Week 15 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? 

Answer: Reading about the international entrepreneurship was probably the biggest surprise in this reading. I guess that since i'm in the US I never really think about entrepreneurship on a global scale. I learned that entrepreneurship can fuel economic growth, create employment and generate prosperity for citizens.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

Answer: The part on innovation types was a little confusing to me. There were multiple types when I believe that there is only one type of innovation. Innovation is defined as a new method idea or product. So in this case shouldn't all new things just be innovations? This concept was a little confusing for me to wrap my mind around.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

Answer: Subce Cross-functional product develpoment teams all come from the firm, why are new product development processes completed quickly? I would ask this question because I think it would take longer especially if more people are arguing about a certain aspect of the product. I would also agk, "Do you plan on opening borrowing to men also?" If not why?

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

Answer: Donald defines successful entrepreneurship by saying, "The key to success with entrepreneurship and innovation is moving from the invention of ideas to effective commercialization and acceptance in the marketplace." In my personal opinion I believe that success is defined by you and only you. If you follow your heart and do what you love I believe that is the true meaning of success.

Final Reflection

1) Read through your blog from this semester. Recall all of the experiences you've had a long the way -- the highs, the lows -- the fun moments, and the moments of drudgery, and even the moments of dread.

Answer: When I first started taking this class, I remember that one of the very first things I had to do was do the "My entrepreneur's mantra." I remember thinking to myself, "Why am I reading this mantra and recording it and how will this benefit me in anyway." Looking back through all the assignments they all really building up on top of one another. I went back to this post and I fully agreed with everything that I said in the video that I recorded. I truly believe that I am an entrepreneur now. I also took the time to go through the posts where I interviewed my first strangers in the "customer interviews no 1." I remember how weird it felt to me to actually go up to strangers and interview them about a class. This is something I've never done before and definitely put me out of my comfort zone. Each assignment was a little different that I now see why it helps me define myself as an entrepreneur after. The only time I had moments of drudgery was when I was rushing to get an assignment done before the due date.

2) What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?

Answer: Honestly, I personally got the most out of the elevator pitch. Since we did it 4 times I got to get a lot of feedback from my fellow classmates from each one of the times that I did it. I've never done an elevator pitch before so getting feedback really helped me improve on my pitch and made it to what it is now! I think my most joyous experience was actually creating the idea for my venture concept. I love coming up with cool little inventions and this was an amazing opportunity to take it a step further. I think I am most proud of my most popular post which was "Interviewing customers no. 2!

3) At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. And we repeated the mantra -- I am an entrepreneur. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?

Answer: Yes, like I said above I definitely believe in the entrepreneur's mantra. At the beginning I was really skeptical about all of this but the more I look back on it, the more I realize how much it actually helped me get to where I am now. Definitely increased my entrepreneurial mindset which will in the end always help out with any business ideas I end up doing.

4) What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?

I think that everyone is passionate about something, and if you follow that passion with all your heart it will eventually lead to the greatest success. I recommend that you don't procrastinate and get all your work done in time. Maybe write down a schedule of when things need to get done so that you don't forget and lose pointless grades on assignments you could've done!

Elevator Pitch 4

1)

2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch.

I stated this at the beginning of the video, but I got great feedback from my last pitch. Everyone really liked the idea and urged me to keep going on with it because they want it. I did the same thing in this pitch as well! 

3) What did you change, based on the feedback?

I was a little more enthusiastic about trying to sell the product but I truly believe that this product will sell itself. Once people start using it they will tell their friends and everyone will hopefully have it on their phones! I'm inspired to do so because I really would love to have the app. But yeah, people really liked my last elevator pitch so I think I did it well this time too! I'm really thankful for this class in giving me more experience with these pitches because by listening to other peoples feedback I truly learned how to pitch an idea!

Venture Concept 2

OPPORTUNITIES:

-GPS located parking spots that will aid you to the closest desired parking spot in your location.

- Currently there is no app on the market that has the capabilities and functionalities that mine do.

-Prices of parking garages and meters will be shown on the app for easy functionality

-Tow away zones will be shown too so that people know that they can be towed.

INNOVATION:

This idea of a gps enabled parking app will allow for people to look on their phone and find the parking spot that will direct them to their spot. Many people complain on a day to day basis about how they have to drive around for 20 extra minutes to find a parking spot on a busy day. This would save time and everyone has already given me feedback that they like the idea. Also all the added features will help people pick which parking garages they want to go to as well as help them not get towed. Since it is a free app, everyone hopefully will download it to help themselves find parking more easily

VENTURE CONCEPT:

This app will be free because I want to help this ever growing problem. There used to be a parking lot right behind midtown but now it is becoming yet another apartment complex. The amount of parking spots is decreasing and it is getting harder to find spots.

Since it is a free app everyone should be able to download it. I will hopefully get it released on apple
and android so that I can reach the most people as possible.

I decided to just get ad revenue from the app just to pay for the amount of work I personally put into creating the app as well as making it free. I'll probably just make there be 1 add when you pull it up just to generate a little bit of profit.

I will also put an advice board in the app for people to send advice on what they want me to change on the app and I will always listen and probably add the things they want. This will keep customers happy and keep them using my app.

FINAL CONCLUSION

In my earlier posts. I described how people are constantly getting frustrated with the fact that they have to drive around town to try and find a single parking spot. There are so many people that drive and there still isn't an app out there like this one. I have already been talking to a lot of smart app developer friends and we decided to start mapping out the areas around town and finding all the places to park and then putting locations down on a google map format of where the parking spots are. This will then show the user of the app where all the available spots are in their area. Also I wanted to make it free because it is easier for an app to blow up when it is free because most people don't like spending money on simple apps. I think i'm going to continue going on with this idea and bettering it until I finally release it! I drive around campus all the time and always wish I had it. Hopefully it comes out soon so that I can help people as soon as possible!