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The End and Beginning of the Journey: Assignment 30

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After reading through my posts, I look back at all the lessons that each exercise taught me. I thought I understood what it meant to be an entrepreneur, but there are so many different skills and insights that go into it. One of my most formative experiences was the “testing the hypothesis” assignment. I had always wanted to conceptualize a better alternative for mental health resources on campus, but I should never put it down on paper. This assignment made me realize that it is possible to bring this concept to life. I’m definitely proud of the concept as a whole. I’ve felt very emotional writing some of the blog posts because this venture is so deeply personal to me. To be honest, these assignments and this product allow me to do things in my brother’s memory. He thought of this world as a sad place; but I want to prove to him and myself that I can make it a tiny bit better. I definitely see myself as an entrepreneur—a well-rounded entrepreneur. The assignments were structured so th...
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Happy Gators - Venture Concept No. 2: Assignment 29

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Opportunity There is an opportunity on UF’s campus to create a better alternative for mental health resources. While technically the students have the ability to go to the current on campus facilities, I believe that there should be a remote option for students. Given the current state of the world due to the pandemic, telemedicine should be become more prevalent and accessible. This will allow students to continue seeing the same counselor regardless of where they are geographically. The window of opportunity is the biggest it’s ever going to be. Right now, the concept of contactless interactions is becoming widely accepted. As a young person, I can say that in general, if I have the option to text or email versus go in person or even email, I prefer to text. This creates a huge opportunity that I think we should be able to harness.   Innovation I would like to create an app that allows students to talk about whatever they want, whenever they want. In a perfect world, getting ment...
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Your Exit Strategy: Assignment 28

1.)     Your exit strategy is paramount to your entire entrepreneurial endeavor. The U.S. Military works backwards with planning and timing so starting with your exit strategy and working backwards from it can be a great way to help guide your business to its ultimate goal. For me, my exit strategy is to ultimately sell the business for a large profit. I've read Peter Thiel's Zero to One  and in that book, he explains that the time to sell your project is when you are completely out of ideas to innovate. For me, that is my goal as well. 2.)     I believe that getting all of my ideas and innovation into my business is a great way for me to leave the project feeling complete. I can say I put every ounce of what I have into it. If I sell to early, I'll be wanting to put a bigger footprint into it. If I sell too late, I'll be wondering why I didn't sell it earlier. I feel when I am fully out of ideas, that is the time to pass ...
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Reading Reflection No. 3: Assignment 27

    The story of Phil Knight is one that truly inspires you to reach for your goals and dreams. What surprised me the most was the risk that he took going to Japan to meet with executives without a real backing to help him. This risk was high as they could have dismissed him, but he believed that he could stand up and pitch his idea to the executives of Tiger shoes. I admired the most the drive he possess to seek out his dream regardless of his classmates and parents opinions. It is very easy to take the words of a few people and drop your dream, but Phil Knight didn't do that.     What I least admire about Phil Knight is the fact that he proves me wrong. I keep waiting patiently for the "correct moment" to launch a business and seeing that isn't the way to do it makes me uncomfortable. Truly the lack of admiration in this factor is more of a jealousy, but I will use it moving forward to help me step out of my comfort zone. Facing the ad...
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Celebrating Failure: Assignment 26

 1.)   This past semester, a friend of mine convinced me to start trading stocks on Robinhood. After seeing his gains from trading options, I decided that I could jump aboard as well and profit on the crazy market conditions. Very quickly, I realized that it wasn't that simple and I saw option after option expire worthlessly. I kept trying to purchase new options but each time coming up empty.      2.)     After fruitless tries, I realized that I wasn't really taking the time to research or put in the time to make educated decisions. I was blindly letting money go in hopes that it would pay off. I wasn't investing, I was gambling. I quickly realized that maybe I don't have what it takes to be an options trader. I realized that I should learn from my mistakes now before I become it becomes too late. Some might believe that I should have tried to learn to be better at it, but seeing my friend lose thousands made me think twice.  3.)  ...
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What's Next?: Assignment 25

Existing Market 1.      What’s Next? The business would start small. At first, it will be focused on undergraduate students. Eventually, it would expand to graduate students and professional students. It will continue to expand (both internally and externally). We will employ more volunteers and counselors as the demand increases. But as it moves to other campuses, students at those respective campuses will work for the company. 2.      After interviewing three customers in my current market, they all seemed to agree that once the product is excelling on UF’s campus that the next step is to move to another campus. One of them brought up the financial aspects of the business. How will it continue to make money, especially as you move to another campus? The startup plan would be similar to the one implemented on UF’s campus. I would pitch the idea and see if I can get the college to approve of it and then have it be included in the tuition for an ad...
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Happy Gators - Venture Concept No.1: Assignment 24

Opportunity There is an opportunity on UF’s campus to create a better option for mental health resources. While technically the students have the ability to go to the current on campus facilities, I believe that there should be a remote option for students. Given the current state of the world due to the pandemic, telemedicine should be become more accessible. This will allow students to continue seeing the same counselor regardless of where they are geographically. The window of opportunity is the biggest it’s ever going to be. Right now, the concept of contactless interactions is becoming widely accepted. As a young person, I can say that in general, if I have the option to text or email versus go in person or even email, I prefer to text. This creates a huge opportunity that I think we should be able to harness.   Innovation I would like to create an app that allows students to talk about whatever they want, whenever they want. In a perfect world, getting mental health help woul...
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