30A – Final Reflection

This has been one crazy semester. At the beginning of the semester I was studying abroad in Rome, and now I am at home in New York as I finish up my semester. When thinking about my memories in this class, I think mostly back to my time in Rome. I remember sitting in my room talking out my business idea with my roommate Emily who is also in this class. We would ask each other questions, interview each other and give feedback on our ideas. I was flying pretty often while in Europe for those few weeks and I really wish my invention was real during those plane rides. One assignment that I particularly enjoyed was when we had to look up our local news and find articles about local opportunities. When I did this assignment, I was in Rome which feels like a different world. I remember missing home a little bit at that point and being put at ease by reading all of the local news in my area. For that little time while reading the articles, I felt like I was back home in New York again. Although that assignment didn’t directly have to do with my product, it is still a great memory that I have while taking this class. I am very proud of myself for accomplishing the venture concept assignment. I really did not think that I was going to be able to write so much and come up with a real idea with a specific plan, but I did!

After taking this class, I can definitely say that I have more of an entrepreneurial mindset. When I see any unmet opportunity, I do now think that more than ever that this should be invented. I still don’t want to start my own business and product necessarily, but now I can understand a lot more why so many people would want to.

A recommendation I would have for a new student would be like your product!! Liking your product is KEY in this class. Doing assignments for something that you actually enjoy and believe in makes everything so much easier. It could be extremely painful going through an entire semester hating your idea and product. I recommend not waiting until the last minute for each assignment. Also, reading the assignment way before so you’re able to think about your answer over the next few days. I found this to be really helpful instead of sitting down reading the post and then begin writing right away. Again, do something that matters to you and not just what sounds easy.

29A- Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity

I thought of this new business idea because I saw for myself that there was an opportunity for a new innovative idea. I myself experienced this unmet need, so I wanted to think of an idea of how to solve this problem that I have and millions of other people as well. 2020 is a new decade and a time where technology is constantly changing and adapting. Apple’s invention of AirPods had drastically changed how we live. While AirPods were being introduced, Dr. Dre wireless beats were also brought into the market. These two products have changed how people listen to music daily. People started to drop their wired headphones and start using wireless devices. The trend has exponentially increased and now millions of people use Bluetooth. When traveling, you have to go back to your old ways and remember the wired headphones. We have been so used to just using our Bluetooth that we forget that airplanes still don’t have Bluetooth capability! We are forced to either listen to our phone and opt out of using the inflight entertainment or buy poor quality wired headphones from the flight attendants. This simple annoyance can be transformed into a whole new industry. The technology and capabilities we have today are amazing! This is why I think that something can be done about this problem.

Geographically, anyone who is traveling on a plane is able to access this service. Demographically, the people who would want this opportunity are the people who can afford to fly, and also frequent flyers. Currently, customers are satisfying this need by using wired headphones. They either remember to bring wired or use the airlines headphones. I would say that the younger generations are less loyal to the wired headphone. The older generations who are more used to wired, and not wireless are loyal to the headphones because for so long that is what they know. I think that this opportunity is huge! It could change the airline industry forever and totally change how we travel. This industry could be worth billions of dollars someday. This “window of opportunity” could not be open for long. I am sure that other innovators have thought of this idea and pretty soon it could be offered on planes. The idea doesn’t seem that far fetch anymore.

Innovation

This product could go in many different routes. One route is creating the software first and then selling the software and capabilities to major airline companies. My business could also supply the workers who install the Bluetooth capability safely into the planes. The software would be installed to only the planes with a personal TV screen in front of them. Additionally, we would try to make it as easy as possible. When the passenger sits down in their seat and it says “Welcome” I would imagine the screen to ask a question like “Do you want to use Bluetooth for this flight?” The passenger will click yes if they do, which will lead them to a page with pricing. For the entirety of the flight it would cost $20. For 3 hours of use pricing would be 5$ and 3- 6 hours would be priced at $10. If someone if a frequent flyer and use this service often, there could be a yearly subscription available priced at $100. After they select which pricing, they want, you will be able to put your credit card into the screen to pay for the service. After you pay, your personal Bluetooth capability will be turned on and your phone will be able to connect.

Venture Concept

This product will solve the opportunity that I identified in the opportunity paragraph. I think that customer would switch to using this product because they don’t want to have to deal with remembering wired headphones. Being able to connect to Bluetooth and use the inflight entertainment could make their trip a lot more enjoyable. Now that everyone is so used to the Bluetooth world, they would be more inclined to switch over. I do think that it could be difficult to get passengers to switch over. Some people are stuck in their own ways and don’t want to switch things up. Also, since the service isn’t free and wired headphones are, they may just want to save money and not spend the money to use the service. Currently, there are no competitors because this doesn’t exist yet. Weaknesses could be the price, malfunctions with the software, and people being cautious about putting their credit card information in. I would organize the business at first small. The startup doesn’t need to have that many people. Definitely computer engineers, accountant/ finance employees, salespeople to pitch the idea to employees and installation workers. Probably starting off with 15-20 people and then hopefully expanding to many more.

The Three minor elements

Secret sauce – the advanced computer engineers that make this product. I would want to file a patent on this idea so that no one can copy the software.

What’s next? After planes, we could go into other modes of transportation such as busses, subways and trains. This idea would be for connecting to their sound system to hear which stop is next etc. This wouldn’t necessarily be a product being sold to the customer themselves, but to the transportation system overall company. For example, selling the capability to MTA NYC subway systems, Amtrak etc. as a contract deal.

What’s next for you? Assuming that this product has launched, I would want to be the leader of this successful company. It would be world renowned. Eventually if I think it is too much, I may sell the company off to a larger company who wants it.

Provide a summary of the feedback and how I changed it:

I received positive feedback and great ideas for my product. I was told that expanding to other modes of transportation would be a great new path. Something to consider is short trips. Busses, trains and subways would not really appeal to the consumer. This service would not affect their entertainment at all because their trip would be so short. Something that I did read that made me think was having Bluetooth be connected to the mode of transportations sound system. For example, if the bus is announcing the next stop and the passengers don’t hear it because they’re listening to their music or get distracted by their phones. This system capability would be B2B not B2C.

27A - Reading Reflection No. 3

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck

The general theme of this book was all about mindsets. Dweck believed that there are two different types of mindsets. A fixed mindset and a growth mindset. A fixed mindset is when someone already has predetermined abilities and a growth mindset is when the person believe that they can learn or change a mindset. Each chapter dove into different sect of person and their fixed vs growth mindsets. For example, relationships and love, parents and teachers, an athlete’s mindset and how to change your mindset. Each different type of person has both the fixed and growth mindsets. Trying to have a growth mindset in all of these areas was the goal.

In my opinion, the book enhanced what we are learning in ENT3003 a lot. Mindsets are vital when creating your own business. If you don’t have a good head space, it will affect your business negatively. This book was teaching readers the importance of the growth mindset which is so important for entrepreneurs. A fixed mindset will get you nowhere. Growing, learning, failing, and teaching is all a part of this new business or concept.

If I were to create an exercise for this class based on the book, I would tell the class to think of ideas that were embodied in them since they were young kids. Explain why this idea is important in your life. Now, think of ideas that they learned over time. Which ideas did they feel were most important and why? Do they think one list is more important than the other?

Something that I learned most from the book that was different from my expectations was the overall theme. I have never studied this area of psychology so the whole idea was new to me. Obviously, I knew that there were different kinds of mindsets, but hearing the breakdown of why fixed mindsets are negative and why growth mindsets are positive was all new to me. I think a mindset is very important and shapes how we all live our everyday. Just having a positive mindset can change everything. I learned a lot from reading this!

28A - Your exit strategy

I plan to sell my company off in about 5 years or so. The plan is to sell it off to another company or person when I feel like it is the right time. 5 years seems like the company would be established enough for me to sell it off.

I have selected this particular exit strategy because I think that it could get really hard to maintain. I don’t view myself as the most entrepreneurship person and I think that someone else could probably do a better job at running the company. I don’t view me selling the company a failure in anyway. If my business was successful enough for someone to want to buy it for a large amount of money I would view that as a positive for me. Someone liked my idea enough to want to purchase it. Right now, I don’t know how much the industry could be worth in a few years but hopefully it is a growing industry.

I think that my exit strategy has influenced my business concept. Early on in process, I thought that I would sell it off to a bigger company. So, that seed has been planted in my own head for a while that I would sell it. I think that if I didn’t think about selling it I could have made more intricate decisions. My growth intentions has probably diminished because I didn’t have the mentality to grow it to its maximum. I was going to let someone else take over during that time.

26A - Celebrating Failure

A time when you failed:

I could think of a few times where I failed this past semester. Some were in my control and some were out of my control. Trying to control my attitude in uncontrollable situations and have a positive outlook would be my failure. The coronavirus has affected my life and everyone else’s life in the world at this point. When I found out that I my abroad program was being cancelled due to the coronavirus and I had to return back to America upset me more than anything. That was an uncontrollable circumstance, so controlling my attitude was the goal since I received that email. Now that I have been home for over 1.5 months, my positive outlook has come and gone. Some days I am okay and have accepted it, and other days don’t go so well. I keep telling myself that it wasn’t only me and really am trying to stay positive in this horrible and sad pandemic situation. I keep trying to tell myself that I have my health, so I am more than lucky. I keep going back to the fact that I’m upset, and this was supposed to happen. Most recently, this past week I found out that my summer internship program is now cancelled. I really cannot find my positive attitude in any of this anymore. I promised myself in the beginning of March that this isn’t the end of the world but now so many negative things are happening that it’s hard for me to stay positive. I would say that this has overall been my failure this semester. Another failure I would say is my procrastination with online school now. It’s been very hard for me to actually sit down and do the things I need to do until the last minute possible.

What did you learn from it?

I learned that not every situation is controllable. It’s hard for me to grasp onto that idea but these times have really shown me that not everything is in my hands. I’m learning slowly that not everything is the end of the world and obstacles are a part of life. In no way is this easy, but it is doable to deal with and hopefully soon all problems will fix itself out. For my procrastination problem, I learned that it is really not wise to do so! It only adds pressure to me for no good reason.

Reflection:

I think that failure stinks. No one enjoys failure, and if they say so, they’re lying. Everyone wants to succeed in what they do! Failure though is a part of life and that’s just how it is. At first, I don’t take failure very well. I get really upset and think the worst possible things. I usually talk to my friends and parents about failure situations and they make me feel better. Talking out failure is a great way to make myself feel better. My family and friends have an outside perspective and can be reassuring when I need it most. This class has changed on how I think about failure. Just this assignment alone has let me really think about the importance of failure in life. I have learned that failure is okay and it’s okay to admit that. Admitting failure could be very hard for some people. Learning about entrepreneurship has taught me that the best entrepreneurs have failed countless amounts of times and were still able to make it in the real world.

24A - Venture Concept No. 1 (Air Sound)

Opportunity

I thought of this new business idea because I saw for myself that there was an opportunity for a new innovative idea. I myself experienced this unmet need, so I wanted to think of an idea of how to solve this problem that I have and millions of other people as well. 2020 is a new decade and a time where technology is constantly changing and adapting. Apple’s invention of AirPods had drastically changed how we live. While AirPods were being introduced, Dr. Dre wireless beats were also brought into the market. These two products have changed how people listen to music daily. People started to drop their wired headphones and start using wireless devices. The trend has exponentially increased and now millions of people use Bluetooth. When traveling, you have to go back to your old ways and remember the wired headphones. We have been so used to just using out Bluetooth that we forget that airplanes still don’t have Bluetooth capability! We are forced to either listen to our phone and opt out of using the inflight entertainment or buy poor quality wired headphones from the flight attendants. This simple annoyance can be transformed into a whole new industry. The technology and capabilities we have today are amazing! This is why I think that something can be done about this problem.

Geographically, anyone who is traveling on a plane is able to access this service. Demographically, the people who would want this opportunity are the people who can afford to fly, and also frequent flyers. Currently, customers are satisfying this need by using wired headphones. They either remember to bring wired or use the airlines headphones. I would say that the younger generations are less loyal to the wired headphone. The older generations who are more used to wired, and not wireless are loyal to the headphones because for so long that is what they know. I think that this opportunity is huge! It could change the airline industry forever and totally change how we travel. This industry could be worth billions of dollars someday. This “window of opportunity” could not be open for long. I am sure that other innovators have thought of this idea and pretty soon it could be offered on planes. The idea doesn’t seem that far fetch anymore.

Innovation

This product could go in many different routes. One route is creating the software first and then selling the software and capabilities to major airline companies. My business could also supply the workers who install the Bluetooth capability safely into the planes. The software would be installed to only the planes with a personal TV screen in front of them. Additionally, we would try to make it as easy as possible. When the passenger sits down in their seat and it says “Welcome” I would imagine the screen to ask a question like “Do you want to use Bluetooth for this flight?” The passenger will click yes if they do, which will lead them to a page with pricing. For the entirety of the flight it would cost $20. For 3 hours of use pricing would be 5$ and 3- 6 hours would be priced at $10. If someone if a frequent flyer and use this service often, there could be a yearly subscription available priced at $100. After they select which pricing, they want, you will be able to slide your credit card into the screen to pay for the service. After you pay, your personal Bluetooth capability will be turned on and your phone will be able to connect.

Venture Concept

This product will solve the opportunity that I identified in the opportunity paragraph. I think that customer would switch to using this product because they don’t want to have to deal with remembering wired headphones. Being able to connect to Bluetooth and use the inflight entertainment could make their trip a lot more enjoyable. Now that everyone is so used to the Bluetooth world, they would be more inclined to switch over. I do think that it could be difficult to get passengers to switch over. Some people are stuck in their own ways and don’t want to switch things up. Also, since the service isn’t free and wired headphones are, they may just want to save money and not spend the money to use the service. Currently, there are no competitors because this doesn’t exist yet. Weaknesses could be the price, malfunctions with the software, and people being cautious about putting their credit card information in. I would organize the business at first small. The startup doesn’t need to have that many people. Definitely computer engineers, accountant/ finance employees, salespeople to pitch the idea to employees and installation workers. Probably starting off with 15-20 people and then hopefully expanding to many more.

The Three minor elements

Secret sauce – the advanced computer engineers that make this product. I would want to file a patent on this idea so that no one can copy the software.

What’s next? After planes, we could go into other modes of transportation such as busses, subways and trains.

What’s next for you? Assuming that this product has launched, I would want to be the leader of this successful company. It would be world renowned. Eventually if I think it is too much, I may sell the company off to a larger company who wants it.

25A- What's Next?

Existing Market

Step 1: I think what’s next in my product is conducting surveys in airports or after someone’s flight and asking valuable information. Asking passengers if they would have benefitted from having a Bluetooth service available. Asking general questions to see if they had in-flight entertainment capability. Asking how much they would be willing to pay for this service. Once we have that data, we could move more forward with planning.

Step 2: I would hope that the target customers would like the idea of the product and want to use it. I hope that they would give me good insight into what they would do next so I could get another opinion.

Step 3: What makes the most sense is to start making a software to make this available. Testing out Bluetooth signals not interfering with pilot signals is vital in this service. Conducting many different tests and reaching the perfect signal for this service is key. Once that is done, and a software is made, maybe testing out the service with a very small group of people not on an airplane. Asking them questions about the quality and service after the test mode. Eventually, speaking with airlines to pitch them this business idea would be the end goal.

New Market

Step 1: The new market I would try to enter is the B2C on other modes of transportation such as buses and subways to the less affluent community.

Step 2: I think that adding this service to busses and subways allow for people who can’t always fly on a plane this service. If there were TV’s on busses like greyhound for example. The people who travel on busses could experience Bluetooth and wired headphone issues. Additionally, people commuting on trains and subways could also take advantage of this.

Step 3: After conducting interviews, I would hope to gain more of an insight of what they want in this product and what is important to them. Hearing what they struggle with on day to day travels could really benefit how I alter the service while trying to enter the new market.

Step 4: I learned that this new market could be very tricky. This market is less attractive and not as effective, but people are willing. Putting this idea into their daily commutes on subways, trains and busses for example is something that they would spend some money on. If it can be brought to them in a way that improves their daily commutes, they would maybe spend some more money to get a better commuting experience.