Week 4 Reading Reflection

Week 4 Reading Reflection – CH5

1.     What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations?

One part that surprised me was the section about how “Terrorism Ignites Innovation”.  I hadn’t really thought about how terrorism and the fear of terrorism could stir innovation.

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

There wasn’t a part of the reading that was confusing to me.

3.     If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask and why?

Do all ideas have to be problem oriented? For example, snapchat is wildly successful but what problem did it solve?

What are some other ways to come up with innovative ideas?

4.     Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what he said?

It seemed to me that the idea generation process he outlined was mostly problem focused.  Problem focused ideas are good but he didn’t really touch on coming up  with ideas that don’t solve particular problems but consumers still want (for example Snapchat).

"Top 5 World Problems"

Biggest Problems Ranked:

1.     World Hunger/ Poverty

2.     Global Terrorism

3.     Climate Change

4.     Racism

5.     Global Economic Crises

“Easiest” or “Most implementable” Solutions:

1.     The United States should probably focus on helping provide the infrastructure to grow food rather than only delivering food. I’m not quite sure what we currently do.

2.     It would take global cooperation to reduce emissions and reduce the effect of climate change.  I also think that there needs to be more research into climate change; we need to learn more about it, its causes (both natural and human), and how to stop it.

3.     There is obviously not an easy solution to this problem.  ISIS appears to be driven to violence based on extreme religious views that stem from the Sunni belief.  They won’t be easily persuaded to stop, and peace in the Middle East has long been hard to achieve.  The elimination of ISIS would hardly fix the problems in the Middle East and would just create a power vacuum.  Global cooperation is required to stop the rise of ISIS and Global Terrorism.

4.     As for how to fix it, I have no idea.  But this is definitely a huge problem and needs to be fixed.

5.     I’m not an economist and have only taken a couple economic classes so I am hardly qualified to assess the global economic situation and provide a suitable solution.  The world economy is so interconnected that a crash in one market will cause a domino effect that affects the entire global economy.

I selected World Hunger/ Poverty as the top problem.  It was difficult to rank these problems because they are all so large scale.  I justify World Hunger / Poverty as the biggest problem because it’s astonishing to me the difference in quality of life across the world.  The difference between the quality of life in a developed country vs a less developed country is huge.  Even the poorest in the United States live a much better life than others in less developed countries.  I think this is one of the biggest problems in the world.  I also think that the most implementable solution relates to world hunger.  I ranked it as the easiest and most implementable because it is a much less complex issue than the others.  All the United States would have to do would be to fund the infrastructure of less developed countries.  Of course this is extremely unlikely and probably not in our best interest. We already give a lot in foreign aid and it is probably not likely that we would give more, unless it was part of a larger global initiative.

Identifying Local Opportunities

5 local opportunities/problems

-- I selected this from a newspaper called the Pantagraph.  It is located in my home town of Bloomington, Illinois.

1. Title: CarMax to open Bloomington store in February

Link: http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sort=DA-SORT&docType=Brief+article&tabID=T004&prodId=ITOF&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&contentSegment=&currentPosition=1&searchResultsType=SingleTab&inPS=true&userGroupName=gain40375&docId=GALE%7CA439877377&contentSet=GALE%7CA439877377&authCount=1&u=gain40375

Description:  A used car dealer is opening a store in Bloomington, Illinois in February.  The dealership is expected to increase competition in the area in bring in more jobs.

Description of the Problem:  This will sharply increase competition in town for used cars.

Who has the problem? The other dealerships in town have the problem.  They will have to compete with yet another business.

2. Title: Lincoln Leisure Center closed indefinitely after asbestos found.

Link: http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sort=DA-SORT&docType=Brief+article&tabID=T004&prodId=ITOF&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&contentSegment=&currentPosition=3&searchResultsType=SingleTab&inPS=true&userGroupName=gain40375&docId=GALE%7CA439877420&contentSet=GALE%7CA439877420

Description: The Lincoln Leisure Center has confirmed that asbestos is present in one of their rooms.  As a result it is closed indefinitely.  The center first opened in 1895 as a school.

Description of Problem: There is asbestos in this building. Asbestos is harmful to humans.

Who has the problem? The Lincoln Leisure Center, employees, and anyone who enjoys the Lincoln Leisure Center all have the problem. It is closed indefinitely so anyone who enjoys the center can no longer go.

3. Title: Fernando’s Pizza to open in Eastland Mall

Link: http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sort=DA-SORT&docType=Brief+article&tabID=T004&prodId=ITOF&searchId=R2&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&contentSegment=&currentPosition=2&searchResultsType=SingleTab&inPS=true&userGroupName=gain40375&docId=GALE%7CA439584120&contentSet=GALE%7CA439584120

Description: A new pizza restaurant is opening in the food court at the local mall in Bloomington, Illinois.

Description of Problem:  There will then be two different pizza restaurants in the food court at the local mall.  This will cause steep competition for the two restaurants. 

Who has the problem? Both pizza restaurants have a problem as they will be directly competing for consumers.   

4. Title:  IWU bans hoverboards from campus; ISU does not

Link: http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sort=DA-SORT&docType=Article&tabID=T004&prodId=ITOF&searchId=R5&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&contentSegment=&currentPosition=3&searchResultsType=SingleTab&inPS=true&userGroupName=gain40375&docId=GALE%7CA439305256&contentSet=GALE%7CA439305256

Description:  One of the colleges in town has banned the use of “hoverboards” on campus while the other college in town has not.  The primary reason for this ban is safety concerns.

Description of Problem:  Students cannot use their hoverboards because they aren’t considered safe enough.

Who has the problem? The students have the problem.  If they have hoverboards they’ll have to leave them at home to gather dust.  They will be forced to preform the less fashionable and clearly less fun mode of transportation – walking.

5. Title: Outage suspends Pontiac tourney with BHS in progress

Link: http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sort=DA-SORT&docType=Brief+article&tabID=T004&prodId=ITOF&searchId=R8&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&contentSegment=&currentPosition=3&searchResultsType=SingleTab&inPS=true&userGroupName=gain40375&docId=GALE%7CA438606338&contentSet=GALE%7CA438606338

Description:  The two teams were in the middle of a basketball game when the power went out.  They scheduled the game to continue on another day.

Description of Problem: The power went out during a basketball game.  No indication on what could’ve caused the outage.

Who has the problem? The teams who were playing and the fans that were watching have the problem because they had to stop the game.  Also apparently the power company has a problem because something caused the outage.

Week 3 Reading Reflection: CH2

Week 3 Reading Reflection: CH2

1.     What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words the most different from your expectations?

One thing that was kind of surprising and kind of interesting to me was that on page 34, was the list of common characteristics that are often attributed to Entrepreneurs.  One thing that stood out to me was that the majority of traits on the list can change and can be achieved by yourself.  Being optimistic have energy and being confident are all things that you can change.

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

There weren’t any confusing parts in the reading.

3.     If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask and why?

I would ask the author to explain what we can do to prevent some of the dark sides of entrepreneurship?  He briefly touched upon how to deal with stress, but didn’t really mention the other dark sides of entrepreneurship.

I would also ask how entrepreneurs could gain the listed characteristics listed on page 34 if they don’t have them already?

4.     Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what he or she said and why?

There didn’t seem to be anything that I thought the author was wrong about.  I enjoyed the reading and would be more interested in learning more specific things that I could apply to my startup.  It could be because I’ve been exposed to this stuff before, but a lot of it just seemed like common sense to 

Very Short Interview No. 1

The entrepreneur I interviewed was Collin Austin.  He is the COE “Chief of Everything” at New Scooters 4 Less (NS4L).  He started his business in 2004 and it is now one of the largest scooter dealerships in the southeastern United States.  I met Collin at an event downtown called “Startup Hour”.  Startup Hour is an event where local entrepreneurs and people are thinking about starting their own business meet and network.   Here is the transcript of my interview with Austin:

What traits do successful entrepreneurs need to posses?

“When it comes to entrepreneurship it’s all about taking a risk. It’s the ability to step into the unknown.  The most successful entrepreneurs have grit, that drive, to not let anything keep them from achieving their dream.”

What made you want to become an entrepreneur?

“I was that kid who couldn’t get on the bus to get to school. I would sit and wait at the stop and the bus would drive by me with the words ‘Full Bus’ at the top.  This was me realizing an opportunity and deciding to solve a problem.  I realized the opportunity and I decided to go after it."

What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?

“Similar to the first question, you have to go out and accomplish this mission, this vision.”

What do you wish you‘d taught in school before going out on your own path as an entrepreneur?

“One thing I think they should teach you in entrepreneurship is how to get over the fear of failure and rejection.  So many people don’t start business because they are afraid that they are going to fail.  If you can get over that fear of failure then you are well on your way to becoming an entrepreneur.  I also think the University needs to teach you how to start a business physically, like where to acquire licenses and the tools like QuickBooks that can help you run your business.  I think entrepreneurship classes need to teach how you actually physically start a business."

Advice for new entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs?

“  Biggest advice is to execute. Too many people have ideas, ideas are great.  You and I could sit here and come up with a list of ideas and that’s all they’re going to be unless someone actually decides to execute. When it comes to leadership and entrepreneurship it’s all about serving others.  The whole reason I got into this business was to help students, to help serve students.  Always having that mindset of serving is huge and make sure that’s why you’re getting into it.”

This is the start of my reflection.  I learned a lot from interviewing Collin and there is still more to learn.  Collin mentioned how he started his business he saw a problem that many people were experiencing, he came up with an idea to solve it, then he executed that idea and was very successful.  He also emphasized the ability to execute in the last question.  I agree with him all the way on that, ideas are virtually meaningless if no one is going to execute them.  One thing I thought was interesting was that he wished the university had prepared him more for was physically starting a business, such as obtaining licenses and using tools like QuickBooks to manage your new business.  I think this is an excellent point that often gets over looked by professors.