would hire more people. There would be a programmer and designer of the app and then those who advocate for the app and those that help to see any flaws in the app.

Three Minor Elements:

• The most important resource would be how to code and design the app. If there is no app, then the whole idea is useless. So my knowledge would be the most unfair advantage. 
• Next opportunity would to go to other universities and do the same thing. 
• In five years, I would like to have done at least 2 other schools and help them out as well with parking. 

23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

1. Communication skills
• Valuable: Yes, because it is required to have good communication skills to succeed 
• Rare: Not that rare to have goo communication skills 
• Inimitable: Everyone one is unique with what their strong communication skills entail 
• non-Substitutable: yes, it is non-substitutable 
2. Knowledge in coding 
• Valuable: yes it is, not everyone has that skill
• Rare: not that rare since people can go to school for it or learn on their own doing
• Inimitable: Yes, very inimitable 
• non-Substitutable: Yes, it is non-substitutable
3. Access to UF parking garage
• Valuable: yes, since this app is geared to UF parking garages
• Rare: no, it is open to those who have either parking decals or anyone after hours
• Inimitable: yes, but takes a long time to build a parking garage
• non-Substitutable: yes, non-substitutable
4. Access to students and faculty
• Valuable: yes, need insight on our buyers
• Rare: no they're not rare
• Inimitable: not really
• non-Substitutable: yeah we need them
5. Professional connections
• Valuable: extremely 
• Rare: semi because it can be hard or rare to find solid connections
• Inimitable: not really
• non-Substitutable: not really
6. Funds
• Valuable: extremely, to start up the company
• Rare: not really
• Inimitable: yes, money is money
• non-Substitutable: there isn't much other currencies to use in America
7. First-hand experience 
• Valuable: very valuable
• Rare: not in this case
• Inimitable: no
• non-Substitutable: yes, cannot substitute first-hand experience
8. Leadership skills
• Valuable: very valuable
• Rare: maybe
• Inimitable: no, everyone has different skill sets to bring to the table
• non-Substitutable: you need leadership skills
9. Being open-minded
• Valuable: very valuable, need to seize every opportunity
• Rare: no, depends on personality 
• Inimitable: cannot imitate
• non-Substitutable: cannot substitute
10. Bachelor's in Information Systems
• Valuable: Extremely
• Rare: no, just need to go to school for it
• Inimitable: cannot imitate it
• non-Substitutable: can have another degree relating to computer science

Reflection: I think my top resource or the MVP resource I came up with would be knowledge in coding. If there is no knowledge in this, then my whole app cannot even come to life, and therefore, defeats the purpose of having an app and creating one.