Week 8 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? 

Nothing really stood out for me this week but it was nice to brush up on different funding formats that a business could undergo. As I launched my website a few weeks ago and as we expand, it will be important that I be able to secure funding to expand on our interests.

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

Nothing was really confusing about the reading for me this week, just making sure that I can distinguish from all the different types of funding that exist.

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

The first question I would ask the author is if he had a company, what format (LLC, PLLC, 501(c)3 non profit, etc.) would he choose to utilize and would he take it public. I think that might highlight any bias that he may have had in writing the text. I would also ask how might he go about the process of securing funding.

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

I did not disagree with anything the author wrote, because the process of listing how business can receive funding or the ways they can go public are pretty subjective. 

Half-Way Reflection

Tenaciousness is a skill. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? 

The most prevalent behavior that I've used during this course has undoubtedly been my ability to be resourceful and intuitive. A lot of assignments in this class demand that you be able to discern situations that demand you exert your influence with people in real-time. 

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

To be honest the moments I feel like giving up are when I miss an assignment or I could complete the requirements due to circumstance. there are a lot of things that are out of control of a student, and even this being an online class, taking it during a semester which most Innovation Academy students are full time students taking classes on campus proves to be challenging. 

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?

1. Schedule ahead, preferably by a week. If you do everything a week in advance, it will at least give you at minimum 3-5 school days which to rectify your mistakes. 

2. Be unafraid to meet new people and be in new situations that force you to make those types of decisions in real time. 

3. Stay hungry. Tenacity is all about being hungry for bigger and more serious responsibility, and this class challenges you to be unabashed and unafraid of taking on such responsibility. 

Week 7 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 thing that I found intriguing about the reading was how many different aspects of a singular company and how many different types of company there are. I believe this has come as the American economy has diversified. 

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

There was't really any part of the reading that was confusing.

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

The first question I would have for the author is how the sharing economy and innovations like bitcoin have changed how new entrepreneurs decide to start businesses and how they decide to involve themselves in this economy. The second question is how will existing companies try to evolve to keep up with the constantly changing tastes and preferences of the American consumer.

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

There wasn't really anything I disagreed with, just the former I would like him to elaborate on.

Free Money

When I read the premise of this assignment I was very intrigued. However I wanted it to be more than just giving a people a dollar. I want the exercise to reflect the best parts of the American economy: when its members can use the prosperity that they've achieved for themselves and offer others the opportunity to do the same.

My exercise would do more than just ask people if they'd want to have a dollar (I can't imagine anyone that would refuse).

It would ask of them to do the same,

I would challenge people to think of a way to make at least three dollars from the one dollar (which is at minimum 200% profit). Then I'd ask to give them to give one of those dollars to someone else and repeat the process. This is not only indicative of our income tax system (capping around 39 percent), but reinforces that people not only have a legal but more importantly a moral responsibility to engage themselves in the success of others.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

in this elevator pitch I wanted to expound on the successes that we have made since the inception and launch of the website. It is important when launching a startup within the first year to make rapid progress to inspire potential investors to continue to invest in your company or your product. Was progress this is included featuring artists, being featured in publications, and writing quality material.

https://youtu.be/4Pup7ZN-3wg

Week 6 Reading Reflection

1. The most interesting aspect of the reading is how he managed to merge family and business together. If anything I believe that this shows his bias toward believing that an effective way to run a business is with family.


2. I didn't have any question or confusion with the reading this week.

3. Two questions I would ask the author is how do you account for how bias either towards or against family can potentially have a negative effect on business, as well as his stance on having friends be long term business partners, because of the risk involved in souring these relationships.

4. I didn't disagree with the author this week

Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You.

I believe that my greatest strength is my work ethic. In the kind of work that I do, you have to have persistence and a great work ethic, because laziness cheats not only yourself, but the people you're trying to help.

2) What are you offering to customers?

Progress offers the opportunity to forward discussion through articles, virtual galleries and performances in song, poetry and spoken word.

3) Who are you offering it to?

This website is targeted for those who believe in the idea of a plural solution to moving our society forward.

 

4) Why do they care? 

They care because they believe that there is multiple ways to get to the same destination.

5) What are your core competencies?

What sets Progress apart from everyone else is its ability to capture and maintain the attention of its audience.

Interviewing Customers No. 2

1. Believe the website idea is just as feasible as it was when I developed it. I just have to ensure that as I continue to interview customers I have to ensure that I am interviewing people from very diverse backgrounds.

2. I had to be sure that I didn't just moderate good questions but received good answers, which is also contingent on the people that I chose to interview. From the first set of interviews, I made sure that I interviewed diverse people. During my first set of interviews I interviewed people who were born and raised in the United States. With this set, I respected the diversity of the interviewees and how their culture may affect how they participate in service and social consciousness.

3. I believe that the opportunity with this website and the potential it has is immense. I think its success will be dependent on the people I can collaborate with, which is why I interviewed people who are native born American citizens and immigrants, Greeks who stress community services and non-Greeks.

4. Three tips I would offer to future students of this classes
a.) Just be yourself. It shows in both your questions and their answers if you're trying to be something you're not.
b.) Be passionate. With me, I think that asking questions about civic engagement helped propel the conversation from just question/answer to discussion/
c.) Ask questions that force interviewees to think. when you ask questions that require deep thought you get more comprehensive answers.

links:
Ish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS29C-PByAo
Judy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RMfup5Wmbo
Ramos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITo6oALlYNM
Rene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkvUi-0Ovb8
Robert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyefnfAgnic

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 thing that differentiate itself from the rest of the reading this week was the number of first year projects that seem to fail. I would think that a lot more people who are beginning a venture would look at their specific markets and the product or service they're providing as well as common reasons why first year ventures fail so frequently. 

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

I wasn't really confused by the concepts of the reading, but I feel like talking about patent law in a class like this made no sense because the scope of patent law is way too deep to just briefly touch on.

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

One question I would ask is whether or not the author knows of any common solutions that could help more people sustain their ventures after a year. When its that large of a number of people failing after their first year, then I think it is imperative to have common solutions. That many people failing isn't just detrimental to them as individuals, but to local and regional economies as a whole. Another question I would ask is how would those solutions be catered to specific industries, because the solutions found in agriculture wouldn't be exactly the same to those in manufacturing or technology.

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

I don't disagree with anything the author discussed this week.