Week 8 Reading Reflection

I found this reading to be one of the most interesting thus far, mostly because at a glance the concepts discussed go right over my head. Upon further reading it actually clarified a few points, but I am still a tad confused on the different types of capital and their uses. If I were able to ask the author two questions they would be:

1. Can you further explain venture capital and why the venture capital market has grown?

2. Why has informal risk capital begun to play an important role in new-venture financing?

I would ask these questions because I still am a little lost on the concept. I did not disagree with anything the author said because I'm still a little lost. 

Half-way Reflection

Dear Future ENT3003 Students,

You may be taking this course as a requirement for your major or minor or maybe you thought this would be an easy bs class. Well I'm here to tell you that this class requires a fair bit of attention. You have to be organized and responsible in order to achieve success in this class. This class requires you to talk to and interview strangers which, for myself, is way outside of my comfort zone. However, if you are like me and are on the reserve side to will need to either step outside of your comfort zone, or weight the cost of not completing your assignment. These moments are the ones that have made me want to give up and not complete an assignment, but you just have to tell yourself that in the end its worth doing it in order to get he points. Three tips I have that will help you foster a tenacious mindset and skills are:
1. Always be polite when asking people for their feed back. The way you present yourself and your goal affects the way a person responds and their willingness to help.
2. Do not get discouraged just because certain things won't go your way.
3. Lastly, you should always find a way to believe what you are asking and saying. People can see your passion or lack there of when you are talking about something.

Sincerely,
Future You

Week 7 Reading Reflection

In this reading I found it surprising that marketing based on demographic was not necessarily how companies approached their technique. I thought the whole concept of non demographic segmentation a little confusing. I am a little lost as to how one would market if not to a specific demographic. If i were able to ask the Yankelovich two questions they would be:

1. Can you describe your thought process in believing in the success of non demographic segmentation?

2. If neither demographic segmentation nor nondemographic segmentation can accurate predict the market for a product, what do you propose is the best alternative?

I would ask these questions because I want the whole concept of demographic segmentation to be made more clear. I personally believe that demographic segmentation is a valid way to predict marketing trends, so on this front i would have to disagree with Yankelovich.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise to me in this reading was how a simple model can be applied to a more complicated concept. There was not anything that really confused me in this reading. If I could ask Michael Porter two questions they would be:

1. Do you think the five competitive forces are always true? More specifically do you think they can always be applied to a situation?

2. After putting your five forces into practice did you find them to be as successful as you expected?

I did not find anything that I thought Porter was particularly incorrect about.

Customer Interviews No. 3

1) Before I give the person I am interviewing the notecard with my business concept on it, I will briefly go over what I have asked in the past interviews. I will also give them a brief idea of the answers I received to further support my business idea. Then after they read my notecard I will ask them how they reacted to the business concept. 

2)

3) From the interviews, I have learned whether or not my business will be successful and well received by my target demographic (young adults/college students) I was not particularly surprised by the results because there are not too many cons to a fast, healthy, and inexpensive food option. As a result of my interviews, I have gained a new perspective on the points of my business plan people made a point of saying they liked and the ones they simply thought were okay. 

Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You.

-My skills and experiences revolve around me being the age of those in the target demographic as well as understanding how to get people of my age enticed by something. 

2) What are you offering to customers? 

- I am offering an inexpensive delivery service that provides healthy options for young adults with busy schedules.

3) Who are you offering it to? 

-The demographic I am trying to reach range from college aged to young adult. The thing all of these consumers have in common are that they need to eat. 

4) Why do they care?

-Customers would pay money for my service because for the most part they have a desire to eat healthy and get food quickly, but they also have constraints like money, transportation, and time. My service would accommodate these needs leaving no reason not to utilize it. 

5) What are your core competencies? 

-What sets me apart is my variety of quality, healthy food options, as well as the quick order response time. 

I believe that my business concept is viable because of personal experience as well as from what I heard during my interviews. I don't think my concept is too disjointed so i don't necessarily think there are weaker or stronger aspects of my concept. 

Week 5 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? 

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

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

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

In reading chapter nine of our text book I was not necessarily surprised by anything, but I did find the parts about copywriting and patents to be very interesting. However, one part of the reading I found rather confusing was the part about LLLP, LLP, and LLCs. It was not so much what they were but differentiating the three. I do understand the differences discussed in the reading, but I still feel as if they are extremely similar. If I were able to ask the author two questions they would be:

   1. What are your thoughts on bankruptcy, specifically how it should be dealt with?
   2. Are you a patent holder? If so what was it for?
There was not anything i thought the author was really wrong about in this particular reading.

Interviewing Customers No. 2

1) After completing my first and second rounds I have fined tuned my opportunity to be a way for college students, specifically those involved in the greek system, to get inexpensive and healthy delivery options for the weekends when they are not provided with food. 

2) I think I did choose the correct people to talk too, but it took the second round of interviews for me to feel confident saying this.

3) I did not really make changes to my questions. I did, however,  make a point of explaining the point of the interview to the people before hand, and telling them what i would be askingso they had time to think of their answers and not feel too put o the spot.

4) the only thing that really differed this time from last was i got more concise answers from the people i interviewed.

Three Interview Tips:

1. Do not be afraid to go up to people and ask, usually they are more than willing to answer.

2. Make sure to explain the point of the interview first.

3. Tell the people you are interviewing what the gist of the questions are first so they can formulate a good answer. 

Elevator Pitch