Tenacity and Paying it Forward

1.         To keep up with the requirements of this course I had to improve my time management skills because everything is due on Friday. I try to do a little bit of work throughout the week so everything does not pile up too quickly. I also have to think creatively instead of just logically which is a behavior I am not very used to.

2.         The only time I felt like “giving up” throughout this course was when I was making my elevator speech. I had already recorded it three times and I would still mess up and have to keep re recording it. But I knew I had to get it done and I love my business idea and really wanted to convey it to others so that kept me going. I do think I’ve developed a tenacious attitude because of this class, I always read people’s comments and if they are negative I try to take that criticism positively and better explain my idea in the next post. I think that is tenacious because I don’t stop and let the criticism take the best of me.

3.         Three tips I would give next semesters students to foster the skills that support tenacity and developing a tenacious mindset are

a.         Really get invested in your idea and make it something you are passionate about

b.        Learn to think more positively and make the most out of every situation

c.         Learn from others criticism and let it make you stronger

Reading Reflection #1

1) I read the book about Steve Jobs

·              What surprised you the most?

• That he was adopted
• That his childhood was described as abandoned, chosen, and special.
• That he dropped out of college after only a year because of things like class attendance

·              What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

• He did not want to read his biography before or check to see what people are saying, he just wanted everyone to be honest
• It shows he takes criticism 

·              What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

• His agreement with Picasso’s quote that “good artists copy, great artists steal” and saying that he has always been shameless about stealing great ideas

·              Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

• Apple demoted Jobs by the summer of 1980 and he was no longer in charge of large projects because of his quirky behavior.
• He eventually won a power struggle and assumed full control over the Macintosh project.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

• Creativity, he was an excellent innovator who combined creative free spirit with his technological intellect.  

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

• His concept of the “reality distortion field” Jobs said he could convince people that anything was possible by willfully distorting reality.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

• - What made you keep going after being demoted from Apple?
• - If you could do anything in your life over again what would you do?

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

• You don’t have to follow the traditional path of hard work, hard work is not going to college and getting straight A’s graduating with a degree and landing a job. It is more about following your passion and working hard and innovating in that field how you find it best. I agree with this opinion, you have to find ways to accomplish things without following a certain path.

Figuring out buyer behavior 1

Pick a segment- My segment for my carpool app is University students with no cars or other modes of transportation and no way to drive around town or home without paying or the bus.

Interviews-

- The first person I interviewed is a junior that lives in a sorority house on campus. She does not have a car but owns a scooter to get around nearby places. She said she finds it hard not to have a car on campus for personal health concerns. She said the closest dermatologist that is covered by her insurance is 10 miles away so she has no way of getting there. She also says going to physical therapy is problematic because it is 10 miles away. She said her scooter helps sometimes but it is not safe to drive it on busy streets like Newberry and Archer because of so much traffic. She says that going to community service projects is also a pain for her because they are 20 minutes away by car and they are not near campus, like the Alachua County boys and girls club. In solving her problem she tries to borrow her friends cars but she says it is difficult because they all have different schedules. She says she eventually ends up ubering but she hates that it adds up so quickly.

- The second person I interviewed is a sophomore who lives 20 minutes off campus and does not have a car or other form of transportation. She told me she usually takes the bus but that her main problem is not having transportation to run daily errands and go grocery shopping. She says this problem mostly arises on the weekends because many buses do not run on the weekends and she has to manage her errands and going to the mall/publix during the week so she can actually get there. She usually asks her friend to do her the favor because she has a car.

- The last person I interviewed is a senior who lives pretty close to campus. He says that not a car is stressful for him when it comes to running simple errands, but he said all his roomates have cars so he borrows them whenever he gets a chance. He does not want to buy a car because of the price and gas expenses. When he thought more about his problem he would search “rides” or “campus transportation” on google.

Drawing Conclusions

After my interviews I came to the conclusion that the people in my segment need a car/ a ride to appointments, to go to the mall, to go grocery shopping, to go to places far away from campus, or to go into areas where they cannot scoot to. There is definitely need awareness. The times the need is most unfulfilled is on the weekends when the bus does not run and in the afternoon when most people run errands. All the people I interviewed ask friends for rides or to borrow their cars or call an Uber to solve their problem but some expressed concerns with these solutions like busy schedules and price. The information search would go along the lines of campus transportation, free local rides, rent a car, etc.