week 8 Reading reflection

The biggest surprise for me during the reading of chapter 8 was the topic of public stock offering and the advantages and disadvantages that it has on investors and companies It was a surprise because some of the disadvantages were something I would have never thought of. Entrepreneurs must sacrifice a lot of control and ownership. But on the flip side, they can raise a lot of money in a short period of time. The part of the reading that was confusing was the part about private placements because it was confusing to paint the picture on how it is an alternative means of raising equity. I don't think the author was wrong about anything because everything seemed to be reasonable during the reading.

1) what are your thoughts of investing in brand new stocks?
2) Why has the venture capital market grown so dramatically?
3) What stocks are the best to invest in?

I would ask these questions for my personal benefit for my future entrepreneurial jobs. The answers would help me be able to become the best employee I can and help me make the most money on my future investments.

half-way reflection

With the semester being half-way done, this course has been a little bit of a challenge when it comes to the work that has been asked to complete. Without a tenacious mindset or attitude, this course wouldn't be possible to complete. There are many type of behaviors that are required to complete this course and keep up with a good grade. First, you need to be able to manage your time wisely. I learned that you have to look ahead at all the assignments so you know what the assignment consist of. Secondly, you have to have an entrepreneur mindset at all times. You need this type of behavior because that is what most the assignments have asked of me. With the amount of times you have to go out and talk to people, it is important to always think as an entrepreneur. Finally, you need to be strong minded and confident when it comes to the work. Most the assignments ask you to interview random people and post it on the blog. Being confident when talking to people is very important because it makes your work that much better on your blogs. I felt like giving up when the elevator pitch cam into the picture. I couldn't figure out a product that I could come up with that would sell to customers. What pulled me through was my positive attitude and strong mind. I do think I have developed a tenacious attitude over the semester. My attitude toward the course has changed to tenacious because I actually want to make myself be an entrepreneur by the end of this course. The experiences that contributed to this was one of the very first assignments. The assignment where we had to actually talk to an entrepreneur that we knew, made me realize I can be an entrepreneur.

Tips for fostering the skills that support tenacity:
1) look ahead throughout the course
2) participate in all assignments
3) actually read and listen to multiple students post

Developing the tenacious mindset
1) have a positive attitude
2) Don't procrastinate
3) do the best you can on all the assignments (Don't cheat yourself)

reading reflection week 7

"Market segmentation has become narrowly focused on the needs of advertising, which it serves mainly by populating commercials with characters that viewers can identify with – the marketing equivalent of central casting…The idea was to broaden the use of segmentation so that it could inform not just advertising but also product innovation, pricing, choice of distribution channels, and the like."

- I start by quoting this line from the article because it is the central point on what the article is meant to be about. This quote gives us the marketers great insight to figure out and decide types of products and services to consumers or audiences. The most interesting thing that I read on the article was the different segmentation's for different purposes. This part of the reading included a chart that helped to describe the authors meaning on the topic. It talked about how business could improve its market segmentation. The authors described that if meaningful segmentation's rely in finding patterns in your customers behavior, then it is important to gather relevant data. The confusing part of the article was the part about the gravity of decision spectrum. It confused me because it was trying to describe the difference between what consumers buy and the significance of the items. The authors were saying that buying items such as snack and toilet paper don't have the same significance as purchasing a car or home. This confused me because as a buyer, I treat all items I purchase with the same significance know matter what the price is. Two questions I would ask the authors are what was the audiences responses to your article and what should business mainly focus on to have the best market segmentation? I would ask these questions because it would help me understand the article a little better and it would give me feedback from the audience that read it as well. I don't think the author was wrong about anything, but I do think the authors should make there points more clear for the reader. 

week 6 reading reflection

This weeks reading reflection was over Porters five forces that shape the competitive strategy. This article was a very good read in my opinion and had some interesting aspects to the article that is going to help me navigate through the course. The five strategies that were introduced in the article were threat of new entrants, threat of substitute products or services, bargaining power of customers, bargaining power of suppliers and intensity of competitive rivalry. The biggest surprise to me was the actual information that was throughout the whole article. The explanations that went into each force was very helpful. The biggest force to me was the threat of new entrances because it prevents business's from making the most profit possible. The only way that business's can get around this is becoming an incumbent which means becoming the largest company in a certain business. If i had to ask two questions they would be what is the most important force in your eyes and what force is the most detrimental toward a business? I would ask these two questions because the would be most helpful to me for this course and for my entrepreneurial career. I think the author was spot on with all the information and didn't really have any mistakes.  

Idea napkin number 1

1) my name is Zach Turner and I am going to start up a masonry company that builds high rises and bigger buildings across the state of Florida. I am very good at communicating with people, numbers and formulas, planning, and running a team. My business will play a huge role in my life because I already have experience inside the field.
2) I am offering a lot of different products to a lot of different customers. My first customers are the owners of the buildings that will hire me to do the project. Since I am specializing in concrete and block work, I will only be in charge of that type of work. I have to make sure I do my work in a presentable fashion and stay on schedule so the general contractor will hire me again. Other customers could include company's that I sub my work out to or people that buy products from me.
3) I am offering work that is sellable to the owner and work that will be completed on time according to a contract that is given out by the general contractor. All my customers will have a lot in common because they are all related to my field of work. My customers will come from all over the state of Florida and will change from job to job. Starting off, I will try to win one job and hire people to complete the projects. So at first, I will only have one customer then down the road, my customers will expand to many different people.
4) my customers will actually pay me money because I will do my work so that the general contractors can sell my work to the owner of the buildings. In keeping good relationships with different general contractors, I can expand my business at a high rate. So it is crucial for me to do my work so it is presentable to all my customers.
5) what sets me apart from other companies in my field is first the advantage I have in building relationships with different people. In my business, it is very crucial that you create relationships so you can get business down the road. Another thing that puts me past other companies is that type of work I preform and doing it on time. It is also essential in this type of business to stay on schedule. By my company being known for completing the job right and on time will bring me business for a long time.

I think all these ideas do fit together in some sort. Starting up a business takes a lot of thought and effort and these aspects are all things you need to need to think about before starting up your business. In any field that you in, the customers have to come first and that is what I got from doing this napkin exercise. Another I got from this exercise is be confident in the business you are starting up and know customers will buy your product.

Elevator pitch 1

I plan on creating a business with the extendo charge. The extendo charge will allow you to take battery life from your friends phone and add it on your phone when your battery gets low. Each person will have to download our app that I created which will allow you to choose exactly how much percentage you want to transfer over. My business will create revenue from the cords we sell and the purchase of the app. I will also create revenue by allowing different types of advertisements on the app I created.