Final Reflection

1. There have been lots of experiences, but to me this was more of an assignment than a lifestyle; I don't recall highs or lows, just some long assignments.
2. Formative- the bug list.

            To Remember- my concepts, even the first one which I scratched and started over from.

            Joyous- doing good on all the cupcakes!

            Proud- a unique product idea with a good environmental mindset emphasized.

3. I definitely am more entrepreneurial in thought, which is cool to admire.
4. I recommend you to really try hard at the beginning to set up success for the rest of the course, and have some fun! It's a really creative class!

Your Exit Strategy

For this company, I plan on selling out as soon as I make a ton of money; I have no interest in working, just enjoying this planet before we kill off the last of its beauty. This has certainly influenced my whole concept of design- if less water is wasted on ice, we could use this to help humanity live longer with clean water.

Venture Concept No. 2

Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity

Have you ever chewed mint gum and quickly after taken a sip of water? It tastes weird, doesn’t it? It's almost like the water tastes cold, but still lingers with an odd accompanying mint flavor. Wouldn't it be cool if this aftertaste didn't exist?

This market has a major opportunity for saving freshwater while making money, and this is only going to become a more viable product with a bigger window as we continue destroying our planet.

Innovation

My business concept is to develop and distribute a substance, similar to that of a mint strip, that makes what you are drinking taste cold; I think it could consume my financial prosperity adventures if I were to carry out the idea. Not only would I be making money, but I'd be assisting the planet by allowing more fresh water (less wasted in iced drinks) to be utilized for consumption. The product would serve as a similar effect, a strip that you put on your tongue before drinking, that would make room temperature drinks taste cold. However, the strip would be tasteless and not have any other effect on the beverage.

Venture Concept

People have been fans of cold drinks for years, and this product could revolutionize the market. These people can now enjoy their favorite cold soda without experiencing the side effects of melted ice watering away the taste of a sip. Environmentalists could also jump on the wagon, seeing as this frozen and often wasted water that is used in ice can now be distributed to other people who need it.

Competitors to my product would be companies that sell bagged ice, or companies supplying restaurants their ice. I think their weakness is a lack of sustainable thinking in the company, whereas mine is environmentally friendly and saves fresh water. Distribution is very important, as the customers are going to need to be able to access the product from their favorite restaurant. I'm not sure as to how many future employees would be necessary. 

As for my feedback, most of my problems arose when people questioned the logistics of my product. I'd like to address this simply- this is not an actual business endeavor that I'm going to try and carry out, just an exercise. I haven't discovered the science, and that's the only true problem here.

However, one of the additional pieces of feedback suggested a reason without a price, and it has actually been found that ice from all restaurants has the potential to carry deadly bacteria and other problems. This would demand a health necessity to avoid ice, but a reason to substitute my product.

Exit Strategy

For my business, I intend to stay with the business for definitely more than 5 years, but ultimately, I'll probably sell the company. The idea is to mainly reduce the waste of freshwater, so it doesn't really concern me who's in charge, as long as I made some money along the way. This question definitely hasn't altered any other factors of my business concept, because from the beginning, I wasn't interested in dedicating my life to the craft.

Reading Reflection 3

The Wright Brothers

1. My favorite thing I learned from David McCullough's biography on the Wright Brothers was the fact that the two never truly graduated from high school; it always baffles me when I realize how education doesn't always beat a drive to succeed, it can be done without textbooks and that's always reassuring. There wasn't anything I didn't really like about the two, but I admired their hard work, dedication, and ability to fail. This overcoming of failure was evident when they had to modify the original craft's design in order to fly.
2. Obviously education wasn't as developed as other people, so the boys made up for this in other areas, including their ability to overcome failure, resilience, and dedication.
3. At first, I was confused as to why the brothers didn't build their planes in Ohio, but Kitty Hawk has hills that I understood; they aren't extremely tall, so if a plane were to crash it wouldn't be as terrible as maybe another type of hill. Even with that reasoning, I'm still not positive and hence there's the most confusion.
4. If I had to ask some questions, it would be about how mad the two were concerning the whole Smithsonian debacle. I'm impressed that Orville had the original aircraft sent to England, since the US refused to acknowledge their craft as the first to catch flight, even though it clearly was. It was mostly a political thing, which truly grinds my gears; is your stupid politics more important than actual science? Apparently they thought so.
5. For the Wright Brothers, I think hard work meant failing and starting over from the pieces, which I agree with.

Celebrating Failure

This year has seen quite its number of failures from my part, and I'd like to focus on one of my biggest ones: the loss of my frontside and backside disasters in skateboarding. The disaster is a trick in which you project your board, typically through an ollie (a jump into the air with your skateboard), over the top of a ramp and land with the middle of your board on the coping (the metal bar at the top of a ramp or pool). In high school, I used to be able to do these tricks with ease, but over the course of two years I lost the ability to land it. Over the past few months, I've been relentlessly practicing, with a variety of body slams and scraped knees to accompany it. My biggest failure was hurting my neck, in which I received such bad whiplash after falling that I couldn't turn my neck left or right for a week.

However, I relearned how to do my frontside disasters, and I learned that no matter how many times you get knocked down, in this case very literally, you can do it with practice. My time dedicated to just trying the trick allowed me to excel and once again be able to land it.

This class hasn't necessarily changed my perception of failure, which has always been the same: failing is just a part of success! Failure is inevitable, but only you can dictate just how often it comes into play.

What's Next

Existing Market

In terms of what's next, I just need to do some scientific research into the logistics and creation of a strip that would have this effect. It would also need to be healthy to ingest.

I interviewed three customers, all from the UF scene, and asked them the appropriate questions. They agreed, and said that after scientific logistics, I should begin approaching local sustainable restaurants to carry products.

I think that personally, the path is unforeseeable until the science is done to prove whether the product can exist or not. This is a pretty major thing to wait on, and could be a major issue if the science is too difficult or expensive.

New Market

Another good market for this scene would be clubs and bars, where drinking is encouraged and potential taste buds could be pleased.

This could be valuable, because drinks aren't usually served coldest at clubs where spillage is almost a given, and the strips could allow for cold consumption.

I spoke with a New Smyrna Beach bar owner and a Daytona club owner; unfortunately, none of these people seemed very interested in the idea. They didn't seem to see the importance of catering to preferences in taste.

I personally wasn't expecting both the bar and club owners to quit on the idea, and it made me wonder if businesses were going to stick to ice just because the need is already met, and change is difficult.

Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity

Have you ever chewed mint gum and quickly after taken a sip of water? It tastes weird, doesn’t it? It's almost like the water tastes cold, but still lingers with an odd accompanying mint flavor. Wouldn't it be cool if this aftertaste didn't exist?

This market has a major opportunity for saving freshwater while making money, and this is only going to become a more viable product with a bigger window as we continue destroying our planet.

Innovation

My business concept is to develop and distribute a substance, similar to that of a mint strip, that makes what you are drinking taste cold; I think it could consume my financial prosperity adventures if I were to carry out the idea. Not only would I be making money, but I'd be assisting the planet by allowing more fresh water (less wasted in iced drinks) to be utilized for consumption. The product would serve as a similar effect, a strip that you put on your tongue before drinking, that would make room temperature drinks taste cold. However, the strip would be tasteless and not have any other effect on the beverage.

Venture Concept

People have been fans of cold drinks for years, and this product could revolutionize the market. These people can now enjoy their favorite cold soda without experiencing the side effects of melted ice watering away the taste of a sip. Environmentalists could also jump on the wagon, seeing as this frozen and often wasted water that is used in ice can now be distributed to other people who need it.

Competitors to my product would be companies that sell bagged ice, or companies supplying restaurants their ice. I think their weakness is a lack of sustainable thinking in the company, whereas mine is environmentally friendly and saves fresh water. Distribution is very important, as the customers are going to need to be able to access the product from their favorite restaurant. I'm not sure as to how many future employees would be necessary.

As for my secret sauce, my passion for a sustainable alternative to wasted water, and my experience in Sustainable Studies at UF, are all factors that make my presence difficult to replace. I'm not sure where else this product could go, or even where I could go after this.

My Venture's Unfair Advantage

Resources

1. Sustainable Thinking- this is an extremely valuable part of my product. While being sustainable is not rare and easy to copy, it's essential if we want to have grandchildren who can play outside. Ice has the same benefit, but sustainable thinking kills that argument.
2. Organization- organization is always valuable, but not rare in the business world. It can always be copied, but not avoided and is non-substitutable.
3. Investments-  these are extremely valuable; I don't currently have the money, but know people that would be interested in investing money into the company. This can be rare to find trustworthy and reliable investors, and investments are non-substitutable.
4. Connections- this is not as valuable, but still important. Anybody can have business connections, they are not rare but are easy to copy, and I have connections to sustainable companies like Unlitter.
5. Experience- I've worked as a lifeguard for 5 years, and in that time I've seen just how many times people have wanted cold drinks at the beach. This experience is valuable because I learned essential people skills, although these are replaceable by someone else who is good with people.
6. Physical- this is only a little valuable, but definitely so. My father owns property that I can use, and it could be good for building a factory if need be.
7. Intellectual- This is valuable, as being a University of Florida grad will be something I can take with me for the rest of my life. This is common though, and anyone could replace me that has my degree.
8. Creativity- it is unique, and that to me is both valuable and somewhat rare to come across. Of course, this is replaceable by ice.
9. Work Ethic- this is very valuable, but easily replaceable and common to come across; lot's of people work hard to make money.
10. Ability to Accept Criticism- this can be important, and I think it is not replaceable and somewhat rare. You need to be able to accept failure, and build upon it.

After conducting the VRIN analysis, I've realized that sustainable thinking is my biggest and most important resource. In the upcoming future, our planet is going to need all the sustainable efforts it can before it results in humanity's collapse.