Week 4: Customer Interviews No. 1

TALKING TO REAL PEOPLE

1) As a student here at UF, I often find it difficult for me to get around and go to the grocery store. Just this month I've only went out of my way twice to pick up the groceries I needed for the week. I know I am not the only one who has trouble making time to go to the grocery store. In addition to a lack of time, some students do not have adequate transportation here so they are limited to when they can go. So I thought of an opportunity. What if we could implement some sort of delivery option that is still somewhat affordable to delete the issue of not having time to pick up groceries. That way, everything you need can be delivered right to your door, saving you time.

2) Students around UF campus are the ones with this issue so the majority of my interviews took place there.

3) I asked: Do you live on or off campus? How often do you go to the grocery store? How often do you have an empty fridge? What are the main factors that prevent you from going to the grocery store (time, money, transportation)? Would you be interested in a delivery option if it were available to you?

4) Videos below

5) Initially I thought that the delivery option would be a great idea. And after interviewing 5 people I realized that although a majority of them would participate, people like going to the grocery store themselves because they have specific brands of foods they like and often times they don't know exactly what they need until they get there. However, no one shot down the idea and said that they would probably try it at least once.

6) I wasn't too nervous when I interviewed students. Since it was random and I stopped people walking there was not a formal setting so I didn't feel pressured at all. I feel a lot better about approaching people now and asking them questions after the assignment because I realized how kind and cooperative people would be.

Week 4: Reading Reflection

Reading Reflection

What stood out to me the most as a surprise was the fact that there are four different types of innovation. When we think of innovation we think of it in a general sense rather than a category that subdivides into four different sections. Reading that was interesting and now I am thinking about innovation in different ways. 

One part of the reading that I wish the author explained in a more clear manner was the section about the fact that "innovation is planned and predictable" is a misconception. How is it a misconception when the author previously stated that innovators are practical people and the process involves research which emulates planning?

Another question I would like to ask is that is it truly "necessary" for creativity to occur only when chaos is present? A quote in the book talked about how "for creativity to occur, chaos is necessary". Although this is quite a beautiful concept, and true for some success in this world, I don't believe that it is really an important asset for creativity and innovation, let alone a requirement. 

Week 4: Top 5 World Problems

Rank-Ordering the World's Biggest Problems (5):

Biggest problem to least biggest problem:

1) War on Terrorism

Exist's because: Main reason is ignorance and groups that have an extremist mindset.

2) Discrimination

Exist's because: Past prejudices / racism / sexist / age.

3) Cops that are not as fair and injustice / Police brutality

Exist's because: We are obviously not choosing the people who are supposed to represent justice properly.

4) College is too expensive in the US

Exist's because: Everything costs money when it comes to education, other countries practically have universities for free (esp. in Europe).

5) Animal cruelty / Meat in America is not processed in natural/humane ways - cruel 

Exist's because: Because people are not at the point of evolution where they will understand that animals and humans are present in this world together and not here for our disposal or entertainment (ex: bull fighting, dog fighting).

We eat way too much meat so animals have to be injected with hormones and steroids and other unnatural chemicals to speed up production.

Most possible solution to implement to least possible:

1) College is too expensive in the US

Solution: Put more of our nation's federal funding toward's university education and research.

2) Animal cruelty / Meat in America is not processed in natural/humane ways - cruel 

Solution: Make no exception laws preventing animal cruelty rather that just a fine or minor punishment. Place and emphasis on the importance of animal cruelty and weigh the consequences more heavily. Put a quota on how many preservatives may be used as well as end mass production of animal's that are being used just at our disposal in unnecessarily large quantities. 

3) Cops that are not as fair and injustice / Police brutality

Solution: Cop's should go through more personality tests and have a three strike rule stating that with any act of injustice will force you to resign. Especially when they cannot explain themselves or have valid reasoning for shooting a child or arresting a person, especially when it's a matter of race.

4) War on Terrorism

Solution: Education. Educating the world more as much as possible, especially in second and third world country. Education and good behavior is positively correlated.

5) Discrimination

Solution: Equalize everything. Nothing or nobody should be looked at less due to a part of them that is not tangible.

Reflecting on my list of the World's 5 biggest problem's in my eyes, I notice that a lot of it comes from change with you and I. The People. Obviously, topics like terrorism and discrimination will be harder to implement change as it is not in someone's control. It will take time and changing of mindsets and perspectives to end discrimination. However, things like animal cruelty and cheaper education can be more easily attainable. 

Week 3: Identifying Local Opportunities

Identifying Local Opportunities

Below is a list of 5 news article's that identify an opportunity to solve a problem. These are smaller, day-to-day "unmet needs" that can potentially serve as a business opportunity. I used the local newspaper the Tampa Bay Times.

1. Florida Legislature exploring change to school districts by city

• Article link: http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/florida-legislature-exploring-change-to-school-districts-by-city/2262477
• Article summary: Rep. Matt Caldwell and Sen. Jeff Brandes are proposing a constitutional amendment that would allow citywide school districts, instead of the countywide oversight the Florida Constitution requires.The formation or destruction of districts and cities should extend to school boards as well because this would increase local control over neighborhood schools.
• Story problem: In larger school districts, which Florida is primarily known for, parents do not feel that they are able to have that much of an impact for they kids and their education. The districts are too large.
• Who has the problem: Students within these large districts as well as their parents and the school boards that make the executive decisions in a general sense.

2. Cheap oil, good for consumers, is slamming stocks. Why?

• Article link: http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/personalfinance/cheap-oil-good-for-consumers-is-slamming-stocks-why/2262516
• Article summary: Stocks are having their worst start to a year in history because of a rapid plunge in the price of oil. Price decreased by 28% which has decreased the energy company shares by 13% as well. Oil is so low because there is so much of it.
• Story problem: Gas prices are too low, which clearly is not a problem for consumers, but serves as an issue for the stock market. Since oil companies profits are decreasing, the company shares are decreasing, thus worsening the entire market.
• Who has the problem: Stockholders and energy companies and gas stations are experiencing the problem. Oil companies are experiencing the problem the worst.

3. Police charge 17-year old in Canada after 4 shot dead

• Article link: http://www.tampabay.com/news/world/police-charge-17-year-old-in-canada-after-4-shot-dead/2262562
• Article summary: Police charged a 17-year-old boy with four counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder in a mass shooting at a school and home in a remote community in Canada.
• Story Problem: Gun rights, not enough metal detectors or police at school entrances, and the kid that decides to murder people. 
• Who has the problem: students and faculty at this school are experiencing the problem first hand 

4. Lightning thumped by Panthers

• Article link: http://www.tampabay.com/sports/hockey/lightning/lightning-thumped-by-panthers/2262577
• Article summary: Lighning's 7 game win streak ends after loss to the Panthers on Saturday. Final score was 5-2. The loss was unexpected.
• Story problem: Hockey team not playing as well as they should, many fans were upset at this loss. Coaching can improve.
• Who has the problem: NHL team the Lightning as well as their fans and coaches.

5. Resident of a Gainesville group home charged with battery

• Articlelink: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FL_ELDERLY_MAN_ASSAULTED_FLOL-?SITE=FLPET&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
• Article summary: A woman of Gainesville has been charges with aggravated battery after authorities say she attacked another resident and bit off parts of two of his fingers. The woman punched the 89 year old man several times. She is charged with aggravated battery on a person 65 years plus.
• Story problem: "Florida man" strikes again. 
• Who has the problem: The man who experienced this battery is the one with the medical issues, although the woman who committed the crime is the one with the legal problem.

Week 3: Reading Reflection

Reading Reflection

Upon reading the second chapter of the book, I noticed a statistic stating that one third of entrepreneurs are under 30 years old and that studying entrepreneurship in school is quite common between the ages of 18 and 30. Not only is this fact very interesting, it is quite surprising. It makes sense that the younger generation tends to have a more rebellious attitude and drive towards changing norms within the business field. I wish the author made it more clear when the discussion of the extended consequence of an ethical decision arose. The example provided was difficult to grasp because it was unclear weather or nor the author was saying that using inexpensive products for operations was ethical. Two questions I have for the author is one, "at what point will an entrepreneur recover from countless failures (grief recovery)?" as well as a further explanation on the topic of the social cognition theory. In a general sense, I do not disagree with anything the author says in chapter two, although the matter was different regarding chapter one. It was a very factual and statistical chapter that I cannot see myself disagreeing with. As the book progresses and the author;s opinions become more stagnant, I am sure I will not see eye to eye on all the topics discussed.

Week 3: Very Short Interview No. 1

Very Short Interview With Entrepreneur

The entrepreneur I had the privilege of interviewing was Nabil Shaker, owner of a restaurant and successful real estate company. He is originally from Cario, Egypt but currently lives in Tampa. My family and I visit his restaurant back at home all the time, the food and service is great. At only the age of 17 he left home and went out into the world with the search for new opportunity. Initially, he moved to Switzerland where he worked for a year as a bus boy at a restaurant - obviously this wasn't his aspiration, he knew he had more potential. Then him and his brother, only 19 at the time, moved to New Jersey and then Florida where they decided to buy their first property with the little to no money they had. They turned that first property into a local restaurant which is still profiting today - 21 years later. Now, Shaker owns several properties and his own real estate company, St. Mina Realty, as well as the restaurant that started it all. Shaker did not even complete his college degree and has worked many jobs and has done business in almost all forms. He is the wisest man I know when it comes to making executive or irrational decisions - all that make up an entrepreneur. What he knows you cannot learn from a textbook or a class, it is pure experience. 

Here's a deeper look into a part of the interview:

Jessica: "I just have a few questions for you, answer however you like. Here's the first question Mr. Shaker. What does it mean to be an entrepreneur to you? Was it different than what you expected?"

Shaker: "To me it means No limit and every day is an adventure of its own.. Like having a new puzzle every day Also it means being a leader is a positive way.  No one will follow you if you can't lead. I started so young that if I thought of what it would be like, this would have to be better than what I would have ever thought . What is different is Challenges are getting complicated and there are no more easy answers to them and most choices are not perfect."

Jessica: "Thank you. And is there anything that you wish you had been taught in school before setting out on your own path as an entrepreneur?"

Shaker: "To pick one write answer since all answers are correct and Patience. As a young entrepreneur I did not have the best patience. I knew what I wanted and would exhaust myself figuring out how to do it right and fast."

Jessica: "Ok, one last question. What has been your hardest challenge as an entrepreneur? Working all the time? Not having initial support? Moving your business towards a direction you did not know of? Do you regret anything?"

Shaker: "The Hardest challenge has been maintaining a balance between Blooming and growing successful business with it’s growth challenges and Fun Family life and it’s hard to resist activities."

Nabil Shaker is simply inspiring to me. I am 19 years old and I don't even know what I want to do with my life really and at only 17 he left home for good to set a new life of his own. And today he is very successful. If that is not risk than I do not know what is. A true entrepreneur. 

Week 3: World's Biggest Problems

Solving the World's Biggest Problems (10)

1) Road kill

Exist's because: Animal's cross the road while vehicles going 60mph are driving / lack of fences or barriers between road and forests.

Solution: Implement more animal crossing signs where there seems to be an area densely populated with animals. Add underground or bridge crossing areas across highways for animals. Put up fences or barriers between traffic and forests. 

2) Not being able to drink until I'm 21 in the US

Exist's because: US Law permits drinking for 21+ yet we can serve for our country and drive a vehicle years before that.

Solution: Lower the drinking age to the ideal age of 18.

3) It's unsafe to walk alone at night around UF and Gainesville / Too many armed robberies

Exist's because: Not enough police guards or street lights and too much crime.

Solution: Increase campus safety and police patrol, allow SNAP to run later than 2a.m., give out more maze or whistles to students. Have more surveillance camera's around, increase 

4) When people or organizations do not recycle

Exist's because: People tend to just throw away everything in the trash can / some trash companies / buildings don't recycle.

Solution: Make recycling free, not just on campus, but all around the city and at stores. Or fine people who do not recycle with a small fee to increase the drive to recycle.

5) When you ask for no pickles and they give you a burger with just pickles

Exist's because: In some cases a restaurant can be busy enough to make mistakes or misinterpret how a customer wants their order done

Solution: Eliminate the idea of an intercom utilized for placing orders - human's account for mistakes. Perhaps make ordering a touch screen / computerized. 

6) Not having phone service when I go camping or to festivals for a weekend

Exist's because: Too many people trying to use service / being in the woods or up mountains where signal does not reach.

Solution: Increase cellular bandwidth. Maybe making portable cell phone towers so that at large events such as festivals, those people will be covered.

7) College is too expensive in the US

Exist's because: Everything costs money when it comes to education, other countries practically have universities for free (esp. in Europe).

Solution: Put more of our nation's federal funding toward's university education and research.

8) Classes that are harder because you have a certain professor or are taking it at a different school

Exist's because: It simply depends on who you get that semester or if you are taking that class at UF versus Santa Fe and at the end of the day it only shows your grade on your GPA not how hard you had to work.

Solution: Make unified final exam's and midterm's to actually make the course the same level for everyone regardless of your teacher or university (kind of like the SAT/ACT).

9) Animal cruelty / Meat in America is not processed in natural/human ways - cruel and too many preservatives

Exist's because: Because people are not at the point of evolution where they will understand that animals and humans are present in this world together and not here for our disposal or entertainment (ex: bull fighting, dog fighting).

We eat way too much meat so animals have to be injected with hormones and steroids and other unnatural chemicals to speed up production.

Solution: Make no exception laws preventing animal cruelty rather that just a fine or minor punishment. Place and emphasis on the importance of animal cruelty and weigh the consequences more heavily.

Put a quota on how many preservatives may be used as well as end mass production of animal's that are being used just at our disposal in unnecessarily large quantities. 

10) Cops that are not as fair and injustice / Police brutality

Exist's because: We are obviously not choosing the people who are supposed to represent justice properly.

Solution: Cop's should go through more personality tests and have a three strike rule stating that with any act of injustice will force you to resign. Especially when they cannot explain themselves or have valid reasoning for shooting a child or arresting a person, especially when it's a matter of race.

Week 2: Reading Reflection

In this reading, I found it quite surprising how you should actually embrace grief upon failure. It is healthy to just let it out sometimes rather then getting up and brushing the failure off your shoulder like it's nothing. We learn from our mistakes and we need to embrace that. Part of the entrepreneurship mantra states failure is part of it and entrepreneurship has been the agent of change throughout history and it is important to keep that in mind.

One part of the reading that was confusing to me was when Kurakto was discussing the Entrepreneurial Revolution. He compares it to the Industrial Revolution and states that it has been happening the whole time, yet it is a revolution? It is contradicting. 

If I could ask Kurakto two questions I would ask "how to avoid the "inflated entrepreneurial ego" and if he considers himself to be a micro entrepreneur or macro entrepreneur".

There are parts where I disagreed with the author and could not see eye to eye on him such as when he said that entrepreneurs don't usually fail. He did a study that stated that most of the businesses actually are still striving yet what makes a successful business is trial and error and failure.

Week 2: Bug List

Things that bother me, a lot:

1) Road kill

Exist's because: Animal's cross the road while vehicles going 60mph are driving / lack of fences or barriers between road and forests.

2) Discrimination

Exist's because: Past prejudices / racism / sexist / age.

3) Inefficiency in bureaucracies  

Exist's because: With bigger organizations or entity's, such as the government, it takes longer to get work done because delegation etc. (especially the DMV).

4) When people say they "hate the government" but they don't even know anything about it really

Exist's because: Ignorance / people believe everything they hear on the news.

5) Lines at Disney World and other theme parks

Exist's because: Too many people and not enough rides.

6) When people or organizations do not recycle

Exist's because: People tend to just throw away everything in the trash can / some trash companies / buildings don't recycle.

7) Big trucks that give out a lot of smoke and pollution

Exist's because: Poorly made vehicle's that are inefficient and environmentally harmful.

8) Classes that are harder because you have a certain professor or are taking it at a different school

Exist's because: It simply depends on who you get that semester or if you are taking that class at UF versus Santa Fe and at the end of the day it only shows your grade on your GPA not how hard you had to work.

9) Not being able to drink until I'm 21 in the US

Exist's because: US Law permits drinking for 21+ yet we can serve for our country and drive a vehicle years before that.

10) College is too expensive in the US

Exist's because: Everything costs money when it comes to education, other countries practically have universities for free (esp socialist countries).

11) It's unsafe to walk alone at night

Exist's because: Not enough police guards or street lights and too much crime.

12) Too many armed robberies in Gainesville (and we have 3 police departments)

Exist's because: There are 3 different government forces in Gainesville including the Sherif department and UFPD and we are still seeing several armed robberies and assaults.

13) Meat in America is not processed in natural/human ways - cruel and too many preservatives

Exist's because: We eat way too much meat so animals have to be injected with hormones and steroids and other unnatural chemicals to speed up production.

14) Animal bestiality / zoophilia - a paraphilia involving sexual fixation on animals 

Exist's because: There are sick people in this world and animal abuse is still very apparent in this world.

15) Cops that are not as fair and injustice / Police brutality

Exist's because: We are obviously not choosing the people who are supposed to represent justice properly.

16) Animal cruelty

Exist's because: Because people are not at the point of evolution where they will understand that animals and humans are present in this world together and not here for our disposal or entertainment (ex: bull fighting, dog fighting).

17) Not having phone service when I go camping or to festivals for a weekend

Exist's because: Too many people trying to use service / being in the woods or up mountains where signal does not reach.

18) Not having enough whites to make a load of laundry with bleach

Exist's because: Washer is too large for a small load of laundry.

19) Anticipated un-dropped albums / movies (Frank Ocean / Incredible's 2)

Exist's because: The longer the wait, the more sales once it drops.

20) When you ask for no pickles and they give you a burger with just pickles

Exist's because: In some cases a restaurant can be busy enough to make mistakes or misinterpret how a customer wants their order done

Looking over my list, I notice that a lot of my problems are actually rooted in people rather than the product. Obviously, changing people is not as simple as changing an item but it is an interesting note to make. Primarily, making the list was difficult, but once I got in that flow mode it was very easy to come up with things that bother me.

Week 2: My Entrepreneurship Story

During the fall of 2014 I was lucky enough to go on the study abroad trip to Ireland for six weeks. During this time we had the opportunity to visit a number of businesses and companies in Ireland, like Google, IBM, and smaller entrepreneurs. There is a huge population of entrepreneurs in Dublin. During our visit, we students were required to form small groups where we thought of a new, innovative app idea and had to write up a business plan and think about the economical aspects and so on. I have never written a business plan, or even went as far as building an application before that time so it is an experience that I hold so heavily. Actually getting to do something rather than just saying you are going to do something truly puts what you can really accomplish with effort in perspective. 

Aside from being in the Innovation Academy here at UF and surrounding myself with peers and professors who are urging me to think more openly and with an entrepreneurial mindset, I have still always been around entrepreneurs. My father and his brother left home in Egypt at ages 17 and 19 to come to the United States where they had nothing. They built up their own bar and restaurant and now successfully own their own real estate property as well as law office. That's younger than I am now and it seemed that they had everything figured out, even though that was not the case at all. I hope to even become just half the entrepreneur my father was and is today because he illustrates what starting from the bottom can really amount to if you put in an honest effort and work hard with every rising sun. I hope to learn skills that will better be as a business person and just person in general. The future is innovation so it's important to learn to think with that mindset.