30. Final Reflection

The most formative experience for me was doing the elevator pitches and improving them through the feedback that we receive through our blog posts. I learned a lot from these exercises, the main takeaway is that starting a task even if you haven’t completely planned it out in your head can be better than trying to plan out the whole pitch. For example, I was having issues surpassing the time requirement on the first pitch, I couldn’t think of what else to say, but as soon as I started speaking I began to come up with more topics to cover in my venture proposal putting me over the required time. I can definitely identify with the entrepreneur mindset and consider myself one, having gone through some of the steps that come with the creation of an idea and the implementation of it. My biggest recommendation for future course takers is to schedule the time you spend on the class and not over plan certain assignments, sometimes it's best to just start it. The quote “Plans are nothing, planning is everything”, especially stuck out to me during this course and to me exemplifies this mindset. The path to success isn’t linear, but the goal can always be in sight.

29. Venture Concept No. 2

My venture will focus on is the availability of clean water for drinking or other use as many locations around the world have begun or have announced that they may experience restrictions in the availability of water. One way that the solution to this problem could go is through the production of cheaper and more efficient desalination processes in order to utilize seawater or other sources of saltwater for public use. The product would gather water from various different sources such as seawater, lake water, and process the water to be prepared for daily use. The product will primarily be used as a secondary measure in the event that water availability becomes scarce. Another route that water cleansing could follow is by focusing on the recyclability of wastewater. By focusing on this route many countries would be able to become self-sustaining rather than depend on imports which could fluctuate and result in a dependent country on one of, if not the most, important resources in modern society.

Essentially, as stated before, as the population increases demand for water increases as well. Therefore, improvements in the water industry must be made, which is where our opportunity arises. The market would be all over the world, I would focus primarily on modern countries to begin with such as North American countries. The industry would primarily focus on targeting governments of cities and countries so that they can fulfill the needs of their citizens. As people all over the world need water this is a worldwide opportunity and as populations increase and the availability of water remains the same demand for my service will increase. I envision allowing countries the option to be completely sustainable off of their own sources of water rather than depending on importing the majority of their water from outside sources.

Change:
I did not receive much feedback when I initially proposed my venture concept. Through the course of the class, however, I did include the use of desalination as a concept to focus on the creation of clean water.

28. Your Exit Strategy

After five years I intend to sell the company for a large return. When I envision myself in the future I don’t have a clear path. I many fields in academia and wish on using them in various industries and sectors to create solutions for problems. I would love to create multiple companies over my lifetime and learn from every single one creating a better one every time. I don’t wish to tie myself to a singular company. I don’t want to have a profession in one field I want to have a profession of ideas and creativity looking for problems and crafting solutions no one has thought of before. As a result, when I craft decision in my concept that is mostly solution-oriented and rather short term, I have not thought about my solutions with me being there to guide them in ten years time. My growth intentions and resource management have stayed rather similar however, I typically view my ideas in 1 to 2-year increments wanting to have flexibility within my company. As soon as my company garners attention from outside investors who wish to take the reigns if the time is right, I will gladly sell.

27. Reading Reflction No. 3

Book: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

The part that surprised me the most about Steve jobs is that I had not known that he was fired from Apple in 1985. Instead of sitting back he decided to start new ventures, NeXT and Pixar. Pixar giving him the highest return on investment actually being the investment that turned him into a billionaire, not Apple. I admired his tenacity to decide to move on from the company he built. Steve Jobs encountered adversity but did not let that hinder his path to success. If I could ask Steve Jobs, I would ask him about what other people thought about the skills which he possesses, which others coined the Reality Distortion Field. I would ask for a thought process which he goes through when utilizing this skill. Is it an active thought or just a way of thinking which he does passively, almost as an instinct, and if so how did he come to this way of thinking. No part of the biography confused me, I found interesting all the things that Steve Jobs had accomplished which I wasn’t aware of. His creativity and perseverance is a guiding example that many people should learn something from.

26. Celebrating Failure

The activity in which I experience the most failure is cooking. I was forced to learn how to cook as soon as I came to college. My first time cooking in my dorm, I activated the fire alarm, because I overcooked the chicken. With time, however, I realized the mistakes I was making and adjusted my techniques and preparation to improve the final outcome while simultaneously saving time cooking. Through this, I learned that no matter how many times you fail, you can either stop and never reap from your benefits or you can try again until you succeed. In the case of cooking, I used each failure as a learning experience and decided to keep trying until I succeeded, this was mostly motivated by my need to eat. From this, I learned that most success comes from trials and tribulation when you want to succeed at something that is a worthy accomplishment you have to prepare for failure and acknowledge that success will not come unless you keep trying. I try to implement this in the majority of skills that I try to improve from programming to cooking and from sports to video games. Failure will breed success if you aren’t afraid to try.

24. Venture Concept No. 1

My venture will focus on is the availability of clean water for drinking or other use as many locations around the world have begun or have announced that they may experience restrictions in the availability of water. One way that the solution to this problem could go is through the production of cheaper and more efficient desalination processes in order to utilize seawater or other sources of saltwater for public use. The product would gather water from various different sources such as seawater, lake water, and process the water to be prepared for daily use. The product will primarily be used as a secondary measure in the event that water availability becomes scarce. Another route that water cleansing could follow is by focusing on the recyclability of wastewater. By focusing on this route many countries would be able to become self-sustaining rather than depend on imports which could fluctuate and result in a dependent country on one of, if not the most, important resource in modern society.

Essentially, as stated before, as the population increases demand for water increases as well. Therefore, improvements in the water industry must be made, which is where our opportunity arises. The market would be all over the world, I would focus primarily on modern countries to begin with such as North American countries. The industry would primarily focus on targeting governments of cities and countries so that they can fulfill the needs of their citizens. As people all over the world need water this is a worldwide opportunity and as populations increase and the availability of water remains the same demand for my service will increase. I envision allowing countries the option to be completely sustainable off of their own sources of water rather than depending on importing the majority of their water from outside sources.

23. Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

Resources:

I have access to human capital in the form of connections in the construction industry as well as someone who works with drainage systems.(knowledge of construction is valuable,not rare, not inimitable, other workers exist, could be substituted by others)

Access to modern discovery within the industry(discoveries are valuable as they propel progress, rare within the industry, valuable, but not inimitable.)

Will create a team dedicated to finding new discoveries to patent and improve facilities(valuable, rare, and inimitable while the patent lasts, non-substitutable)

Ability to create facilities from scratch rather than incorporate into already existing facilities(valuable because I won’t be restricted by past infrastructure,not rare, non-inimitable as others could start as well, not substitutable)

Future ability to recycle forms of water such as urine(valuable as it will increase recyclable forms of water, rare as many facilities don’t have this capability, non-inimitable, non-substitutable)

My most valuable resource will be the team I will create in order to discover further techniques to recycle forms of wastewater.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

I wasn't told to change anything in my video, so I tried to keep the same delivery and added in some more information.

Reading Reflection No. 2

Book: How to Fail at Everything and Still Win Big

Failure is the greatest teacher. What the book is trying to get across is that failure is not something that you should be afraid of, being one of the most valuable teachers, by failing you are learning a lot that you wouldn’t learn if you never tried. This is especially apparent in my elevator pitches. Although sometimes I don’t want to finish them because I don’t feel as if they would turn out good. By posting them I can get valuable feedback and become more comfortable in manipulating mistakes as to make them unnoticeable. One exercise that I would create for the class would be to create a “system” like the one that they talked about in the book rather than a goal. Perform an action either once a day or once a week without a specific goal in mind in order to create habits. This is actually what surprised me the most, primarily because in high school I was taught to always think in specific short term goals. Then here come Scott Adams saying you don’t have to. Instead, we should act in systems, which I enjoy more because it allows for more flexibility and spontaneity.

Growing Your Social Capital

Person 1: Valentin Marin
He is the owner of a construction firm leasing many vehicles to aid in the construction of buildings as well as partake in the construction of the buildings. They will aid me in supplying the necessary tools to build the water treatment facilities. I found the person through my father who has ties in the construction industry and contacted them through email. I asked them to explain to me some of the various steps that go into the construction aspect of a water treatment facility.

Person 2: Eva Gallegos
She works in marketing in Tampa for a local beverage company. She could help me in marketing my new facilities to the public and cities. I found her through LinkedIn and video chatted with her over skype. We talked about marketing water recycling in a modern sense.

Person 3:
Jake Ricker: Works for the local government in Tampa overseeing aspects of the sewage system making sure that it operates well and inspects for repairs when needed. I met him through my father and we spoke over email. I asked him about the various intricacies of the drainage system. He can help me in determining the best sources of water to begin in recycling.

I have not networked to this extent in the past. Typically in the past when I networked I didn’t have a specific reason in mind or a specific goal in mind when speaking to people who I would like to work with or know in a professional sense. By having a goal in mind it became easier to talk to them in a professional sense.

Idea Napking No. 2

I am Jonathan Lopez, a computer science student with some background in entrepreneur classes, being in the catalyst competition last year and earning 2 out of 6 of the awards being granted. I am also minoring in innovation through the Innovation Academy. I could use this in order to build a more innovative wastewater treatment facility using new discoveries than the ones of the past.

I am offering to customers a revamped way to gain the valuable resource of water, primarily for irrigation in the agricultural facilities and for municipal uses such as filling in local lakes and ponds.

I am offering this primarily to modern societies which are in need of increased sources of water such as California and Cape Town which have struggled with water shortages and restrictions.

Water is a necessary resource, which if not adequately acquired could lead to societal collapse. Therefore, when resources drop, renewable means of acquiring the resource will be needed.

Unlike current water treatment facilities, I am not limited by the infrastructure of the past, I could construct a new facility optimized and using modern discoveries to recycle wastewater previously unrecyclable and do it more efficiently.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

Video Link: https://youtu.be/mSDU_5J9tTc

Feedback Response: I did not upload the previous elevator pitch, so I did not receive feedback. The feedback I received regarding my idea, however, was that I should focus more on the improvements that the facilities would offer which I talked about in my elevator pitch. 

Create a Custom Avatar

Everybody needs drinking water, so my prototypical customer includes every living person on the planet, but I wanted to primarily focus on the population of people in modern societies which have been experiencing water shortages around the world. Therefore, my prototypical customer lives a normal life in modern society except that they experience water restrictions. Like the customer avatar, I also need water in order to survive, which isn’t necessarily a coincidence as it is one of the fundamental components necessary for life. We live similar lifestyles in the sense that water has been openly available in the past but in recent times our location of living has either gone through droughts or other events leading to water restrictions. Similarly, like the customer, I didn’t realize the direct need of the resource until restrictions were initiated.

What's Your Secret Sauce?

Unique Human Capital:

1. Focus: I have the ability to stay on tasked and realize when something is accomplishable, persisting in the completion of a task to realize the goals as quickly as possible.

2. Solo-Improvement: In many situations, I have had to teach myself many things either using the internet, books or experience. Coming from schools which didn’t have the best teachers, I had to learn how to teach myself a lot of academic material and as a result learned a vital skill, learning through research, action, and self-thought.

3. Self-Analysis: I have always loved meta-cognition and thinking about situations from a third-person perspective. This allows me to view my own actions, analyzing them, realizing my mistakes or ways to improve my actions. I always wanted to be self-aware, so I would focus on my thought process a lot in primary school, knowing how you came to a conclusion is just as important as the conclusion. I have focused on this so much, that the majority of the time when I think back on something, I automatically remember it in the third person.

4. Critique Building- I love it when someone gives me criticism no matter how vicious the critique may be. You must be open to what other people say. If you only listen to yourself, then you will only know what you know and see what you see. Alan Watts, a fantastic eastern philosophy speaker, has a segment where he explains when all you do is think then you will be left with only thinking about past thoughts. Similarly, if all you do is talk, you could only talk about past things you talked about. I take criticism open-heartedly, otherwise, that would mean I would be doing something that is not worth paying attention to.

5. I can easily change my state of mind. As funny as it may sound, one of the things I love doing is getting in touch with my emotions. I love to see how sad I can get and see what thoughts arise, as well as how happy I can become. I can get myself in zones when needed and calm down as well when necessary to recover. I use my emotions to drive me actively.

Responses:
People saw me relatively similar to how I saw myself with the other main difference being that 2 people told me I was extremely patient, and not at all quick to be tempered. They said that they have never seen me be angry in a situation that is serious or has seen me become overwhelmed by the situation.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

From the perspective of the government in water treatment, there aren’t many alternative choices. They primarily use already established treatment plants. This is part of the main issue. Many of the plants that are being used are not the most ideal for the standards of current living situations. Citizens don’t focus on which plants are being used, they mostly only care about having the availability of water. Governments just want the cheapest solution, most times changing the infrastructure is not cheap. Price is king in government spending. The only time infrastructure is changed is when the change is necessary. Purchase of this nature, as a result, is usually financed, or either paid as a service, meaning the company would own the means and the service, being the treatment of water would be paid on a timed or unit basis. As a post-purchase evaluation, people would focus on the availability of the water, and whether it was of a quality that they expected. From the government's position, this would be through happy citizens.

14 Halfway Reflection

I have learned to properly prioritize assignment in the course in order to have ample time to research and get on track with blog posts, as well as identify the important topics discussed in a lecture which may be on the cupcakes. 

One semester when I was dealing with insomnia I thought about just dropping a programming course that I had out of fear that I would not be able to keep up. I stayed in the course since it was still early in the semester, and while I didn’t do as well as I could have I ended up passing the course, allowing me to stay on track with my major. I was going to just do my best and learn as much as possible so that if I needed to retake the course I would have already learned the majority of the material.

Tips:

1. Simply start working. Don’t worry too much about a certain assignment, a lot of time I would overcomplicate something and it would prevent me from starting it.

2. I enjoy the phrase, “you only fail if you stop trying”. Just because something isn’t working out in your favor at the moment, doesn’t mean you can’t recover, when you do tumble, learn to walk it off and not worry about it too much.


3. Learn to juggle assignments. Sometimes when a specific assignment is giving me trouble I set it aside and start on another one. A lot of times, when I come back with a fresh mind I am able to finish the assignment more easily.

Reading Reflection No. 1

Book: Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Ashlee Vance

What surprised me the most about Elon Musk was the sheer determination that he has to accomplish the goals that he has set out and his childhood experience. It was surprising to me that in his childhood he was beaten up by bullies to the extent that he had to be hospitalized. Once again, I admire his determination, which is clearly portrayed and elaborated through the various quotes in the book by other people describing Elon Musk, going as far as comparing himself to a samurai. At times though this determination has been to the adverse effects of others, criticizing the work ethic of his workers at times. The book has a quote was Elon Musk replied angrily to a worker who missed an event in order to see his child be born. The adversity that he faced as a child caused him to become more introspective, which aided him in his philosophical perspective to problem-solving. Elon Musk is very capable of seeing opportunities that could be used to better the future of humanity. If I could ask two questions to him they would most likely be, what his schedule usually consists of and how long he spends not “working” and just relaxing a day, if he accounts specific time for it, or if he doesn’t really find the need to. I agree with his opinion of hard work, just to a lesser extent. It may just be that I haven’t found the motivation to fulfill something like he has. His outlook on finding that driver does give me hope that anybody can build that intense work ethic all you have to do is ask the right question.

12. Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Segment focused on: Populations Currently experiencing water problems (i.e. residents of California during water restrictions, Cape Town)

I interviewed 2 residents of California who experienced the water restrictions as well as my roommate’s, relatives who live in Cape Town. I learned that before learning about the restrictions they hadn’t thought of water as a resource, it was such a simple thing in everyday life that they didn’t realize that some shortages could happen or restrictions would have to be implemented. When the restrictions did take effect they researched why the restrictions were being implemented as well as for how long the restrictions would be for and the future of the water resources locally. This industry is somewhat difficult to enter as people didn’t begin their information search and need awareness until the need was no longer met. The people are not actively looking for this need to be met, they primarily only want this need met when they no longer have it, but it is still an important need, that the governments are making sure to have at all times. As climate talk increases and people become more wary of the environment in the future people become more cautious about these needs. It is an everlasting industry that increasing environmental awareness will enter public awareness more in the future.

Napkin No. 1

1. I am Jonathan Lopez, a student at the University of Florida studying computer science. I have experience in constructing an idea for a business and presenting the said idea, having participated in UF Catalyst. In even my group and I won 2 awards including people choice. With my idea specifically, I wish to better the current infrastructure of water treatment plants in order to make them more efficient, preventing public water shortages in the future.

2. I am offering an increase in available clean water through the treatment of otherwise unusable water.


3. Offering it everywhere that imports the majority of their water, to increase self-sustainability.


4. Many places around the world have begun to experience water crises or water scares resulting in some people worrying about the availability of water in the future, especially since water is a necessary resource for modern survival.


5. I am competent in presenting ideas physically as well as have the previous history in the beginning stages of a business idea.

Me being confident in my presentation abilities as well as having some background in business creation have good synergy with my idea, however, computer science does not have a big benefit when it comes to creating a more efficient water treatment facility. My idea most likely will not be a radical change, but rather an improvement on already existing institutions which will likely deter some people from thinking that the product would be of enough worth to transfer.

Testing the Hypothesis

People interviewed: California residents and people who frequently visit relatives in Cape Town.

The problem I focused on was the increasing amount of water crises and shortages around the world.

Who:
Many people around the world have begun to face water shortages, the two most recently notable, in modern societies, being Cape Town, South Africa, and California. The respective governments and residents of these locations are the ones that are affected by the water shortage. If the country which experiences a shortage is a water export country as well, then all the countries that import water from there would also be affected.

What:
There are variable differences in water shortages around the world. In established societies, it has only gotten to the point of water restrictions needed to be passed. Water does serve many purposes from daily use to agricultural. Imported water is not the primary need we are addressing. I am attempting to address the loss of local water found primarily in aquifers.

Why:
Most needs are for daily use and are experiencing shortages due to either the demand surpassing the supply or environmental factors such as droughts.

Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
Residents who are in countries with water shortages	Residents of countries with ample supply of water
Increase in usable water for public use	Increasing importation of water to outside countries
Water usage is increasing and environmental factors are limiting supply	Water supplies beginning to run out and countries restricting the use of newer water sources.

8A-Solving the Problem

The problem that I wanted to focus on is the availability of clean water for drinking or other use as many locations around the world have begun or have announced that they may experience restrictions in the availability of water. One way that the solution to this problem could go is through the production of cheaper and more efficient desalination processes in order to utilize sea water or other sources of salt water for public use. The product would gather water from various different sources such as sea water, lake water, and process the water to be prepared for daily use. The product will primarily be used as a secondary measure in the event that water availability becomes scarce. Another route that water cleansing could follow is by focusing on the recyclability of wastewater. By focusing in this route many countries would be able to become self-sustaining rather than depend on imports which could fluctuate and result in a dependent country on one of, if not the most, important resource in modern society.

My Entrepreneur Story

I actually hadn’t thought about it until entering this class, but both of my parents are entrepreneurs. My dad started a construction company in Florida back in the early ’90s. He also runs a hunting preserve in Mexico, I'll add a picture of one of the lodges.

My mom is a self-employed hairdresser having opened up a salon in the early 2000s. She no longer runs the salon, having sold it 3 years ago, now she does house calls. My dad would always take me to his business to show me the value of hard work, while simultaneously getting a free worker for the day. Funnily enough, though my parents don’t want me to start my own business, they’ve told me that they would be happier if I worked for an already established business, it’s ultimately up to me though.

I entered into this class in order to fulfill a requirement for my degree but I still hope to get a deeper understanding of the entrepreneurial mindset, as well as the perspective of problem-solving, that comes with it.

2A Bug List

1. Vegetables always go bad in the fridge, I always have to throw some away spending taking up space in my trash can.
1. Packages of certain vegetables aren’t sold in smaller portions, so I don’t use them all before they expire.
2. Having to decide what to eat every night, sometimes I take too much time because I have too many options.
1. The number of options makes it difficult to choose, feeding into my indecisiveness, along with a lack of knowledge of what is the healthiest and best tasting to eat.
3. Getting a flat or pinched tire on my bicycle
1. Caused by hitting a pothole, some areas of campus have many.
4. Getting caught on campus without an umbrella.
1. Sometimes I don’t pay attention to the weather forecast and don’t bring an umbrella with me.
5. Accidentally turning on the preliminary fire alarm in my apartment when steaming vegetables, or cooking pasta.
1. Happens because of poor ventilation, have to open a window.
6. Using up all my eraser before using up an entire pencil, primarily when doing math based homework.
1. I commit a lot of errors so I usually erase a lot, and the eraser is disproportionate to the pencil.
7. Interacting with glitter and getting it stuck to everything and then having to clean it all up which is an extremely difficult task.
1. Glitter is small and attracted to moisture.
8. Making a burrito and having the tortilla break when attempting to fold it.
1. I sometimes might overfill the burrito or the tensile strength of the tortilla is low.
9. Wanting to use my phone without a case but having it slip out of my pocket and fall on the ground.
1. The new iPhones are very slippery and as a result don’t stay in the pocket all the time, because of the material they are made from.
10. Not being able to use my phone and headphones while the phone is charging
1. Happens because of the way the iPhone is built, also because of the phone I bought I have the issue.
11. Not being able to see 3d movies with glasses.
1. 3d movies are seen with glasses which are wearable by the majority of the population
12. Not being able to fall asleep while watching tv because I wear glasses
1. Falling asleep with glasses on is difficult, I can’t watch tv without glasses, my vision is impaired.
13. My computer was killed one time because I was caught in the rain on my bicycle while my computer was in my backpack.
1. I didn’t have an umbrella and was caught in on the road where I couldn’t stop rain started aggressively and suddenly.
14. No parking spots on campus near classes, sometimes have to arrive extremely early or search for a spot for almost an hour.
1. Many people on campus are also looking for spots to park.
15. Cookiegazm shutting down on campus, I can no longer get their delicious cookies
1. Probably shut down because some of the students who ran the business were either no longer making money or they graduated
16. Having to do multiple trips sometimes to carry all our groceries into our apartment building.
1. There are only so many bags I can carry to the 2nd floor of my apartment.
17. Not being able to take food back to my apartment from campus because I sometimes go on a bicycle
1. It is difficult to ride a bike and carry a bag at the same time.
18. Getting signed out of an account on my tv and having to re-input my email and password with the remote.
1. The remote doesn’t have many input options so you are funneled into selecting buttons via a d-pad and select button.
19. Riding my bicycle with glasses on while it's raining, it is difficult to keep my glasses clear.
1. My glasses collide with the water falling and get humid as well.
20. Having my glasses slip off my head whenever I look down or jump.
1. Glasses are slippery and I have long hair so they slip off, because they don’t have a good grip.

Reflection:
Coming up with the bugs was not that difficult as I just waited until I encountered problems that I faced on a given day. The most difficult part of the exercise was determining the root cause of the bug. Was the issue caused by me? Or was there an outside factor that was causing the problem? A lot of times the problem could be solved by making a simple change in my daily life but there were a couple issues like slippery glasses that do have outside solutions, I see that in these issues is where potential markets exist for businesses to profit.