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?

• I thought that the discussion about making money at the bottom tier of the economic pyramid while raising the living standards of the people who occupy it was very interesting; it is not something that many people consider as a possibility, or even go far enough as to analyze its process. 

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

• Understanding Akula's three principles that made his firm successful was confusing to me, so I had to read over it a couple of times to understand their founding ideas. 

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

• How do you continue to profit with a business venture if your customers and your business goals aren't oriented in the same direction?
• Is there a line where if customers' interests no longer take precedent if it undermines the firm’s short-term interests?

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

• I cannot say I disagree with any of the author's statements.

Experience Portfolio

Sofia Ortiz

311 SW 13th Avenue

Apartment 510

Gainesville, Florida 32601

sofia.ortiz@ufl.edu

EDUCATION

01/15-Present University of Florida, Innovation Academy (Gainesville, FL)

Economics Degree with minors in Innovation and Sustainability; GPA: 3.41

09/14-10/14 National University of Ireland, Maynooth (Maynooth, Ireland)

Coursework: Creative Writing, Exploratory Entrepreneurship and

Innovation, and Irish Culture and Heritage; GPA: 4.0

Studies focused on start-up companies, incubators, entrepreneurs, and corporations like Google, IBM, Ryanair, and Facebook, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland

WORK EXPERIENCE

Present Founder, Sustainability Cafe Gainesville

Founder (Gainesville, FL)

Founded. prototyped, and developed startup cafe in Gainesville centered on green technology and sustainable growing techniques

10/15-Present Intern at Start Ups Made in Spain (SUMiS)

Start Ups Made in Spain (Madrid, Spain)

Translator/Intern at SUMiS, a British start-up company focused on researching and supporting the growing entrepreneurial ecosystem in Spain

Created research surveys, organized and focused business activities/materials within the company, and attended business-related meetings/activities as a SUMiS representative and translator

06/15 Sustainable Development Volunteer

Finca Toledo de Cafe Organico (Atenas, Costa Rica)

Volunteered at organic coffee plantation while conducting observational research regarding green technologies and organic farming techniques to incorporate in my own entrepreneurial endeavors

07/14-Present Cheerleading Coach & Athletic Trainer at Department of Defense and International High Schools

08/15-Present Cheerleading Coach/Athletic Trainer, American School of Madrid (Madrid, Spain)

07/14-02/15 Cheerleading Coach/Athletic Trainer, AFNORTH International School (Brunssum, Netherlands)

Assistant Cheerleading Coach, Patch High School (Stuttgart, Germany)

Assistant Cheerleading Coach, Rota High School (Rota, Spain)

Choreographed high-level competition routines for AFNORTH International school consisting of 14 athletes, and American School of Madrid, consisting of 60+ athletes; co-choregraphed Rota High School competition routine for team of 14 athletes

Coached athletes on how to safely execute high-level stunts, jumps, tumbling, and choreography



Taught leadership skills and training workshops to forge a team-building atmosphere with international students from over six different countries

Final Reflection

1) Read through your blog from this semester. Recall all of the experiences you've had a long the way -- the highs, the lows -- the fun moments, and the moments of drudgery, and even the moments of dread.

• High points: for me, the highlights of this class included how involved I had to become in my own ideas in order to accomplish each assignment; I never realized how much potential my ideas had, and 
• Low points: I get so nervous talking to random people, especially if it involves random topics... needless to say, about 1/3 of all of the assignments in this class entailed exactly that. I definitely wasn't a fan, but I will say it pushed me out of my comfort zone in ways that gave me newfound confidence in myself to go talk to people I typically wouldn't approach. Another thing I didn't love was recording myself, but again, after executing these kinds of assignments over and over again, I found a confidence in something that I previously considered a weakness.

2) 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 thing that I will remember the most from this course is definitely the positive feedback that I have received along the way from all of the people who have read my blog, have been a part of this experience, or have been behind the scenes pushing me to make my dreams come true. Honestly, the most valuable takeaway from this experience was nothing tangible, but was the confidence that I gained in myself and my own ability to create positive influence in my environment. 

3) 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 think that this class has pushed me in an entrepreneurial direction more than any other class. Rather than pushing me to make big leaps to become an entrepreneur, this classes assignments provided slow nudges, and by taking numerous small steps in a direction, I have seen the slow culmination of my project. After seeing the progress that this class has pushed me to make, I feel it would almost be wrong to neglect the opportunity to make my ideas a reality. 

4) 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?

• My biggest piece of advice that I could offer to anyone taking this class is to stay on top of the assignments. As I have seen this semester, because there are so many little assignments, it is very easy to let them slide by without noticing, and they do carry weight! Suggestion: set alarms for your assignments! I figured this out halfway through, and really wish I had done so earlier. 

Elevator Pitch No. 3

Sustainability Cafe Gainesville 2.0

Here's the last pitch, guys- enjoy!! :) 

Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity

What are the forces or changes in the environment creating this opportunity?
Era to era, the forces and changes in the environment transform, creating a unique set of living circumstances. Some individuals take advantage of these circumstances and turn them into opportunities; we call them entrepreneurs. In current society, one of our current concerns is caring for our physical world. The human population is realizing the gravity of the consequences of depleting our world’s resources and like any good entrepreneur, they are making innovative moves to solve these problems.

How is this market defined geographically and demographically?
Geographically speaking, the market is located in Gainesville. Demographically, the market includes the student populous of Gainesville, faculty, and citizens of Gainesville (to include the homeless population).

How are customers currently satisfying this need? And how loyal are they to whatever they use now?
Customers need their coffee. My coffee shop is just delivering their coffee in a sustainable way that helps the environment and populous of Gainesville thrive.

How big is this opportunity? How long will the “window of opportunity” be open?
This is a huge opportunity, but I think it is essential to act quickly, as Gainesville is seeing a sort of mini "hipster revolution," and with that ideas like sustainability, green technology, and taking care of our environment are being brought with it. I see the opportunity for this kind of innovation being open for only a brief amount of time 1)because I only see myself being in Gainesville for my Undergraduate Degree, and 2) because this kind of innovation requires fast action and cessation of opportunity before other companies catch on to how easy and effective green innovation really is.


Innovation

Explain what it is:
My idea is to introduce vertical gardening techniques to create green and social spaces that bring some life to underutilized spaces in Gainesville. I would like to start by converting an abandoned/neglected building and converting it into a green, sustainable cafe that grows its own produce and has social spaces for people to volunteer, socialize, and study. The next step would be an employment campaign for the homeless in Gainesville and create some kind of work exchange for taking care of the gardens and maintenance around the cafe. Studies have shown that green spaces improve morale, fight depression, and are natural stress relievers. I think it is really important to incorporate this into our daily lives to maintain a balanced and healthy lifestyle.

A second tier operation that would save money and maximize profit that will eventually be added is abandoning the use of non-biodegradable reusable utensils and converting solely to edible cutlery (a recent innovation). This will save an estimated $500 per year in the first year, only to be increased as we continue to see growth in popularity of our cafe. This will also cut garbage disposal costs by 1/3, allowing us to push funds in different directions, supporting other business activities.

What it does
I am providing a service that turns underutilized space in homes and industrial workspaces (like rooftops) into green space, beginning by converting an abandoned building in the city of Gainesville into a zero carbon footprint space and an example of how sustainable technologies can be used to make these dreams a reality. Eventually, this would be a service that employs the homeless of Gainesville as volunteers to help maintain the gardens/sustainable systems put in place by the business.

How it works
Beginning by converting an abandoned building in the city of Gainesville into a zero carbon footprint space, the sustainability cafe will become an example of how sustainable technologies can be used to make these dreams a reality. Eventually, this would be a service that employs the homeless of Gainesville as volunteers to help maintain the gardens/sustainable systems put in place by the business.

Funded by UF in cooperation with the city of Gainesville as a research project, I would be initiating action on this project with a research grant- hopefully as a piece of my senior project, and a way to leave a good impression on the city with the university that gave me so much opportunity.

Venture Concept

What are the reasons to think customers would switch to this new product? How hard will it be to get them to switch?
My general target market would be the community of Gainesville, as this project aims to add value to the city as well as the people employed and supported by the city of Gainesville.

More specifically, the sustainable cafe would be targeting college students as the main source of income.
Next would be the middle-aged market, especially young families of Gainesville who are geared towards working to create a sustainable future for themselves and their families.
Finally, this would be targeting corporations (especially restaurants) that can implement the ideas of creating gardens in compact spaces to add value to their products and services by introducing homemade agriculture as well as providing a space that acts as a natural stress reliever, reducing stress as well as increasing productivity merely by improving the aesthetics of the workplace.

The beauty of this cafe is that it does not demand for any customers to switch to a new product; it is just making a regularly demanded product (coffee and cafe food) more sustainable and is offered in a more attractive, novel way. Also, the cafe offers ethical appeal that other cafes do not.

Who are the competitors? What are their possible weaknesses or vulnerabilities?
Other competitors include Cymplify coffee shop, Pascal's, Curia on the Drag, and Maude's to name a few. All of these coffee shops are very "hipster," and I predict that my cafe would likely fall into the same category, but we differentiate in that we offer ethical appeal, and an atmosphere that will be unmatched. We also feature other specialities (like our edible cutlery) that others do not.

What role does packaging, your price points, distribution, customer support, the customer experience or the business location play (if any) in defining your business concept?
I suppose our "packaging" would be considered our outward appearance to our audience, which I have covered above. Naturally, people are drawn to nature and green spaces, and being able to reintroduce this concept into our daily lives is essential anyway. Customers will enjoy this, and this appeal with create an atmosphere, or "packaging" that no other coffee shop in Gainesville will be able to match.

Based on feedback given on my last venture concept, some changes that I made were:

• Incorporation of one more sustainable feature: edible cutlery
• Editing my venture concept for grammatical mistakes and including all ideas that I hadn't mentioned in earlier pitches
• Consider legal processes of hiring homeless people
• Did further research on the process of grant-writing and had the preliminary meetings with writers who have agreed to partner with me on the project of writing the grant

Going for 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? 

• Honestly, this is one of my weakest points. I have never been very good at self-advertising or the use of technology as a business advantage and "getting my name out there" per-say, so if and when I really do move forward in this venture I intend to find a team that can help me compensate for this weakness. 

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

• My keywords included "green technology" "sustainability cafe in Gainesville". Throughout the semester, I definitely repeated these two phrases much more than I did others that I used originally. I think that these two phrases easily encompassed the roots of the company and sparked interest when I began speaking to people about the project. 

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 mostly just shared my blog privately amongst other friends and family who have shown interest in my entrepreneurial process from the conception of the idea throughout its growth all the way to this course today. All sharing that I did was generally personal connection between me and others who are interested in these business ideas. 

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

• The post that I got the most traffic on was my "Bug List" post. My theory on this is that this was one of the more comical posts that I have written and the idea of knowing peoples' pet peeves is just generally an interesting topic. If I were to guess, I would say that the majority of the traffic came from other people in this course because they knew what the assignment was and were expecting entertaining blog posts. 

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?

• Unfortunately I did not make it to the front page of Google for my keywords because I feel I began to refine them too late in the game. Moving forward, I think the chosen keyword if I do choose to make this an entrepreneurship goal would be the name of the cafe itself (which I have yet to come up with). I do have a logo, though, which I think will be very important in brand recognition eventually. I am not sure which page I made it onto because the terms are really pretty vague. 

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 really enjoyed reading about forming an entrepreneurial mindset; this is something that I think is really important in all aspects of life, especially in today's business society. 

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

• Reading about how it is unproductive to punish failure was a bit confusing at first because it is so contrary to what you would expect to see as an incentive to fail less, or succeed more, but it makes sense that 

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

• How do you orient people with different opinions, or people at a standstill in one direction to foster productivity?
• On an innovative team, is it a good idea to continuously change the individuals that are holding that position to avoid monopolization of the "innovation power" of a company?

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

• I agreed with just about everything that I read in these chapters. 

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?

• One thing that I found surprising about the reading was how technical valuation of a business is as a process. Obviously, I had considered it before as a more abstract idea, but to see it broken down like it was in this reading was interesting. 

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

• I found the idea of integrating vertically, backward, or forward in order to improve supply and distribution levels somewhat confusing at first. Thinking about it in terms of product motion helped me understand this concept more. 

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

• How long is a "reasonable period of time" for a firm to pay for itself?
• How do you account for the human factors and errors of biased valuation of a business, product, or service? Is there a technical way of doing so?

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

• I could not find any point where I strongly disagreed with anything said by the author. 

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. 

• (If you don't feel like reading my entire rant, skip to the last bullet point)
• I think that people who go into college and remain with their major either know themselves way too well for their age, or not well enough. I am definitely not one of those students, but this is no indication that I lie somewhere in between with some kind of balanced equilibrium. I was accepted into UF as an engineering major because I had trained myself to smile every time I heard the word, "engineering" because going into college, it felt like the right thing to do. I quickly realized I hated that, so changed, instead to sustainability in the built environment; loved that, but felt like I wasn't living up to my full potential. Then changed to economics, which brings me to ACG2021, Financial Accounting at the University of Florida- the bane of my existence. I hate finance, I dislike math just about as much as it dislikes me, and this particular class is notorious for its"life-destructive" qualities. 
• I was surviving the class, but surviving for a perfectionist is analogous to desperate failure. I went to talk to my counselor about my options because dropping the class didn't sound like a valid option for me, as it would be basically admitting defeat. In the middle of the meeting, my counselor asked me, "Do you even like what you're studying?" I realized then that I never considered that question. 
• Long story short: one meeting with my counselor made me drop my Financial Accounting Class (which I previously considered would be a huge personal failure), turn my life around, switch my major for the third (and final) time, and really do some soul searching about where I wanted UF to take me.

2) Tell us what you learned from it. 

• Through this experience I realized that I was not being honest with myself about who I was, what I wanted to study, and where I wanted to take my life. I have always been drawn to Anthropology but never considered it because it wasn't a technical degree. And the best part, I realized it is okay to live life and make my decisions for me. 

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?

• Typically people consider failure to be a terrible thing. After a lot of exposure to the entrepreneurial world, my perspective on failure has changed drastically. In the entrepreneurial world, an array of perspectives exist, but all of them tend towards the acceptance-or even encouragement-of failure. Obviously, as I mentioned earlier, perfectionists like myself take failure to heart. Even though learning about entrepreneurs and the necessity of failure, my brain contradicts my heart in these kinds of situations. I know it is okay to struggle through things and not be great at the first swing, but my heart says otherwise. 
• Recently, especially over the last four months, I have been working hard at shifting my actions to convince my heart that failure is okay and necessary at times. I think I have made progress at becoming more accepting of all possibilities, and throughout my life, I have lived with the motto: everything happens for a reason. Now, when I fail, I become reflective and search for a lesson that I might take from every experience whereas before, I would have had difficulty working past it and being okay with "me". 

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 that there was such a differentiation between entrepreneurial and managerial ways of thinking and acting in a business venture. I had never really separated the two in my mind, but seeing it as it was talked about in the chapter gave me some new insight.

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

• None of the reading was confusing to me, just very interesting as I can absolutely see the information in this chapter being a valuable resource in my next venture. 

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

• Can you give examples of times where having a managerial mindset might have an advantage over an entrepreneurial mindset?
• Is there a way to determine what stage of development requires which type of leadership, or is entrepreneurial leadership usually the answer for start-up companies?

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

• I might argue that some of the entrepreneurial qualities have strong managerial qualities and there is much more overlap than what the chapter insinuates, but overall I agree with everything stated in the chapter. 

What's Next

Again, you'll need to hit the pavement and talk to potential customers. This time, you'll be armed with your "venture concept" description. Break your post into two pieces:
Existing Market
New Market

Existing Market.
Step 1: Talk about what you think is what's next. You may rely on your analyses from "The Amazon Whisperer" exercise (when you discussed what product you thought might come next.)

The first phase of the project is creating a green environment in Gainesville in the form of a sustainable cafe. The next phase of the project would be to combine a product and a service to make sustainability possible to incorporate at home as well; this would come in the form of A-line vertical gardening structures (they have already been prototyped) that can be purchased. 


Step 2: Interview three customers who are already part of the market you have identified, and ask them what they believe is next for a venture like yours. Describe to them your business, and simply ask "What should we be doing that we aren't planning to do?" Next, ask them about your ideas of what customers might want next. Video or audio record these interviews.

[INTERVIEW1:]

[INTERVIEW2:]

[INTERVIEW3:]

Step 3: Based on your own expectations and the feedback you received from customers, set a path for the future. In two to three paragraphs, describe what makes the most sense for your venture in terms of growing in your existing market.

New Market.
Step 1: Identify a radically different market from what you're currently planning to target. If you're currently targeting B2B, think about going after a B2C market. If you're currently targeting an affluent part of society, think about targeting a very poor part of society.

One of the biggest missions of this project is to leave the world a better place than how I found it (#lessonsfromaGermanmother... thanks, mama). One thing about leaving the world better than you found it is that when you get down to it, it's a lot more complicated than it seems. In this case, the "radically different" sector of my project's market actually aims to include individuals who are not typically considered to be a part of any market; the homeless of Gainesville.

Eventually, once the coffee shop is up and running, I would like to start a work/exchange program to employ the homeless of Gainesville. I don't see how in our forward-thinking university town there are not yet programs in place to encompass the entire community without excluding potential productive energy. I understand there will be challenges that come along with a venture like this, especially legal challenges, but when changing the world for the better, there are some things that are worth the challenge. 

Step 2: Once you have identified a radically different market, describe how you think your venture concept might be able to create value for people in that market. You may have to get creative with this -- that's OK -- and perfectly welcome!

Creative value would be contributed in the form of employment opportunities for individuals that may not be able to sustain themselves otherwise. Like I mentioned earlier, I know that there will be challenges that present themselves with employing homeless or unemployed people, and those challenges usually deter businesses from participating in activities like these, but this is also where I want to differentiate from other companies. I think that it is important to capitalize on opportunity, but creating opportunity for others is a form of capitalization that can hold much higher value in the long run.  


Step 3: Interview three people from this new market. Again, describe to each interviewee what your concept is. 

Then, ask them how they think your business might be help to meet the needs of the community. 

What kinds of adaptations to the product/service mix do they think you should make to be successful in this new market? Video or audio record these interviews.

[INTERVIEW4:]

[INTERVIEW5:]

[INTERVIEW6:]

Step 4: Reflect, in two to three paragraphs, on what you learned about this new market. What surprised you the most? Were any of your expectations/assumptions correct? Does this new market, on second thought, appear to be as attractive as your existing market? And so on.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the opportunity to interview some of the individuals I wanted to talk to for this exercise, although I did receive some good insight regarding moving forward with my current business ideas. The feedback I did receive was generally in line with my assumptions in that there were words of caution shared relating to the employment of homeless individuals, but that overall, it was a great idea with good intentions if executed the right way. 

The most surprising thing about the feedback I received was the different perspectives shared by the college students that reflected their own intended uses of the sustainability cafe. 

Venture Concept No. 1

ENT 3003 Venture Concept Write-Up

Sofia Ortiz


Opportunity
What are the forces or changes in the environment creating this opportunity?
Era to era, the forces and changes in the environment transform, creating a unique set of living circumstances. Some individuals take advantage of these circumstances and turn them into opportunities; we call them entrepreneurs. In current society, one of our current concerns is caring for our physical world. The human population is realizing the gravity of the consequences of depleting our world’s resources and like any good entrepre

How is this market defined geographically and demographically?
How are customers currently satisfying this need? And how loyal are they to whatever they use now?
How big is this opportunity?
How long will the “window of opportunity” be open?



Innovation



Explain what it is:
My idea is to introduce vertical gardening techniques to create green and social spaces that bring some life to underutilized spaces in Gainesville. I would like to start by converting an abandoned/neglected building and converting it into a green, sustainable cafe that grows its own produce and has social spaces for people to volunteer, socialize, and study. The next step would be an employment campaign for the homeless in Gainesville and create some kind of work exchange for taking care of the gardens and maintenance around the cafe. Studies have shown that green spaces improve morale, fight depression, and are natural stress relievers. I think it is really important to incorporate this into our daily lives to maintain a balanced and healthy lifestyle.

What it does, and
I am providing a service that turns underutilized space in homes and industrial workspaces (like rooftops) into green space, beginning by converting an abandoned building in the city of Gainesville into a zero carbon footprint space and an example of how sustainable technologies can be used to make these dreams a reality. Eventually, this would be a service that employs the homeless of Gainesville as volunteers to help maintain the gardens/sustainable systems put in place by the business.

How it works
beginning by converting an abandoned building in the city of Gainesville into a zero carbon footprint space and an example of how sustainable technologies can be used to make these dreams a reality. Eventually, this would be a service that employs the homeless of Gainesville as volunteers to help maintain the gardens/sustainable systems put in place by the business.

You should also describe how you will make money – in other words, what, exactly, are you selling and for how much? For instance, if I was starting a business to teach people how to play the piano, I would be selling an hour of my time for $50.

Venture Concept



What are the reasons to think customers would switch to this new product? How hard will it be to get them to switch?
My general target market would be the community of Gainesville, as this project aims to add value to the city as well as the people employed and supported by the city of Gainesville.

More specifically, the sustainable cafe would be targeting college students as the main source of income

Next would be the middle-aged market, especially young families of Gainesville who are geared towards working to create a sustainable future for themselves and their families.

Finally, this would be targeting corporations (especially restaurants) that can implement the ideas of creating gardens in compact spaces to add value to their products and services by introducing homemade agriculture as well as providing a space that acts as a natural stress reliever, reducing stress as well as increasing productivity merely by improving the aesthetics of the workplace.




Who are the competitors? What are their possible weaknesses or vulnerabilities?
What role does packaging, your price points, distribution, customer support, the customer experience or the business location play (if any) in defining your business concept?
How would you organize a “business” to support the ongoing production of your new product, service, or process? How many employees? What roles are in the venture?

Week 11 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 see that the author made a line of direct correlation between the misalignment of the innovation strategy of a company with an "innovation strategy," limiting the overall capacity to innovate.

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

• None of the reading was confusing, just interesting. This was an easy read. 

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

• Why is it that senior leaders should be the responsible party for the innovation strategy? 
• I would like a deeper explanation and differentiation between "routine" innovation and "disruptive" innovation and how each is useful in business practices. 

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

• I might disagree with one of the concluding statements that claims only senior leaders can/should take initiative in developing the best innovation strategy for the company; I feel like ultimately, they should be driving the operation, but often times the best information and feedback comes from the bottom of the heap. 

Amazon Whisperer

• Describe the revenue drivers you currently include in your business concept for this class. Revenue drivers are the different ways you make money. 
• Green study space, social venue, sustainable options, healthy & unique foods/drinks, zero carbon footprint
• Describe what kind of product offering you believe should be next. What's the next thing your customers want? 
• The next phase of the project would be to implement a combination of a product and a service focused on making sustainability possible to incorporate at home as well; this would come in the form of A-line vertical gardening structures (they have already been prototyped) that can be purchased 
• Describe how this "next" thing will enhance your existing product/service offering. Does it improve the user experience, does it increase customer switching costs, does it foster customer loyalty, etc.? 
• These A-line structures are self-irrigating and have three times the growing capacity of  traditional horizontal gardening. This would be a way for customers to create their own paradise at home, 
• Go to Amazon and try to find a product that is similar to the one you want to offer next. Describe the product. Include a picture of the product.







•  Obviously, my initial entrepreneurship idea (the sustainable cafe) is not available on Amazon, but my next product offering, the vertical gardening structures already exist, yet are not as advanced as the prototype that I have developed. 
• What are the customer reviews for the product? What, exactly, do customers not like about the product? What do they like about it? 
• There is a variety of different products on the market that aim to make vertical gardening possible. According to the reviews of these products, they generally had great reviews but included criticism stating that the planters were not sturdy, they were difficult to put together, or that they did not fit as many plants as they appeared to fit. 
• Describe what design/usability changes you'd make to the product. 
• My product would come in two versions; one would be an A-line structure designed to fit against walls and along long, flat spaces (irrigation system included). The other design would be a column planter with a spiral planting design and irrigation system that coiled from the top of the system to the bottom of the system, designed for corners and small, rectangular spaces. 
• Describe why you think this product would make a good addition to your current product/service offering. 
• Currently, my sustainability cafe would be founded on the idea of making the world a greener place by creating a green space, but the key of sustainability is making it a viable possibility for everybody. This is not possible without both being the example and teaching others how to do the same. I like to refer to the quote, "if you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime". The same goes for sustainable living. The key is reverse-engineering our lifestyles to consider our own intrinsic well being as well as those around us. 

My Unfair Advantage

My resources:

1. Experience in Sustainability-
• Valuable: my exposure to international sustainability provides great platform/information
• Rare: at my age, few people have done research in other countries/have gotten "out of the box"
• Inimitable: self explanatory; my life experience is unique to me & cannot be replicated
• Non-substitutable: this cannot be substituted, but can be complemented with other people with expertise in this area
2. Contacts/Social Capital with experience in sustainability (TOP RESOURCE)-
• *Valuable: most important piece of the business. as the people in any business hold the most value and undoubtedly determine its ultimate success 
• Rare: I have many contacts with extensive expertise in the area of sustainability who are interested in seeing this project to fruition for their own personal gain as well as mine
• Inimitable: social capital is a compilation of unique experiences that together, create a successful working atmosphere
• Non-Substitutable: the individuals that I have in mind for this project are essential and specific and cannot be replaced by skills or technology
3. Social Interest/Attention-
• Valuable: no business is successful without the interest of customers
• Rare: it can be difficult to attract new customers when all kinds of new businesses are constantly popping up 
• Inimitable: this is not necessarily inimitable because each business builds its own customer basis, although our customers would ideally be non-substitutable
• Non-Substitutable: the cafe would aim to maintain our distinct interest from our customers and investors; these kinds of ideas typically attract very eccentric people and we would encourage this
4. Potential Capital-
• Valuable: start-up companies often struggle in finding financial capital to fund their business ventures; I already have several offers for financial support if I choose to go through with this project
• Rare: at this stage, offers for funding is not common
• Inimitable: this would be imitable if other companies also had the same interest; this is unique to us
• Non-Substitutable: again, this could be substituted by other funds, but finding that interest elsewhere is another task
5. Location-
• Valuable: Gainesville is full of students, is a hotspot for innovation, and has showed general interest in sustainability
• Rare: finding a location where all of these things are possible & opportunities combine with good timing in a great location is difficult
• Inimitable: Gainesville is Gainesville; there's no other way of putting it
• Non-Substitutable: finding a great location in Gainesville might be a bit of a challenge initially, but that would become known for the physical positioning as well as the services the cafe has to offer
6. Interested Market Segment-
• Valuable: New businesses typically have to hunt for customers; having customers who are waiting for your services to be provided is an awesome asset for a beginning business
• Rare: customers convincing other customers based on principle to give their business to a company/start-up=rare
• Inimitable: the excitement produced by the cafe serves as motivation to move on and create more interest as the project matures
• Non-Substitutable: this interest is non-substitutable, but can definitely be compounded upon to find a larger customer basis

Week 10 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? 

• It was interesting to me that this reading went into detail with the financial statements because I am currently taking financial accounting. It was especially interesting to see financial accounting tied into entrepreneurial scenarios because the majority of what I have studied so far was purely theoretical; seeing it applied to things that interest me definitely left me with a different impression.

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

• I had to reread the capital budgeting process a couple of times to get a grasp on the concept.

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

• Please explain the capital budgeting process to me; specifically the differences between the different methods used
• Also, I would be interested in seeing more examples of the break-even analysis with further explanation

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

• I could not disagree with anything the author said; in fact, it helped me understand a couple of questions I had regarding my financial accounting exam that is coming up on Wednesday, so this reading came with perfect timing. 

Growing My Social Capital

It's Who You Know, Not What You Know

Entrepreneurs can reap profound benefits from their social capital. If you know how social capital works, then you can build it!

This is a 'networking' experience -- but unlike other 'networking' opportunities you may have had in the past, I'm going to set very clear parameters on this experience. This will help you focus your efforts on achieving exactly what you need for this experience; moreover, you can set parameters on any future networking experience, to get the most out of it.

Mission: establish contact with three new people, who will be valuable to helping you pursue your business idea...

One person must be a domain expert in your industry. This would be someone who's engaged in the same type of business activity as you would like to be. They may own the same kind of company that you would like to own, or they may be a technical expert who knows a lot about the kind of product or service that you would like to produce.

1) "The Olive Guy" from the Gainesville Farmer's Market

2) He would be the domain expert in my industry; he is a phd in hydroponic technology and owns his own education program for sustainable agricultural technology- he also sells homemade olives at the farmer's market 

3) I found the Olive Guy at the Gainesville farmer's market where I go every week for my groceries. This time last year when I was working on this project, I established contact with him and requested some feedback on my sustainable development ideas for Gainesville. 

4) This exchange was an informal interview where he talked to me about the costs and benefits of starting a business centered on sustainable development ideas. There was no exchange other than information and good, interesting conversation!

5) He was very realistic about the important factors of entrepreneurship in this field and, as a highly educated, yet down to earth individual with plenty of exposure in sustainable technology, could act as a great mentor for my endeavors. 

One person must be an expert on your market. This would be someone who is targeting your market with similar products services -- or knows a lot about conducting customer research in your area -- or represents a major piece of your market (this might be most applicable with B2B markets).
1) Directors of Cymplify

2) These guys are Market experts (without knowing how useful they are to me) 

3) Cymplify is a new cafe here in Gainesville centered on sustainability as well, but are angled in a slightly different direction than are my business ideas 

4) This was another informal interview conducted at Cymplify; I asked them to talk to me a little bit about their journey to creating the cafe, and specifically how they discovered their market and how their market turned out differently than they might have expected in the creation process. I went about it in a very informal manner as a curious customer, and mentioned that I had my own sustainability ideas but 

5) Including these people in my network is a questionable move as it could go one of two ways; we could either become competition (which I think would be the more likely case) or we could work to complement each other in the sustainability/"green" movement here in Gainesville. Regardless, observing their business and keeping them more familiar is a better option, as they are a fantastic source of information relating to a market that is still growing. 

One person must be an important supplier to your industry. This would be someone who is selling products and services to other organizations/firms in your industry. 1) Gainesville local farmers; my main contact would be the organizers of the Alachua County Farmer's Market because my cafe would be built on the objective that 

2) They would be the supplier/main contact for all of the food products that we would be using/selling

3) I knew about the Alachua County Farmer's Market since I moved to Gainesville because that is where I get the majority of my produce; to contact the board who organizes the farmer's market activities, I had to go online to find the contact information and emailed them with my questions. 

4) The exchange was over email and was only an informative conversation about the possibilities of supplying a restaurant with the produce that moves through the farmer's market. They offered to be a contact to make recommendations as to who I should contact, but recommended that I make direct contact with the farmers themselves to see if we can make business arrangements that way. 

5) Keeping the Gainesville Farmer's Market as a contact is very valuable as they have all of the information on the local agricultural and artisanal markets in the local area. 

Finally: Reflect. This experience requires you to do a little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How?

This experience made me really think harder about who I would contact and being prepared to talk to them about what exactly I needed from them. The worst thing is going to meet someone or going to get information from people and not being prepared to answer the questions: what is my goal, what do I need from you, what would it cost you, how would it benefit you? I would say this is the first tier of my networking process, and the next step would be going one step deeper and going to talk to the contacts that I gained through this activity. 

Elevator Pitch No. 3

1) The pitch. Same as last time, 1-minute long. No Web cams. No sitting. Be dynamic! Upload the video to YouTube (as you do with all of your videos) and post the link.

2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch. Describe what stood out to you as important, what feedback surprised you the most, what feedback you think was outright wrong or silly. 

3) What did you change, based on the feedback?

Be sure to include the phrase "Elevator Pitch No. 3" in the post title and label it "Week 10." 

Week 9 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 most surprising thing to me was the intricacy of the R & D elements of forming a marketing concept and transforming it into a marketing plan. 

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

• No piece of the reading was confusing to me; the reading was just very long and very detailed. Honestl, my attention span is the most challenging part of following through with these readings.

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

• What were some key historical examples of successful and unsuccessful ventures to create marketing concepts and plans in the business world?
• What research and development methods have been the most successful in start-ups and business relating to sustainability and green technology?

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

• I absolutely am not qualified to challenge the author's opinions on marketing development and strategy, but am interested in learning more in the future. 

My Secret Sauce

1) Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique.What is it about you, exactly, that makes you different? 

Self assessment is usually really difficult for me, but I took the StrengthsFinder2.0 assessment and it really cleared up for me some pieces of my human capital that I didn't previously consider to be strengths. Before taking this quiz, this question would have been nearly impossible for me to answer, but now I revert to this because it seems to be a fairly accurate description of me.

• Strategic:People strong in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.
• Connectedness:People strong in the Connectedness theme have faith in the links between all things. They believe there are few coincidences and that almost every event has a reason.
• Relator:People who are strong in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal.
• Communication:People strong in the Communication theme generally find it easy to put their thoughts into words. They are good conversationalists and presenters.
• Command:People strong in the Command theme have presence. They can take control of a situation and make decisions.

I consider myself to be unique because of the life experiences that I have had growing up in a military family, but attribute 100% of that to my awesome family and the adventures we have had together as we have moved through the big blue world. Via the fam, I have acquired cultural exposure, a desire to impress and always be the best version of me, at the very least for my family. 

2) Interview the people who know you the best...

Mamacita: (aka La Reina/Königin)
The O.G. Betty Badass of the family-taught me everything about everything

      

Papito: (the dude with all the answers) 

Dance dad, leader extraordinaire

               

 Sabrina: (my other half) 

Professional "tell-it-to-u-straight-aholic"

  Carlitos Ortiz(aka Snowball)
Also bff by default      

Nahel Abugattas: (adopted bro)
Adopted me as a homie freshman year of collitch & we been boizz ever since

   

Kris: (main dude/"the chop")
Also a professional humbler- tells the truth
even when it's irrelevant..

3) Reflect on the differences. How do you see yourself, and how do others see you?

I see myself as a confident human being who is pretty easy going unless I am traveling in a fixed direction, and then I become resolute and determined, and momentum turns into progress (most of the time, otherwise, there will just be some really intense procrastination). I love traveling, I love being around the people that I love- that is the most important thing to me, by far, and I think that every moment that isn't spent enjoying life/the people around you/creating positive motion in the world/bettering yourself, is time wasted. 

One thing that surprised me that a few of  the people that I interviewed had to say about me were comments in regards to me being caring, as well as how sincerely they took this interview. I am very awkward when it comes to showing affection and complimenting and accepting compliments, and the people in my life are nearly all comedians who rarely take anything seriously (much less me), so to hear them speak seriously about me was definitely a new one. I don't take myself very seriously, but obviously these people know me well enough to see way past this and have a such a clear idea of who I am.

 Are there differences in how you assess yourself compared to others? What do you think causes these differences? 

A difference that I noticed was that I seem to see myself as a much more laid back, easy-going person than apparently I come off as. I am aware I have a strong personality, but I guess I confused having very low blood pressure and being generally content most of the time with being easy going (I admit I like to get my way)! 

Do you think your interviewees are correct about you?

If they weren't, I wouldn't be able to say that these are the people who know me best. I feel like they have a way more accurate view of who I am then I do myself- and I live with me 24/7. 

Finally, going back to your list from part 1, would you make any corrections to the list? How? 

I would not make any changes to my list. My ideas about who I am and what I stand for remain pretty consistent, but these are people who are "up there" on my favorite humans list, so even though we rarely take each other seriously, I definitely take constructive criticism and their opinions very seriously. If/when need be, I would make changes to become a better me based on what they might have to share with me. 

Idea Napkin No.2

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

• So obviously, from my blog, you can probably derive that my name is Sofia Ortiz. My bio is available on my blog from one of the first weeks of the entrepreneurship course, but in summary, I am a military brat and have moved to 13 different locations between the United States and Europe, but grew up during my high school years in southern Spain, where I call home. One of the most accurate descriptions I have received in regard to my strengths was my results after taking Strength Finder 2.0's personal assessment, which stated that my five core competencies were: "Communicator," "Strategy," "Command," "Relator," and 

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

• I am providing a service that turns underutilized space in homes and industrial workspaces (like rooftops) into green space, beginning by converting an abandoned building in the city of Gainesville into a zero carbon footprint space and an example of how sustainable technologies can be used to make these dreams a reality. Eventually, this would be a service that employs the homeless of Gainesville as volunteers to help maintain the gardens/sustainable systems put in place by the business.

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common? & Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable so far as customers believe it is valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 

• My general target market would be the community of Gainesville, as this project aims to add value to the city as well as the people employed and supported by the city of Gainesville. 
• More specifically, the sustainable cafe would be targeting college students as the main source of income
• Next would be the middle-aged market, especially young families of Gainesville who are geared towards working to create a sustainable future for themselves and their families. 
• Finally, this would be targeting corporations (especially restaurants) that can implement the ideas of creating gardens in compact spaces to add value to their products and services by introducing homemade agriculture as well as providing a space that acts as a natural stress reliever, reducing stress as well as increasing productivity merely by improving the aesthetics of the workplace. 

4) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has?

• One thing that makes me unique is my drive and my energy once I believe in something. I have a gift that my natural energy is such that when I am excited about something and motivated, it becomes contagious and people begin to follow me in a direction. Also, when it counts, I am a very strategic thinker and work well under pressure to come up with creative and constructive solutions rather than falling apart. 

Reflection & Takeaways:

1. This project needs energy; get people who are excited on your side to start chipping away at your progress
2. Look 

Week 8 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? 

• So far the book has covered such a range of topics in such depth regarding entrepreneurship and innovation, that to see it move even further into intricate detail about financing in entrepreneurship was a bit of a surprise, especially since start-up, innovation, and individual entrepreneurship funding is absolutely its own ballgame. 

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

• I am currently taking financial accounting as an economics major and it is ruining my life, so when I saw references to accounting principles and theory, part of me wanted to cry, and the other tenacious part of me wanted to delve in and figure out exactly what the author was writing and explaining because I find financial accounting unnecessarily confusing. 

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

• See the end of Question 4
• What are the three most important takeaways (if you could narrow it down) to financing and understanding finance in business? Basically 3 point summary of all there is to know, please: go. 

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

• I think that statistics and facts can be thrown around all day in regards to the perfect "pick-me" formula when presenting to and dealing with venture capitalists, but that in today's day and age, you have to have a little "extra something" to get picked to be financed by a venture capitalist. Obviously, when competing against the best of the best in your field, you must differentiate to stand out, but what would be most interesting to me would be a breakdown of the most effective differentiation methods when dealing with Venture Capital. 

The Twenty Percent

1) Find a business owner and talk to them about their customers. Who do they think their target customers are? What are their customers' unmet needs?Where do they find their customers? What are their customer's demographics? What kinds of media do their customers consume? Etc.
I spoke to the owners one of my favorite panaderias (José from Pastelería Nunos) in Madrid about how they started and how they became so successful. I chose them over another sustainability cafe that I knew of in the city to interview because they have built a very very loyal customer base, which can be hard to do, especially as a young company in a gigantic city, and in my experience in businesses like this, the most important thing to focus on is the people.  

• According to the owner, José Fernández-Ramos, the keys of success to his business are:
• Location: they have a prime location in the heart of Madrid; "tenemos mucha suerte...." 
• Their target customers are the local workforce in Madrid's city center & their "hotspots" of the day are the transit times, like breakfast and lunch, when the business people of Madrid traditionally take their coffees and pastries
• As opposed to some other more modern businesses, their social media is fairly limited, and they prefer to build their customer base in-person because they are targeting a very specific audience in a very specific location, otherwise if they were planning on expanding, he says he would consider other channels of communication for his customers.

After being asked for advice on how to go about starting a bakery-type business, offered me the advice to keep it simple. He said the most important thing is to recognize one customer need, and to clearly address that need better than your competitors. In his case, this was pastries and coffee. "Not complicated and my customers clearly like it."

2) Next, go and talk to 3 'target customers' -- using the demographics/psychographics the entrepreneur described. As these 'target customers' the questions in the paragraph directly above.

• After talking to three different customers between the breakfast and lunch rushes at the bakery, this is the feedback that I received: 
• Customer 1: Banker, Santander Bank, Madrid
• Loved the bakery because of the convenient location on his way to work; also loved that it was a family environment and that when José is in the bakery, he makes an effort to personally check on his customers. He did not have any critiques for the bakery.
• Customer 2: Undergraduate University Student, St. Louis University Madrid
• Only the second time she had been to the bakery, but came back because she enjoyed the wide selection of pastries and said the coffee was very good. "A good way to start my morning." She said she would continue to come back. Only critique offered was a suggestion to be able to call in orders or have a web page where people could see what pastries or deals were offered on a particular day. 
• Customer 3: Construction Worker
• Likes the wide selection that the bakery had to offer and that certain specialty items were available depending on the time of the year, which kept him looking forward to coming back (like the turron during Christmastime, for example). Did not have any critiques other than that the bakery can get crowded and noisy at times, but that that is a sign of content customers. 

3) Reflect. Does the entrepreneur adequately understand their customers' problems? Where are the differences? Why might these differences exist. 

• Yes, the entrepreneur has a clear picture of who his customers are and what they want to take from his business. I really liked the advice he gave me in regards to "keeping it simple" when it came to my business ideas and how I sold them to customers, because I know I have a tendency to get wrapped up in details a lot of times. One thing that José might want to pay attention to eventually is his customers' need for contact through social media, even though he prefers to run more of a traditional, "mom 'n pop" style operation. 

*entrepreneur requested that I not record the interview*