My Exit Strategy

1. Like most app start up companies, my main exit strategy would be to hopefully be purchased by a big software developer such as Apple. The main plan would be for the app to grow and grow in popularity, and once it gains a big enough following, the major players in the software development game will want to have some part in it. I have some experience understanding this kind of strategy because my oldest brother worked for a start up app business and they were successful and eventually bought by Apple. With his company's buyout, the employees were also bought out and employed by Apple, so that could also be a possible exit strategy.

 

2. I selected this particular exit strategy because I think it is most reasonable, and I have seen it happen before firsthand. I think this is a fairly common exit strategy in the software development business.

3. I don't think this particular exit strategy really changes how I have thought about the business too much. The only major effect it could have is I might be more willing to not make as much money off the product in the earlier stages because I can rely on a big supply of capital when the company gets bought out at the end. That could be a pretty risky strategy though so I am not sure if it is necessarily to best idea. The main goal with this type of exit strategy is just to grow as much as possible and reach the maximum number of people so bigger companies are more likely to buy your business out and pay more.

Making it Real

Hey guys, here is my resume: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8aWZqUS_cXiYnAzSTNHS2Z4UGM

Celebrating Failure

1. One failure that I experience fairly often is when I am too lazy and skip my workouts in the morning before work. I always set my alarm and tell myself that I will wake up early and get a good workout in, but I always just hit snooze and am too lazy to get up and actually do it. I have been able to do it quite a few times, but it seems like I just keep failing myself and my body and not doing it.


2. What I have learned from it is that if I am going to tell myself to do something that will be good for me, I need to actually be serious about it and not be so lazy. If I never take this seriously, I will never make any progress in terms of my strength, and I think that could have a similar effect in other aspects of my life. If I am too lazy and don't do assignments, my grade suffers and I end up dealing with the negative consequences. I think it has really just helped me learn that if I am going to set certain goals I need to actually take them seriously and put effort in or I'll never make any progress.

3. My view on failure is a pretty positive one. I think failure is almost always a positive thing, except for in extreme circumstances, and is one of the most important parts of growing as a person. Every time you fail at anything, you are automatically given the chance to learn from that failure and analyze what you did wrong to bring about the failure. It was actually hard for me to even think of a failure for this exercise because I don't think of events as failures usually. Everything is just a learning experience to grow as a person and not make the same mistake next time. I think there is nothing worse than being afraid of failure, and that failure really is a good thing overall.

Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity:

                My venture idea is an app that will allow people within a certain distance to be able to connect and meet up to play sports or exercise together. The main idea is that a lot of people in their 20’s and 30’s do not really have time to play a full time competitive sport while working and doing other things. My app would give people a way to not only meet up with other locals and play sports, but it really has the potential to be a great social app for many different people. Some customers will want a more competitive game or sport to meet up and play, and other people will want to play more for just recreation and to have a good time. Often times when I try to play sports with my friends, we do not have enough people to play a full game. This app would help you get enough people together to get a solid game going for practically any sport. The changes in the environment that create this opportunity are the changes to the social and cultural norms. For instance, Pokemon Go is huge right now, and one of the biggest appeals is the idea of going out and walking around and being active, while also meeting strangers playing the same game. My app would also have this idea of being active and meeting strangers so I think that is a good sign. This market is mainly for people in their 20’s and 30’s who want to stay active and also enjoy playing a sport. Customers are currently filling this void by joining rec leagues and going to gyms, but a rec league is a much bigger commitment than this.  I think this is a fairly big opportunity because the U.S. has really entered a period of promoting healthiness and staying active. I think this window of opportunity will open for as long as people feel comfortable meeting up with strangers to play sports.

Innovation:

                I think my product is innovative in a way that involves just moving with the flow of the cultural progression of our society. People, more than ever, want to get out and be active while also staying social. I think my app would really innovate in a similar way to how Pokemon Go did, and I also think Pokemon Go would be beneficial for my app because it already is helping improve the stigma of meeting up with strangers. In a time where meeting up with strangers during the day doesn’t sound that strange, I think my app could really take off. The idea that people can stay in shape, and meet people that enjoy similar sports is innovative in itself. I think another way that it is innovative is that a lot of times it’s hard to find people who enjoy some of the more niche sports such as lacrosse or Frisbee, but my app would also allow for those niche groups to connect and find each other. I think because of how the app business is, my product would have to be free at first to grow a solid customer base. Most of the funding and capital would have to be provided by investors or bank loans, because charging for a social app just would not be a successful route to go down. I think once the app grows in popularity, it could generate revenue through ads, and also through a potential buyout from a major software company such as Apple. It is common for major companies to purchase fairly successful startups, so that could be a potential outcome.

Venture Concept:

                I think customers will switch to my product, because right now there is no common way of finding locals to meet up with and play sports. I think the main competitors are other social apps, and recreational leagues. I think the main obstacle the app will have to get over is the negative stigma of meeting up with strangers. Due to the nature of software development, my business concept isn’t necessarily affected by a lot of logistical constraints. Software development can be fairly freeform and worked on in different ways. I think the best way to organize my business at first would be a small number of software developers, with some of them working part time. The business would realistically only have so much capital, and taking on a bunch of full time employees wouldn’t be smart. I think the business would really come down to the effectiveness of the few developers and finding the right people. I think my most important resource is my connection with my brother, who worked for an app startup that got purchased by Apple. I think my venture would really focus on trying to grow and gain in popularity and then sell for a profit. It isn’t something I would want to maintain forever. I hope this first venture is successful for me, or a learning experience if anything. Next, I will just continue to live my life and try to have a great time and be a good person and see where that takes me.

Amazon Whisperer

1. Revenue Drivers: The revenue drivers for my product would be advertisement revenue, where companies can pay for my app to show certain ads to the users, and possibly in-app purchases. The app would definitely have to release as a free product so it could gain a user base, and in the early stages it would probably not have any significant sources of revenue. Once the number of users pick up, advertisement revenue could be large, and other businesses could be looking to purchase the company.

2. Next Product: I think the next product that my customers would want is an app that people can use to get together for things other than just sports. People could possibly meet up to play board games or drinking games or could meet up to go to tailgates for some of the sports that they all like.

3. This would enhance my product because my product is all about people just using it and being active on it. So the more people that are using similar apps and are willing to meet up to get together to play sports or games, the more people that are going to want to use my app.

4. It is hard to find a product on Amazon similar to mine because my product is an app that offers a service. But this Amazon item is something that would often be used my customers of my product. People that are meeting up to play sports are going to need some cones to set boundaries and make up the field.

5. There are no reviews for this product because it is fairly simple and I assume that most people are satisfied. The reviews for a very similar product, but just in a solid red color, are very positive and people seem to be very satisfied with their decision to go with the product. Reviews praised the cones for being extremely light and easy to use for sports.

6. I wouldn't really make any design changes to the product, except possibly coming up with a cheap way to make sure that they don't blow away when it gets windy. I think the only issue people ever really have with these cones in the fact that they are so light that they can blow away or be knocked around somewhat easily.

7. This product goes well with my product because customers of my product will most likely also need to use this product. If people are using an app the meet up the play sports, they are most likely going to require some of the basic tools to play sports, although not all sports need a big field and a set of cones. 

My Unfair Advantage

10 Resources:

1. Software Development Contacts

• Value: I know multiple people that have experience developing software for apps and that is the industry I want to be in.
• Rare: Not everybody has close contacts that have experience in the field they are looking to go into.
• Inimitable:  This isn't very imitable because it is hard to develop close relationships with someone in your specific field.
• Non-substitutable: It's hard to substitute personal relationships with people that can give hands on assistance to the product you are working on.

2. Critical Thinking

• Value: Being able to critically think and analyze your product and what you are trying to do with it is very important.
• Rare: Not everyone is able to think about ideas and solutions in a different way and possibly see a more complex version.
• Inimitable: The ability to critically think is something you just learn and work on, and it isn't something that everyone is able to pick up easily.
• Non-substitutable: Not many other attributes or resources can substitute the ability to critically think about ideas and your product. 

 3. Determination

• Value: Someone who is determined isn't going to give up easily and is going to keep working until they are satisfied with the result.
• Rare: Everybody can be determined, so it isn't necessarily rare, but the level of determination can vary and extreme determination could be very rare.
• Inimitable: Working hard is imitable in theory, but having that determination deep down is something that you can't fake or make up.
• Non-substitutable: You can't really substitute being determined and working hard with anything else .

  4. Sports Experience

• Value: I have experience playing sports, both for recreation and competitively, which gives me insight into the ideal customer for my product because he or she should have a similar background.
• Rare: This is not very rare because a lot of people most likely played sports.
• Inimitable: This is also quite imitable, but I don't think that diminishes the significance of it.
• Non-substitutable: This could possibly be substitutable with another resource that would give knowledge on the target market segment. 

5. Sports Coach Contact

• Value: Knowing a coach who has experience organizing sports and getting people to work together gives me insight into what I want my product to do.
• Rare: Not everybody knows a coach for a sports team, but I don't think it very rare.
• Inimitable: This resource is similar to the previous one in that, it may be imitable, but it still gives valuable insight into the market segment and what I want my product to do.
• Non-substitutable: Once again, I think this could be substituted for other knowledge.

6. Financial Capital

• Value: I have a decent amount of money saved up from working so that could be greatly beneficial in getting my product past the early stages.
• Rare: This is rare because not every entrepreneur has sources of financial capital to work with at the beginning.
• Inimitable: I don't think anything can imitate the significance of having a source of capital.
• Non-substitutable: I don't think money is substitubable  with any other resource due to its significance.

7. Calm-Headed

• Value: Being calm is very important because it means you can keep a level head in stressful situations and not freak out or break down.
• Rare: It isn't common for people to be able to remain calm in stressful situations and handle them properly.
• Inimitable: You can't really imitate being calm, you either have the ability or you don't.
• Non-substitutable: The ability to stay calm is hard to substitute, but other attributes could possibly make up for this.  

8. Rational Thinking

• Value: The ability to think rationally allows me to not let me emotions control my decisions and keep a level head in situations.
• Rare: It is pretty rare for people to not let their emotions get the best of them and just think with their brain.
• Inimitable: Thinking rationally can't really be imitated because it is a way of thinking and understanding.
• Non-substitutable: I don't think rational thinking can be substituted by anything else.

9. Helpful Parents

• Value: Having extremely helpful parents allows me to have two people who I can not only bounce ideas off of, but also be potential investors for my product.
• Rare: I think it is extremely rare to have parents as supportive and helpful as mine are.
• Inimitable: I think this could be imitated fairly easily by anyone with good friends and possible investors.
• Non-substitutable: I think you could possible substitute a few other resources for this one and still be in a similar situation. 

 10. Experience Programming

• Value: Having previous experience working with programming allows me to understand what my product needs to be and what needs to go into for it to work properly and be successful.
• Rare: I think it is somewhat rare to have programming experience, but it isn't anything too special.
• Inimitable: Other business could definitely imitate this because it is almost required for the industry.
• Non-substitutable: This could be substituted by just hiring a bunch of people who know how to program and not really work on it yourself besides having the idea.

I think my most important resource is just my ability to critically think. I think that it when it comes down to being an entrepreneur and being successful with a new product, the most important thing is being able to critically think and handle issues that arise. Being able to analyze the situation and come up with optimal solutions to get past obstacles could be key for my product.

Idea Napkin No. 2

1. My name is Jared Pape and I am from Longwood, Florida and I currently go to the University of Florida. I think my best skills are my critical thinking and my ability to socialize and get along well with others. I see this business playing a role in my life mainly as a financial instrument to make money and provide for myself and my family. This business isn't something that I would want to completely take over my life, but at the same time I understand I would have to devote a lot of time and effort. I am working as an intern right now at an accounting firm, and my coworkers and supervisors have said I've worked very well with everybody and done a great job.

2. My product is going to be an app that people can download to organize and meet up with other people in the area to play sports. People could go on the app and see if there were other people nearby that were interested in getting together for a game of pick up basketball or soccer at a certain time. This would fit customers' need to get out and exercise while at the same time have a little bit more fun and get a little competitive spirit going. I think people would enjoy staying in shape while also meeting up with people with similar hobbies to have a good time.

3. I am offering it to customers who are interested in staying fit and active. An ideal customer could be a boy or a girl, anywhere from their early 20's to possibly their early 40's if they are in good enough shape to still be active. I think the typical customer would be someone who played sports in high school and is looking for a way to get that similar feeling and be active again. The typical customer would also be someone who is pretty social and willing to meet up with people they don't know to play sports.

4. Customers would care because people are always looking for a way to meet new people and stay healthy, and this app offers a way to do both of those at the same time. You could use the app to meet new friends or meet new people in a new town that have similar interests. It could both be a recreational and a competitive app depending on who is using it. I think it could be hard to get customers to pay for an app like this at first but there are other way to monetize this kind of product.

5. What sets this app apart from everything else is it is all about just meeting up and having a good time. If you and your friends don't have enough people to play a full game of basketball, an app that can fix that for you is the perfect solution. Society is moving towards being more active and this app promotes that idea and is working with that trend.

I think these elements all fit fairly well together. I think it makes sense that social people who want to stay active would be willing to use an app to get more people together and have a better time. I think the hardest obstacle to over come would be getting enough people on the app where you can actually find other people and it just isn't a waste of time.

I didn't receive any feedback on my last Idea Napkin so I just tried to think about my business idea more and take other feedback I have received about it and incorporate that into my points. I also took feedback I received from my job and incorporated that into my strengths. I think I need to work on my idea of how to monetize this product and grow its initial user base.

Reading Reflection No. 2

·         Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck

1."Mindset: The New Psychology of Success" was a very intriguing and thought provoking book, and I thought it had various important central themes. I think the overall main theme of the book was analyzing your mindset and putting yourself in the right mindset to be able to learn and grow as a person. A central idea in the book involved the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. People with a fixed mindset see all of their abilities and traits as fixed, meaning that they can't change or be improved. So when a person with a fixed mindset experiences failure, it results in he or she getting more upset about it because they don't think they can change it. Someone with a growth mindset sees that they can change themselves for the better and all their qualities aren't set in stone. Someone with a growth mindset can take a negative experience and learn from it and understand that it can make them a better person, rather than be sad about it and look down on themselves. The book was really just about how having this growth mindset can be a positive impact on your life and change the way you act and grow as a person.

2. The book connected with my learning in ENT3003 because I could relate having the right mindset to having the right attitude. I could see the similarities and effectiveness of having a growth mindset compared to also having a tenacious attitude. I think it is interesting how this book actually had sort of a similar idea to the tenacious attitude we had been learning about in class.

3. I think that exercise would include trying to think about past experiences and evaluating them in different ways in regards to having a different mindset or a different perspective so you could see experiences from a different point of view. The point of the exercise would be to see how you can think of things differently when you have a different mindset.

4. What I learned that different from my expectations the most was just how significant of an impact something like your mindset can have. It was just surprising for me to read and realize that my mindset could determine so many different things in my life and could set the tone a certain way in so many situations.