30A – Final Reflection

• My most formative experience in this class would have to be when we had to first test the idea for the venture concept we had thought of. To be honest, I did not look forward into the type of assignments we would be doing in this class so I didn't think our idea would stick with us throughout the duration of the course, but in the end I think it made the class better. I really was able to workshop an idea through the duration of the semester and I think I really developed entrepreneurship skills that are vital for success. An experience I'll remember years later is all of the interviews I had to go through to accomplish assignments. Sometimes I would wait until Friday afternoon to do the assignments and it was a pain to find different people to interview, but it really made the hardship worth it. I learned a lot about my product that I would've never even thought of without doing this and I'll remember this for a long time. My most joyous experience had to be the Secret Sauce assignment because when I was asking some of the closest people to me what gave me human capital, I got some really nice responses that I wasn't expecting, and it really brought a smile to my face. The experience I am most proud of myself for is still completing all of the necessary interviews to do assignments.
• At the beginning of the semester we were asked to work on developing entrepreneurial mindsets and I truly feel like I have developed this. After doing weeks upon weeks of doing assignments that incorporate this type of thinking and reinforcing it over and over again I feel that I have come many steps closer to being an entrepreneurship. I feel that I am close to actually being a real entrepreneur, but since I haven't physically produced anything in the real world, not for an assignment, I am not there quite yet. My goal is to get closer and closer to being a true entrepreneur in the minds of my peers and my mind.
• One recommendation I would make to the future students of this class that will embark on the journey is to start your assignments earlier in the week rather than later. Honestly, I would recommend doing assignments ahead of time as well. This is the best advice I can give because the assignments can sometimes require a huge time commitment out of you and on top of other classes, it can make it difficult to stay on top of the work. Especially with the assignments with interviews, those can take awhile to gather the information needed. This will guarantee you succeed in the class. A recommendation I would also make is to make sure that you submit the correct link for the assignment assigned and double check that you declare each assignment, because you don't want to put all the time into completing an assignment and then realizing you get no credit for it. The best way to foster this mindset is to stay proactive and develop a plan of action. Decide when you will get your assignments done each week and make sure to stay focused.

29A – Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity:
Nicotine is a highly addictive substance that is commonly found in tobacco products such as cigarettes, but now companies have created new electronic devices to try and help people get off cigarettes, but they inadvertently created a bigger problem. Most of the time people will get hooked on nicotine due to social influences, meaning they see their friends doing it so they are more inclined to try it themselves in order to fit in. My product is designed for these types of people trying to quit their addiction and try to better themselves for personal health reasons. The main force creating this opportunity is the introduction of nicotine products like JUULs that gives teenagers the ease of using nicotine whenever they please. The kind of market for my product would start off locally and if this product were to become widely popular and a huge success it would be nice to expand nationally. Most people I know that would fit into my target audience are currently not satisfying this need with any potential competitor because some people don't see the need for such a product, which in turn makes somewhat of a challenge for my product. This opportunity has the potential to become fairly big depending on how well received people take this product, I firmly believe that there is a big need for something like this and hopefully many others think so too. The window of opportunity for me will be open for as long as there are nicotine products on the market. This probably means for many decades because that's also how long nicotine has been around.

Innovation:

My product exactly is a bracelet or necklace that the user wears and helps relieve withdrawal symptoms a person would get from stopping the use of nicotine after a prolonged period of use. This product can be customized in order to fit the aesthetic needs of the consumer. It works by emitting a safe chemical compound into the body that is able to stop these symptoms effectively, but without the use of more nicotine. I plan on making money from this from primarily an online store at first, but a huge goal to shoot for would be getting this product onto pharmacy shelves. I would charge $30 for a bracelet and $40 for a necklace. For individuals, I will sell my product just as described. For other businesses, I wouldn't sell my product to them except in places where I can sell my product successfully on their shelves.

Venture Concept:

My product would be able to help people that want help stopping their nicotine use. It would be able to reduce withdrawal symptoms with my proprietary chemical that is safe for human consumption. It will be absorbed into the skin via the wearable device and will last roughly a couple of weeks with each replaceable cartridge. This would perfectly solve the opportunity I have selected because there's people out there who are struggling to get off this highly addictive substance Consumers will buy my product because it is unique in the sense that no other company has been able to create a product quite like this. All other competitors have products that actually have nicotine in them.  Relatively speaking, it shouldn't be too hard to get people to switch over because my product wouldn't contain nicotine at all, thus creating a better health atmosphere for the consumer. The biggest competitor right now would be patches because these have been around for many years now and I would be a new entrant in this type of market. Their biggest weakness is that their products still contain nicotine and once consumers are introduced to this alternative they would be inclined to switch. I feel that a big role in my company would be the price point. From a price stand point, my product is relatively cheap, and the replacement cartridges would only cost about $7, in comparison to a normal nicotine patch which retails or roughly $24, but only contains two weeks worth of product. In the short run, the patches may be more cost effective, but in the long run is where my product would shine. This business would be organized in a traditional type of manufacturing facility where there's workers working in the factory and then research and development teams that are constantly improving the product based on feedback. The amount of workers would vary depending on the initial amount of capital raised for this product as well as the amount of growth the business has.

Unfair Advantage:

From the VRIN analysis I found out that having a connection in the doctor world would be the most helpful because with a doctor's seal of approval on my product it would really help boost sales and potentially doctors can even recommend this kind of product to their clients if they're having lung issues from smoking and are trying to quit. Also, this would help achieve an initial goal of getting this product on the shelves of pharmacies.

What's Next:

There's not too much else to add on to the venture besides the fundamental stuff already included in the product, but there's always room to continue improving the product based on feedback. In addition, it would be nice to continue the growth of my company in order to solve an important issue as well as make some money along the way. Also, I could expand my target audience into the older generation and combine the idea of creating new types of wearables that will appeal to people in this age range.

For me:

Personally, in 5 years I am hoping this product is widely successful and the goal is to see people wearing this product wherever I go. In addition, I hope to have created another successful venture by this time and hopefully those are fixing important issues as well. This first opportunity would give me important information and knowledge on how to successfully start a venture and I feel like the next upcoming ventures will be able to be run much more smoothly off the start.

Feedback:

• Focus more on starting locally before continuing to expand outwards
• Potentially manufacture a more wide variety of wearables
• Continue to stress the fact that this product is designed differently than existing nicotine addiction relief products
• Keep an open mind as not every smoker would want to buy this product
• Expand market to include older people on top of the current market of younger college kids 

How I'll Adapt:

• Changed what was written about starting nationally, as I need to start locally and not assume I'll just be starting at a national level
• I'll workshop some potential new wearable ideas and if they are well received by future interviews then I will start to manufacture it
• I shouldn't be discouraged by the fact that in some of my interviews my product wasn't well received and instead I should be taking into consideration their feedback and leaving it at that
• I updated my What's Next section by including how I'll integrate the idea of marketing to another audience as well.

28A – Your Exit Strategy

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

I would like to think that if this business venture is successful then I would continue to stay with the company until my profits start to decline. I think my profits would continue for at least 5 years and then I would potentially sell the business off to people who will continue the mission of helping people with their nicotine addiction. I will most likely have other ventures running at this time and I will switch my focus onto another one.

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

I have selected this type of particular exit strategy because I do care about helping people with their addiction, but if sales decline it just shows me that people aren't as interested in my vision anymore and that I should sell the company to other people who want to continue my mission, but with a different spin on it. Also, if sales do decline it would be more costly for me to keep the business running than it would be to just sell it off.

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

I feel like my exit strategy has definitely influenced the way I made some of my decisions. For instance, knowing that I am going to leave eventually has caused me to branch out and network with a bunch of different potential prospects and people who I think will run my company well in the future. In addition, I feel like this networking opportunity has really provided me with different types of potential ideas for business ventures in the future and that will be super important going forward. Finally, I also feel that my exit strategy has forced me to make sure that my current business concept is as best as it can be because if the business was failing it would not be marketable in the future to potential buyers.

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The general theme of this book is that your mindset orientation is how you show up and turn out in your life. She discusses many points in her book such as genius is made, not something you're born with. Another point she made was that if you are feeling depressed you can either give up and accept that's how you are supposed to feel or you can turn around and change what you do next. These points she made all relate back to her central theme of the book, having a fixed vs a growth mindset. A fixed mindset is defined by people not believing that they can continue to improve in certain aspects in their life no matter what they do. On the other hand, a growth mindset is defined by a person believing that if they put the time and effort into whatever they're doing, they can achieve anything. Her points strive to show that having a fixed mindset is detrimental to your future and can hinder your chances at being successful.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

One of the author's big points in the books was that we should be embracing our failures. From assignment 26, we were tasked with celebrating failure and our experience  with this. This book and that assignment share the common theme of accepting our failures and learning from them. In the book it talks about people that don't embrace their failures have a fixed mindset and as mentioned earlier having that will hurt your ability to grow as an individual. After doing the assignment and reading about learning from our failures, it really helped enhance my understanding of what it means to be able to grow from my failures, so that I can maintain a growth mindset and continue to better myself.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

If assignment 26 didn't involve celebrating failures, I would have definitely done that. Since that idea was already used, I would design an exercise that highlights what actions and qualities fit into a growth mindset and fixed mindset. The assignment would start by having the student identify what he or she thinks makes up a growth mindset and then the next part of the assignment would involve them defining what makes up a fixed mindset. Having them list these qualities and actions that make up these mindsets would help the person that's doing the work realize how important your mindset is and how it can really change the course of your life.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

The biggest aha moment that I had was how effort is looked at regarding one's mindset. What I mean by this is that by not showing as much effort into something you are trying to achieve is linked to having a fixed mindset, but I originally thought that if you didn't have to put as much effort into something as someone else and still achieve the same result, it wasn't showing signs of anything bad overall. I learned that just by not putting in maximum effort at all times can lead you into a fixed mindset that what you are doing is the best it can be, but if you put effort into everything you do even if you're already proficient at it, that's how you can achieve greatness. It was an aha moment that really made me think about how important effort is.

26A – Celebrating Failure

1) Earlier this semester I experienced a failure that really hurt me mentally and really affected the way I viewed my education. I was enrolled in business finance and I failed on the tests so bad I had to drop the class. Although I am a freshman, I decided to take on business finance because I really thought I could handle it, but wow was I wrong. On the first exam, I got a grade that I thought would never happen to me and it destroyed my self-confidence. I studied more for that exam than I did throughout all of high school combined and still ended up with an abysmal grade. I thought that maybe I could try and turn it around and still manage to pull myself out of this pit and pass the class with a C, even though I need a B, so I stuck with the class. Again, I worked very hard and spent countless hours studying for the second exam and I did better than the first, but the grade was still something I wasn't proud of. I had failed my expectations of myself again, and my self-confidence went spiraling downwards again and I felt like I shouldn't even be at UF anymore. I feel I should've put more quality of time into studying and I just feel I wasn't prepared mentally enough for this class and what it would require from me as an individual.

2) What I learned from failing at this class on two exams was how I need to fix my priorities and I need to find out how to study better for myself. Personally, I really felt like I could've put more serious time into this class because all of the advice I heard from people who took this class in the past said to study right after the first lecture. I procrastinated and prioritized other aspects of my life and left the studying for the last minute. My grade really reflected this. In addition, I also learned that I actually need to learn how to study properly. I never had to study or put extra time into my work at the high school level and still managed to get straight A's. Going into college I had that same mentality and I really got burned by this. After this failure, I will make sure to improve upon what I have learned.

3) Failure is something that everyone experiences, but not everyone experiences it in the same way. It's hard and can be embarrassing, but it is very necessary in order to grow as an individual and achieve success. Personally, I handle failure almost as motivation. At first it may kick my butt and have me feeling down on myself, but I pull through it and learn from it so that it won't happen again. Telling my parents I had to drop that class after I was telling them how much I was going to ace that class when I enrolled in it was very disappointing to me, but they didn't yell at me or anything, they just told me to improve myself and do better because they know that I can. That helped push me in the right direction and now I feel a lot better about retaking the class in the future. In regard to this class, it really hasn't changed my perspective on failure because I have had this feeling towards failure for a while now, but this class has helped reinforce that idea into my head, so that I won't forget it. Finally, I feel more confident about taking risks though because by doing all of these assignments and learning more about how normal failure is for everyone helps me go through failure easier, thus making it easier to put yourself out there and take more risks.

25A – What’s Next?

What I think is Next:
I think that my company should continue to keep producing the same product, but with the modifications provided by feedback from consumers. I feel that for my venture specifically there isn't a need in order to try and force a new product that will cost a large amount of money to develop and most likely won't have a good return. The ultimate goal is to try and get this product at it's best form in order to keep sales high. This means updating the look, more customization options, and whatever else is important to the consumer.

Existing Market Interviews:
1.  I asked a potential consumer that fits this market and his name is Greg. He is heavily addicted to nicotine and feels the need to quit. I told him about my venture and asked what I should be doing that we're not already and he told me that personally he wouldn't want to wear something like a bracelet or a necklace, but if I were to be able to devise a product that can do similar things. He gave the example of maybe making gum or maybe creating a pill instead.

2. The next potential consumer that fits into my market is Jack. He is also somewhat suffering from a nicotine addiction and he also really wants to stop. I explained my opportunity to him and he really agree with me that my product is something that he would actually buy. He told me that personally I wouldn't need to do much more than what I plan to do other that just maybe some potential design changes.

3. The last potential consumer was Danielle. She is an avid nicotine user and as well as the others also wants to quit this highly addictive substance. I explained my product to her and she thought it was a great start and that she can definitely see how success could come from this. I asked what else I could do that I wasn't planning on doing and she said that I really should try to expand my product line and potentially make different products. She told me that I could potentially make more types of wearables or maybe make something along the lines of consumable like a pill.

Reflection:
After getting these three interviews done it was really eye opening and it kind of made me want to actually expand on my original venture and actually make more products along with the one that I have right now. The first interview made me almost rethink my idea as a whole because he's part of the consumer base that wouldn't actually like to wear my product. On the other hand, the second and third interviews went along with my idea and gave nice ideas on how to improve on stuff that I didn't think of. The second interview showed me that I should really make improvements to my design while the third showed me that there are possible alternatives to what I originally created. After hearing what was said, I learned that I should really create a better plan for the future.

New Market:
I think a market that I haven't really tried to tap into is the older population. I really believe that this is an important part of potential consumers, but I have really failed at acknowledging it until now. My idea could be adapted to appeal to an older audience such as making the wearables more professional looking, so that it could be worn during work.

New Market Interviews:
1. I talked to a friend of my father that still has a smoking habit from his teenage years. I explained my venture to him and he thought it was super unique and he hasn't heard of anything like this in the past. He reminisced with me and said that if a product like this was around back in his day then he might'e not been hooked on nicotine to this day. He agreed with me also that in order to appeal to an older audience you have to make the product with the thought of an older person in mind and make it more professional.

2. I talked to my uncle who is also a big smoker. I explained my idea to him and he really didn't seem too keen on it because he actually enjoys smoking and doesn't see his addiction as a curse. I asked how I could really improve on my product, but he said that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Meaning that he believes that no matter how I change it if people don't see a need for it then people won't buy it regardless of how good the product may be.

Reflection:
What surprised me most of this new market was how similar it actually was to my target market. What I mean by this is that with a few physical changes to the product, it still appeals to the older audience. In addition to this, I also found out that people really won't buy a product even if it fits their needs, they have to actually want to invest their money into something like this. Honestly, this market can be somewhat attractive because there's many old-time smokers who still do it to this day and can't really stop even if their health is on the line. If they are trying to improve their well being overall though this product would be very attractive to this audience just like my original audience. Finally, I believe that some of my assumptions were correct that there was still people that could still benefit from this product and I also believed that some people would want to just enjoy what they enjoy and not be interested in my product.

24A – Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity:
Nicotine is a highly addictive substance that is commonly found in tobacco products such as cigarettes, but now companies have created new electronic devices to try and help people get off cigarettes, but they inadvertently created a bigger problem. Most of the time people will get hooked on nicotine due to social influences, meaning they see their friends doing it so they are more inclined to try it themselves in order to fit in. My product is designed for these types of people trying to quit their addiction and try to better themselves for personal health reasons. The main force creating this opportunity is the introduction of nicotine products like JUULs that gives teenagers the ease of using nicotine whenever they please. The kind of market for my product would start off nationally and if this product were to become widely popular and a huge success it would be nice to expand nationally. Most people I know that would fit into my target audience are currently not satisfying this need with any potential competitor because some people don't see the need for such a product, which in turn makes somewhat of a challenge for my product. This opportunity has the potential to become fairly big depending on how well received people take this product, I firmly believe that there is a big need for something like this and hopefully many others think so too. The window of opportunity for me will be open for as long as there are nicotine products on the market. This probably means for many decades because that's also how long nicotine has been around.

Innovation:

My product exactly is a bracelet or necklace that the user wears and helps relieve withdrawal symptoms a person would get from stopping the use of nicotine after a prolonged period of use. This product can be customized in order to fit the aesthetic needs of the consumer. It works by emitting a safe chemical compound into the body that is able to stop these symptoms effectively, but without the use of more nicotine. I plan on making money from this from primarily an online store at first, but a huge goal to shoot for would be getting this product onto pharmacy shelves. I would charge $30 for a bracelet and $40 for a necklace. For individuals, I will sell my product just as described. For other businesses, I wouldn't sell my product to them except in places where I can sell my product successfully on their shelves.

Venture Concept:

My product would be able to help people that want help stopping their nicotine use. It would be able to reduce withdrawal symptoms with my proprietary chemical that is safe for human consumption. It will be absorbed into the skin via the wearable device and will last roughly a couple of weeks with each replaceable cartridge. This would perfectly solve the opportunity I have selected because there's people out there who are struggling to get off this highly addictive substance Consumers will buy my product because it is unique in the sense that no other company has been able to create a product quite like this. All other competitors have products that actually have nicotine in them.  Relatively speaking, it shouldn't be too hard to get people to switch over because my product wouldn't contain nicotine at all, thus creating a better health atmosphere for the consumer. The biggest competitor right now would be patches because these have been around for many years now and I would be a new entrant in this type of market. Their biggest weakness is that their products still contain nicotine and once consumers are introduced to this alternative they would be inclined to switch. I feel that a big role in my company would be the price point. From a price stand point, my product is relatively cheap, and the replacement cartridges would only cost about $7, in comparison to a normal nicotine patch which retails or roughly $24, but only contains two weeks worth of product. In the short run, the patches may be more cost effective, but in the long run is where my product would shine. This business would be organized in a traditional type of manufacturing facility where there's workers working in the factory and then research and development teams that are constantly improving the product based on feedback. The amount of workers would vary depending on the initial amount of capital raised for this product as well as the amount of growth the business has.

Unfair Advantage:

From the VRIN analysis I found out that having a connection in the doctor world would be the most helpful because with a doctor's seal of approval on my product it would really help boost sales and potentially doctors can even recommend this kind of product to their clients if they're having lung issues from smoking and are trying to quit. Also, this would help achieve an initial goal of getting this product on the shelves of pharmacies.

What's Next:

There's not too much else to add on to the venture besides the fundamental stuff already included in the product, but there's always room to continue improving the product based on feedback. In addition, it would be nice to continue the growth of my company in order to solve an important issue as well as make some money along the way.

For me:

Personally, in 5 years I am hoping this product is widely successful and the goal is to see people wearing this product wherever I go. In addition, I hope to have created another successful venture by this time and hopefully those are fixing important issues as well. This first opportunity would give me important information and knowledge on how to successfully start a venture and I feel like the next upcoming ventures will be able to be run much more smoothly off the start.

23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

1.  My dad created his own business from the ground up and it's very successful. Knowing a successful entrepreneur that is so close to me can give me great advice for growing my business.
-Valuable: It's valuable because this information could be important for success.
-Rare: This is not rare because there's many people who have done what my dad's done
-Inimitable: This can somewhat be imitated due to it being knowledge he received from somewhere else too.
-Non-substitutable: I could substitute the information with another source of information, but my dad's specific information can't be substituted.

2. There are other many outlets putting out ads against nicotine and smoking.
-Valuable: This is very valuable because then it gets awareness out that smoking and using nicotine isn't good, so people may decide they need help getting off their addiction and that's where my product will be waiting.
-Rare: This is not rare at all because ads are very frequent.
-Inimitable: Ads can be imitated, but in this case the more ads about how bad smoking and nicotine is for you then the better for my company.
-Non-substitutable: These kind of ads can be substituted, but again if there's different types of ads coming from a substituted source it's still helping us overall.

3. I understand marketing concepts and have knowledge on how to get my product out in the market.
-Valuable: This is very valuable because if you don't have the knowledge on getting your product to the consumer in an effective way then you are losing potential revenue.
-Rare: This is not rare because people can take classes in order to gain this type of basic knowledge
-Inimitable: This can be imitated because it's general knowledge to the public.
-Non-substitutable: This type of knowledge can't be substituted.

4. I have some public speaking experience from my time at UF.
-Valuable: This is very valuable because if you can't communicate your ideas then your product will not be able to sell efficiently or even at all.
-Rare: This is not rare at all because this is just something that comes with a bunch of practice and experience.
-Inimitable: This is imitable because people can become confident public speakers by practicing and performing live speeches.
-Non-substitutable: This can't be substituted because being able to speak in a public setting fluently is super important to have.

5. I have had to crowd fund for a philanthropy before, so I have the knowledge on gathering money to further the business.
-Valuable: This is a very valuable resource to have because raising money for the venture is super important in order to get operations off the ground at first.
-Rare: This resource isn't rare because many people have this type of skill too.
-Inimitable: This is imitable because there's many people who also posses this skill.
-Non-substitutable: This can not be substituted because you definitely need the knowledge to crowd fund and raise money.

6. I have connections in Greek life at UF which would potentially be a big part of my consumer base.
-Valuable: This is kind of valuable because it's always nice to know the consumer audience, but this doesn't comprise my whole audience.
-Rare: This isn't rare because many people can have a connection in Greek life at UF if they put themselves out there.
-Inimitable: This is inimitable because you can't really copy the connections a person gets through a specific community of people.
-Non-substitutable: This can be substituted would other types of connections that would fit into a section of my audience.

7. My mom is a dentist and she knows many different types of doctors that can help further progress my idea.
-Valuable: This type of connection is very important because one of the biggest goals is to get this product on the shelves of pharmacies and it would help our case if a doctor were to look at the effectiveness of my product and give it a seal of approval.
-Rare: This can be sort of rare because not everyone can just have a connection with a doctor that close to you.
-Inimitable: This can not be imitated because this is a doctoral connection and that isn't able to be copied.
-Non-substitutable: This is non-substitutable because you can't replace the knowledge and potential approval of a doctor on this type of product.

8.I feel like my product is a unique spin off an already existing product
-Valuable: This valuable for sure because the more unique the product the less competition it may have.
-Rare: This would make it rare because if a product is unique then it can be considered rare as well.
-Inimitable: You could theoretically replicate this product, but the chemical that actually helps relieve people of their nicotine withdrawal symptoms would be difficult to replicate without the formula created by my company.
-Non-substitutable: This can't be substituted because if a product isn't unique then it wouldn't do too well with a lot of competition.

9. I also know a friend that is my age and actually started a real venture with a similar structure to mine, meaning he created a product that will impact many people in the community. This friend has already talked to me about different approaches he took in order to formulate his plan.
-Valuable: This kind of first hand information is very valuable and could provide a road map for success.
-Rare: Having friends your age that can create a successful business is somewhat rare, but not crazy special.
-Inimitable: This can sort of be imitated because you can have multiple friends that are successful or your competition could have the same leg up.
-Non-substitutable: This can't be substituted because having knowledge from a first hand source can't be substituted.

10. I know many people who are victims to nicotine addiction, so it wouldn't be hard to get a potential customers perspective on specific ideas.
-Valuable: This can be valuable because it would give me an idea on what exactly consumers are looking for in the product.
-Rare: This isn't rare to find people you know that fit your audience.
-Inimitable: This can be imitated because this type of information is able to be applied to many different scenarios.
-Non-substitutable: The information received from potential customers can't be substituted because if you're not getting feedback then you won't know what's good and bad about your product.

Honestly, before the VRIN test it was pretty hard to determine a resource that is effective in all areas. After the test was conducted it was still hard to determine which resource was gonna work the best, but having the connection of my mom being a dentist and knowing doctors that could help me develop my product further turned out to be the best option. This is my top resource because the resource is very valuable to my operation and is somewhat rare to actually have, In addition, this can't be imitated because you can't replicate this type of connection with someone and this also can't be substituted for the same reason. In conclusion, I was actually surprised this turned out to be the best resource, but in the end it makes sense because a connection with a doctor is hard to find and they know so many people and give many different networking opportunities.

22A – Elevator Pitch No. 3

Reflection on Feedback:
After receiving even more feedback from the second elevator pitch, I tried in this pitch to be more fluent and well-rehearsed. I feel like a was able to accomplish this by putting more effort into remembering key points that i wanted to talk about and also because this is my third time performing this pitch. This was one of the only constructive feedbacks I received, so I tried as best I could to implement it.

What I changed, based off feedback:

What I did was to sound more fluent, with a conversational tone, and to be less choppy. I still kept up the energy and hand gestures, but just incorporate the new things I was working on. I felt like after the third time of performing this pitch it came out a lot more natural because it's been said from my mouth so many times and I just felt comfortable saying what I had to say. I also wrote out a script for my elevator pitch, so that I could work on being able to focus less on what I was saying because I already knew what I wanted to say and focus my attention on grabbing the attention of the audience.

21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Scott Adams

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The general theme of the book was basically covering a whole bunch of different points about life and how to be more successful (depending on your own definition of success) in our lives and how our own pre-conceived notions of achieving this thing we all strive for is most likely wrong. For example, he talked about wishing and deciding. Most people wish they were rich and famous, but the people that actually decide that they will become rich and famous are the ones that will most likely be that.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

As previously mentioned, Adams brings up a point of differentiation between deciding and wishing. I feel that knowing the difference between these two really sets apart a successful entrepreneur from a failure. We are learning to become deciders in ENT 3003, which is the path to success. Entrepreneurs are key examples of people that will decide to become rich or to have a successful business and then make it happen instead of just wishing for things to hopefully swing their way. From all of the assignments we have done in the past we are creating a system of habits and skills that will help us deciders in naturally accomplishing those goals that previously set before us.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

There's a section in the book where the author makes a point about knowing exactly what he would be doing at 6:20 am on a Saturday in 2017 (book written in 2013). He said that he would be working on a cartoon that he started earlier that week because that's what he always does at that time. He believes in the system of just doing things, so I would create an exercise for this class based on the book for the reader to envision themselves 5 years into the future and write what they think they would be doing on an exact date. This would require a lot of clarity to do, but I feel that entrepreneurs really need to think like this order to succeed in the future.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

My biggest "aha" moment in the entire book was reading about the differentiation about systems and goals. Scott doesn't believe in the idea of just focusing on goals, but he believes in just focusing in on the process and system and the goal will just naturally follow behind. The systems are daily habits that one creates in order to set themselves up to achieve their goals. This really surprised me because growing up you always hear that you should set big goals in your life and then strive to make those goals, but the author is saying to do it almost in reverse. This kind of perplexed me at first, but in the end I think it makes a lot of sense. For instance, I played baseball growing up and one of my first goals I set for myself when I was little was to hit a home run. I put way too much focus on swinging for the fences and didn't have much success, until I put the work in and focused on the process of hard work and practice that would naturally get me to my goal. Eventually when I was able to free my thoughts from just worrying about the outcome, I actually hit my first home run.

20A – Growing Your Social Capital

Domain Expert
1. Who they are, what their background is:
Sanjay is a pulmonologist from the local hospital from back home.
2. How this person is a “domain expert”:
A pulmonologist is a doctor that specializes in lung health , so I decided that he would be a great expert because the way that nicotine is usually ingested into the body is from smoking, so lung health overall would be affected, and I felt like he would be pretty familiar with the substance because of this.
3. How I found and contacted this person:
I found this doctor because my father is a financial advisor for strictly doctors and he has a good personal connection with his clients and told me to contact Sanjay.
4. Nature of Exchange:
I was given his personal phone number and proceeded to ask questions about the ramifications of smoking cigarettes and using JUULs, and how nicotine plays a role in having people continuously coming back to smoke more. He informed me with valuable information regarding this and personal experience he has had with patients addicted to nicotine.
5. How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:
I feel like asking for the opinion of a pulmonologist would really help my case in exploiting my opportunity because if I got the verification from a doctor that my idea could potentially work, then more people would be more inclined to purchase it.

Market Expert
1. Who they are, what their background is:
Joe is a current student at UF, who is majoring in marketing and is currently in a Fraternity on campus.
2. How this person is a “market expert”:
He really encompasses a large portion of my market, that being college kids, and people who tend to party also are more likely to be exposed to more nicotine devices when going out.
3. How I found and contacted this person:
I met Joe in one of my classes and we became acquainted through a group project. I then decided to ask him if he would be okay with answering some questions.
4. Nature of Exchange:
I talked to him in class and asked if it was okay to give him a mini interview before class started. I proceeded to talk to him about the amount of nicotine usage that goes on at parties and such, as well as some other questions regarding the topic.
5. How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:
Including him would enhance my ability to exploit my opportunity because he is around a lot more people who use nicotine devices than I am, so he knows their tendencies a little more than I do, and can give me an insight into that type of consumer. Also, he gave the feedback that the wearable device that I am aiming to produce might not be the coolest thing to wear in his opinion, but the effect of it would definitely help out some people that he knows.

Industry Supplier
1. Who they are, what their background is:
Kathy works at a CVS pharmacy back home and is a friend of my mother.
2. How this person is a “industry supplier”:
She is an industry supplier because she handles many different types of medicine and treatments that are either prescribed or can be bought off the shelf. I feel this is an important person to contact because one of the main places I want my product to be sold at are pharmacies and she would know if this type of product actually belongs there or not.
3. How I found and contacted this person:
I asked my mother if she knew anyone that worked in a pharmacy and she told me about her friend from her spinning class that actually works at a local CVS. She gave me Kathy's phone number and then I proceeded to contact her.
4. Nature of Exchange:
I first introduced myself and then gave a pitch of my idea to see if she would potentially stock something like that on her shelves. She told me that she personally didn't have the power to do it, but she said she could definitely see a product like this on the shelves of the pharmacy.
5. How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:
It's very important to include Kathy in order to exploit my opportunity because if she didn't think that my opportunity was worth putting on the shelves then my idea wouldn't be able to move in the direction that I previously planned.

Reflection
Targeted marketing is definitely the most challenging part for me in terms of thinking about exploiting my opportunity. It took a long time tracking people down that would fit the certain criteria asked for, but I feel like this better prepares us for future opportunities when this type of networking is important. This will shape the way participate in future networking events because I learned that meeting as many different and unique people can open up many doors for you, even though they may not be apparent just yet. This kind of went differently than other networking experiences I've had because I normally don't target specific people when at certain events other than the normal big faces that everyone is trying to get a conversation with. After doing this assignment, I learned that networking for a purpose and that picking more unique people to talk to rather than just who everyone else is trying to talk to may be more beneficial for yourself and your opportunity. All in all, talking to the people discussed in the assignment was difficult because I had to track them down, and then when I proceeded to the interview I wasn't really prepared to speak about my product in such a specific way to appeal to these experts in my field because it was my first time. I gained a great deal of knowledge though about targeted marketing and I really think it helped better my mindset about my idea.

19A – Idea Napkin No. 2

1. I am Jayson Prasad, and I am a freshman currently attending the University of Florida. I would say that i am talented as in a social aspect, as in I can hold a conversation and communicate my ideas very clearly in an interaction with another person. This would be a very viable skill to have when running a business because if you're pitching your idea to potential crowd funders or investors, you have to be able to sell your idea and convince them to put their assets into your business. I aspire to become financially stable one day and not have to worry about whether or not money will be an issue for me. Regarding my business, I see this playing a big part in my life at first because this will be my first business I built off the ground, so there will always be a value of importance on it, unless it falls flat on its face.

2. I am still offering the ability to help people with nicotine withdrawals with a wearable device that will help fight these withdrawal symptoms, without the use of nicotine. The only change I have made regarding my product has been the idea of making the device into a necklace on top of the original idea of it being a bracelet. I feel like this solves the unmet need of people not being able to break free of the curse of nicotine addiction when they get hooked on it. Granted the user would have to come to the conclusion that they are hooked, but when they do my product will be the best way to assist this need.

3. I am offering this product mainly to people with this addiction which can honestly range from high school students to grown adults. In college especially, nicotine devices are everywhere and most people you turn to own one. I feel like especially from my past interviews this would be the typical demographic for my product due to the rise of this highly addictive substance and because some teenagers may not understand the repercussions of using nicotine.

4. I feel that these people will actually pay money for my product because there isn't anything on the market as helpful as my product at helping people get over their withdrawal symptoms. Although some may argue that there are nicotine patches and other products circulating around the market right now, but they all still contain nicotine and will only relieve the symptoms of withdrawal and not actually help you get off nicotine. My product doesn't contain any addictive substances and is safe for human consumption, so I feel people would turn to my product over other alternatives.

5. What sets me apart from everyone is the fact that my product does more for the user than the current competitor, nicotine patches. As previously stated, nicotine patches contain nicotine and will only subsidize your craving for nicotine with more nicotine entering your body, but through a different method. My product is able to help stop these withdrawal symptoms and not inject you with more nicotine, thus making it easier for people to quit using nicotine in general.

Overall I believe that all parts of my business concept fit really well together. This is due to that fact that my product is now designed directly given from feedback I received from interviews and I continuously try to improve it from the feedback given. The only part I feel is a little out of place may be the initial purpose of my product, which was to help relieve people of nicotine withdrawal symptoms, but as I am describing what I actually want from the product, I feel that I am really trying to help people get off nicotine as a whole due to the fact that the wearable doesn't have any nicotine in it. This would in turn relieve people of their symptoms, but then also help people quit as well.

Feedback Memo:
From the feedback received, I personally believed that I was heading in the right direction, but I should focus on more of a specific audience instead of just saying it was for anyone who used nicotine. This is true in a sense, so I tried to market it more towards people in school and the younger audience that needs help more I feel. Also, I tried to make the product more appealing by creating a necklace that would do the same thing as the bracelet because not everyone would prefer to wear a bracelet over a necklace.

18A – Create a Customer Avatar

My product targets mainly big pharmacies that can sell these products on their shelves to the potential consumer. My avatar is an 18 year old male that goes to UCF, a big school in central Florida. He grew up with a difficult childhood. Having divorced parents and having to split time between them. Regardless of this, he was able to go to a college he really wanted to go to. He didn't find it hard at all to make a bunch of friends and loved going out on weekends. From going out, he picked up a new habit of smoking a JUUL. Although this is the case, he drives his 2010 blue Mazda 3 to and from class and still tries his best in class. During class he usually ends up watching Netflix and specifically his favorite show, That 70's Show. Because his parents neglected him during his childhood he felt that whatever he does has no consequence. He always loves to go out and and can sometimes neglect his school work because of it.

I am similar to my avatar in many ways and I definitely don't think this is a coincidence. I created a character that had an amazing goal of going to a college that he really wanted to go to and I can really relate to that. Also, when I got to college I loved finding new people to hangout with and going out on weekends, just like the avatar I created. I feel like subconsciously when people have to create physical representations of a person they tend to get ideas from their own life and put that into their creation. I came up with this idea because I see nicotine addiction growing before my very own eyes and I feel like some people just need some help with their addiction.

17A – Elevator Pitch No. 2

Reflection on Feedback: I took the feedback from my peers and tried to implement a few minor changes that I hope are noticeable in this second try at my elevator pitch. The most useful tip I received from my peers was that in the first pitch I looked a little too stiff and almost robotic in a sense. I tried to lighten myself up and be more human in this pitch.

What I changed, based off feedback: What I did was that I tried to seem less like a robot. I did this just by calming myself down and trying to pretend that I am just having a normal conversation with someone, instead of just oddly speaking to the camera. I felt way more confident speaking and I feel like it flowed just a little bit better and I look more natural while I am talking. In addition, I also added some of what was said during the pitch. I felt that describing a little more in-depth about how I was planning on raising money for the company was really important in order to guide the potential consumers/investors towards benefiting my company financially. Finally, I feel like I stuttered a little on my words in this go, but I feel like it was important to upload this take because it felt the most real to me, rather than talking extra slow and potentially boring the listener. I now have an idea on how I need to improve for the next go at my elevator pitch.

16A –What’s Your Secret Sauce?

Ways I Think I Have Human Capital:
1. Outgoing- Whatever the situation, I try to be as social as possible and I try to talk to people and get to know them.
2. Leadership- I believe that I am the type of person that likes to take control of their life. In a group setting I feel like I can rise to the task of managing people and help people for the sake of the common goal.
3. Helpful- In my opinion, I feel as if I need to help other people before myself and seeing other people do well and be happy is what gives me the most joy.
4. Passionate- Stemming from my childhood, I have always been driven to succeed in whatever I do and I always make sure to put my best effort into everything that I do.
5. Dedicated- I feel like once I put my mind into achieving a goal I will not stop until I have completed what I set for myself previously.

Interview 1:

In this interview I talked to my friend Eric. He mentions how helpful I am to not only him, but to other people around me. He gives an example of me offering rides to him whenever he needs them and says that he can always rely on me.

Interview 2:

In this interview I talked to my friend Evan. He explained how I assert myself as a leader in the room and that I am always willing to help no matter how complex or simple the task is.

Interview 3:

In this interview I talked to my friend Jonny. He told me that I was very good listener and that I am there to help people with their problems. He's happy that I have this aspect because I have personally been there to listen to my friend and help him through some challenging times.

Interview 4:

In this interview I talked to my friend Trent. He said that ever since the moment I met him things just clicked between us and he's equating that to me having a high emotional intelligence. Furthermore, he goes to talk about how I understand people very well and that I am very sympathetic towards others.

Interview 5:

In this interview I talked to my friend Jared. He answers the question by saying that I can "light up a room" and that I am always smiling and a positive person to be around. He further talks about that this is the case in most situations such as a classroom or outside in other social settings.

Reflection:
After talking to some of my closest friends, I feel like similar views were shared, but I was enlightened on other aspects that I didn't think of previously and I was pleasantly surprised on how others viewed my human capital. For instance, my friend Trent mentioned that he believes that I have a high emotional intelligence in regards to actually understanding other people's feelings. All in all I think what I think of myself with respect to my human capital is very similar to what others close to me see as well. Looking back on my list of 5 things, I feel like there isn't really anything to change and my view of myself is very similar to how my close friends perceive me.

15A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

Findings and Conclusions:
After conducting 3 interviews I gained a little more knowledge on what other types of wearables that people would consider wearing if they had a nicotine addiction. From these interviews, I feel like there weren't too many different opinions because the 3 of them said that they would prefer the bracelet the most, but they still gave input and ideas on the design and other types of wearables.

The first interview was with Trevor and he's in a fraternity. He recommended designing a stylish bracelet that could have Greek letters on it so you can represent your sorority or fraternity and would function as a way to help relieve withdrawal symptoms. He also recommended making this as minimalistic as possible so that it doesn't bring too much attention for a bracelet. I also found out that this type of item should be sold online to accommodate those customization options some people might be looking for.

The second interview was with Aidan. He also believed that the best way of implementing this as a wearable item that looked stylish was potentially a type of watch. He said that he loves wearing watches so if this product were to come to life he would hope that there could be a watch type variant of the product. For him, the pricing of the item wouldn't matter too much, just as long as it looked good.

The third interview was with Mackenzie. She believed that a bracelet would be a good idea, but it wouldn't work as much when it came to women's fashion. She recommended a patch that would go underneath your clothing either on your chest or upper thighs. Personally, I told her I was trying to stay away from the whole patch idea because it would be perceived to be the same thing as a nicotine patch. She then recommended to make the chemical into a topical solution and rub it on your body, just the same as you would with lotion.

In conclusion, I figured out some potential new alternatives to the bracelet I was thinking about. I saw that there is definitely a market for this type of bracelet, but I would need to make it into something stylish that people would want to wear. I also was very intrigued by Mackenzie's idea of making this into a topical solution, but I feel like there might be more complications with this because you would most likely have to reapply the solution on yourself multiple times per day. Honestly, I really liked Aidan's alternative of making a watch because many people already wear watches daily and making a watch that is inconspicuous and would help fight withdrawals is a great alternative. I found out that the most important aspect is the style of the product because my interviewees didn't seem to mind paying anything for something with this kind of benefit as long as they deemed it reasonable. Finally, I feel like these interviews really fine-tuned my original idea and I feel like I am progressing on making this product as best and profitable as can be, while still providing a very helpful item for those who need it. This product will be seen a "right" kind of purchase because this product will help people who need something like this and truly believe it will work.

14A – Halfway Reflection

1. Tenaciousness is a competency.

The most common thing I think everyone has had to develop for this course has been time management. There are two assignments due every week and for a majority of them you can't save until the last minute to complete them. A lot of the time you have to gather interviews in order to properly complete an assignment and you just can't gather multiple high quality interviews in just one day. The first time we had to get interviews for an assignment I ended up saving them for Friday night and I had to scramble around to just get the interviews done in time for the deadline. In retrospect, those interviews might not have been the best they could've been and in the end that's just hurting me. After this I realized that I need to be more conscientious of my time and start getting interviews at the start of the week so I can properly compile my thoughts and reflect throughout the week on what I have learned. In addition to time management, I feel like I have become better at planning out all my assignments for all my classes throughout the week. Before this class, I would pile my assignments until the last possible minute and that caused more stress to my life than it needed to be. Now I am being proactive with my school work and actually completing assignments days before the deadline actually arrives.

2. Tenaciousness is also about attitude.

Looking back on the past two months, I have definitely thought about giving up. In this class specifically I almost gave up after the first class after hearing about the amount of time commitment this class would be just because I am taking very hard classes that require a lot of studying to do well in them, so I didn't believe that I could do it. Turns out, I actually can do it I just had to be tenacious in my school work and I just had to make sure I stayed on top of it. I am glad I didn't give up because I wouldn't have developed better time management skills, and I wouldn't be as tenacious. Finally, what really got me through this rough patch was the support of my parents that always believe in me and helped talked me through all the stressful moments of being a freshman in college.

3. Three tips.

a) Develop a schedule for getting these assignments done. 

If you do not plan ahead for these assignments, you will not get them done. These assignments are straightforward and not hard in difficulty, but will eat up a bunch of your time, so make sure that you have enough time throughout your busy schedules to get this done. This helps foster a tenacious mindset.

b) Read the comments people leave on your assignments for the reflection portion of the class.

This is the best way to get feedback on your assignments, and how to make them better. People usually leave straightforward comments on your work, so use this to make your work as best as you can make it. Also, this helps develop the tenacity to keep improving.

c) Find some friends in the class.

Honestly, just going through the blog directory I recognized some friends in the class and I reached out to them and they help motivate me to finish the assignments and help critique my work in order to make it better. If you don't know anyone in the class, reach out to the people in your group and I guarantee they would be happy to get to know you.

13A – Reading Reflection No. 1

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Ashlee Vance

1) What surprised me the most? The thing about Elon Musk that surprised me the most was probably the fact that he had so many different companies that he created become so successful. He created x.com an online bank which ended up merging with Confinity and this merged company ended up being rebranded to PayPal. PayPal was acquired by Ebay for $1.5 billion and Musk made $180 from that sale. I had no idea the Musk was associated with this successful service. Also Elon has created 3 companies valued at over a billion dollars. He invested $100 million towards SpaceX, $70 million towards Tesla, and $10 million towards Solarcity. These companies are all now worth over a billion dollars and he ended up investing that $180 million towards these companies and the fact he was able to do this much surprised me.

What about the entrepreneur did I most admire? The thing I admire the most about Elon Musk was his tenacity and from this class you can tell that tenacity plays a big part in whether or not you're successful in your businesses. In one of Elon's first start-ups, he slept next to his desk in a bean bag chair, and then showered at the local YMCA. The first employee that came back to work would kick him to wake him up, so he would start working again. If this type of living for one of his first companies doesn't show tenacity then I don't know what will.

What about the entrepreneur did I least admire? The thing I least admired about Musk was that he moved from his home in South America just to avoid serving his country when he turned 17. He left to pursue his education in Canada and although this all led to his success today, I still feel like serving your country is a high honor that shouldn't be avoided when needed.

Did Elon Musk encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did he do about it? Elon Musk went through adversity as all entrepreneurs do. As previously mentioned, with his first company he worked out of a very small area that doubled as his home. He slept in a bean bag and showered at the YMCA. This adversity was overcome and eventually got out of there when his businesses became very successful.

2) What competencies did I notice that Elon Musk exhibited? Elon Musk was a very successful man. He was very competent in setting his goals high and then actually achieving them. For instance he created x.com which was an online bank and it eventually merged with another company called Confinity. Later this company was rebranded to PayPal. Eventually it was bought by Ebay for $1.5 billion and Musk made $180 million from this. He eventually used all of this money to reinvest into 3 other billion dollar companies he created.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to me. One part of the reading that was a little confusing was when it was discussed that he wanted to send mice to Mars and also if that didn't work he wanted to also send a greenhouse to try and grow a tree to start oxygen there. I was a little confused reading about this because I didn't understand how this could really be done at all. I feel like there would be too many problems with both of these plans and I was just a little lost reading this.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the Elon Musk, what would I ask? Why? I would ask how Elon Musk was able to create big ideas and actually accomplishment them. Also, I would ask how he was able to face adversity in the eyes and overcome these obstacles. I feel like finding an answer for these questions would help make me into a better entrepreneur and help me achieve other goals in my life.

5) For fun: What do I think Elon Musk's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion? I think Elon Musk believed that hard work is important, but I also believe that he thought to work smarter and not harder. I personally share the belief of working smarter and not harder and that's how I try to accomplish my all my work and that's how I try to overcome my challenges.

12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Segment:
For this assignment I decided on the segment of people I know have a nicotine addiction that are around my age (18, 19, 20). I asked people around my dorm first if they considered themselves to be addicted to this substance and if they said no, I would move on, but if they said yes then I'd proceed to interview them. I interviewed 3 people, Ben (19), Haley (20), and Katie (18). All of these people admitted to me that they were avid nicotine users, so I tailored my interview in a way in order to figure out more information about their addiction.

Interviews:
For all of their interviews I actually got very similar responses from all of them. I asked how often they used nicotine and all of their answers were similar and they said they used it whenever they had free time. It basically became a habit throughout their day and they would just do it almost instinctively. I asked where they mainly did it, and the response was just as expected, basically anywhere you can think of besides on campus and in classes. This included examples such as, parties, clubs, bars, etc. The main thing I discovered was that avid nicotine users will use it just about anywhere it's appropriate and also in social settings. Finally, I asked if they truly wished to stop using nicotine if they could and they all agreed that yes, they would if it wasn't so prominent in their social lives.

What I Learned:
As briefly discussed in the last section, I learned that people who use nicotine devices such as JUULs, will find a way throughout their day to satisfy their craving for it. Many times they just pick up their device because it's as simple as inhaling on a plastic stick and is very convenient for them. This ease of access to "fix" their craving just further snowballs the problem forward. I also learned that by segmenting my interviews I got very similar answers to what I was originally thinking. The demand for my product would actually have a good amount of influence in teenagers, but it really just depends on their thoughts of the subject. For instance, the people I interviewed understood the physical and mental harm that they caused themselves by using nicotine and they agreed that if there was an easier way to fix their problem they would be interested, which is where my product would come in.

How I would Describe the Segment:
I think there's a good amount of students that fall in the segment of being addicted to nicotine, but I think it should be mentioned that not all people in the segment treat the product the same due to psychological reasons. There's a sub-segment of people who are looking out for their overall health that want to try and find a solution, and the other side of that are people that aren't looking towards the future in regard to what this could do to their health in the long run.

11A – Idea Napkin No. 1

1. My name is Jayson Prasad, and I am a Freshman at the University of Florida studying Finance. I currently have my AA in Finance and am looking to pursue opportunities that arise in this area of business. I am a pretty social person and I don't mind talking to anyone about anything. I also consider myself very helpful with peoples' problems and many times I find friends coming to me for advice and just for a person to talk to. I haven't had too much experience in the entrepreneurial field yet, but I am looking to expand this base by taking more classes in this kind of field. I am the type of person that "lives in the moment," and I aspire to just enjoy life as much as I can by putting forth my best effort in everything I do, and try to live with no regrets. If I were to really implement my business concept into my life right now, I feel like it would consume most of my time. My concept is far from finished which means I would still need to improve it a bunch and also I would have to put a great deal of time just trying to get this product into the marketplace.
2. I am offering to my potential customers a way to help alleviate nicotine withdrawal symptoms for those people in my generation that have been caught up with nicotine addiction. The unmet need for this type of product compared to past version of nicotine addiction reducers is that they still contain nicotine, but in less of a concentration and is absorbed through the skin, instead of usually ingesting it orally, mainly from smoking. My product would be similar to existing products except my product would actually contain no nicotine, because I feel the only way to actually help people get off this addictive substance is by stopping the substance from even being used by the person. With the new proprietary chemical, it would be safe for human consumption and also alleviate withdrawal symptoms from the lack of nicotine in the customers' systems.
3. I am offering this product mainly to the teens of this generation and future generations that are addicted to nicotine and want to quit. With the rise of tobacco free, nicotine devices originally used to help get people off cigarettes, young teens have been drawn to these types of products for different reasons such as social influence and potentially from their own friends and family. With this rise means an increase of young people being introduced to the addictive substance at such a young age and many of them do not understand the repercussions of getting addicted to something like this. Also, my product could have a market for older people who are having problems quitting as well.
4. Customers will care about this product because there's a large group of people that are addicted that are trying to quit because this addiction is taking control of their lives and they feel powerless in their own skin. In one of the many interviews I conducted, a big theme brought to my attention was that my product would only be effective in the people trying to quit, but my product itself won't really influence people to quit. My product has an important value for those looking for a solution to their addiction problem.
5. To my knowledge my main competitor would be an existing nicotine addiction reducer, the nicotine patch. This nicotine patch is not the most attractive thing to be wearing around and honestly people may be discouraged to wear it for this reason. On the other hand, my product would be a stylish, minimalistic bracelet that would come in many different colors and styles to match the desires for the teens who care about their appearance. The main thing that sets my product apart, is the fact that there's no nicotine in my product, but it's a safe chemical created to help alleviate withdrawal symptoms and in my opinion this is a more effective approach to getting people off their addiction.
6. I truly feel that for the most part all of these elements work together, but the only problem I am foreseeing right now is how diverse the target market for my product is just based on whether or not they personally feel the need for a product like this. As I was told in one of my interviews, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink." This quote resonates perfectly with the out of joint element of my business concept.

10A – Elevator Pitch No. 1

9A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

• Who: After conducting my interviews I have determined more information that would help improve upon my idea. There are definitely people that wouldn't want my product just because they are set in their own ways or they just didn't see a need for it. Out of 5 interviews, 1 person thought the idea wouldn't work, 1 person was on the fence about the idea, and the other 3 were all for it. The one person who believed this idea wouldn't work is an avid nicotine user. His thought process was that if people are having a great time and still enjoying it why would they pay for my product. I understood his point of view, so I aimed to slightly adjust my target audience to people who are addicted to nicotine, but also would like to quit. The one person on the fence about my idea brought a somewhat similar point to what the previous person I interviewed mentioned. She is also an avid nicotine user, but could see the value in my product. Her point is kind of what made me shift my target audience a little to target people who are trying to quit, because she said a classic line, " you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." The other three people who supported my idea were parents and they all could all see a benefit from my product. After I told them how prevalent devices such as JUULs are in our generation today, they said that this would be something they might buy their kids if they were aware of their kids being hooked on nicotine. The fourth person I interviewed was a mom that was one of the three interviewees that agreed with me. She further pushed the point that this would be a more relevant solution in my generation because of the rapid influx of nicotine devices roaming around today.
• What: Most of the interviewees could agree to a point that a device that could help reduce nicotine addiction would be beneficial, but it just depends on the audience. After this set of interviews, I definitely need to rethink my approach to marketing my idea. I could possibly try and include the health benefits of getting off the addiction. Bottom line, the point stands that my idea could be successful for the most part, but the part I failed to acknowledge before was the group of people that didn't want to stop using nicotine.
• Why: The goal of trying to reduce nicotine addiction for people who use it has not changed and is the sole reason for this product.

                      Inside the Boundary                                        Outside the Boundary

Who           People who are addicted to                      People who like using nicotine and 

                nicotine and want to try and stop               like the way it fits in their life (non-quitters)

             and people who believe it can be helped    and people who believe that it can't be helped                                                                                           further than what is already available

What           Help reduce nicotine addiction               Not able to help fully eliminate                                                                                                           nicotine addiction and can't force people 

                                                                                 to do something they don't want to

Why         People who may have accidentally          People who love using nicotine and 

            gotten hooked (social pressure)                    don't see anything wrong with it 

                    and want to try and quit

8A – Solving The Problem

My product idea is a type of wearable device to help people struggling with nicotine addiction break free from its grasp, but without supplementing it with the use of just more nicotine. The current solution for this problem is the nicotine patch, which helps users with withdrawal symptoms by supplementing their bodies with nicotine. This helps mainly for people trying to get off cigarettes, but my product also aims to try and get rid of nicotine addiction from new devices such as JUULs, without the use of nicotine. For my idea, the person would wear something, like a patch, but instead of nicotine being used to help fight nicotine addiction, a safe new chemical would be used to alleviate symptoms of withdrawal.

The solution for nicotine addiction shouldn't be introducing more nicotine in a different way than smoking, it should be with something different all together. I am proposing potentially a patch or a stylish bracelet that would work similar to nicotine patches in the sense that wearing one of these products would emit a safe chemical into your body that would help your body fight the withdrawal symptoms experience when you have an addiction and are actively trying to quit. My product would be marketed for that type of audience to major pharmacies such as CVS. I think this product would be successful in the target audience, but the biggest problem would be developing a safe chemical or substance that could be safely introduced to the body and actually help fight nicotine withdrawal. I think something like this is possible someday, and that pharmacies would love to sell something like this on their shelves.

7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Reduction of Nicotine Addiction

• Opportunity: Everyday more and more teens are getting hooked onto nicotine from nicotine based devices, such as a JUUL.
• Who: Teens in college and the next generation of teens who are exposed to other who smoke nicotine
• What: Victims of the addiction to nicotine
• Why: People see other people using nicotine in society and either try it out of curiosity or to fit in
• Testing the Who: Not only do teens have this problem, but older people in society have been afflicted with nicotine addiction. The main "who" of the problem are the people who are exposed to nicotine at an earlier age and can't seem to stop even though they may want to. This may lead to a long lasting nicotine addiction that is very difficult to break and can follow you into adulthood.
• Testing the What: Nicotine has been around in many different forms, such as cigarettes, but now many companies are developing nicotine devices that would get rid of some of the nasty chemicals found in cigarettes for a "safer smoking experience", but this has in turn created a rampant nicotine addiction in a young audience in society.
• Testing the Why: People often get into JUULs now because they know of someone that is using one and often times they do it to fit in social settings. There's no benefit to consuming nicotine and users won't feel anything except a "buzz."
• Interview 1:
• The first person I interviewed was over the phone and she was a nurse whose husband died from lung cancer. Her husband was an avid cigarette smoker and was hooked on nicotine. Granted, any type of smoking isn't good for your lungs, in this case it just happened to be tobacco related. The person I was interviewing was very against nicotine usage and she feels that the whole nicotine addiction is crazy and she is sad that this kind of problem is still prevalent in society. When I asked about past types of devices that have aimed to help people stop smoking such as a nicotine patch, she said that they can help alleviate the withdrawal symptoms victims may experience, but agrees with me that there can be improvements in this area.
• Interview 2:
• In this interview I talked to a neighbor who I know regularly JUULs. I talked to him about my view point and asked him questions regarding the opportunity I believe is present. He agreed that this nicotine addiction thing is definitely a widespread thing, especially on college campuses, but when I asked about if he thought nicotine addiction could be solved by a some device that could be placed on the skin discretely and help fight the addiction without actually containing any nicotine in the device he said no. He believed that while this is a widespread thing, he doesn't see JUULs as a problem because he believed that this was at least safer than smoking cigarettes that are filled with nicotine and other harmful chemicals. His main point was that things could be "worse" than they are now.
• Interview 3:
• This interview I tried to find someone on the other side of the spectrum, and ended up finding a guy who doesn't JUUL or smoke. I talked to him for a while and found out he just didn't want to be addicted to something and on top of that he told me nothing good comes from it. I asked about if thought there was an addiction problem among teens, and he told me that if he went to a lecture and asked everyone there for a JUUL at least one person would say they have one. I asked about my potential product and he mentioned that something like that would be many years away, but he could see the need for it if things continue the way they are right now.
• Interview 4:
• I asked to interview an old teacher from my high school that I am relatively close to via phone call and I just talked over the list of questions and topics I wished to discuss. The response I got back from her is kind of what I expected to see from a teacher. She has first hand experience with a bunch of teens addicted to nicotine. She gave me an example of students she found JUULing in the bathroom. The students could have waited until they got home, but they just had to do it right then and there. When I ran my idea by her, she thought that might be too extreme for young teens, but could see a market for it for older people.
• Interview 5:
• In the last interview I talked to a friend who likes to go out and party. I asked her how often she uses a JUUL, and she says that when she sees one in a social setting she will most likely ask the person using it if she could use it for a second too. She claims that this kind of behavior only happens in social settings and that she doesn't own any nicotine device for her own personal consumption. A big question I asked her was why she decides to JUUL in social settings, but not by herself. She basically said that it's a social norm kind of thing because many people usually have one and because it's around it's hard to avoid it. I ran my idea by her and she said that it would be a good product, but a patch or something like that wouldn't look good out in public.
• Discoveries
• After the interviews I learned that not everyone sees a market for this product. In interview 2 I talked to someone who regularly uses nicotine and he didn't seem to have any problems being on it. I genuinely thought that people who were addicted would all want to get off of it, but that's not the case.
• I also realized that peoples' answers depended on whether or not they were involved with nicotine or knew someone that was involved. Peoples' opinions on my opportunity varied, but it was either you believed this was a problem or you didn't.
• I found out that my product idea may have to be reworked a little because many people wouldn't want to wear an ugly patch. It could possibly be reconstructed into a bracelet, but the technology for this would still have to be invented.

6A – Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Economic Trend - Trump's corporate tax reform

• Source: https://www.investopedia.com/taxes/trumps-tax-reform-plan-explained/
• I believe that Trump's corporate tax reform can provide an opportunity for new up and coming service businesses because they won't have to be bombarded with heavy amounts of taxes while they're getting their feet off the ground.
• The typical customer of this opportunity would be "mom and paps" kind of stores meaning a store in which you're selling something to a buyer or even a restaurant would benefit from this.
• I think this would be easy to exploit because it's a tax reform that's already been placed, so it's already sitting in your lap.
• I believe I saw this as an opportunity because my dad was actually talking to me about this tax reform and how it doesn't necessarily apply to himself, but it actually helps many of his friends save some money from taxes.

Economic Trend - Fed raising interest rates

• Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/your-money/interest-rates-consumers.html
• I believe that the Fed raising interest rates may seem like it would negatively affect all people, but in fact I see an opportunity for people that own government bonds and people that are considered savers.
• The typical customer as mentioned previously would be bond investors because as the rates go up, so does the interest income meaning more value for them.
• I think this would be easy to exploit because it's not difficult to buy a government bond and hold on to it.
• I believe I saw this opportunity because of my father once again. He has talked to me in the past about rising interest rates from the Fed for a while now and then I was able to piece an opportunity together. The main purpose of the Fed raising interest rates is to slow down inflation and monitor it, but I saw that there had to be a winner in the situation and I found out that bond investor benefited from this economic trend.

Regulatory Change - EPA regulatory changes

• Source: https://www.npr.org/2018/12/11/675477583/trump-epa-proposes-big-changes-to-federal-water-protections
• I believe that EPA regulatory changes that were proposed by the Trump administration causing a rollback of federal water protections provides an opportunity for people who own land to save some money. The regulatory change would allow landowners to decide which water sources on their property were subject to federal regulation.
• The typical customer would be landowners because without as much heavy regulations these owners can build in more types of areas and this in turn helps local economies by providing more jobs.
• I think this would be kind of hard to exploit because there's still regulations in place protecting important areas, but the opportunity is still very much there.
• I saw this opportunity when I saw stuff on social media talking about changes in the EPA and at first I thought that less regulation could be a bad thing, but from a local economy standpoint I was sure that this regulatory change would help.

Regulatory Change - Trump administration reduction of regulatory changes on banks

• Source: https://www.americanbanker.com/news/bank-regulatory-actions-under-trump-fall-to-historic-lows
• I believe that regulatory changes on banks provide an opportunity because if the regulations on banks are lowered then it's easier to borrow money to potentially start a business as an entrepreneur.
• The typical customer would be anyone who couldn't previously borrow money from the bank, but can now and hopefully the people borrowing the money now will be able to positively affect the society and economy around them.
• I think this would be hard to exploit because yes while there are less regulations on the banks, at the end of the day there are still regulations.
• I saw this opportunity when I was researching my first regulatory change and after doing some reading on the topic I believe that this is important because the opportunity applies to many entrepreneurs and this can help many of them out. Since I am learning about entrepreneurship right now I felt this was an important thing to look at.