Half-way Reflection

1. To begin with, there is a lot of required attention and up keep to excel in this course. Initially I was doing very poorly with turning in my assignments on time and unfortunately missed a number of points that I could have easily gotten credit for. Over time as this course has progressed, I have developed better time management skills. Additionally, countless assignments in this course require you to step outside of your comfort zone and engage with strangers. This has assisted me in developing a personable state of mind when approaching others.

2. For the majority of this course, I often find myself questioning myself and the point of each assignment. However, after taking a broader look at things I have realized this course has actually had an impact on my life thus far. When considering giving up, I remind myself that the outcome of this course is totally up to me, as there are no quizzes or exams. I have developed a tenacious attitude and I believe this is because in order to receive the required points for each assignment one has to get up off their ass and put in a little effort. Or a lot.

3. 3 tips I would give to future ENT3003 students are the following:
-Organization is key. Do not miss multiple points because you are too lazy to do the assignment. Your grade is entirely and completely on you and there is a lot of busy work.
-Have confidence in each assignment and when interacting with others.
-If you do not already have a tenacious mindset, you will definitely develop one. However, it helps to think of each exercise as a learning experience. Make the best out of it (because you have to do it anyway)!

Week 8 Reading Reflection

1. There are a number of things in this chapter that surprised me. For one, I was fascinated by the significance of debt in the beginning of start up companies. Additionally, I feel as if I learned a lot more about venture capitalists than I originally had known but am still intrigued to learn more.

2. I was not really confused by anything in the chapter. The author was successful in discussing the material in a clear manner.

3. How do venture capitalists decide if a company is proper/fulfills the requirements to invest in?
What more is there to being a venture capitalist?

4. There was nothing I disagreed with the author about. In fact, I learned a lot of valuable material from this chapter.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

DrinkSmart

Based off of the feedback from my first Elevator pitch, the only change that I was recommended was to stand up. Of course, I took this advice and feel as if my video appears much more professional than the previous. 

Interviewing Customers No. 3

Because I broke my phone this past week and was only able to interview people based on questions, I had a very different experience. I actually found that those who I interviewed we're more eager to answer my questions when I was not recording them. I did, however, still include the notecard that gave them an idea of my business idea.

The notecard said the following:
In our generation, individuals begin consuming alcoholic beverages around the time they start high school. The unmet opportunity is the promotion of responsible drinking among all ages. Because the drinking age fails at preventing underage drinking, a possible solution is to develop an app that promotes drinking responsibly at any age. This would allow users to check their BAC, track the types and amounts of drinks they have consumed and locate taxi or Uber services in the local area to get drinkers home safely.  The app would be called DrinkSmart and the significant take away is to have a good time, but do so responsibly.

Interviewee #1
Name: Brandon
Age: 21

How many drinks do you consume during a normal week?

10-15

In what ways do you drink responsibly?

I never drink and drive and I always do my best to look out for my friends. In the past, I have learned my limits. 

When you are drinking do you stop yourself once you start to feel drunk?

I have not been the best about this but I do know my limits. 

Would you stop if you knew you were getting past your limit based on data from the app?

Absolutely, as long as this app was able to provide this information to me with minimal effort. 

Interviewee #2

Name: Caitlyn

Age: 16

How many drinks do you consume during a normal week?

About 5 

In what ways do you drink responsibly?

I try to minimize drinking too excessively because I had a very bad experience once. However, whenever my friends and I go out we have a designated driver. 

When you are drinking do you stop yourself once you start to feel drunk?

Yes, absolutely. Based on my previous experiences I feel uncomfortable if I don't. 

Would you stop if you knew you were getting past your limit based on data from the app?

Yes, although I am unsure if I would actually use the app because I do not drink very often. 

Interviewee #3

Name: Christopher

Age: 20 

How many drinks do you consume during a normal week?

20 

In what ways do you drink responsibly?

I always call an uber and every  now and then Ill chug a water between shots or drinks. 

When you are drinking do you stop yourself once you start to feel drunk?

Not really, I enjoy getting super drunk. I feel a lot more fun and sociable. 

Would you stop if you knew you were getting past your limit based on data from the app?

Ehh....I do not know about that it depends on the night and how drunk I was trying to get it. 

Interviewee #4

Name: Beau

Age: 17 

How many drinks do you consume during a normal week?

I do not drink alcohol. 

In what ways do you drink responsibly?

I feel as when I do start to drink, I will learn my limit at a quick rate. I'm still a little nervous about it but I do like the idea. 

When you are drinking do you stop yourself once you start to feel drunk?

I am sure when I do start that I will. 

Would you stop if you knew you were getting past your limit based on data from the app?

Yes, most definitely in the future I think an app is an excellent idea and would promote drinking responsibly. 

Interviewee #5

Name: Michelle

Age: 25

How many drinks do you consume during a normal week?

16-19 

In what ways do you drink responsibly?

Never drink and drive. Never take consecutive shots. 

When you are drinking do you stop yourself once you start to feel drunk?

Yes, I love being tipsy but I know when I start to feel that way I should slow down. 

Would you stop if you knew you were getting past your limit based on data from the app?

Absolutely! I think that is a great idea

Week 6 Reading Reflection

What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations?
The biggest surprise for me in the reading was the the idea of competition among suppliers and buyers. It was interesting to view it this way, as I always only recognized the competition between industries.

Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
There was not a part to me that significantly stood out as confusing. I believe overall the article was well written and very insightful.

If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?
Why do you think this concept is not fully recognized by entrepreneurs around the globe? In what way, besides this article, do you think you could educate the public on these forces?

Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
I did not find anything that I thought the author was wrong about. Overall, I learned a lot of things that I never put into perspective beforehand. 

Idea Napkin No. 1

1. Born and raised in Gainesville, FL, I have always been surrounded by numerous start up companies. My mother is the executive director of GAIN: Gainesville Area Innovation Network and I have been recruited on a number of occasions to volunteer and work at many of the events held. Being a college student, I am continuously surrounded by partying--which always contains endless amounts of alcohol. I have witnessed first hand on a number of occasions where my peers have exceeded their limit and turned into someone they would never recognize. This too, has happened to me on a few occasions as well.

2. I believe there is an unmet need of drinking responsibly. From the time teens enter high school, they are presented the opportunity to drink alcoholic beverages very frequently. In college, it is almost looked down upon if you don't. Now for me personally, I could care less whether someone chooses to drink or not, but I do care about their well-being if they have exceeded their limit and made it strikingly obvious. I believe to prevent this in the future, one could download an app called DrinkSmart. This app would be on your phone and would be able to track your BAC, the different types of alcohol and amounts consumed, as well as providing services to locate the cheapest and nearest taxi or Uber to get home safely.

3. The demographic that this would be offered to would be individuals of all ages. I would not make it 21+ up because I am well aware of how individuals from the ages of 14+ behave when consuming alcohol, and act much more irresponsibly. Therefore, I would be targeting 'drinkers' and these people all have in common the same thing--the desire to consume alcohol in a social setting.

4. I would work on making this app free to the public. I think individuals care about this because of the act of 'blacking out.' More often than not, I will wake up with text messages from my peers asking things like "What the hell happened last night?" or "You will never believe where I just woke up, save me!" Blacking out is a lot more common than most people think and is incredibly incredibly dangerous. A lot of this is dependent upon how quickly one consumes alcohol (hence, why taking a number of shots in a row will get you drunk quicker). Individuals that have experienced these black outs have a lot more trouble in the future not doing the same thing, which is why I believe this app would be beneficial and prevalent.

5. I have not done enough research to see what sets me apart from others, however I do personally have an application on my phone that will prevent me from drunk calling or texting individuals I would not make the effort to speak to sober. I believe this has been excellent in preventing me from doing so, and I feel as if creating an app to help one keep track of their limit could make the whole idea of social drinking a much more pleasurable experience.

Overall, I believe the application could have a lot of potential. However, I do feel stress in the logistics of being able to measure all of these things. I believe a lot of research would be necessary to implement it, but in the long run I believe users would find use of it, especially if they are unaware of their limit. I think another addition to the app would be the option to put in ones height and weight, and based off that give an estimate of the number of drinks they could consume, as well as the types.

Week 5 Reading Reflection

What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 
What most stood out to me in the reading for this week was how often start up companies fail within the first year of launching. Furthermore, the entire process of starting your own business was eye opening, as it takes a very long time and a lot of effort/passion is necessary to execute it properly.

Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
One part that was a little confusing to me was all the legal work that it entails and goes behind operating it successfully, and legally.

If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?
I would ask how to properly time things out when starting your own company, and how you learned the best time management skills for you.
The second question I would ask is why do you think so often that these businesses fail? What do they do wrong in the process?

Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
For the most part, I definitely agreed with what the author was saying. Growing up in a very entrepreneurial family, I have witnessed a lot of these problems first hand. I found the feasibility approach fascinating, and actually took the time to do a little more research on it online.

Interviewing Customers No. 2

Fine tune your opportunity
After my first week of interviews, I drastically changed my opportunity. Initially, it was to put in some sort of motion to reduce the drinking age in the United States back to 18. However, after a lot of research and debate, I found the unmet need is to promote drinking responsibly for all ages. 

Fine tune the who 
Last time, I targeted individuals from 18-20. This time however, I did not look for anybody specific. However in a college town most individuals that I did interview were from 19-23 years of age. 

Tweaking my interview questions
Because I completed changed my opportunity, my questions changed drastically. Below are the new questions that I asked the interviewees:

How old are you?

How many drinks do you consume during a normal week?

In what ways do you drink responsibly?

When you are drinking do you stop yourself once you start to feel drunk?

Would you stop if you knew you were getting past your limit based on data from the app?

What did you learn about the opportunity?

Based on the 5 people I interviewed, I learned that this opportunity is feasible. Every individual I asked said that if they we're provided the data on an application that they we're passing or had already past their limit, they would stop consuming beverages. 

What did I learn about interviewing customers?

If there is one thing I learned, it is that if people have the time for the most part they are not hesitant to answer a few questions. Three tips I would have for interviewing people include:

1. Don't be shy, people are usually willing to help you

2. Never forget to say thank you for your time and feedback, as it plays a critical role in this experiment

3. Be prepared to ask questions and be yourself

Elevator Pitch No. 1

DrinkSmart

In our generation, individuals begin consuming alcoholic beverages around the time they start high school. The unmet opportunity is the promotion of responsible drinking among all ages. Because the drinking age fails at preventing underage drinking, a possible solution is to develop an app that promotes drinking responsibly at any age. This would allow users to check their BAC, track the types and amounts of drinks they have consumed and locate taxi or Uber services in the local area to get drinkers home safely.  The app would be called DrinkSmart and the significant take away is to have a good time, but do so responsibly.