Philip's Entrepreneurship Blog

Reflection      I believe the most formative experience I have had this semester has to do with the initial development of my elevator pitch and subsequent reiterations of that concept. When I first was developing my pitch, I was very nervous to record myself and post it for other students to see, so I went the easy route of writing a script to read run through a few times and read off of for my pitch. Obviously, the record was extremely wooden and I felt tense the entire time making it. While students seemed to like how I included a lot of necessary information in my pitch, I knew I could make it more professional with a bit more preparation, so for my second pitch I decided to develop a bulleted list of what I wanted to cover and then make up what I wanted to say for each rendition. At first I was very discouraged by this method, because I ended up having a lot of takes where I couldn't get all the way to end or didn't speak as clearly as I desired. In the end though,...

Opportunity: Who has the need? The need I have identified is for individuals in the early and middle stages of their career and earning ability, who have enough disposable income that they would like to structure their finances in a way to achieve lasting wealth for their retirement and future generations. Other than being in the middle stages of their earning potential, my consumer base can be people of any career path: lawyers, architects, engineers, professors, etc. This job would have to have relatively steady earning potential though, so that the long term financial plan that is orchestrated is actually actually achievable with regular payments to investment accounts and existing debts. What is the nature of the need? The need I am pursuing is born out of people's innate desire to plan for the future and gain peace concerning their finances, as well as the sense that their spending habits do not currently reflect a sustainable model to achieve their goals. Considering the c...

Reading Reflection: "The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users" by Guy Kawasaki General Theme: This book generally deals with the concept of social media and its connection t your professional life. Kawasaki highlights the fact that social media becomes a second resume for potential employers, as the information we put out on these sites is easily accessible to those reviewing us for positions. Thus, establishing a professional appearance on social media sites becomes important to workers wanting to promote their own abilities, as well as to increase the appeal of a certain brand that one promotes or owns. Doing things like putting your full name in your profile, using professional pictures that show your whole face and smile, and only posting information that is relevant to your desired followers become essential first steps to establishing a credible online presence. Connection to ENT3003:  We learn in this class that search engine optimization when...

My Exit Strategy 1. I think for this business venture, I will probably end up selling my business after a few years of profitable gains. I think my venture in particular takes advantage of adding new technology to existing knowledge about personal wealth management, and since technology is constantly improving, my product will eventually be outpaced by new products that are more innovative than mine. Therefore, I think it would be prudent to create my product and see if people would be willing to purchase it, and after a few years of growth sell the business and revenue stream to a bigger company with resources to spend on technology innovations, while retaining some form of royalty check in the process. 2. I have selected this exit strategy bases on what I think is a realistic model for how technology influences the creating of new products. I believe that now the value I can add by restructuring existing finance knowledge in an web format is highly useful, but who can say if a pr...

My Failure this Semester: 1. One area where I failed repeatedly this semester was in my extreme weather class, where we had to write explanation posts concerning a topic that was discussed in the weekly lectures. The way that the professor described the assignments made me think that these would be easy points to achieve if I just covered the concept in basic terms, but after receiving my first lackluster grade, I realized I needed to step up my game with these posts. For my second explanation post, I made sure that I understood the topic to the best of my ability, rereading lecture slides and looking up information about the topic from outside sources like Khan Academy and Minute Earth. I tried my hardest to craft a valid response to the prompt, but even after all of my hard work I still received a similar grade to my first post. I definitely felt disheartened by this grade, and I thought that it simply was impossible to receive the grade I desired from for these assignments, and th...

Existing Market 1. I think what's next for my venture is more in-depth market research on existing financial planning products to understand what sells well in the industry and what doesn't, but also how to give a more  valuable product than the existing ones that actually improves consumers' financial positions. 2. I think existing customers in this market would say that the most important thing about creating a product to teach financial planning would be to ensure the information is delivered in a digestible format that is easy to understand. I think concerning my idea that customers would want a web-based version of current planning resources that traditionally exist in a written form would be met with positive feedback, as this would allow consumers to develop an understanding of the subject while enjoying a delivery format that many are used to through systems like YouTube and other media sites. 3. Given the proposed feedback, I think that the next steps for my bu...

Opportunity: Who has the need? The need I have identified is for individuals in the early and middle stages of their career and earning ability, who have enough disposable income that they would like to structure their finances in a way to achieve lasting wealth for their retirement and future generations. Other than being in the middle stages of their earning potential, my consumer base can be people of any career path: lawyers, architects, engineers, professors, etc. What is the nature of the need? The need I am pursuing is born out of people's innate desire to plan for the future and gain peace concerning their finances, as well as the sense that their spending habits do not currently reflect a sustainable model to achieve their goals. What are changing forces creating this opportunity? This opportunity has existed for a while and has received input from numerous financial experts, but I believe there is a specific opportunity for fully innovating the existing knowledge base...

Resources: 1. I have an understanding of basic financial planning through personal investigation of the subject.      V: Yes this skill is valuable, this skill is essential to developing my main product.      R: No this skill is not rare, this skill can be achieved by anyone with time to consume appropriate teaching materials.      I: No this skill is not inimitable, anyone with time to pursue the skill can do so.      N: Yes this skill is non-substitutable, this specific skill set is essential and cannot be replaced with another similar skill set. 2. I have connections with a wealth management firm and its founder.       V: Yes, I can use this connection to model my product after existing financial planning systems.      R: Yes, few people have the direct connection I have to an industry expert.      I: No, if someone out in the work to find quality connections they ...

Link to Pitch:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D171VbCaBq8&t=17s Reflection:  My pitch remained somewhat similar to the format of my last pitch, but I changed a few things as well as the overall pacing in response to the feedback I got on pitch number 2. One person suggested I include a statistic in my introduction to further cement the idea that the issue I discuss affects most Americans, which I agree made the pitch more enticing. I also refrained from giving my name in the initial grabber based on another person's input, which I think also aided the overall flow of the pitch. Lastly, I tried slowing down my pitch to add more emphasis on what I was conveying rather than move quickly to get all the information in, which I hope means people can understand what my idea is better rather than be bombarded with less useful information. Thank you all for the feedback!

Reading Reflection: "Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age" by Clay Shirky General Theme:  Clay Shirky suggests in "Cognitive Surplus" that the innovations of the modern industrial age, specifically higher wages from increased global production and educational resources, has given most people the ability to maintain a level of free time in their lives that was not possible previously. Shirky asserts that while this time can be used for less productive efforts, like the consumption of gin or other entertainment outlets, the knowledge that an educated population attains while preparing for a shifting labor market can be used in one's free time for creative means that benefit the creator or society in general. Shirky asserts that the tools information age give the best platform to accomplish this, since now more than ever people are able to connect with one another, learning the skills that others have and the needs of the general...