Final Reflection

What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?

     The most formative experience I had in ENT3003 was the Venture Concept assignment. The Venture Concept assignment really tied together all of my hard work throughout the semester and simply compiled my business into a one page summary. My most joyous experience was the Bug List assignment. Trying to come up with so many bugs was a fun test for myself and I really enjoyed it. I was the most proud of the Growing Social Capital assignment. I thought this assignment was difficult but I felt accomplished once I finished.

At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. And we repeated the mantra -- I am an entrepreneur. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?

     I definitely see myself as more of an entrepreneur than before this class started. However, I wouldn't say I am a true entrepreneur. I have more of an entrepreneurial mindset but I still wouldn't consider myself a legitimate entrepreneur. 

What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?

     The recommendation I would make to students who decide to take this class is pick an idea you are passionate about and then build your business around that. If you do not care about your business, this class will be very difficult for you. You must truly have a desire to grow your business and put in the necessary effort.

Entrepreneur Resume

Juliana P. Krevans

4110 NW 23^rd CT Boca Raton, FL 33431 | 561-542-3379 | julianakrevans@gmail.com

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Finance                                May 2018 

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Minors: Entrepreneurship and Communication Studies

GPA: 3.97

Deans List (Fall 2015)

Beta Gamma Sigma

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Founder | CelebMe | Gainesville, FL                                                              2016-Present

• ·      Formulated an idea into a real business by creating a written venture concept
• ·      Researched multiple areas of the market and received feedback from potential customers
• ·      Identified my company’s advantages and leveraged connections through networking
• ·      Expanded my social capital by reaching out to established people in my field

Marketing Intern | Vive | Gainesville, FL                                                     Oct. 2014-Apr. 2015

• ·      Advertised Vive, a new coffee delivery service, to the University of Florida
• ·      Created and managed 10+ advertisements on Facebook
• ·      Gathered local feedback regarding the company’s product through social media analytics

EXPERIENCES AND SKILLS

Student | Entrepreneurship | Gainesville, FL                                                           Jan. 2016-Apr. 2016

• ·      Identified various local and global opportunities I could base my business off of
• ·      Interviewed a successful entrepreneur in order to learn from their mistakes and successes
• ·      Pitched my business concept multiple times so that I could perfect my venture concept
• ·      Asked various types of customers questions regarding my app so that I could improve it
• ·      Acknowledged my advantages compared to my competitors and differentiated my app

Week 15 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

     The biggest surprise was definitely that most of the company’s customers barely have any money and that they only lend to women. Hearing the daily struggle their customers go through is heart breaking.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

     It is slightly confusing to me why a company would only lend money to women. While I see they are trying to make a point and empower women, I do not think it is all that fair.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

     a. Which entrepreneurial principle do you think is the most vital when starting a company?

     I would ask this question because it could help me when starting my own company.

     b.  What is more important to you, making your business successful or your customers?

     I am just curious and would like to hear the authors opinion.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

I do not believe the author was wrong about anything in this article.

Elevator Pitch No. 4

To improve my final elevator pitch I took into account some of the feedback I have received. I moved my hands less and spoke more clearly. I also emphasized how my app, CelebMe, and google differ.

Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity

Most people in today’s society are connected through social media. Either through their phones, watching TV, surfing the Internet, or viewing advertisements. In doing so, celebrities pop up frequently. Since there are so many celebrities these days, it is very difficult to keep up with their names and people tend to draw a blank. While the need to know celebrities names may be more important to people ranging from ages 10-30, middle-aged people care as well. It can drive anyone crazy, no matter the topic, when someone’s name is on the tip of their tongue but they simply cannot remember it.

Some of the forces or changes in the environment that are creating this opportunity are:

• ·      Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.)
• ·      More TV series (due to platforms such as Netflix)
• ·      Movies
• ·      Advertisements (in newspapers, commercials, billboards, etc.)

Customers are currently satisfying their need of knowing who is who by either asking the people around them or searching on Google. However, there is always room for improvement.

Innovation

My business, CelebMe, is an app that allows you to take a picture of a celebrity (either in person, off a TV screen, from an advertisement, etc.), upload that picture to the app, and the app will identify the name of the celebrity for you. Many people say can’t Google do this for me? While yes, you can try and think of things related to the celebrity and type them into Google, my app is much simpler. Lets say you don’t know anything about the celebrity. You happen to see their face and are curious what their name is; my app will have an answer for you while Google will not. On the app store there will be two versions of CelebMe. One version of CelebMe will cost $1.29 and advertisements will pop up every now and then. The second version of CelebMe will cost $3.99, and no advertisements will appear. This way, I make money off both options and allow my customers to choose their preferred version.

Venture Concept

CelebMe will solve the opportunity listed above by quickly providing people with answers. Many people these days are focused on convenience. My app can provide you the answer you have been thinking about for an hour, in one minute.

I believe customers would switch to my app from Google because my app is easier. Instead of having to type a bunch of key words into Google so that it can recognize whom you are talking about, you can just simply upload a picture to my app. Since convenience is currently such a high priority in society, I definitely think people will switch over.

I think my price point is very fair and that people will be willing to spend that amount of money. People spend $1.29 for songs and games all day, so I believe they will be willing to spend that same money on an app that can provide them answers quickly. From personal experience, and those I have interviewed, it can drive you crazy when you cannot think of someone’s name. Therefore, spending $1.29 on something that can quickly provide you the correct answer is definitely worth it.

In order to support my business, I will need a few staff members. I will need someone in charge of the finances, advertisements, marketing, and the coding of the app. Having strong employees in those four areas will aid my business in success.

Three Minor Elements

Most Important Resource:

            I believe my most important resource will be my technology team and coder. Without them, my app is just an idea. This team will make my app come to life and give me the ability to turn CelebMe into a real company. In order to make it difficult for people to copy my business, I will file for a patent on the technology. Therefore, I will at least have a period of time without many competitors. However, if the patent does not go through, hopefully by the time competing apps come out my app will already be successful so that it is the highest rated on the app store. Therefore, if someone types in my app, mine will be the first to pop up as opposed to my competitors. I know from personal experience, that I typically buy the first app that comes up from my search as that usually means it has the highest ratings.

What’s Next For The Venture:

            Next, I want to add more features to my app so that my customers can use the app for more than just identifying celebrities. I want my app to be able to recognize brand logos, famous landmarks, famous artwork, and more. This way, my app is even more convenient for more people and my market of customers can expand.

What’s Next For Me:

            In five years, I hope to have successfully programmed my app and launched my company. Although CelebMe will most likely be in the beginning phases, I hope to have a decent amount of purchases and downloads. Additionally, I hope to sell my company. While I hope CelebMe is successful, I do not see this venture as my life long goal. Therefore, I hope to sell my company and continue with my career.

            As an entrepreneur, I simply hope to be successful. While I hope to be successful from this venture, if I am not that is okay too. I am determined to do whatever it takes to succeed regardless of what business or venture concept my success comes from. 

Feedback

Students that commented on my Venture Concept No. 1 really liked my idea and how I explained it. Some, however, believe that my app may not be used too often because of google. Hopefully after re-reading my venture concept people can see how google and my app differentiate. Additionally, students also agree with me that it is a smart decision to sell CelebMe within the next 5 years.

Changes

I updated my venture concept by further explaining how my app differentiates from google. I also expanded upon my "what's next" strategy. Hopefully these clarifications and changes help explain my venture concept better.

Google Gold

1) A discussion of your general approach and strategy to search engine optimization (SEO). What were some of the activities you did for each blog post to pursue SEO? 

     I made sure to organize my blogs very well and title them accordingly. Many of my terms used in my blog post correlated with the terms used in my title. Therefore, that hopefully increased my SEO.

2) What were your keywords. How did you select those keywords? Did you change or refine your keywords through the semester?

     My keywords depended on the blog post. However, some key words used throughout all of my posts are: entrepreneur, marketing, opportunity, and capital. I selected these as some of my keywords because I feel they represent this class and the assignments appropriately. Hopefully, when people are searching google for things related to entrepreneurship, my blog will come up.

3) How did you use social media to enhance your SEO efforts? What your your surprises or general impression of using social media to improve your blog's profile? Was social media generally receptive of your blog, or did it get ignored?

     I didn't really post my blog on Facebook or Twitter, but I did send it to my friends and family. By word of mouth my blog had spread to many people. However, now looking back, I probably should have posted my blog more on social media in order to increase my SEO. 
     What surprised me most was how some posts had significantly more views than others. Overall, social media was generally receptive to my blog.

4) What was your most "viral" post? In other words, which post obtained the most traffic? Why do you think?

     My most viral post was "Worlds Biggest Problems". This may have been my most viral post since this post deals with big, real world issues. There are many problems in the world these days that many people are concerned about. Whenever people hear about a new issue they investigate to find out as much information as possible. Therefore, maybe people really agreed with the 5 problems I identified so many people wanted to inquire further.

5) Finally, did you make it to the first page of Google results for your keywords? If not, what page of results did you make it to?

     I did not make it onto the first page of Google results and it was very difficult to find my blog. Therefore, I definitely need to work on my SEO

     

Week 14 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

     I found the concept of intracapital to be slightly surprising. I would think that a company would want to have multiple people look over an idea before deciding whether or not to spend money on it and invest. I would not have thought that there would be money set aside for the corporate entrepreneur to do whatever he/she wants.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

     The concept of Skunk Works was slightly confusing to me. Further explanation and more details would help me better understand this concept.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

     a. What do you believe to be the most important factor of the Corporate Entrepreneurship Assessment Instrument (CEAI)?

     I would ask this question because it could help me later on when I decide to start my own business.

     b. Do you think Ecovision is necessary when starting a new business?

     I would ask this question because I am curious and trust Kuratko’s opinion.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

     I do not believe Kuratko was wrong about anything in this chapter.

Very Short Interview, Part 2

Impression of the initial interview

I believe the questions I asked in my Very Short Interview Part 1 and the answers I received were and still are very helpful. The entrepreneur I interviewed believes that business classes should focus more on the logistics of starting your own business so that when students graduate they have the necessary skills and knowledge to start their own company and succeed.

Three Questions:

1. 
Me: Do you believe my app, CelebMe, has the potential to succeed?

Entrepreneur: Yes. I do believe your app, CelebMe, has the potential to succeed as long as you market it to an appropriate audience. From being in the advertising field, I truly know how important marketing is. Everyone is connected to social media and pop culture these days so I definitely think people would buy into your app.

2. 
Me: Do you think my plan to sell my business within the next 5-10 years is appropriate?

Entrepreneur: I believe that is a smart plan to pursue as long as that is what you want. If you see this app as a life-long goal, then definitely do not sell it. However, if you want to make some money and then continue with your professional career, then definitely sell.

3. 
Me: What would be your advice to a new entrepreneur?

Entrepreneur: My advice would be follow your dreams but in a realistic manner. If you are really passionate about something and believe you can turn it into a successful business, then go for it. But if you begin to lose too much money and time, be realistic about your venture and stop before you lose everything.

How far I've come in this class

I definitely felt more comfortable in this interview than the first one. In the first interview I had a very vague concept of what I wanted my business to be. Now I have defined so many of the prior unknowns. In this interview I could actually ask questions pertaining to my business as opposed to just generic entrepreneur type questions. The entrepreneur I interviewed could definitely see how far I have progressed and was impressed by my questions.

Celebrating Failure

1) Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester, and failed each time. 

     This past semester, I failed to declare 2 assignments. I did both assignments in time, but forgot to log onto Canvas and actually declare them. I was very upset over this because I didn't think it was fair that I took the time to do all of the work and still not receive credit. However, I realized that this was the platform of the class and it was completely my responsibility to remember to declare my own assignments. While I was very angry at myself for forgetting, I have learned from my mistake and moved on.

2) Tell us what you learned from it.

     I consider myself to be a very organized person. From this experience I learned that even the most organized people can forget to do things sometimes. From then on, I made a clear schedule of all of the assignments due dates and checked them off each time they were completed. Since then, I have yet to miss an assignment.

3) Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn't it? It's embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we have to change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failure (emotionally, behaviorally). Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were four months ago?  

     Failure is a very difficult thing to deal with. I haven't experienced too much failure in my life thus far, however, I do not handle failure particularly well. When I work really hard and still fail, it's extremely demoralizing and it makes me angry. However, I have learned that it only makes you stronger and it helps you improve for the next time. Therefore, I have come to terms with failure and am able to handle it much better than before. After taking this class, I have learned that it is okay to fail- sometimes even encouraged. I am definitely more likely to take risks than I was 4 months ago.

Week 13 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

     I found it to be surprising that the entrepreneur often has a different vision for the venture than the investor. I would assume that typically the investor would invest in a start-up because he and the entrepreneur both believe in the company and have similar ideas for the future of the business.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

     The concept of undercapitalization was a little confusing to me. Further explanation and details would help me better understand the topic.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

     a. Which valuation method do you believe is the best?

I would ask this question because it could help my business in the future.

      b. Which do you prefer to use, term sheets or letters of intent?

I would ask this question because I am curious and trust Kuratko’s opinion.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

     I do not believe the author was wrong about anything in this chapter.

My Exit Strategy

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?

     I intend to sell my business in 5 years for a large return.

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

     I have selected this exit strategy because although I love the idea of my app, I don't want to do that for my whole career. I truly hope my app becomes successful, but I hope to do more things in my career besides CelebMe.

3) How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources?

     My exit strategy has influenced the decisions I have made in that I want to grow fast. I hope to grow quickly and advance my app as much as possible so that I can receive the most money when I sell it.

What's Next

Existing Market

Step 1:

     The next expansion in my business will be to expand my app to be able to identify more than just celebrities. My app will now be able to identify brand logos, famous landmarks, and famous artwork. By being able to identify more, this will increase the amount of customers I have due to the multi-functionality the app can now provide.

Step 2:

Natalie

Kimberly

Winston

Step 3:

     The customers I interviewed gave me great feedback for how to further expand my company. Natalie told me that I should enable the app so that you can take a picture of someone's clothes and the app can identify what website those clothes can be purchased on. From personal experience, I have often been in the position where I love something one of my friends is wearing and they can't remember where they got it from. With this app, this problem will be solved. My app can help solve people's questions and increase business for other companies as well.

     For the future, I plan to start by just allowing my app to identify celebrities, then expand to landmarks, brand logos, and artwork, and then work up to identify apparel. I want to begin slow so that I can develop a solid customer basis and then grow from there.

New Market

Step 1:

     My target market is young adults who are interested in pop culture and keeping up with celebrities lives. As my new market, I decided to use middle aged adults who don't have an interest in pop culture.

Step 2:

     I think my app may be able to create value for middle aged adults who are not interested in pop culture by sparking their interest. Although these people may not particularly care about pop culture, due to my apps convenience I believe many of them would give my app a chance and potentially like it.

Step 3:

Nikki

Fred

Amelia

Step 4:

     I learned a lot from this new market. The three people I interviewed all said that they would be open to trying my app. Being open minded is all I can ask for, and once they try my app hopefully they like it and continue to use it.

     The people I interviewed said that they would be open to trying my app so that they could relate to their kids more and partake in more conversations with others about pop culture. I was not surprised by their responses and think they proved my assumptions to be true. While this market may not be as appealing as my existing market, I definitely find this market appealing and will try to pursue this segment as much as possible.

Week 12 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

     I was surprised to find that many entrepreneurs perceive a high cost associated with planning. Having a detailed and realistic plan is very important when starting a business. Therefore, I would assume that entrepreneur’s would see this as a priority and not care too much about the cost since it is absolutely necessary in starting your own business. Additionally, I would not think that coming up with a plan would cost that much money, I would just think it takes time.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

     I found the entrepreneurial strategy matrix to be a little confusing. Further details and explanation would help me understand the concept better.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

     a. Which fatal vision, number 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, do you believe to be the most detrimental?

          I would ask this question because it could help me avoid a crucial mistake in the future.

     b. Why do you think it is so hard to balance the entrepreneurial versus managerial?

          I would ask this question because I am curious and trust Kuratko’s opinion.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

     I do not believe the author was wrong about anything in this chapter.

Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity

Most people in today’s society are connected through social media. Either through their phones, watching TV, surfing the Internet, or viewing advertisements. In doing so, celebrities pop up frequently. Since there are so many celebrities these days, it is very difficult to keep up with their names and people tend to draw a blank. While the need to know celebrities names may be more important to people ranging from ages 10-30, middle-aged people care as well. It can drive anyone crazy, no matter the topic, when someone’s name is on the tip of their tongue but they simply cannot remember it.

Some of the forces or changes in the environment that are creating this opportunity are:

• ·      Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.)
• ·      More TV series (due to platforms such as Netflix)
• ·      Movies
• ·      Advertisements (in newspapers, commercials, billboards, etc.)

Customers are currently satisfying their need of knowing who is who by either asking the people around them or searching on Google. However, there is always room for improvement.

Innovation

My business, CelebMe, is an app that allows you to take a picture of a celebrity (either in person, off a TV screen, from an advertisement, etc.), upload that picture to the app, and the app will identify the name of the celebrity for you. Many people say can’t Google do this for me? While yes, you can try and think of things related to the celebrity and type them into Google, my app is much simpler. Lets say you don’t know anything about the celebrity. You happen to see their face and are curious what their name is; my app will have an answer for you while Google will not. On the app store there will be two versions of CelebMe. One version of CelebMe will cost $1.29 and advertisements will pop up every now and then. The second version of CelebMe will cost $3.99, and no advertisements will appear. This way, I make money off both options and allow my customers to choose their preferred version.

Venture Concept

CelebMe will solve the opportunity listed above by quickly providing people with answers. Many people these days are focused on convenience. My app can provide you the answer you have been thinking about for an hour, in one minute.

I believe customers would switch to my app from Google because my app is easier. Instead of having to type a bunch of key words into Google so that it can recognize whom you are talking about, you can just simply upload a picture to my app. Since convenience is currently such a high priority in society, I definitely think people will switch over.

I think my price point is very fair and that people will be willing to spend that amount of money. People spend $1.29 for songs and games all day, so I believe they will be willing to spend that same money on an app that can provide them answers quickly. From personal experience, and those I have interviewed, it can drive you crazy when you cannot think of someone’s name. Therefore, spending $1.29 on something that can quickly provide you the correct answer is definitely worth it.

In order to support my business, I will need a few staff members. I will need someone in charge of the finances, advertisements, marketing, and the coding of the app. Having strong employees in those four areas will aid my business in success.

Three Minor Elements

Most Important Resource:

            I believe my most important resource will be my technology team and coder. Without them, my app is just an idea. This team will make my app come to life and give me the ability to turn CelebMe into a real company. In order to make it difficult for people to copy my business, I will file for a patent on the technology. Therefore, I will at least have a period of time without many competitors. However, if the patent does not go through, hopefully by the time competing apps come out my app will already be successful so that it is the highest rated on the app store. Therefore, if someone types in my app, mine will be the first to pop up as opposed to my competitors. I know from personal experience, that I typically buy the first app that comes up from my search as that usually means it has the highest ratings.

What’s Next For The Venture:

            Next, I want to add more features to my app so that my customers can use the app for more than just identifying celebrities. I want my app to be able to recognize brand logos, famous landmarks, famous artwork, and more. This way, my app is even more convenient for more people and my market of customers can expand.

What’s Next For Me:

            In five years, I hope to have successfully programmed my app and launched my company. Although CelebMe will most likely be in the beginning phases, I hope to have a decent amount of purchases and downloads.

            As an entrepreneur, I simply hope to be successful. While I hope to be successful from this venture, if I am not that is okay too. I am determined to do whatever it takes to succeed regardless of what business or venture concept my success comes from.