Final Reflection

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?

Definitely the first set of interviews was the most formative experience for me. They were incredibly stressful; it was the beginning of the semester and I was not yet comfortable conversing with random strangers about something I had no idea whether or not they would be interested in. It definitely became easier with each successive set of interviews. It really lends legitimacy to the idea that growth only occurs outside of your comfort zone. I really enjoyed having fun with the original brainstorming assignments. Looking back perhaps I was a bit too flippant, but I enjoyed those assignments. I am most proud of the fact that I have simply made it to the end.

3) At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. And we repeated the mantra -- I am an entrepreneur. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?

I do see myself as an entrepreneur, but I definitely still have quite a ways to go. The entrepreneurial mindset is one that can be continuously developed; I am determined to continue to progress in this skill set. I am proud of the fact that I have discovered in myself an ability to accomplish tpes of tasks that I previously thought would never be something I was capable of.

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?

This class is, like is said over and over (perhaps because its true of just about everything), exactly what you put into it. If you do the bare minimum to simply meet the requirements in order to check off those declarations, you won't get anything out of it. If, however, you put in the time and the effort, there is massive potential to grow.

Don't procrastinate if you want to be successful. Once I switched over to completing my assignments about a week in advance, I never missed another point. Working a little bit ahead is the biggest favor you can do yourself.

Finally, embrace the awkwardness of the interactions. If you feel uncomfortable, you are learning.

Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity

Netflix and other such services have steadily increased the rate at which people watch through television series. Waiting week by week per episode is a thing of the past. People find a series that they are interested in, and proceed to binge watch it in a matter of a couple weeks or even days. This is leading to an emerging problem that has really always existed but never on this scale: the feeling that one has run out of things to watch. This applies to basically every form of modern media; books, movies, video games, people are burning through them at a faster rate than ever before. Traditional methods of discovering new material are no longer sufficient to satisfy this overwhelming demand, and I believe that my product is aptly timed to answer this emerging need. The window of opportunity is currently wide open, but it will only remain so while there is no other service that addresses this. If this idea is to be acted on now, there is no telling how huge the possible payoff could be. This is essentially the opportunity to introduce a completely new service to the American market, the largest demographic of consumers in the world.

The need I am referring to is very real. Ask just about any college student, movie buff, or avid reader. Everyone has had a time in their life where they simply felt like there was nothing to read/watch. This is a problem of perception and awareness; one that can be easily solved if only there was an organized system for achieving that purpose.

Innovation

The product that I am offering meets the aforementioned need. My idea is Storybored.com, a website and app that will revolutionize the way that people watch, read, and play through story media. The idea is simple and proven to work. Very much like how Pandora had such a massive impact on the music industry with its Music Genome Project, we hope to make an impact through a similarly functioning algorithm. When creating an account, users will input genre interests and a few past favorite series of theirs. The system will then generate some suggestions, and as users work their way through the suggestions there will be a rating system available to provide feedback. The system will take into account the feedback and use it to increase the accuracy of future suggestions. The best part is that this venture requires little in terms of building a database or getting licensing; we are not providing the media, merely suggesting it. 

I think the only difficulty in implementing this innovation will be to convince users that it is worth their time to check it out. This means that streamlining the signup process as much as possible will be of the utmost importance. Furthermore, we will need to attract the attention of the “early adopter” demographic. This will mean advertising on services that already employ similar structures (Pandora, Spotify, etc.) and possibly on places like YouTube. We need to target the young demographic first, and then expand outward.

This is a prime opportunity as there are currently little to no competitors in the market. My ideal team would mostly consist of those that I have already worked with on the project, and I do not foresee the need for a larger staff until the idea really takes off. As what we are selling is not a physical product, packaging, transportation, etc. are basically a non-issue.

Three Minor Elements

The main element that sets this venture apart is that, as stated above, I believe it meets a need that is not currently being met at all. People rely mainly on friend’s recommendations and general hearsay to decide what they want to read/watch. There is no organized system quite like this on the market at the moment.

Another key advantage here is my team. I believe that between the coding skills and network connections we have, my team is aptly prepared to meet this new market with a product that would stand out regardless of it being the first. I think I have a uniquely talented group of individuals to collaborate with.

As far as what next, the direction that Storybored will be taking if it takes off, is to expand into the actual story media industries. I believe that if we can establish enough brand recognition, that if consumers begin to associate our seal with quality material, we can begin doing some sort of “editor’s choice” program, where books that we find of particularly high quality, have universal appeal, or is highly rated on our app/website.  I believe this to be the most logical expansion of our brand into a household name.

Depending on the success of this venture, I could see myself staying with the company for quite a while. After ten years or so, I see myself possibly exploring other options. In all honesty, I do not see my career as being defined by a single company, and would probably like to switch avenues after an extended period of time. I envision myself as a successful agent of business, in whatever form that may take. I envision this company as my starting point, not my endpoint.

Conclusion

To reiterate, I believe that Storeybored is tapping into a huge potential demographic due to the meeting of an emerging unmet need. The technology to create such a website has existed for a while now, as evidenced by companies such as Pandora, but no one has applied it for this purpose. The opportunity is there, we have the technical prowess, and the business model is viable. I see no reason not to give this venture a chance.

Feedback:

The feedback I have received has not really lead me to change anything. Overall response to the idea in its latest iteration has been overwhelmingly positive, and I think that most people agree that it is an innovative idea for a venture. I did take a moment to add some clarification as to the database, and where/how we will be making these suggestions.  The responses have definitely reinforced my ideas about where the strength of this venture lies (it is a completely unmet need in an emerging market).

Week 14 Reading Reflection

1.  Something in this reading that surprised me was the amount of resources that companies today dedicate to being innovative. I already knew that there was a push in modern business to promote innovative ideas, and that corporations were realizing that entrepreneurship wasn't needed to just start a business, but also keep it alive. I just didn't realize the extent to which they invest in it, with teams and such specifically dedicated to it. You always think of corporate only looking at and accepting hard data, but I guess data is starting to show a payoff in this type of investment.   
2. I find the idea of structured corporate entrepreneurship a little confusing. How exactly does one set the boundaries on such a hard to define activity. Who is to say whether or not the I-Team is being productive? How do you evaluate something like that? I definitely feel like this would be a challenge to implement.
3. Two questions I would ask the author:

• Is structured creativity possible? 
• Is the type of entrepreneurship seen within corporations the same as that seen within individuals? 

1. I do not disagree with anything that I read in this chapter. I honestly did not know much about corporate entrepreneurship going in, so it is difficult to have a different opinion.

Going for Google Gold

1) A discussion of your general approach and strategy to search engine optimization (SEO). What were some of the activities you did for each blog post to pursue SEO? 

I was not focused on SEO for this blog. I viewed this blog as more of an archive for my entrepreneurial journey, and I doubt it holds any real interest to anyone other than myself. For this reason, I did not spend much time trying to promote it.

2) What were your keywords. How did you select those keywords? Did you change or refine your keywords through the semester?

I probably included the words "business" and "entrepreneurship" about a thousand times over the course of this blog. I also included the phrase "story media" in just about every post that I discussed my venture idea in. I did not really change my keywords throughout the semester; we learned about the importance of keywords for SEO very early on in this class.

3) How did you use social media to enhance your SEO efforts? What your your surprises or general impression of using social media to improve your blog's profile? Was social media generally receptive of your blog, or did it get ignored?

I am not a very heavy user of a social media (I didn't even have a Facebook until about halfway through this semester), so admittedly I have not promoted my blog through social media at all. I imagine that social media is a very effective means of promotion, but I was not overly concerned with this aspect of the blog.

4) What was your most "viral" post? In other words, which post obtained the most traffic? Why do you think?

I guess my first "idea napkin" got a bit of attention due to the fact that I literally took a picture of a napkin and posted it. Other than that, I don't really feel like any particular post got that much attention. I think people were attracted tot he post because it was sort of unique and stood out from the other posts.

5) Finally, did you make it to the first page of Google results for your keywords? If not, what page of results did you make it to?

I cannot find my blog on google unless I specifically enter the address and title. I was not focused on optimizing my blog for visibility. This is an error in hindsight.

Very Short Interview with an Entrepreneur, Part 2

My impression of my initial interview is that it seems unoriginal and forced. I was so focused on simply completing the assignment that I did not stop to consider the originality or thoughtfulness of my questions. Despite this, I do remember and see that Mr Lennon gave insightful answers, and I am appreciative of that.

Once again I conducted a phone interview with Mr Lennon. It went as follows:

Was there anything that happened in your entrepreneurial journey that made you seriously consider quitting and just finding a regular job? 

Well, early on it was certainly difficult. I wasn't always confident that the I was going was going to work out. We tend to have these concrete goals for ourselves, and the thing is, its really hard to set realistic ones for yourself when there is so much you don't know. When things are that uncertain, and you don't really know where you are headed moving forward, it is certainly easy to get discouraged.

What has been the most rewarding part of the experience for you?

The uncertainty is double edged sword. Sure, it discourages you sometimes, but it was also one of the main sources of excitement for me. That's probably been why I have been able to stick with this thing for so long; I never know what I will be doing tomorrow.

Is there a single piece of advice that you could give me that you feel is *the* most important?

Honestly just be ready to be not ready. The better you are at existing in uncomfortable situations, the better you will be at adapting to the world of entrepreneurship. Flexibility and perseverance cannot be overvalued. You can have everything but one of those and still fail. 

Reflection:

I did not really pick up on a sense that Mr. Lennon felt that I had progressed. I can understand this, I d not know him very well, and even I find it hard to measure changes in myself sometimes. I have grown significantly in my professionalism over the course of this semester. I do not know whether it shows, but I internally I certainly feel the difference.

Week 13 Reading Reflection

1. I wasn't really surprised by much in this reading. I was previously unfamiliar with the material, so it wasn't very possible for me to go in with preexisting expectations. I will say that it was nice to see the applicability of things like SWOT analysis and other such exercises that I already am familiar with, as I believe that these would be key components of any feasability study. 
2. I was confused by due diligence evaluation, tangible book value, price to earnings ratio, etc. All of these terms are new to me considering my unfamiliarity with the stock market. 
3.  Two questions that I would ask the author:

• What is the most important component/statistic to evaluating the overall strength of a company, in your opinion?
• What is the best way to increase investors confidence in your business?

4. I really can't disagree with the author about anything in this section. I know very little as far as this topic is concerned.

Celebrating Failure

During the last semester I tried and failed to get into FLA, the Florida Leadership Academy. Not only did I fail to get in, but the reason that I failed was due to a very good friend and coworker of mine lying about sending in a letter of recommendation. My application was thrown out before even being considered.
For a while I was very bitter about this. Instead of being happy for my friends who got in, I was jealous and annoyed and was thinking along the lines off "well if he/she got in surely I had a chance!". Looking back I am not very proud of the way I acted during this time.
Over time I have managed to get over these hostile and negative feelings. I like to think I learned from the experience. I know that in the future, if something is truly that important, you cannot let it all come down to a single person to determine whether or not you succeed. Always have a backup, always be prepared for the worst.
Coping with failure has always been difficult for me. I tend to take it personally when I do not meet a goal. This class has helped me to recognize that failure is not a bad thing; it is a natural part of the learning process. Success is achieved through failure, as long as one does not let a failure hold them back. This mindset has led me to adopt a new perspective on taking risks. Every risk taken is an opportunity for growth, regardless of the outcome.

My Exit Strategy

1. As far as my plans for myself in relation to this company over the long term, I definitely don't envision myself staying for my entire career. More than likely, I will stay for 5-10 years (assuming its success) and then move on in search of another opportunity. I don't like the idea of staying in one place my whole life, and even considering the excitement of staring and running my own venture, I wouldn't want to limit myself to only that experience.
2. I really value variety in my life. As exciting as any one thing may be, I do not want to have anything that obligates me to stay in the same spot. I enjoy the ability to move from place to place and explore options. Establishing a successful venture would be a huge accomplishment, but one that I would eventually leave.
3. I do not believe that the aforementioned mindset has affected my decisions in any kind of way. Not wanting to limit myself to one thing does not change my dedication to what I am currently working on. Perhaps it is something I should have taken more into account early on, considering the process of transferring responsibility of the venture to someone else, but I do not believe that is a critical consideration at the moment.

What's Next

Interviews:

Reflection

As far as new vs existing markets are concerned, I believe that we are already targeting such a wide range of people that it cannot really be limited to a distinct market. Very early on in defining this business model, I realized that limiting my audience simply to avid book readers going through enough material to warrant a service such as this was a little too limiting. I was forced to expand my idea into other venues of media: television, movies, and video games. Honestly, I am much happier with this route that the idea has taken, as I feel it has very universal appeal rather than limited, and is much more innovative and forward thinking. It is because of this early expansion, however, that I am left with little else to expand into post-launch.

I speculated in my previous post about the possibility of moving into more public endorsement avenues. Respected institutions with brand power can often dictate the larger success or failure of media. Once my venture's brand has been well established, it is possible that this sort of staying power by association will be acquired. This offers a new venue of interaction; we will no longer be a purely business to consumer company. This will involve business to business interactions. I see this as the most logical next step/market expansion. I do not believe that without some kind of crazy circumstance, any other market could be reasonably breached with the service we offer.

Week 12 Reading Reflection

1.  I definitely found it surprising that apparently a lot of companies fail due to lack of planning. I feel like, if anything, I over plan things like this. I can't imagine taking the risk of stepping out into a business venture without examining every possible angle. 
2. I did not find anything in this chapter to be confusing.
3. Two questions for the author:

• What are the benefits to categorizing failure?
• Is there a way to evaluate how well planned out an organization is? Who's to say when lack of planning is responsible for a failure? 

1. Something that I disagree with the author on a little is the last segment. I do not believe that a company has to continue being innovative to survive. To truly succeed, some sort of unique innovation is indeed necessary in the beginning, but once a company has established a loyal customer base and maintains a dependable, reliable brand, I feel like they can survive indefinitely. McDonald's has thriving off of their original fast service innovation for more than half a century.