Assignment 30: Final Reflection

   I think the elevator pitches stuck out to me the most through all these assignments because I had to record myself talking about something that I kind of just came up with and then post that on YouTube. I just hope no one ever watches those videos, I definitely won't be watching those ever again. I think the most "joyous" experiment was when I had to ask people close to me what they thought of me because it was funny and interesting to see what they had to say. I'm most proud of myself for doing the networking assignments because I really had to do research and put myself out there to professionals that I otherwise would have never considered talking to. 

   I don't think I am an entrepreneur by any means but this class has shown me that it is definitely possible for me to develop more of that mindset and become an entrepreneur if I chose to in the future. I think I have some sort of entrepreneurial mindset now, that I didn't have in January so that's something. 

   I would suggest to future students to just do the work and that the assignments aren't as complicated as they look you just need to take it one step at a time. If you have any questions just ask and don't forget to turn something in because there is no tolerance for late work. If you really want to develop an entrepreneurial mindset then just make sure you do the assignments full-heartedly and watch all the module videos, they give you some really helpful information. 

                                                   

Assignment 29: Venture Concept 2

1.   My idea for a product and possible business venture is a biodegradable, eco-friendly tire. People who want to help reduce the pollution and help save the planet have the need for anything that would potentially be better for the environment than out current system. The nature of the need would be that it would be nice to have more options when it comes to choosing a tire since, right now, you can get the rubber ones that take millions of years to biodegrade back into the earth. People are recognizing our pollution problem now, the public is becoming much more educated on this issue and many of them want to help solve this issue. Right now, I am only looking at the United States but I’m sure in the future I could expand this venture to other countries (especially in Europe) if this turns out to be a success here. This product is aimed at anyone who wants to do their part in helping the environment so the demographic for this product is pretty broad. As of right now, everyone mostly uses the rubber tires and they’re pretty loyal to that because the tires are very easy to find and some of them are cheap. I think this opportunity is pretty big, I’ve talked to many people about it now and they agreed that this has the potential to be a big thing. I am not sure how long the “window of opportunity” will be but I can assume that it won’t be very long since everyone is starting to move toward the more eco-friendly products now and it won’t be long till someone else has the same thought that I did.

   My product is a biodegradable tire, it functions just as a normal rubber tire would but has a shorter half life than rubber does so when it is eventually disposed of, it will break down a lot faster. I would make money by marketing it as a more eco-friendly option when it comes to tires and the price would be around $200-300 (this is just a guesstimate).

   My product would solve the opportunity I identified by being part of the bigger movement to become more environmentally friendly in everyday life. This product gives people a choice, where right now one doesn’t exist. Customers will buy this to be part of that movement and maybe even because it’s a new alternative to the other rubber tires that are so common. I don’t think it will be too hard to get people to switch over once tests have proven that these will function the same as rubber tires or even better. The competitors are all other companies selling rubber tires. The competitors, though, offer the same rubber tires people have been seeing for decades and their product takes millions of years to break down once their thrown out, so to the market I think this new product would just look better. Packaging, price, distribution and business location will definitely play a big role in the success or failure of the venture. Customer support plays a role but I’m not sure it would define the company, and customer experience is highly important as well but, again, it doesn’t make or break a company unless it’s extreme. I would organize my business with sales and marketing at the top priority to support the ongoing production of the product. To start out, there wouldn’t be more than 50 employees since it’s a start up company. In the venture there would be mechanics, managers, sales and marketing people, a CFO and a CEO, also a person that coordinates with the production company and the suppliers. 

    I think my most important resource will be the people who make up the company. I want everyone to work together and focus on that common goal of saving the planet a little at a time, I want everything to be cohesive. I think that with the right pay to the employees, the right attitude, and having everyone work as a team will make the company succeed in ways that other companies won’t be able to. I’m not sure what is next for this particular venture but I do know that I would like to keep coming up with marketable ideas to help the environment in some way. Assuming I’ve actually launched this venture, in the next five years I would like to see this take off and be able to lower the price on the product a little. In the next decade, as an entrepreneur, I would like to have one or more new ventures that I’m working on launching or have launched already. This first venture would have helped me get a feel for the business world a bit and know what it takes to be successful. I also would like to be able to pass these businesses to my family or sell them for a nice profit because I decided that I don't want to be tethered to a venture to the point where I can't go anywhere or do what I would like to so this would be a nice option and a way for me to still make money doing what I'm passionate about. 

2./3. I kept my venture concept the same except in the future I would like to sell it or give it to a family member because I want to travel and do what I want, but I can't do that if my entire life is consumed by this, and potentially other ventures. I got nothing but positive and encouraging feedback so I decided to keep the venture idea the same but my goals for the future have been altered a bit by some recent events so I decided to alter that part of my concept. I learned from the feedback that if I'm serious about making this a reality, that I could and that's really inspiring. 

                                                     

Assignment 28: Your Exit Strategy

1. If my business turns out to be very successful in the next five years, I would decide to keep it unless some other company could offer me an amount of money that is a lot greater than my view of what the venture is at that point in time. If I did end up keeping it and it continued to be a success, I would definitely end up retiring and passing that business on to someone else or sell it to a large firm. I do not intend, at the moment, to even have children so if I were to make it more of a family business I would give it over to one of my siblings that needs it. 

2. I want the best for the company and for my family. So if it turns out being great and I keep it I would hand it over to one of my siblings whenever I saw fit.

3. I don't think my exit strategy really impacts my opportunity since I would make sure that the business would be carried on to address that opportunity before I just sold it or handed it over to someone. It hasn't really affected my growth intention either because I already have a plan for my education and future that I will not allow anything to get in the way of and I already had this ideal before I even came up with this idea. If it turned out to be a success, it would change how I acquire resources because I would have the means to those resources sooner than I would if I just go with my current plan, but I intend on using those resources in the same way. 

Assignment 27: Reading Reflection 3

Cognitive Surplus
1. The main theme/argument in this book was that as time has gone on and technology has advanced, people are coming up with new ideas and ways to use their down time more constructively. It also argues that the internet has four categories of expression and that social media should be celebrated for its use of spreading information all over the world in a matter of seconds.
2. It connects to what we're learning in this class because it places an importance of using the resources available to you to further your knowledge and position in life. This class focuses on us using out resources in a constructive way to better our lives as entrepreneurs.
3. For this book, I would create an exercise based on the four categories of the internet, that he outlines in the later chapters in the book. It would probably involve doing research to find examples of these four areas.
4. The biggest surprise I really had while reading this book was his outlook on the internet and how it is utilized. When I think of the internet today I think of social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Facebook where people post about their daily lives or post things that show how great their life is or even just funny videos they made. He thinks of the internet in four categories and how each one is equally important and constructive to our lifestyle today. It was just a bit surprising how important he finds the internet.

Assignment 26: Celebrating Failure

1. Earlier this semester I was in a long-term relationship that wasn't all that great in terms of my mental health. In the beginning of the semester, I failed a few tests in my chem class because I just had no motivation for school and really no energy to study because of this toxic person that was draining the life out of me. Luckily I was able to get away from that and bring my grade up in that class but I consider this a failure because I let myself be apart of that toxicity for so long and was so engrossed in it that it started to impact my education.
2. I learned that no matter how much you love someone, if they're bad for you then you need to get out of that as soon as possible. I also learned that my personal life should never affect my education in a negative way like that so if it is, then I'm doing something wrong.
3. I think that failure is good to learn from. If you never fail, then you never really learn anything so it's a necessary part of life, even though we may not like it very much. With failure, you need to assess why this turned out the way it did and then learn from those mistakes so you can alter future behaviors and decisions and not make the same mistakes over again. From this class, I learned to that failure isn't that scary in the business world either and that if you never put yourself out there, then your life is just going to remain the same. I do think that I am now more likely to take risks to better my life after taking this class.

Assignment 25: What's Next?

Existing Market
1. I think that next, this venture just needs to work out whatever complications come with a start up business. hopefully it takes off and then we can lower prices on tires a bit and potentially start a service like Tire Kingdom has where we can broaden our market.
2. Based on my interviews, people see my venture developing into a business similar to Tire Kingdom, but also into something more of a mechanic type place. They mentioned that I should think about doing a full car mechanic service once the business takes off a bit. They supported my ideas for where this company could go next and added onto it with the mechanic thing.
3. For my venture, I think it would be a good idea to start out as a company that makes tires and changes/repairs them for people when they come in. I would eventually like to expand the business out to be more than just a focus on tires, but that wouldn't be until the business is stable. My interviews offered some very good insight to see what the customer base would want to see from my venture and I think it's a good idea to follow along with what the market is looking for
   I think that it makes the most sense to expand the product/service base with the needs of the market. With these interviews, I identified a second need that should be addressed with my company since I have the ability to do so.
New Market
1. A different market from mine would be one that doesn't care about the environment but just solely looks at dollar amount on the product/service.
2. I think I could create value to this market by finding ways to decrease the price or offer more for my price, like a year warranty or something to that nature.
3. When I interviewed people they suggested to me that I should lower the price or offer different perks to go along with the price that I have already set. Perks being like a 2 year warranty on the tires, fixing them at a lower price if something happens to them within the first year.
4. In this new market I learned that people who focus on price also worry about the quality they're getting as well. They may worry about how long the tires will last before they have to invest in new ones and that is a very important question to address. Nothing really surprised me per say but just reminded me of certain points that I may have been forgetting.
   Many of my assumptions for this market were correct. This market is more attractive to my venture than I previously considered because they're looking for price and quality. There isn't a reason why my product shouldn't be both eco-friendly and cost effective.

Assignment 24: Venture Concept 1

   My idea for a product and possible business venture is a biodegradable, eco-friendly tire. People who want to help reduce the pollution and help save the planet have the need for anything that would potentially be better for the environment than out current system. The nature of the need would be that it would be nice to have more options when it comes to choosing a tire since, right now, you can get the rubber ones that take millions of years to biodegrade back into the earth. People are recognizing our pollution problem now, the public is becoming much more educated on this issue and many of them want to help solve this issue. Right now, I am only looking at the United States but I’m sure in the future I could expand this venture to other countries (especially in Europe) if this turns out to be a success here. This product is aimed at anyone who wants to do their part in helping the environment so the demographic for this product is pretty broad. As of right now, everyone mostly uses the rubber tires and they’re pretty loyal to that because the tires are very easy to find and some of them are cheap. I think this opportunity is pretty big, I’ve talked to many people about it now and they agreed that this has the potential to be a big thing. I am not sure how long the “window of opportunity” will be but I can assume that it won’t be very long since everyone is starting to move toward the more eco-friendly products now and it won’t be long till someone else has the same thought that I did.

   My product is a biodegradable tire, it functions just as a normal rubber tire would but has a shorter half life than rubber does so when it is eventually disposed of, it will break down a lot faster. I would make money by marketing it as a more eco-friendly option when it comes to tires and the price would be around $200-300 (this is just a guesstimate).

   My product would solve the opportunity I identified by being part of the bigger movement to become more environmentally friendly in everyday life. This product gives people a choice, where right now one doesn’t exist. Customers will buy this to be part of that movement and maybe even because it’s a new alternative to the other rubber tires that are so common. I don’t think it will be too hard to get people to switch over once tests have proven that these will function the same as rubber tires or even better. The competitors are all other companies selling rubber tires. The competitors, though, offer the same rubber tires people have been seeing for decades and their product takes millions of years to break down once their thrown out, so to the market I think this new product would just look better. Packaging, price, distribution and business location will definitely play a big role in the success or failure of the venture. Customer support plays a role but I’m not sure it would define the company, and customer experience is highly important as well but, again, it doesn’t make or break a company unless it’s extreme. I would organize my business with sales and marketing at the top priority to support the ongoing production of the product. To start out, there wouldn’t be more than 50 employees since it’s a start up company. In the venture there would be mechanics, managers, sales and marketing people, a CFO and a CEO, also a person that coordinates with the production company and the suppliers. 

    I think my most important resource will be the people who make up the company. I want everyone to work together and focus on that common goal of saving the planet a little at a time, I want everything to be cohesive. I think that with the right pay to the employees, the right attitude, and having everyone work as a team will make the company succeed in ways that other companies won’t be able to. I’m not sure what is next for this particular venture but I do know that I would like to keep coming up with marketable ideas to help the environment in some way. Assuming I’ve actually launched this venture, in the next five years I would like to see this take off and be able to lower the price on the product a little. In the next decade, as an entrepreneur, I would like to have one or more new ventures that I’m working on launching or have launched already. This first venture would have helped me get a feel for the business world a bit and know what it takes to be successful. 

Assignment 23: Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1. Networking with a head mechanic at Tire Kingdom. This is a valuable resource because it is important for a new venture to have an idea of how their product will be used and tested to be able to gauge the full value of the product and how to market it to others. I don't think this type of network is rare but it is definitely beneficial and I don't think anything would really be able to substitute this resource unless the entrepreneur themselves have this type of information available to them already.
2. Network with an owner of a franchise branch of the type of business my venture is based in. This is a valuable resource because they own the type of business I am looking into making a product for so this person would know all of the regulations that comes along with the venture itself. I don't think this type of resource is rare but it is highly important to know all of the regulations and such when it comes to a business venture just so you can avoid being fined or shut down before you even start. You could just do this research yourself but why not learn from someone who knows it by heart so you can also find some loopholes that go with it. This resource can't really be substituted unless the entrepreneur already has a background in this area.
3. Network with a manager who sells and markets these types of products everyday. This is a valuable resource because this person knows what sells and what doesn't and also knows the price range for this product across the board. If you want to keep your prices competitive in the market, having this type of resource would be a good idea. This resource is not technically unique but it makes the entrepreneur's life easier to have. The entrepreneur could substitute this with prior knowledge or the internet.
4. A new idea that is attractive to many people with an interest in saving the planet. This is an important thing to have because your venture needs to be attractive to some type of market to be able to sell or be successful in any way. This resource is not unique because almost every new business venture has a market to sell to. This resource can't really be substituted because it is your target market.
5. An entrepreneur of a mother who could help me with business set up. This is an important resource because to even start a venture you need a business plan and a set up and my mom has set up multiple types of businesses in her life so she has a pretty good idea on how that works. This resource is unique because not everyone has something like that but it could be substituted with other types of advisers.
6. Drive to make this venture a reality. This is a valuable resource because if you don't have any motivation to make this venture happen, then it will never happen. This resource isn't technically unique since most entrepreneurs have this drive but you cannot substitute this resource with anything else.
7. Vested interest in my venture. This is a valuable resource because it is the basis of your entire venture. If you're not really interested in the problem you're solving then your business will resemble that. This resource is not unique but it cannot be substituted with anything else.
8. A network of people who would potentially invest in this venture. This resource is valuable because you need to have some type of money to start up any business. This isn't a unique resource and it can be substituted with the entrepreneur's ability to pay for the start up costs on their own.
9. An idea for who could produce my product at a reasonable cost. This resource is valuable because if you have no one to produce your product, then you have nothing to sell. This type of resource isn't unique but it cannot be substituted.
10. A network of people in advertisement. This is a valuable resource because people need to know your venture exists if you're going to get any type of business. This resource isn't unique and it could possibly be substituted with the entrepreneur's own efforts to advertise their venture, alone.
I believe my top resource is the network of people that would potentially be interested in investing in my venture because it is one of the most important aspects of business and this venture would not be a possibility without outside funding since I'm a broke college student with an idea.

Assignment 22: Elevator Pitch 3

1. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=98wlfA07Saw

2. The small changes in my Pitch that I made for the last assignments worked out pretty well. They did mention that I should include some sort of potential testing for my product just so that the person I'm pitching to knows that everything is in progress. I agree with that but at the same time, I'm not testing anything for this product so I won't be mentioning that in my pitch today.

3. I made sure everything positive from my last two pitches were included into this one, but this time I mentioned that I had networked with certain individuals that are currently in the tire business to gain some more perspective on my market and production of my product.

Assignment 21: Reading Reflection 2

1. I didn't really a notice an argument per say, but Kahneman described two types of thinking and how humans operate on certain biases and heuristics to make decisions in everyday life, big or small. He also relates his theories to everyday problems in, for example economics to better explain what he is trying to say.

2. Thinking, Fast and Slow connects with this class in that it makes you reconsider how you go about making decisions and what biases you may have when making small and big decisions just how in an entrepreneurial aspect, you should take into account certain past events and determine which bias or heuristic you need to move forward and make a good business decision.

3. I think the exercise I would design would involve some of the more simple experiments Kahneman included in his book when describing the two ways of thinking.

4. I feel like this book just caught me a bit off guard in general. With the two systems of thinking I was a bit skeptical at first but then he was able to fully back up what he was saying with experiments that he had done and it was just really convincing. When he pointed out that we survive making choices on different heuristics and biases, I agreed but I didn't really have the support behind that until he presented his. I also liked how he was able to conceptualize his prospect theory by using economics too.

Assignment 20: Growing Your Social Capital

Part 1
 1. This person is the head mechanic at one of the Tire Kingdom's in my area. He went to trade school for car mechanics and his father was also a mechanic so he grew up around fixing cars and knowing which tire brands are the best for the season or type of car you have.
 2. Domain Expert. This person would be a domain expert because he knows tires in and out and I'm trying to produce a tire that would be functional, as well as environmentally friendly, so he would be very helpful on my team.
 3. I asked my mom who she thought would be a good fit for this type of position and she suggested I should talk to someone who works with tires everyday. So, when I took my car over to get the tires replaced I started talking to the head mechanic and asked him questions for this assignment on the spot.
 4. He changes my tires and I pay him to do it. For the information, he explained what he did and what his background was and I listened. I explained my idea for my potential product to him before asking him for his thoughts on the idea and he said it was plausible and that he knows of certain materials I could make them out of.
 5. Including him in my potential network will help me have some idea of what needs to go into making a tire for it to be functional, which is one of the most important aspects of my product.
Part 2
 1. This person is the owner of the Tire Kingdom franchise branch in my area. She has a masters in business and has other entrepreneurial projects on the side.
 2. Market Expert. This person would be a market expert because she already owns something that sells the type of product that I want to sell so she knows the market for this product very well.
 3. I asked the previous person if he knew who the owner was and he gave me her card. I called the number and asked her the questions for this assignment over the phone.
 4. She just answered my questions. I'm sure she makes a large profit off of the branch she owns so when I take my car there, she sees some of that money. I explained my idea for my potential product to her and she had really good ideas for marketing and who a potential buyer would be.
 5. Including her in my potential network would help me scope out my potential market and the best way to advertise and figure out what the prices should be set at in order to make a profit and make sure people will actually buy them.
Part 3
 1. This person is a manager over at Goodyear. He has a bachelors degree in business and he has been in that position for about 10 years.
 2. Supplier. Goodyear is one of the main tire manufacturers in the country and this person has experience in the tire manufacturing business so he would know a lot about the things that go into actually making a tire. This would be very useful to me, as I can find different potential materials and he would be able to give me feedback on whether those would be a good fit for a tire or not.
 3. I looked up top tire manufactures and Goodyear came up. Then I searched for local Goodyear manufacturing plants and then called the number that came up and eventually got to talk to the manager there. I was able to talk to him for this assignment over the phone.
 4. I explained my idea to him and he was able to give me some feedback on what goes into making a tire that keeps the prices lower and the tire functional. I asked different questions on the types of materials that could be used instead of rubber and he said that he would do some research on it with me if I were interested in actually starting this business.
 5. Including him in my potential network would be very beneficial since he knows how tires are manufactured and all the basic requirements that need to be met before they can sell them. He would also be very helpful in coming up with different environmentally friendly materials to use in making the tire.
Reflect: I have never had to network before so this was a completely new experience for me. I found it pretty easy to do and I met some really nice people. This experience will help me in the future because now I feel more confident in asking questions and approaching people I wouldn't normally approach.

Assignment 19: Idea Napkin 2

1. I'm a biology major in the innovation academy, here at UF. I'm great at procrastinating and still getting everything in on time. I don't really know what talents I have yet, I'm still working on figuring all that out but I am a very driven person and have slight perfectionist tendencies. I don't really have any experience in the business world except for my Catalyst project for the innovation academy last summer and my mom and grandfather have always been entrepreneurs so whatever business related things I know came from them. I recognize that I am not an entrepreneur, I want to be a plastic surgeon and I assume that I will need some entrepreneurial skill when I eventually open my own practice. Now, regarding my potential business of the production and sale of more eco-friendly tires, if I were to start a business with this I could see it playing a huge role in my life.
2. I am offering customers a more environmentally friendly option when it comes to buying tires. It's a way of helping our planet, for those who care to do so, in a small way but I believe it would make a big difference in the health of our ecosystems since, currently all of the discarded, unusable rubber tires are sitting in landfills or elsewhere taking up space and piling up as we use more and more of them.
3. My product is offered to all people who need tires for their cars but I think my market will specifically include those who really care for the environment and can afford something a bit more pricey than the average tire. Ideally, they would be the same price as the rubber ones but starting out, just so the business doesn't fail before it gets started, they will have to be a bit more expensive.
4. They would care because it's an alternative to the rubber tires that pollute the earth as we speak. The compounds used in these eco-friendly tires would have a much shorter half life than that of the compounds in the rubber ones, allowing them to break down quicker when they are eventually discarded into landfills.
5. I have the health of the earth in mind. I may not be able to have the lowest prices at first but that will come later on. Starting out, my product will be environmentally conscious compared to the others on the market and in today's society, there are more and more people who are starting to advocate for the environment.
6. I think that these elements fit relatively well together, my only true challenge would be the pricing. This is likely the most important aspect of my product but if I were to start this business I would really need to figure out a way to make a profit and keep the business going without raising the prices too high.
7. The first point I took away from my feedback is that this idea is pretty good and, if executed right, would yield a good profit. The second would be that I would need to figure out a way to keep prices comparable to others but also how to make a profit. I incorporated these into my points above by emphasizing that this is a good idea if executed right and also by addressing the price issue.

Assignment 17: Elevator Pitch 2

1. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tRFRtogzhq4
2. The feedback I got from my first pitch was very encouraging and positive. I got a question about what type of material I would use for my product instead of rubber and, to be honest, I have no idea. I would have to do more research on that to find the perfect material that holds up as a functional tire and is biodegradable.
3. I kept the majority of my pitch the same, I slowed down the rate of my speech a bit, but other than that, the information that was in the first pitch was included in the second as well. I would have added the material, but I am still researching this aspect at this time and I did not want to include information that I wasn't completely positive on.

Assignment 18: Create a Customer Avatar

My customer would be someone that is middle aged, educated beyond high school and is in the middle class. I'm not saying that this would be my only customer base, but it would be the majority of the people who would potentially buy my product. They probably drive a smaller car that is good on gas, or even a hybrid or electric car, they probably have young children and some of them are possibly adopted. Their favorite politicians are ones that are not extremists and who care about climate change. They're in their twenties or thirties and probably feel their age. I am in my twenties, I care a lot about climate change, I have some college and my family is middle classed. I drive a honda civic (that I'm told is good on gas), but I don't have children and don't plan on having any. I think my similarities with my customer avatar are a coincidence since the major thing about this product is helping decrease the amount of pollutants in the environment and a person has to care somewhat about the earth to look into buying it.
 

Assignment 16: What's Your Secret Sauce?

1. One: I don't spend money on things unless I need it or I really want it. If I feel even a little like I could do without it I won't buy it
    Two: I will ask for help from others if I truly don't get something but I would rather figure it out myself.
    Three: I think better when I first wake up in the morning than any other time of the day.
    Four: I want to help people and animals in any way that I can, I will stop whatever I'm doing to help someone else if they look like they need it.
    Five: I like to work in teams but sometimes I'd rather do everything on my own
2. The first person I interviewed was my mom. I was really happy with what she said but a little surprised when she said naive. The second person I interviewed was my little sister, Lizzie. With this interview I knew what she would say because she tells me these things on a daily basis but it was still nice to hear. The third person I interviewed was my little sister, Gaby. I also pretty much knew what I was going to hear from this one as well. The fourth person I interviewed was my friend, Ed. I didn't know what he was going to say here so it was really nice to hear what he had to say. The fifth person I interviewed was my dad. I was a little nervous about this one because my dad says what he thinks and he can be very critical so I was a bit relieved that he had all positive things to say about me.
Interview 1 Interview 2 Interview 3 Interview 4 Interview 5
3. Overall, I feel like I assessed myself in different ways than others notice or came up with. I don't necessarily consider myself to be nice, outgoing or intelligent. I do think that I have pieces of those things but they're not something I acknowledge about myself. I feel like these differences are caused by the fact that someone else's viewpoint on you is always going to be different than your viewpoint on yourself as people tend to be more critical with themselves than with others and that others can just name off qualities you have that you, yourself don't acknowledge or notice. I would hope that my interviewees are correct about me, I just don't think I can make that judgement about myself. Maybe I am all of those qualities, maybe I'm not, that won't change how I view myself or move forward, unless the qualities were bad in which I would attempt to address those issues. I wouldn't make any corrections to my list, above, because these interviews don't change how I see myself as a person.

Assignment 15: Figuring Out Buyer Behavior 2

1. The first person I interviewed was a 23 year old female, who is an art major at FAU and works as a waitress in a local diner. The second person I interviewed was a 25 year old male, who just graduated from the local police academy. The third person I interviewed was a 35 year old female, who is the director at a local childcare center and has three kids at home.
2. When asked about what the most important factor was when considering to buy a product, the 23 year old said she first looked for style and then at the price; the 25 year old said that quality was the most important factor; and the 35 year old said that the quality and then the price were the main things she looked for when considering to buy a product/service.
3. The 23 year old said that she was more likely to buy online than in stores and that she usually uses her credit card or debit card for the purchase. The 25 year old said he was pretty split between online and in store shopping and that he uses his cards more often than cash. The 35 year old said she was more likely to shop in stores and that she usually uses her debit/bank card for the purchase (unless it was a little over budget, in which then she would use her credit card).
4. Overall, the people I interviewed said that if they were happy with the service/product use/outcome, then it would be considered a good purchase. If there were problems with the product/service and they got more headache than joy out of it, then they consider it a bad purchase.
5. What I got from these interviews was that customers look for quality, style and price when they consider buying something and that they're more likely to use their cards than cash to purchase that something. I also saw that a purchase is considered a good buy if they get more enjoyment out of the product/service than they did a headache.
6. With my segment being price, I learned that price matters when compared to all the other alternative evaluations of the product/service, the most. I also learned that price is a big factor in purchase decision and whether the customer feels like it was worth what they paid for after they've made the buy, in their post-purchase evaluation.

Assignment 13: Reading Reflection 1

1. I think what surprised me the most about Mary Kay was that she started in a time period in which men dominated everything and yet she was still able to push through all of the challenges she faced and made her dream company come to life. I admire her perseverance and drive to make her dream come true but also her ability to keep her priorities straight through it all. She encountered adversity and failure multiple times in her life and career but she learned from her failures and pushed through the adversity to build herself and her company.
2. I think that she had a great amount of competency in sales and the ability to know your market. She identified a need and worked hard to deliver a solution to those with that need.
3. I was a bit confused on how she didn't even have a product yet before she was able to come up with her potential business plan. How do you have a plan for something that you can't even identify?
4. I would ask her about my above confusion, on how she had a business plan before a conceivable product because that is a bit backward thinking to me. I would also ask how she was able to maintain a balance between work and personal life because I can't even imagine building a cosmetic empire and being able to have a personal life at the same time.
5. I believe that Mary Kay's definition of hard work would be along the lines of pushing through whatever obstacle you have to make your dream come to life and to learn from your failures so you can continue to build your future successfully. I would share this opinion of hard work.

Assignment 14: Halfway Reflection

1. Tenaciousness is a competency. For this class so far, I have had to be creative in coming up with ideas for businesses, I have had to use forward thinking and try to be more open-minded in order to fully find and address the needs of myself and others. This class has required me to think more like an entrepreneur.
2. Tenaciousness is also about attitude. A lot of the assignments for this course were a bit confusing and time consuming and I felt like just giving up and taking the zero on most of them since I have a ton of work in my other classes as well. What made me pull through is the fact that this class is more of an easy A than my others and my GPA needs any boost it can get at this point. I don't know if I would call it a tenacious attitude, but I definitely had some sort of attitude change to get through these assignments. Mostly my own anxiety contributed to this change in attitude.
3. Three tips. I think I would tell a next-semester-student to just do the assignments, don't just take the zero, most of them don't actually take up too much time they just look like they do. Also, if you really do want to be an entrepreneur, this is a great class to pick up on some tips for starting your own business so definitely pay attention to everything and apply these concepts to your business idea. You have to be very persistent and tenacious to be an entrepreneur because you're going to have a lot of set backs and you can't just give up at the first one, you have to keep pushing until you get where you want to be.

Assignment 12: Figuring Out Buyer Behavior 1

1. The segment I chose for this assignment was the segment of price the customer is willing to pay for my product.
2. I interviewed three people about my product and this segment. One of which was a successful entrepreneur, another was a young college student and the last was an employee of a multinational company. The first told me that they thought the product was a good idea but the mechanics of actually producing and selling it was the biggest issue since it would most likely drive the price over the range I originally aimed for. The second told me that they would buy the product if it were equal to or less than the price of the rubber tires. The third told me that they would buy it if the price were very comparable to that of the rubber tires. Each also asked about the quality of the product which would be another good segment to focus on.
3. Each of my three interviewees expressed a need for this product, however, along with price they were concerned with the quality and longevity of the product. They agreed that it was a good idea but they would do some research before buying to assure the price, quality and longevity were up to par. They informed me that they would not immediately replace all of their tires with the new ones but would replace them with mine over time as the older ones became worn out.
4. The people I interviewed all said things along the lines of that when they have a problem they look for different solutions to find the best and quickest one depending on how urgent the issue is. Two of them said they look for reputable sources but one said she just puts her issue into Google and takes whatever pops up. One of them said they type full questions into Google, one said only a few key words and the other said they type a simple sentence and hit search. They all said that they will talk to friends and family to see if they have some solution that they didn't think of or that they didn't see on Google.
5. In my interviews I learned that there are aspects to the market for my product that I didn't realize before and that need to be addressed before any sort of marketing could happen.
6. There are other segments that need to be addressed before I can fully address the price segment at all. So there is a ton of information that needs to be researched before I can gather any information on this. Price is the first thing people look at when they see a product or service so the other things need to be figured out rather quickly if this were to be a startup company.

Assignment 11: Idea Napkin 1

1. My name is Corrine, I am a second year student here at UF. I'm in the Innovation Academy, which is why I'm in this course, I am a biology major and eventually I plan on going to medical school to be a surgeon. I am still in the process of figuring out what my talents are but I care about people and the environment so I would like to contribute some effort to the environment so people have a better quality of life. If I were to start a business like this it would play a huge role in my life.
2. I would be offering a more eco-friendly option when it comes to tires. They would be made of other compounds that have a shorter half-life than the current rubber-made tires do so that they don't sit in landfills for millions of years. This would just be a way for people to feel good about themselves since they would be doing something to help the environment.
3. It would be marketed to everyone but the customer base that I know would go for it would be people who educate themselves before buying things and really do care about the state of the planet. According to my interviews, cost would be a very big variable in this, so as long as the prices of these are comparable to the current tires then everyone who buys tires now, would have this as an option.
4. My customer base would care to buy these because they care about the problem of pollution and want to help the environment.
5. The thing that would set this apart from everyone else would be the new compounds that make up the tire itself so that it would break down quicker in a landfill than rubber does. To my knowledge, no one has attempted to make this type of tire, especially in a way that would be as cost effective as the product I'm proposing.
6. The only aspect of this that I would be concerned about would be the fact that the research and development costs of these tires would probably be pretty high, which would inflate the price of the tires overall. If I were actually serious about this as a startup business, I would have to look into this and see whether the prices could be comparable to the rubber tires, which would make or break this potential business.

Assignment 10: Elevator Pitch 1

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2ifDykgGqMo

Assignment 9: Testing the Hypothesis Part 2

Who: My market for this product is anyone who owns a car, or anything with rubber wheels on it. When I interviewed people, those in better financial situations said that they would definitely replace their rubber tires with more eco-friendly ones if the latter were proven to be safe and just as long-lasting as the others. Those who were not so financially well-off said that they would replace their rubber tires with the eco-friendly ones slowly, as the need to get new ones arose, but the price needed to be around the same range as the rubber tires were, for them to even consider investing in them. The older individuals were a bit more skeptic about the idea of a more eco-friendly tire than the younger individuals were, just because of the reliability of the new tires overall. No one said that they would not even consider buying them, the only real issues were reliability and cost effectiveness.
What: Overall, people who just need tires and aren't too worried about what kind they are, just how much they cost, will buy the cheapest ones for their car. So, the product would have to be marketed well and be as cost effective as possible.
Why: The need isn't different, people want to help the environment but there are just things that aren't possible for some people that are for others. People may want to invest in these tires but the rubber ones are cheaper and they'd rather feed their kids and keep their house rather than spend some extra money on eco-friendly tires. It just depends on where they are financially and how much these new tires would cost compared to the rubber ones.
                                        Inside the Boundary                                    Outside the Boundary
Who                 People who want to help their environment      People who don't see pollution as an                                                                                                                              issue

What         Being as eco-friendly as possible to reduce overall    To completely eliminate pollution
                                            pollution                                           
   
Why                  Life on earth is threatened by pollution                     More cost effective
                                                                                                               Easier to produce

Assignment 8: Solving the Problem

My potential solution has to do with the growing problem of pollution in our communities. There are current programs targeted at this issue; like beach cleanups and programs in schools. For example, tires are mass produced and thrown into landfills when they can no longer be used. The materials in tires take millions of years to decompose so they just sit in landfills, which is an issue because this prevents other things on top of them from fully decomposing and also prevents the growth of new ecosystems. My product would target this issue by creating tires from different, more eco-friendly materials so that when they do, eventually get thrown into those landfills, they break down relatively quickly in comparison with the rubber tires we currently use. I would market this as a more environmental friendly option that, after numerous tests, is just as safe and hardy as normal, rubber tires.

Assignment 7: Testing the Hypothesis Part 1

1.
Pollution in Florida
2.
Pollution issues are killing off Floridian ecosystems
Who? Floridians and the life that is dying off because of this issue
What? Bodies of water are being polluted with these materials so the life that are inhabiting those areas die off
Why? People just don't think about the overall effects of their choices and it may be cheaper to buy a certain product that's toxic or easier to dispose of poisonous material improperly than to do it the right way.
3.
Testing the Who: I believe that everyone in Florida is affected by this issue, especially the ecosystems being disrupted and killed off by this problem. Others around the world have this problem too, to different extents but it exists in the vast majority of places around the world.
Testing the What: This problem really effects everyone, whether they see it or not.
Testing the Why: Some people probably won't immediately see the problems that arise from pollution and getting people to see and acknowledge this issue is half the battle. There are some programs to raise awareness and some that do things like beach cleanups to help ease the issue but I don't think there are enough of those.
4.
Interview 1:
For this interview, I talked to a senior in high school and she expressed how upsetting it was that older generations and big industries don't even acknowledge pollution as an issue. She told me that she is a part of the Environmental Academy at her school and she spends most of her free time at events like beach cleanups and "save the manatee" campaigns. She is an active advocate for the environment and survival of local ecosystems that are threatened by pollution.
Interview 2:
For this interview, I talked to a second year at Florida Atlantic University and he said he doesn't really think about the effects of pollution on a daily basis but he doesn't actively try to contribute to the problem. He said that he acknowledges that there is an issue but he was brought up in a household that thinks pollution isn't an issue at all so he feels like more programs and campaigns for this issue would be beneficial in educating the older generations about how serious pollution is.
Interview 3:
For this interview, I talked to a businessman in West Palm and he told me that he actively looks for opportunities to help advocate for this issue and pitch in to whatever cleanup he can. He also said that his family and friends are very similar to him, in that they all acknowledge and try to help reduce pollution in the environment. Later in the interview, he mentioned that he has organized environmental awareness events and some cleanups himself.
Interview 4:
For this interview, I talked to a lawyer and she told me that she believes pollution is definitely a problem and that it's completely preventable if more people acknowledged it as an issue with an intent to solve it. She said that she believes that more people need to be educated about this issue and that she has faith that the upcoming generations will be able to solve this, since they are more environmentally aware than the older generations. She mentioned that she is too busy to be able to attend events but she recycles and walks to work.
Interview 5:
For this interview, I talked to my retired neighbor and she told me that she believed that pollution is a problem for the younger generations. She expressed that it may or may not be an issue but even if she were to consider it an issue, that it wasn't her problem to save the planet since she'll be leaving it soon. She also said that there really isn't very much she can do to help even if she wanted to, so she just goes about her daily life taking each day as if it were her last.
5.
The interviews, overall, showed me that the majority of people do consider pollution to be an issue and that it is definitely possible to find solutions. I was happy to see that most of them acknowledge it and at least try to reduce their contribution to the problem. Some of them do go out of their way to spread awareness and clean some of the pollutants up that they notice in their communities. The younger generations tend to have more time to be able to contribute their time to the events while the others had careers and families to focus on so they would just do what they could in their everyday life. This shows me that we need to work harder to spread awareness and make environmental cleanups the new societal norms.

Assignment 6: Identifying Opportunities in Economic and Regulatory Trends

1. Regulatory. "5 Big Regulatory Changes That Could Affect Your Business" I found this source by putting "new regulatory changes" into the search engine, looked through the results and thought this article was a good fit for this assignment. This opportunity exists because these changes could seriously impact someone's business, large or small. This will impact entrepreneurs, employees and customers of those businesses. It would be relatively easy for the government to exploit because they are the ones that will collect if these companies do not comply with the regulations. I thought this would be an opportunity because this can change the way that businesses are allowed to run and sell their product/service.

2. Regulatory. "Medication of Hazardous Waste? EPA Creates Significant New Requirements for Managing Unused Pharmaceuticals" I found this article when I searched "regulatory changes" and I thought this article fit the requirements for this assignment. This opportunity exists because these regulation changes will impact the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries if they do not completely comply with the new rule. This will impact healthcare providers, pharmacists and anyone else in the healthcare system that handles prescription medication. It would be relatively easy to exploit if these industries do not comply with the disposal rule. I thought this would be an opportunity because this can change the way the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries run.

3. Economic. "6 Key Economic Trends for 2018" I found this article when I searched "new economic trends" and thought this would be a good fit for this assignment. This opportunity exists because these economic trends could prove to be very beneficial for a new company startup or for other pre-existing businesses to review and make amends to their own business in order to make more money in the future. This impacts the entrepreneur, investors, customers, employees and any other business owner out there. It would be easy to exploit because if you use these to predict future economic trends, you could make a lot of money off of it. I thought this would be an opportunity because this can give businesses insight into today's market to make a potential profit.

4. Economic. "5 Economic Trends Every Business Owner Should Watch in 2018" I found this article when I searched "economic trends" and thought this would be good for this assignment. This opportunity exists because these economic trends are what business owners were looking out for in the past year and could prove beneficial for predicting future trends. This impacts entrepreneurs, employees and consumers. It would be easy to exploit since businesses could use these trends to make assumptions about future and present trends to turn a profit. I thought this would be an opportunity because it can help businesses succeed in the present and future.

Assignment 5: Identifying Local Opportunities

1.

"Landowner's plight shows that Martin needs shelter"
   
https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFSNC%21Stuart%2BNews-Port%2BSt.%2BLucie%2BNews%252FSt.%2BLucie%2BNews%2BTribune%252FJupiter%2BCourier%252FFort%2BPierce%2BNews%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0123%21January%2B23&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/171211FEEAD82B90
   
 Property value of a piece of land, owned by Billy Harper, is in the toilet because of a squalor village that is right behind it. He can't get the squatters to leave because there are so many and the Martin County police force is short staffed. There are few shelters open to women and children and no shelters open to men in all of Martin County so they don't have anywhere else to go even if he got them to leave. They're calling for a homeless shelter but officials are worried that they do not have the budget to open one. This problem effects property owners, taxpayers, officers and homeless people.

2.

"Local officials ask state to fund water projects"

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFSNC%21Stuart%2BNews-Port%2BSt.%2BLucie%2BNews%252FSt.%2BLucie%2BNews%2BTribune%252FJupiter%2BCourier%252FFort%2BPierce%2BNews%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0120%21January%2B20&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/1711146BEB702DA0

The water quality on the Treasure Coast needs improvement since there have been blue algae blooms in the water system. Officials are asking for more state funding to clear up this issue, St. Lucie, Fort Pierce, Martin and Indian River counties are asking for millions of dollars in order to solve this. This problem effects everyone on the Treasure Coast and, if they're approved for this money, will definitely have an impact on taxpayers.

3.

"Veterans like me face war in Iraq, suicide at home"

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFSNC%21Stuart%2BNews-Port%2BSt.%2BLucie%2BNews%252FSt.%2BLucie%2BNews%2BTribune%252FJupiter%2BCourier%252FFort%2BPierce%2BNews%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0120%21January%2B20&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/1711146C1FA84368

Our veteran mental healthcare system is seriously lacking. Soldiers come home from war with trauma that goes untreated and are unable to cope with civilian life so they resort to suicide. The VA hospitals are understaffed and will rush through procedure since there are so many patients and just not enough people to help. The author makes suggestions on how to help the current mental health system. This issue effects veterans and their families.

4.

"Pardons underscore need for reform"

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFSNC%21Stuart%2BNews-Port%2BSt.%2BLucie%2BNews%252FSt.%2BLucie%2BNews%2BTribune%252FJupiter%2BCourier%252FFort%2BPierce%2BNews%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0119%21January%2B19&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/1710C9C18AE49300

Recently there have been a few pardons for those wrongly imprisoned by the Justice System but there is much more work to be done, as the amount of racial disparities in the Florida legal system are insurmountable. The author calls for the state to continue addressing the racial disparity in the criminal justice system as it will set free those whom were wrongly imprisoned and even cut costs for taxpayers by reducing the population in our prisons. This effects those wrongly accused, taxpayers, and those in the future from being wrongly accused.

5.

"Farm asked how it'll keep nearby canals free of filth"

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AFSNC%21Stuart%2BNews-Port%2BSt.%2BLucie%2BNews%252FSt.%2BLucie%2BNews%2BTribune%252FJupiter%2BCourier%252FFort%2BPierce%2BNews%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0115%21January%2B15&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/170F70120FAB1008

Sunbreak Farms had been dumping partially treated waste into the Indian River Lagoon and the South Florida Water Management District is asking what their plan is to dispose of the waste properly, instead of dumping it into the Lagoon. Sunbreak decided that they want to make a compost mix with the waste and use that to fertilize their crops. The issue with this is that it's sewage that they're trying to mix with some compost material to fertilize crops that they're eventually going to sell to the public. They get around the prohibition of Class B biosolids by mixing it enough to make it into a Class AA biosolid, which is not regulated, and continue to grow and sell their crops. This problem effects consumers of Sunbreak Farms' products.

Assignment 4: Forming an Opportunity Belief: A Twist on Opportunity Identification

Belief: Not enough No Kill Animal Shelters

Description of Belief: There are so many animals in need and not enough shelters that will house them until they're adopted. The majority of animal shelters will euthanize the animal after a certain amount of days being there, unless someone chooses to adopt them before then. This problem has existed for a while, it isn't a new thing. People are trying to open No Kill Shelters, which try to transfer in animals from the Kill Shelters, but they usually fill up fast since there are so few of these types of shelters.  I am 100% sure that this opportunity exists. I have adopted animals from two Kill Shelters, here, in Florida and they are still euthanizing animals, that have been there too long, today.

Iteration 1: Female, currently has one dog
   Did you adopt your dog from a shelter? "Yes" What kind of shelter? "No Kill Shelter" Why? "It was the closest shelter to my house" If the opportunity arose, would you adopt from a Kill Shelter? "Of course. I feel terrible that those animals are just killed off if they don't find a family in time" Do you think there is a need for more No Kill Shelters? "Definitely." Most No Kill Shelters will try to foster animals out to approved families to make room for more animals in need and they even try to transfer in animals from the Kill Shelters. Do you think this is enough? "No because animals are still being euthanized in those shelters everyday and until there are no more Kill Shelters, then there is more work to do." What do you suggest we do to help these animals? "Open more No Kill Shelters or foster out more animals. We have to do something. I was thinking of adopting another dog soon, so maybe I can help at least one."

Iteration 2: Male, currently has two dogs and a cat
    Did you adopt your pets from a shelter? "Not the cat, I actually got her from a friend but the dogs are both from shelters." What kind of shelter, or shelters, did you adopt your dogs from? "I got Bud from a Kill Shelter down in Miami and Violet is from a No Kill Shelter here in Jupiter." Why did you adopt from the Kill Shelter? "I felt bad that he was in there. He was so cute on the website I just had to go get him." Why did you adopt from the No Kill Shelter? "Well, at the time, I had just moved here and was all settled with Bud. I worked long days and I felt like he got lonely so I started looking at the nearest shelter and I found Vi." Do you think there is a need for more No Kill Shelters? "Of course I do. If I hadn't gotten Bud out of there in time, he would be gone by now I got him the day before his time would have been up."  Most No Kill Shelters will try to foster animals out to approved families to make room for more animals in need and they even try to transfer in animals from the Kill Shelters. Do you think this is enough? "Not as long as they're still killing animals off just to make space for others coming in." What do you suggest we do to help these animals? "I don't really know, I mean, I guess they should start opening more No Kill Shelters or do the foster thing."

Iteration 3: Female, currently has a fish
   Have you ever had an animal that you adopted from a shelter? "No, but my friends have." Are you aware that there are Kill Shelters and No Kill Shelters? "No, I wasn't. I thought they were all No Kill Shelters. That's terrible. They just kill off animals?" After a certain amount of time, yes. If you were to adopt an animal from a shelter, which type of shelter would it be from? "I would try to adopt from a Kill Shelter but it really would depend on which type of shelter was closest to me." Now that you're aware of the two types of shelters, do you think there is a need for more No Kill versus Kill Shelters? "Well, I'm not a monster, of course I think we need more No Kill shelters." Most No Kill Shelters will try to foster animals out to approved families to make room for more animals in need and they even try to transfer in animals from the Kill Shelters. Do you think this is enough? "If they're still killing off animals, then we're not doing enough to help." What do you suggest we do to help these animals? "We need more of those No Kill Shelters and more loving families willing to adopt. I would adopt a dog or cat but I'm allergic to both but I know some people that really want a pet, I'll see if they know about these Kill Shelters."

Reflection: I noticed during these three interviews that people tend to adopt a pet from shelters nearest to them, instead of what type of shelter it is. What surprised me a little was that the third person didn't know there were two different types of shelters. Maybe most people don't really think about this problem unless they're trying to adopt a pet and then after they've adopted one, they don't think much about it after.

Summary: The original opportunity is about 80% there now, since I realized how little this problem is really thought about by others. I do believe that my opportunity is more accurate now than when I started since I now know that I would have to really advertise and fund raise to even begin solving this problem. Entrepreneurs should definitely take customer feedback into account and, while keeping the same basic opportunity, mold their approach to the opportunity to customer feedback.

Assignment 3: My Entrepreneurship Story

I, myself, am not an entrepreneur but my mother is. When I was small, about three years old, my mother worked and sent me to a daycare center for the day and one day, I was apparently being difficult with one of the teachers and refused to put my coat on so she decided to try to force it on me but she pulled my arm too hard and my arm popped out of the socket. This is what sent my mom into her entrepreneurship journey. She decided she would quit her job and open her own daycare in our house, and she was very good at her job, she had her own employees and a waiting list because everyone in our area wanted to send their kid to my mom's daycare. She did this for a decade and then we moved to Florida in 2013. Now when we got here, she worked in different childcare centers and for DCF this past year but now she and a few colleagues have decided to open their own charter school for kindergarten through twelfth grade, here in Palm Beach. They are still working on the application for the county, at the moment but she already has endorsements from different companies and schools set up, the $10 million loan, the building being set up and they're looking at opening the school in 2020. The closest thing I have done to entrepreneurship is, last summer, in my Innovation Academy class we had to split into groups to come up with a product concerning biodiversity in Florida to compete in Catalyst at the end of the semester. My group went with biodegradable fishing hook and lines. We had to come up with a name, make a poster advertisement, make a prototype and at Catalyst we had to explain everything about the product.
I am in this class because it is required for the Innovation Academy and I hope to learn some things about how different entrepreneurs handled failure to get where they are now.

Assignment 2: Bug List

1. After two nights, the far corner of the fitted sheet on my bed comes off and, since the bed is pushed into the corner where two walls meet, I have to climb over the bed to fix it
Why?
Maybe since it's so hard to get the fitted part fully under the corner, it comes off faster than the other corners do or I want to avoid moving the bed out of the corner and do it properly
2. iPhone charger cords break very easily
Why?
Maybe Apple doesn't want to spend the money investing in a bit more coating on the cord to make it stronger or don't care to do so if they can make more money having people come in for a new one
3. No parking in my apartment complex
Why?
Poor design or there is too much emphasis on the overall aesthetic of the complex rather than on parking spaces
4. The counters with the sinks, in public bathrooms, are constantly covered in water
Why?
People don't have time to wipe up the water after themselves, the bathroom has air dryers instead of paper towels so there is nothing to wipe up the counter with, or people just don't care to dry the counter
5. Dirty menus at restaurants
Why?
The staff don't think to wipe down the menus unless they're very noticeably dirty, don't have time to, or don't have to so they don't go out of their way to do so
6. When shopping carts aren't put away properly in the parking lot (either inside or in a cart corral)
Why?
People are in a rush so they don't have time to walk around to find the nearest cart corral thing or don't care to find one at all since it's easier to just leave the cart somewhere
7. Going to a public place and their wifi isn't free
Why?
The facility wants to make some extra money or to advertise their specific business by making the customer go through their site for wifi
8.  Trying on clothes at a store and you can clearly tell that the clothes have been worn before (deodorant marks, makeup stains, etc.)
Why?
The staff can't wash the clothes so they do what they can with a disinfectant spray and dryer sheets or they're just so busy they don't have time to go through and do that
9. If an iPhone is dropped and lands just right on its face, the whole screen will crack (with a good case and sometimes even despite having a screen protector)
Why?
Apple won't spend the extra money making a phone screen "indestructible" since, once it cracks, people usually will pay them to fix the screen or get an entirely new phone from them or it would cost more for them to make a screen like that when they could spend that money on something else
10. In some parking lots, it's hard to see around corners when they're decorated with large, dense plants
Why?
The people who own the parking lots may be thinking more in terms of aesthetic than they are in terms of safety or just a bad design
11. When driving on the interstate, people will pull into your lane without signalling
Why?
They feel like if they signal, the other person will speed up and not let them ahead or they need to get off at the upcoming exit and there isn't time for them to signal they just need to get there before they miss the ramp
12. When you're at a restaurant for breakfast and order their silver dollar pancakes but they come out with normal sized pancakes
Why?
Instead of making 8-12 silver dollar pancakes they make 2-3 normal sized ones to maybe save on batter or cooking time. Maybe the cook doesn't really know how big they are supposed to be or how many to make so they assume the normal sized ones are fine
13. When people smoke at the beach and leave their cigarette butts in the sand
Why?
Maybe they're too lazy to find an ash tray or dispose of them properly. Maybe they don't think about others on the beach that could step on it, ingest it (small kids/animals)
14. The gas cap on my car gets dirt/grime around it and makes the check engine light go on so I go to the mechanic thinking it's some big issue when I could have just cleaned it myself and not spent money having them tell me it's basically nothing
Why?
Maybe the check engine light goes off because if the dirt makes its way into the gas tank it could cause some issues with how the fuel burns or something to that effect. Maybe I should just keep up on the cap and check it every time I get gas so I can eliminate that from my list of possible problems when the check engine light comes on
15. When I'm in line to pick up my sisters from school at the end of the day, the line takes ages to move and it's so long it seems like I'm stuck there for eternity waiting for them to get in the car and go home
Why?
People don't pay attention to when the line is actually moving so they take a bit to notice it's their turn to move up, kids coming out of the school take a while to meander out and find their car, people are driving at a snails pace since kids will just walk out into the car line without even looking so you have to really pay attention to the sides so you don't run anyone over, or the whole system is just a bad organization on the school's part
16. When someone's walking their dog and it misses the grass and poops on the sidewalk but instead of picking up after their dog, they leave it there
Why?
They don't have one of those poop bag things, to pick up after their dog, with them so they just walk away or they think it's too disgusting to pick it up, even with the bag thing.
17.  When you go to the doctor and they need you to get some blood work done so they send you to another facility
Why?
They don't have a phlebotomist there or they don't have the space in their practice to have a lab
18. Overwhelming waiting room music in doctors offices on top of the noise from the TV that's playing
Why?
Maybe they want to calm the patient with music before going in but meet the needs of other patients that like to be informed on different health things from the TV or maybe they don't realize that the music with the TV noise is sensory overload
19. Dirty public transportation
Why?
Don't see the necessity of deep cleaning the seats when they're just going to be used again the next day or they don't have the money to spend on countless cleaning supply for the seats
20. During the day, free parking on campus is very limited for students who live off campus
Why?
Bad design; they think that students off campus will just take the bus; need more room for disability parking, teacher/staff parking and the living on campus student parking
Reflection: I found coming up with this list a little difficult. I don't usually focus on the small things that bug me so I would set out everyday with the intention to find what bothered me and to write it down immediately but the problem with this, is that I would forget that I was supposed to write it down. So for most of the days I spent working on this list, I had to keep reminding myself to make the list. Once I had all twenty, I had to come up with the "why" part for each bug and that was harder than I thought it would be since I kept getting stuck in why it bugged me, personally, and not why it existed in general.

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