Philip's Entrepreneurship Blog

Tenaciousness is a competency:  I think the ability to keep going in the face of hardship is one of the most important skills to have, not just in entrepreneurship, but in life as well. So often do I think about the work I have to do for a class or an upcoming test and it makes me just want to shut down, but I know I'm working for something really valuable to me so I force myself to keep going even when I'd rather go to sleep or just relax. For this class specifically I make it my mission to get all of the preliminary work for an assignment squared away before Thursday comes, such as required interviews or basic notes on my product. I then have Thursday to write up a rough copy and revise, which I either do that same night or on the Friday morning before turn in. In this way, I am never pressed for time to finish an assignment, as its never in those final hours before the due date that I'm doing the work, only the finishing touches. Tenaciousness is also about att...

Reading Reflection: "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future" by Ashlee Vance 1) About the Entrepreneur What Surprised Me:  Despite being described as very timid in his demeanor, Musk often asks very direct questions that are inconsiderate of decorum. For example, Vance says that Musk once asked her if she thought he was insane based on their interaction, not in a joking manner but to see if that was the frame of mind she was considering him in or not. I guess with the very logical, problem-solving mind that Musk has, these sorts of probing questions are a reflection of his character and outlook on life, though some may see them as rude. What I Most Admired:  I really admired how incredibly visionary Musk is, with all of his ventures being in some way linked to his goal of interplanetary colonization. Vance says at his headquarters there are two pictures of Mars, which show before and after colonization pictures of the red planet, and th...

Segment:  I am going to focus on younger individuals who have just entered the work force, primarily out of college and only supporting themselves, as they will likely have a portion of their income that is disposable. This group, while maybe not the most money conscious segment I can look at, will likely be the most receptive to a web format for personal finance management, as well as have the disposable income to consider making a one-time purchase to better align their spending, saving, and investing. Interviewee #1: Graduate Student working as a TA (26F) My first interview was with a graduate student studying history, focusing on the contributions and depictions of women in European history. She says she becomes aware of her need to better manage her finances when she considers how much her stipend is and how much rent will cost month by month, realizing she really will have to stretch the limited remainder to cover the rest of her needs, like food, insurance, and other misc...

Me My name is John Philip West, and I am a freshman at the University of Florida transitioning from studying microbiology and cell science to finance. I have always loved learning about finance and wealth management, as I consider those skills the most influential in determining the path of your life. I've taken numerous financial literacy courses and have read a multitude of books on the subject, and recently I've opened a long-term investment portfolio funded by lifelong savings and scholarship excess. I've always had a desire to be a entrepreneur, mainly because the idea that my success is self-driven is very appealing to me. When I was younger, I started a small lawn care business and hired friends from my neighborhood to work for me. I was able to make a small profit donated it to a charity for underprivileged children in Kerala, India. I aspire to have a job where I use my talents to solve people's problems and improve their lives, likely in the field of finance ...

Interviews Interview #1: Adult Living in Miami (39F)      My first interview was with a lawyer working in Miami, FL, who says she thinks my product could be useful for a lot of people, but not her. She says she makes enough that money tightness is never something she really worries about, as she is not a big spender. Also, she makes enough in surplus to hire a financial firm to manage her money, so she doesn't have to think about where to invest personally and simply trusts that the firm will take care of her retirement fund and wealth building. Interview #2: Adult Living in Ocala (42M)      My second interviewee is also in my target age range, but says he likely won't use a product like mine because he thinks he already has a firm grasp on the subject matter. He runs his own small business and has to constantly deal with problems of resource allocation to specific ventures and cutting down costs to so his total revenue remains higher and profit is...

Financial Literacy Opportunity Opportunity: I believe an opportunity exists to create a web service that teaches young to middle-aged adults the fundamentals of budgeting, saving, and investment for future goals, but in a way that others haven't done before. I see a need by a lot of my friends and family members who are joining the workforce or are a few years into their career to learn these crucial skills, and most attempt to solve their problem with some self-help book offering broad definitions on how to reorganize their finances and build wealth. However, I think what a lot of people end up doing is reading a book like this, getting really motivated for a week or so, and then return to their old habits of unchecked spending. While books on finance have helped many people in the past, I believe this model should be updated to account for resources in the information age, where an online platform can offer a combination of reading material and short videos to discuss impo...

My Solution      My solution deals with the problems people face when purchasing a house, specifically the struggle to find the right deal and the best time to buy. I learned previously that mortgage interest rates can fluctuate on a weekly basis, which is incredible when you consider that these mortgages are a financial burden for decades for many buyers, where the difference of a fraction of a percent can mean thousands of dollars saved in the long run. Also, housing price fluctuation can result in buyers paying for overvalued property, only for it to drop in value soon after purchase following an inevitable price cycling, as was seen quite dramatically in 2008. Thus, my product would extract and analyze multiple figures of the buyer's housing market, the most important factors being average interest rate and average housing cost in the area where a user desires to buy. The web service would then compare these rates to historic values over different time scales (e....

Economic Trends 1. Theft of U.S. technology adds strain to domestic economy. Found at:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/06/china-technology-theft-fbi-biggest-threat I believe an opportunity exists in this situation based on the metric they give of about $300-600 billion dollars being lost annually to Chinese theft. The article suggests that Chinese interests exploit the open access college students have to university research by sending proxy students to the U.S. and report back with stolen information. Perhaps a more stringent authentication system for research access could be set up, or a system that tracks the movement of university research to expose information leaks. The prototypical customer in this case would be the federal government, who wishes to prevent this unlawful information theft and aid the national economy, or even U.S. colleges, as their research becomes profitable when patented. I think this opportunity would be difficult to exploit becau...