Half-Way Reflection

1. Tenaciousness is a skill:

In order to be successful in this class you have to change the way you go about working on assignments. The assignments in this class don't really have a right answer. It's up to you to find out what you think is is right. You can go through the motions and just post dull assignments on your blog but then what are you getting out of the class? The answer is nothing. This is why you have to want to learn about how to become an entrepreneur. This drive is what I have learned and it is what I realized is necessary to truly understand this class.

2. Tenaciousness is also about attitude:

There are going to be times during this class that you think "What is the point of this?". I had a moment like that when we had to do our first customer interviews. I thought at first that it was such a stupid assignment. I thought it had nothing beneficial to offer me. Then I went out and I was denied an interview three times in a row. That hurt. I was down and wanted to just give up on the assignment but I didn't. Instead, I went to a different location. I found a friend of mine there and was able to get the first interview done. This gave me some hope. It made me realize that this assignment wasn't so hard. 

3. Three tips: 

   1. Don't be afraid to branch out and talk to strangers. Chances are you'll never see them again so don't be afraid.

   2. Be polite. Most people may think it is strange that you are approaching them. Be kind to them. For instance, if you are interviewing customers at a grocery store ask them if they want help loading with their bags. 

   3. Don't be afraid that your ideas aren't going the way you planned. If an assignment works out differently, run with it. See where it goes and what learning experiences you can get from it. 

Week 8 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise for me about the reading were the multiple options available to finance a start up company. One thing that confused me were the SEC regulations. Two questions I would ask the author are:
                    1. What is the most crucial SEC regulation?
                    2. How can a successful IPO effect a way a company runs?

I did not disagree with the author on his points.

Week 7 Reading Reflection

1. The biggest surprise for me was the fact that marketers doing segmentation are doing things wrong and ineffective.
2. One part that was confusing to me was the way companies determine if market segmentation is working well.
3.  a. How could a company use this information?
     b. How can you market to everyone successfully?
4. I did not think anything the author said was wrong, very factual and surprising though.

Free Money

Strategy:
Where?
-I went to McAlister's Deli on Archer road.
What kind of people?
-I approached people that just ordered there food and went to sit down.
What will I say?
-I told people that they must of dropped the dollar when they paid for their food and I don't want to steal from them.

Reflection: 
I thought I would be able to give away all the money because it seemed like a probable story. Countless of times I have fumbled my wallet putting it back in my pocket and dropped money, this is why I mainly approached males. Furthermore, my thoughts were pretty accurate. I was able to give away 4 out of the 5 dollars. Conversations were very short because there wasn't much to debate. They either agreed to accept that they dropped the dollar (even though they didn't) or deny and I was able to keep it. Here are videos from both scenarios.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

1. The Pitch:

2. A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch:
I really liked to hear back from my fellow students about what they thought of my idea. All the feedback that I received was positive but also reassured myself that this idea has a marketplace here at the University of Florida.  All three of my comments said that they all agree that going to the grocery store is a hassle but they are still willing to cook, I even had one person suggest to add wine to this delivery service. (What a great idea!)

3. What did you change, based on the feedback?
Like stated earlier, the feedback that I recieved was all positive and did not urge me to change anything. However, in order to not repeat the same video, I added some detail and tried to make the video look more professional.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

One thing that surprised me but still interested me was the fact that there is a small role towards rivalry between existing competitors. I thought it was interesting but also kind of confusing because I did not understand the impacts other factors had. Other than that I did not find anything else confusing. Questions I would ask this author would be What factor plays the biggest role in competition between business? and What is the biggest struggle for a new venture? I did not disagree with the author.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1. My name is Kevin Leddy. I have many talents that include being able to work in a team environment while also be able to take a lead role in a particular group. I am very easy to have a conversation with meaning I will be very approachable in terms of asking for instructions from my team members.  I think this business would help me make an impact for students here at the University of Florida which I find to be key for my time here.
2. The product that I want to make is an app that is called "I'm Hungry" within this app that would be available to Apple and Android products, a student would be able to search through a wide variety of recipes from beginner to advanced recipes in terms of instructions. The special thing about this app is if you were to want to make one of these recipes, you would simply click a button and type in your information to have the groceries delivered to your address in Gainesville.
3. I am offering this app to students in Gainesville because of the problems with parking, it would be very beneficial for students to leave their cars at home. However this eliminates the ease of getting food. But with "I'm Hungry" you can have your food delivered to you.
4. I think this product would be valuable because their are a lot of students that do not bring their car to campus (who live on campus) and have to resort to eating at the dinning halls or fast food but eating out can get very unhealthy. So to solve this, they can have their groceries delivered to them and a way to teach them how to make good meals.
5. I think that what sets us apart from any ordinary delivery business is that with a regular food delivery the food you are getting are unhealthy and usually expensive. College students are poor so a cheap alternative to this while also giving them the education on how to cook can be beneficial to many.

In final analysis, I think that all the elements of my business do work very well. I think that there is a huge need for a clean food delivery alternative in the Gainesville area and with the aspects of this service, these needs can be solved. I think the huge dependency on cell phones also increases the chance for success of my business idea.

Week 5 Reading Reflection

1) 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 was how many firms and patents are created each year. I think that this is an insanely large number and just goes to show you how great human creativity is. 

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
 The feasibility approach and its specific activities were confusing because I did not understand many of the restrictions that went along with it. 

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?
1. Did the author have his own start up ideas and if so what was it and how successful was it?
2. What does the author think is the most important realization we need to have in order to fully understand how to become an entrepreneur? 

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?
One thing I would disagree with the author is the fact that people are more willing to pay for their product once it has been delivered because I think people are eager and want their products now, and with the help of technology it has made that possible.

Elevator Pitch No. 1

One night not too long ago, I sat on my bed wishing that I had a personal chef. It's not because I do not know how to cook. I actually love to cook. The problem was that I had no groceries to even make anything remotely edible. So it got me thinking, what if there was a service that could bring me my food so that I can still cook. By cooking you are able to make a lot healthier options than delivery foods.  That's when I had the idea for "I'm Hungry". I'm Hungry is an app that I want to develop that will list out a bunch of recipes that are easy to cook with instructions on how to cook them. And the best par about this app is that with a simple touch of a button you can have your food delivered to your door. Fantastic right?