Week 8: reading reflection

Okay, I'm not sure if it's because I've never thought about sources of capital, or if I had misconceptions about capital, but there were quite a few things that were new to me this week. Right off the bat, the types of capital, it never would have occurred to me that family and friends were sources of capital, but it's so obvious. Would donors on Kickstarter and other crowdfunding sites be considered friends/family? They don't fit the criteria of Angels, even though the title sounds like it would fit. 
 
Let's back up a little bit. I have seriously thought about leaving urban life and becoming a farmer. Side note: for anyone who has had similar thoughts I recommend reading The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball. So in this fantasy where I start farming, it's usually subsistence farming, but, on occasion, I think about becoming a nonprofit business that provides food and other products to a whole community. I've been putting aside money already (owner's money), and though I wouldn't ask friends or family for money, I know it is common for farmers to have community help, primarily from other farmers. At that point, I would skip the next few steps and get government help through the USDA. 

Because of the nature of my entrepreneurial (sort of) adventure, the route I would take is different from other entrepreneurs. For example, an IPO made sense for Facebook but wouldn't be status quo for a farm. Going to a commercial bank is plausible for a farm endeavor but not advisable because of the nature of farming and the potential of payback issues. 

The prospect of inviting a venture capitalist on board is frightening despite the myth dispelling. I enjoy watching Shark Tank from time to time, but having to pitch an idea to the sharks...even if I was successful, success would mean sharing my business with someone else. Again, farming is not the kind of idea that would appeal to a venture capitalist anyway; it's the wrong forum completely. For someone with a revolutionary product who needed connection for production and distribution, Shark Tank would be brilliant, and I do appreciate the portrayal of the pitch process. The reading's major category screening criteria fit with the show's model, what the sharks look at and who is ultimately chosen to receive capital. 

On the whole, this week's reading gave me a lot to think about. For anyone who stumbled to the blog from outside the ENT3003 family, we're looking at Kuratko, Chapter 8: Sources of Capital for Entrepreneurial Ventures. There are some ideas here that I want to apply to my fantasy plan, helpful things to look at in composing and evaluating my business plan. In the future, I would like to see clarification about crowdfunding as it pertains to sources of capital. Is crowdfunding a new category? A subset of an existing category? Give me answers!  

What?! It's the half-way reflection!

Okay, first of all, to those who say we've definitely demonstrated tenacity by making it halfway through the course, count me out. Don't get me wrong, I want to be tenacious--I'm just not there yet. But I will get there, and here's how:

• Determination - I have failed (by my standards), but I won't allow my less than tenacious performance keep me from evolving. Ain't nobody got time for wallowing.
• Analysis - Looking at why I've fallen short and how to fix it is not only who I am, it's a great skill for self-improvement. And school. Analysis is clutch in academia.
• Persistence - Determination's cousin, persistence, is the other half of the puzzle for pushing through. I'm a serial procrastinator with A LOT on my plate so if I let this one slide, and I have, I only get halfway. It's like the Yellowdig pin on motivation porn--look it up!

So it's about DAP for me. When I missed two rounds of points for customer interviews because I couldn't get people to stop and talk to a camera, I didn't let that stop me from getting audio for round three. DAP! Interviewees still tried to run, but I got by.

Sometimes it's about celebrating small success. I missed x assignment but found an awesome pin on Yellowdig about revolutionary period panties and the beautiful brains behind them. Win! 

Are you starting to see a pattern? Burst out of the safety bubble where courses all look the same, require the same things from you and grow. Get curious, explore, for Christ's sake forget about your grade. That's right. I said it. Forget about your grade. It's difficult to do; I promise it's worth it. Liberated learners gain more than those tethered to the boulder obligation.

I also highly recommend Yellowdig. Yellowdig, Yellowdig, Yellowdig.

Elevator pitch no. 2

Well, since I received glowing reviews on my last elevator pitch, I thought I would switch things up and try a different approach. I lost the hat, wore a button up (and black pants, though you can't see them) and trimmed my pitch to 60 seconds. It's not as dynamic, but it's clean. I think in an ideal world I could combine the two, maybe cut down the time and pitch of my first attempt but keep the personality. I like bringing my energy and creativity to the business, and the subdued version, while it has merit, is more mainstream. 

Customer interviews no. 3 (er, 1)

Ah, the joys of stopping strangers with children. After all the rejection from former weeks, I went out renewed knowing a voice recording would suffice. Shockingly, people were still apprehensive, tight-lipped and not succumbing to my charms.

Technical difficulties - check back for audio
Listen to The Customer Interview Chronicles by Kelly 
Interview 2
Interview 3
Interview 4

I asked parents/young adults to read an index card describing my venture idea then asked for their feedback. Beyond the revelation that people don't like to stop and talk to strangers, I learned my venture does indeed have a market. One couple asked whether 1, 2, 3 Play was already being developed and when it would be ready. Price is a huge concern for my market. There are free activities available for parents so to compete with libraries and playgrounds, for example, I have to keep the facility fresh. One interviewee suggested classes, and I think that fits into the model well. 

All of these exercises are pushing me toward 1, 2, 3 Play becoming a real thing. 

Idea napkin no. 1

Behold, my idea napkin! Actually, it's an unfolded bank envelope--how appropriate--I started scribbling on when 1, 2, 3 Play first came to mind because I do have the bad habit of writing notes on napkins, envelopes, whatever scrap paper I have.

For those who don't want to struggle through reading my lovely notes, I'm a mother of two children under the age of five and intimately familiar with the question of what to do with the kids. That's where 1, 2, 3 Play began. During a cold, rainy weekend of shuffling around to crowded malls and other indoor activities, I recognized the need for an age-specific indoor play place. I want to provide the solution not only to my problem but to the problem so many parents have. Screaming littles full of pent up energy are no fun, and as parents we want them to get out, play and learn. We want to provide them with the resources they need to grow.

I would want to be a part of the day to day at 1, 2, 3 Play, not just the big picture. Beyond what I've learned at Warrington, I have a history of leadership I want to return to and build on. I enjoy managing, and I enjoy working with customers. My background in Pre-K education won't hurt. Neither will my brief stint with design. 

My target market is parents of babies, toddlers and Pre-K'ers. They all want a safe, fun place to bring their children, and most would be adding 1, 2, 3 Play as a part of their regular rotation (i.e. library, zoo, 1, 2, 3 Play). A place like 1, 2, 3 Play doesn't exist, I think because no one sees the potential for this market (particularly, focusing on children under five).

I think the business and I could flourish together. We fit together like peanut butter and jelly, truly. There are fine details to work out, but the concept is strong, and my vision is clear.  

Week 6: reading reflection

Week 6's reading reminded me of a paper I had to write in macroeconomics about market models--oligopoly, monopoly, monopolistic competition, perfect competition. The basis of the article is something most business students know, the five forces that shape strategy, but there is valuable information beyond the concepts this article reinforces.

Being nit-picky, on the profitability of selected U.S. industries chart, does the second to last industry say catalog, mail-order houses? I gather that means mail-order catalogs sent to houses NOT houses ordered from catalogs. They may want to reword that. And why were knitting mills selected for the list? And men’s and boys’ clothing but not women’s?

I particularly like the quote, “substitutes are always present, but they are easy to overlook because they may appear to be very different from the industry’s product.” Out of everything in the article, I think the section about substitutes was most interesting to me because Porter is right, substitutes could be elusive. How do you create strategy to combat the unknown, speculation? It's delicate and requires a hefty combination of research and intuition. The more I read, the more strategists seem like magicians. Industry analysis, and avoiding things like undermining one's own success by accidentally shifting the power to someone else, intrigues me.

Oh, and the notion that “video rental outlets are struggling with the emergence of cable and satellite video-on-demand services, online video rental services such as Netflix and the rise of internet video sites like Google’s YouTube.” Excuse me, struggling? Can you find a video rental store? I wanted a movie the other night that I could have only gotten from Blockbuster; my combined resources of Redbox, Netflix, HBO NOW and the Internet failed me (for immediate watching, at least). I’d have to disagree that video rental stores are struggling; they’ve died.

I would like more information about selecting appropriate time horizons and how lead time affects entrepreneurs. I've never envisioned entrepreneurs planning far in advance (i.e. decades), which comes as a surprise to me. Why do I hear entrepreneur and venture and think of a slapdash trip down the rabbit hole, fast and furious? I suppose it's because there is strong emphasis on innovation and beating others to the finish line. 

Agreed that understanding industry structure and what shapes it is important for investors and managers alike.

Week 5: reading reflection

This week's reading was the first time I felt a little thrown off. Obviously we're all human--the humans I assume are reading this, at least--but I was surprised to read that entrepreneurs aren't objective when it comes to their ideas and that they aren't always well-versed in the technology associated with their ventures. 

Most of the concepts in this week's reading tied into what I've learned in other courses, product pricing and uniqueness, for example, and few ventures succeeding, so I didn't at any point find myself confused. I would like to know if the number of start-up ventures has gone up, down or stayed the same since the book went to print and how we ended up at that number. 

To cap things off, I would like to disagree with entrepreneurs not being objective about their ideas, but, as I've said, we're all human, and believing in our ideas helps us push forward when others are discouraging. I try to stay objective about my own ideas so that I don't get carried away with something that drains me and doesn't pay off, and because previous chapters have pointed out the prominence of calculated risk, I like to think objectivity does come into play for many entrepreneurs.  

The reading brought me back to Sheldon Barrett's elevator pitch. If you haven't watched it, or checked out Cocovana, do it now! He may not have been objective because his idea was personal to him, and although he's an engineering student, he didn't first know the technology behind creating his product, but his pitch completely sold me.

Food for thought.

Elevator pitch no.1

Florida has an unpredictable climate that can be harsh even at its best. If you have young children, you know the struggle of finding places to hang out. 1, 2, 3 Play is an indoor playground for children under age five. Amazing, right? Crank up your volume and check out my pitch! (How can you not when the thumbnail makes me look like an evangelist?)