30A – Final Reflection

1.There were many moments of dread, because I could find the right people for certain assignments, or they were taking too long to answer back. I did enjoy making the connections with people and reading others feedback and their ideas.

2. I will definitely remember reading the books, they were actually interesting, unlike many books we would be assigned during high school or other classes.

3. I do think myself as more of an entrepreneur. Of course that there are things that I would still need to hone in, but I do think that the fundamentals for this mindset are there and ready.

4. I would definitely try and finish the assignments earlier in the week, or at least read the assignments and then have it mulling over in your head until you get a great idea on where to go from there. I would recommend being very open to criticism and also to new ideas that you may not be in your comfort zone.

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

I read The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, Guy Kawasaki

1)  The general theme or argument of the book was to teach how to have your company use social media to get in touch with your consumers. This book teaches you how to navigate many of the big social media outlets like Facebook, the now extinct Google hangouts, and others.

2) The book really showed how to get to your market audience and how to use social media to retain them by showing them that you are on the ball when it comes to have easy to use and modern ways to let them connect with your company.

3) I would definitely design an exercise involving creating a fake social media account for our companies or services and classmates try to get hold of us through that by doing the peer reviews of the exercise through there instead of through these blogs.

4) I was surprised that they weren't just saying things like this is what we think would be smart to do, they were stating their experiences they have had while using social media for themselves or for jobs they have had. I found that interesting because its not a how to book, but a retelling of what they found out. I also found it interesting that once you have really created pages that you plan on using, you can check them by going into an incognito window and check out the page to see how it looks and feels.

26A – Celebrating Failure

* I have failed multiple times this semester to wake up to my alarm when i have wanted to go do something important, like grocery shopping or laundry. I would set the alarm the morning before, and then end up staying up late for whatever reason, then wake up to the alarm, then look at my phone for like ten minutes and then fall back asleep, until like noon-ish.

*I learned that I should really try not to stay up super late, at least not all the time, because it is bound to happen again and it messes with my sleep schedule.

*Failure is very difficult, because it can bring you down and it can be hard to recover from it if it really hits you hard. But with the books that I have read here in class and seeing what exactly needs to be done to use failure to your advantage and learn from it. I wouldn't say I am more likely to risk now, I am just more aware about what I can expect if I fail at something.

23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

* I have a contact in the same industry who can help me find suppliers
Valuable: very valuable as I can get started on finding companies that can build me parts to get.
Rare: It is not very rare
Imitable: There are probably many companies who have steadfast suppliers.

* I have a friend who can help science things up for the product
Valuable: it is not valuable, but useful to help figure out the kinks in the science part of it.
Rare: It is not that rare.
Imitable: Theres always companies that have their own science people to help them.

* I have experience with serving and communicating with customers
Valuable: Very valuable, as not everyone can deal with or communicate their thoughts to consumers correctly.
Rare: it is not that rare
Imitable: Theres most likely a whole department for people that are able to do this for large companies.

* I know people close to me who would be in the market for the item.
Valuable: It is valuable to have some people who would be able to rep the product and initially buy it.
Rare: It is not rare
Imitable: Theres a large chance most people that know the companies will use the product if it applies to them.

* This idea for the product
Valuable: it is very valuable because getting a head start can help the company grow enough to where main competitors are.
Rare: it can be rare
Imitable: It can be imitable, but I would have some time

*Having people who want to save the earth
Valuable: it is valuable because having people spread the word to people in my market is important
Rare: it is uncommon
Imitable: I mean it can be copied if similar products were made with less waste.

*My perseverance
Valuable: Someone who wants to be successful need to be able to persist through all problems
 Rare: It can be, compare to people who give up easily
Imitable: This can be copied

*Being able to competitively price items
Valuable: It is valuable to be able to price things correctly
Rare: it can be rare to not find products that are competitively price
Imitable: Prices can always be copied

*I have many people who have diabetes and are interested in the product
Valuable: It is valuable to have people looking for better options
Rare: It can be rare to personally know or find people willing to buy your product
Imitable: It can be copied if you hype people well enough

* I have many medical professionals who think that this is a very plausible
Valuable: It is valuable because I can possibly
Rare: It is not very rare to have other successful people think that your item is interesting
Imitable: It can be copied

My top resource would probably be the uniqueness of the product. Be able to surprise the market with a good product is a double-edge blade. I can surprise the big companies that control the diabetes market, but also releasing it without much hype can also hurt the growth of the product.

I would hopefully be able to get many people to see how this product can help the planet and people.

21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Scott Adams

1) The general theme of the book is that you can turn failures into springboards to successes later on in life. The book also gives ideas and suggestions on how to better your life and get your life together.

2) This book definitely connected with the elevator pitches. Since we are able to correct them with feedback that we receive. With the feedback, we can use the mistakes we have made and make it better. It also connects that not all business ventures result in making a bunch of money or become successful.

3) The exercise would include knowing what priorities are important to you in your life. It would also include finding out what qualities you have to offer to employers.

4) I was really surprised that he had bounced around so many business ventures throughout his life. I think its very interesting that he was able to get better jobs just by being bad at his job and giving his higher ups advise. Another thing that surprised me was that he mentioned that you should try to be a bit selfish.

20A – Growing Your Social Capital

1.) One person most be a domain expert in your industry: I met this person who works in a chemistry lab in a large pharmaceutical company. I met hime through a friend of a family friend, so it was really just a matter of texting him for information and possible ways he could help. He was very happy to be able to give me help, he isn't really expecting anything in return. This inclusion could help me make sure I can get the best combination of chemicals and active agents into the reusable tips that I can use.

2.) One person must be an expert on your market: I have a personal friend who actually has a significant other and a family with a Diabetes, so this friend has a lot of experience in the market on how everyday lives could be made easier and less intense on their pockets. They are a telecommunication major, who really knows her way around a conversation and the market. She is a fellow classmate of mine a few semester's ago, and we just kind of talked it over and I managed to get a few interviews with people she knew with Diabetes. She really didnt expect anything in return, other than being able to be helpful in making a good product that can actually change lives. Including this person into my network can help get feedback many times faster than trying to wrangle people with surveys on the street or through mass emails, making getting more improvements out faster.


3.) One person must be an important supplier to your industry: I managed to get an interview with a manager at a supply facility at Arthrex. He was super nice and was glad that someone was interested in how the supplying of medical equipment. I met him through a friend of my mother who works under him. I basically just emailed him and we ended up getting coffee somewhere. He was super knowledge about with how his item( heart monitors) was assembled and tested. He seemed very interested in my product, though I personally didnt really enjoy him or his company. I do think he might want something in return, such a some equity or free stuff if this ever takes off. Including this person into the group allows for me to try and get prices for what people are paying versus what I can price things at.


Reflect: I think that connecting people who are networked with possible competitors is very important and to network with those people who are competitors as well. It was very different as I needed to feed them more information than I would usually try and give at say a normal social setting. I also cant just walk away  from them and never see them again as easily as it would be in a public event.

19A – Idea Napkin No. 2

1.) I have some contracts here and there who can help me explain some things and possible help me bring my idea into fruition.

2.) Offering an alternative to people who are tired of paying for testing strips for diabetes testing and don't want to pay for expensive constant monitors, while saving the planet. A reusable strip for testing blood sugar that can be sanitized and used again.With this new strip you be able to get accurate. It would be shaped like the thermometers that children stick in their mouths or under the arm. The strip itself would be able to be removed. The meter would be able to read the normal things a glucose meter would be able to read, along with whether the blood-glucose level is fine or not.

3.) Diabetics from any age group, who can prick themselves and would like an alternative to using paper strips or those with continuous glucose monitors who want to save some money and extra doctor's visits.

4.) Throughout a year, a diabetic can spend quite a bit of money for quality blood sugar test strips, so this change can reduce the amount of strips they could use throughout their life, as diabetes is a lifetime challenge. This will also help the planet, as the used strips can not be recycled due to the bio hazard, so they will end up going to a landfill.

5.) It has never been done before and it will definitely spice up the market that these big blood-glucose testing strip companies have had for a while. Even though curve for entering a market would be quite steep, it would be possible to with some work to get an edge on the market while to try to come up with a similar product.

I do think that most of the elements that I have available fit together, other than the part with what I can bring to the table. I do think that with some networking and such I could build some more reliable and useful connections to really tie everything together and possibly make it easier to get such a product to market.

The main point that was made from feedback was to go into depth a bit more about the product. The feedback also included some good ideas to add to the design of the product.