ENT3003 EXAM 2

Do you have any advice for students interested in entrepreneurship? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-Follow your instincts and intuition. -Listen to your gut and don't judge yourself.

major differences between the lean canvas and the business model canvas

-The lean canvas places greater emphasis on first adopters and less emphasis on customer segments. -The lean canvas begins with a problem, not a value proposition. It emphasizes that you must validate that a problem exists before searching for a solution. -The lean canvas focuses on a single key metric to track the business's success. Examples of key metrics include revenue, new users, retention rate or cost of acquiring new customers. -The lean canvas addresses "unfair advantage" which is a "hip" term that entrepreneurs use to refer to competitive advantage and uniqueness. -The lean canvas works best for startups that are in early stages of the business, when a problem has not been chosen, a product has not been developed, and few actions have been taken.

Case Study: Jeff Goudie (AmeriCan Packaging)

-This case study describes how Jeff Goudie leveraged his network to build a successful cigar tin manufacturing company in the Dominican Republic. -After Jeff graduated with an MBA from Babson College in 2014, he wanted to buy a business with his classmate. They investigated the potential to purchase a wood recycling business, but the plan fell through and they both had to get "real jobs." -Jeff worked as a consultant in Colombia for 13 months, but soon decided that he wanted to do something on his own. He had a friend whose father was an investment banker, and together they identified an opportunity for metal packaging in the Dominican Republic. -The Dominican Republic is a major manufacturer of cigars, many of which are sold in metal packages. Amazingly, the Dominican Republic had no metal packaging manufacturers to support the producers. -Jeff wanted to learn more about the cigar industry, so he reached out to contacts that he had in Miami, which was his home town. He learned that most of the metal packages for cigars came from China and Switzerland. This led him to realize that he could compete with those suppliers on both price and lead-time by establishing a metal packaging company near cigar manufacturers in the Dominican Republic. -Unfortunately, Jeff underestimated how much power existing suppliers in the mature metal-packaging industry had. It was difficult for him to convince cigar companies to switch from their existing suppliers to AmeriCan. Moreover, Jeff found it difficult to get his cost of goods sold low enough to compete with Chinese producers because local suppliers did not want to work with smaller quantities. -One of the problems was that they all wanted to see samples to ensure that the print quality on the tins was acceptable. Jeff couldn't find any local companies that would print a small batch of samples. He leveraged his network and found a printer in Costa Rica that would print as few as 20,000 tins. He didn't have an order yet, but he took the leap and ordered the tins with the hope that his potential customer would want them. Unfortunately, Jeff didn't get the order and he was left with a stock of 20,000 sample tins. -Jeff then began to attend industry trade shows, where he met and hired a consultant from Barcelona. He later started a university internship program and used LinkedIn to attract valuable talent. Finally, he reached out to family, friends, professors, and others for advice and help. -Jeff later decided that he should build the company's reputation in the cigar industry by selling a large stake in the company to an established cigar manufacturer with a good reputation. This helped propel AmeriCan to the top of the industry; and the company soon began to do business all over Latin America. -Jeff recognized that small Latin American businesses didn't like to deal with Chinese suppliers due to differences in business culture and product quality, and he leveraged his relationship-driven approach to make more contacts and drum up business. -Unfortunately, as the company became more successful, Jeff's business partners began to ask for more and the team began to break down. Jeff eventually had to leave the company without being paid his fair share. However, he was able to take his strong network of partners and clients with him. He was eventually hired by one of AmeriCan's largest customers, and he now runs one of their metal packaging businesses.

Guest speaker: Vassia Daskalakis (Africa AI Labs)

-Vassia Daskalakis is a UF graduate and the founder and CEO of Africa AI labs, a company that enables remote data labeling workforces for artificial intelligence in Africa, as a means to break the cycle of poverty for base of the pyramid workers. -Data labeling is the process of detecting and tagging data samples to train AI algorithms. -the demand for human data labeling services is growing significantly as more and more products and services adopt AI applications. -the traditional markets that have provided business process outsourcing services no longer have a glut of Labor available, so companies are looking at East Africa as the next frontier. - Vassia wants to make East Africa a business process outsourcing hub and allow low skilled workers with basic Computer literacy to improve their quality of living and break the cycle of poverty as they propelled into the digital economy. - Vassia Considered every major, from psychology to pre-Med, and she finally settled on a double major in Fine Arts and finance. She ultimately chose to focus on her finance major, and this helped her gain a skill set related to business that would help her in her future business endeavors. -She also participated in the center of entrepreneurship and innovations ambassador program, and she participated in the business case competition. -During Vassia's sophomore year, she got an internship at JP Morgan's Orlando office through the career fair. This led to a procedure summer internship at JP Morgan's New York office, which ultimately led to a full-time job offer at the investment banking position once she graduated. - Vassia mentioned that the quality of life in New York was bad, she lived with 12 roommates in a small, two-bedroom apartment where she slept on a mattress on the floor and where she had to put her own makeshift walls with IKEA bookshelves. - Vassia worked 80 hour weeks for 11 months doing corporate client banking and leveraged finance. While she was at JP Morgan, she learned about the trend toward impact investing, an investment strategy that seeks to generate financial returns while also creating a positive social or environmental impact. -She attended the Harvard social enterprise conference and participated in a JP Morgan program called bankers Without Borders, which furthered her interest in this field. -she got burnt out at JP Morgan, and she started to apply for other jobs. She got three job offers: another banking job, a job at the international finance corporation in Singapore, and a six month fellowship with an investment advisory company in Nairobi. She took the job in Nairobi. -the investment advisory company in Nairobi helped eastern African startups raise money from both government institutions and private investors. during her fellowship there, Vassia did consulting work, helps firms raise capital, and help firms with new market entry. -She worked with a wide range of businesses, from startups that provided clean cook stoves to businesses that installed solar green many grids. -After the six month fellowship, she was extended a full time position with the Nairobi investment advisory company. - Vassia Really liked the group of people she met in Nairobi, a city of 4.3 million people which attracts 20 somethings from around the world who move there to start businesses. -the people there are ambitious, driven, and passionate about what they do. Entrepreneurs in Nairobi are bold, curious, eager to learn, confident but down to earth, and they think outside the box and dare to go places many people Wouldn't. -the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Nairobi is extremely supportive of these individuals, and there's a lot of money available for social impact startups. The quality of life is much higher than it was in New York City as well. - Vassia eventually left the investment advisory company and joined an early-stage German start up in the Ed tech field, where she works as a growth manager. In her 1.5 years within the company, she did everything from bug reporting, to sales, to data processing. This experience gave her the confidence that she could run an early-stage startup, and it made her interested in starting a business of her own. - Vassia's idea for a data labeling business developed organically. When she moved to Kenya, she started volunteering at a local orphanage, where she taught High School graduate orphans Computer literacy and helped them get jobs. -Vassia did a pilot with her first client, which was a market leader in the data labeling space that wanted to enter the Kenyan market. -previously, the client had trained 2000 college graduate workers and the retention rate was bad. Vassia Provided just 17 High School graduate workers, and they ended up producing a disproportionate 13% of the company's entire output for the year. - Vassia Ultimately transitioned her nonprofit venture into a for profit venture, and she quit her job with the German Ed tech start up. She worked on her company for five months and did a proof of concept that generated $400 in revenue. At this point, she decided to raise friends and family capital and turn the company into a true startup. She ended up raising about $125,000 in four months and soon after she got a matching investor grant from a German development institution. -she used the startup capital to open up the company's first cloud lab where workers came to do data labeling work period she started hiring a team, and she tried to poach employees from her data labeling competitors. -at the time, her co-founder was the hands on operational person who trained people and made sure workers had work to do. -Vassia worked on business development, client relationship management, and fund raising. -Today, the company has six cloud labs in Kenya, and it employs 1000 Kenyan data labeling workers. The growth has occurred very quickly, the company went from 75 workers to 1000 workers in just nine months.

Do you have a board of directors or Advisory Board? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-Vassia does not have a board of directors, and she believes it is wise to not set up a board of directors too early in an early stage company. -She does have a group of advisors who meet monthly to provide advice and give feedback.

Do you have any book recommendations? (Camilo Reina Muñoz)

-Camilo recommended What Is Art?, which is one of the first books he read in his master's program. It talks about the reasons why humans make art and how art differentiates us from other animals. According to the book, humans use art for two reasons: (1) to make things special, and (2) to say what we can't say with words alone. -Camilo also recommended books by Augusto Boal and Antonio Garcia about psychodrama and sociodrama. He recommended that students take sociodrama training whenever possible, because it essentially involves conflict resolution in a theatrical format. It will help you develop empathy and make it easier for you to put yourself in other people's shoes.

Nairobi is a startup hub in East Africa. What are some other African cities or countries with booming startup scenes? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-Cape Town, South Africa, Lagos, Nigeria and Egypt.

Guest Speaker: Camilo Reina Muñoz (Theatre Connect)

-Camilo Reina Muñoz is an academic program specialist for the Center for Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida, and he is also the admissions coordinator for the Center's online graduate program. -He is the co-founder of Theatre Connect, an improv theatre program aimed at supporting high-schoolers in the LGBTQ+ community. -The Center for Arts in Medicine's objective is to transform health and wellness through the arts. -The Center was crated in 1996 in order to fund and promote research, practice, and education around the emerging field of arts in health, which is about bringing arts to people who are either experiencing injury or seeking to maintain good health. -The Center for Arts in Medicine was established in the mid-1990s during a time when people were bringing more attention to arts in health. -At the same time, UF started offering undergraduate certificates in the field, and those certificate programs eventually became specialized to include visual arts, dance, music, and theater. -Since the 1960s, researchers have conducted research that validated the value of art therapies. This research shows, for example, that music in an emergency room can help reduce the amount of pain medicine used, shorten the average length of stay, reduce stress, and improve patient satisfaction--all of which are important to hospital administrators and patients alike. Research has quantitatively and qualitatively validated the importance of art as part of a healthcare system. In addition to the benefits to patients, bringing arts to health care provides artists with new ways to make money and improve their standards of living. -Camilo did not intend to be a working artist, though he has always enjoyed the arts. In middle school and high school, he was involved in marching band, symphonic band, church choir, and improv theatre, and he has always been interested in poetry. He writes music, plays guitar, and likes to play piano for his friends at parties. He never thought he could actually make money with the arts, however. -Camilo applied for a program assistant position at the Center for for Arts in Medicine in 2014. He eventually became a graduate assistant and then the admissions and marketing coordinator. -In the summer of 2017, Camilo's colleague was working on a needs assessment, in which he was charged with idetnifying unmet needs in the community. This assessment revealed an unmet need in the LGBTQ+ community: The UF Gender Clinic provided counseling and hormone treatment to support adolescents who were non-binary, transgender, or gender-expansive, but it did not provide a way for those people to socialize and spend time together. -Camilo and his colleagues developed a program to address this unmet need. Specifically, they set up an evening at the Hippodrome with a one-woman show (called The Rainbow Unicorn) about being the parent of a transgender adolescent. They also set up a day camp with activities for teens. -The program, which is now called Theatre Connect, transitioned to an improv theatre group that provides support to the LGBTQ+ community. It is a non-profit, social entrepreneurship venture that brings together 12 to 16 adolescents (between the age of 13 and 18) for a couple of hours every Tuesday. -At first, they charged participants (though they never turned anyone away because they couldn't pay), but the program is now fully funded by donors and grants. -Camilo mentioned that grant money often comes with strings atached. Camilo appreciates the "soft money" donors who don't require much explanation because they provide a lot of leeway to use funds for whatever reason Camilo and his colleagues deem necessary. -Going forward, Theatre Connect will continue to seek donor and grant money, and Camilo has prepared formal proposals for this purpose. It's important to be able to convince donors that the program is worthwhile. After all, just as a good manager wants to hire good people who are experts in the field, a good benefactor will want to pick people with experience and expertise to help them achieve their goals. -In the future, Camilo hopes to expand the program by adding additional offerings in Gainesville and by inspiring others to establish similar programs elsewhere. It is possible that Camilo and his colleagues may act as consultants to other programs in the future or even license the program to other institutions, which would bring in more revenue to the program in Gainesville.

You've had student interns work with the company over the years. How has that worked out? (Charlotte Terry)

-Charlotte is thankful for her student interns, who have helped her with a number of different projects.

How do you stay sharp and knowledgeable about your trade? (Charolette Terry)

-Charlotte watches YouTube and monitors Facebook to learn more about cleaning and how to maintain team member morale.

case study: Haim Saban (Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers)

-Haim Saban is an Israeli American producer, media proprietor and investor who is well known for producing and distributing the Power Rangers superhero television series. -Haim was born to a poor Jewish family in Egypt in 1944. During the Suez War, His family fled to Israel, where they lived together in a small apartment. He later joined the Israeli army. -After leaving the army, he joined a rock band, the lions of Judah, where he played bass. -He wasn't a great bassist, so his bandmates asked him to manage the band instead. He was successful in doing so, and he soon began managing other bands as a full-time tour promoter in Israel. -unfortunately, Haim experienced financial ruin when the 1973 Yom Kippur war caused many show cancellations, leaving him $600,000 in debt and without money to pay bills. -He sought a larger market to pay his bills off in Paris where he discovered a promising 9-year-old singer (Noam Kaniel). the first record that he produced went platinum, and Haim use the success to develop his own successful record label in France. He learned how to knock on the doors of distributors and make his record label a success. -Haim decided to move to The United States in the 1980s. Before doing so, he learned as much as possible about the way music royalties were paid in the United States. He found that it would be most profitable for him to produce music for cartoons, because music is played throughout a cartoon. -Haim Made his entrance into EU S cartoon music market by offering something unprecedented: he would provide the music without any upfront fee if he got to collect all the royalties. -This innovative business model gave rise to Saban Entertainment, a company that produced music for several popular cartoons. the business grew quickly, and at one point Haim was producing music for 12 studios that made cartoons. -On a visit to Japan in 1984, Haim was watching television in his hotel room when he happened upon the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. He immediately identified the opportunity to take the show to the United States. he knew that if he licensed the content, he could simply reshoot it with American kids and use the action scenes that had already been shot in Japan. -Several networks initially rejected his proposal to air the show in the United States. However, in 1993, Margaret Loesch (a Fox executive) decided to give it a shot in an early-morning summer slot. The show was an instant success and was soon moved to a prime-time slot. -Fox offered to buy Saban Entertainment for $400 million in 1994 but Haim refused. -Later, Fox's COO, Chase Carey, proposed a joint venture between fox kids and Saban Entertainment in which fox kids would receive all of Suban Entertainment's cartoons and distribution network it exchanged for half of the fox kids network. -In 2000, the fox kids' network was sold to Disney for $5.3 billion, and Hiam's Cher was valued at $1.5 billion. -Since then, Haim as established investment fund and he has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of fame.

Did you ever think you'd be an entrepreneur when you were a kid? (Charlotte Terry)

-No, partly because she never had any personal connections to entrepreneurship or business ownership. -She is the first college graduate in her family, and she's also the first entrepreneur. She is the only female in a family of seven, so it was hard for her brothers to believe that she started her own business at first.

New York Times columnist once wrote about your company and accused it of ruining the college experience because suffering though a bad roommate it a rite of passage. Was this a problem? (Rob Castellucci)

-No. Sometimes you know you're on the right path if you're pissing people off in the right way. -Maureen Dowd's criticism demonstrated that RoomSync was doing what it intended to do, help people avoid a nightmare Roommate.

What individuals do you serve? (Camilo Reina Muñoz)

-The program caters to adolescents between 13 and 18 years of age who self- identify as LGBTQ+. -In-person sessions are attended by people in the Gainesville/Alachua County area, though when the program went online during COVID the applicant pool expanded to North Florida in general.

How big is your team? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-There are 13 core full time employees, including three cofounders. -In addition, there about 20 more team leads and sites providers that help guide the workforce of about 1000 Kenyans.

Types of social capital

-bonds: refer to connections with people with similar cultural background and ethnicity, including family and friends. -bridges: refer to links to people with whom you do not share common sense of identity, such as colleagues or friends with different backgrounds or cultures. -Linkages: refers to the connections with people or groups without regard to their position in an organization, community or society.

Tips that will help you stay curious

-connect with other curious people -be a curiosity ambassador -focus on learning -broaden your networks -ask "why?", "what if?" and "how might we...?"

how the Power Rangers case study relates to the course material:

-the evolution of an entrepreneur: During his discussion of this case, Kraft made the case that Haim's decision making during his entrepreneurial journey reflects that of an experienced entrepreneur rather than a novice. Haim only decided to come to the United States after doing extensive research into the revenue model for music producers. He took a calculated risk when introducing a new business model in which he would provide music to cartoon producers for no upfront fee, if he got all of the royalties. Haim also continuously looked for opportunities throughout his life, and the most important opportunity identified was the opportunity to bring the Power Rangers to end states. It was smart of him to realize that he could reduce his costs by using action sequences that were previously shot for the Japanese version of the show. -key decision makers who influenced Haim's ventures: 1. his bandmates encouraged that he was not a great bassist, but that he might have other talents. They reassigned him as a band manager, which introduced him to the world of tour management. 2. His record distributors in Paris decided to distribute his records. Haim was persistent in knocking on the doors of record distributors in order to make his record label a success. 3. Fox executives like Margaret Loesch, who took a risk on the Power Rangers idea, and Chase Carey, who proposed the joint venture between fox kids and Saban Entertainment. 4. executives at Disney, who ultimately decided to spend $5.3 billion to acquire fox kids. -Haim's innovative business model: When Haim games did states, he brought with him and the innovative business model in which she would provide music to cartoon producers for no upfront fee, as long as he got all the royalties. This generated a lot of business for him, and it turned out to be quite lucrative. -Haim's customers: Before the joint venture, Saban Entertainment I ran a business-to-business model in which it provided consumptions to large production companies that made cartoons. Once Saban Entertainment joined fox kids, the joint ventures customers were the viewers, mostly children. -Market sizing: when estimating your market size, it is important to make conservative estimates that are defensible. For example, let's consider market sizing for the Power Rangers cartoon. The total available market wasn't the 300 million total people in the United States or even the 74 million children in the United States. of the 25 million children aged 6 through 11 in the United States, only 80% of them watch cartoons. Moreover, 4% of households do not have televisions, and there are approximately two children per household. Taking all these facts into account, you might conservatively but realistically as NFI the total available market (TAM) as 9.6 million US households. If we conservatively estimate that the total available market that the product or service intends to target is half of the total available market, this would leave the serviceable available markets (SAM) at 4.8 million households. of course, not everyone in the serviceable available market will watch Power Rangers. If we assume that 10% of households do, we can conclude that the share of the market (SOM) is 480,000 households. -Customer personas: the producers of Power Rangers likely developed customer personas when producing and marketing the show so they had a better idea of how to target the people they were going after.

How to conduct experiments

-you might design your experiment by answering the following questions: -what is the hypothesis? -What is the pass/fail metric? you might specify that your idea is validated if at least 80% of people you ask say they would be willing to sign up now. -Who are the participants? -how many participants do I need? -How will I get those participants? -How will I run the experiment? -How long will I run the experiment?

The following are five characteristics of experiments:

1. they follow a structured template. 2. They focus on one core hypothesis and don't test too many things at once. 3. They produce believable results that allow for learning. 4. They are flexible and can be changed if necessary. 5. They allow quick learning because they are compact.

Do you have any book recommendations? (Ally Downing)

Rich Dad Poor Dad (by Robert Kiyosaki) and The Alchemist (by Paulo Ceolho).

What books, blogs or podcasts do you recommend? (Rob Castellucci)

Rob recommends "The Lean Product Playbook" by Dan Olson. -The "All-in" podcast. -The "This Week in Tech" podcast -The "Prof G Pod" podcast.

What is your entity structure? (Ally Downing)

The company is organized as a limited liability company (LLC).

market opportunity

refers to the degree of customer demand for a particular product or service.

supply and demand

supply includes all the sellers who provide a good or service in the marketplace, and demand involves all the prospective customers who want to buy a good or service.

How many companies at UF Innovate are based on technology or are otherwise related to the university? (Karl LaPan)

-About 40% of the companies have some kind of relationship with the university which is higher than the historical 20-25% figure. -The incubators have generated 258 licenses, and they've been granted 359 patents. -Karl pointed out that UF's incubator program differ from many others in a couple of respects: It provides open access to both UF stakeholders and the community in general and it caters to companies in different stages of development.

What have been some of your biggest challenges? (Rob Castellucci)

-It was challenging for Rob to start a software business with no software experience. -Rob has interpersonal skills and can speak well, but he had no experience with UI/UX, graphic design, or product management. -Luckily, he had cofounders with technical experience, and they were patient with him while he learned. -One of Rob's most noticeable mistakes came when room saying clogged the Tinder like swiping function in 2017. -Users began complaining that they were getting matched with people who they had swiped left on. -It turns out that the software was identifying a match of any kind, including two people who swiped right on one another and two people who swiped left on one another. The software was matching two people who both said they didn't like one another. -According to Rob, your biggest challenge is overcoming the man in the mirror. -Rob had to confront his own doubts and hesitancy when he started a software company without software experience, especially when he quit his job and went full time in 2011.

guest speaker: Karl LaPan (UF Innovate)

-Karl LaPan is the Director of Incubation Services at UF Innovate, the umbrella organization that includes Tech Licensing, Ventures and two business incubators. -He works with researchers, entrepreneurs and scientists to help them build, grow and scale their companies. -An incubator is an entrepreneurial support organization that provides resources to help companies. -There are two goals: 1. Increase the survival rate, especially during the company's formative, fragile years and 2. Accelerate a company's growth and development. -UF has two incubators: The Sid Martin Biotech incubator, which is located about 15 miles from campus, is a sector-focused incubator that works directly with biotech firms. The Hub, which is located in Gainesville's innovation district, is a large mixed-use incubator that works with all kinds of firms. -UF's incubator program is in the top 10 in terms of the size of its facilities. -The Sid Martin Biotech incubator is the only incubator in the world to win the Incubator of the year award three times, and the Hub won the Incubator of the Year award the year before last. Whereas the average university incubator has about 35,000-40,000 square feet, the UF Innovate incubators have a combined 130,000 square feet of space. -Businesses find out about incubators through: referrals, events and workshops and SEO strategies and social media. -Some things to consider when accepting companies into an incubator program: How long is the company's financial runaway? In general, the incubator programs want the participating companies to have enough cash for six months of operations. What is the company's plan in terms of sales, employment and investment growth? Can the incubator provide the company with the services it needs to become successful? How well would the company fit with the 80 other companies that the incubators currently house? How coachable and self-aware are the entrepreneurs? -According to Karl, the incubator doesn't expect any particular level of users, customers or revenues. All of these things typically come later. Typically, you'll spend twice as long and twice as much money as you expect, and you'll only get half as far as you might think. -Like most other incubator programs, UF Innovate doesn't set any specific time limit on how long companies can remain at the incubator, As long as companies are utilizing the services of the program and making positive improvements, UF Innovate will continue to work with them.

do you have mentors, and are you a mentor for others? (Kathey Porter)

-Kathy has mentors for different aspects of her life, including a business venture under speaking mentor. -Her business is still growing, and it is helpful to reach out to others for help and advice. -Kathy is frequently asked to be a mentor, but she doesn't feel like her business has developed enough for her to be a mentor for others.

what has been the biggest challenge in your entrepreneurial journey? (Kathey Porter)

-Kathy's biggest challenge has been balancing her work in her family life. She has a 25-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old son, and it wasn't always easy for her to be there for her children when she was busy working on her career and business. -Now that she has a self-sufficient business, she can devote more time to play an active role in her son's life. -this is one of the benefits of owning your own business, you have control of your lifestyle, and you can do what you need to maintain your work life balance.

what is Porter Brown Associate's entity structure? (Kathey Porter)

-Porter brown associates was organized as a single member LLC but she recently had it changed to an S Corp for tax reasons. -Kathy mentioned the importance of working with an accountant to make important decisions relating to taxes period initially, she had a bookkeeper to do basic things, but she eventually had to get an accountant when she started to think about growing the business in the future.

Mr. Rob Castellucci (guest speaker)

-Rob Castellucci is the co-founder, president and CEO of RoomSync, a roommate matching service. -Got his MSE at UF in 2008. -Described RoomSync as "tinder for roommate matching". Just as you can swipe left or right on someone's Tinder profile, you can swipe left or right on someone's RoomSync profile to help you find the best matches. -As an undergraduate, Rob was a leasing consultant at Lexington Crossing, a Gainesville apartment complex. -Identified an opportunity: the need for a better way to leverage Facebook to help match roommates. -He. proposed the idea for a Facebook matching service to his boss at the leasing office, but she was uninterested. -This led him to develop the idea for himself and build his business on his own. -Rob admits he had no idea what he was doing when he started his business. -He was involved with UF's Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and was minoring in entrepreneurship. -This involvement allowed him to talk with a lot of people who helped him out at first. -Rob soon realized that he didn't have the technical skills to build the product that he wanted to build, so we started to look for a cofounder. -Rob met one of his Co-founders, Michael hacker, through alpha Kappa psi, a business fraternity. -Rob brought Michael to lunch at a bagel restaurant and pitched him on the idea. -Michael liked the fact that rob had industry experience and he joined the team. -Michael was an economics major and he had some experience designing web sites, but he wasn't a programmer. -However, Michael could talk about both the business side and the technical side of the business, which was valuable. -Michael also recruited two of his friends who were computer science majors at Duke and Emory. Together, the four co-founders started a company. -RoomSync has been around since 2007, and it has gone through many changes. -At first, the company was called RoomBug, but rob eventually changed the name to room sink because of the negative connotation with the word bug. -The University of Florida was one of the company's first clients, since then the company has taken on universities in apartment complexes in about 150 to 175 different college town markets. -As an aside, rob is very passionate about salsa dancing. He even gave a Ted talk about salsa dancing that included a surprise wedding proposal to his now wife. Rob started the Gator salsa club at UF, and he frequently teaches salsa dancing it in Gainesville when he's in town.

You started your company in 2007, around the time that the iPhone came out and the global economy crashed. How did this impact you? (Rob Castellucci)

-Rob didn't have any money in the market at the time, so he was unaffected by the collapse of the global economy. -However, he generally believes that economic downturns provide excellent opportunities for entrepreneurs to start a business. -The development of the iPhone was important, but Robin his company were slow to adopt the mobile platform. -In fact, the company didn't have a first-rate mobile experience until 2017. -part of the problem was the company lacked the expertise to make mobile apps for iPhone and Android devices. As a result, the company stuck to Facebook longer than it should have.

What was the initial platform, and how has that changed? (Rob Castellucci)

-When the company released the product in 2007, it was a Facebook app. Today it is a mobile app. -Facebook was much more popular among college students in 2007, and it seemed like a natural fit to integrate the service into a Facebook app when people were stalking their potential roommates on Facebook anyway. -Rob pointed out that building a product or service entirely on top of another product or service like Facebook it's risky because the other product or service can simply kick you off and essentially destroy your business.

What is your background and history? (Karl LaPan)

-before coming to the University of Florida, Karl was president and CEO of the northeast Indiana Innovation Center for more than 20 years. -There, he worked with scientists, engineers, physicians, and non-academics to commercialize more than 200 patents. -Before that, he worked at a biometric identification company, and before that he worked in six different divisions at General Electric. -Interestingly, Karl does not have a technical background, he was a finance major, and spent a lot of his career working in financial management.

business model

-describes the way in which a new venture will create, deliver and capture value. -a living document" that should be adjusted as needed. -best business models stand the test of time. -Kodak, Blackberry and Blockbuster failed because they did not adjust. -General Mills has a good business model because the company is about selling nutritional foods, and customers have come to demand healthier options. Ex. they recently introduced a YQ, a new yogurt brand that targets key health influencers.

imitation

-offering existing products and services to existing markets, should be avoided because it is rarely sustainable. -to be successful with an existing product, an entrepreneur must find a way to differentiate his or her offering. -existing customers; existing products or services.

product application

-refers to products and services that meet this demand and thereby solve a customer problem. -novice entrepreneurs usually focus on the novelty of the idea, the newness of the technology of the idea, the superiority of the product or service and the product or service's potential to revolutionize the industry. -experienced entrepreneurs are more customer focused. they focus on the degree to which an idea will solve a problem, generate cash flow and generate revenue quickly with as little risk as possible.

connecting with customers' emotions

-research has suggested that entrepreneurs can improve sales, brand recognition, and customer loyalty by connecting to their customers emotions. -Powerful emotional motivators include the desire to stand out from the crowd, have confidence in the future, protect the environment, succeed in life or be the person one wants to be. -Other powerful emotional motivators include the desire to feel a sense of well-being, freedom, thrill, belonging or security. -If companies can identify their customers most powerful emotional motivators, they can take steps to cater to those emotions. -In fact, customers who are both satisfied with a product and emotionally connected to the brand or 52% more valuable to the company and a customer who is simply highly satisfied with the product.

Who do you consider your "peer group?" (Karl LaPan)

-the international Business Innovation association consists of incubators, accelerators and co-working spaces from all over the world. -When Carl compares UF innovate to other incubators and institutions, he's primarily comparing it to the following: other tier one universities with incubator facilities, other incubator networks with a similar size and complexity, best in class programs with alternative business models that are different from what you have in a Bay currently offers.

targeting your customer group

-the targeting process is different in traditional marketing and in entrepreneurship. -traditionally, marketers identify the most viable customer segment and develop a new product to meet the needs of those customers. -in contrast, entrepreneurs often begin with an idea and look for a target customer segment for the new product. this often requires testing the product with different customer groups.

fours parts of a business model

1. The offering: -describes what you will do for customers, the value you will generate for them, and how you will communicate with them. -includes the customer value proposition (CVP), a statement describing why customers should buy the product or service and use it. -value describes how much the product or service is worth to customers. -ex. a plumber may only incur $40 in costs to repair a broken pipe, but the value of that service is much higher to the customer. 2. The customers: -customers are the individuals and businesses that are willing to pay what the business is willing to offer. -businesses can't serve everyone so they pick target markets. -ex. Great Clips targets younger, tech-savvy customers with its virtual online experience that allows them to check online. 3. The infrastructure: -includes all of the resources that the entrepreneur requires to deliver the customer value proposition. -resources include people, partners, suppliers, products, technology and facilities. -ex. Justin Gold has limited resources, so he bought the oldest food processors he could find to produce peanut butter. No other company can mimic his peanut butter because of the resources he used. Gold's resourcefulness allowed him to develop an infrastructure that gave him a sustainable competitive advantage. 4. Financial viability: -refers to the revenue and the cost structures required to meet operating expenses and financial obligations. -the company is in business to make a profit, so it must ensure that its revenues exceeds its costs.

What's the environment like for entrepreneurship in Kenya? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-It is very supportive. The ease of doing business is high, you can open up a company through an online portal for about $100, and you don't have to be a citizen. -The immigration system is not hard to navigate, and the government is very supportive. -Accelerators and Incubators bring startups from all over the continent, there are tons of grant competitions.

How do you handle your bookkeeping and accounting? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-She started out with excel, but she has recently moved to QuickBooks. -She hired an accountant to do this work for her. -She manages her payroll using gusto, an online payroll software solution.

Have you taken subsequent rounds of funding since your friends and family round? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-The company has gotten three grants, and it's currently raising a $800,000 pre seed round of funding that is likely to be closed in the next 30 days. -That money will be used to expand in Kenya, and hopefully elsewhere. -Vassia has had discussions with officials in Rwanda, who are excited to help her bring the company there.

What is the biggest challenge UF Innovate faces today? (Karl LaPan)

-13 to 16 million people have quit their jobs after COVID, phenomenon known as the great resignation, and the vast majority of these people did so without having another job in mind. -As a result, Karl believes that there will be a big growth in transitional entrepreneurship as people look for something else to do to bridge the time between their previous job and their next. -The vast majority of these people will eventually find another job and work for someone else. -With a huge influx of transitional entrepreneurs, it will be important for the incubator programs to be smart in the selection process. -The program wants to support entrepreneurs who are in it for the long haul, entrepreneurs who need something to do while transitioning from 1 W2 job to another.

Do you have any parting advice for students interested in entrepreneurship? (Rob Castellucci)

-Rob and his wife witnessed a motorcycle accident last weekend that left two people dead. -This brought things into perspective: Nobody knows how long they have on the Earth, and youth doesn't guarantee anything. -You should be doing something you truly enjoy in the remaining time that you have here. -You can bring an entrepreneurial perspective to anything you love, whether it be a business or an avocation like salsa dancing.

How has the makeup of your customer segments changed? (Rob Castellucci)

-Universities are still the largest pain clients, but apartment complexes are increasingly important. -The company recently signed a contract with American campus communities, which owns portfolio of 140 properties nationwide.

some key questions to ask when assessing customer segments' viability and attractiveness are as follows:

-what is the size of the segment, in terms of the number of customers and its potential to contribute to the company's growth? -How much buying power do customers have? Even the most enthusiastic customers won't be valuable if they can afford the product. -Can customers in the segment be identified? You'll need to pinpoint those people and businesses that are your most likely buyers. -how accessible are they? Can you reach your customer base with a marketing strategy? -How stable is the customer segment? You want to be able to market to this segment for a long period of time.

six instructions for a customer journey map:

1. Gather a whiteboard, felt tip markers and sticky notes. 2. Identify your target segment of customers. 3. Write down as many touch points as possible, one for sticky note, and put the sticky notes on the board. 4. Identify three or four aspects of the customer journey you would like to explore. Examples might include pain points, emotional needs, and obstacles to satisfaction. 5. Come up with ways to improve the customer experience by resolving these problems. Post these ideas on the whiteboard. 6. After you're finished, create a graphical representation showing the customer going through the process. Note the customers emotions, pain points and sources of convenience.

What was your favorite professor or class at the University of Florida, and what was your least favorite business class? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-Her favorite class was a perceptual drawing class that helped her develop her drawing skills, and her favorite professor was her policy debate coach. -Her least favorite business class was managerial accounting.

What is your entity structure? (Charlotte Terry)

-The company is organized as a Florida limited liability company (LLC). -Charlotte mentioned that she registered her business before she had her first customer or first employee.

What is your revenue model? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-The company negotiates a fee for a certain amount of output.

The University of Florida has made big investments in artificial intelligence. Has UF Innovate placed any emphasis on AI? (Karl LaPan)

-Well you have UF Innovate does support companies that make use of artificial intelligence, it doesn't make sector butts on a specific field, so it doesn't preferentially supports AI firms. -There are AI applications in many different fields.

customer journey mapping

-a customer journey map is a visual representation of the customer experience across multiple touchpoints. -While a customer persona focuses on the buyer himself or herself, a customer journey map focuses on the customer's experience with the business. -This provides a holistic view of the customer experience, which allows you to identify any pain points that should be focused want to improve that experience. -This tool will help you develop empathy for your customers, and it will help you improve their relationship with your company or product. -Some benefits of consumer journey maps: -they clearly show how customers interact with the business. -They clarify the customers thoughts and feelings about their experiences. -They confirm whether the journey is in a logical order. -They highlight gaps between the customers actual experience and the desired experience. -they allow the venture to connect with customers on an emotional level and resolve any pain points. -customer journey mapping helps you put yourself in your customers shoes and think about how you can make it easier and more efficient for them to achieve their goals.

the business model canvas (BMC)

-a one page plan that provides a more thorough overview of the business model by dividing it into nine components. -each of these components aligns with one of the four parts of a business model: the offering, customers, infrastructure and financial viability.

differentiation

-involves fulfilling unmet customer needs using a differentiated version of an existing product or service. -ex. entrepreneur Simon Enever invented Quip, an electric toothbrush that is simple, affordable, portable and convenient. -new customers; existing products or services.

UF Innovate has two buildings in the Innovation District. Is a third one on the way? (Karl LaPan)

-there are discussions about turning the grassy area in the parking lot instead office space where the firms that gets there start in the hub can transition after leaving the incubator program. -Decision makers will discuss this possibility in December.

You mentioned that Miami and Tampa often take businesses away from the Gainesville ecosystem. What can we do to keep those businesses here? (Karl LaPan)

-there will always be a leakage of companies from a community, no community is perfect for every company. -However, Gainesville can improve its chances of keeping companies here by continuing to focus on developing good talent. -Beyond.com Gainesville needs to work to ensure that it provides the kinds of things that knowledge workers want, such as appropriate housing, retail, restaurants, entertainment and other amenities.

What exactly is a "cash runaway?" (Karl LaPan)

-A company's cash runaway is the amount of time the business has to remain solvent, provided they don't raise any additional funds. -UF Innovate typically will only deal with companies with a cash runaway of at least six months because it is hard to accomplish anything in less than six months.

You've participated in a number of "hackathons". What are they and why are they important to you? (Rob Castellucci)

-A hackathon is a weekend long event in which a group of people work together to develop a business idea from scratch. -A group of people typically meets on a Friday night, and several people give a short, one minute to pitch for an idea. -Participants then get together in teams and get to work developing the business idea, revenue model, marketing plan, and even a prototype. -On Sunday evening, the teams give presentations to a panel of judges, who pick a winner. -rob has made a couple of strong contacts through his participation in hackathons, but the real value is simply the ability to work on different ideas. -He's been thinking about roommate matching nonstop since 2006, and hackathons give him the ability to flex his creative muscle and other ideas. -In a sense, hackathons are like his release valve for all the ideas he has built up inside. -Rob mentioned that he participated in and won a hackathon in 2012 in which he and his team developed an app that helped people dance. -The app was like a Shazam for dancers, it sensed the music and vibrated at appropriate times so people new want to move. -Rob's team even built a prototype to show the judges, who included Gainesville business expert and author John Spence. -local companies that came out of hackathons include Partender and Feathr.

Do you suggest taking an internship as a student, or should you just jump in and learn as you go? (Rob Castellucci)

-According to rob, either approach is fine for someone who is in college. -Internships are a good way to decide whether you're interested in a particular field and starting a business in college will give you experience that will pay off later. -Rob emphasized that most college students have little to lose because they don't have a lot of money and they don't have many responsibilities. -For example, rob had very little risk when he fully committed himself to his business at the age of 22. He has since gotten married and will be having a child in January, so his risk profile has gone up a lot. -When you get older, you have to be more risk averse and think about your major life decisions a lot more.

What is the difference between an incubator and an accelerator? (Karl LaPan)

-And incubator helps entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground, while accelerators expediate the growth of existing companies. -Accelerators tend to have a shorter, more definite timeframe, maybe 13 weeks to six months. In contrast, and computers tend to be more flexible and offer support for a longer period. -Accelerators are cohort beast. Participants tend to go through the program at the same time and in the same way as a group of five, eight or ten others. In contrast, incubators tend to be asynchronous and more individually tailored to participating businesses. -Accelerators are investment driven. Participants that successfully graduate from the program are often able to raise money with an equity offering or convertible debenture. In contrast, incubator companies are usually self-funded. -According to Karl, accelerators emerged around 2005 to improve the enjoy investing experience. From 2005 to 2015, sellers typically took a portion of the company's equity up front as tuition for going through the program. At the end of the program, decelerator would put the company in front of investors to see if they were interested in investing in the company. -Karl also pointed out that accelerators were initially all for profit accelerators. Today, there are many more non-for-profit accelerators than for profit accelerators.

entrepreneurship in action: Bandon Steiner (Steiner Sports)

-Brandon Steiner started a successful sports bar that attracted the attention of several prominent figures in the sports world. -Realized there was an unmet need among professional athletes; the need for agents to help find endorsement deals, sell merchandise and arrange public appearances and autograph signings. -Started Steiner Associates, using $8000 in savings. -At first, the company was not focused enough on its margins or cash at hand. -Had to adjust the business model to one in which the company would receive commission of between 10% and 20% for every deal. -Today, the company has 70 full0time employees and its the world's largest sports memorabilia retailer. -According to Brandon the way to success is not necessarily inventing something new. -Many entrepreneurs simply make improvements on existing offerings.

How do you train your employees? (Charolette Terry)

-Charlotte has established standardized operations and procedures, and she makes sure that team members follow those procedures. She also provides hands-on training to team members twice a year, and team members participate in a three day training program for apartment cleaning every summer. Charlotte participates in these training exercises with her team. -Charlotte also mentioned that her team is CDC approved for COVID sanitation and her team members follow certain protocols for that. She views her company's dedication to COVID sanitation as protecting the lives of her customers and keeps them safe.

How did you come up with the name for your business? (Charolette Terry)

-Charlotte liked the 1960s American sitcom / Dream of Jeannie, in which the main character (Jeannie) was a genie who could fix any problem with a characteristic head-nod (shown to the right). -Most people don't want to spend their time cleaning, so Cleaning Genie takes care of that for them. The company IS Consistent, reliable, and does good work.

What advice would you give to a student who might want to start a business? (Charlotte Terry)

-Charlotte recommends developing a business plan that provides a roadmap and vision for where you want the company to go. -She also recommends identifying your company's core values, which will shape all of your decisions and could significantly impact your company. -Charlotte also recommends using your time wisely to learn your trade. -Finally, she recommends doing a SWOT analysis of your competitors so that you can be sure that you're differentiating yourself from them and making a difference in your customers' lives.

What makes your company stand out? (Charolette Terry)

-Charlotte treats everv customer as it thev are her first and only customer. She also guarantees her company's work—-customers who are not satisfied are not charged. -Team members are trained to "wow" customers and leave them satisfied.

What do you do for bookkeeping and taxes? (Charolette Terry)

-Charlotte uses QuickBooks, and she has a bookkeeper and tax preparer. This is an important part of her business, but Charlotte isn't a numbers person. -She's better at connecting with customers, networking, and showing the company's vision to team members, so she likes to focus on doing that.

You started our company from essentially nothing, How did you get your first customers. How do you get your customers today? (Charolette Terry)

-Charlotte's social worker experience taught her the importance of networking. She would work at her social worker job during the day and then go to as many networking groups as possible at night. This Is how she made connections and got customers at AISL. -The companv doesn't have a sales team and charlotte doesn't like to do "cold" sales calls. The company relied on word-of-mouth for a decade, and it only started advertising last year.

What forms of payment do you accept? (Charlotte Terry)

-Cleaning Genie sends invoices and collects payment online, but it also has "old fashioned" customers (mostly seniors) who want to use checks.

You mentioned that you liked books written by Simon Sinek. Who are your other favorite business authors? (Charlotte Terry)

-Dale Carnegie, Zig Ziglar, John Maxwell, and Dave Ramsey.

What are your thoughts on "delta-8 cannabis," And how will it affect the market? (Ally Downing)

-Delta-8 Is a cannabis compound that is similar to delta-9 THC. its legality is currently in a Gray area in many states because it is manufactured from hemp derived CBD, and the federal government has legalized hemp for extractions. -This may be a temporary substitution in jurisdictions where traditional marijuana is currently illegal, but it's not affecting the market in Colorado at all. -Ally Doesn't believe it will compete with legal marijuana, and she doesn't believe it will have any long-term impact on the cannabis market.

Your social entrepreneurship endeavor demonstrates how a person can make a real difference in the community. Do you have any advice for students who want to make their own difference in the community? (Camilo Reina Muñoz)

-Do a needs assessment. Sit down with people in your community and ask them what's missing. Don't assume that you know what they need; uncover their problems by actually talking to them. -Recently, administrators have found that a much more effective approach is to sit down with people who have the problems to try to develop solutions together.

Case study: NatureBox

-Gautam Gupta and Ken Chen are the co-founders of NatureBox, a company that provides healthy snacks that taste great. -The company primarily offers a subscription-based model in which customers receive a box of healthy, tasty snack foods in the mail every month. -When Gautam was trying to overcome obesity, he became hey customer of healthy foods and exercise options. -He immediately recognized a "pain point" in the market for healthy foods, specifically, they simply didn't taste good! This gave him the idea to provide healthy, tasty snacks to fill this gap in the market. -He also wanted to customize snacking experience to allow people to choose from among a wide range of healthy foods. In short, Gautam wanted to create a Netflix for food. -after determining there might be a demand for healthy, tasty snacks in the marketplace, the pair decided to take a risk and act on their idea. -they worked on their idea while still working at their jobs. One weekend, they locked themselves in an office in decided to make a decision about whether to start NatureBox. -They went out and got a bunch of healthy snacks, took pictures of them, and then put those pictures on a website. -They used Facebook to drive customers the website, and they were surprised to find that they received 100 orders by the end of the weekend. This helped to confirm that their idea had desirability. -The company officially launched on January 1, 2012, and the company sent subscribers boxes of assorted snacks every month. -At that time, customers could not customize their boxes. -They soon realized that they were more likely to keep subscribers if they allowed them to customize their boxes, so they began to do so. They also eventually allowed customers to buy single snacks rather than packaged together in a box. -NatureBox is relentlessly focused on delivering customers what they want. This has allowed them to discover and target new market segments. -At first, the company's target was mothers looking for healthy snacks for their children. However, they soon realized that there was high desirability among millennial women who ate the snacks both at home and at work. -NatureBox also expanded its distribution to corporate offices. -The company is continuously using customer feedback to develop new snacks for its product line. This has helped it reach a broader customer base. -Interestingly, neither Gautam nor Ken had an experience in food manufacturing or online food sales when they started. -Nevertheless, the pair was able to attract investment by an early stage venture fund, which eventually led to a total of $58.5 million investment between 2012 and 2015.

expansion of the technology adoption life cycle

-Geoffrey Moore has expanded the technology adoption life cycle theory by identifying some "cracks" between each phase. -specifically he has identified the transition between attracting early adopters and attracting the early majority as "crossing the chasm". -at first, the entrepreneur focuses on a single, primary beachhead market. -once the entrepreneur has won the market over, he or she can use the momentum to dominate larger markets. -a beachhead market is a limited segment of customers that will generate enough cash flow to equip the venture in winning over other markets. -an attractive beachhead market has customers who buy similar products, have similar expectations of value and use word of mouth communication to others in professional organizations or similar regions. -Moore likened the adoption of a product by the early majority to bowling pins being knocked down at a bowling alley. if you successfully hit the first pin, it's much more likely that you'll be able to knock the rest down. -If this "bowling strategy is successfully executed, the product and business could enter a tornado, meaning the product is in high demand and you are experiencing rapid growth. -eventually, after the tornado, the business is likely to enter a calm period during which the product is a proven success that has been widely adopted by "main street". during this period, you should further enhance your offering to make sure customers don't switch to a competitor.

How do you market the program? (Camilo Reina Muñoz)

-In addition to word-of-mouth, the program is marketed in several ways, including the following: -A couple of months before each season begins, Camilo an his team work with the Alachua County School Board's Community Engagement Coordinator to distribute flyers to local high school classrooms. -WUFT highlights the program in a public service announcement. -Alachua County Libraries lets people know about it through their e-mail -They use the Center for Arts in Medicine's and UF Health/Shands' various social media channels to market the program. -The program is featured in several directories used by parents of teenagers, including What's Good Alachua County and Fun for Gator Kids. -Camilo and his team work with several local organizations that service the LGBTQ+ community. -All of this marketing is essentially free; the only costs are the cost of printing the flyers at Target Copy and the cost of gas to deliver them. The program operates on a minimal, humble promotional budget because administrators want to ensure that they're devoting their money to paying artists and providing the supplies and materials to participants at no cost. -Camilo also highlighted the importance of cross-promotion with other programs that cater to LGBTQ+ teens. He recognizes that Theatre Connection is just one of many programs designed to support that community.

In addition to RoomSync, you've consulted or worked with a lot of Gainesville entrepreneurs. How important has experiential learning been to you? (Rob Castellucci)

-It has been very important. In the early days, rob worked closely with local Gainesville entrepreneurs who inspired him and helped him flush out his ideas. -It helps to be plugged into the entrepreneurial ecosystem; you really can learn by osmosis from the smart people around you. -Rob pointed out that you must be open with your ideas. Many people are hesitant to share their ideas with others because they're afraid that other people will steal them. This is a huge mistake. -It is important to get in front of others and hear their feedback and criticism so that you can develop your ideas. -according to rob, the risk of having your idea stolen is low. -After all, truly successful entrepreneurs must budget a decade of time to develop a new business, and people simply aren't going to do that if they're not passionate about the idea. -If you have an interesting idea that you're passionate about, get started with it and see how it goes, but budget for 10 years of commitment to the idea.

Aside from biotech, what are the next big sectors in the Gainesville entrepreneurship ecosystem? (Karl LaPan)

-Karl doesn't have the data to specifically identify big sectors beyond the traditional big sectors of tourism transportation and retail. -Karl pointed out that 12% of all biotech companies in Florida got their start at either the hub or the Sid Martin biotech incubator. -In his view, Gainesville and Electro county have done a good job add developing and fostering durable, scalable and investible biotech companies.

guest speaker: Kathey Porter (Porter Brown Associates)

-Kathey Porter as a local author, entrepreneur, innovator and the CEO of Porter Brown Associates, a training and professional services consultancy. -She got her bachelor's degree from Savannah State University and her MBA from Georgia Southern University. She graduated from UF's Master of Science in entrepreneurship program. -Kathey wanted to be a commodities broker when she started college. After failing macroeconomics once and microeconomics twice, she concluded that being a commodities broker was not for her. She changed her major to marketing, and she decided that she ultimately wanted to have a business of her own. -In 1993, she started her career working as a brand manager for Carson product company in Savannah GA. She worked there for six years and eventually came to manage the company's flagship brand. When the company was acquired, she would have to move to a large city to keep her job, so she went back to school and got her MBA. -Kathy eventually got a job with a small construction company that was a minority partner in $100 million construction product. -In 2007, she got a job as a program administrator of the city of savannah's minority and women owned business enterprises program. She worked to provide contract opportunities to small minority and women owned businesses. -In 2012 she moved to Virginia, where she got a job as an assistant director of purchasing and supplier diversity administrator for Virginia Tech. -In 2015 she moved to Gainesville, where she worked as director of small business and vendor diversity relations until 2020. -She recently left her job at UF to focus on her own business, Porter brown associates, which offers consulting services for governmental agencies, corporations and small businesses.

Tell us about your books. (Kathey Porter)

-Kathy knew she didn't want her book to be self-published, so she started to look for a publisher. -She wrote out a long book proposal and sent it to several publishers who rejected it. She then reached out to other people with credibility notoriety in the marketplace and only found one of them responded. That person sent the book proposal to her publisher Palgrave Macmillan who liked it and agreed to publish it. -$50 billion boss: African American women sharing stories of success and entrepreneurship and leadership" what is so successful that the publisher asked her to write a second book "implementing supplier diversity: a driver of entrepreneurship". The second book became the foundation for a supplier diversity institute training course that she offers in partnership with UCF. -Kathy is currently working on her next book, which will be published by the same publisher. -In addition to this, John Wiley & Sons will be releasing of Kathy's books "supplier diversity for dummies" in 2022. -according to Kathy, she never had any intention to become an author. However, this is how entrepreneurship works, entrepreneurs are always tinkering and looking for opportunities. -the success of Kathy's books has allowed her to launch an entire career based on her personal brand. Her books have opened many new opportunities.

Case study: Katrina Lake (Stitch Fix)

-Katrina Lake is the founder and CEO of Stitch Fix, a publicity traded company that offers personalized styling services on a monthly subscription basis. -for $20 every month, stylists use customers' personal preferences to select five pieces of clothing, which are mailed to the customer. -the customer can choose to buy any of the items or send them back. The $20 styling fee is credited back to the customer if he or she decides not to buy anything. -Stitch Fix is available to offer personal styling at a low cost to customers. At the same time and minimizes the likelihood of returns by narrowly tailoring selection to the customer's personal preferences. -Katrina went into consulting after graduating from Stanford University in 2005. By 2007, she moved to a venture capital fund, where she discovered that entrepreneurs were normal people just like her. This gave her confidence that she could start a business herself, but she didn't quite know what her idea was yet. -In 2009, she enrolled in Harvard Business School. There, she noticed the increasing popularity of E commerce, the replacement of the blockbuster model with the Netflix model, and the trend toward depersonalization of the user experience online. -Katrina eventually developed the idea for stitch fix. Her value proposition was about improving the online shopping experience. -She conducted surveys to discover what brands customers liked, she went out and bought some inventory, making careful note of the retailer's return policy. -At the beginning, she called her company rack habit. She then set up personalized boxes of clothes for her customers. If customers liked the clothes, they paid her by check. if not, they returned the clothes and she return them to the retailer for a refund. This experiment allowed her to test her assumptions and confirm that the idea would work. -equipped with the confidence of a successful experiment, Katrina got $750,000 in seed money, which she used to set up the company with an office in San Francisco after graduating from Harvard in 2011. -Many people questioned the wisdom of moving to San Francisco rather than a fashion hub like New York, but Katrina recognized early on that data analytics were important and that her company was as much a tech company as a fashion company. -Katrina was the company is only stylist for the first year. In 2012, the company hired its first stylist and data scientist. Katrina leveraged positive word of mouth by reaching out on social media influencers to help drive traffic to the site. -Katrina tuck stitch fix public in 2017 at the age of 35. The company is now profitable and was valued at more than $2.8 billion in 2018. It has more than 5000 employees, which are mostly women.

types of customer segments

-Mass market: a large segment of customers with similar needs and problems. Ex. Coke. -Niche market: a small segment of customers with specific needs and requirements. Ex. the BioScarf is a fashionable and comfortable filtration mask that is specifically designed for Chinese people who want to be protected from polluted air but still remain fashionable. -Segmented market: one that is divided into groups based on customers' different needs and wants. Ex a bank may offer different services to wealthy clients than to average clients, or may offer different services to large businesses than to small businesses. -Diversified market: includes two or more segments that are completely unrelated to each other and have different needs and problems. Ex. Amazon is both an online retailer and a seller of cloud computing services. -Multi-sided market: one with two or more segments that are mutually interdependent. Ex. a free newspaper provides newsworthy content to readers. Without a large readership, companies would bot pay money to advertise in the newspaper. Without advertising, the newspaper would not be free to readers.

How Case Study: Jeff Goudie (AmeriCan Packaging) relates to the course material:

-Networking is a necessary skill for successful entrepreneurs. By leveraging your network, you can accomplish more as an entrepreneur. -Networking skills can be practiced, and there are things you can do to make yourself better at networking. -One of the most important ways to improve your networking skills is to just do it. Get out there, talk with people, and make connections. Social media makes networking easier today than it ever was before. -This is a small world, and you never know when you may need to leverage a relationship with someone you know now. This is why it is important to maintain productive relationships and to not burn bridges. -Jeff noted that the bargaining power of suppliers in the mature metal-packaging business was high. The bargaining power of suppliers is one of the components of Porter's five forces of competition model, which is a framework for analyzing a company's competitive environment. -In this case, the large metal printing companies had tremendous power, which prevented Jeff from getting his cost of goods sold low enough to effectively compete at first. -Jeff's decision to gain credibility by selling part of the company to an established cigar manufacturer helped it gain customers, but it also introduced partners that Jeff ultimately could not work with. This demonstrates that, when choosing partners, you have to pay attention to things you might not be able to readily see, such as a person's resolution preference, thinking style, and culture. Incompatibility along those dimensions may lead to trouble down the road. -Jeff used networking to his advantage. His network included his friend, his friend's father, contacts in Miami, clients, customers, manufacturers, partners, industry contacts from trade shows, family, friends, professors, and more. He leveraged his relationships with these individuals to gather the capital, talent, contacts, insight, and sales he needed to be successful. -Jeff encourages would-be entrepreneurs to just do it. Have the self-confidence to take a leap. Jeff did not have any experience in cigars or metal manufacturing, and he had to learn everything along the way. He made some mistakes, but it worked out for him in the end. -You can build your network by participating in a number of different Facebook groups for entrepreneurs. You can network with local entrepreneurs at startenv.com, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to growing the innovation ecosystem of Greater Gainesville.

Has the business ever taken a loan (other than the PPP loan)? (Charolette Terry)

-No, and the company is debt free. One of the ways that Charlotte was able to avoid taking on debt was to use bartering whenever possible. -Charlotte has bartered cleaning services for advertising, office space, and even legal support. -Her mantra is, "Barter first, pay last." She credits Dr. Michael Morris, who runs UF's Gainesville Entrepreneurship and Adversity Program (GAP), with teaching her about bartering.

When you were in school, did you ever think you would be running 23 cannabis businesses in Colorado? (Ally Downing)

-No. Allie always knew she wanted to do something entrepreneurial, but she didn't have a passion for any business. -She credits the MSE program for helping her learn about starting a business and giving her the flexibility to work on her idea for the cannabis business. -She also emphasized that it's common to know you want to be an entrepreneur but not exactly what you want to do. -The goal should be to find something you're passionate about make sure it can be a viable business, then pursue that opportunity. -Ally's Advice is to expect the worst but hope for the best. When starting a business, overestimate your expenses, underestimate your revenues, and give your business a longer launching pad than you think you're going to need. Running out of money has devastating consequences for a new business. -Ally Also pointed out that it's hard to start a business while working at another job.

Can you sell the product over state lines? (Ally Downing)

-Now everything has to be done within the state of Colorado, which makes it difficult to establish a national brand. -If Ally wants to operate outside of Colorado, she has to set up a separate operation there, or she has to license the intellectual property to a third party. -This will change when the federal government decriminalizes marijuana.

What are some of your measures of success? (Camilo Reina Muñoz)

-One measure of success has been the program's resilience during the COVID pandemic. The program had to move online for three seasons due to COVID, but it didn't have to shut down for a single season. The fact that the administrators had the agility to adapt and take the curriculum online is an indicator of success that has impressed donors. -Another measure of success is the satisfaction of the participants. Camilo and his colleagues conduct surveys before and after the eight-week program so that they can assess the program's impact on participants' feelings of belongingness, anxiety, and resilience. Camilo mentioned that he and his colleagues will soon be compiling the data for the past three seasons and the current season into a journal article to show the tangible, quantifiable impact that programs like this can have during an unusual period like the COVID pandemic.

What is the sales cycle like today? (Rob Castellucci)

-Rob describes the business as B2B2C (business-to-business-to-consumer). -He sells directly to other businesses (apartment complexes and universities) who, in turn, provide the service to ultimate consumers (students who need roommate matching services) -According to rob, it is much easier to sell B2B or B2B2C than B2C. -The sales cycle can range from a few weeks to about a year. -The need for the company's product is very seasonal, as apartments universities only need roommate matching services during certain months.

You started out in Gainesville, then went to San Francisco, and finally ended up in St. Petersburg. How do the entrepreneurship ecosystems of these locations differ? (Rob Castellucci)

-Rob loves Gainesville because it is made up of young, intelligent people who are open to new ideas. -When rob moved the business to San Francisco, he found that people were similarly smart, interesting, and open to new ideas. -However, San Francisco is a monoculture of people interested in tech, while Gainesville is a bit more eclectic. -Rob found that, in San Francisco, he would run into brilliant people in his everyday life. -For example, he might be having coffee one day and meet a venture capitalist who funded Facebook. -He also randomly met some executives at Uber via his interest in salsa dancing, and he was soon teaching salsa at Uber's headquarters. -According to rob, moving the startup to San Francisco didn't benefit to the company at all. Also, the cost of living was very high. -Rob has since moved to Saint Petersburg, and now works remote. -He finds Saint Petersburg to be a mix between Gainesville and San Francisco. -It still has the liberal kind of vibes he likes, but the cost of living is much lower.

Why did you choose RoomBug at first? (Rob Castellucci)

-Rob was trying to come up with a name for the business, and he was concerned about finding something that could be easily trademarked. -His father suggested that "bug" is a word that relates loosely to software, so rob called the service RoomBug. -This was a huge, costly mistake, and rob bounded difficult to transition to a new name three years later. -Rob also mentioned that he was foolish enough to get a .net domain name rather than a .com domain in the beginning.

More on storyboarding

-Storyboarding was developed by Walt Disney animators in the 1930s. -It is frequently used for movies, commercials and advertising and it is increasingly becoming an important tool in business and management. This tool allows entrepreneurs to aggregate their thoughts and ideas into a single, easy to understand visual. -Entrepreneurs often draw storyboards before interacting with customers or other stakeholders. -Storyboards make the idea clearer and highlight the potential value to customers. The goal is to make the entrepreneurial idea more understandable. -because storyboards are visual tools, they are likely to lead to interactions, discussion and feedback. -A storyboard that flows well and is interesting is likely to generate further ideas and questions. -A basic structure for storyboarding is the problem-solution-benefit framework, in which the entrepreneur keeps three questions in mind when creating a storyboard: what problem is the customer experiencing? What solution are you offering to this problem? What benefit will your offering bring to the customer? -in his book, "the back of the napkin", author Dan Roam suggest that people can visually solve problems by drawing pictures. Drawing pictures on the back of a napkin helps you think about the idea today and what it could become in the future. This does not have to be on the back of literal napkin. -A simple technique is a gallery sketch, which chooses a single piece of white paper to illustrate the major components of the idea with color, arrows, labels and clarifying notes. -Another technique is the "before and after" scenario, in which you either sketch or describe your customers' lives before and after your offering.

What has been your biggest challenge? (Ally Downing)

-The biggest challenge came in 2015 when the flagship store location was annexed into the city limits and the city essentially shut the store down without any warning. -It was almost a year before they could finish another building, get it approved, and move in, and during the time the 35 employees that worked at the flagship store had either been let go or reallocated to other stores. -Ally Expressed frustration at the many hoops that the owners of cannabis businesses have to jump through to start a new location. She believes that cannabis businesses get more scrutiny in the regular businesses, which imposes delays in additional cost. -Ali advise students to always prepare for things taking longer than you think.

What was your entity structure and how did you divide equity among the co-founders? (Rob Castellucci)

-The company is a Florida LLC partnership, and the four Co-founders got equal 25% shares. -Rob has also mentioned that the LLC operating agreement didn't include anything about vesting of the equity, which was a huge mistake. -Most startups have a vesting schedule that determines when a cofounder receives his or her equity in the business. -Want to start up does not have an equity vesting schedule, there is a risk that one of the cofounders will simply exit the business early on. -This would be unfair to the other Co-founders who must stick around and work on the business to try to make their equity valuable. -Rob indicated that he did work with the lawyer to establish the business but unfortunately the lawyer did not mention vesting schedules.

Is the cannabis market dominated by males? (Ally Downing)

-The market was dominated by male owners when Ally started. -The 2010 legislation prohibited convicted felons from owning cannabis businesses, so many of them simply transferred their businesses to their wives, daughters or sisters. -Most of them eventually sold their businesses to larger, more legitimate businesses, most of which were run by males. -Today, Ally is one of only a handful of female CEOs in the industry.

types of experiments

-The more effort you put into an experiment, the more believable are the results. -in "Testing with Humans", author Giff Constable illustrated this idea with his truth curve, which relates to different kinds of experimentation with the believability of the information they produce. -From lowest level of effort to highest level of effort (and lowest level of believability to highest level of believability) the various options for experimentation are as follows: -interview: interviewing target customers is a way to get customer insights about the idea before you begin the experiment. -paper testing: you can outline your vision using a wireframe, storyboard, or drawing. For example, a wireframe is a two-dimensional, quick skeletal outline of a web page. Boosted boards used wireframes to show how users would navigate a new mobile app. -Advertising: you might use brochures or social media advertising to advertise target market access its level of response. -Button to nowhere: a button to know where is the button on a webpage or mobile app that does not lead to anything other than a "under construction" or "feature on the way" notification. the more clicks on the button, the higher the likelihood that the potential offering will be of interest to potential customers. -landing page: a business's website may include a call to action, like "click for more info!". -task completion: task completion (also called usability testing) involves watching someone use the product so that you can see what works and what doesn't. -Prototype: a prototype is an early, often crude version of the product that customers can actually interact with. Rapid prototyping produces the crudest version of a prototype, a model made out of scrap like materials just foam, wood or cardboard boxes. -preselling: involves trying to get orders before the product has actually been developed. This option combines advertising and a discount for early ordering. Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter provide great opportunities for preselling testing. -Concierge and Wizard of Oz tests: Concierge testing involves placing as much technology as possible with manual work to provide customers with an ideal experience. a related form of testing is Wizard of Oz testing, in which the customer thinks they are interacting with technology when they're really interacting with humans. Both kinds of testing allow the entrepreneur to test the value proposition without having to develop the technology. -Live product and business: This type of experiment that involves the most effort is actually launching a live product and business. This should be done after the previous tests have provided enough insights and validation to "go live". the actual launching of the business could go in stages.

How does a person apply for the program? (Camilo Reina Muñoz)

-They register by filling out a form on the program's website. They will then be sent additional paperwork that ensures that the program is in compliance with certain rules and regulations established by the University of Florida. -They can then also decide to either opt in or opt out of research studies relating to the program, which are approved by UF's institutional review board (IRB). -After that, they just need to show up. Meetings are at the Hippodrome from 6:30 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. every Tuesday for eight weeks. -Camilo pointed out that he and his team have consulted with UF's Office of Youth Compliance to identify and adopt best practices.

How NatureBox relates to the material in Ch.5

-They were passionate about food. This relates to their impact statement, the impact they wanted to have on the world. -The pair demonstrated the act-learn-build paradigm of the entrepreneurship method. They locked themselves in and office and did something with what they had. They were surprised to find that they could generate 100 orders in a single weekend. -Prof. Kraft indicated that he would probably classify this offering as a disruption, a new product offered to existing customers. At first, they simply shipped existing snacks to existing customers in a snack food market. In this sense, the product may have been "new". certainly, when the team developed NatureBox's own healthy snacks come the product was new. their subscription model may have also attracted customers that might not otherwise buy healthy foods from a health food store. -In this case, the two major pain points that the company have addressed our lack of money and lack of access. The company decided to focus on lack of access. Specifically, at recognized that people simply lacked access to healthy food, good tasting foods, so it decided to ship its customers an assortment of those foods. -NatureBox used the resonating-focus approach, which focuses on what customers truly need in value. -NautreBox's overt benefit is access to healthy foods. It gives customers a reason to believe because it ships them brand new products that are developed by its own food chemists. -Its dramatic difference is that, unlike existing healthy snacks, it's healthy snacks actually taste good. -Review NatureBox business model on page 19. -Prof. Kraft pointed out that the right side of the business model canvas is focused on value creation and desirability. It is important to fill this side of the business model canvas out first because without value creation and desirability none of the rest matters. -NatureBox faces a lot of competition today. In the future, the company will have to follow trends in the market and follow those relevant trends to avoid becoming irrelevant. For example, there is currently a huge trend in the food industry towards products with CBD oil, the company has capitalized on this trend by offering its own CBD oil products. -One could argue that NatureBox is delivering on its promise to provide a customizable healthy snack experience. Customers with a subscription can choose whatever healthy, tasty snacks they want, and they can change their order month to month. -However, one could also argue that the choices of healthy, tasty snacks will always be limited, so there will always be customers that are not satisfied. NatureBox strives to address those gaps by continually developing nude healthy, tasty snacks.

Are your cleaners independent contractors or full-time employees? (Charolette Terry)

-They're all full-time employees. Most team members work for 20 to 25 hours per week, and some of them work more than 30 hours. -She's never used contract labor or paid workers as independent contractors because she doesn't want to have any problems with the IRS.

How many people do you have on your team? (Rob Castellucci)

-Two of the four Co-founders have stepped away, leaving just rob and his co-founder. -The company has one employee in Tampa and two front end developers in Europe. -Rob does most of the sales work, and the company doesn't spend much on sales or marketing. -Rob pointed out that he used to think that a successful company was one that got a lot of funding and a huge team. However, he has since come to realize that revenue and profitability aren't what's important.

Tell us about the Pathways group at UF Innovate. (Karl LaPan)

-UF Innovate Pathways focuses on underrepresented groups, such as women and minorities. These individuals tend to start businesses at a higher-than-average rate, but they often face a number of barriers and obstacles to success. -the four major obstacles and barriers that these groups face can be summarized as the lack of the four M's: management, marketing, money and mentorship. -The pathways program attempts to level the playing field by providing these groups access to the four M's. -Karl Pointed out that 89% of all women owned businesses never grow beyond the single founder. -If we want to build businesses that are large enough to employ and sustain people, we need to give business owners the resources they need to overcome the barriers that have traditionally held them back.

How much federally funded research is done at the University of Florida, and how much of that research translates into new business? (Karl LaPan)

-UF got $950 million in federal research dollars last year, and its goal is to reach $1.3 billion. -A lot of this funding goes toward basic research with no commercial application. In fact, almost 99% of the research performed by most universities never get commercialized at all. -On average, it takes about $160 million to $180 million in federal research funding to yield just one startup company, which is a lot. -Carl believes that UF's "yield rate" is better than average, though, indicating that it is doing better than many of its peers.

Five types of value that can be used to analyze qualitative and quantitative data:

-Value in use: how much do customers enjoy using their products? -Value in exchange: to what extent is the product offered at a competitive price? -Value in distribution: how available and assessable is the product? -Value in finance: to what extent is the organization able to provide high value while maintaining a healthy profit margin? -Value in fitness: to what extent does the organization continuously gather resources and innovate?

How important has resilience been? (Charlotte Terry)

-Very important. Entrepreneurship is tough- one day you're flying high, and the next day you get knocked down. You just have to remember what your vision is and what you're trying to accomplish. -She has played a key role in transforming people's lives and helping them become a better version of themselves, and that's what keeps her going. She is grateful for her team and her customers.

information about your customers for your customer journey map can come from a number of resources:

-Website analytics: if you have a website, you can gather information about the amount of traffic to your site, your customers location, and the number of clicks on each page. This might also help you identify places on your website where the customer became frustrated and left. -Social media: social media tools can be a good source of data. For example, SocialMention it's a tool that scours blogs, videos and comments on social media for mentions of a brand. This feedback will help you identify what went poorly and what went well during air customers journey. -Direct contact with customers: one of the best ways to get customer feedback about their experience to sit down and talk with them.

How did you get connected to the mentors you have? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-When Vassia was going to the Harvard social enterprise conference during the time she worked for JP Morgan in New York, she met a man on a plane, and they became Facebook friends. -he saw a post about her orphanage work and contacted her to offer encouraging words and to pledge support if she could ever turn what she was doing into a business. -He ended up being a tremendous supporter who put her in touch with the investors who funded the friends and family round and helped her turn the nonprofit into a business.

What is your mix of commercial and residential clients? (Charolette Terry)

-When the company started, nearly all of the clients were apartment complexes. -Over time, Charlotte added commercial clients and residential clients with homes. Her goal is to do 60% commercial and 40% residential, but the company currently has more residential clients because of the substantial drop in commercial clients due to COVID-19.

Did you write a business plan? (Rob Castellucci)

-Yes, Rob wrote a lot of business plans. -The process of writing the plan was more valuable to Rob than the plan itself. -The real benefit of writing a business plan is fleshing out your ideas and crystalizing your thinking about the business. -Proved to himself that he had the patience and focus.

Do you strive to encourage companies to remain in Gainesville? If so, what are some of the challenges in doing so? (Karl LaPan)

-Yes, every incubator wants to encourage companies to remain in the local community. -The most recent data indicate that 85%-87% of all of the companies that have gone through one of the two incubator programs are doing a good job at keeping its clients in the community. -Gainesville has a couple of problems when it comes to keeping companies: talent and capital.

Do you have any mentors? (Ally Downing)

-Yes, one of Ally's most important mentors is a physicist who started one of the biggest hemp companies in Colorado early on. -He recently joined the green treats board of directors and is helping with the current capital raise. If Allie is able to raise the capital, she will bring him on board full time. -Ally also relies on advice of a couple of successful family friends with expertise in patents, product development and packaging.

Do you have a group of advisors? (Rob Castellucci)

-Yes, rob has two or three people who he regularly talks to. -His wife and father are also important advisors. -According to rob, it's important to get outside perspectives on your company. -When you're thinking about your own business, you might not be able to see the forest for that reason, or you might simply be delusional.

have you ever encountered any jerks? (Kathey Porter)

-Yes, she runs into people who are difficult to work with all the time. -In fact, she has had to terminate contracts and leave money on the table because of people being difficult. -Kathy has learned that her peace of Mind is more important to her than money.

suppose that a woman, minority or veteran starts a small business and wants to become a vendor to UF. do they have to jump through any hoops to do so? (Kathey Porter)

-Yes, there are some hoops to jump through, and part of what Kathey's consultancy business does is to help vendors navigate the rules so they can work with institutions. -according to Kathey, every business should have one large customer but it sells to in a business to business or business to government capacity, even if that business also has a business to consumer application. -Having a large institutional customer is important because it provides a steady stream of revenue that you could depend on. -UF spends $6 billion per year on goods and services, construction, professional services and more. -When targeting an institution like UF, you need to understand what the client buys and how they buy it. -Kathey Also encourages people to investigate to see whether institutions have small business programs or supplier diversity programs. These programs can help you get your foot in the door. -Another important consideration is when large institutions will pay you. Cash is king for small businesses but many large institutions will take 30, 60 or 90 days to pay invoices. Recognizing the importance of cash flow to small businesses, Kathy has always worked to try to get her large institutions to pay their vendors quickly.

customer value proposition

-a statement of how the sales offering will add value to the prospect's business by meeting a need or providing an opportunity. -many people incorrectly believe that a business model is exclusively about revenue and cost structures. -in reality, the business model also has to explain the CVP: why people will be willing to give the business money in the first place. -how will the offering create value for the customer, and how can that be turned into a profit for the company? Three qualities of an effective CVP are as follows: 1. It must provide better value than the competition. 2. You must be able to measure the value in monetary terms. 3. It must be sustainable over a considerable length of time.

innovation

-creation of an entirely new market where customers are offered a new product or service. -ex. social media sites such as Facebook offered a new service to an entirely new market. -new customers; new products or services

six components of the end user profile

-demographics: may be useful when identifying the end user, but they are of little value when trying to understand the user. for this reason, you should not place too much emphasis on demographics. -psychographics: refer to the target end users' psychological attributes: their attitudes, values and fears. these provide a richer set of data that can help you understand the end user, but psychographic data is difficult to obtain and even harder to analyze for accuracy. -proxy products: a proxy product is something that an end user owns that provides insights into his or her future buying decisions, as well as certain psychographic or demographic characteristics. ex. if you currently own a lot of high-end garments, you're more likely to buy from high-end fashioned brands in the future. watering holes: these are places where people meet and swap information. formal watering holes include business meetings and work conferences. informal watering holes include bars, social media and fitness classes. these are important places for word-of-mouth recommendations. -day in the life: the entrepreneur can really get to know the end user by walking in their shoes for a day. this puts the data into perspective and provides insights about their needs that might be otherwise unattainable. -biggest fears and motivators: understanding the end users' concerns and top priorities provides valuable insight into what motivates them.

types of customers

-end users: customers who actually use the product. they provide feedback that helps the entrepreneur refine the product and make it better. ex. scuba companies sell to rental companies but their end users are the people renting the scuba gear. -influencers (opinion leaders): are "customers" who have a large following and who can influence the purchase decision, even if they don't buy or use the product or service at all. ex. celebrities, journalists, industry analysts, bloggers and social media influencers. -recommenders: people who evaluate the product and tell others about it. Their opinions carry weight because of their reputation, not their fame. ex. industry experts and bloggers. -economic buyers: customers who have the power to approve large-scale purchases. ex. include corporate office managers, corporate vice presidents and buyers for retail chains. -decision makers: customers with even more authority than economic buyers to make purchasing decisions, due to their high position in the organizational hierarchy. ex. CEOs or mom and dad. -saboteurs: people who can slow down or veto a purchase decision. this can be anyone, including top managers, spouses, friends and even children.

How the Stitch Fix case study relates to the course material:

-fashion customers' pain points: Katrina came up with the idea for Stitch Fix by identifying a pain point in the market. She recognized that more and more people were shopping online, but online retailers were not giving them the personal attention that they needed. She viewed the depersonalization of online shopping as a potential problem that she could solve. -Business model canvas: see page 73. -Katrina's hypothesis: Katrina hypothesized that the growth of E commerce would lead to increased depersonalization and customer dissatisfaction. This would lead to an opportunity to differentiate her offering with personalization. -Experimentation in the scientific method: Katrina used experimentation and the scientific method to validate her idea. While design thinking focuses on the desirability of an idea, experimentation focuses on the feasibility and viability. -the two principal experiments that Katrina performed are as follows: -interviews: Katrina spent a lot of time researching the industry and talking to key players. This gave her the qualitative data she needed to form her hypothesis. While interviews are fast and inexpensive ways to get insights from target customers, they have relatively low believability because they lie to the left along Constable's truth curve. Katrina used a "peel the onion" approach to interviewing, which allowed her to delve into the problem one layer at a time. Interviewing allowed her to confirm her hypothesis that depersonalization was a growing trend that could become a real problem for the retail sector. -Concierge Testing: recall that concierge testing involves replacing as much technology as possible with manual work to provide customers with an ideal experience. concierge testing lies further to the right along the truth curve that interviewing, meeting that requires more effort, but it produces results that are more believable and more useful for the purpose of validating an idea. -Katerina used concierge testing in her early days of her company when it was called Rack Habit. she created surveys to see what people wanted, she had people try out clothes she purchased for them. At this time, the company used Google Sheets and SurveyMonkey; it didn't have a formal website like it does today. Katrina mitigated her risk by ensuring that she could return any clothes that her customers did not want. Katrina's experiments validated her hypothesis the depersonalization of online retailing would provide an excellent opportunity. -Stitch Fix's target customers: stitch fix's target customers are cost conscious people who want to personalize styling. At first, the company focused on women, then it expanded its reach to men and children period since then, it has expanded to niche markets, such as plus sizes, petite sizes and maternity clothing. The company has also expanded its geographic reach into the United Kingdom.

five typical stages of customer interaction and note the following in each stage

-five stages: discovery, research, purchase, delivery and after sales. -key touchpoints: these are the moments of truth when the customer interacts with the company. For example, consider how a customer interacts with a restaurant. The first touch point may be when the customer sees the restaurant sign. The second touch point maybe one they park. The third touchpoint maybe when they enter the restaurant, and they are greeted by a host. Other touchpoints might be their experience with the server, with the menu or with the bathrooms. -Tasks: this is what the customer is trying to achieve. For example, a customer who goes to a restaurant wants to be able to order food and eat it. -Knowledge: this is what the customer wanted to know. -Pain points: these are all the ways in which the company disappoints the customer. -happy points: these are all the ways in which the company satisfies or delights the customer. -Emotions: these are the customers feelings at each stage of the process. -Wish list: these are all the things that would make a customer experience awesome. -influencers: these are the people and things that play an important role in influencing the customers decision making process.

Virtual networks

-in person networking is important, but it is also possible to network remotely using virtual networking through social media such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. These platforms give you the opportunity to connect with potential stakeholders and fellow entrepreneurs who can help you develop, build and grow your entrepreneurial venture. -Some important platforms for virtual networking are as follows: -Twitter: a simple Twitter search can be used to find others who share your interests. -LinkedIn: you can interact with individuals and groups on LinkedIn by asking questions or posting comments. LinkedIn also has a question-and-answer section, which provides insight into the real life challenges that business people face. Posting answers to questions demonstrates your willingness to share your own expertise and collaborate with others, which might make others more likely to reciprocate. -Facebook: there are specific Facebook groups where entrepreneurs can meet and exchange ideas. -YouTube: while You Tube isn't exactly a social networking site, you can use it to learn more about certain topics and identify experts in the area. Once you've identified an expert on YouTube, you might reach out to them through another social media site like Twitter or LinkedIn. -Instagram: Instagram allows people to collaborate with one another through photos and short videos. this gives people insight into your business and professional life. -Increasingly, online startup networks are being used in other countries around the world as a means of funding early-stage ventures. -once you've built your network, you need to take steps to maintain it by staying in touch through occasional interactions. -while we can only actively manage about 25 relationships at a time, we can manage up to 150 of them through deliberate action. -maintenance steps can involve something as simple as sharing a useful piece of information, replying to a request for information, answering a question, attending an event or writing A blog post. -Research has identified several important skills for maintaining relationships, including curiosity, questioning, deep listening, self-management, accountability and intuition. -Participating in social networking sites helps you build transparency, trust and credibility. When people see who you are, the connections you made and the thoughts you share, they are more likely to want to build a relationship with you.

customer segmentation

-involves grouping customers based on common needs, behaviors or other attributes. -once customer groups have been segmented the entrepreneur can tailor the Business Model Canvas around the needs of one or more specific segments. -four customer segments: who they are (demographics), where they are (location), how they behave (lifestyle trends) and what their needs are.

disruption

-involves providing existing customers with a new product or service. -ex. massive open online courses (MOOCs) provide free courses to students who no longer have to pay tuition. They have disrupted the traditional way of delivering content in higher education. -existing customers; new products or services.

why market sizing is important

-it helps us estimate potential sales and profits. -It helps us identify growth opportunities for product lines and customer segments. -It helps identify competitive threats and develop strategies to counteract them. -It forces entrepreneurs to think about exit strategies or future pivot points. -It highlights market trends and their potential impacts to the business. -It shows investors that the market is large enough to justify their investment.

Networking skills and tips for networking

-networking is a two-way game in which two people interact, exchange value, share and exchange information. -relationships can be forged to business interests, but they can also be forged on mutual personal benefits or hobbies. -When networking, it's wise to stay away from "hot-button" issues like politics or religion. -try to read the room and look for potential groups to join. -be fully committed to the discussion and pay attention to nonverbal cues. -Keep your questions brief and try not to dominate the conversation. -Be mindful of your own body language, show interest by leaning forward, nodding, raising your eyebrows, or mirroring your partner's gestures. -Disengage from your conversations gracefully, with a handshake. -Thank people for their advice with a follow up email or notes within 24 hours. -In "Mutuality Matters", author Kare Anderson argues that people are more likely to do favors for you if you favors for them. These favors need not be elaborate. -Here are some steps to build trusting relationships that you can take in as little as five minutes: -provide helpful feedback on a product that you have actually used. -Provide an introduction to a friend or colleague, citing a mutual interest. -Serve as a reference for a product, service or person. -Share a comment on a social media site, such as Twitter or Google+. -write a short and positive note about a person or product on a social media site, such as Yelp or LinkedIn.

technology adoption life cycle

-provides a useful way to understand how customers accept an innovation over time. -this life cycle divides the market into five categories, based on when they adopt the product: -innovators: the first 2.5% of customers who adopt the product. they are enthusiastic about the new technology, and they are willing to take the risks of product flaws or other uncertainties by being the first to adopt the new product. -early adopters: the next 13.5% of customers who adopt the product. they are typically not motivated by their enthusiasm for new technology; rather they are typically influential people from business or government who are logical and motivated to adopt the new technology in order to achieve a competitive advantage. -early majority: refers to the next 34% of customers who adopt the product. these people become interested in the product when it begins to gain mass market appeal. they tend to be practical and risk adverse, as they want to wait and see how others view the technology before they use it themselves. -late majority: refers to the following 34% of customers who adopt the product. they are typically pessimistic, risk-adverse, skeptical and less affluent than the previous groups. -laggards: the last 16% of customers who adopt the product. they generally have a negative attitude toward technology and a strong aversion to change.

so you went out and started your own business. what kinds of services fo you offer? (Kathey Porter)

-the company does supplier diversity consulting, and it helps small businesses get federal contracts. -Kathy also offers leadership training, executive training, and project management services. -Most of Kathy's clients are existing government contractors that want to become sharper and more strategic about their approach to government contracts. -in addition to her work with Porter brown associates, Kathy is planning to launch her own accelerator program in partnership with the Gainesville Chamber of Commerce. The goal is to connect small businesses with business opportunities in Gainesville. -Kathy pointed out that the likelihood of you building the next heat successful tech company like Facebook is very small, and your best hope is to be realistic and take advantage of smaller opportunities. -Survival/lifestyle businesses account for more than 80% of the businesses in the United States. -Kathy believes it is a mistake to follow your passion when starting a business. It's smarter to be practical. Follow the money and build a business around that. If you focus on solving a problem that people really care about, they will pay you to do so. -Kathy emphasized the importance of being certified as a veteran owned business, which has been very helpful for her.

customer personas

-the first step to selling your product without sales representatives is to fully understand your buyer personas. -buyer personas: profiles of your ideal customers, which you develop from market research. they are like FBI profiles, archetypes or drawings of who you are actually targeting. you can use buyer personas to promote your products and services to potential buyers. -when building a buyer persona, you can gather information about your ideal buyer's demographics, goals, challenges, values, fears, pain points, hobbies, sources of information, blogs they read, shopping preferences, apps they use, general lifestyle, work or school activities, relationship with friends, culture, relationship with technology, social media usage and views on health ad well-being. you can simply try to describe a day in their life or see how they might spend their free time. -customer personas, in contrast, combine information minded from interviews and data derived from buying profiles to generate key insights, such as the following: -people who are interested in the product or service. -people who will never be interested in the product or service. -which features of the solution and relevant to the buyers. -which attitudes deter buyers from considering the offering (such as dissatisfaction with a similar product in the past). -the resources that buyers trust when they evaluate their opinions. -which buyers are involved in the decision and how much influence they have. -exclusionary personas: the type of buyer you don't want to be your customer. if you identify people who will never buy from you no matter what, you can avoid spending the money, time and effort trying to attract their business.

are there any restrictions on how big a business can get and still get preferential treatment? (Kathey Porter)

-these programs are potentially very lucrative, and naturally many businesses want preferential treatment. -However, they are designed for small businesses that might not have access to the financial resources or network to be successful. -The federal government defines a small business as one that has less than $16 million in annual revenue.

When does the university own an invention of one of its employees? (Karl LaPan)

-this is a complex issue, but in general if you develop an invention on the universities time, with its equipment, and its lab, your invention is university property. - In some cases, the university may abandon its ownership rights and allow you to keep it.

in your role as Director of Small Businesses and Vendor Diversity Relations at UF, did you observe that UF only hires local companies? (Kathey Porter)

-while UF prefers to do business with local companies, this was not always possible. -UF does business with companies from all over the state, country and world. -Ultimately, the goal is to find vendors that have the capacity to provide what the university needs.

four problems that customers experience

1. Lack of time: -entrepreneurs can address this need by finding ways to save people time. -the Wisconsin-based ThedaCare hospital system has addressed this need by implementing systems to ensure that patients are seen more quickly and results are dispatched to them before they leave. 2. Lack of money: -the entrepreneur can address this need by delivering previously unaffordable products and services for less money. -democratizing services that were once enjoyed by only a fraction of the population. 3. Lack of skills: -the entrepreneur can address this need by providing people with the specialized skills to get the job done. -ex. Grammarly has developed online grammar checking tools that help people communicate better. 4. Lack of access: -the entrepreneur can address this need by finding a way to make resources available to people who previously couldn't access them. -ex. Divinci Energy has developed a program to make solar energy which was once used primarily by businesses available to households as well.

The six steps of the scientific process of experimentation are as follows:

1. ask a lot of questions: it is important to ask as many questions as possible so you can define the most specific one for experimentation. 2. carry out background research: the way to become an expert in one's industry is by talking with other experts. 3. Form a hypothesis: without a hypothesis, you have nothing to validate or disprove. 4. Test the hypothesis 5. analyze the results 6. assess and communicate the results -while entrepreneurs should use the scientific method to think like scientists, they should not always act like scientists. -Scientific experiments are often costly, time-consuming and carefully conducted. -In contrast, entrepreneur should favor taking action and experimenting quickly and cheaply to they can refine their ideas into feasible and viable opportunities.

What skillsets did you develop at your social worker job that help you today as a small business owner? (Charolette Terry)

Empathy and listening skills. Charlotte emphasized that listening is more than hearing- you have to try to truly understand what others are going through.

do you listen any podcasts or read any blogs? (Kathey Porter)

-Kathy does not like podcasts. -she reads a lot of news, and she likes the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Business Insider.

do you have any book recommendations? (Kathey Porter)

-Kathy recommends "start with why" by Simon Sinek. -unfortunately, she doesn't have much time to read, although she has been given a lot of books by small business association's emerging leaders group.

Three dimensions of social capital:

-structural dimension: the components of your network, such as your contacts and your formal and informal ties. -Relational dimension: what the contacts in your network represent, such as trusting relationships. -Cognitive dimension: the norms values visions believes and interpretation to share with others.

consumer

a person or firm that actually uses the product or service.

customer

a person or firm that pays for a product or service.

Do you have mentors? (Charolette Terry)

-As a social worker, Charlotte met friends who are psychiatrists and counselors, and they serve as mentors.

How do you spend most of your time now? (Charolette Terry)

-Before the pandemic, Charlotte had her sights set on expanding to other cities. -However, the pandemic has caused her to take a step back and focus on the company's social entrepreneurship vision. -She doesn't want the company to be on "cruise control," and she's always trying to make things better. -Eventually, she wants to establish a boarding school in Gainesville to help both parents and students.

What language is used in Kenya? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-English is the official business language in Kenya, so everyone speaks English.

In what ways are improv skills useful to entrepreneurs? (Camilo Reina Muñoz)

-Improvisation is all about adaptation, which is critical for entrepreneurs and anyone in business. Specifically, there are three rules to improv: -1. Yes, and...: People who do improv keep the story rolling by agreeing with their partner and then continuing the story with a new idea. This skill is also useful in business when you're trying to brainstorm ideas. "Yes, and..." is really a state of mind. It's about keeping an open mind, not saying no, and then continuing the conversation with new ideas that build on one another. -2. Thinking off the top of your head: Participants in improv have to come up with new ideas off the top of their head. It is important to not self-edit and just let things come naturally. This is a useful skill for an entrepreneur, as well. -3. Make your partner look good: Improv partners help each other avoid embarrassment, and they set each other up for mutual success. -According to Camilo, you can grow personally and professionally by applying these rules in business and in your daily life.

What entity structures to startups use in Africa? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-It depends on the nationality of the founders and investors. Many startups established a US holding company, which is organized as a Delaware C Corp, that has a Kenyan business entity as a wholly owned subsidiary.

Do you have any book recommendations? (Karl LaPan)

-Karl Recommends "the ride of a lifetime" by former Disney CEO Robert Iger. -This book provides insight into his leadership philosophy, but it is also a fun read because he tells a lot of stories about the personalities you've seen on TV.

Where do you see your company going in the future? (Charlotte Terry)

-Right now, Charlotte is taking things one moment at a time, focusing on her mission to help people in the community. -The company is not expanding beyond Gainesville (for now), and Charlotte will try to balance her new role as a single mom with being the CEO of a company.

So what you're doing is illegal in the eyes of the federal government? (Ally Downing)

-Kind of. While the federal government still deems cannabis to be an illegal controlled substance, Ally still has to pay taxes under a special taxation category for illegal businesses that the state allows. -she also cannot take advantage of the traditional write offs that most businesses enjoy, such as buying supplies or going to dinner. The only expenses she can deduct are those that are directly attributed to cost of goods sold, she can't even write off lighting or equipment.

What is the role of the mental health counselors who are on site? (Camilo Reina Muñoz)

-Mental health counselors are on site in case participants become triggered or re-traumatized as a result of anything that goes on during the program. -Camilo's motto is, "Don't make kids cry." There's a place for cathartic, emotional episodes, but Theatre Connection isn't supposed to be one of them. -Camilo mentioned that one way that the program saves money is by asking mental health counselors to participate for free. They either simply volunteer their time or they get their institutions to sponsor their time. The services of mental health counselors would otherwise be very expensive.

Do you have any book recommendations? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-She recommended eat dirt by by Josh axe. This book taught her how much stress affects her life and how big healthy requires a person to manage his or her stress.

What are some things we might do when you're done with this business? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-She would probably start another East African business because there's so much market opportunity. -She might cut and paste a business model from the United States and then exit the business in three years to raise money, then use that money to set up a social enterprise startup. -However she's definitely going to start some kind of business of her own. As she put it, once you're an entrepreneur, you never go back!

What has been the biggest challenge up to this point? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-The biggest challenge has been raising the first friends and family round of funding. Raising funds can be a grind, especially if you haven't done it before. Luckily, Vassia has a mentor who helps her through the process. Fund raising is an art and learning how to do it was challenging. -She mentioned that being successful in business requires each develop and maintain relationships with people. She's always been an introverted person, and she has had to make herself go out there and develop strong networks.

What has been the biggest challenge associated with Theatre Connect? (Camilo Reina Muñoz)

-The moments when Camilo has made mistakes. -For example, there have been times when his instructions were unclear, and participants went outside the parameters of the game and created a space that was uncomfortable for others. -Camilo has tried to learn from these mistakes and adapt, which is both challenging and rewarding. -Before each session, he meets with the facilitators to discuss what they're going to do that day. He also seeks 360-degree feedback from facilitators and participants after the program has ended. This feedback makes it easier for Camilo to adapt to challenges.

Did you write a business plan? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-Vassia did not have a full business plan, but she had a 10 to 12 slide pitch deck and some financial projections that incorporated pieces of a business plan.

How do taxes work for an American working in Kenya? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-Vassia is paid as a Florida employee, and she pays all of the taxes that she would pay if she were living in Florida.

What has been your biggest failure? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-Vassia recognizes that she underperformed in her position at JP Morgan because she didn't like her job. -In retrospect, she should have put forth more effort and became more engaged. She recognizes that you can learn something and get something out of any experience, and she should have been more eager to make something out of her time with the company.

Can a person participate in the program multiple times? (Camilo Reina Muñoz)

-Yes. In fact, the program has several participants who started at age 13 and participated in subsequent seasons until they were 18. -Individuals can't participate in the program after they've graduated from college, though several "veterans" come back and act as peer mentors to students participating in the program. These individuals are young adults who are living life as their authentic selves, so they have a lot to contribute to the program.

Have you ever had to fire a customer? (Charolette Terry)

-Yes. Once. Charlotte noticed that team members' morale was low every time they came back from one of the company's large accounts. -She decided to give the company notice that Cleaning Genie could no longer clean for them. Although she lost one of her biggest accounts, it was worth it to keep her team members happy.

Tell us about the new nano-products. (Ally Downing)

-a common complaint among customers is that it takes too long for them to feel the effects of edibles. This is because only about 10% of the THC in animal typically makes it into the bloodstream. -Nanoemulsion Technology increases the amount of THC that hits the bloodstream but encapsulated the THC molecule and a smaller size cell so that it can, for example, bypassed the liver and kidneys. -While you might feel the effects of a 10 milligram THC gummy in about an hour, you'll feel the effects of a 2.5 milligrams THC nano-product in just 15 minutes. This is beneficial to the customer, who gets more enjoyment and better experience at a better value. -The price point is only a little higher than traditional edibles, but you're getting four times the amount of THC. This also makes it easier for customers to comply with the state's requirements that recreational users can only get 100 milligrams of THC per unit of whatever they purchase. -There are only two other brands pursuing nanoemulsion technology.

interviewing for customer feedback

-a feedback interview involves showing the customer some kind of prototype, asking their opinion of the product to service, determining whether they perceive value, identifying ways to make the product better and determining whether the correct customer group has been targeted. -three steps to prepare for and conduct these interviews are as follows: 1. do your research: think about people in your network who might want to interview, and research companies and experts who might be able to offer valuable opinions. 2. draft an introduction: There should be four or five sentences that explain your intentions and the purpose of the interview. 3. prepare interview questions: These should primarily be open under questions that allow you to elicit a wide range of responses. -one valuable interviewing technique is peeling the onion. This allows you to delve into a problem one layer to time by asking "why?"

Three types of network support:

-career support: people in your network can offer information, instruction and advice. they could also introduce you to others who can help you achieve your goals. Finally, they can help you gain exposure and visibility in the industry. -Psychosocial support: people in your network can provide personal and emotional support by offering you their friendship, encouragement, acceptance and counseling. -Role modeling: people in your network can serve as role models who can inspire and motivate you to emulate their behavior, work ethic, and values.

The importance of creativity

-entrepreneurs are curious, which drives them to experiment, prototype, hypothesize an interview. -Research shows that curiosity leads to increased perseverance and better performance. -According to one model, there are five dimensions of curiosity: 1. deprivation sensitivity: curious people are aware they have a gap in knowledge, and they strive to fill in the gap. 2. joyous exploration: curious people delight in the fascination and wonder the world holds. 3. social curiosity: curious people enjoy talking to, listening to and observing others. 4. stress tolerance: curious people are able to deal with anxiety involved in new experiences and uncertain situations. 5. thrill seeking: curious people are willing to take risks to experience new adventures.

Impression management

-impression management involves the deliberate effort to influence the way that you're perceived by others. -research shows that people form first impressions instantaneously, and it is important to be mindful of how others perceive you. You can manage the way others perceive you by the way you dress, what body language to use, and how polite, courteous, open and confident you are. -Unfortunately, people's impressions or subject to implicit bias, or attitudes and stereotypes that unconsciously affect our understanding actions and decisions. -researchers believe that everyone has implicit bias, even if they don't believe they do. -research has shown that investors have an implicit bias for masculine characteristics, such as forcefulness, dominance, aggressiveness and assertiveness. They have an implicit bias against feminine characteristics, such as warmth, sensitiveness, expressiveness and emotiveness. -students have many opportunities to develop their network at college, but they often do not take advantage of those opportunities to do a lack of confidence, fear failure and insecurity. -In some cases, people viewed networking negatively because they see it as an insincere way of gaining a personal advantage.

The importance of consumer engagement

-involving actual customers in the experimentation process is a great way to test your hypothesis because it provides immediate feedback on how well received the product or service will be. -It also allows you to make connections with people who may be your actual customers when the product or service is actually launched. -The "test and learn" approach to experimentation is a quick, cheap way to generate data. -Simple, low-cost experiments help entrepreneurs gather evidence and refine their ideas and engage with potential customers.

Networking to find mentors

-one of the most important aspects of networking is that it can produce mentors who offer advice, warn off potential pitfalls, provide valuable contacts, and help you progress with your venture. -Most well-known entrepreneurs have had influential mentors. -entrepreneurs should not limit themselves to a single mentor; rather, they can build a network of many mentors overtime. -A diverse group of mentors is important when you are trying to get different perspectives, and different mentors may be useful at different stages of the venture. -Approaching someone to mentor you might be a daunting task, but many mentors actually enjoy helping others.

Three advantages of networks

-private information: information not available to the general public. One's network of contacts can be a source of valuable private information, such as the release date of a new product or what a group of potential investors are looking for in a pitch. -Access to diverse skill sets: a diverse set of contacts provides a broader perspective it allows you to trade information with people from different backgrounds and experiences. -Access to power: your contacts may be able to introduce you to other powerful people in their network, people in senior executive positions who can provide advice and information.

Experimentation

-recall the design thinking process involves 3 stages: inspiration, ideation an implementation. We will now begin to discuss the implementation phase, which involves early, quick, low-cost testing and experimentation to strengthen and validate the solutions generated in the ideation phase. -expect entrepreneurs use experiments to prove or disprove the validity of a hypothesis, or an assumption that can be tested through research and experimentation. -Experimentation can help validate the ideas desirability, though it is primarily used to ensure that the idea is feasible and viable.

Self-selected stakeholders

-self-selected stakeholders or people who put themselves forward into a venture in order to steer the venture in the right direction by connecting entrepreneurs with resources, such as expertise, advice, funding, new perspectives, feedback, mentorship add introduction to help others. -These individuals don't need to be pitched to or sold to; they help the entrepreneur because they want to. -Stakeholders may help the entrepreneur via Co creation, a strategy that involves bringing people together to produce a constant flow of new ideas to create and transform businesses. -Collaboration between the founder and one or more stakeholders may produce solutions that could not be achieved otherwise. -The existence of self-selected stakeholders emphasizes the fact that building indent work should not be a sales job. Rather, building a network is about enrolling people in your idea by showing them that you have something of value to provide. -when you enroll people in your idea, they join your network because they want to, not because you want them to. -Management researcher Pete Senge has offered three guidelines patrolling stakeholders: 1. be enrolled yourself: you can't expect others to buy in your vision if you are not fully committed to it. 2. be truthful: don't inflate the potential benefits beyond what they actually are. 3. Let them choose: you'll come off as manipulative if you try to convince people, and this will ultimately hinder enrollment.

How do you do marketing and customer acquisition? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-the company hasn't invested any money in sales for marketing, and its website is not even SEO optimized. Thus far, Vassia have gotten clients through word of mouth and reaching out to individuals in her network. The company has also had inbound marketing via companies reaching out through the website. -Currently, Vassia is the entire business development team, and she is in charge of client acquisition.

Diversity of the founding team

-there is far more diversity in things we cannot see, such as education, culture, work experience, religion, viewpoints and career paths. -Two kinds of teams are as follows: -homogeneous teams: homogeneous teams consist of people with similar characteristics, such as experience, ethnicity, age, gender, and educational background. Members of homogeneous teams are more likely to feel included, and their similar characteristics make them better able to communicate effectively and avoid misunderstandings and prejudices. -Heterogeneous teams: heterogeneous teams consist of individuals with a greater mix of knowledge, skills and experience. While there is a greater chance for conflict in a heterogeneous team, heterogeneous teams are more likely to expand the groups set of possible solutions and allow the group to conceptualize problems in new ways. For this reason, heterogeneous teams tend to be more creative and innovative than homogeneous teams. -what's important is that the team demonstrates commitment and cognitive comprehensiveness: a process in which team members use a wide lens and diverse approaches, decision criteria, and courses of action to examine critical issues. -The most effective teams consist of individuals who are highly committed to the team's goals and who exhibit a high level of cognitive comprehensiveness. -A healthy team should include members from diverse backgrounds who hold complementary skills and experiences and are thoroughly committed to the venture. -team never see my results in healthy conflict that helps the team emerge from groupthink which occurs when team members are unable to spot gaps and errors because they share to similar a mindset. -Healthy conflict among team members with diverse viewpoints and experiences allows the team to identify weaknesses and work together to build a more robust idea. -It's important to ensure that healthy conflict does not become dysfunctional. Conflict becomes dysfunctional when it makes it difficult for people to work together period to avoid dysfunctional conflict, it's important for team members with different viewpoints to debate based on information and facts rather than emotion and personal attacks. -a tool to promote healthy conflict is the assignment of a devil's advocate, whose job it is to challenge assumptions. When a devil's advocate encourages different perspectives, here she can really be a guardian Angel who helps the team avoid costly mistakes, which can ultimately improve customer loyalty and employee engagement. Studies have shown that groups with a devil's advocate perform better than groups without one.

Populating a founding team and establishing a vision

-when populating a founding team, it is important to look for people who bring unique skills and abilities to the table. -Founding team members are often former colleagues at a prior organization, former business contacts, family members or friends. However, they could also be the result of a deliberate search by the lead entrepreneur, and social networking sites can help the lead entrepreneur find a founding team member. -In general, however, the majority of team members are found in the lead entrepreneurs network. It is therefore important for the leader to create a vision and fully commit to the venture. -the lead entrepreneur should have the passion and motivation to preserve, inspire others and lead the organization in difficult times. -the team should answer three questions to create a vision at the beginning, when the founding team is being formed: what do we believe in? (these are our core values) Why do we exist? (this is our purpose) What do we want to achieve? (this is our mission). -as the venture gets more traction, the founding team should ask two more questions: how will we realize our mission? (This is our strategy) how do we plan to accomplish our strategies? (These are our goals).

What were things like for you when you started in 2009-2010? was it the "wild wild west" out there? (Ally Downing)

-yes, at the beginning most storefronts were operated by people who grew illegally. there were just a handful of legitimate businesspeople. -This all changed when the 2010 legislation required vertical integration. This legislation also restricted felons from owning businesses, and it imposed a two-year residency requirement for business owners. once the legislation passed, larger companies acquired smaller businesses run by people who would no longer qualify, such as people with felonies or people we couldn't set up a grow operation.

Building networks

-you can take purposeful action to expand your network by meeting others in your geographic location at Chambers of Commerce, seminars, civic organizations, incubators, accelerators and other organizations dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs. You can go to meetup.com to find meet up groups for a wide variety of interests. -incubators: an incubator is an organization that helps early-stage entrepreneurs refine ideas, gain access to resources at build out technology. It gives entrepreneurs access to a wide network of other startups, mentors and other valuable resources. What are deleting US incubators is 500 startups, which is located in Mountain View, California. -accelerators: an accelerator is an organization that provides narrowly tailored support to help new ventures with existing products and services grow, scale and develop. Accelerators typically offer office space, feedback and access to investors. One of the leading U S accelerators is Y Combinator, about view, California. It has facilitated the growth of recognizable companies such as drop box, Airbnb, Reddit and twitch. -networking involves a quid pro quo: something given or done in return for something else. Therefore, you should approach a potential business relationship by first identifying what you can do for your partner so that you know you have something to bring to the table.

Simple rules for experimentation

1. focus on all kinds of stakeholders. 2. Ask a lot of questions. 3. Think like a scientist, but don't act like one. 4. Build what you learn into the next iteration. 5. Keep track of your data. 6. Use low cost, quick experimentation. 7. Actually interact with stakeholders. Talking alone is not enough. 8. Don't ignore data that you don't like.

Can you use traditional crowdfunding platforms like Indiegogo or Kickstarter? (Ally Downing)

no, because cannabis is not federally legal.

Who was your first client? (Rob Castellucci)

-His first client was an apartment complex in downtown Gainesville. -Rob's first noteworthy client was UF.

feasibility

refers to whether we can do it

viability

refers to whether we can make money doing it.

What is the revenue model? (Rob Castellucci)

-The company charges an annual access fee to apartments and universities. -It does not charge users at all, and it doesn't allow it to clients to charge users, either. -Rob indicated that the revenue model could change in the future, but he doesn't know how.

Do your clients get discounted or subsidized rent? (Karl LaPan)

-In the past, participating companies got significant discounts and below-marker rates, which would gradually increase to near-market rates over the course of several years. -Today, most companies pay at or near-market rates from the beginning.

Does RoomSync work with any communities in the Tampa Bay area? (Rob Castellucci)

-RoomSync focuses on college towns. -It has just one or two clients in the Tampa Bay area.

When companies participating in the incubator program develop their own intellectual property, does UF take any ownership of it? (Karl LaPan)

-in general, no. Companies that develop their own intellectual property own it free and clear of any claim by the university. -Karl Pointed out that the companies participating in the incubator program have received 359 patents, those patents are typically issued in the company or inventor's name.

pain points and customer needs

-to create a quality CVP, you should focus on what customers actually want and need, a pain point that you can help alleviate. -Successful businesses thrive over the long term because they provide customers with the answers to the three questions: -What's in it for me? this describes the overt benefit of the big benefit to the customer. -Why should I believe you? the business must provide a real reason to believe, evidence that you will do as you promise. -Why should I care? the business must demonstrate a dramatic difference the product or service's uniqueness in relation to other available options. -ex. IKEA's CVP is that it provides attractive furniture to budget-minded consumers in the form of do-it-yourself kits. -ex. FedEx's CVP is that it makes overnight delivery of letters or packages compared to regular mailing options that existed when the company was launched in the 1970s.

Guest speaker: Ally Downing (Green Tree Medicinals)

-Ally Downing is the founder and CEO of Green Tree Medicinals, A company that owns and operates 23 Colorado State issued cannabis licenses. -Ally operates four medical marijuana dispensaries, four recreational marijuana dispensary's, 9 optional premise cultivation licenses, and has two medical infused products licenses, two recreational infused product licenses, and one extraction lab. -Ally attended US, where she got her undergraduate degree in marketing with a minor in economics. She decided to spend another year getting her master's degree in entrepreneurship, and then the plan was to go to law school in Colorado. -she moved to Colorado and quickly learned that she was more interested in entrepreneurship than law. -She had always been interested in the cannabis industry, but her interest increased significantly when she talked to the owner of a local cannabis store in Boulder, Colorado. -cannabis was (and still is) illegal under federal law, but the federal government has decided to allow states great leeway in regulating its production and use within state borders. -Colorado's 1999 constitutional amendment was broad and left a lot of gray areas that cannabis companies took advantage of. -Recognizing the tremendous opportunity for future growth in the market, Ally decided that she wanted to build a business in the Colorado cannabis industry. -Her father was a criminal defense lawyer, and she thought she could leverage his expertise to help ensure that what she was doing was legal. -Ally father set aside $200,000 for her to go to law school, so she offered them a deal: if they would let her use the money to start her business, she would work on the business as hard as possible for a year. If it didn't work out, she would just defer from law school and re-evaluate the situation. -Ally started her business, she didn't know anything about growing cannabis and never intended to be a grower. She just wanted to have a storefront. -she called her first store "natures medicine" with point-of-sale systems, display cases and jars. -she changed the name to "Green Tree Medicinals" because someone else 7 hours away had the same name. -Ally ended up spending about $120,000 on business in her first year, and she kept the other $80,000 in an operating account. -When Ally started her business, there were very few rules or restrictions on what she could do. -this all changed in July 2010 when the Colorado legislature passed sweeping legislation that officially legalized cannabis cultivation and sales in Colorado, but also instituted a licensing framework and taxation system. -Legislation required people serving more than five patients and a date to be a dispensary and not just a caregiver, and it required dispensaries to grow at least 70% of the marijuana they sold. -if Ally wants to continue to operate, she would need to vertically integrate and operate a grow operation. -She opened a 13,000 square foot warehouse in boulder with a storefront in the front and a cultivation center in the back. Since then, she has focused on adding dispensaries throughout the state and developing cultivation to support those storefronts. -in 2018, Ally became more interested in the possibility of branding and national expansion. She developed a brand called green treats, which can be marketed as a recreational product. -Her product development team has developed about 140 different items, including infused joint packs, gummies, chocolates, and a nano drink that leverages nanotechnology to help people experience the effects of THC more quickly. -Ally's company is currently valued at more than $35 million. She is currently raising $19.6 million in capital that will fund further expansion of the company into new markets, with an eye toward eventually going public.

what is your last piece of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs? (Kathey Porter)

-Know when to hold them and know when to fold them. -you need to know when an opportunity is worth following through on, but you also need to know when to move on. -Aside from that, build your business around who your customer will be and what they will want, and don't just follow your passions. -Sometimes, you're able to simply ask customers what they want. In other cases, you have to anticipate what they will want in the future based on what's happening in the market. In any case, you should only build a business if you have a customer base; you can't force people to buy what you're selling.

Talk about the UF Innovate Ventures project (Karl LaPan)

-The University of Florida has set aside $1,000,000 to invest in five companies with market facing technologies developed at the University of Florida. Those investments have been made, but they have not been any exit events. -According to Karl, studies show that follow up funding isn't always good for the investor, so follow up funding for the ventures project is unlikely.

How did you fund your business? (Rob Castellucci)

-The bootstrapped the business and did everything themselves. -It helped that the company was not capital intensive and that two of the Co-founders were computer science majors with the technical skills to build software. -Rob and his cofounders were able to bootstrap the business by moonlighting for the first two or three years. -When rob went full time in 2011, he gave himself a meager salary of just 15,000.

How many other arts in medicine programs are there in the United States? (Camilo Reina Muñoz)

-The most recent field study (conducted about a decade ago) indicates that 50% of hospitals in the United States have some form of arts program, though this number is definitely higher today. -The National Organization for Arts in Health is currently conducting a survey to update this number. Locally, in Florida, a 2017-2018 survey revealed that there were 107 arts in health programs in the state.

You participated in GAP. How did that impact you? (Charolette Terry)

-The program taught her the importance of setting up operation systems. This can be as simple as setting up a handbook or a set of operation procedures. -The goal is to run a consistent operation that provides a consistent service.

market

-any place where suppliers and demanders can transact business. -"a set of actual or potential customers for a given set of products or services who have a common set of needs or wants, and who reference each other when making a buying decision."

market sizing

-involves estimating the number of potential customers, the amount of possible revenue or the level of potential profitability of a product or service. -If you're looking for capital, investors will want to see that you have thought through the size of your target market. -Total available market (TAM): the total market demand for the product or service. -Serviceable available market (SAM): the portion of the total available market that your products or service intends to target. -Share of the market (SOM): the portion of the serviceable area markets that the company is likely to be able to reach. -Investors want to see that you have a grasp on market trends, including the evolution of competition, regulatory changes, and anything else that might impact demand in the future. -Early-stage entrepreneurs should also focus on identifying a launch market of customers who really want to buy the product.

how important has networking been for you? (Kathey Porter)

-networking is very important in the supplier diversity space. -Unfortunately, COVID has made traditional networking difficult, though Kathy has attempted to adjust to a virtual environment. -Luckily Kathy has achieved newfound success with her books and speaking engagements.

are companies and universities required to preferentially give contracts to women, minorities and veterans or is it voluntary? (Kathey Porter)

-the federal government sets aside a certain amount of money for these historically underutilized vendors. -it is voluntary (but strongly encourage) for local governments, universities and corporations. -in many cases, governments or corporations will hire a general contractor and specify that they want the general contractor to hire businesses owned by women, minorities and veterans.

three main approaches to creating value propositions are as follows:

1. All-benefits approach: -involves identifying and promoting the product or services' benefits, paying no attention to the competition or the customer's true wants or needs. -this is a product-focused CVP rather than a customer-focused CVP, so it is typically the least impactful approach. 2. Points-of-difference approach: -involves focusing on how the product or service compares to the competition and how it differs from the existing solutions on the market. -while differentiation might help a business compete, it still does not provide evidence that customers will find the offering valuable. 3. Resonating-focus approach: -focuses on what customers truly need and value; it describes why customers will really like the product. -this approach focuses on the product-market fit, or an offering that fits customer needs, so it is sometimes referred to as the "just what the customer wants". -this is the best approach to use because it focuses on what the customers really need and want and how the business plans on satisfying those needs and wants.

some questions you might ask under each of the nine components of the business model canvas:

1. CVP: What products and services are you delivering, and what are you helping customers achieve? 2. Customer segments: What segements of the market should you focus on? Who is most likely to buy your T-shirts? 3. Channels: How will you reach out to your customers? Will you sell online, or will you use a traditional, brick-and-mortar store? 4. Customer relationships: How can you develop and maintain relationships with your customers? You want to make your customers feel good about the business so that they recommend it to friends. 5. Key activities: What are some of the most important activities that your T-shirt business undertakes? Examples include making designs, silk screening, and packing the shirts for distribution. 6. Key resources: What resources will the company need it it has 1,000 customers? What about if it has 1,000,000 customers? Examples of required resources may include designers, production workers, capital equipment and the shirts themselves. 7. Key partners: Can some activities be outsourced? Can you tap into and negotiate with a network of suppliers or buyers? 8. Revenue streams: How much will customers be willing to pay, and how much cash can you generate? 9. Cost structure: How much are your costs, and what are some of the most important costs in the business model? Which resources and activities are the most expensive?

calculating market size steps

1. Define your market segment: before going any further, you must have a clear definition of your ideal pool of customers. 2. Do a top-down analysis: this involves estimating the total market size using demographic data and then estimating your share of the market. 3. Do a bottom-up analysis: this involves estimating potential sales using calculations to arrive to a total sales figure. You can use this data to come up with a best guess at what your sales, revenues and profits will be. 4. Check your sanity: be sure to take a step back to ensure that your conclusions are not outlandish. 5. Analyze the competition: determine what the level of competition is in the industry, and identify the leading companies. If the entrepreneur has a product that meets an unmet need, he or she is more left beta cheese success in a market without competition than in a saturated market.

according to Moore you can "cross the chasm: between early adopters and the early majority by taking the following steps:

1. create the entire product first: the early adopters might forgive a few glitches, but the early majority will not, it's important to ensure that your product is as complete and flawless as possible before launch. 2. position the product properly: the early majority tend to be pragmatists, so you should emphasize value. you can do so by providing professional endorsements, mentioning press coverage, or sharing information about how much market share you've already captured. 3. use the right channels of distribution: you will need direct sales and support to properly convey the product's benefits to would-be customers. direct sales are the best way to create demand, and they are also the least expensive way.

evidence-based entrepreneurship

the practice of creating a business model by hypothesizing, testing and validating an idea.

Have you ever tried to qualify for any grants? (Charolette Terry)

-Charlotte recognizes that she should have plenty of opportunities because she's running a female, minority-owned business. However, grant writing is difficult and time consuming so she hasn't focused her efforts on getting grants.

How did COVID-19 impact your company? (Charolette Terry)

-Alachua County did not deem residential cleaning to be an essential service, so Charlotte lost 40% of her customers when the government shut non-essential businesses down. -She was upfront with her team members and told them that she didn't know how many hours she could give them, but she encouraged them to learn as much about COVID and prepare for life after COVID. All of her staff became CDC certified for COVID sanitation, and many of them filed for unemployment. -Charlotte was surprised that many of her team members reassured her that the company would be okay. This was surprising because Charlotte didn't expect her employees to be thinking about the company rather than themselves. -Cleaning Genie was unable to get the first round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, but it did get the second round of funding via a loan from Florida Credit Union. -Charlotte highlighted the importance of having clean financial statements ready to go whenever you need them. Luckily, Charlotte was organized and had those financial statements, so she was able to provide them to the bank when she needed to in order to get the loan.

Where do you draw your personal strength? (Charolette Terry)

-Charlotte is a Christian, and she draws her strength from Jesus Christ. She also likes to put positive slogans around the office to reassure her. -She reads books and listens to audio books, and she tries to surround herself with positive, good people. -With the recent loss of her husband, she was reminded that every day is precious. -Her husband used to say, "Make the best out of every moment because you never know when the moment will end." -Charlotte also mentioned that she journals a lot. She keeps two journals- one for her personal life and one for business. She writes in her business journal a couple of days per week, but she writes in her personal journal every day.

When did you actually leave your job? (Charolette Terry)

-Charlotte kept her social worker job for three or four years while she worked on Cleaning Genie. -She eventually gave up the job because she couldn't deal with the stress of having a job, running a business, and being a mom. -It was at this point that she decided to devote all of her time and attention to making the business work.

What has been your biggest challenge? (Charolette Terry)

-Balancing her role as a mother and wife with running a company. -Charlotte remembers that her young daughter once told her that Charlotte should be able to do whatever she wanted because she owned her own company. The reality is just the opposite: Business owners have a lot of responsibility when they have to worry about paying their employees. -A couple of years ago, Charlotte decided to draw a line in the sand and spend more time with her family. She ensured that she had policies and procedures in place, as well as individuals who could lead when she wasn't there. This is what allowed her to step away from the business for three months while she cared for her husband.

Guest speaker: Charlotte Terry (Cleaning Genie)

-Charlotte Terry-Mendez is the founder and CEO of Cleaning Genie, a Gainesville-based cleaning service that hires and supports single mothers, displaced homemakers, and people who have traditionally faced barriers to getting employment. -The company currently has 15 or 16 employees, which is lower than usual due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. -The company's "Cleaners to Executives" program empowers employees to develop their skills and grow in a way that might not otherwise be possible. -Before starting her company in 2011, Charlotte was a social worker. She saw first-hand how some groups of people in the community struggled to find work and experience personal and professional growth. -When she started her own company, she decided to embrace social entrepreneurship and try to solve community-based problems by offering people jobs that would help them grow. -Unfortunately, the pandemic hit Charlotte's company hard. Residential cleaning services were not considered essential, so she had to close her business for a while. Moreover, the current employment situation makes growth difficult. There's plenty of work to be done, but Charlotte is struggling to find people to fill the jobs. Cleaning Genie is a small business, so Charlotte can't offer huge bonuses to attract new employees.

Have you found any cultural differences in Kenya that made it difficult to transition from a life as a New York City banker to a life in Nairobi? (Vassia Daskalakis)

-For Vassia, moving to Kenya was like walking on a cloud because her quality of life was at least five times higher than it was in New York City. -in Kenya, she had enough money to hire household, a chef and a massage lady and she didn't have to sleep on a mattress lying on the floor. -there are some cultural differences on the business side. Kenyan culture is more conflict avoidance, and people don't like to tell you no or express unpopular opinions. -It is also a trust-based culture, so you have to spend time with people building their trust. -While time is valuable in the United states and people want you to get red to the point, there's a lot more storytelling and Kenyan culture, and you have to be patient with people.

How did COVID affect LGBTQ+ students' mental health? (Camilo Reina Muñoz)

-Like most everyone else, LGBTQ+ students became increasingly isolated due to the shutdowns associated with COVID-19. However, this group was especially hard-hit because many of them didn't have the support of their parents, so it made time at home stressful. This is why it was so important to keep the Theatre Connection program going by transitioning online. The program provided a much-needed social outlet for individuals in this community. -Camilo mentioned that some students were unable to participate online because they didn't have Internet access or devices that would allow them to go on Zoom calls. If the program were to continue online, Camilo would likely try to address the problem by providing participants with WiFi hotspots and tablets to help them get online, if needed.

Generating data

-Large companies typically gather as much data as possible through direct mail, surveys, catalogs and advertising. -However, entrepreneurs can't generate data in this way. when data are insufficient or not existent, people have to rely on their experience or intuition, which is often unreliable. -many entrepreneurs shy away from experimentation because of fear of failure, they don't want their data to show that their idea was not a good one. However, experimentation is the only way to prove a concept. -All of the data from an experiment must be taken into account, even if they failed to support the hypothesis or contradicts original assumptions. -Ignoring results we do not want to hear will ultimately be detrimental to the venture. -the goal is not to design a perfect experiment, and as with anything else, failure must be tolerated. -After all, you cannot learn if you cannot fail.

What is your parting advice for students interested in entrepreneurship? (Karl LaPan)

-Like the Nike slogan says, "Just do it." -there will never be a perfect time for you to get started, and you'll never have the perfect technology. You just have to get started, learn, correct, pivot, unlearned, correct, pivot and repeat. -We need more entrepreneurs, and too many would be entrepreneurs get "paralysis by analysis" I never give it a shot. -Karl Pointed out that you don't have to be a risk taker to be an entrepreneur. Rather, you have to be a good risk manager. -You have to focus on creating and capturing value. Your focus should be on the resources you have, not the resources you don't have. -Beyond that, you have to know when to stop pursuing a project that will never be successful. A lot of entrepreneurs are overly optimistic and ignore clear market signals that they should give up. -Have triggers and milestones in place so that you know when it's time to reconsider your involvement in the venture.

What's your company culture like, and how do you develop your company culture? (Charolette Terry)

-The company culture is focused on the company's community-based vision. -Charlotte helps instill company culture in the following ways: -Potential hires are shown a video about why Cleaning Genie was established. During their third interview, they are asked to describe Cleaning Genie's "why," either out loud or in writing. -There's a "bucket drop" in the office where team members can write supportive notes to one another. -Charlotte wants to keep morale among her team members as good as possible because team members have to "deal with enough shiggity out in the field.

You mentioned that you are currently trying to raise $19.6 million in capital to grow your company. What are the challenges associated with raising capital in the cannabis industry? (Ally Downing)

-The process is similar to the capital raise process for normal business, except the pool of investors a lot narrower, and they prefer debt over equity. -Ally Has hired a broker firm to help develop the pitch and assemble a potential client list. She also has a data room where interested parties can review the relevant company documents and do their due diligence. -The company is at about $18 million in revenue right now, and it wants to move to about $50 million in a few years. -The goal is to raise $19.6 million through a mix of debt and equity, and to bring on strategic partners who bring something other than money to the table. -Ally also mentioned that there are significant limitations on going public as a cannabis company.

what do you do for banking? (Ally Downing)

-When Ally got started, the cannabis industry was relatively small, and banks and credit card companies were not actively trying to exclude them. -She was able to do traditional credit sales through a holding company, and she was smart about not depositing a lot of cash in the bank. -Eventually, ally got investigated by the federal government for the practice of structuring. -It is a crime under federal law to intentionally structure your cash transactions in a way that avoids the reporting requirement to report cash transactions of $10,000 or more. -The federal government start deposits that were all just less than $10,000, and agents thought Allie was structuring. They froze her bank accounts and seized the money, which all eventually got back after a two-year legal fight. -As the cannabis industry grew, banking eventually became more difficult for Ally. -Cannabis is still illegal under federal law, and large banks such as Wells Fargo wanted nothing to do with cannabis companies. -since recreational marijuana legalization started to increase nationwide, there have been a number of innovative opportunities in the banking sector period now, Ali is allowed to have a bank account, but her daily sales have to be disclosed and verified through an automated system to be sure she's not doing anything illegal. -According to Ali, the biggest challenge currently is in accepting credit cards. Most major credit card processors won't allow credit card processing for cannabis. -Ally emphasized that the existing banking and credit card solutions come at a cost.

Networking to build a founding team

-an important goal of networking may be to build a founding team: a group of people who share a sense of commitment and bring complementary skills to the table in order to build and grow a company. -This is usually the founder and a few other cofounders with complementary skills. -Increasingly, fast growth ventures are being founded by entrepreneurial teams rather than by entrepreneurs acting alone. -in addition, research shows that venture started by teams are more successful than those started by solo entrepreneurs. -According to venture capitalists, the lead entrepreneur and the quality of the team are the most important factors that determine a ventures success.

The power and value of networks

-entrepreneurs have to build a strong network in order to collaborate, create together and take action using the limited resources available to them. -Networks provide the entrepreneur with expertise, information, financing, emotional support add mutual learning. -Network building is a continuous, dynamic process that helps to develop social capital. -social capital: personal social networks that include people who exchange information, cooperate and build trusting relationships with one another. -Like human capital and physical capital, social capital is a valuable resource. It is less tangible than physical capital or human capital, but it is an important means of acquiring information, finding resources and getting work done. --social capital could have many benefits, especially when trust, corporation and mutual exchange are high among people in the network. -while strong ties to family and friends can be beneficial, you should not exclusively rely on them because people who are similar to you or unlikely to challenge your ideas or offer new ways of thinking. -it's also important for you to capitalize on your weak ties, such as relationship with people you met at conventions or potential investors. This will allow you to capture a wider range of information and challenge your assumptions. -building relationships is an indispensable part of starting a business. Entrepreneurs have to interact with a number of people, including mentors, advisors, investors, resource providers, potential employees and other stakeholders. -according to research by the economist intelligence unit, informal networking is much more important than formal networking. -the study examined 1000 entrepreneurs in 10 cities and found that 78% of startups benefited from informal networking. The more networking opportunities they had come the more profitable innovative they were.

Networking at events

-make an effort to remember names and trying to use those names in conversation. -Also, try to write down information about people once you meet them so you can jog your memory later. -In "The Art of the Start," entrepreneur and author Guy Kawasaki provides the following tips for networking at an event: -determine what you can do for someone else and focus on that. -ask questions in order to get others to talk a lot. -don't focus exclusively on business; let the conversation expand into hobbies and other interests as well. -read as much as you can so you have plenty of information drawn during your conversation. -follow up with a short, personal notes within 24 hours of meeting a person. -prepare a 7 to 9 second personal introduction that describes who you are and why you're at the events.

Different kinds of prototypes and important processes related to prototyping:

-minimum viable product (MVP): a version of a new product that allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort. The idea is to focus on delivering the features that customers want without wasting resources "overbuilding" the product with features that are unimportant. -Rapid prototypes: the quickest, Curtis to models that can be used to visualize a product or service. -Mockup prototypes: a 2D or 3D model that looks like the finished product but is not functional. -High fidelity prototypes: a mockup with enough functionality that customers can interact with it. -Role playing: also called experimental prototyping, helps the entrepreneur capture the customers emotional experience during testing. -Wizard of Oz prototypes: have functionality delivered by people rather than technology. -User driven prototypes: involve the user in the creation of the prototype. -Pilots and prototypes: a pilot experiment is a small scalable study used to access a product or services feasibility. Prototypes and pilots are not the same thing; prototypes are typically built before pilot testing. -Storyboards: a storyboard uses drawing, sketches and illustration to provide a high level view of thoughts and ideas arranged in sequence. This is a simple but important part of prototyping.

Characteristics of a great founding team

-some of the most important attributes of founding team members include determination, resilience, tenacity, commitment, curiosity, work ethic and humanity. -the following things are some additional desirable characteristics: they possess the right skills, they take a hands-on approach, they use positive problem solving, they leave their egos at the door, they share similar attitudes about values, goals and risk and they care deeply.