Sunday, January 31, 2016
Week 4 Reading Reflection
While reading this weeks reading, I was personally surprised by how dangerous stereotyping can be from a business standpoint. In retrospect it makes sense that making too many limiting assumptions about groups of people could prevent good ideas or innovation, but I had previously supposed that stereotyping market segments was essential for developing new product ideas. I would like to ask the author if there are any scenarios where "Security Hunting" has actually been beneficial for a business, and also if all innovation and entrepreneurship needs to be innovative and creative, or if there are business opportunities in more banal, common sense products and services. I was somewhat confused by the different distinctions between the multiple types of creativity, such as event, organization, relationship, etc. A lot of these seemed similar to me and the distinctions seemed unnecessary. There isn't anything I can really disagree with the author on, besides my previously noted doubt that the many types of creativity are all that different fundamentally.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Top 5 World Problems
Worlds Biggest Problems (Ranked!)
"5. The growing disparity between lower and upper classes in the US is quickly becoming more of an issue. As ultra-rich interest groups use political connections and lobbying to keep tax rates low under the guise of helping job creation, the gap continues to grow. Better, scaling tax policies and health care for poorer classes would help fix this.
4. Racism in the police force is leading to the death of hundreds if not thousands of innocents in the US alone. Stricter monitoring of the police force and, although this is a bit morbid, older generations dying off will hopefully lessen this as time goes on.
3. The spread of infectious diseases like Ebola that are slow to get vaccines due to initially limited visibility and 'profitability'. If Ebola was a disease that had been present in the first world for some time, it would almost certainly have had a vaccine for years. But since until recently, it was a low-profile killer in unseen parts of the world, no one cared enough to put the money into a vaccine or treatment. Greater, apolitical support of charities and groups like Doctors Without Borders and MSF will be required to stop this sort of event in the future.
2. Hunger and starvation in poor parts of the world, and even richer parts of the world like the US in the Appalachians. As agricultural tech increases, and we are able to exploit GMOs for larger crop yields and tougher plants, I believe we will be able to increase global crop yields and bring these crops to more remote, poorer locations.
1. Climate change is another problem our generation is facing. Its an interesting problem because it both happens slow enough for people to ignore and there are segments of politicians that spread misinformation to further their own ends. Increased reliance on green, renewable energy resources is the best bet to lessening this change."
Ranked Solutions
5. Stricter monitoring and old generations dying for police brutality
4. Apolitical support of charities to stop infectious disease
3. Scaling tax policies and health care for class disparity
2. Increased reliance on renewable resources for climate change
1. Exploiting GMOs and tech to increase crop yields to fight hunger
I chose climate change as my top problem because its the most potentially damaging and long lasting of the problems I listed. Things like racism or class disparity are most definitely problems, but are solely societal and cultural problems, so ended up lower on the list. Climate change negatively affects the globe, and thus future generations long after we are gone.
I believe that my proposed solution to curb world hunger was my best and most realistic one, as GMOs are already seeing increasingly popular use in agricultural, and technology is always advancing forward. If the US perfectly conserved all of its unused and wasted food, millions of people could live off the waste alone. My other solutions were not as strong or were at least fairly obvious, like donating more to charities or wait for racist people to die, but don't really fix the underlying causes of each issue.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Identifying Local Opportunities
I did not use newsbank for this assignment because it asks for a password and username that was not given in the instructions, I instead looked up separate newspaper archives, in this case the Gainesville Sun.
After a wild winter weekend, a difficult commute awaits
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20160124/WIRE/160129821/-1/search10?Title=After-a-wild-winter-weekend-a-difficult-commute-awaits-
Large blizzards and snowfalls all over the eastern US are causing grief for drivers and commuters alike. The problem presented here is slick, icy roads slowing down commutes for everyone. The people with the problem is anyone who has to commute in these areas.
Driver unhappy with synching of traffic lights
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20160124/ARTICLES/160129827/-1/search10?Title=Driver-unhappy-with-synching-of-traffic-lights
The gist of this article is that improperly synched traffic lights on major roads in Gainesville are causing large traffic backups during peak hours and are drawing the ire of residents. The problem presented in this article is that unsynched traffic lights are causing backups. The main person with the problem in this article is local resident Michelle Cohan.
Karen Orr: Animal agriculture causing disastrous effects
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20160104/OPINION03/160109878?Title=Karen-Orr-Animal-agriculture-causing-disastrous-effects
The article describes a provision in a bill that would not allow the EPA to require emissions reports from the meat industry, despite animals being raised for meat being one of the worlds biggest sources of greenhouse gases. The issue here is that the meat industry would be allowed to exploit its emissions unchecked. The person with the problem would be anyone on earth, or more specifically members of the EPA who want to check the local meat industries.
Niyin Smith: The sexism of school dress codes
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20160114/OPINION03/160119814?Title=Niyin-Smith-The-sexism-of-school-dress-codes
The article describes sexism and inequality in the way male/female dress codes are treated at local schools and schools all over America. The current dress codes are essentially aimed at avoiding problems with the male students behaviour, which is sexist. The problem is sexist dress codes treating women as objects and lowering female student confidence. The people with the problem are female students in Gainesville.
Newberry Road lanes to close tonight for repair work
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20160121/ARTICLES/160129930?Title=Newberry-Road-lanes-to-close-tonight-for-repair-work
The article describes how certain lanes on Newberry road will be closed at part of a 3 mile resurfacing project. The problem is that traffic will be negatively effected on Newberry road until that Friday morning. The people with the problem is anyone who relies on Newberry as part of their commute.
Week 3 Reading Reflection
Easily the biggest surprise out of my reading this week was reading about the dark side of entrepreneurship. In hindsight it was fairly obvious that entrepreneurship comes with a lot of risks, but I suppose I wasn't totally expecting the book to dive so deeply into it, with talking about the severe stress and ego issues that can occur. I was slightly confused on the distinction between role failure and role distortion. I get that distortion tends to be "for the firm" but by taking unethical actions they are still failing their role. If I could ask the author two questions, I'd ask them what steps do they think small business owners should take to encourage ethical and prevent unethical behavior in their companies, and also whether or not entrepreneurial persistence tends to work out or be harmful to most entrepreneurs. Nothing the author said I could particularly disagree with, it struck me as pretty cut and dry for the most part.
Friday, January 22, 2016
Very Short Interview No. 1
For my interview I spoke with Jason Tobin of Tobin Properties, a commercial real estate company. Jason is the President and COO of Tobin Properties, a family business he owns with his father. Jason has been working at the company for almost 20 years and has a degree in Business Administration. I had previously worked with Mr. Tobin as part of my internship at the company this summer. I reconnected with him and he was happy to oblige me a short interview.
1. What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?
Jason is a very passionate entrepreneur. He told me that the absolute biggest thing about being an entrepreneur is to swallow your fear of failure. He said that people live their whole lives trying to avoid failure in whatever way they view it. They base their career choices, their social lives, everything around avoiding failure. But to be a successful entrepreneur, you have to accept failure as part of the process and a necessary roadblock on the way to success.
2. What should I try to get out of this course?
He recommended that I make a concerted effort to network with others and try as many new things as I can. Trying new things leads to ideas and inspiration, and networks of peers is immeasurably useful in ones career, no matter what that career is.
3. What do you wish you had been taught in school before becoming an entrepreneur?
Jason told me that the number one thing he wishes he knew before he started was the importance of details. In the property management business, an eye for details is key. The smallest piece of info, like the age of support beams, can lead to avoiding huge, expensive problems way down the line. Being detail-oriented is a skill he believes should be taught in schools.
My interview with Jason reaffirmed a lot about what I already thought was true about entrepreneurship. It seems that overcoming a fear of failure will be essential when setting down the path of the entrepreneur. I also need to make an effort to cultivate my network of peers now, because in college my peers could become real big players in the business world down the line. I fully intend to get as much as I can out of this course with the advice I've been given.
1. What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?
Jason is a very passionate entrepreneur. He told me that the absolute biggest thing about being an entrepreneur is to swallow your fear of failure. He said that people live their whole lives trying to avoid failure in whatever way they view it. They base their career choices, their social lives, everything around avoiding failure. But to be a successful entrepreneur, you have to accept failure as part of the process and a necessary roadblock on the way to success.
2. What should I try to get out of this course?
He recommended that I make a concerted effort to network with others and try as many new things as I can. Trying new things leads to ideas and inspiration, and networks of peers is immeasurably useful in ones career, no matter what that career is.
3. What do you wish you had been taught in school before becoming an entrepreneur?
Jason told me that the number one thing he wishes he knew before he started was the importance of details. In the property management business, an eye for details is key. The smallest piece of info, like the age of support beams, can lead to avoiding huge, expensive problems way down the line. Being detail-oriented is a skill he believes should be taught in schools.
My interview with Jason reaffirmed a lot about what I already thought was true about entrepreneurship. It seems that overcoming a fear of failure will be essential when setting down the path of the entrepreneur. I also need to make an effort to cultivate my network of peers now, because in college my peers could become real big players in the business world down the line. I fully intend to get as much as I can out of this course with the advice I've been given.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
World's Biggest Problems
1. Hunger and starvation in poor parts of the world, and even richer parts of the world like the US in the Appalachians. As agricultural tech increases, and we are able to exploit GMOs for larger crop yields and tougher plants, I believe we will be able to increase global crop yields and bring these crops to more remote, poorer locations.
2. Racism in the police force is leading to the death of hundreds if not thousands of innocents in the US alone. Stricter monitoring of the police force and, although this is a bit morbid, older generations dying off will hopefully lessen this as time goes on.
3. The spread of infectious diseases like Ebola that are slow to get vaccines due to initially limited visibility and 'profitability'. If Ebola was a disease that had been present in the first world for some time, it would almost certainly have had a vaccine for years. But since until recently, it was a low-profile killer in unseen parts of the world, no one cared enough to put the money into a vaccine or treatment. Greater, apolitical support of charities and groups like Doctors Without Borders and MSF will be required to stop this sort of event in the future.
4. The growing disparity between lower and upper classes in the US is quickly becoming more of an issue. As ultra-rich interest groups use political connections and lobbying to keep tax rates low under the guise of helping job creation, the gap continues to grow. Better, scaling tax policies and health care for poorer classes would help fix this.
5. Climate change is another problem our generation is facing. Its an interesting problem because it both happens slow enough for people to ignore and there are segments of politicians that spread misinformation to further their own ends. Increased reliance on green, renewable energy resources is the best bet to lessening this change.
6. Strife in the Middle East is still claiming many lives and causing tons of destruction. It seems to be primarily caused by religious and political strife between different ideologies. Honestly I don't have any good ideas on how to solve this, the complex interlocking of dozens of factors is too much for me to really understand enough to know how to untangle.
7. The rising price of higher education is a big problem in the US specifically. To make matters worse, its coupled with the increasing necessity of college education for almost any job above minimum wage, even jobs that did not previously require said education. I think providing extensive financial support or free public college will be key to fixing this.
8. I think substance abuse and addiction is another global problem that doesn't get enough attention. Millions of peoples lives have been ruined by drugs and prescription drug abuse. Greater control of these drugs and wider access to care and support will be essential to combating this.
9. Conservation of important habitats is increasingly important as industry continues to expand. Without proper conservation, innumerable unique species and life will be lost. In order to combat this, I believe greater restrictions and sanctions against development in these areas will help.
10. The abuse of workers in countries like China is abhorrent. Factories used by major global corporations like Apple have terrible working conditions and tons of worker suicides. I think that we as a society need to be harsh in punishing and discouraging companies from using these sorts of factories, and also countries like China need to enact better worker protection laws.
2. Racism in the police force is leading to the death of hundreds if not thousands of innocents in the US alone. Stricter monitoring of the police force and, although this is a bit morbid, older generations dying off will hopefully lessen this as time goes on.
3. The spread of infectious diseases like Ebola that are slow to get vaccines due to initially limited visibility and 'profitability'. If Ebola was a disease that had been present in the first world for some time, it would almost certainly have had a vaccine for years. But since until recently, it was a low-profile killer in unseen parts of the world, no one cared enough to put the money into a vaccine or treatment. Greater, apolitical support of charities and groups like Doctors Without Borders and MSF will be required to stop this sort of event in the future.
4. The growing disparity between lower and upper classes in the US is quickly becoming more of an issue. As ultra-rich interest groups use political connections and lobbying to keep tax rates low under the guise of helping job creation, the gap continues to grow. Better, scaling tax policies and health care for poorer classes would help fix this.
5. Climate change is another problem our generation is facing. Its an interesting problem because it both happens slow enough for people to ignore and there are segments of politicians that spread misinformation to further their own ends. Increased reliance on green, renewable energy resources is the best bet to lessening this change.
6. Strife in the Middle East is still claiming many lives and causing tons of destruction. It seems to be primarily caused by religious and political strife between different ideologies. Honestly I don't have any good ideas on how to solve this, the complex interlocking of dozens of factors is too much for me to really understand enough to know how to untangle.
7. The rising price of higher education is a big problem in the US specifically. To make matters worse, its coupled with the increasing necessity of college education for almost any job above minimum wage, even jobs that did not previously require said education. I think providing extensive financial support or free public college will be key to fixing this.
8. I think substance abuse and addiction is another global problem that doesn't get enough attention. Millions of peoples lives have been ruined by drugs and prescription drug abuse. Greater control of these drugs and wider access to care and support will be essential to combating this.
9. Conservation of important habitats is increasingly important as industry continues to expand. Without proper conservation, innumerable unique species and life will be lost. In order to combat this, I believe greater restrictions and sanctions against development in these areas will help.
10. The abuse of workers in countries like China is abhorrent. Factories used by major global corporations like Apple have terrible working conditions and tons of worker suicides. I think that we as a society need to be harsh in punishing and discouraging companies from using these sorts of factories, and also countries like China need to enact better worker protection laws.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Week 2 Reading Reflection
One of the most surprising things I read while reading this weeks assignment was that the statistic of 85% of businesses failing in the first year was actually a myth. I had heard versions of this myth throughout my life and it had always given me a sort of internalized fear of small businesses and startups. To hear that the number is not so severe, nor the risks taken so great is heartening. I was somewhat confused about the difference between the internal locus of control view and the entrepreneurial trait school of thought, I felt the text could have better differentiated between the two. If given the chance, I would ask the author for the distinction between those two views and also if startups in different industries had significantly different rates of failure. For example, does retail fail more often than manufacturing? I had no real disagreements with anything the author laid forth in this reading, however.
Bug List
1. Furniture that comes with confusing assembly instructions
Probably exists because of lack of QA testing
2. Check-out aisle people asking me to donate to stuff
Gets more people to donate then just having a button on the check-out screen
3. Bananas that are not ripe/overly ripe being sold at a grocery store
Likely due to difficulties in managing and timing shipments.
4. Books for class being overly expensive
Book companies know how needed they are and gouge prices
5. Boxes of water bottles have little holes in the plastic wrapping
People pick them up and put the holes in them but don't purchase the bottles
6. Door frames don't fit the doors right.
Likely caused by improper measurements
7. Overly crowded lines at take-out stores.
Not enough cashiers to manage the crowd during busy hours
8. Poor customer support with online products
Not enough customer service representatives
9. High prices for bad internet services
Local companies have a monopoly on internet in the area
10. Favorite stores don't deliver to my location
Larger delivery areas could cause slow delivery times
11. Teachers don't respond to requests for information in a timely manner
High student/teacher ratio
12. Smartphones crack to easily
Stronger glass is either too expensive or not yet feasible
13. Washing machine requires too many spin cycles to not leave my clothes soaking wet
Poor detection systems for seeing when clothes are too wet
14. The portable lights I use for my bike fall off too easily while riding
Manufacturers can't predict the different widths of each kind of bike
15. The bike pump I use needs an adapter to work with different kinds of wheels
There is no standardized bike nozzle size among manufacturers
16. My bath towels take too long to dry out between use
The material they are made out of is soft but absorbs and holds water too readily
17. The alarm clock I use doesn't make a loud enough noise to always wake me up
The manufacturers didn't account for different levels of noise needed to wake people up
18. The usb charger for my phone isn't long enough to always be practical
Manufacturers opted for a less pricey, shorter cord then a more convenient, expensive cord.
19. Google Chrome randomly crashes when I have too many tabs open
The browser isn't good enough at handling large amounts of tabs to suit user needs
20. Checking my cars tire pressure takes too long
The tech to show tier pressure via screen on the dashboard isn't in enough cars yet
This assignment was a lot tougher than I thought, I'm not very used to critically thinking about products and services I use everyday to discover how I'd like them to be better or how they could improve. It makes a lot of sense why companies value this sort of feedback so dearly!
Probably exists because of lack of QA testing
2. Check-out aisle people asking me to donate to stuff
Gets more people to donate then just having a button on the check-out screen
3. Bananas that are not ripe/overly ripe being sold at a grocery store
Likely due to difficulties in managing and timing shipments.
4. Books for class being overly expensive
Book companies know how needed they are and gouge prices
5. Boxes of water bottles have little holes in the plastic wrapping
People pick them up and put the holes in them but don't purchase the bottles
6. Door frames don't fit the doors right.
Likely caused by improper measurements
7. Overly crowded lines at take-out stores.
Not enough cashiers to manage the crowd during busy hours
8. Poor customer support with online products
Not enough customer service representatives
9. High prices for bad internet services
Local companies have a monopoly on internet in the area
10. Favorite stores don't deliver to my location
Larger delivery areas could cause slow delivery times
11. Teachers don't respond to requests for information in a timely manner
High student/teacher ratio
12. Smartphones crack to easily
Stronger glass is either too expensive or not yet feasible
13. Washing machine requires too many spin cycles to not leave my clothes soaking wet
Poor detection systems for seeing when clothes are too wet
14. The portable lights I use for my bike fall off too easily while riding
Manufacturers can't predict the different widths of each kind of bike
15. The bike pump I use needs an adapter to work with different kinds of wheels
There is no standardized bike nozzle size among manufacturers
16. My bath towels take too long to dry out between use
The material they are made out of is soft but absorbs and holds water too readily
17. The alarm clock I use doesn't make a loud enough noise to always wake me up
The manufacturers didn't account for different levels of noise needed to wake people up
18. The usb charger for my phone isn't long enough to always be practical
Manufacturers opted for a less pricey, shorter cord then a more convenient, expensive cord.
19. Google Chrome randomly crashes when I have too many tabs open
The browser isn't good enough at handling large amounts of tabs to suit user needs
20. Checking my cars tire pressure takes too long
The tech to show tier pressure via screen on the dashboard isn't in enough cars yet
This assignment was a lot tougher than I thought, I'm not very used to critically thinking about products and services I use everyday to discover how I'd like them to be better or how they could improve. It makes a lot of sense why companies value this sort of feedback so dearly!
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Introduction
My name is Jordan Lopez. I hail from the mean streets of Fort Lauderdale, where every streetlight is a traffic jam and sometimes they're out of your favorite pizza at the Vitos. My paternal grandparents immigrated from the foreign country of Cuba, and my maternal grandparents immigrated from the foreign country of Louisiana. Despite this, I enjoy bike riding, games, and origami. My major is Business Administration, but I am going to go to Dental school, to be come a dentist. Thats normally why people go to Dental school.
Anyways, I went to Europe for a class trip in 10th grade. It was a lot of fun, we stayed in this small spooky town somewhere near Normandy, and a girl in our class got lost for like an hour and everyone was freaking out and thought things were about to go full Taken. It was fine though, she had just gone to the bathroom and got separated from the group. Overalll the trip was great, and I learned a lot about France. I'd love to travel more, when I have things like money, which is great for travelling.
(Like this basically, that's how we thought it was going to go down)
In conclusion, the future is brighter than ever for Jordan Lopez! Productivity is up, more and more businesses are moving to Jordan Lopez, and we are the largest exporter of Rare Earth Minerals in the state! Truly, everything is coming up Jordan Lopez.
Anyways, I went to Europe for a class trip in 10th grade. It was a lot of fun, we stayed in this small spooky town somewhere near Normandy, and a girl in our class got lost for like an hour and everyone was freaking out and thought things were about to go full Taken. It was fine though, she had just gone to the bathroom and got separated from the group. Overalll the trip was great, and I learned a lot about France. I'd love to travel more, when I have things like money, which is great for travelling.
In conclusion, the future is brighter than ever for Jordan Lopez! Productivity is up, more and more businesses are moving to Jordan Lopez, and we are the largest exporter of Rare Earth Minerals in the state! Truly, everything is coming up Jordan Lopez.
Monday, January 11, 2016
"My Entrepreneurship Story"
My family has a bit of a history with entrepreneurship. My great-uncle on my mothers side was a established and well regarded figure in the Judo community, and owned and operated his own dojo. He started this business after immigrating to America from Cuba. He had practiced Judo almost his whole life, and was successful in tournaments both in the US and in Cuba. As he got older and started a family in the States, he decided to pursue his true love of throwing people onto the ground instead of getting a more pedestrian job where he would have to follow other peoples rules. He ran his dojo for the rest of his life, until he died in his late 80s. Though by the end of his life he was too old to slam and be slammed onto floor mats, he was still said to be quite the intimidating figure, and a clever businessman. Unfortunately he died just 6 months before I was born. Maybe if he had lived longer I'd be training to be a Judo master instead of a dentist. But then again, even if that was the case this class would still be useful to me! I hope to learn the mentality and skills needed to strike out on my own and start my own enterprise, whether its a dojo or a dental practice. That's why I enrolled in ENT3003! That and it was easily the most interesting of my elective choices...
Thursday, January 7, 2016
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