Final Reflection

1) Read through your blog 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.

Where I start with my blog is the very fact that I hated the idea of having a blogger blog since it would force me to be signed into my YouTube account while I worked. Aside from that, most of my posts were much longer than they were supposed to be. The high of the class was when I finished the video interviews while the low was missing an assignment as it was too complex for the time it was assigned in, Spring Break. The fun moments were creating outlandish and crazy venture ideas while reviewing the assignments of my friends. Moments of dread came from outlandish assignments and otherwise, inane thought experiments.

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?

My most formative experience is speaking with people in the video interviews as it was awkward to speak with unknown people. The experience that I will remember for years to come was creating venture ideas because I will pursue them to my greatest extent. My most joyous experience was realizing my venture idea was a failure, an utter complete disaster. It freed me to look at things differently. I am most proud of myself for accomplishing all the assignments on time.

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 have always been an entrepreneur as I see a way to try to make profit. The mantra was quite elementary in that it supposed that I had no experience as an entrepreneur. At this point, I am still what I was: an entrepreneur. I have not moved closer to a state that I am already in.

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 they think out their responses and ideas and to do that much work that is required of them. I would recommend them to actually do their assignments a few days in advance to not get caught up in a sudden problem. I would recommend they create calendars to do this and plan out accordingly. 

Week 15 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?

The biggest surprise in the reading for me was the fact that the woman mentioned in the introduction of the article would later play a major role in the founding of a company as its very first customer. I just thought of her as one of the more recent or “prepared” cases by public relations for distribution.

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

One part of the reading that was confusing to me was the amount of opposition towards the microfinancing companies and how religious officials attacked them. If the thugs were attacking them anyway, why would they need to go to the religious leaders? Plus, a more senior and respected cleric could easily overturn this.

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

Are there any tax mechanisms in place for the new found revenue to be collected, or is taxation in the rural poor areas of India simply put an ignored task because of how complex it is? The reason I ask is because SKS must be bringing in a ton of revenue into the local economy that governments must be looking to exploit to grow their tax base.

What is the overall reaction by the NGO as their business is being taken by a more effective and privatized force? I don’t know what they did in response to this and would like to see to have a better understanding of how the industry works.

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

The author was wrong about leaving the town as they put the people of that town in the arms of the thugs, instead of combating it using other methods. It would be quite easy to a cleric from a more modern part of India to counter that Islamic ruling or create an alternative company for these situations. 

Elevator Pitch No. 4

1) The pitch. Same as last time, 1-minute long. No Web cams. No sitting. Be dynamic! Upload the video to YouTube (as you do with all of your videos) and post the link.

https://youtu.be/oykwz31i3Do

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. 

The feedback I received on my last pitch was that my idea was to complicated to explain in 60 seconds, as well as being too broad and lacking in details to actually be effective. A lot of praise was given as a result of my hook and dress attire. What was silly was judging my idea on the basis of being feasible as of course, it is hence, why I proposed it. 

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

Changes made to the presentation were as follows: Actually had proper dress and incorporated it into the pitch. My idea was simple and to the point, and had an actual basis in reality. Another thing was compare myself to the competition and say why my idea was better.

Venture Concept No. 2

·       What are the forces or changes in the environment creating this opportunity?

The forces of change in the environment creating this opportunity is an economic incentive for nations and private interests to achieve security in an era where non-state actors are incredibly common. Criminal gangs, terrorists and corrupt groups are all at their zenith of power as of late and must be considered in terms of security.

·     

         How is this market defined geographically and demographically?

The market has the potential to be global, yet I will simply focus on the Latin American market as there is much demand for security. Demographically, Latin America is increasing in GDP and worth as such it can afford what I am going to propose.

·    

        How are customers currently satisfying this need?  And how loyal are they to whatever they use now? 

Customers are currently satisfying their need by hiring expensive private security, buying razor wire, alarms, steel doors and guns. Loyalty of private security is always in question, since they can flip on you and be a part of any break-in or attempt on one’s life. As such, many of the measures I have mentioned could be foiled by this lack of loyalty in the face of immense monetary reward.

·       How big is this opportunity?

This opportunity is massive since security is a human necessity as such that whenever someone decides not to invest in it, they are an instant target. Latin America being unstable and quite vulnerable to all sorts of vile things is an especially tempting market to invest in because the vast majority of the population can’t trust the police or security to keep them safe.

·       How long will the “window of opportunity” be open?

This window of opportunity will be open for as long as there is a need for security as well as the time it would take for these countries to regulate drones. As such, I would suspect around ten to fifteen years of an open window to create this idea. To be an early adopter, I suspect we have three years until someone does this.

Innovation. An innovation may be defined as a new or creative service, product, or process that may be applied in the marketplace to address customer needs. The service, product, or process you develop in this class may be radically innovative or it may be incrementally innovative. In this section, I would like to you discuss your innovation in moderate detail. Explain what it is, what it does, and how it works. You should also describe how you will make money – in other words, what, exactly, are you selling and for how much? For instance, if I was starting a business to teach people how to play the piano, I would be selling an hour of my time for $50.

The product which I wish to develop for my venture is quite radical in its premise. A mass-produced drone for the purpose of security. It can be outfitted with any number of modifications including night-vision, high-frequency siren to take care of delinquents, and even lethal counter-measures. A GPS kill-switch hooked up to a certain area to allow for a limited area of operation and to prevent possible theft. The drone in question will simply be a modified parrot drone-like knockoff produced in Latin America as it will be closer to the market in question. The cost of a base drone will be around $75.00 and will be hooked controlled with a remote control. Each mod will have an action button activation on the control meaning that if you had a camera one day and a siren the next, it would be controlled from the same button. We will sell modifications minus an actual firearm, as that is usually restricted by the statists and just allow for a modification to install one. These drones can allow homeowners to have a better sense of what is around them in addition to not putting them directly in harms-way.

Venture Concept. A venture concept may be defined as the application of a specific innovation to address a specific opportunity. In this section, describe how your innovation will solve or address the opportunity you identified. You also want to explain why customers will buy your innovation. In describing the concept, you also want to be sure to cover issues such as:

·       What are the reasons to think customers would switch to this new product?  How hard will it be to get them to switch? 

Customers will switch to this new product since many people are always looking for a new way to secure themselves and their property without having to put their own lives at risk. Another advantage of this is the idea that people can use the drone’s modification for other uses not based on security. Plus a lot of people love drone technology and this gives them an excuse to buy one.

·        

·       Who are the competitors?  What are their possible weaknesses or vulnerabilities? 

Competitors will be, of course, Chinese firms as well as if American or European firms decide to break in as well. Their weakness is the idea that the American/Euro tech is quite expensive and actually based more on brand value than comparison to sum of the whole parts. Chinese firms have to ship large quantities over the ocean, which is expensive. I will have the same cost to produce as China, but without the shipping costs. Also they don’t exploit the nationalistic angle in these nations, which see a high-tech factory as a sign that their country is moving up in the world and will contribute to high local sales of the product.

·       What role does packaging, your price points, distribution, customer support, the customer experience or the business location play (if any) in defining your business concept?

Packaging will be sleek and have various slight local variants to show the focus of it being a local product. My price points will be cheap enough that many of the middle class and rich to afford it as well as some of the poorer communities to advance some tasks. Business location is vital since it gives access to resources and labor which is underused to produce vast quantities of these drones. Regulation in these countries is so low, that with drone technology can be advanced quite rapidly without the intruding eye of the state.

·       How would you organize a “business” to support the ongoing production of your new product, service, or process? How many employees? What roles are in the venture?  

I would organize a business by establishing major factories in various points throughout Latin America with several hundred employees in total. The roles of the venture will mostly manufacturing of product and some selling to retail stores to see the product fly off the shelves.

The three minor elements

I also want you to cover three final elements in your description. Your treatment of these questions can be relatively short. Please focus most of your time on the opportunity, innovation, concept descriptions above.

First, describe what you think your most important resource will be. You might call this your venture’s “secret sauce” or “unfair advantage.” Besides your actual innovative product, service, or process, what will you have that will make it hard for competitors to copy your success?

My unfair advantage will be looking into ways on how to skirt the law of several countries to flood it with my product. What I mean by that is introduce the prospect of high-tech jobs to a country in need with the tradeoff of having local production in exchange for looser drone laws. In the end, this would allow for brand loyalty in many countries as I will have different drone brands in each country for example in Mexico, I would incorporate a company called Maya-Aeronautica and then in Panama create Ancon Sistemas and give each country the impression that they had a unique prospect.

Second, what’s next for the venture? Describe either the next opportunity you want to tackle with your current innovation, or describe the next new product, service, or process that may be aimed at your existing customers.

What is next for the venture is probably just advancing our drone designs and making more specialized models for each market like a mining drone or a farming drone. Something to help people in their everyday lives.

Third, what’s next for you? Assuming you launched, where do you want to be in five years with this venture? Where do you want to be, as an entrepreneur, in the next decade, and how does this first venture help you achieve your vision?

In five years after launch, I would like to be the sole producer of drones in Latin America or the majority producer. In the next decade as an entrepreneur I would like to be wealthy enough to stem the tide of regulation and government interference in business. This first ventures makes the governments of nations become dependent on me and allow me to dictate the terms of drone business in Latin America.

Week 14 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? 

The biggest surprise for me in the reading was the fact that a lot of innovation could happen within an existing firm. Much of the work that we focused on this course was striking it on your own and the like, but this reading throws all that to the wayside. 

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

One part of the reading which was confusing for me was the idea of innovation within a company since companies themselves have existing cultures, which might be ineffective and resistant to change in which case, wouldn't proposing innovation as a salary-man be nigh fruitless in most cases and might be harmful. 

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

1. What is better to innovate in a company or having your company be the innovation? Because most of this text has been devoted to small companies and to talking about generalist business terms like taxes or revenue. Would innovation spoken of in this text be better suited in your own firm, because I feel that an overwhelming amount of the book is devoted to that.

2. Why aren't governments for-profit? I mean they tax their populace for all sorts of social "benefits", yet waste a large chunk of it. If they weren't a non-profit, maybe they would more focused on innovation and pleasing their investors, the people. Instead, they are a model of inefficiency since they are the only game in town.  

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

I think the author was wrong about innovation being possible in a large company if you are a low-level member of it. Any meaningful change will only be restricted to the lower levels of your company, aka the local branch. I disagree that the average person can make any real change without significant influence upon the company.

Google Gold

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

My general approach to SEO status was quite simple. I have realized that putting in a number of keywords will actually make my blog stand out from the noise that is the Surface Net or the top 2% of the internet. Another SEO was the use of references such as Week x as it would apply only to this class or to a small select number of classes at most. 

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

My keywords were "Power2U", Political Bias, Big Idea Contest and Innovation Academy. These keywords were selected because they were quite generalized and focused on ever-smaller levels of the internet. As the semester went on, I discarded any direct references to IA, Big Idea Contest and just did Power2U since it would better allow for a SEO, then those two major terms. 

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 used Google+ to enhance my SEO efforts through my circle and posting on my page. I formed a general impression that social media did not improve my blog's profile as 100% of traffic received was from UF. Social media otherwise ignored my blog.

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

My most Viral post would have to be my post on the New Venture No. 1 as it is well known to a lot of people in IA and they were looking forward to me fleshing out my idea. What also perpetuated it is my reputation for thinking outside of the box and furthering unorthodox ideas.

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 did not make it to the first page of Google results for my keywords as they were too broad and there was confusion with another device. I made it to page five of my most popular term. I failed in getting optimal SEO, but learned a lot in how to get to the first page.

Very Short Interview Part 2

My impressions of that first interview could be summed up in one word: naïve. I had no idea what entrepreneurship was about and asked purely basic questions instead, of looking at asking about how to be a better entrepreneur or how to actually get capital and spend it wisely.

For that reason, I met again with Dr. Roger Austen to ask him three questions. Unfortunately, he did not wish to be recorded. In lieu of that, I have the three questions I asked him and an almost exact transcript of how our conversation went.

MT: So Roger, how important is your network of clients? Do you do things with them outside of work to build rapport with them?

Roger: Ya, a lot of them are good friends of mine, drinking buddies even. A lot of them are in the local Republican Party but I know some democrats. In my line of work, the people are everything since in a lot of local elections no one gives two iotas about parties, they care about the people. The same applies in a lot of other types of work too since my network is how I get referrals and grow my business.

MT: How often do you have to deal with opposing firms?

Roger: Opposition, what is that?! No, but seriously they are almost always the ones’ behind other campaigns with the notable exception of those candidates who think they can run without a campaign adviser. Most of the other firms are small operations like my own and are generally run by people I get along with. Always have respect for the other firms because if you burn the bridges, you can’t get a job with them if things go south for you.

MT: What is the significance of branding?

Roger: It is everything because no one wants to deal with someone who has a poor quality service or good. But that being said, have your own twist on an industry is what makes you memorable. For example, on my business cards, I have it Dr. Roger Austen, Grand Papua, to show people that I stand apart from my competitors couple that with my reputation for the success and you have a well-established brand.

My comfort level with Roger during the interview was shown to be a lot better because I didn’t stutter at all. The conversation went well, which I can’t say for what happened during the first interview since I was not very confident speaking on business matters. Much of what I learned in this course taught me in business matters that you should not be scared to interact with people or otherwise, you will never make a cent. 

Reading Reflection Week 13

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?

The biggest surprise for me in the reading was the existence of an emotional bias found in sellers of companies. It was something that I did not expect to show up on a text so based on formal terms to account for such a “real life” phenomenon.

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

One part of the reading that was confusing to me was confusing to me was the difference between letters of intent and term sheets. The main reason behind it was the wording of one being binding yet, non-binding while the other was completely arbitrary to both parties. Another cause of confusion is if some provisions are simply temporary until the final agreement or are in place for the rest of the partnership.

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

Two questions I would ask the author would be: Why did you switch from a primarily academic content to one that incorporated real-world applications like the aforementioned idea of emotional bias? The stark difference between the two schools of thought was made with so little transition that it left me without an answer to what could have caused it.

My second question is; If you were a CEO of a company with a high valuation and little substance, would you reduce the valuation or keep as is to ride the stock wave, knowing it might cripple your company? Facebook in the chapter had a high valuation but, was overhyped and suffered for a couple months trying to get itself off the ground in the stock market. Would be better to start off low and then rocket up to maintain a higher level to avoid this.

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

I don’t think the author was wrong about anything this chapter as all the content was correct and informative. Yet, there was a bit of an issue with some of the explanations though, this problem was a minor hindrance. 

Celebrating Failure

1) Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester, and failed each time.

This past semester I failed to get a venture off the ground. This idea was first created during the IA study abroad trip to Ireland and was the brainchild of myself and three team members. What caused it to fail was the very fact that since last fall, we planned out to join the Big Idea Contest. Half of the team had any real interest in the competition itself and the idea failed to get off the ground. We decided to push on from this failure to realize our entire concept is flawed. The end result of all of this was that we lost the competition and the idea is now buried.

2) Tell us what you learned from it. 

What I learned from this experience is to not trust flaky friends and rely on people that are gung-ho for a project. The other thing is to actually think out what you will create and then compare to the real-world and see how it fares under criticism. This will save so much time for future ventures as time goes on. Finally, start small and work your way up as if you try to build an idea from the sky-down, then it will just remain in the clouds.

3) Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn't it? It's embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we have to change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failure (emotionally, behaviorally). Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were four months ago?

I handle failure by analyzing what caused it in the first place to deal with the behavioral aspect of it. Another aspect that I deal with, are my very own emotions which are usually in a negative state as a result of a failure. Through mediation and looking at previous and future successes, I pass these low points quite easily. This class has not changed my perspective on failure as that is something I have dealt with for quite a while, what has changed in this time period has been how I see it in a business atmosphere. Risks are something I am willing to take more often as time goes on and four months ago, I would be scared to even look into the abyss. 

My Exit Streategy

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?

I do not intend to sell my company in the next five years for a large return for the fact that my company will mostly likely be corrupted to suit profit instead, of truth. For that reason, I will be with my company until I die because retirement is really just a fast track to death. A family business would mean nepotism and, by no means, will my company be anything but a meritocracy. If my children do come into possession of my company, it will be through their sweat and tears and not through their name.

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

I have selected this particular exit strategy because too many times have I seen companies shift from their original purpose once the owner has left. A good example of this is Dell because the company has done poorly on the open market outside of its founder’s control. Turnaround occurred when the founder took control of his company once more. Meritocracy is the most efficient form of promotion since nepotism will automatically deny more worthy successors. It also pushes one’s progeny to be better than their progenitor or create their own venture.

3) How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources?

My exit strategy has influenced the other decisions made in the concept since it is all a long-term plan avoiding an immediate payout. The opportunity was found because of how glaring it is and how we will fix it is through long-term development of our idea into a company. Growth and resource acquisition are both concerns that have been pushed to the way-side since we have all the time in the world to deal with them as opposed to first getting our company off the ground and offering a solution to the problem we see. 

Week 12 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?

The biggest surprise in the reading for me was the ideas that cause people to leap into business, the so-called “fatal visions.” I knew about a couple of them such as people copying other firm’s strategies and failing horribly. But I was surprised to see, inability to communicate strategy to employees as that is the basis on why many employees identify themselves with their firm. A strategy-less employee base will be unable to do anything except work to make money and might jeopardize the overall goal, is the reasoning I can see for that inclusion.

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

One part of the reading that took me around for circles around my mind was the definition of innovation. For so long have I seen it defined in such deep and introspective ways that a basic definition threw me off as being simplistic and wrong on every possible level. Later, I reconsidered it since innovation was merely touched on in the section as another facet of the strategy.

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

Two questions I would ask the author would be: Why not focus on innovation much more? Innovation is a large part of strategy since it helps move a company forward and ahead of its competitors.

My second question would be: Is it ever advisable to abandon the most immediate innovation in your long term plan, if it might mean firm destruction despite giving you a huge lead later? I have pondered this after hearing about T-Mobile’s research into LTE and sidestepping 4G. It caused them a lot of damage as a firm and afterwards, they are quickly gaining huge profits. In short, is this a common example or no?

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

The author wasn’t really about anything except for his omission of the importance of innovation. I don’t really disagree with the author at all because there is almost no material that he did not cover in some capacity as well as easily explained the overarching failures that people have in making strategies. 

Venture Concept No. 1

An opportunity I have identified is the lack of virtual reality applications. Virtual reality headsets are the future and are in ever higher demand. Yet, it seems there are a good many number of possible applications not being addressed such as historical visitations, VR full-length films and exploration games. The one I wished to focus all my attention on was the idea of an exploratory game, as it is the most basic and popular of the three options.

The market is being propelled through the introduction of more powerful computers and smartphones, hence devices like the Samsung Gear VR. Many of the users are millennials, who always look towards the next frontier of technology. Geographically speaking, almost all users are situated in the developed world as they have a higher per capita amount of disposable income needed for these devices. Customers have no loyalty as of yet, since the market is so fresh and applications are constantly being pumped out by the week. Satisfaction comes from substitution with another application that does some other function that passes the time and has a cool landscape. The opportunity itself is large enough for a sizable portion of the VR community that enjoys the illusion of being in a different locale, which I would guess that it is around 70%. This window of opportunity will be open for six months to a year as VR devices have yet to go mainstream and are just now picking up steam.

This entire endeavor will be an innovation onto itself as human experience to such an immersive depth has never been attempted before. An interesting aspect of this is the ability to create panoramas of digitally rendered landscapes, thus being quite easy to create as Unreal Engine 4 (The engine that most VR games are made on) can be used to make a unique landscape of considerable size in five hours’ time. My application will consist of a player walking from a start point in a randomly chosen locale and walking through it using the touchpad. They can interact with certain parts of the environment to better understand it and draw them in closer to the overall story behind it. The app will be available on the Oculus Store and will go for a price of $2.99 as that is the average price for most applications.

Customers will buy my innovation as there is a severe shortage of applications in the Oculus Store.  Switching from nothing to something is a choice most people would gladly take at the cost of three dollars. My innovation would help fill a niche in the otherwise empty void that is the Oculus Store and competitors are non-existent as established apps fill one major role that is it. Most companies barely even have a single application on the store and most are just picture apps. Their weaknesses is a lack of ability to devote resources into a large project as to constantly update their flagship product. Packaging is vital since no-one would buy an application from a page lacking pictures, reviews and a basic description of it. Price points are quite low compared to other products on the same store of less complexity and substance that may go to a price of $10.00. Distribution will be done through an aft-mentioned third party, the Oculus Store. Customer Support will be relegated to reviews and comments and answered through a FAQ and patches. Customer experience will be our number one priority as we do wish to keep these customers to increase our brand. Our business would have a small team of programmers on hand to continue development. I would estimate we would need five programmers throughout the world to function in this role and keep the firm small to reduce overhead costs.

My most important resource will be my timing and position in an unclaimed market. My unfair advantage will be held through my extensive knowledge of Unreal Engine 4 and how to create good lore as well thus, not even giving my competitors a chance to compete. Competitors can’t actually think that far ahead as most will try to copy a success yet, not be able to make it their own since all they want is a quick buck as opposed to enriching the VR experience.

The next step for us would be to create another VR experience potentially creating a more in-depth role playing game from the one that we created using the current innovation that we employed and capital gained from the last project. This new product will help make it a more dynamic experience than just aimlessly walking in a landscape with some landmarks and make it more like an actual videogame.

My next step in five years with this product would be to aim for the domination of the VR sector in terms of games to expand this amazing technology and maybe advance it into a new headset. I would like to be in a position to invest and be a direct force in creating new VR technologies and this first venture will give me the reputation and money to make these further projects possible.

Week 11 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?  

The biggest surprise from the reading was the fact that a lot of prominent companies like Sun and Nokia have a hard time constantly innovating. Much of these companies were at the top of their fields for a while but, I just assume they fell off the wagon because of poor management and better competitors.

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

One part of the reading that was confusing to me was the use of the word aping. I had to look it up to actually understand what it meant and even longer to fit this unfamiliar word into the article’s flow to understand the author’s direction.

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

Two questions I would like to ask the author are: What occurs when someone copies another’s innovation strategy? The author wasn’t all clear with the consequences of taking another’s strategy. Failure might be likely if so, because of incompatibility yet, in the same industry that risk is lessened. Simply put, I want to know what will happen if I copy my more successful rival’s innovative strategy.

How important is market feedback for an innovative strategy?  Novartis’ absolute shutoff of market data is quite alarming since that is the lifeblood of many a company. If such a large and successful company and get away with not consulting it, is it all that important? Does it actually matter what type of industry you are in and the possibility to substitute certain parts of one’s strategy in favor of genuine technological innovation?

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

In my opinion, I think the author was wrong about the importance of crowdsourcing. He talked about it in grey terms in which it could both be a boon or a harmful endeavor. Many independent firms have actually began using crowdfunding to create products that have since flourished such as the Oculus Rift that I have next to me. Crowdfunding is by far the future of financing for both independent and well-established companies. 

The Amazon Whispherer

Describe the revenue drivers you currently include in your business concept for this class. Revenue drivers are the different ways you make money.

The revenue driver that is currently in my business concept works through data mining. People will add information about themselves in their profile as it will connect with Facebook and allow for them to look at local and state elections. This interest will be on certain issues will be noted and sold to a third-party as a form of product research for their campaigns.

Describe what kind of product offering you believe should be next. What's the next thing your customers want?

The product that should come next is a national electoral version of what we are planning to create with our local version. Everyone wants to see who will be the President of the United States as that is the highest office in the land. If we get to that point, then another leap we could do is international elections like in Canada or the UK.

Describe how this "next" thing will enhance your existing product/service offering. Does it improve the user experience, does it increase customer switching costs, does it foster customer loyalty, etc.?

This next thing will enhance our existing product offering since people will see that we think big in terms of politics and are willing to expand to meet their massive demand to enter a bigger market. This will improve user experience as it can apply to users throughout the United States. Customer loyalty will greatly improve as they know that new products are being constantly produced for their every political need.

Go to Amazon and try to find a product that is similar to the one you want to offer next. Describe the product. Include a picture of the product.

Since my product is an app, I went to the Google Play Store instead. What I found was a product called US Politics News. It is an unbiased political app that allows the person to choose the information they want from Capitol Hill. Also includes a YouTube channel as well as the guarantee that no story will be recycled.

What are the customer reviews for the product? What, exactly, do customers not like about the product? What do they like about it?

The customer reviews for the product are generally positive with some notable exceptions including people upset about advertising being a part of the application itself. Concerns of bias were also brought up as a result of editorial bias. People like how in the stories and data that they do provide is quite unbiased and free of a lot of rhetoric.

Describe what design/usability changes you'd make to the product.

I would change the design to make much more social and easy to use. The overall app looks quite crude since it is only designed to deliver information as opposed to make that information appealing to the populace at large. I would also decide to scale it down so people do not have the same complaints as local elections are nowhere nearly as biased, just lack information.

Describe why you think this product would make a good addition to your current product/service offering.

I think this product would make a good addition to our current lineup as it would introduce us to many politically minded people that don’t have time for minor elections. These people just don’t care about local politics all that much due to the sheer lack of information despite having near the same effect on their lives as state and national elections. It also gives us a good base to build on for an ever-bigger political project. 

Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

My venture is a political application to cancel out bias in the mainstream media.


Resources:

• Youth- It is valuable as it can't be bought or created and allows for a greater amount of energy as well as time to put into a venture. Though it is not rare, it is a resource that everyone has but most don't properly use it. There is no substitute for youth.
• Political Science Training - It is a vital component in this industry as having the understanding and know-how in regards to politics is vital. It is quite a common degree that anyone can take at an accredited institution. It can be substituted with actual political experience.
• Fraternal Ties: As a member of a fraternity, I have access to specialists in many different fields to help make my venture a reality. Fraternal ties are quite common, yet, not everyone has it as well as the ability to access such a high amount of computer science majors. Networking could be just as effective, yet, more tedious.
• Business Plan: My venture has a detailed plan that outlines how we will operate as well as how we will make a profit. The end result of this will be that we will more attractive to investors, though anyone can make a business plan with the proper time, knowledge and feedback. 
• Mass Distribution: An application on Google Play or the App Store can be accessed by anyone around the world. This being said, it is somewhat difficult to actually get an application on the App store making it a bit challenging for a rival to copy us for a couple months time. 
• Easy to Use Interface: An application with an attractively simple setup will appeal to utilitarians. Some political apps are quite complex and hard to use as well as it is an obstacle for a company to easily create such an interface. 
• Non-Biased: All of our competitors have a bias of some sort in their reporting. We will pull all of our information from the public records in order to allow people to make their own decisions. This is extremely rare and hard for others to get rid of their bias as they would lose their entire client base.
• Having a team: My business partners are experts in their distinctive fields of journalism, programming and business allowing for a range of knowledge to be input to a myriad of problems associated with starting a business. It is hard to find experts at such an early stage of a company's creation and they bring a massive amount of value to the company as a whole. An established company can easily procure such a group with ease.
• Dream to Change the World: A cause can help motivate both employees and investors into your idea and help it make a reality. Very few companies have any end goals that aren't just about making money. Trying to end bias is unique in its scope as well as nigh impossible for others to copy as it is so easy to simply be the voice piece of an interest group.
• Time: My venture's idea was created a year and a half of ago and is constantly being improved upon as time goes on. It is not until recently that much of the mechanisms were thought of and described in our business plan. Any company that lasts long enough can use time to their advantage to improve themselves through experience. 

The most important resource that we have is our cause to make information unbiased as that is what our entire operation is based on. Without it, all that we have is a thirst for money and hence, we lose all of our moral high ground cards causing us to just become just another news site. It is also what leads us to do what we do as well. The chance to make history is what attracts extraordinary talent to a company and leads to massive profits and overall success of a dream.

Week 10 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?  

The biggest surprise in the reading for me came as a result of the relatively easy explanations for many seemingly complicated terms like accounts receivable or the like.  It all was pretty simple to understand why businesses do things in certain ways to balance their balance sheets and how much the government plays a role in a firm surprised me as well.

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

One part of the reading that genuinely confused me was the sheer amount of similar functioning sheets such as a balance sheet, profit and loss sheet and the cash-flow statement. Many of these show the various aspects of the corporation in extreme detail up to the point that I can’t easily remember what each of them do apart from broad strokes.

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

If I had two questions that I could ask the author, my first would be: What is the extent of government regulation in the private sector? I noticed the amount of wording the in the chapter towards the IRS and other government regulatory entities in the form of financial paper-trails and the like.

My second question would be, how accurate are Pro Forma Statements? Since, I’ve read on market papers that sometimes companies do better or worse than expected. If it is not so accurate then why hasn’t a more accurate method replaced it?

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

I think the author was wrong about using just a sales forecast as the basis for an operating budget. My reasoning is that an unforeseen event can occur such as seen in the oil industry as of late, thus considerations of volatility of the market should be factored in. I don’t discount the use of the sales forecast just the addition of another tool to aid it.