The Twenty Percent

I spoke to Lester, who helps run Mexisoccer, a local business that hosts soccer games.

After speaking with Lester, I found 3 players who participated in the Sunday games. Sunday nights are a popular time for players!

None of the players were comfortable being on video (they had just played games and were all sweaty, so I don't blame them), but I was able to talk to them. I had to cut the audio tapes a lot because we ended up going off about soccer, so I had to cut those parts out.

I think what Lester spoke about was reflected in the players. Some of the players were a little upset with the outcome of the games, and on some occasions, the league, but they keep coming back. Whatever Mexisoccer is doing, they're doing it right.

Week 8 reading reflection

Week 8 reading reflection!

1. What surprised me the most about the reading were the myths about venture capital firms. For instance, the fact that they’re concerned with return on investment the most. With this, they’re able to put a lot of time into looking at potential risk and return.

2. What was a little confusing for me was the idea of “business angels” or “informal risk capitalists.” It’s crazy to think there are people out there that don’t ened to worry about where they’re investing their money because they’re so rich. To make it worse, the business angels can be corporate, entrepreneurial, enthusiast, micromanagement and professional. It is a crazy world out there. And then, there’s a list of cons from angel investors.

3. If I could ask the author two questions, one would be: Are angel investors worth the risk? Are they more beneficial or detrimental to entrepreneurs?

4. There wasn’t anything that I think the author was wrong about. I did find it interesting, however, that in the book, “angel investors” are referred to as “angels” in the book, making them equivalent to heavenly beings. I found that to be intriguing. 

Half-way reflection

Here's my half-way reflection!

Tenaciousness is a skill. In order to keep with this course and its many assignments, I’ve had to find quite a bit of strength and perseverance. Not only did I set multiple reminders on my cellphone calendar, I’ve left sticky notes on my favorite snacks and desk with ‘ENT homework?’ on the notes to remind myself. There have been times where I did the assignments, but forgot to declare. Trust me, after missing 3 points that way, I haven’t forgotten yet.

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. There was one time where I had an essay, a project and 2 stories to write in one day. More than anything, I wanted to crawl into bed and forget it all. I felt like “giving up.” Instead, I took a deep breath and though about what an A on my transcript would look like, versus a B or a C. talk about motivation. I also waited to reward myself with coffee after finishing two assignments.

3) Three tips. If I could offer three tips to future students they would be 1) Don’t procrastinate. Don’t do it. It’s really hard to bounce back from behind, so you’re better off staying on track. 2) PLAN AHEAD. In fact, forget stay on track, plan ahead! Know who you’re going to talk to and when. Call an entrepreneur and tell them you’re going to talk to them at a certain time. 3)  Reward yourself for completing assignments. That doesn’t mean go partying or pig out, but a candy or two makes success tangible. It also quells the ache of having to do an essay and makes them a little easier to bear. 

Always remember: people before you have done it. So can you. 

1. 

Free Money

So today, I spent some time trying to give away free money. As a college student, I never thought I'd say that, but I did. And it wasn't as weird as I expected it to be.

I decided to go to Turlington Plaza, because there are always people there. I decided I would try and get strangers to take my money by offering it with  good luck for midterms. I was surprised by the number of people who said no. I expected everyone to say yes, but 3 out of the 5 people I talked to said yes. Two people said no.

Week 7 reading reflection

 This week's reading was on Daniel Yankelovich and David Meer's "Rediscovering Market Segmentation."

1. So the marketing segmentation technique, if successful, helps companies tailor their products. But the technique is now mostly used by advertising agencies. That to me, was kind of a surprise. Because if you think about it, advertising is a business.
2. What confused me was the graph, which looked at two sets of characteristics versus a segmentation to develop advertising and a segmentation to develop new products.  While the graph clearly laid out what it was looking at in terms of data, I don’t understand how all of these variables play into the technique. Why is the customer’s attitude surveyed for advertising, but it’s the purchase and usage data on customers when it comes to developing new products. As I’m typing it out, it makes more sense, but I’m not sure what the graph’s use is.
3. If I could ask the author a question, I would ask: “What types of patterns of looking at what consumers buy have proven to be successful?” The author gives a good example about how a company, in this case Miller Lite, used an ad technique that wasn’t successful. Their commercial of mud-wrestling supermodels didn’t increase sales. So what could Miller Lite have done better, other than sexualize women?
4. There wasn’t really anything I disagreed with the author about. It’s just a concept I have to study a bit more to understand. 

Elevator Pitch No. 2

Your Next Destination is here to help you, the tired, stressed-out college student, find your place on campus. With your car! Believe it or not, there is one. The idea? Build a sustainable parking lot that’ll have a metro system to bring students on campus. The plan is to make it close enough so that walking is an option, but also providing a safe place for your car during the day, and having a way to get to and fro without having to walk in the heat, cold or rain. Because in the heart of the Gator Nation, we know that we’re not immune to the changing seasons of Florida. Our plan is to only sell as many decals as we have spots, or figure out a way only sell as many as we can provide during a busy time. I know what it’s like to circle the parking lot for several minutes. I don’t want other students to have to go through that again.

Looking back, I realized that my pitch is a lot cleaner and has a lot more information. Using feedback from the people I’ve interviewed, I’ve been able to get a clearer idea of what I want to create and build. It’s also a lot easier to talk about what I envision my project being because I’ve been building up the idea. 

Customer Interviews No. 3

For the third series, I aimed for students in the parking lot.
I had them read the business concept that I wrote, and asked them a few follow-up questions. For instance, I asked: "Do you feel like there's a need for on-campus parking?" and "Would this idea/concept help?"

   

Looking back, I think this is something that I think students really want and need. I wasn't really surprised to hear that this is something they'd like to see. It seems like any type of parking that would make the lives' of students easier would help.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

Michael Porter's "The Five Forces that Shape Competitive Strategy" was an interesting read. I also watched his video on Youtube about his article to better understand his message and how he wanted to convey that through his article. 

1. The part that surprised me the most was learning that there are more than just the competition out there that strategists face. The five powers, which are: bargaining power of customers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes and rivalry among competitors seems to break it down into clean sectors of the whole issue.

2. What confused me was how he said the framework of the five powers can help a strategist, or an entrepreneur, keep from getting trapped in a trend, or keep from losing a lot of profit, but can the framework really help you plan for that? I just think the market is always changing, so can you really plan for it?

3. How did you decide on the powers? How would you apply the framework of the business of journalism?

4. I don’t know if he’s right about competition always being the biggest barrier to making a profit or running a successful business. I’m not sure Mr. Porter can identify that in every field, because in the field of newspapers, the biggest barrier is the customer. How do we get them to buy the paper and fund storytelling? Unless of course, we look at the internet as being the biggest competitor… 

Idea Napkin No. 1

Based off of comments and feedback, here are my "napkin" ideas. 

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?

I am a journalist. My skills involve learning the truth by gathering the facts, and making it readable. My skills are also people-skills, because I’m able to ease a conversation in a direction that I need. My aspirations include shining light on the truth, but also making the lives of people easier. My business concept involves creating a sustainable parking lot for students at UF. Sustainability and construction don’t really go hand-in-hand, but I’m determined to create something new and modern that combines them. This business could help improve my life and the lives of others.

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

I’m offering stress-free parking. The service is still being developed, but basically, it would allow off-campus students the chance to park in a local place, close enough for them to go grab their cars, but they’d ride a kind of tram system that would bring them to campus from the parking lot and vice versa.

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

I’m offering a way to get to campus. My product will be aimed at college students who don’t want to pay $80 for a one-semester long decal that doesn’t even guarantee them parking. This lot would guarantee parking at a cheaper price. It would only sell the number of decals equivalent to the number of parking spots. If the need is great, algorithms and math would be involved to ensure that anyone who wanted to park there would be able to. I think my customers will all have in common a need to find a haven for their cars, their babies, to go to school.

4)    Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 

It’s valuable because we care. Here at Your Next Destination, we care about the needs of students... Because we are students too! We care about your needs, because they’re our needs too. We want you to use our service so we can incorporate them in other places. We want to combine sustainability for growing populations, but also the world. Creating eco-friendly parking spaces would not only be popular, but good.  

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

We want sustainable parking. Some people would consider that sentence an oxymoron. But that’s our mission, because we care about our futures and yours. We want you to get your education in a timely manner, which means avoiding circling the parking lots for 20 minutes and aggressively stalking people pulling out of spots. We’ve all been there. There’s no shame. But now, if we make this possible, we can all create a less-stressed campus and happier students. 

Interviewing Customers No. 2

Opportunity: Building a parking space on campus.

This time, I found strangers near parking lots and parking garages.

I asked whether they would recommend incoming students to bring their cars, whether they have a need to park on-campus, and if they think a parking garage would help.

What I learned was a lot of students are peeved by parking. Many students found that parking on campus is a hassle to be avoided. As to whether a parking garage would be the prime solution, I’m not sure anymore, after speaking to some students. It wouldn’t be sustainable, and would it make a difference? UF would just charge more for decals.

I learned that students are a tough crowd to please. On one hand, we feel like we deserve many opportunities more than what UF has to offer. But we have to consider the finances as well. Would fees go up to cover construction? Where is UF putting the money? Questions still linger than I need to ask.

Three tips I'd offer to students: PLAN AHEAD. Don't wait for the last day!!!
Plan to talk to more than 5 people! Some people will say no and that's okay. Move on to the next person. 
Take the time to be friendly to them so that they trust you. After all, they're helping you get the grade!

 

  

Weekly Reading 5

Here is week 5's reflection reading!

1.      What kind of surprised me was how many sources of innovative ideas entrepreneurs look at for ideas. For instance, “incongruities” was super interesting, because it’s defined as the gap between expectations and reality. What kind of strikes me is that a person has to be insanely creative, like, a box of thoughts doesn’t even exist to think outside of because they’re just in another world.

2.      Nothing was really confusing other than why people would think innovation is planned. Maybe it’s because I grew up in an era where the wildly successful people made it big after coming up with a wildly successful idea, but it seems like innovation is the cross between opportunity and hard work.

3.      If I had to ask the author a question, it would be: out of the principles of innovation, which one do you consider to be the most necessary one to set up for innovation? Like if they had to choose.

4.      I don’t think there was anything in particular that I disagreed with. It was very straightforward, and presented information in a very factual sense. I really like how the author actually listed things and mindsets that hinder growth as an entrepreneur. 

Elevator Pitch No. 1

Opportunity: Parking spaces at UF

Solution: create a parking lot unlike any other. Bring in top architects from across the world and make do with the space we have.

Name: Your Next Destination

Here at Your Next Destination, we work together to help anyone and everyone solve a problem about a lack of space. As a company, we’re aware of increasing populations, which become dense in desired places like big cities and college towns. We work together with some world-class architects to bring you not only a beautiful end result, but one that works.