Final Reflection

The first couple of customer interviews were some of the most nerve-wrecking things I've done throughout this semester. But I know that just from those minor assignments, my entrepreneurial mindset had begun to flourish. The experience that will be most memorable for me, was the Free Money assignment. Giving away $5 to random strangers was definitely something that I had never thought I would do, but I understood the importance of the experience and learned from it. My most joyous experience as well as the one that I am most proud of accomplishing is probably this post. Looking back at everything that I have done throughout this semester and how far I have come is definitely something that will have a lasting impact on my mindset.
I feel like I most definitely do have an entrepreneurial mindset now, and it is 100% because of this class. It has helped me see the world differently and also see myself differently.
I would recommend new students in this class to really try and see the significance of each assignment before actually doing them, I learned a lot more from each assignment once I began doing so. I would also recommend that they take this entrepreneurial journey seriously, because you get out what you put in.

Week 15 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise I found throughout this reading was how the author worded how he switch target markets. He stated that he left because of religious tension, but in reality I think he was just looking for a more profitable market. The way the author described micro-financing was confusing the first time I read it, but after I reread it a couple of times I understood. I would ask the author, what is your exact definition of discrimination? And, do you think financial discrimination is morally correct? This chapter had many controversial issues, and I do disagree with any form of discrimination.

Elevator Pitch No. 4

I did not receive any feedback that I could use to improve my elevator pitch from the last comments I received. All of the comments simply stated that they liked my idea and wish it was implemented here at UF. I felt much more confident and felt like this elevator pitch flowed much more, and I feel like this is my best one yet.

Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity

The need that my business idea will address is that some college students are forced to take online courses, and also take online exams. Most students who take these online exams feel extremely uncomfortable and dread taking them. If you're apartment complex does not have optimal wi-fi connection, that could cause many problems when attempting the exam. Taking an online exam with someone on your computer screen watching your every move can become extremely nerve-wrecking. College students who take online tests via ProctorU will be the targeted potential customers of my new service. This need is created because some courses at the University of Florida, as well as other large universities, have extremely large class sizes and not enough professors to handle the overwhelming number of students. So an online class allows one professor to teach as many students as needed. Most students I have spoken to would love an alternative to ProctorU, and feel like an alternative would allow them to do better on their exams. This “window of opportunity” would be open for as long as Universities are still partnered with ProctorU.

Innovation

The service that I would be offering is an alternative to ProctorU to take exams for online courses. Basically, this service would operate just like ProctorU in the booking aspect, students would go online and book an appointment with a nearby proctor, including date, time and place. Much like the SAT or ACT, there would be a set number of exam locations and times. Students could then meet up with their proctor and take a pen and paper exam, rather than an online exam, depending on whether or not there are other students in the same city, other students would be taking the exam as well in the same place. Designated proctoring sites would be either a college campus in that city, or maybe even a high school classroom. Students have been taking pen and paper exams for their entire lives, and it is what students feel most comfortable doing. Especially once a student gets to college, and the exam material is much more difficult, it is extremely important that a students feels comfortable while taking an exam. This company would make money by partnering with large universities that have unhappy students taking online exams. It would charge a base fee per year, which would most likely be a little more costly that a partnership with ProctorU, because of the amount of proctors there must be throughout the United States. But, I feel like universities should spare no expense to have students happy because of the high price of tuition. 

Venture Concept

Most students dislike taking online exams because it makes them feel extremely uncomfortable. Myself, and many other students that I have spoken to would be more than willing to take a pen and paper exam in its place. The hardest part of starting this company would be getting universities to partner with it rather than ProctorU. I’m sure universities have multi-year deals with ProctorU already in place, so it would take a couple years for universities to be able to partner with this company. ProctorU would be my biggest competitor, and it is extremely vulnerable because most students despise taking online exams. There would be many employees, but not many full-time employees. Teachers, TAs or even some professors would sign up to proctor a specific exam and be paid per exam session that they proctor. 

3 Minor Elements

My unfair advantage would be the tremendous amount of work ethic that I would put forth to get this company going and start on the right foot. There is not much innovation for a business idea like this, the only one that I could really think of is mainly to partner with exams like SAT or ACT and have our employees proctor those exams as well. In 5 years, once this company has taken off and made millions, I would sell it and pursue my ultimate goal which is to open my own stock brokerage firm.

Summary of Feedback

I did not receive any critical feedback of my venture concept. All the comments I received agreed with my idea and stated that they would love this service as an alternative to ProctorU. One student did mention a point that I had not thought of though, she said that when she is taking online tests, sometimes her internet connection goes bad and causes problems with the test. I included that in my venture concept. The comments on my What's Next post were very similar, and liked how I wanted to eventually sell this business and pursue my dreams. 

Overall, the feedback I received did not give me anything that I could improve on in my venture concept. It just gave me more information to include on the cons of online ProctorU exams. 

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? 

Outside of what was asked for each assignment, I honestly did not even consider including anything else that could enhance my blog's SEO. I did use certain words like failure and entrepreneur in almost all of my posts though, and told my friends and family to check out my posts. 

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

The keywords I mainly used were entrepreneur, entrepreneurship and failure. They all have a common theme, but I did not include those words in every post. 

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 did not really use social media, but I do know how powerful it is and how helpful it can be when starting a business. 

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

My most viral post was probably the post about celebrating failure. I think it was the most viral because it is such a foreign concept to so many people, they usually despise failure, so someone saying to celebrate it would catch someone's eye. 

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 looked and scrolled through many pages but could not find my blog using any of my key words. 

Week 14 Reading Reflection

What surprised me the most about this week's reading was how important having a social-support system is when creating a business. Failure is a common occurrence when you are an entrepreneur, and having a system that would help you overcome failure is extremely important. I didn't really find anything in this reading that I didn't understand. I would ask the author: what are some way to avoid making unethical decisions? I would also ask, how do you recover from making an unethical decision? I did not disagree with anything.

Very Short Interview, Part 2

Looking back at my first very short interview with an entrepreneur, I actually still really like the three questions that I chose to ask him. I don't think I would change them if I had to do it all over again. I learned quite a bit about entrepreneurship and also about myself.

I could not record this interview because the entrepreneur, Juan Fernandez de Castro, lives in Miami and I did not have a chance to go down and meet up with him for this assignment. So I called him and I summarized the questions and answers.

1. What was the biggest failure that you had to overcome when starting your business?
When I first started out in my business (the business of selling shoes, especially boots), I tried to sell my shoes in big ticket retailers like Macy's and Dillards, after a while I found out the hard way that I had to sell the shoes on my own for a while and show the retailers that these shoes could actually turn a profit.

2. What has been your biggest accomplishment to date, regarding your entrepreneurial self?
Being able to make enough money to send my children off to college debt free.

3. What is your advice to a person who plans to become an entrepreneur in the future?
Learn how to weather the storm, through the ups and the downs, and just stay confident in yourself.

I felt more prepared and confident when asking the entrepreneur these questions. I felt like I could better understand the message he was trying to convey, and I think it'll have a lasting impact on my life.

Celebrating Failure

I was on an intramural basketball team this semester in the competitive league, where that are some really good teams. My team had some really good players and skill-wise, we could definitely compete with most of the teams. We started the season 0-5, and were playing horribly. Each game we tried a new offense and a new defense but could not get anything going and the scoreboard really showed it. During our 6th game, we finally found a good system, and implemented it in our games. We finally won a game, and after that game regained our confidence and won the next 6 in a row. Instead of just giving up on our season, we put our heads together and finally found something that worked. This class has taught me to really learn from my mistakes, grow, and keep persevering in the face of failure. I am definitely more inclined to take a risk now than I was in the beginning of this semester.

Week 13 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise to me, was that Facebook managed to raise $16 billion it its IPO! I really enjoy learning about the stock market, and I had no idea that Facebook was able to raise to much during its IPO, I think that's incredible. One thing that I found really confusing was the concept of "rollups", even after reading that section a couple of times, I still can't fully grasp the concept. I would ask the author what his most effective way to value a firm is. I would also ask him if he bought stock in Facebook during its IPO. There is nothing I really thought the author was wrong about.

My Exit Strategy

After multiple years of profitability, and once my company becomes valuable enough, I plan to sell it, and use the proceeds to open my own investment banking firm or stock brokerage firm. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to become an investment banker and I feel like once I have accumulated enough capital, I'll be able to open my own firm, and with my finance degree from UF, have the knowledge it takes to make it successful. I love the entire industry of investment banking, and I feel like I would really thrive in that industry. It is one of my passions. I think that my exit strategy would definitely affect the way I conducted business while I owned this venture. I would be so caught up with adding as much value to the firm as possible, in order to sell it for the most amount of money. 

Week 12 Reading Reflection

One thing that surprised me about the reading was the amount of work and planning that goes into venture ideas. Nothing really confused me about this reading. I would ask the author, what is the most effective way to create a venture. I would also ask, if there is a way to become more creative. I do not disagree with anything that the author wrote.

Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity

The need that my business idea will address is that some college students are forced to take online courses, and also take online exams. Most students who take these online exams feel extremely uncomfortable and dread taking them. Taking an online exam with someone on your computer screen watching your every move can become extremely nerve-wrecking. College students who take online tests via ProctorU will be the targeted potential customers of my new service. This need is created because some courses at the University of Florida, as well as other large universities, have extremely large class sizes and not enough professors to handle the overwhelming number of students. So an online class allows one professor to teach as many students as needed. Most students I have spoken to would love an alternative to ProctorU, and feel like an alternative would allow them to do better on their exams. This “window of opportunity” would be open for as long as Universities are still partnered with ProctorU.

Innovation

The service that I would be offering is an alternative to ProctorU to take exams for online courses. Basically, this service would operate just like ProctorU in the booking aspect, students would go online and book an appointment with a nearby proctor, including date, time and place. Much like the SAT or ACT, there would be a set number of exam locations and times. Students could then meet up with their proctor and take a pen and paper exam, rather than an online exam, depending on whether or not there are other students in the same city, other students would be taking the exam as well in the same place. Designated proctoring sites would be either a college campus in that city, or maybe even a high school classroom. Students have been taking pen and paper exams for their entire lives, and it is what students feel most comfortable doing. Especially once a student gets to college, and the exam material is much more difficult, it is extremely important that a students feels comfortable while taking an exam. This company would make money by partnering with large universities that have unhappy students taking online exams. It would charge a base fee per year, which would most likely be a little more costly that a partnership with ProctorU, because of the amount of proctors there must be throughout the United States. But, I feel like universities should spare no expense to have students happy because of the high price of tuition. 

Venture Concept

Most students dislike taking online exams because it makes them feel extremely uncomfortable. Myself, and many other students that I have spoken to would be more than willing to take a pen and paper exam in its place. The hardest part of starting this company would be getting universities to partner with it rather than ProctorU. I’m sure universities have multi-year deals with ProctorU already in place, so it would take a couple years for universities to be able to partner with this company. ProctorU would be my biggest competitor, and it is extremely vulnerable because most students despise taking online exams. There would be many employees, but not many full-time employees. Teachers, TAs or even some professors would sign up to proctor a specific exam and be paid per exam session that they proctor. 

3 Minor Elements

My unfair advantage would be the tremendous amount of work ethic that I would put forth to get this company going and start on the right foot. There is not much innovation for a business idea like this, the only one that I could really think of is mainly to partner with exams like SAT or ACT and have our employees proctor those exams as well. In 5 years, once this company has taken off and made millions, I would sell it and pursue my ultimate goal which is to open my own stock brokerage firm. 

Amazon Whisperer

The way that my company would generate revenue is buy partnering with Universities, and having the Universities pay a fee for these proctoring services. Much like ProctorU, a student would be able to arrange a proctored test about a week in advance, free of charge, but if the student reschedules the appointment within 48 hours, the student would have to pay a small fee. My company is a service-based company, so I can't really think of any product that these students would want on top of the opportunity to take an in-person proctored test versus an online test through ProctorU. A device that I think would be useful though, is a calculator that is a mixture of both a graphing calculator, and a financial calculator. As a business major, it is pretty annoying to have to keep track of both calculators and see which one I can use for a specific problem. I think a calculator that has the features of both, could be extremely useful. I can't find a calculator that encompasses both features on Amazon, but they have each individual calculator. The reviews of the graphing calculator, specifically the TI 84 +, are extremely positive and has an overall 4.5/5 star rating. The reviews say that is is extremely easy to use, and very convenient. Reviews on the financial calculator are not as positive. The Texas Instruments BA II + financial calculator, has a 4/5 star rating. The reviews say that it is not as intuitive to use as regular calculators, and people wish that it could do a little more. It is very intricate and use must use so many buttons to perform the simplest calculations. I would combine both the financial and graphing calculators into one calculator.

Week 11 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise to me was how much effort, thought, and preparation goes into innovation and being able to keep up the the evolving market. The part that I found most confusing how how different technological innovation can be than business model innovation. I always thought that they went hand-in-hand, because technology affects your business model. I would ask the author, what is the best way to keep up with an evolving market? And also, what sectors do you believe haven't evolved much yet? I don't think that the author was wrong about anything.

My Unfair Advantage

10 Resources my venture has:
1. Customer base
-Many students dislike ProctorU, and which would create a large customer base. This resource is not inimitable by ProctorU, but it could be by other proctor companies.
2. Human capital
-Very easy to find potential employees, because this job is very relaxed compared to others. Somewhat inimitable.
3. Financial capital
-If I were to start this I could take out a loan. Very imitable.
4. Hard-working culture
-This company would be regarded as a very hard-working company, and always on top of their work. Imitable.
5. Friendly atmosphere
-The proctors would be extremely friendly to the customers.  Imitable.
6. Easy to get in contact with
-The customers would have the personal numbers of the employees and therefore could reach them at anytime.  Somewhat imitable.
7.  Management practices
-Management would mirror the great management practices of some of the top firms in the world. Imitable.
8. Research
-This company would research what environments students prefer to take tests in and would allow those students to take them there. Somewhat imitable.
9. Affordable prices - for the University
-This company's services would be cheaper than the services of ProctorU. Imitable.
10. Experienced workers
-It is very easy to find potential employees who have either proctored a test, or taught a class before.  Imitable.

The top resource in this business would be the access to the customer base, because so many students dislike ProctorU. All of these resources could potentially be imitable. But once this company is already running, it would be difficult for other companies to take the customers that it would already have, because this would be the first of its kind.

Week 10 Reading Reflection

Nothing was really surprising to me about this reading because I am a finance major and I have already taken courses on this subject. I didn't find any part of this reading confusing, but I can see how someone who hasn't taken a finance course would be confused. I would ask the author if a finance major has an easier path to become an entrepreneur than people who don't major in finance. I would also ask what the easiest way to gain capital to begin a business is. I do not disagree with anything he said.

Growing my Social Capital

Domain Expert
The domain expert I spoke to was Andrew Dubbaneh. He is a TA for a business class that I am taking and he proctors the tests. I just emailed him about my business idea. He has proctored actual exams so he can give some more insight as to how the process goes.

Market Expert
The market expert I spoke to was Chris, a tutor or "study expert" at Study Edge. He tutors some of the classes that I am currently taking. My business is a proctoring company, and a tutor is the only thing that is somewhat close to a proctor. He just let me talk to him about my business idea. He can help me reach out to more people that I couldn't reach out to alone.

Supplier
My business idea doesn't really require any supplies. So the closest thing that I can think of is actual proctors who would supply their time. I spoke to another TA in one of my classes, Kamil. I emailed him as well. He currently is in the proctoring business because he proctors some business class tests.


This experience allowed me to reach out to people that I normally would not have. It allowed me to gain a little more insight into the proctoring business.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

There were a couple things that stood out to me from the comments on my last elevator pitch. I needed to help explain how terrible ProctorU exams are because the investors that I would be speaking to may have never taken an online exam. I also needed to try and remove the filler words in my pitch and make it flow together a little better.

My Secret Sauce

1) Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique.
I am an extremely dedicated person, once I set my mind so something, I don't stop until it's done. I am also an extremely caring person and I feel like that helps me build lasting relationships with people. I feel like I am also pretty smart and I excel in the classroom. I am very perseverant and try to overcome all obstacles that are in my way. I also think that I have a very entrepreneurial mindset. 

2) Interview the five people who know you the best.



My key takeaways from these interviews is that people think that I am a very hard-worker and that people can depend on me to get the job done. Most people also believe that I am a pretty caring person. 



3) Reflect on the differences.
I think that the people that I interviewed described me almost exactly as I would describe myself. For the most part, they all agreed that I was a very hard-worker and that I was very dedicated to what I do. There are not that many differences to how I see myself and to how others see me. I think that it is a very beneficial thing to not have clouded vision of yourself. 

Week 9 Reading Reflection

What surprised me about this reading was how the author explained how recently, marketers changed their focus and made their marketing efforts more customer-oriented. That surprised me because it got me thinking: what was their focus before? The marketing strategy that confused me was how some marketers believe that penny differences in prices attract customers. I have never even noticed how prestigious items end in an even number while commonly available goods end in an odd number. A question I would ask the author is: why haven't marketers always focused on the consumer, why is it just recently that they did? Another question I would ask is: does he really believe that penny differences in prices attract customers? I didn't really disagree with anything the author wrote, I just question a couple things.

Idea Napkin No. 2

My name is Tristan Whittingham and I am an extremely motivated individual and one day I would like to open my own stock brokerage firm. If this business concept were to materialize, it could give me the startup money that I would need to eventually open my own firm. My business concept is a proctoring service which could be an alternative to ProctorU, I could start it, and eventually sell it in order to follow my dreams.

Online students at the University of Florida have to take their exams online as well, on an online proctor service where there is a proctor watching your every move and can be very nerve-racking. My business idea would solve this problem and would allow online students to meet up with a proctor in whichever city there are in, in order to take a pen and paper exam, like they are accustomed to doing.This process would be much like taking an ACT or SAT test, you select the location, date, and time that you would be willing to the exam. The proctors would then score the exams themselves and send the results to the professor. My customers would be any online student at any university in the United States that does not feel comfortable taking an exam via ProctorU. Taking a pen and paper exam is what most students are used to and prefer, so this alternative to ProctorU could allow students to do better on exams. I am a hard-worker and I believe I can make anything successful if I put my mind to it. I believe these concepts fit together nicely and would allow for a very profitable business.

I did not change this post much from my original napkin idea. I did include a couple sentences that made the process easier to understand by referencing the SAT and ACT testing procedure. The comments I received mainly focused on how students love this idea because they despise ProctorU exams. I can't really say 5 things that I took away from the comments because there were only two changes that people recommended, and I implemented those into this post. 

Half-Way Reflection

1. This class is not all that difficult but you get out what you put in to it. So I've learned to keep pushing when I'm tired and don't want to finish a reading, or when I don't feel like doing an assignment. I also want to graduate and get an A in this class, so it's not hard to be tenacious when it is required.
2. I feel like I've developed a tenacious attitude through the various assignment that we've had to do even when I felt uncomfortable doing them or just plain did not want to do them. I feel like giving up every time I have to read the text book, but I always finish the readings.
3.  Three tips I would give are 1) Create a schedule and stick to it. 2) Be organized. 3) Always be confident in your abilities to complete an assignment even when you feel uncomfortable.

Week 8 Reading Reflection

I found the use of the term "angel investors" to be pretty surprising and  pretty funny too actually. I think most of the chapter was actually pretty confusing because he used to many terms that I was unfamiliar with. A question I would ask is, what is the best way to get people to invest in your company. I would also ask if he recommends debt or equity financing. I do not disagree with anything he said.

Free Money

I went outside of my apartment and spoke to the first two people I found. I just asked them if they wanted a dollar because who wouldn't want free money. I did not think that anyone would actually take the dollar.

 Giving away the dollar was harder than I expected because I find it hard to speak to random people. I thought that no one would accept the dollar, but everyone that I offered a dollar to took it.

Week 7 Reading Reflection

What mostly surprised me from this reading was the many different approaches to market segmentation, I knew a couple ways but this reading really opened my eyes. I don't really understand why companies still use market segmentation if it clearly has disappointing results. I would ask the author about more details regarding which companies have thrived using market segmentation and which failed. I would also ask him why he believes companies still use market segmentation. I did not disagree with anything the author wrote.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

After reviewing the feedback from my first elevator pitch, I learned that I needed to be much more confident in my delivery. I believe that this elevator pitch is slightly better than the first because I feel like I was more confident in my idea and my delivery.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

I was surprised that the author relied so heavily on SWOT analysis in order to begin a business. I always felt that although helpful, SWOT was never enough to make something become successful. I always thought that it was a good first step. I found the assumption that uncertainty is low to be extremely confusing. I always thought markets and businesses were unpredictable. I would ask the author is his views on the forces have changed since he wrote this book. I would also ask if he believes these forces can be applicable to all markets. I do not disagree with anything he said.

Idea Napkin No.1

My name is Tristan Whittingham and I am an extremely motivated individual and one day I would like to open my own stock brokerage firm. If this business concept were to materialize, it could give me the startup money that I would need to eventually open my own firm. My business concept is a proctoring service which could be an alternative to ProctorU, I could start it, and eventually sell it in order to follow my dreams.
Online students at the University of Florida have to take their exams online as well, on an online proctor service where there is a proctor watching your every move and can be very nerve-racking. My business idea would solve this problem and would allow online students to meet up with a proctor in whichever city there are in, in order to take a pen and paper exam, like they are accustomed to doing. My customers would be any online student at any university in the United States that does not feel comfortable taking an exam via ProctorU. Taking a pen and paper exam is what most students are used to and prefer, so this alternative to ProctorU could allow students to do better on exams. I am a hard-worker and I believe I can make anything successful if I put my mind to it. I believe these concepts fit together nicely and would allow for a very profitable business.

Interviewing Customers No. 2

I did not complete the first interviewing customers assignment so this is my first interview assignment. Some students do not like to take online tests and my idea is to come up with a business that can solve this issue. I learned that almost all students have taken at least one online course. I was  a little nervous asking strangers questions.

Week 5 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise I found in this reading was all the little pitfalls that one can encounter while attempting to start a business. I learned that you must do tons of research and learn every single aspect of the business you plan to venture into before actually starting the business. I did not find any part of this reading confusing, I reread it and learned a lot. I would ask the author if one can learn on the fly while creating the business because I believe that the best way to learn is to actually immerse yourself into something, like the business. I would also ask where he recommends we should research when attempting to start a business. I did disagree with anything the author wrote.

Elevator Pitch No.1

The name of my company is AnythingButProctorU. The problem with online courses aren't the courses themselves, it is the way the exams are administered, which is via ,ProctorU, an online proctoring service. ProctorU takes students out of their comfort zones and makes them more nervous than they already are when taking an exam. My company is a proctor service which allows you to schedule an appointment with a proctor at pre-approved test taking locations no matter where you are. Students feel much more comfortable taking pen and paper exams which would allow them to do better.

Week 4 Reading Reflection

I found that the most interesting part of the reading was the appositional relationship. I thought that it was a new way of thinking by relating items and their creation to cause and effect which can help entrepreneurs find unmet needs. The one thing that I found confusing was that the author wrote about one being creative in any place and any time, and then goes on to write about one specific place that a person can be creative, that confused me a little. A question that I would ask the author would be, if he believed that there is only one creative process, because I believe that everyone can be creative in their own way. Another question I would ask is why the author believes that corporate entrepreneurship can solve so many difficult problems. I do not disagree with anything the author wrote.

Top 5 World Problems

Top 5 World Problems:
1. Terrorism
2. Global Warming
3. Homelessness
4. Crime
5. Traffic
I believe that terrorism is the world's top problem because it costs the lives of many innocent people and there is no easy solution to terrorism. It scares many people across the globe and has to be stopped soon.

Solutions:
1. The solution to traffic is probably the most possible to implement, I think that there should be a new form of transportation that is a little smaller than a car. Roads could also possibly be widened in order to reduce the amount of traffic.
2. I believe the solution to global warming is the next most possible to implement. We should find another form of fuel for cars and make it easily accessible for people to use.
3. Crime is the next most feasible in my opinion. If we hired more police officers and used cameras in public places, that would deter people from committing crimes.
4. Homelessness is an extremely tricky issue to solve. But if more jobs were created in the United States somehow, these people could earn an income and not live on the streets.
5. Terrorism is nearly impossible to solve. I have no idea how we can combat terrorism enough to put an end to it.
The solution to the traffic problem is most possible to implement because all other issues require more than just money. The traffic issue can be solved simply by either funding wider roads, or a new form of transportation.

Week 3 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise that I found while reading this chapter was the amount of sorrow and disappointment one encounters when their business fails. I would expect an entrepreneur to learn from their mistake and move on, rather than be disappointed. I did not find anything in this reading to be confusing. The first question I would want to ask the author would be how he recommends to move on from a failed business venture. Another question I would want to ask is how can I prevent failure and ensure a successful business. I did not disagree with anything in this reading.

Very Short Interview No.1

I interviewed a man named Juan Fernandez de Castro, who is the founder of Rhino Footwear in Miami, Florida. He created his own company after he began to design shoes and wanted to put them on the market. These are the questions I asked him:

1. What do you wish you were taught prior to opening this company?
-I wish I was taught that your market cannot be everyone, because you can't please everyone. I found while starting my business that you must find a select market and appeal to them.

2. What are you most proud of being an entrepreneur?
-Being able to support my family. Before opening Rhino my family and I struggled, but once the business took off, the struggle ended.

3. What should I expect when I become an entrepreneur?
-Expect that there will be ups and downs, there will be good days and bad days. If you stick with what you believe in and put in the work, you will be successful.

During this interview the main takeaway that I had was that in order to be successful, you must learn to weather the storm through the bad days in order to get to your good days. Not all entrepreneurs will be successful, but I believe that if I overcome my failures, I will be.

World's Biggest Problems

1. Crime causes so many innocent people so much trouble. People lose money, possessions, and even lives sometimes as a result of crime. I believe that an increase in the amount of police would help to reduce crime, the problem being is that there are not enough funds to pay more officers and not enough people pursue careers in law enforcement. 

2. The large amount of homeless people in the United States needs to be addressed. There need to be more jobs created to help reduce the amount of homeless people so they can be productive citizens. 

3. Global warming is a process that has already began and cannot be stopped, but the process can be slowed down. A new form of fuel for cars needs to be introduced into society and be widely available and cheap in order for more people to transfer over from gasoline. 

4. Traffic needs to be reduced throughout America. During rush hour it can take an absurd amount of time to go short distances because of all the cars on the streets. This speeds up global warming and wastes gas which wastes money. There needs to be a new form of transportation that is more convenient than a car. 

5. Drugs are a major problem in the United States. They can destroy lives and eventually leave some individuals dead. The drug problem needs to be monitored more and I think individuals who are employed should be given drug tests by their superiors. 

6. Unemployment is also a major problem. There needs to be more jobs created in the United States to help people emerge from poverty and be prosperous. New industries need to be found in order to create more jobs. 

7. The killing of endangered animals needs to stop as well. Certain species will be eliminated from Earth if this problem is not controlled. I think that there should be more wildlife protection officers in areas with endangered animals to help deter their killing. 

8. Pollution is also a major problem. We are destroying the Earth little by little each time that we pollute. I believe that there should be laws in place that are much more strict that the ones we have today in order to scare more people to not pollute. 

9. Terrorism is probably the biggest problem that we face in the world today. There is no easy way to stop terrorism, because if there was, it would have been stopped by now. But I think we should start by limiting our involvement in wars. 

10. The lack of formal education in the United States needs to be addressed. We are quickly falling behind other countries from an education standpoint. I believe that teachers need to be more educated and should be required to have higher degrees. 

Week 2 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise for me was that entrepreneurs and small business owners can have totally different meanings. A small business owner is content with his small business and does not really look to expand, versus an entrepreneur who is always looking for growth and expansion. I did not really find anything in this reading that was confusing to me, I read it over a couple of times and it all made sense. I would ask the author if he truly believes that one day huge corporations like Apple will die and if so, when, because he states that all corporations eventually come to an end. I would also like to ask him how some of these myths came about. I do not disagree with anything that the author wrote, I learned a lot from this reading.

Bug List

1. Traffic on Archer during rush hour
-People are just getting out of work and need to get places

2. My kitten's litter smells
-My kitten eats a lot

3. My alarm doesn't always wake me up
-It needs to be a little louder

4. Chicken takes forever to cook
-It just takes a long time

5. My neighbors are too loud
-Walls in my apartment need to be a little thicker

6. My phone runs out of battery too quickly
-My iPhone's battery is not working properly

7. The person who parks next to my assigned spot always parks too close to my car
-They need to learn how to park

8. There is no fast-forward when I watch long lectures
-Some professor speak slowly and I want to speed it up

9. When I cook, my apartment smells like food for a long time
-The smell of the food is very strong, and there is no enough circulation in my apartment

10. The water in my shower isn't hot enough sometimes
-The hot water runs out sometimes in my apartment

11. The gym is always packed
-People have New Year's resolutions

12. Parking near or on campus takes about 30 minutes
-There is not enough parking on campus

13. The Chipotle line is always long on University
-People like Chipotle as much as I do

14. There is no parking in Chipotle on University
-The parking lot is always packed

15. I can't watch Miami Heat games in Gainesville without purchasing League Pass which is $100
-League Pass is too expensive

16. Tuition is too expensive
-Enough said

17. My dryer takes too long to dry my clothes
-I need a new dryer

18. When I lose things that I need
-Things fall underneath my bed or the seat in my car

19. When my computer restarts for no reason
-I need to fix my computer

20. My cracked phone screen always scratches my ear
-I need to fix my phone screen but it's too expensive right now

I found this exercise of writing 20 things that bug me really difficult. After the first 10, I had a hard time coming up with another 10. I'm not one to really get bothered by much, so I really had to dig deep to find 20 things that bug me.

My Entrepreneurship Story

Hey,

I have been around a very successful entrepreneur my entire life. My father who grew up in a poor neighborhood and struggled for most of his childhood began his own business around the time that I was born, and has taken his business to heights his industry has not seen. He is a customs broker and is the founder and CEO of one of the largest customs brokerage firms in Miami, my hometown. I have learned a lot from him, about life and also business. He has taught me to never give up on my dreams because your big break could be right around the corner and you might not even know it.

I enrolled in ENT3003 because I would like to develop a more innovative mindset and become an entrepreneur. In the future, I would like to open my own stock brokerage firm, and I believe that this class can lay the foundation that I need in order to do so.

Introduction

Hey,

My name is Tristan Whittingham. I am a sophomore finance major and I am from Miami, Florida. I am the oldest of 4 boys and the first to go to college. The only time I have ever been outside of the country is on a cruise last summer, but this coming summer I am going to study abroad in Dublin, Ireland and I am extremely excited about that. In the future, I'd like to become a stock broker on Wall Street.

Go Gators!

Entrepreneur's Mantra