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