30A-Final Reflection

I can honestly say this class was unlike any class I have taken in the past and was a really cool experience. Looking back at the past assignments, the only one that really stood out to me that I can say I dreaded was the elevator pitch and then when we had to interview people for the social capital assignment. The elevator pitch was just intimidating because it's always weird to hear yourself talk on a recording and then to have other people see it, I thought it would be weird. But after doing it three times and getting used to it, I felt way more comfortable and confident in front of the camera and kind of liked it towards the end. The other part that I somewhat thought I wasn't too sure of was when we had to go out and interview people for our social capital. It was just a unique experience to go out and talk to entrepreneurs in the community and get a different take on what it means to be in a start up and what it takes to run a start up. I am generally a very out going person but I just thought that assignment would be intimidating but overall in the end it was a cool experience. This was also what I'll remember for a while because I am originally from Gainesville and I didn't know that there were so many unique businesses here and I just really enjoyed talking to and getting to know these people and it will just stick out to me for a while. I think towards the end I started to develop and entrepreneurial mindset for the simple fact that now when I am out and about, I am constantly looking for new ideas or opportunities that I could turn into potential business ideas and that was different from when I first started this class. Plus I have a better understanding of starting a business and how to exploit opportunities and I think this has shaped my entrepreneurial mindset. For students that take this course in the future, I would say to just go into this class with an open mind and don't be afraid to go out of your comfort zone. You get what you put in with this class and you can get a lot out of it if you're willing to do something different and have an open mind with this class.

29A- Venture Concept No.2

For this opportunity, there is a market in Gainesville of customers that have an unmet need of trying to do better in their classes and have tried various ways around UF and just need another way to try and do better. This opportunity presents a nature of need that many students have tried getting help in their classes and are just at a dead end and don't have the social ways to try and get help but with Study Buddy, this would help with that by giving students access to other students in the classes that they are in and being able to post or reach out to other students to see if they could help in the class. This would also provide a way for people to find tutors and reach out to individuals to try and get help in their classes. My market right now is defined to university population of Gainesville and consists of students ranging from ages 18-25 both male and female. Customers are currently satisfying this need by reaching out to their professors but my thought is that if you aren't getting the material in lecture then going to your professor wont't help much more. Then students are also using local tutoring places but they are kinda pricy and only do some of the entry level classes and not much of the higher level classes where some students can struggle. I feel like this idea can grow into something big and the window of time I feel like is somewhat open for a while as most of the tutoring places in Gainesville have been open for a while and you can enter that market if you have the means. As far as innovation, this is not "ground breaking" by any means and more or less just adds on to current methods of getting help in the class room but in a way that most people my age would feel comfortable with. And this being a social media app that I would develop and put out. Here students can post of class walls looking for help in certain subject areas, they can look for tutors in other areas and also try and reach out to other students in their classes for help and see if they can learn the material in a new helpful way. I would not charge people to pay for the app because I don't think many people would pay for it up front but I would have ads on the app and make money from that and then later down the road see if I could charge a monthly fee or some sort of access fee if demand is high enough. Then onto the venture part of this assignment. I think it would be kind of hard to get people to switch just because they are so used to the learning methods they have now, but I think once they try it out and see that it could help them, then I think it would make for an easy switch. My competitors are the local tutoring businesses around Gainesville and I think the major weakness of them is how expensive it is. For some students this isn't a problem but over times these costs can add up and students don't like this. Plus they only offer entry level classes and once you get to your major level classes you must do everything on your own and I think my app would be a way for these students to connect and have a way to try and do better in their classes. As far as developing the business, I think I could run the business side of things and marketing and things like that, my biggest hurtle would be to just develop the app and for this I would try and assemble a team that would make this very easy to do. We work on the app and develop it to meet all the business needs and then put it out for customer use. My most important resource would be the social capital that I have around me as there are many start ups in Gainesville and I can learn a lot from these people on how to run a start up and run it successfully. After we are successful in Gainesville, I would want to try and branch out to other campuses around the U.S. because I think if we can work at UF, we can work anywhere. In five years, I want to have moved to a couple different campuses and ready to sell because I feel like another company or someone can scale this business better and hopefully make some money off of it. As far as what I changed, I just put more focus on how I wanted to end and also put more emphasis on the venture part of this concept. I needed to focus more on my competitors and how I was gonna make money and all those things and I think I did a better job in this one with these.

(So easy, a dog could use it)

28A-Your Exit Strategy

As sad as it is to think about what I would do with this company that I have created over the last semester, it is good to think about what the long term goals would be and how it would come to an end. Hopefully it would be successful enough here at UF that we would be able to expand Study Buddy's to other campuses across the nation. With this increase and growth and potential to be a successful app used around the country, it is a great opportunity however, I would see myself selling the business if it got to this level and hopefully it would be for a large return. I would do this because I don't think I would be able to manage a large company that expands that fast and I don't know how to scale a product like that if it took off and was used around the nation. I feel as though other companies would be able to manage this more and make it more user friendly to a larger base of people. I think this strategy has made me think about how far I'm going to grow up until a certain point. I would use the resources that I have available, whether it be social or physical or monetary in Gainesville to scale my project and make sure it will be as successful in the Gainesville market. Then once I am able to master this market, then I believe we would be able to move onto different markets then once it reaches a certain point to where I don' t think I could manage it any better with the resources I have, then I would sell it at that point, but I don't think it would influence any of my factors in the early parts of the venture. 

27A-Reading reflection 3

For this reflection I decided to do "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson. I have always been interested in Steve Jobs as he has been a true innovator of technology and has changed technology forever. I was most surprised that Jobs was considered a Hippie. Also even though he was one of the original founders of Apple, he was forced out of Apple in 1985. I thought I had known this before but reading about the details of it was interesting. I admired Job's work ethic and his "genius" brain.  I am firm believer that this is what made Apple what it is today. Job's had the mind to think of the future and what would be innovative and cutting edge. Along with this, he had the work ethic to back it up and make it possible that these innovations and changes were put into action. I least admired Job's attitude towards some people. Job's was not polite to a lot of people and often cut a lot of bridges before they were made. Job's of course faced much adversity in his life. One of the biggest ones would be of course when he was fired and forced to leave Apple, but he then joined another company called NeXt, which would later then be bought by Apple and Job's would go onto becoming the CEO of Apple again. When it come's to competencies, Job's just seemed like he felt superior to everyone and was hard on rules that he set. He didn't bend the rules for anyone and if you went against what he said, he looked down upon you with almost disgust. If I could ask Job's two questions it would be how to he kept Apple so innovative and on the cutting edge of technology. Then I would ask him the hardest part of the initial start up process. Just because I am at that point with this start up idea for this class. I think like every great entrepreneur, Job's believed you need hard work to be successful. I am 100% confident Job's was the first one in the office and the last one out and worked harder than everybody in the room to be successful. I believe in this as well and I want to instill this work ethic early in  my working career to try and make sure I am successful.

26A-Celebrating Failure

This assignment was an easier one for me as I just went through multiple interviews for internships this summer and have an answer for the time I failed. For mine, it was in my freshman year and I had a great opportunity of getting a position as a student manager on the football team in the equipment room. So I got to help with the team and their practices, help sort out gear, be on the sidelines for all the games and travel to some of the away games. I did this for about 3-4 weeks and then I started to fall behind in my classes. This opportunity was a great one but it ended up being almost a full time job and I was not prepared for that. Mind you this was my first real semester at UF so I was still adjusting and then throw this on top and I was not doing great. But the moment of failure came when I just went to my boss and told him I was going quit with out asking anybody for advise or trying to get help. I didn't talk to my parents about it, my friends or people around, I just dropped it when it started to get hard. When I told my parents they were extremely angry that I just gave up and didn't get help or anything and pulled the "we're not mad, we're disappointed". The failure in this was that I just gave up when it got tough and when I was doing something new, which is not like me at all. From this I learned that even when it gets tough or you're not in a position where you're comfortable, you can't give up. You have to get going and it will eventually get better. I have this mind set now which is great because I will be doing an internship this summer and I will be put out of my element and it will be challenging and different, but I know I will learn from it and won't just drop it when it gets tough. As far as I handle failure, I mean for everyone it is embarrassing, but you have to learn from it and be able to move on. If you don't, you won't be able to learn a lot in life. I am firm believer that you learn more from your failures than you do when you are successful. This class has shown me that it's okay to fail even in business and entrepreneurship but it's how you rebound from failure that defines the type of person you are.

25A- What's Next?

Existing Market:
In terms of whats next for in terms of product and services for my next venture, I think the best move for me would be to expand to other campuses around the U.S. I think if this venture was successful here at UF, it would be successful at other campuses. When talking to customers this week, I interviewed Sean, a student here at UF and he said what you should be doing now, is focusing on the content that you will have on the app such as classes and such, and then the user-ability of these functions on the app. He said you should be trying to develop an app that is as easy to use as possible so users can use it easily. Rachael then said, she agrees, but mainly needs to focus on getting a customer base and the ways that you will grow that base. Whether it be advertising on campus or doing different promotional deals or advertising on social media. "Right now, growth for you is crucial and getting your name and product out right now is how you will grow the fastest". Hunter said when interviewed, that he thinks customers would want maybe a more interactive Study Buddy, where you could help on different topics from students all around the country. This would just a cool way to get a different perspective on the topics you are learning and see how other students who are just like you are learning them.

New Market:
I think most of my current market would be students out of Greek life, but if I have try a new market, it would be Greek life. This would be a challenge because I feel like a lot of the students already have a lot of connections to where they wouldn't have to branch out and try to find students in their classes for help when they are all right there. However, with Study Buddy, this could reach all across Greek life and help connect the students from there and this would give them an even bigger realm of students to get help from. I interviewed Rob who is in ATO here at UF and he said if there was a way to organize it to make it easy to connect with people, he thinks it would do well in Greek life because he said it's so big, it's hard to make connections sometimes and this would be a way to stream line this process. Then I interviewed Olivia who is in KKG and she said this would be beneficial for some of the students in Greek life who aren't as involved and would be an easy way to connect with students just like them.

I was surprised to hear that this new market would potentially be a place to sell. The fact that some people would maybe be interested makes it in intriguing into what other markets are available out there. I still think my original market would be more attractive and easy to sell in, but once students started to realize that my product works and it doesn't matter how many people you may know, I think it would start to spread to new markets like the one described. If it shows results and people see that it's working, they will give it a try.

24A-Venture Concept No.1

This semester has been a new challenge for me in taking this class, as this class has really stretched my mind into finding a new business idea that I have come up with. This will be my first Venture Concept for Study Buddy.
1. To start off with, I will dive into the opportunity section of the Venture Concept. My opportunity stems from groups of students around campus that feel like they have reached a dead end or are having trouble in their classes and haven't found a way that they can try and help their grades. This group of students also feels like they don't have the "social capital" that others around campus do and may not have the biggest group of people around them to try and help them with classes. The un-met need is just a way that someone could connect with their fellow students in their classes and try and form study groups or try and help find tutors or get help and ask questions to other students as well. More specifically around UF, a lot of students are involved in Greek life which is great, but the students who aren't don't have that great amount of people around them, who some of them are most likely in the same classes as they are, which gives them an easy way to get help outside of the classroom. The students who aren't in Greek life, don't have a way to really branch out and look for help outside of the classroom because they don't have this large group of students around them like others do. I am firm believer that you should learn the material in your classes from multiple different sources, especially if you are struggling and a great way to do that is through study groups or even tutors. This way a student can see the material in a different way and then hopefully do better in their classes.  I think this market could stretch and be seen in many of the large Universities around the U.S. So the markets could be spread out through the U.S, but would be more defined to college campuses and not really anywhere else. I also think that this opportunity will be around for a long time as technology is always changing and we are getting better tech everyday, students will always have this need to get help outside of the classroom no matter how far tech has advanced. So I think an opportunity like this would last for a while.
2.My innovation for this idea is only slightly different than things that are out there right now. My idea is to develop Study Buddy just like a social media app that would allow students to just download on their phone and use it from there. The idea of apps is not "innovative" but having a way for students to connect with their classmates in social media type manner, that is made to help students outside of the classroom I believe is innovative. Every student now a days feels more comfortable on their phone and so trying to reach out and form study groups or post on a wall about questions or even looking for tutors, doing this on a smartphone in a social media app would make students feel more comfortable. At first, I would make money by trying to sell ads on the app itself that students would see while using the app. I would charge a small upfront fee of 5 dollars to download the app, and then try and have promotions on the app to try and get the user to get their friends to sign up.
3.I think my customers would buy my product because of a couple reasons. One, they have tried everything in their power and haven't found successful ways to try and get help outside of the classroom. Study Buddy is a great way for them to turn and lean on their classmates for help. Two, students feel comfortable with meeting people over social media now a days, so giving the app a try and finding out that there are students who could help you do better in school would be a reason they stay. My competitors are the local tutoring places around Gainesville and while they offer a lot of entry level courses, they don't do a lot of upper level classes that students struggle with and so we would be able to try and help where our competitors couldn't.

Minor Elements:
My biggest resource I think would be the social capital that I have around me to help and develop my app. I have a lot of resources and people that are very technical that can help me develop my app which I believe would be one of the biggest challenges of this venture. I can tailor the business model or my market I am going for, but to sit down and develop a full functioning app is a huge challenge in itself. My next venture, if successful would be to try and tackle other campuses around the U.S. I think if successful here, it would be a great resource to have at other campuses. Then as far as what's next for me, I would want to keep trying and developing new apps, as I am fascinated at the tech start up of the worlds and have always wanted to start my own or be apart of one.

23A- Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1.Lap top-This is the foundation for my startup idea because it is social media based app so I would need my laptop to start the coding process. This resource is pretty run of the mill and is not rare or anything so its a normal resource.
2.GatorTech-This is a great resource to me because it a tech club that has people who have coded big projects before and can be critical to the success of my code. This is very valuable, pretty rare because not everyone has access to a large group of people with coding experience. This is a non-substitute.
3.Small startup investment-Currently right now, I have a small amount of money set a side that if I was truly invested in this idea, I would invest it in my idea. This could cover costs such as paying people to help me with my coding project. This is pretty valuable because every company needs money to start. So this another run of the mill resource that is easy to copy because like I said every company needs it.
4.UF ISOM department-This is a great resource just like GatorTech, however these are professors who have worked in the tech industry and can give me advice of how to build apps. This is also beneficial because they can give advice of how to be professional and how to act in a tech company, which I can foster and take into my company and use that as a basis for my company culture. This is extremely rare and not many people have. This wouldn't be too hard to copy because anybody can go and ask for help, but it is extremely valuable to have and I think something that helps me stand out.
5.Determination-This is a self trait that I think would be a resource. I am a hard worker who has great determination and a will to do something and finish things I start. This is a valuable resource to have and I don't think everyone has it. It's hard to copy because people can say that they have the determination and drive but that doesn't mean they actually do.
6.Local Entrepreneurs- This is a resource that I have locally that I can get start up advice about, particularly about starting a business in a college town. Many of the local businesses know a lot about the market of selling to college students which is crucial to my business idea. This idea is extremely valuable as it helps me get to know my market better and also get start up advice and how to run a small business.
7.My dad- He is a great resource as he owns his own business and can be a helping hand in starting a business. He owns a pharmacy, which is clearly different than what I want to do, but he still is there to lend advice and be a helping hand on how to run a small business. This is very valuable to have and not everyone has this resource available to them. It is easily copiable but having a personal relationship with someone who owns a business is kinda rare I feel like.
8.Randy Hunziker- This is a great resource to me as he is a lawyer and can help me and give me legal advice if need be in starting a business. This is helpful when starting a business to make sure you jump through all the legal hoops correctly. This is very valuable and somewhat rare to have a personal relationship with a lawyer. Other people can copy this but it would be hard.
9.Family for investment- If I needed more money to help the startup, I would ask my family to see if they would be able to help me out. It costs a decent amount of money to own a business and I could use as much money up front as I can. This is pretty valuable to have but there's no guarantee that I would get any money. This is copiable because most people can do the same.
10.Social Media-This is my marketing tool that I would use to get the word out about my product. My market would be college students and most of them already use social media, so to reach out to them, I would utilize sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. This is valuable because thats a major way I would get my name out there and my product. This is copiable and can be substituted with out marketing techniques, but I feel like social media is the best route.

I think the best resource I have is GatorTech. This is so because it helps me with the technical side of my business idea which would be the hardest part. At the same time, I would be surrounded by a group of people, always ready to help and lend a helping hand whenever need be. Some of them have also seen what it's like to work in a star up and a small business, so they would be a great resource for that as well.

22A-Elevator Pitch 3

https://youtu.be/FpvlB_bFjwg

For this third elevator pitch, I tried to take the feedback that I got last time and the time before and make this one even better. To start, I stood up and was more comfortable in front of the camera which I think helped a lot. The more we move on with this class and the more we flesh out our business idea, I am getting more comfortable with the material I am talking about and I think I portrayed that in this pitch. I know what my business idea consists of and can talk about it comfortably now. I was also told to try and memorize more of my content and that stood out as impactful to me. Simply because if this was a real world situation, you need to have your pitch memorized and ready to go no matter where you are. I tried to focus on the positives of my idea which I believe are the true selling point to any service or idea. So I think the main take aways from this pitch is that I am getting more comfortable with my business idea and getting more comfortable in front of a camera giving a pitch to present my business idea. 

21A-Reading Reflection 2

For this reflection, I chose "The art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users". I first picked this one because I really love social media and it is such a huge part of our culture and generation now, I was very interested to read this book. I am also basing my idea for this class off of social media so that goes hand in hand with this book. The general theme of this book was how to use social media to better your business and also how to use your personal social media and to make sure you are not looking bad online. The book is filled with tips on how to treat social media and how to treat your social media like a business. This book helped enhance my experience in this class because we take social media for granted now a days and put everything online and this can come back and bite us if we are not careful. This book made me want to become more aware of what I do on social media to make sure I am not perceived in a bad way. This book also gave great tips on how to grow your business through the use of social media which is great in todays society because like I said, it is just apart of everyone's daily life.  In order to reach a broader market, you have to have a positive social media presence for brand awareness and then you can also use it as a selling tool. I would design an exercise for class to try and set up or have an experiment where you try to use social media and sell a certain product. Then define things like your market that you would sell to, or what type of stuff would you publish or what specific social media would you use. My biggest "aha" moment was when I made that the connection that you should treat your social media almost like a business and treat it seriously. Everyone can see what you are posting and what you post can be critical to you and how other perceive you. Then when you are on social media for a business, taking the right steps and planning for action is crucial, just like planning for success in a business requires planning and taking the right steps.

20A- Growing Your Social Capital

1)The first person in my new social capital experiment is a friend of mine named Steven Malanati from a club called GatorTech here at UF. Here is a very hands on technical person with a background in coding and tech. He has coded many websites and even an app for a small company here in Gainesville. This person is my domain expert in the field I want to go in. He is able to give me advice and technical help on building my app. I had his phone number and contacted him and I had actually talked to him before about my idea and said he was always up to help me with technical problems. Then I contacted him again this week and he told me the most relevant stuff that I would need to start an app as far as data and information. This is my way of getting technical help which would be one of the hardest parts of starting this business idea.

2)Another person who is now in my social capital experiment is a person named Landon Everitt. He works at Study edge and works closely with the owner on many aspects of how the business is run. He sees hundreds of students a day, all flocking to this business to get help on their classes. Which in part, is my goal for my app. So he sees this unmeet need of students wanting to get more help outside of the classroom. Landon is my expert on the market that I am trying to get in. I have known him for a long time and I just contacted him and we had a conversation about the market that comes to study edge and how he thinks I could capitalize on that market. He offered good tips about what he hears students complaining about or what other tutoring places lack which is very helpful in starting a business. Landon is a great tool to get me closer to my target market and gives me an inside to the people that I want to sell to before I sell to them.

3)My last person in my social capital experiment is my new friend Ryan from the UF Heavener IT help desk. He is another very technical, hands on person who helps deliver technical support to other start up apps just like mine. Even though these apps my not be directly in my market, he is offering the same "supply" or advise to make these apps better. He has hands on coding experience and is very knowledgeable when it comes to coding. I tried to think of someone who would give hands on technical help and someone referred me to him and he just so happens to work at the help desk. He is a very nice guy always willing to help. He said he would help me get started by supplying helpful advise when it comes to tech. He is just another great tool that I can use when it comes to developing and starting an application.

This one was different because you had to go out of your way to find the people you needed to network with. While other networking events I have been to, they were all people that I could talk to because they were there for that reason. Plus these you have to go out of your way and explain yourself and you ideas while with networking in the past, I just had to kind of sell myself. This gave me confidence to go into a room and just start talking to anybody about mostly anything.

19A- Idea Napkin 2

1) I am a third year student here at UF majoring in information systems and operations management. I love tech and the way it is revolutionizing our world, specifically in the business world. I also find it fascinating how much social media has shaped our world in such a short time frame. Everyone's phone is attached to their hip no matter where they go and I have always wanted to create an app that utilizes this market. I  just think it would be a cool idea to start and get some background in the technical aspect of the app for my potential career plans.

2) My product is a social media based app that connects students to their fellow classmates. This is an area where students can search for tutors, or post on a class way about homework assignments or problems they are having, or a way for students to form study groups while they are at the library.

3) I would be offering this to either students individually or potentially selling my products in schools that then would use them in their classrooms. This would be a great opportunity for teachers to use this product for their students to use and be able to connect with their classmates in an almost effortless way that so many people in our generation are used to. Most of my customers I feel would have this mindset that they want to get help, but they don't know how or are too afraid to ask for help either directly to the teacher or in person to other classmates. This app would take the stress out of this and potentially give kids a little more confidence to ask more questions or get help outside of the class room where they generally wouldn't before.

4) They should care because it would be an easy way for them to meet friends and at the same time have a chance to better in their classes. Most people tend to do better when learning material in two different ways. One would be the traditional route of the learning in the class room then while connecting outside of the class and learning and reinforcing what they learned in a different environment would be beneficial to them even more. 

5) I think I know my market very well and can pinpoint  the types of students or classrooms that I would want to pinpoint. This is a fun and unique way for people to get out their and potentially get better grades while at the same time potentially meeting new people and friends.

-I think most of the elements fit together however, the one that definitely lack the most is trying to get people to care about my product. Initially, I could see a huge challenge of trying to get people to try this idea, but once people would start to see results of higher grades in the classroom and then a potentially better social life outside as a side bonus, I think it would start to sell better. People are always hesitant to things they are unsure about, but after time has gone by and results start to show, I think the business would start to grow.
-Two main points I incorporated in this idea napkin from feedback was the idea of the new potential wider market of selling into classrooms. With teachers and universities having this product available in the classroom, it would make it more accessible for students and there for would potentially be used by more students. The idea was trying to focus more on why students would want to care. With this, if my idea started to show results, students would care because then it would mean their grades would improve in a new, fun way. 

17A- Elevator Pitch 2

https://youtu.be/cyuA7SK3s1o


In this pitch, I received feedback stating that I need to include facts or other selling points in my pitch to hook the listener a little bit more and I think I did that by stating the positives of studying in a group. I was also told that I should memorize more of the pitch which I did, instead of trying to go off the top of my head like I did last time which seemed okay at the time but looking back, it was not the best. So I tried to make these changes and hopefully came out with a better pitch.

18A-Customer Avatar

If I had to make my customer avatar, I would start simple and say that they are more of an introverted type person. They are using my app to branch out and hopefully meet other people to try and help with their school work. They are college level aged ranging from 18-22. I would say they drive a decently new car, but nothing fancy. I think they would prefer and stay inside on a Friday night and not go out or if they did, it would be something low key with a small group of friends. On the other hand, the other side of the market could be out going side and want to go out and do some fun stuff on a Friday night. I think they would enjoy funny comedies like The Office, or Parks and Rec. I think they want to feel older, but they don't know how yet. These would also be students that have semi decent grades to the point where they are okay, but they just want another way to get help to hopefully bump up their grade and get the grade they are hoping for. I say this because the really smart students don't need to go and get help and they student's who are doing poorly probably don't care and don't want to get help. I think I have more in common with the out going side of the market. I like going out and doing things on Friday nights and meeting new people. I am also on the side of the market with okay grades. If I got a little more help, they would be really good, but for now they are pretty good. I also drive a decently new car and then love the shows The Office and Parks and Rec. I think this is not a coincidence as many people try and look for problems in the world and try and capture problems that you your self are facing. Then when trying to branch out and think of a market, you kind of see your self in that market as I do with my study buddy app.

16A-What's your secret sauce

5 Ways that I think I am unique.

• I am very much a people person! I love meeting new people and connecting with new people on a regular basis and a lot of the time, I am not afraid to go out of my way and meet new people. 
• I think my drive in anything I do sets me apart. Once I get my mind set on something, I make sure it gets done in the best of my ability. Whether it be in my schooling or work, I always strive to be the best.
• I am also not afraid to take the lead on things and be the first person to try something. I think a lot of people look up to other people who aren't afraid to take the first leap, and in most things, if it means that other people will follow, I will take that first leap. 
• My organization skills are another thing that I think set me apart. I am always on top of my school work and things outside of school that need to get done, and I am very rarely ever late on anything. 
• My positive attitude in anything I do also sets me apart. I really try to go into any situation with an open mind and try to stay positive for the duration of the situation. Even when things get tough and I can't stay positive, I catch myself thinking positive in a short time frame and rebound quickly back to my positive mind set.

5 Interviews:
-Blake: He stated that I was a very compassionate person who cares for others and will go out of the way for other people. He likes my sense of humor on situations and thinks I'm a good leader.
-Kyle Horner: We were teammates in high school and he said he always liked my positive attitude in situations. "If we were down in a game, Austin would be there to bring us back in it with his attitude and not let us keep our heads down and keep us in the game."
-Kyle Hunziker: Kyle stated that he has known me since middle school and has seen my work ethic inside and outside of the classroom."Austin was always the 'nerd' who showed up to class early and was the last one to leave, but that work ethic is paying off and his success is showing because of it."
-Sean Ahmadzadeh: Sean stated that I always was one to make friends anywhere I went. "He is extremely outgoing and can really make friends anywhere he goes."
-Jackson Mckaig: "We were teammates in high school and Austin was always a leader on and off the field. He took initiative when other people wouldn't and other players always looked up to him cause he took charge."

Reflections:
I think me and my interviewers have the same points and thoughts of my "sauce". I think we both have the same mind set that I am a hard worker and my outgoing attitude and draw towards people set me apart from others.

15A-Figuring out buyer behavior 2

For this week's assignment, after conducting my three interviews with my friends Hunter, Jackson, and Cassidy, I believe I have been able to define a clearer picture of my buying decisions for my customers. With my app idea, customers would seek help or assistance with homework needs, it also provides away for students to connect with other students and try to form study groups based on the classes they are taking or help find students tutors who are looking to help other students. When it comes to alternative solutions, the answers were mostly the same across the board. With RJ, he get his study help from Study Edge, however he pays the monthly fee of 50 dollars a month. At that point, he is willing to pay a fee to get help that he is confident will work. Jackson also uses Study Edge and pays the 50 dollar fee. Cassidy on the other hand just relied on normal study methods and visiting teachers office hours. However, sometimes the professor can only help a certain bit and he said she thinks he would benefit from another person tutoring her and teaching her in a different style than the professor. The factor that stuck out the most was just the availability of resources that each person had. Study edge is an easy alternative that you pay a fee for and every professor holds office hours. When it comes to actual transactions, Cassidy prefers to buy things in person and then the other two prefer online shopping, while all three mainly use their cards for transactions. Jackson said he feels like he made the right purchase if he doesn't feel buyers remorse after a purchase like sometimes he will buy product and pay to much money for it and then not use it as much as he intended. Cassidy said she knows she made the right purchase or wants something when money isn't a deciding factor and at that point, she knows she will be making the right choice. RJ said he knows he made the right choice when he actually use the product more than anticipated. My market for this product would be defined as people who want something on the go with an easy and fast method of payment. Plus my alternative would be cheaper and just another way that students can get access to getting help in school.

14A-Halfway Reflection

To start off, I have really enjoyed taking this course so far. It has been an interesting class unlike many of the other business classes we are all almost required to take. As far as behaviors I have used in this class is to stay organized and stay on top of the work. The work in it self is not that difficult and the material isn't hard to pick up, but if you get behind, it can be rough to try and catch back up. I would also say that I look at the assignments at the beginning of the week to give them some thought of how I want to approach them. Then about mid-way through the week, I try and knock them out and then take time to reflect back on them and try and turn them in by Friday.

As far as experiences that I have felt like giving up on, would include my search for a summer internship this summer. It has been a struggle and I have put a lot of time and effort into my searching and nothing has panned out yet. But I know, it is just the hoops we all have to jump through and when I finally land that summer internship, I know it'll all be worth it. This has helped me in my classes to just keep going and keep pushing because in the end, I know it will all work out and be worth it in the end.

3 Tips:

• Stay on top of your work and always try to be a step ahead.
• If you are over stressed or times seem tough right now, just know it gets better and it is all worth it in the end.
• Stay focused and determined in anything you do.

13A-Reading Refection

To start off with, I knew a little about Elon Musk now a days but I did not know he did some much before his career with Tesla and SpaceX. I found it surprising that he started one software company, then went on and co-founded x.com which he would eventually become PayPal which was later acquired by eBay for a huge amount of 1.5 billion dollars. I admired his tenacity to never give up and his drive. As someone going into the tech field, I love technology and I admire some of the work that Elon is doing and attempting. He is never satisfied and always wants to be groundbreaking on something new. In the tech industry, tech is always changing and you should always being wanting to strive to learn all you can. From the authors perspective, he kind of makes Musk seem dark and cold sometimes and it seems like it would be stressful to work for him. As great of an innovator as he is and as smart as he is, you need to be able to be a CEO that people would wanna work and that would get a long with you. He defiantly saw failure, most the beginnings of his projects were failures and then after multiple tries, he would be successful. Then even in his personal life, you could consider his marriages were a failure as he had three different marriages. But with these failures, he never stopped and kept persevering and now he is one of the greatest CEO's in our world right now. As far as competencies go, like I said he just lacked that nurturing boss feel and seemed cold and dark sometimes to his workers, especially if there was a deadline approaching. I was confused personally on how solarcity part of the book where it talks about the startup he helped his cousin produce. If I could ask Musk 2 questions, one would be if you had any advice for a young adult going into a technical field, what would it be? And then was all the work you've done so far in your life worth the effect it has had on your private life? I think Musk would say hard work is anything that complexes your mind and makes you think outside of the box. He is always being an innovator and changing the way things are done, so I think anything that makes someone think hard and use their analytical skills is hard work. 

12A-Figuring out buyer behavior

When I did my three interviews, I decided to pick a segment that I highlighted earlier in an assignment and that is a segment in the UF student body that are not in fraternities or sororities. My solution is creating an app that would connect people around campus to help in their studies, form study groups or even search for tutors. I first interviewed Blake who is a student here at UF.  He said he has this need when he is at the library either either during the day or at night and does not have anybody to study with. Sometimes he feels like he needs help in a specific class, but he doesn't have anybody to help him right then. He sometimes get frustrated at problem and just needs a little help and that is where study buddy could come into play. I then interviewed Rachael, who said she has the need when she wants to form study groups with her classmates, but does not have a way to do unless she posts on Facebook or something and she said that never helps. She said she also is in the library when she has this problem and just wants and easy way to see if anybody else would want to help her study. Then I interviewed RJ, who had a combined problem of both Blake and Rachael, where he wanted to ask his classmates a question on an assignment but didn't have an efficient way to do so.  All three subjects had the same response when they thought about how they handled the problem now. They either just forget about it and work through it with out getting any help or they just post on Facebook or some sort of social media, if they even do that, and they said they normally don't get any responses. They also make friends in the classes they are in, but they never get in contact with their classmates outside of class, so they can't get help aside from the teacher. If I had to summarize what I found, it just seems like the segment I have found just want a quick and easy way to link or connect with classmates on a social media based platform outside of Facebook so they can get help with assignments and such.

10A-Elevator Pitch 1

Elevator Pitch 1