ENT3003 EXAM 3

Daymond John's Journey (case study)

-As a young man growing up in Queens, New York, Daymond heard rumors that clothing companies did not want African Americans, rappers, and inner-city kids wearing their clothing. This offended Daymond, who was an African American inner-city kid, and he decided to do something about it. Specifically, he decided to create a brand that celebrated hip-hop: FUBU (*For Us By Us"). -In the context of the entrepreneurship method, Daymond had already accomplished the first step-_identifying his impact statement. The next step in the entrepreneurship method is to assess the means on hand. At the time, Daymond didn't have much money to get started, so he experimented with his brand by attaching FUBU labels to ordinary T-shirts and wearing them around the city. He also noticed that rappers were wearing a certain type of knit cap, so he made a bunch of them with the FUBU logo. When he earned $800 selling them on a street corner by a local mall, he knew he was onto something, and he reinvested the money in his business. -This is an example of effectuation. Daymond didn't have all of the resources he might have wanted, but that didn't stop him. He took quick action with the resources he had. and he started experimenting, testing, and building his brand. He soon started sewing, screen printing, and embroidering the FUBU logo on high-quality shirts and other pieces of apparel. This allowed him to test and experiment with different colors, styles, and prices. Daymond tried everything he could to build his sales, including having booths outside of malls sell his apparel on a consignment basis. -At the time, Daymond was still working a day job at Red Lobster, so he worked on his business in the morning and at night. The brand gained popularity, but lack of cash caused Daymond to cease operations at FUBU on three separate occasions. Luckily, his following had grown so strong that he had people on the street asking him for more FUBU gear. This always motivated him to start back up. -An early investor in the company, J. Alexander, helped Daymond identify an opportunity: He recognized that the large bodyguards and bouncers in the community had a hard time finding 4x, 5x, and 6x shirts, so FUBU gave them large-sized shirts with the FUBU logo on them. This helped the brand gain exposure and credibility among its target audience, because the bodyguards and bouncers were very visible in the community. -Daymond brought in business partners to help manage the brand's growth. Together, the partners had raised about $50,000 with their credit cards, but they were running out of money. FUBU didn't have the money to buy a booth at the 1995 MAGIC Fashion Trade Show in Las Vegas, so Daymond and his partners simply attended the show, talked to people, and invited them back up to their hotel room to show them the apparel. This was a low-cost bootstrapping method to gain exposure for the brand. In fact, the company wrote $300.000 in orders at this conference alone! -The next challenge was ramping up production to satisfy the $300,000 in orders. Daymond was unable to get a bank loan, so he turned to his mother, who took out a home equity loan on her house and used it to give him a $100,000 loan. He bought sewing machines, hired seamstresses, and set up shop inside his mother's house. Unfortunately, Daymond ran out of money after completing only a fraction of the $300,000 in orders he had taken. This put tremendous pressure on Daymond, who was at risk of not only overseeing the failure of his brand but also the loss of his mother's house. -Daymond needed a strategic investor, so he took out a classified ad in a local newspaper. He got more than 30 responses from high-interest-rate loan sharks, but luckily one of the responses was from a legitimate lead: the president of Samsung's textiles division. Daymond was eventually able to get financing, though he had to commit to selling $5 million in the next three years. -Equipped with investment from Samsung, FUBU was able to generate $30 million in revenues in just three months. Many of the big retailers that had once balked at carrying clothing targeted at the hip-hop community started to come back and ask for the product. FUBU reached $350 million in sales in just two years. Daymond has since semi-retired. and he is now most famous for his role on the show Shark Tank.

Do you have any final advice for students interested in entrepreneurship? (Taylor Williams)

-Be open to failure and trust yourself. -Remember "failure is compost."

Guest Speaker: Cameron McMillan (RotoGrinders)

-Cameron McMillan is the co-founder of RotoGrinders, the leading content provider for daily fantasy sports. The company publishes dozens of articles per day, has multiple podcasts, and offers subscription tools to help people build better daily fantasy sports lineups and make better sports picks. The company, which has been as high as #3 on the Gator 100 list, was recently acquired by a European company called Better Collective in a deal that will be worth about $60 million. -Cameron started his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 12, when he designed his first community website for WWE wrestling fans. He also had a couple of businesses, including an eBay business, in high school. When he started at UF, he knew he was interested in entrepreneurship, but he didn't know what to major in. He chose accounting, which is a relatively difficult major in the business school. It wasn't until his senior year that he realized that accounting wasn't for him, but he got the degree anyway because he only needed a couple of classes to finish. -After graduating with an accounting degree, Cameron took a job with a Gainesville startup in the real estate tech space. He wasn't happy working a 9-5 job, and he started to look into his options. Cameron ran into Prof. Kraft at Gainesville Health and Fitness Center, and Prof. Kraft told Cameron about the Masters of Science in Entrepreneurship (MSE) program. Cameron eventually enrolled in the program and got his MSE degree. -Cameron has since started two businesses: -Raise the Village: Raise the Village was a world-building simulation iPhone app that raised money for a real-world village in Uganda. Cameron developed this app with a couple of his colleagues in the MSE program at a time when Farmville was very popular on Facebook. He was inspired by his investigation into the buy- one-give-one model used by TOMS shoes. The idea was that people would play the game by buying digital currency. Instead of buying virtual goods, they could buy actual goods, such as mosquito nets, that would benefit poor Ugandan villagers. Those goods would be delivered to Uganda, and the game's players would be sent pictures of the villagers receiving the much-needed items. The company was privately funded with angel capital, mostly from family and friends. The app eventually reached the top 10 free apps in the Apple app store, but the business eventually failed and they had to shut down the app. Cameron now realizes that developing a major app like this requires a lot more capital and a much larger team than they had in place. If he had to do it again, he would try to raise a lot more money via venture capital to do the project correctly. -RotoGrinders: Soon after starting Raise the Village, Cameron identified another opportunity: the rising popularity of sports betting and daily fantasy sports. He and some partners from Vanderbilt started a website that sought to cash in on these trends by creating a community where people could get information and exchange ideas. Luckily, they started their company before the daily fantasy sports boom began, and they achieved a lot of success as the industry grew. The partners started the company with their own money, and they did not have to raise any funds. The company was recently acquired by a publicly traded European company at a valuation of $60 million.

Guest Speaker: David Boneparth (Ameriprise Financial)

-David Boneparth is a senior technology leader at Ameriprise Financial, Inc. for many years, he ran the Master of Science in Entrepreneurship program at the Warrington College of business. -David graduated high school in 2001 and started at UF during the summer B semester. He lived in Beatty towers during his first semester, and he quickly moved into an apartment with his friend for the remainder of his undergraduate career. David always knew he wanted to do something with business, and he had some experience in high school. When he was 13 years old, David started and IT company that taught older people and South Florida how to use computers and the Internet. He continued with IT consulting throughout college. -When David came to UF, he went on a computer information science track within the bsba program. David quickly learned that coding didn't excite him much. Rather, he was more excited about the business aspects of technology, the use of information technology to address business's needs. -David was heavily involved in many student organizations as an undergraduate. For example, he was on the previous staff and participated in first year Florida and Warrington welcome. It was through these experiences that he realized how much he liked helping other students succeed, which led him to pursue a career in higher education. -David applied to several master's programs, and he was rejected from some and accepted to others. He was accepted at Colorado State and really wanted to attend the program, but they wouldn't give him an assistantship spot to help him pay for his tuition. -David somehow found the center of entrepreneurship and innovation, which offered a five-credit evening course that took students through the process of business planning, from ideations to a pitch. This was his first introduction to the academic side of entrepreneurship, and it was at this time that he realized that entrepreneurship could be taught. He also developed relationships with professors and mentors, and he began to become excited about what the center of entrepreneurship and innovation was doing. -CEI was in its infancy at the time. David approached the few people who ran the program and asked for a job working with the program whenever they would have him. He settled into a role as a student assistant who also helped with IT issues. He ended up staying at the Center for six years after getting his undergraduate degree. He developed and managed the MSE program and helped expand the offering from a weekend program to an on-campus program, to an online program. the MSE program has expanded and improved significantly since David left, and he is proud to have been involved in its development. -Eventually, David got his MBA, and he realized that it was time to make a career move. His father was an advisor with Ameriprise Financial services, a company that provides financial planning products and services. David's father set him up with a meeting with an executive vice president at Ameriprise, who offered him a job at the company's corporate headquarters in Minneapolis. David moved to Minneapolis in the followed 1010, and he stayed there for 10 years. -interesting Lee, it took Ameriprise eight months to make position available for him because, at the time, they didn't have any positions that fit his skill set and what he could bring to the table. David's role with Ameriprise is to come up with new and innovative ways to make technology work. He pointed out that the concepts of entrepreneurship translate to the corporate environment just as much as they do a small family business or start up. In his role at Ameriprise, he has to develop ideas and solutions that his superiors will find valuable enough to invest in. -Luckily, David superiors at Ameriprise are entrepreneurs themselves, so they share a similar mindset. As a result, David is given more leeway than usual to test, fail and ideate. -luckily, David's superiors at Ameriprise are entrepreneurs themselves, so they share a similar mindset. As a result, David is given more leeway than usual to test, fail and ideate. David spent ten years in Minneapolis, and recently moved back to Florida Lauderdale Florida, he still works for Ameriprise.

Do you have any book recommendations? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-Della recommended Profit First by Mike Michalowicz. -Lisa recommended The E Myth by Michael Gerber.

Guest Speakers: Kurt J. Long (FairWarning)

-Kurt J. Long graduated from the University of Florida's business school in 1984 with a degree on Computer Information Science. He then went to work for Lockheed Martin at Kennedy Space Center as a Space Shuttle Databank Engineer. He earned a master's degree in theoretical mathematics from the University of South Florida, and he went on to start and sell three companies, the last of which is Fair Warning, a company that sells software that protects patient information and electronic health records. -Kurt entitled his guest lecture presentation, "Trust and Meaning in Business," which reflects his "people-first" approach to leadership and entrepreneurship. Throughout his career, he was able to build successful companies that made a lot of money but that also treated all stakeholders- including customers and employees--right. He is proud of these accomplishments, and he believes that we need a new generation of entrepreneurs who are committed to "doing well by doing good." -Kurt mentioned that his friends questioned the wisdom of getting a master's degree in theoretical mathematics. He pursued that degree because it interested him and was simply something he wanted to do. The degree program gave him the opportunity to take a graduate assistant position that required him to teach college students. This taught him that his success was a function of how prepared he was. Theoretical mathematics was hard, and one of his teachers insisted that "we will always do as much as a reasonable person will do, and then go a whole lot further." Kurt took this to heart and tried to "go a whole lot further" with everything else he did during his entrepreneurial career. -Kurt offered the following quote from author Aldos Huxley: THERE IS ONLY ONE CORNER OF THE UNIVERSE YOU CAN BE CERTAIN OF IMPROVING, AND THAT'S YOUR OWN SELF. -In today's world, it's easy to compare ourselves to others or blame others for our own problems. However, at the end of the day, it all comes down to personal accountability. If you want to improve your life, you need to actively take steps to improve yourself. -Kurt also likes this quote from two-time Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie:YOU CANNOT HOPE TO BUILD A BETTER WORLD WITHOUT IMPROVING THE INDIVIDUALS, To THAT END. EACH OF US MUST WORK FOR OUR OWN IMPROVEMENT. -In his career, Kurt tried to lead by example by getting a little bit better every day. Even if you improve by 0.25% or 0.5% per day, over time this growth will compound and you will be incredible at what you do. -Kurt didn't have any formal training in entrepreneurship, and he only had a limited amount of mentorship. However, he found that as he became older, he became more secure, open minded, and open to make mistakes. He recognizes that, as a young man, he wanted to prove himself and wasn't adept at listening with a truly open mind. Over time, he opened his mind to new ideas and recognized that he could learn something from literally everybody. For example, Kurt was recently in a cab and had a conversation in which he learned something from the cab driver. Kurt realized that the cab driver had a different set of experiences and saw the world more simply, which allowed him to communicate more clearly. -Kurt's career started out at the Kennedy Space Center, where he was involved in a number of projects, including the project to launch the Hubble Space Telescope. The goal of the space shuttle program was to make space flight faster, more routine, and more affordable than ever before. The Hubble telescope has been in operation for more than 30 years now, and Kurt is proud to have been a small part of the team that put it into orbit. (Prof. Kraft pointed out that, when the Hubble launched, there was an issue with the mirror that had to be corrected on a subsequent mission. Kurt described the second mission as putting "eyeglasses" on the Hubble so it could see.) -According to Kurt, businesses need to play a bigger role in society, and business owners have to help team members find meaning. They have to convey a compelling vision that team members can believe in. They need to come to work with a shared sense of purpose, knowing that the organization is doing something bigger than any one person could do. At the same time, they have to understand their importance to the organization and their impact on the world. -Kurt believes that it's important to learn humility. To Kurt, humility is all about respecting other people and recognizing that they bring something to the table that you don't. Hopefully, you also bring something to the table so that you can show each other mutual respect. -It's important to value excellence and adopt unrelenting standards while, at the same time, recognizing the growth potential of all people. According to Kurt, an organization is a collection of "imperfect people striving for perfection through our strengths, brought together by great leadership." Ultimately, you want your team members to have a sense of belonging. For example, when Kurt worked at the space program, he felt like he belonged in the organization and in the greater Brevard County community. That was something he took away from the space program that he would apply to the businesses he started for the rest of his career. -Kurt started and sold three businesses, but in his presentation he focused exclusively on the third, Fair Warning. According to Kurt, Fair Warning was a "business built on trust, meaning, and humane capitalism. The company sold a great product and made a lot of money for Kurt and his investors. -However, Kurt is more proud about what the company did for employees, customers, and the community at large. Here are some of the company's contributions: -It was named a top workplace by the Tampa Bay Times eight years in a row. -It won the Black Book customer satisfaction award in 2018. -It took all of its employees on hot air balloon rides to develop corporate culture. -It had a Fair Warning flag program in which employees would take the company's flag with them when they traveled throughout the world. The flag eventually made its way to London, Rome, and Brazil, among other places. -It gave back to the University of Florida with a monetary contribution. -It funded 1.8 million meals through Feeding America in 2020. -It donated books and other items to children in South Africa. -The point is that the company had a great product, and it took care of its team members, customers, and the community at large. This led to great financial outcomes because employees and customers came to love the company. -Kurt sold Fair Warning in May 2018 and had a secondary (and final) transaction in December 2020, so he is now gone from the company. However, he is proud to have C2 built a business that did well financially but also did well for his employees and customers. He's most proud of the workplace awards and customer awards that the company won. The company had the highest score ever achieved by any business in terms of meaningfulness in the workplace," which means that Kurt was able to create meaningfulness in people's lives.

Are there any other MOT businesses run by black women in Florida? (Seyi Falade)

-No, but there are other MOT firms run by women, including one in Jacksonville and one in Pensacola. -Minorities have found it difficult to start construction businesses because it requires a lot of upfront money, and minorities have traditionally found it difficult to access this capital.

What kinds of employees do you have? (Seyi Falade)

-On the crew side, Cornerstone has a MOT supervisor who holds a MOT certification and a crew lead who is training for the MOT supervisor position. It also has general crew members (general laborers). All of these people are supervised by a project manager. -Internally, the company has employees who WOrk in accounting, contracts, estimation, and business development. Seyi does a little in each of these areas. The company is short-staffed, so she has to decide where to allocate new hires.

You've now assembled and been part of at least two founding teams. What are some lessons that you've learned? (Cameron McMillan)

-Some of the lessons that Cameron has learned are as follows: -Winning cures all: At the end of the day, you need to be sure that the team is set up for success. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and you have to assemble a team of people who complement each other well. You don't necessarily have to be best friends, but you have to be able to work together. -Be careful and analytical when choosing team members: Choose your startup team carefully because you will be "married" to them for several years. Cameron likened a startup team to a marriage; Just as you should go out on a few dates with a potential partner before marrying him or her, you should "test the waters" with potential team members before bringing them on. Work on a few smaller projects with them and make sure that they are people who you want to work with. After a few months, trust your gut and do what you think is best. -It won't be perfect: There are ups and downs in all of your relationships, including your relationships with founding team members.

Do you have any book recommendations? (Taylor Williams)

-Taylor didn't recommend any specific book, but she did recommend books that emphasize the importance of feedback. -Kraft mentioned that Radical Candor by Kim Scott is one book that might fall into that category.

How do you handle your taxes? (Taylor Williams)

-Taylor has a number of different income sources, so her taxes are complex. -She has an accountant who takes care of this for her. -Taylor also mentioned that she closely tracks her spending and keeps good records of payments, which is something her dad taught her to do.

How did you decide when to leave your "day jobs" to work on the business full-time? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-They knew how much revenue they had to earn to support their own salaries. -Once they reached that number, they let the company grow a bit to give themselves a little cushion, and then they quit their jobs.

How large is the geographic area you serve? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-They serve individuals and businesses within a 50 to 100 mile radius. -They serve people who have a home base here but travel regularly, such as traveling physical therapists. -Telemedicine allows Lisa and Della to serve people wherever they are. They can write medications across state lines, and Lisa even wrote a prescription to a patient in Paris.

So if I pay a membership fee, I have access to most of the medical care I need? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-Yes, 80%-90% of people's health care needs can be addressed by the primary care providers. This includes anything you might normally go to the doctor for, as well as urgent care and chronic disease management. -One benefit of the direct care model is that it keeps people out of emergency rooms and urgent care centers. Having direct primary care options saves people time, money, energy and stress. -Della emphasized that she and Lisa have nothing against insurance, and there is no single solution that is best for everyone.

research: cognitive factors affecting planning

-entrepreneurs with high entrepreneurial self-efficacy were more likely to develop business plans. -entrepreneurs with high entrepreneurial perseverance were more likely to engage in business planning activities, but not necessarily more likely to develop formal business plans. -entrepreneurs with low entrepreneurial perseverance were less likely to engage in business planning activities because they perceived those activities as too challenging or time-consuming.

revenue model

-just one aspect of the business model that identifies how the venture will earn income and make profits. -describes how the entrepreneur will capture value by delivering on the customer value proposition. -entrepreneurs with a clear strategy for generating income and profits will find it easier to get investment. -to develop such a strategy, they will need to identify how much customers will pay, how many customers they need, how much revenue they can expect, and how much each revenue stream contributes in total.

planning

-the process of envisioning the business's future, including what you intend to do and how you intend to do it. -every business needs some kind of plan. -plans help you critically analyze your idea, crystallize your thoughts and hash out where you want your business to go.

different kinds of plans

BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS: -a type of visual plan that consists of a single page with nine blocks: key partners, key activities, value proposition, customer relationships, customer segments, key resources, channels, cost structure and revenue streams. -creating a BMC will help you identify any gaps in your business idea. -you'll have a better idea of the value you're creating for your customers, the processes and resources needed to deliver value, and how you will make money. BUSINESS BRIEF: -a two-to-three-page written document that outlines the company overview, including its value proposition, customers, and upcoming milestones. -this is less visual than the BMC, but it is something that can be easily sent to stakeholders to give them a solid understanding of what the business is and what its potential is. -creating a business brief is less time intensive than creating a formal business plan, but it shows others that you're thinking critically about your business. FEASIBILITY STUDY: -a planning tool in which entrepreneurs test an initial idea's possibilities to see whether the idea is worth pursuing. -focusing on the market size, suppliers, distributors, and the entrepreneur's skills will help the entrepreneur determine whether the idea is viable and profitable. -ultimately, the goal is to create a 10-page, written document that critically assesses the venture concept, value proposition, market, competitive environment, revenue model, startup requirements and team. -the feasibility study will lead the entrepreneur with a decision about whether to move forward with the business. -allows you to access whether you have the resources, time, energy and abilities to make the business work. -requires action, you have to test, gather information, and critically analyze the information in order to gain greater clarity and greater confidence about the opportunity. it involves actually going out and talking to customers. -if you haven't talked with 50 customers, you're probably not in a position to determine whether the business idea is ultimately viable. PITCH DECK: -a presentation deck, often created using PowerPoint, keynote, or Prezi, which is used to highlight the key elements found in the business plan and feasibility study. -have largely replaced formal business plans in most venues and they are typically required for applications to accelerators and incubators, for angel and venture capital funding and for collegiate competitions. -intended to describe the product or business and generate interest in it. -there are no strict rules for the format of a pitch deck. some authors and entrepreneurs suggest keeping the number of slides to 25 or fewer, while others suggest keeping the number of slides to 10 or fewer. BUSINESS PLAN: -a formal, lengthy, written document that thoroughly describes the business concept, product mix, financial forecast, development plan, operations plan and marketing plan. -this is the most formal type of planning tool, and it has largely been replaced by the pitch deck in most venues. -bankers and traditional investors often require a traditional business plan before providing funding. -the business plan should be thought of as a continual work in progress because nothing ever goes to plan. -look at table in smokin notes for index card. -the best plan for you is the one that allows you to take action to create the future venture. the key is action.

Why did you start two companies so quickly after graduating? (Cameron McMillan)

Cameron knew that nine out of ten startups fail, so he wanted to cast a wide net and start as many businesses as possible to maximize his chances of eventual success. At the time, he was young and didn't have a wife, kids, or mortgage. He was able to suffer through not getting paid very much for a couple of years to satisfy his desire to build companies.

What kind of entity structure do you use? (Seyi Falade)

Cornerstone Barricades is a Florida S Corporation.

What projects do you currently have in Gainesville? (Seyi Falade)

Cornerstone primarily works with Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU). It currently has projects on Newberry Road (by BJ's Brewhouse and Boston Market) and near the Hyatt Place development downtown.

What was Raise the Village's revenue model? (Cameron McMillan)

It was a freemium revenue model. Users could download and play the game for free, but they obtained digital currency and other incentives (such as photos of items sent to Ugandan villagers) when they paid money.

Do you have other loans, aside from the PPP loans? (Seyi Falade)

Yes, the company has lines of credit and loans from other banks. Seyi mentioned that she is always looking for ways to acquire funding.

Do you think that learning to write a business plan at UF was helpful for you in the real world? (David Boneparth)

Yes. All of the skills and tools that you learn in school can be useful in a corporate environment.

business model

describes how an organization will create, deliver and capture value.

revenue

or income from the sales of goods and services.

Tell us about Guts & Glory GNV. (Taylor Williams)

-Guts & Glory GNV teaches anyone from any walk of life to tell a compelling, polished story and "feel like a rock star" for seven or eight minutes while they're on stage. -Taylor started the company to empower people, increase people's confidence, and help them find their voice. -The confidence that people find in storytelling translates to increased confidence in the rest of their endeavors.

Do you have your own studio for podcasting? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-No, they use a producer who has a studio, records the podcast, and posts it for them. -It is called Celebrate podcast and it features local business owners who tell their personal stories about how they got started in Gainesville.

How do you keep prices low for members? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-Studies have shown that 40 cents of every healthcare dollar are spent billing insurance. -Celebrate Primary Care is able to keep prices low because it doesn't have to bill insurance companies. The company has also negotiated rates for patients' medications and labs. It has an on-site dispensing pharmacy with $20,000 to $30,000 of inventory, and it does lab work online. -Della pointed out that the cost of savings for patients are tremendous.

Do you two still practice medicine, or do you mostly focus on sales and marketing? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-They mostly focus on sales and marketing. -Neither of them have taken patients for a couple of years, but they still manage a panel of patients and they're there for other medical providers if they need help.

The federal government is currently talking about passing an infrastructure bill. Would this help your business? (Seyi Falade)

-Yes. Infrastructure spending is good for everyone. It's not just about fixing roads, either. -For example, if you see work being done on south Main Street, they're probably repaving the road, laying WiFi cables, improving electricity, adding street lights, and beautifying the space. This has a real impact on the community. Seyi takes pride in the fact that she is a part of making this happen. -At the same time, these projects provide excellent jobs for construction workers who might not be able to earn as much otherwise because they don't have a college degree.

Are you considered a subcontractor? (Seyi Falade)

-Yes. There are typically multiple layers of contractors at work in the construction business. When an entity requests bids for a project, that entity is called the owner.

the income statement

-a financial report showing revenue, expenses and profits over the course of a period of time-usually, a year. -a standard income statement is backward-looking and measures financial activities for the previous month of the year. -a proforma income statement is a forward-looking estimate of what the company could potentially do in the coming period. -the income statement begins by subtracting cost of goods sold from revenue to yield gross profit. then we subtract operating expenses such as sales, general and administrative expenses, marketing expenses and research and development expenses. -we also subtract depreciation and amortization. -what's left is operating profit, the amount of revenue left over once all costs and expenses are subtracted. from this, we have to subtract the company's interest expense and taxes. -net income is what remains after all costs, expenses and taxes have been paid. this is the true bottom line for the company in the period.

three other techniques to help you set your price

COST LED PRICING: a strategy in which a business sets its price by adding a desired profit margin to its costs and expenses. ex. if your cost of producing a cupcake is $2 so you might add a 50% markup to those costs and decide to sell your cupcakes for $3. TARGET RETURN PRICING: a strategy in which a business sets its price based on the amount of investment the entrepreneur had made in the business. VALUE-BASED PRICING: a strategy in which a business sets its price based on the benefits that the customer perceives. the value that a customer derives from a product is not the same as a product's price.

Guest Speakers: Kurt J. Long (FairWarning) Pt. 2

-According to Kurt, we need more businesspeople who want to make a difference in people's lives, in addition to making money. -According to Kurt, entrepreneurs can make a difference in the following ways: -Providing a vision to believe in: Entrepreneurs must provide employees with a vision that they can believe in and embrace. They should show employees how the company will improve the lives of customers and how it can have a positive impact on the world. -Shaping company culture: Kurt believes that entrepreneurs should hire employees based on the company's values and vision. He believes in a culture of transparency and mutual accountability where team members can form respect- based partnerships in which everyone is rewarded for mutual success. -Embracing humane capitalism: Kurt believes that entrepreneurs should strive to value all constituents, including customers, employees, the community, and the entire planet. It all starts with valuing your customers- after all, if you're not generating positive value in their lives, you're simply taking advantage of them. This is why Kurt would never work for a company that takes advantage of customers by selling addictive products or services or taking their last dollar. Humane capitalism requires strong, authentic, and ethically minded leaders. -Kurt believes that businesses can produce a return for shareholders and grow while still making a difference in the lives of employees and customers. -The bottom line is this: Kurt believes that trust and meaning are important corporate assets that ultimately translate into employee retention, customer retention, and increased profits for the company. Kurt never focused on maximizing shareholder returns when he was running his businesses. Rather, he focused on things like customer retention, team member retention, and innovation. He believed that, if he focused on these things, the profits would follow. And they certainly did! Kurt's investors earned a 34% compounded annual return for 15 years, which is very high.) -Kurt has been studying trust in the world for more than a decade. One of the metrics he uses is the Edelman Trust Barometer, which measures global trust for government, the media, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and businesses. According to the most recent data, people perceive government and the media as incompetent and unethical. They perceive NGOs as mildly incompetent and ethical. Importantly, however, they perceive business as both competent and ethical. This is important because it means that people currently trust business, which means that entrepreneurs and businesspeople have a greater opportunity to enact change in the world. -According to 2021 data, most people still deeply believe that their local employer is trustworthy. This is especially true in emerging capitalist countries where small businesses are dominant. For many people, the company they work for is the most stable and trustworthy thing in their lives. This is why entrepreneurs have to act as positive role models. There's a tremendous opportunity for businesses to create meaning, trust, and purpose in the world; it just requires a new generation of young businesspeople who value these things. -Kurt provided a number of positive examples of companies that place an emphasis on meaning, trust, and purpose: -Venture Wave Capital (Dublin, Ireland) -Creative Planning (Kansas City, MO) -XPT (Kauai, Hawaii) -Voluntas Advisory (Copenhagen, Denmark) -Tropic Skincare (Croydon, UK) -At the end of the day, meaning starts with the entrepreneur. If the entrepreneur can translate his or her meaning into a clear vision, he or she can provide meaning to team members and customers, which will lead to higher team member retention, higher customer satisfaction, and higher profits.

Does Ameriprise do most of its own research and development in-house? (David Boneparth)

-Ameriprise is lucky to have a captive set of customers who can provide feedback about what their problems and needs are. -Some of these needs can be solved with solutions that already exist and can be bought, while others are more proprietary and are developed fire in house. These proprietary innovations are what differentiate Ameriprise from the competition. -David pointed out financial services firms are never going to be on the cutting edge of technology because they have to deal with so many regulation and compliance issues. -There's always someone looking over the company's shoulder to be sure that it's complying with existing regulations, and this hinders innovation and creativity. -In addition, David doesn't think that automated solutions will ever make financial planners obsolete; there will always be a need and demand for relationships with actual people in the financial planning space.

Are you happy where you're at, or do you want to expand the business? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-Before the pandemic, Lisa and Della had their sights on the Ocala and Jacksonville markets. -After the COVID closures, Della was thankful that they had not already expanded. -As the pandemic is winding down, the company is still growing, but Lisa and Della no longer have their sights set on markets outside Gainesville. -They recognize that the Gainesville market is large, and there are still many people who still don't know about the business or the direct primary care model.

Case Study: Boyd Cohen (IoMob)

-Boyd Cohen is the CEO and co-founder of IoMob, which is short for "the Internet of mobility." The company is a decentralized mobility network that enables public and private partners to rapidly deploy integrated mobility experiences. An important component of this platform is its use of blockchain technologies, which allow individuals and companies to pay each other directly, without a middleman. -IoMob allows customers and providers to interact directly, without a middleman. It also integrates more than just private car rides. IoMob Provides access to an integrated network of all mobility solutions available, including public transportation, taxi cabs, bike shares more. -Boyd got his PhD from the University of Colorado in 2001. He was influenced by a book called natural capitalism, which showed how companies could use business practices that were both profitable and environmentally responsible. This book inspired him to devote his career to combining the worlds of capitalism and nature to produce a positive change. -after getting his PhD, Boyd wrote a book, started a new venture, and acted as a consultant. In 2014, he wrote an academic paper on shared mobility, or transportation services that people share either concurrently or consecutively. Later, he interviewed Jamie Burke, the CEO of outlier ventures, for a book that he was writing. Boyd Became interested in starting a blockchain company, and Jamie told Boyd that he would help him incubate it if he did. -It was at this point that Boyd realize the opportunity: he could combine the transformative blockchain technology with shared mobility services to create a decentralized mobility network built on blockchain technology. He started small at first, creating an app called Coopify that allowed a few local taxi co-ops to compete with Uber. He later pivoted the business idea to include many more modes of transportation and service providers, and in 2017 IoMob was born. -Boyd had an extensive network, so he was able to populate his founding team and board of advisors with experts in shared mobility, blockchain technology and computer science. In 2018, he resigned from his full-time teaching position to pursue IoMob full time. Today, the company has eight full time employees and two part time employees. -one of the challenges that he and his company faced was planning for a venture with such a new technology. He met this challenge by building his business around a clear vision: he wanted to achieve an open, sustainable mobility marketplace that what was enabled by blockchain technologies. Boyd did it write a business plan at first period rather he wrote 3 white papers that explained the concept behind the company, and he devoted most of his time to experimenting, testing and validating the proof of concept in the real world. -although his vision was clear, he was also realistic as he worked toward achieving it. He understood the challenges and risks that the company faced, and he worked to overcome those challenges and mitigate the risk by populating his founding team with the right talent. He believes that his strong team can meet the challenges of an ever-changing mobility market. The company is starting small and growing slowly. It has only raised $700,000 in funding thus far, but it's still using less money to iterate, test and learn.

Is anyone else in Florida offering a similar service? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-Celebrate Primary Care is the first company to offer direct primary care in North Central Florida. -Lisa and Della just want people to know that they have options when it comes to paying for their health care.

What markets do you currently operate in, and are you going to expand in the future? (Seyi Falade)

-Cornerstone primarily does jobs in Gainesville. There is no other MOT company in Gainesville, so Cornerstone has an advantage when contractors need last- minute equipment. Cornerstone also does work in Tampa, mostly because the city has goals and set-asides for small businesses and minority-owned businesses. -Before COVID, the company did some work in Jacksonville and Orlando, and Seyi hopes to return to those cities in the future. She's also looking into getting DBE certification in Georgia and North Carolina and doing business there. -Seyi recognizes that there's only so many roads to fix in Gainesville and that the company will eventually need to expand elsewhere. -She also recognizes that the company is no longer a small, mom-and-pop business organized around a kitchen table. She has salaries, bills, and taxes to keep up with, so she has to make sure she makes enough money to cover operating expenses every month.

Do you have any book recommendations? (David Boneparth)

-David believes that it's important to continually learn through reading. Encourage students to use audible and listen to audiobooks between classes. -Some of the books that David recommends are as follows: -start with why -leaders eat last -how to win friends and influence people -the leadership challenge -the art of the start -rich dad, poor dad -the innovator's dilemma -blue ocean strategy -thinking fast and slow -the world is flat -the lexus and olive tree -the lightning boys -he also encouraged students to read biographies.

You participated in the business plan competition and came in second period tell us about that. (David Boneparth)

-David's business plan was for a tracking device for buses. The judges told him that his idea wouldn't work because transit systems don't have the money for these kinds of tracking systems. -Now of course, nearly every bus in the company is tracked.

Do you handle your bookkeeping, or do you have someone who does that for you? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-Della's mom worked for the IRS for 20 years. Her advice was to not get in trouble with the IRS. Therefore, Lisa and Della sought help from an accountant. -Neither of them are detail-oriented so they sought out an accountant. -Della mentioned that it's usually a good idea to pick a co-founder who has strengths that are different from yours. This isn't the case for Della and Lisa who are good at selling and recruiting but not good at detail oriented tasks like finance and payroll. -Della also mentioned that the company has gotten a lot of good mentorship and guidance from other business leaders. Lisa and Della have both been involved in Vistage groups, which are essentially groups of CEOs from various industries that get together to network, learn best practices and mentor each other.

You were involved in many organizations at UF. How did that experience benefit you? (David Boneparth)

-Getting involved in student organizations allowed David to develop his leadership experience and connect what he was learning in the classroom to the real world. It also made him feel connected to the university, and it gave him some great talking points for job interviews. -David encouraged students to not waste a minute of their time at the University of Florida. He believes that you should go out and meet people. After all, the person sitting next to you may one day be your next boss or business partner.

questions to ask when writing a plan

-HOW DOES THE BUSINESS ADD VALUE? to answer this question it is useful to write a concept statement, a written representation of your vision for the product or service. the concept statement should be a paragraph or less, and it should provide a clear and easy-to-understand description of the features of the product or services, the potential needs it fulfills or problems it solves, and the target market. -WHO IS THE CUSTOMER? to answer question, write down who your target customers are as well as their defining characteristics and why they will want to buy the product or service. -HOW BIG IS THE MARKET? once you've identified your target customers, you can conduct a market sizing analysis to determine the size of the market and the share of the market that you can capture. -HOW WILL YOU ENTER THE MARKET? write down your market-entry strategy, with a focus on the problems your product solves and why potential customers will want to buy the product. -WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE INDUSTRY? write down any research that you've done to support your ideas, and make sure your research is up-to-date. -WHO IS YOUR COMPETITION AND WHY ARE YOU BETTER? every venture faces competition. -WHO IS ON YOUR TEAM AND WHAT DO THEY BRING TO THE TABLE? identify the members of your team, their major responsibilities, and what skills they bring to the venture. -WHAT ARE THE FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS? provide a concise, reasonable forecast of future ventures and expenses.

Another important entrepreneurial competency is creativity, How important has improv been to you? (Taylor Williams)

-Improv changed Taylor's life, beginning with her very first class. It taught her to think of her feet, trust herself and trust others. -In improv, if you're having fun with your scene partner, you run with it. If you stop having fun, you change directions. -You also have to trust yourself and not self-judge your own ideas or thoughts, and you have to learn to trust others. -Taylor initially took improv classes because she thought they would help her be more comfortable and confident in on-camera auditions. -Improv improved her confidence and made her a better public speaker.

What does the future of healthcare hold? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-It depends on how much regulation and government involvement there is, but healthcare costs will almost definitely continue to increase. -It will likely become more difficult for the average person to gain access to primary care.

How did you manage being an athlete with being a student at UF? (Taylor Williams)

-It was hard to have a "normal" college experience as a student athlete. In fact, many of Taylor's teammates had to choose majors they weren't even interested in because it fit their practice schedule better. -Taylor mentioned that players were told to "know the difference between pain and injury," which basically meant that players shouldn't complain about being in pain. -Needless to say, it was hard to make new friends and be social. -During her senior year, Taylor learned to draw a line and step away from the team sometimes.

crowdfunding sites

-Kickstarter is the largest and most established crowdfunding site. It has facilitated more than $4 billion in crowdfunding for more than 160,000. Anyone can join Kickstarter for free and post a project. -The three rules are that the project (1) must create something to share with others; (2) be honest and clearly presented; and (3) must not be for charity or involve prohibited items. the project creator sets the timeframe for the campaign as well as a fundraising goals, and he or she creates a web page that describes the project to potential backers. -The project creator only receives funding if the project reaching the fundraising goal. If the goal is reached, the funds are released to the creator. if not, the funds are returned to the backers. -Backers on Kickstarter cannot be given monetary rewards or equity for their contributions, but they can get non-monetary rewards. -Kickstarter project creators should be ready to follow through with their promises. -Kickstarter is just one of the many crowdfunding sites available. Other alternatives include GoFundMe, iFundWomen, Indiegogo, Patreon, Peerbackers, Republic, RocketHub and SeedInvest. In addition, Quirky is a crowdfunding site for investors that could also be considered a crowdsourcing platform because it allows project creators to collaborate with backers in the development of a product. -These sites are typically run by for-profit companies that charge a processing fee and a percentage of the funds raised. For example, Kickstarter chargers 5% of the total funds raised to facilitate the fundraising campaign.

more on failure (Emily Lagasse)

-Like every entrepreneur, Emily had to deal with failure, which Kraft sometimes calls "the f-word." it's natural to be afraid of failure, but you have to get over the fear if you're going to be successful. The fact of the matter is that most businesses fail. According to business author Robert Kiyosaki, nine out of 10 businesses fail, so a foolproof plan for success is to start 10 businesses! failure is compost, great things will grow from it. -The key reason why most startups fail is lack of a market need. Therefore, it is critical to validate the idea before investing a lot of time and energy into it. recall that failures can range from blameworthy failures to praiseworthy failures. In the case study, Emily's failures were praiseworthy. They were beyond her control, and she used them to make better decisions about her future business ventures. She then pivoted to reduce her exposure to the incompetency and deviance of her manufacturing partners who were the ultimate cause of her failure. -in this case, Emily displayed a ton of grits. Recall that some of the characteristics of great include courage, conscientiousness, perseverance, resilience and excellence. In Emily's case, she specifically demonstrated conscientiousness by tirelessly working in the face of challenges and remained focused on her long-term goal. Her hard work and focus allowed her to break through the barriers and pivot to do something different. She learned from her failures and kept going rather than giving up and walking away from entrepreneurship. -one way to embrace failure is to focus on boosting productivity. Take as many small steps you can, be okay with failure, and learn along the way. -comedian Chris Rock also focuses on productivity. Every month, he goes to an open mic night at a local comedy club and tries out some jokes. Most of them fail, but some of them succeed. He suffers through a lot of failure in order to take away a small number of successes. However, those successes add up. If Chris Rock comes away each month with a single good joke, he eventually has more than enough for a full blockbuster set. -according to Stanford professor Robert Sutton, the ratio of success to failure in life is 1:1. This means that people need to fail in order to succeed. If you're not failing, you're not taking enough risks. If you're going to fail, you should fail fast, and you should fail intelligently. When you take a risk, it will either pay off or it will fail and lead to a lesson that can be learned.

guest speakers: Lisa Magary and Della Tuten (Celebrate Primary Care)

-Lisa and Della are the founders and owners of Celebrate Primary Care, a membership-based direct primary care provider with two locations in Gainesville. -A monthly membership fee provides members direct access to medical providers, who can provide primary care, -The company has also negotiated lower prices with pharmaceutical companies and testing labs, so members take advantage of low prices that would not be available with traditional insurance. -Lisa and Della both graduated from UF with degrees in healthcare, and they had a passion for helping others. They both took jobs in federally qualified health centers. Both women became frustrated with the healthcare model, as it required them to see dozens of patients a day and spend about only 8 minutes per patient. They often couldn't eat lunch, and they sometimes didn't have time to use the bathroom. -The job was exhausting and both women were frustrated that they were unable to provide their patients with the personalized care they deserved. -Another problem with the healthcare system is that insurance is often a barrier to proper care. Many insurance policies have high deductibles, so people either have to pay out-of-pocket for their care or not seek care at all. -Lisa and Della began to look into alternatives, and they found out about the direct care model. this health care model wasn't new, it started in the 1990s in Washington State. There was nothing like it in the area. They did some more investigation and found some mentors who were implementing the model in Kansas. -In 2015, they decided to start a business providing direct care to Gainesville residents. They kept their "day jobs" for 18 months until the business had enough revenue to sustain them, and then they began working on the business full-time. -The company had grown considerably in the last five years. Today, the business has two Gainesville locations and 15 employees, including nurse practitioners, medical assistants, phlebotomists and one medical doctor. Celebrate Primary Care ranked 28 in the Gator 100 fastest-growing companies last year, and Lisa and Della have their sights set on expanding the customer base in Gainesville. -According to Della, direct primary care is a "win-win" for everyone. Patients love the cost savings and the individualized attention. They have access to providers via text, phone or email, and they're often able to get an appointment the same day or next day, something that would be unheard of in most traditional doctor's offices.

Have either of the two " big players" in the MOT industry approached you for a potential acquisition?(Seyi Falade)

-No. The big companies have multimillion-dollar contracts and don't need Cornerstone to be successful. -In addition, Cornerstone benefits from minority certifications that would not apply if it were acquired by one of the "big players" and this would reduce its competitive advantage. While the big companies haven't approached Cornerstone for an acquisition, Seyi knows that they are aware of Cornerstone because they've been in bidding wars with the company. In fact, Acme once reduced a bid from $500,000 to $50,000 just to prevent Cornerstone from getting a project, in an attempt to maintain market share. This was a point of pride for Seyi.

Do you recommend switching companies or jobs every few years to expose yourself to a new environment? (Kurt J. Long)

-Not necessarily. When deciding whether to move jobs, you should ask yourself: 1) Am I growing in this role as a professional? 2) Am I becoming the person I envision myself to be? 3) Am I getting rewarded adequately? -If the answers to these questions are all "yes," you probably don't need to make a move. However, if the answer to one of them is "no," you may want to consider finding another job. -After working at Kennedy Space Center for seven years, Kurt's boss told him that he should think about finding another job because Kurt wasn't going to be able to continue growing in the way that he should be. Kurt considers himself lucky to have had a boss who had his best interests in mind. Kurt eventually moved on from his job there, and he had a very successful career afterward.

Guest Speakers: Seyi Falade (Cornerstone Barricades)

-Seyi Falade is the vice president of Cornerstone Barricades, a Gainesville-based maintenance of traffic (MOT) service provider. Hers is one of the companies that leases equipment to contractors who do roadwork, mostly for government entities like the Florida Department of Transportation. You're probably familiar with Bob's Barricades and Acme Barricades, which are the two major MOT service providers in Florida. -Cornerstone is a smaller business in the same industry; it tends to take smaller, more local jobs, many of which Boh's or Acme would not want to take. In this sense. Seyi describes her industry as a "niche" industry. -In Florida, every contractor doing work within 14 feet of a paved road is required to adhere to certain rules and have certain equipment. Seyi's company is the first at the job site; it creates the "safe zone" where trucks can pull in, and it creates a barrier between the construction equipment and Civilians on the road. For this reason, Seyi describes her job as that of a "safety provider. -Seyi's family is from Nigeria, and her parents expected her to become a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. She grew up in Gainesville', and she went to the University of Florida for college, largely because it was inexpensive. She started UF as a pre-med major but quickly changed her mind after taking a chemistry course. She then changed her track and planned to go to law school. -Seyi always had a passion for business, and she knew she wanted to run a business of her own. She babysat as a kid, and that gave her the confidence that she could create value and get paid. She earned her own money, so she didn't have to ask her parents for money to go to the mall. -Seyi graduated from the University of Florida in 2003 and took a job as a sports intern with NYC2012, the organization in charge of promoting New York City as a candidate city for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. She also worked for the Entertainment & Player Marketing Department Freelance Staff for the National Basketball Association in the Greater New York City area. Finally, she worked for about three years with IMG, the sports marketing firm that represents Tiger Woods, the Manning Brothers, and more. -Seyi enjoyed her time in New York City, but she recognized that there wasn't much room for advancement. Moreover, apartments were expensive. She knew that if she wanted to advance in her career she would need to go to grad school and pursue her MBA. In 2010, she enrolled in Hult International Business School in London, and she got her MBA in 2011. She then did some consulting work in New York City before returning to Gainesville. -Seyi was visiting her parents one day when they approached her with the idea for Cornerstone. Her dad had been tinkering with the idea for some time, and he had a lot of experience because he worked for the Florida Department of Transportation for more than 22 years and had his MOT license for more than 18 years. Seyi's mother recognized that Seyi had her MBA, and she thought that Seyi could help decide whether the business idea was a good one for her family. -Seyi did some research and found that the Florida Department of Transportation's infrastructure spending is about $13.1 billion, which is third in the nation, behind Texas and California. MOT is a mandated 2% to 5% of this, which is a huge number. This led Seyi to conclude that, even though the MOT industry was dominated by two major players, there was plenty of room for a new company to compete. This was especially true if the new company could specialize on smaller jobs that were often overlooked or underserved. -The family business started at Seyi's parents' kitchen table. She started out by doing research into how existing firms make money. She found that every piece of safety equipment (including barricades, signs, lights, and more) is billed out at a nominal daily rate. For example, a drum might go for 20 cents per day. This might seem like a small amount, but if you're leasing 400 drums for a job that is two years long, that's nearly $30,000! Those drums would pay for themselves many times over. -Seyi's dad brought his expertise to the table, and Seyi brought her knowledge of business. At first, her family's preference was to pay for everything in cash. However, Seyi knew about the importance of cash flow, so she insisted that they lease some of the more expensive equipment. Today, the company will purchase and own equipment that costs less than about $5,000, but it will still lease the higher-end equipment. (Seyi is glad that she was leasing three trucks when COVID-19 hit, because she could simply turn in the keys and get rid of that burden.)

Most companies have found it difficult to hire employees after COVID. Is your company feeling the same pinch? (Seyi Falade)

-People who are attracted to road construction work are different from most other employees. They're the type of people who don't want to be inside four walls, in front of a computer screen. They want to be outside. -Luckily, the construction business was considered "essential" during COVID, so Cornerstone didn't have to shut down. -There were challenges hiring employees in the construction business even before COVID. Construction is a niche field, and many people just aren't familiar with it. For this reason, construction jobs can be very lucrative.

Do you have a book recommendation?(Seyi Falade)

-Seyi recommends Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office by Lois P. Frankel. This is a good book for any young woman entering her career. -Women naturally want to be liked, and they want to be described as nice. However, in business it's more important to be respected than to be nice. -Seyi has come to accept that people aren't always going to like her. At the end of the day, she has responsibilities and payroll to cover. This means that she has to be sure that her invoices are paid and that her employees are doing what they're supposed to do. This was not natural for her at first, because she's a friendly, engaging person who is used to being liked in her personal life.

What happens if your equipment is stolen or damaged while on a job site? (Seyi Falade)

-Some contractors have contracts that state that they won't cover any damage or loss to equipment, but Seyi tries to get most contractors to sign equipment release forms in which contractors are charged when equipment is damaged or lost. -Seyi mentioned that equipment theft is especially problematic around college towns. -In Tampa, it's not civilians who steal equipment; it's other contractors. If Seyi sees some of her equipment being used by another contractor on a job site that's not hers, she has no problem repossessing it.

You've participated in the TEDx Program as a speaker and host. What can attendees and participants learn from the experience? (Taylor Williams)

-The TEDx program provides speakers with a structure that helps them frame their story or talk, and speakers have to learn to tell their story within that framework. -Taylor mentioned that the length of TEDx talks have been progressively getting shorter.

How do you manage your inventory and cash flow? (Seyi Falade)

-The company's equipment only makes money if it is being used out in the field, so Seyi doesn't like to see it in the office. -Seyi tries to use just-in-time inventory practices whenever possible. For example, she and her father did a job once where they bought hundreds of drums and delivered them to a job site in just two hours. -Inventory management is important because Seyi usually gets "net 30" terms from her suppliers, meaning she has 30 days to pay her bills. It's important that the equipment she buys start generating revenue as soon as possible so that she can cover as much of the cost of the equipment as possible. -Sei pointed out that construction is a challenging industry when it comes to managing cash flow. In some cases, she has to wait until 10 days after her general contractors to get paid in order for them to pay her. -Another way to alleviate cash flow issues is to use factoring, which involves selling account receivables to a third party.

Where do you get the equipment? Do you exclusively use domestic suppliers? (Seyi Falade)

-There are a number of suppliers in the industry, and most of the firms specialize in one type of equipment. For example, there's a company in Clearwater that makes all of the huge signs with blinking arrows. -All of the firms that Cornerstone works with are domestic, though those firms often source their equipment from foreign firms. For example, there are a lot of Chinese suppliers of drums and cones. -The challenge is making sure that the equipment meets MUTCD standards and is on the Florida approved products list. Cornerstone doesn't buy directly from Chinese manufacturers because the order size would be too high. The company is still at a stage where it is striving for just-in-time inventory processes, so it wouldn't make sense to buy equipment in large batches.

You mentioned that you don't think that financial advising can ever be automated such that a human advisor isn't necessary. Can you expand on that? (David Boneparth)

-There are many companies that have tried robo advising, particularly with millennials, who want to do whatever they can to save time period these solutions work for people without many assets, but once a person builds enough assets here she wants the security of having a person who is aware of you and your situation. -The bigger problem in financial advising is that advisors are getting older. In fact, the average age of an advisor is now 70. We will need to find methods to replace their knowledge and service in a scalable way. -Ameriprise has an advisor center of more than 200 telephone advisors who you can call and talk to about financial security. The company uses information technology to enhance the experience, such as by allowing customers and advisers to share computer screens. There's also a lot of artificial intelligence and algorithms on the back end that helps the advisor better understand what peoples needs are and how to sell them.

How do you keep up on industry trends? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-They read a lot and attend conferences. -They want to continuously grow and expand their knowledge so that they can stay on top of industry trends and deliver great care to their members.

starting with a vivid plan

-a vivid plan challenges the entrepreneur to envision what the business will be like in just three years. -this relatively short time period makes it such that the entrepreneur can set specific, measurable goals without purely speculating about the future. -one way to begin to set your vivid vision is to go someplace calming and start sketching or writing a document no more than three pages long in order to describe what the business will be like three years in the future. -once you've done so, formalize the vision by creating a three-page description or large sketch of all your thoughts. -remember that the focus is on your goals, what the future looks like, rather than how you will achieve those goals.

cost drivers

-cost of goods sold (COGS): refers to the direct cost of producing a product, including the materials needed to assemble the product. -a company may be able to improve its profitability by lowering its cost of goods sold. the risk, of course, is less-expensive materials may be of inferior quality to the existing materials, and consumers may not respond well if they were previously buying the products because of their high quality. -it is important to strike the right balance between lowering costs and retaining quality. if you are able to do so, you can increase your profits and use the savings in other areas., such as marketing or reducing debt. OPERATING EXPENSES: -include the costs of running a business, including rent, utilities, administration, marketing/advertising, salaries, accounting, insurance, transportation, taxes, legal fees, office supplies and benefits. -in general, it is more difficult to reduce operating expenses than it is to reduce cost of goods sold. -while short-term reductions in operating expenses are possible, they are usually unsustainable in the long run because they have an impact on revenues.

the "Freemium" revenue model

-the freemium revenue model is becoming more widespread, as companies have found it useful to get customers to try and ultimately adopt their products. -Metro is a free newspaper given away to commuters. the newspaper makes its profits through advertisements, so it benefits from having a high circulation. The Metro free newspaper concept originated in Stockholm , Sweden, and it has been replicated in dozens of major cities all over the world. -In Great Britain, the Metro is the nation's most profitable newspaper. it has been successful for three major reasons: 1. Its readership is primarily urbanities, wealthy commuters who average about 37 years of age. 2. Its editorial costs remain low because its content is short and easy to read. 3. It has its own distribution network, as it controls news racks in major bus and train stations.

tips for writing plans

-the key to writing any plan is demonstrating knowledge, showing you've done your research through exploration, experimentation and market research. -ELIMINATE THE FLUFF: you shouldn't use decorative language or jargon in your business plan. avoid fillers and unnecessary detail, and use direct language to clearly and succinctly describe your business. you should avoid using exaggerated language like "hottest." -DEFINE YOUR TARGET MARKET: no business will appeal to everyone; you should specify your target market and describe how you intend to target customers in that target market. -BE REALISTIC: realistically access your challenges, risks, opportunities and lessons learned. -FOCUS ON THE COMPETITION: every business, no matter how unique, faces competition. explain what differentiates you from your competition and how you plan to compete in the future. -CLEARLY DESCRIBE YOUR CHANNEL DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS: clearly describe how you intend to deliver the product or service to target customers. -AVOID THE HOCKEY STICK PROJECTION: a hockey stick projection shows low sales the first year, but skyrocketing sales there after. the resulting trend line looks like a hockey stick. investors and stakeholders have seen this before, and they will take you less seriously if you have these kinds of projections. -PROOFREAD YOUR DOCUMENT: proofread the document for typos, grammatical mistakes, and inconsistencies. -ADDRESS YOUR WEAKNESSES HONESTLY: it is better to be upfront about your weaknesses than to hide them. there's no need to go into detail about your weaknesses, but you do need to address them to show that you have a strategy to deal with them. -USE VISUALS: visuals, such as graphs, charts and images can help break up the text and bring your ideas to life. however, you should be careful not to use too many of these.

bootstrapping

-very few new businesses receive bank loans or equity investment, simply because new businesses are so risky. -In fact, of the 627,000 new business loans started in the United States in 2018, only 8,500 received equity investment. Research has shown that one-third of small businesses start with less than $5,000. -Many small business owners succeed in bootstrapping, or starting a business with little or no outside funding or support. -The term comes from the phrase, "pull yourself up by your bootstraps," which means bettering oneself without the help of others. -Examples of bootstrapped ventures include: Nasty Gal, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Dell and Apple.

four contexts of crowdfunding

1. Patronage model: backers make contributions without any expectation of a direct return. 2. Lending model: backers provide funds as loans that they expect will be eventually repaid once the project begins to generate revenue or becomes profitable. 3. Reward-based model: backers support a project in exchange for some kind of reward or incentive. This model is used by Kickstarter, and it is currently the most popular form of crowdsourcing. 4. Investor model: backers provide funding in exchange for an equity stake in the business. Ex. Shark Tank.

Tell us about your internship position with Geoff Wilson at 352 Media. (Cameron McMillan)

Cameron took an internship as a project manager for 352 Media when he was in the MSE program. The company's president, Geoff Wilson, changed Cameron's life, and Geoff is still an inspiration to Cameron today. (Geoff just started his seventh company, Sports Card Investor, which is a content network and data platform for trading card enthusiasts.) Cameron has also interned for Geoff"s wife, Kim, who developed CampPete.com, football coach Pete Carroll's online world for kids.

Did your accounting background help you manage the books? (Cameron McMillan)

It was definitely helpful when it came to budgeting and organization, but Cameron realized carly on that he needed to outsource the accounting work. The company still uses a Gainesville accountant (Stephanie Travis of One Source Accounting), who Cameron met while working at a local incubator when he was developing Raise the Village. In addition, the company has a full-time accounting staff.

Do you have any book recommendations? (Kurt J. Long)

Kurt recommends One Life: How We Forgot to Live Meaningful Lives by Morton Albak. This book explores the paradox that we have more wealth and peace than ever before, but we also have the highest rate of stress, anxiety, and suicide. The author suggests that we should pay more attention to finding meaningfulness in our work and in our lives.

How important has networking been? (Cameron McMillan)

Networking has been extremely important to Cameron. The MSE program provided excellent networking opportunities. Luckily, networking and recruiting comes naturally to Cameron, and this has helped him as he built his company.

Did you write a business plan for RotoGrinders? (Cameron McMillan)

No. Cameron believes that the process of writing a business plan is useful, but it wasn't necessary in his case because he's so organized. Nevertheless, the business plan is a useful way to organize your thoughts.

What type of entity structure does RotoGrinders use? Where are its offices located? (Cameron McMillan)

Rical LLC (the parent company for RotoGrinders) is a Delaware LLC. At first, two of the co-founders managed the office in Nashville and Cameron worked out of his apartment in Orlando. Cameron eventually got married, moved to Nashville in 2014, and opened another office. The company now has four offices in Nashville.

Why did Raise the Village fail? (Cameron McMillan)

-According to Cameron, the concept was great, and the app achieved its goal of helping Ugandan villagers with four deliveries of much-needed supplies. However, at the end of the day, the company wasn't profitable. You have to be able to make money first in order to give it back. -Part of the problem was that the shelf life of a trendy game is extremely short. Unless you have the resources to compete with large companies like Zynga or EA, you won't be able to keep up. There came a point at which Cameron and his co-founders had to decide whether to raise $10 million to open multiple offices and compete with the big players in the industry. Cameron assessed his chances for success and ultimately decided to shut the company down.

What do you recommend college students do with their time in college to make themselves more attractive to companies that do meaningful things? (Kurt J. Long)

-According to Kurt, these companies look for two major things: excellence and humility. You need to show that you're highly competent at one or two things, but you also have to be able to speak with humility, listen, and learn. You can highlight your achievements and skills while demonstrating that you're interested in finding ways to improve both yourself and the people around you.

What final advice do you have for students interested in entrepreneurship? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-According to Lisa. "it doesn't all have to be perfect to start." A lot of people get analysis paralysis, and they end up not doing anything at all. Get enough info to make a wise choice and have the confidence that you can make anything work. Be wise with your money, be patient, work hard, and believe in what you do, and you will be successful. -Della instructed students to "just keep swimming." Even if it feels overwhelming and you want to stop, just keep going and you'll be okay; Don't be afraid to ask for help along the way, and fight through any difficult issues that you face.

Do you have any final advice for students? (Cameron McMillan)

-Cameron's final bits of advice are as follows: -Learn from those who came before you. -If you want to do something, don't wait or make excuses. Just do it. Even -if you fail, you'll learn from the experience and be better because of it. -Don't fear failure or care what others think about you. Own your own happiness. -Focus on what you can control, and let everything else go.

crowdfunding startups

-Crowdfunding allows entrepreneurs to raise funds when they could not otherwise get funding from banks or investors. This method of funding a business is growing in popularity, In fact, an estimated $34 billion was raised via crowdfunding in 2017 alone. There are at least 191 crowdfunding websites in the United States alone, and these sites have contributed an estimated $65 billion to the global economy. The average campaign lasts nine weeks and raises $7,000 in total, with average contributions of just $88. -Crowdfunding had traditionally been used to fund one-time events like community or arts events, but it is increasingly being used to fund businesses.

crowdfunding vs crowdsourcing

-Crowdfunding is not the same as crowdsourcing, which uses the Internet to attract, collect and manage inexpensive or free labor from enthusiastic customers and other like-minded individuals. -While crowdsourcing is about gathering talent, labor and ideas. crowdfunding is about gathering money. -Information is an important resource for any business. Unfortunately, information can be expensive or difficult to acquire. Crowdsourcing gives businesses the means to obtain more easily and inexpensively. Companies often use social networking sites and social media platforms to gather knowledge and information. -Consider three examples: -Improving medical treatment: The University of Washington's department of biochemistry challenged online gamers to use an online science game called Foldit to produce an accurate model of a retrovirus enzyme, like the one that causes AIDS. -Reducing labor costs: You could use crowdsourcing or websites like Upwork to significantly decrease the early cost of designing a new logo. -Crowdsourcing through technology: 3D printing technology has facilitated crowdsourcing, as well. Businesses can solicit blueprints from customers or other interested parties and them use a 3D printer to turn those ideas into a prototype.

advantages of crowdfunding for global entrepreneurs

-It allows entrepreneurs to raise startup capital without necessarily having to give up equity or control of the business. -It allows entrepreneurs to gauge customer interest early on, saving marketing costs. -It allows entrepreneurs to test ideas and gather customer feedback with very little cost. -It allows entrepreneurs to build relationships with consumers who are likely to be potential customers when the product is launched. This is important because committed customers are more likely to use word-of-mouth and their own social networks to promote the project. -It allows entrepreneurs to make contacts, build their brand, attract customers, raise awareness and create a buzz before the product ever goes to market.

Case Study: Daymond John (FUBU)

-Daymond John is the founder of FUBU, a world-famous hip-hop fashion line. Daymond's story provides an excellent example of an entrepreneur who used bootstrapping to start to start a successful business. Bootstrapping and Entrepreneurship: -Recall that bootstrapping involves starting a business with little or no outside funding or support. -Many new entrepreneurs believe that the "success sequence" for entrepreneurship involves (1) coming up with a great idea, (2) attracting lots of money, and (3) using it to make lots of money. -In reality, the second step, attracting lots of money, doesn't need to take place, and it rarely does. Most businesses are not able to raise a lot of money, so they have to do what they can with what they have. -We defined entrepreneurship as "the pursuit of opportunity regardless of resources controlled." This definition highlights the fact that the entrepreneur does not necessarily have access to all of the resources, including cash, that he or she would like when setting up the business. Entrepreneurs have to be scrappy and hustle to gather the necessary resources. -Buying a resource obviously costs money, and cash is precious among early-stage companies, so this should be the entrepreneur's last resort. Bootstrapping often involves gaining access to resources in ways other than buying them. -Several strategies for bootstrapping are presented in the chapter summary: -Do it yourself: you can save money by doing things yourself rather than paying others to do them for you. -Bartering: Barter involves trading goods and services. This will help you conserve cash. -Ham and egging: This involves gaining an advantage over others by being somewhat conniving or unscrupulous in your negotiations.

You started RotoGrinders before DraftKings came onto the scene. How did Drafting's rapid success impact RotoGrinders? (Cameron McMillan)

-DraftKings invested a lot of money into television commercials, which made daily fantasy sports more mainstream. This made Cameron and his co-founders feel better about what they were doing. -Cameron believes that DraftKings will be an interesting case study one day. He knows the company's CEO, who went from having nothing to becoming a billionaire in just a few years. Interesting, the company is not-and has never been- profitable, largely because it has invested so much money into advertising and promotions in order to grow as fast as possible. This just goes to show that you can become a billionaire even if your company is not profitable!

crowdfunding

-Entrepreneurs are increasingly raising early funds with crowdfunding, the process of raising money from a large audience, usually via the Internet. -In this process, the "crowdfunder" typically collects small contributions from a large number of "bankers" in order to fund his or her entrepreneurial venture.

You also invest in startup companies. What do you look for when people pitch ideas to you? (Cameron McMillan)

-He looks for two things when considering an investment in a company: -The people: Cameron must believe that the founder has something special that will allow him or her to solve the problem and grow a team. Two or three of his investments were based solely on the fact that he believes in the founder. -The opportunity: Cameron must believe that the company either has a good chance for success or that it exists in a huge, untapped market. He recognizes that startups have a good chance of failing, so he needs to have "big wins" that offset his losses. -Cameron believes that ideas are important, but not as important as execution. In fact. execution is 90% to 95% of success. Cameron wants to be sure that the companies he invests in are in the position to execute in a unique way. For example, Cameron has invested in Los Dos Tequila, a company that produces small batches of tequila. The company has partnered with Drizly, an alcohol delivery service, and the tequila isn't even available at traditional retail outlets yet.

examples of failure

-Henry Ford started two failed auto companies before starting Ford Motor Co. -both Home Depot founders were fired from their jobs in corporate America. -Tim Ferriss, author of four hour workweek was rejected by 25 publishers before the book was picked up. -Walt Disney was fired by his newspaper editor for not having good ideas and lacking imagination. -FedEx founder Fred Smith got a C plus on his college paper in which he described his idea for a new company that would deliver packages overnight. -Steve Jobs was famously fired from apple in a very public way. He later returned to the company and came back stronger than ever. -Steven Spielberg was rejected from film school three times before getting his big break. -Oprah Winfrey was fired from her news reporter job at a Baltimore news station. she was told she was not a television presence. -Thomas Edison famously said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Edison was just gathering data, and he used this data to keep moving forward. -Colonel Sanders' fried chicken recipe was rejected 1000 times before it was eventually picked up.

equity crowdfunding

-Kickstarter does not allow equity or monetary incentives in exchange for bankers. However, a new form of crowdfunding called equity crowdfunding does just that. -The JOBS Act, which President Obama signed into law in 2012, authorizes equity crowdfunding in the United States. Sites like Fundable, CircleUp, AngelList and CrowdFunder provide investors with the opportunity to truly invest in an early-stage company in exchange for ownership or a promise of future returns. CrowdCube and OurCrowd are two examples that demonstrate that this crowdfunding model is gaining popularity globally.

We hear a lot about large corporations mistreating their employees. Do you think that this is the unavoidable consequence of a company being large and highly bureaucratic? (Kurt J. Long)

-Kurt doesn't think that this consequence is necessarily unavoidable. He attributes the recent increase in corporations mistreating their employees to a few causes: -Who we celebrate -Pressure on public companies -The character of the leaders themselves

How do you prioritize tasks or things to improve? What if you enjoy one thing but not another, but you know you need to work on both? Which do you do first? (Kurt J. Long)

-Kurt likes to get the "work" over first so that he can move on to the fun tasks. In turn, the fun tasks allow Kurt to "recharge his batteries" so that he can tackle more difficult or onerous tasks.

How do you hire based on values? (Kurt J. Long)

-Kurt's company published its espoused values on the corporate website, and it interviewed people in an attempt to determine whether they shared those values. While it's important to hire for values, it's also important to hire people who you know can get the work done.

strategies for bootstrapping

-Most entrepreneurs start on a shoestring, building their businesses slowly, piece by piece. Moreover, many entrepreneurs start building their businesses while they still work a dat job. As always, you should calculate your affordable loss and carefully consider the wisdom of using these sources of funds. -In early stages of a business, an entrepreneur's most significant contribution to the business may not be monetary at all. -The following are some strategies for bootstrapping: -Work from home rather than renting an office. -Take as little salary as possible. -Buy, borrow or lease resources you need rather than buying them. -Save money on lawyers and accountants by gaining basic legal and accounting skills. -Pay consultants, advisors and even employees with equity and goodwill rather than money. -Travel inexpensively by driving rather than flying and stay in cheap hotels. -Network to gain the contacts you need to grow your business. -Give discounts to early customers to ensure a steady, consistent cash flow. -Negotiate favorable payment terms with suppliers. -Outsource tasks, when appropriate, using sites like Elance or 99designs. -Keep your day job until you are making enough money to justify quitting. -In the early stages of a business, cash is king. Penny pinching involves being frugal and taking steps to conserve cash at all costs. The entrepreneur must always work to extend his or cash runaway, or the amount of time the business can operate without running out of money.

How did you develop the Raise the Village app, and how does that compare with your tech team at RotoGrinders? (Cameron McMillan)

-None of the three co-founders of the company that started Raise the Village were coders; they mostly had business backgrounds. For this reason, they had to outsource the app development to a company in the Ukraine. This relatively inexpensive bootstrapping method was tedious and difficult, and Cameron wishes the company had raised more money and hired a full team of in-house developers. -In contrast to the technology development for Raise the Village, one of the co-founders of RotoGrinders had a tech background and was able to build out the technology for a few years without having to raise funds. When the time came for the company to grow, he was able to manage the growth of a team of 14 developers. -The RotoGrinders example demonstrates that having a tech founder on your team can be very beneficial for getting off the ground cheaply and then scaling the tech team when the time is right. Cameron believes that it's important to have a tech team you have full control over, either by having a tech founder or by having enough knowledge to successfully outsource to developers you find on sites like Upwork. He also believes that many tech startups foolishly think that they can get by with $100,000 for a cash runway for the year. Developing technology like apps is difficult and expensive, and unanticipated issues and bugs pop up all the time.

Does RotoGrinders use any artificial intelligence? (Cameron McMillan)

-Not yet, but Cameron knows of some projects in the space that use artificial intelligence and data analytics to run game simulations and predict outcomes.

other examples of bootstrapping

-Soup kitchens: Suppose you're a social entrepreneur who wants to start a soup kitchen. You notice that local middle schools have kitchens that are only used intermittently. You might offer to provide the schools with a cooking class in exchange for them letting you use their kitchens during the off hours in the summer. This will give you access to the resources you need to produce a lot of meals for hungry and homeless people. -Women's shelters: Suppose you want to start a shelter for abused women, and you want it to be up-and-running by January 1, 2022. Rather than finding a single place for the women to go (which could be expensive and time consuming), you might coordinate with local people who would be willing to provide shelter to women for a short amount of time. You might then go to heels, retirement communities, and hospitals to solicit donations of toiletries and linens for the project. Finally, you might find counselors and childcare professionals who have to do internships or externships as a part of their educational programs at UF. Without spending a dime of your own money, you have gathered all of the resources you need to start the shelter, and you can do it in a very short amount of time. -According to entrepreneur and author Guy Kawasaki, every company should bootstrap, even big companies with a lot of cash. Companies should probably take venture capital funding if they're given the opportunity, but they should take every step possible to conserve as much money as possible. The most successful companies did not achieve success because they raised a lot of money; they achieved success because they had a product or service that had so much market demand that it practically sold itself.

Your dad is a small business owner. What did you learn from him that helped you in your endeavors? (Taylor Williams)

-Taylor's dad taught her that good businesspeople aren't necessarily good "people persons." Relationship building and networking are more important than anything else. -Taylor's dad was also her basketball coach for a long time, so the two communicated with a lot of sports analogies that still have meaning in her life. -Taylor played power forward or center as a basketball player, which means that she had to learn to be tough, take charges and take elbows. -Likewise, in business, you have to learn to be tough and take feedback from others. When you get tough feedback from others, not only can you use it to make improvements in your own life, but you can learn to give feedback to others in a more effective way. -Taylor mentioned that she learned to take tough feedback while she was filming commercials and doing fitness modeling in New York.

What has been your biggest challenge when it comes to RotoGrinders? (Cameron McMillan)

-The biggest challenge has been managing the stress, anxiety, and emotions of running a fast-growing industry. Cameron has had to learn to set boundaries for himself by turning off his phone and getting some sleep. On one hand, the stress is a good thing because it means that Cameron's company is growing. On the other hand, Cameron knows that he has to take care of himself before he takes care of others. -Cameron mentioned that one of the most stressful periods came after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman declared daily fantasy sports illegal in 2016. The decision was eventually overturned, but this required a lot of lobbying efforts, and it didn't happen overnight. -Cameron now has a wife and a one-year-old child, and he is going to take some time off to focus on his physical and mental health. He has a list of things to work on next, but he's going to force himself to take some time off to focus on the important things and achieve some balance in his life. -(Prof. Kraft mentioned that he remembers seeing Cameron chugging Pepto- Bismol at a meetup in Gainesville once. Cameron assured him that it wasn't due to stress; he just had acid reflux.)

How did you raise funding for RotoGrinders? (Cameron McMillan)

-The company was bootstrapped and has never had to raise funds. At first, Cameron lived off of a $200 per month salary, and at one point he moved into his parents' garage loft room to save as much money as possible. The other two co-founders had a little bit of money from a company they previously sold, so they got slightly more equity than Cameron in RotoGrinders. -Still, all three of them were working for sweat equity, they had to work basically for free for a year or two. The company had extremely high profit margins (as high as 90%), but the co-founders re-invested the money they made in order to scale the company. This allowed them to avoid taking outside funding, and they retained all of the equity and control in their company until they decided to sell.

when to bootstrap

-The entrepreneurship method, focuses on starting with the means at hand, taking small action and building on what you learn along the way. This method enables entrepreneurs to think creatively and start a business with little or no money. -Entrepreneurs often start with what little money they have and whatever financial assistance they can get from "the three F's", friends, family and fools. When raising money from friends and family, it is best to treat the loan as a formal arrangement with agreed-upon terms. This will help you avoid uncomfortable situations that arise from broken promises or a lack of understanding between parties. -Bootstrapping is all about getting started with very few resources. Many entrepreneurs don't have access to traditional financing sources. Even those who do may want to reduce their resilience on them to retain autonomy and control over the business. -Formal funding sources do have added benefits, such as contacts and connections, but most entrepreneurs wait until their businesses are at least somewhat established to seek funding from these sources. Businesses that are brand new are rarely ready for investment from outsiders. Outsiders are more willing to invest in a business that has been bootstrapped from the beginning. -If the entrepreneur is able to bootstrap the business and show potential investors a good product-market fir, a decent customer base, and a committed team, he or she is in a much better negotiating position when the time comes to raising money from outsiders.

Were you shopping the company around, or did interested parties just approach you? (Cameron McMillan)

-There was a boom in daily fantasy sports in 2015, which is the year that DraftKings spent an insane amount of money on advertising. When the boom happened, Cameron started receiving unsolicited offers from people who were interested in acquiring his company, including one from Comcast (the parent company of NBC). -Those offers got taken off the table when the New York Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, declared daily fantasy sports illegal in 2016.' (Cameron learned about this declaration as his phone blew up when he landed in New York City. He was attending a conference at which the FanDuel CEO was set to speak. Obviously, this was poor timing!) -Eventually, though, the legality of daily fantasy sports was reestablished, and RotoGrinders started to get more offers. Cameron and his partners had a deal to sell the company for $22 million, but that deal eventually fell apart. (It's a good thing that they didn't sell the company for $22 million because they recently sold it for $60 million. As Cameron put it, "Sometimes life works out.") -While Cameron wasn't shopping the company around per se, he knew that he would eventually need to move on. Cameron has a desire to start a lot of companies, and he doesn't like working at a company when it gets too large or corporate. Still, he has an emotional attachment to RotoGrinders. He likened the emotional impact of selling the company to the emotional impact of sending a kid off to college.

How did you identify the opportunity for RotoGrinders? (Cameron McMillan)

-When Cameron started RotoGrinders, FanDuel existed but DraftKings did not. Cameron has always been interested in sports betting, and he recognized that other people were interested in it, too. In fact, when he was working his 9-5 job, a 60-year-old woman asked him if he wanted to buy into her March Madness bracket contest. This was an indication that sports betting was popular, and Cameron believed that it would eventually be legalized. -Cameron recognized that there would be massive opportunities if sports betting were legalized in a number of states, and he wanted to get in on the ground floor so that the company would be in a position to grow and become the leading content provider. Of course, sports betting has become legal in a number of states, including Florida. This has fueled RotoGrinders' tremendous growth, which recently led to an acquisition.

Is it possible to balance being an entrepreneur with having a family? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-Yes, Lisa and Della have gotten better at this over the years. -It was tough in the beginning when Della, for example, had to work 10-hour days then come home at night to care for a four-year-old daughter. -The pandemic forced people to slow down a but and look at things differently, which has helped Della gain some perspective on work/life balance. -In a way, owning a business offers a grater amount of flexibility for one's family life than working at a traditional job.

Does the acquisition deal require you to stay with the company? (Cameron McMillan)

-Yes. Better Collective is a European company that is using an acquisition strategy to expand into the United States now that sports betting has become legal in many states. It's important for Better Collective to keep the RotoGrinders team to help manage operations in the United States. -The acquisition deal was as follows: Better Collective acquired 60% of the company for approximately $35 million. Over the next few years, Better Collective will acquire the remaining 40% of the shares based on the company's performance. In total, the deal will be valued at around $60 million. -Two of the seven equity holders will step back from their day-to-day jobs at the end of the year, but they will stay on as advisors. The rest will continue to work for the company.

Do you have any mentors? (David Boneparth)

-Yes. David is a couple of internal mentors at Ameriprise. -He also seeks advice from the company's former CIO, who hired David. -David also has mentors through his work with philanthropes. -David believes that it is important to be both a great mentor and get a good mentor. He enjoys mentoring more than he enjoys being mentored.

calculating price

-breakeven analysis: tells you the number of units that you have to sell so hat your revenues are exactly equal to your costs. -breakeven units= fixed costs/(sales price per unit-variable cost per unit). -your fixed costs are those costs that remain the same no matter how much product you produce or revenues you generate. -the sales price per unit is simply the selling price, and the variable cost per unity is the cost of goods sold for each unit plus any operating expenses that actually change with the production of the product.

revenue drivers

-customers: how can you attract customers, how many of them can you attract, and how long will they stay? -frequency: how often will your customers come back, and what incentives can you offer to make them come back? -selling process: how much time can you sell, and how can you generate more revenue by upselling and cross-selling? -price: how much will you charge? if you want to charge more than your competitors, what makes your product better than theirs? What will the impact on the customer base be if you raise or lower your price? -the only way to determine which factors will drive revenue for the building is to get out of the building and do your research.

10 suggestions for successful crowdfunding

1. Ensure that you're solving a real problem. 2. Refine and test the idea. 3. Prepare to deliver of promises. 4. Take advice from others. 5. Start promoting the product before launching you campaign. 6. Focus on cash. 7. Develop a good pitch. 8. Take advantage of non-monetary benefits. 9. Commit to managing the campaign. 10. Deliver on your promises.

You were always interested in sports and sports gambling. Did your passion for those things motivate you? (Cameron McMillan)

Cameron's passion for sports and sports gambling has been crucial. He brought that passion with him to the business, and he has become very passionate about the people and culture at RotoGrinders. (He cried giving his farewell speech last week.)

The NCAA recently adopted a policy that allows college players to profit from their name, image, and likeness. What are your thoughts on that? (Cameron McMillan)

Cameron is happy for the players that this policy will benefit, and he recognizes that this will create opportunities for others, as well. For example, Cameron is friends with sports law attorney Darren Heitner, who represents UF quarterback Anthony Richardson. According to Cameron, the implementation of this policy will be chaotic at first, but our capitalistic society tends to make these things work out in the end.

How did you meet your co-founders for RotoGrinders? (Cameron McMillan)

Cameron met them through an online poker site called PocketFives.com and through his work on a sports projection model for fantasy football.

Do you have any book recommendations? (Cameron McMillan)

Cameron recommends Die With Zero by Bill Perkins. The book helped him strategize his lifetime and set goals in a way that makes sense. His goal was to be a millionaire by 30 and retire by 40 because he recognized that experiences are more valuable when you're young than when you're old. For example, a trip to Italy is much more valuable when you're 29 or 30 than when you're 75 because you can get more memories, experience, and energy out of the trip that will inspire you for the rest of your life.

Critical thinking questions

In what ways did Daymond engage in bootstrapping? -Daymond's story provides several examples of bootstrapping, including the following: -He used his own cash to buy the company's earliest products, and he reinvested his earnings in the company. -He initially made all of the products himself, at his home. -He kept his day job at Red Lobster while working on his business. -He sold products on consignment so he didn't have to have a storefront. -He used credit card debt and borrowing from the three Fs-family, friends, and fools- to get the money he needed to get started. -His distribution of large-sized shirts to bouncers was a creative, low-cost means of marketing and promoting the brand. -His creative approach to selling product at the Las Vegas convention generated a lot of orders without the cost of an actual booth at the convention. -Even when Daymond ramped up production after the convention, he made products from his mother's home rather than buying manufacturing space. He ultimately found a major investor-Samsung textiles-with a simple classified ad. Would FUBU be a good candidate for crowdfunding if it were being started today? Prof. Kraft believes that FUBU would be a great candidate for crowdfunding, particularly in an environment where the Black Lives Matter movement has gained such prominence. The meaning of the brand-_For Us By Us ties into the Black Lives Matter movement and would likely gain traction and strong support among potential backers. How does discrimination impact entrepreneurs like Daymond? Daymond faced discrimination when he tried to sell his products to large retailers that did not want to be associated with the hip-hop community. He remained true to his brand and to his impact statement, and he was able to persevere. Eventually, the same retailers that had not wanted to be associated with the brand changed their minds and came back, calling on FUBU for orders.

Did you write a business plan? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

They didn't write a formal business plan, but they worked closely with their mentors in Wichita, who gave them a roadmap that helped start the business. Lisa and Della developed their own mission and vision.

Regarding the study that compared high-purpose and low-purpose companies: How can you quantitatively measure the extent to which a company is high-purpose or low-purpose? (Kurt J. Long)

This is primarily achieved through surveys distributed to team members and customers. These surveys assess four major components of meaningfulness: -Belonging: To what extent do team members have a sense of belonging? -Business impact: To what extent to team members and customers feel that the company is having a positive impact on the world? -Growth: Do team members feel like they're growing as professionals and as human beings? -Leadership: Do team members feel that they're being given leadership opportunities?

UF is making a big, university wide push for artificial intelligence. How does artificial intelligence manifest itself in your world? (David Boneparth)

-A lot of people equate artificial intelligence with robotics or intelligent automation. In reality, artificial intelligence simply refers to a computer or system that can start with a question and build on human inputs in order to answer a question. -David managers a data lake that consists of a huge amount of information coming in from all parts of the firm. He then designs systems that can use this data for useful purposes. The real problem with artificial intelligence is that most of the time, businesses don't know what questions to ask. -, devices are certainly getting smarter, in the sense that your fridge can now talk to your air conditioner via the Internet. However, robots aren't going to take over the world or anything.

Student athletes are now able to sell rights to the use of their name, image and likeness. Do you think this is a good or bad thing? (Taylor Williams)

-Taylor has mixed feelings. -On one hand, this development is exciting for student athletes, who can now make money while they're in college. -However, taylor believes that this could create a slippery slope in which people's devotion to themselves will outweigh their devotion to the team. -Taylor hopes that student athletes can eventually learn the importance of personal branding without sponsorship.

Do you only work with companies, or do you also work with individuals? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-About 55% of members come from companies and the remaining 45% care individuals who enroll through the website. -Businesses get a slight break in that they don't have to pay an enrollment fee, and they are charged a flat fee per person rather than a graduated fee based on age.

What's your take on cryptocurrency? (David Boneparth)

-Ameriprise has a conservative approach to crypto, but David is much more bullish on it. -According to David the underlying technology, blockchain technology, a solid, but government regulation is a tremendous hurdle that crypto has to overcome. -Eventually, governments are going to have to find a way to incorporate crypto within a broader suite of investment opportunities.

What has been the biggest challenge in your journey? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-People. -It's hard to build a good team that works together and has synergy, and the company has had signifiant HR issues that has slowed it down. -Lisa and Della have begun using tools such as DISC assessments and predictive Index to ensure that they're bringing the right people onboard.

You didn't take out any debt in the beginning, but have you taken out any other loans? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-The only loans that the company has taken out were loans to acquire commercial properties. -Lisa and Della started a separate LLC that acts as a holding company for their company's real estate. -They purchased three commercial buildings that were run-down, and then they rehabbed them. They then occupied a portion of the space and leased the rest of the space out to other businesses.

Is this industry highly regulated? (Seyi Falade)

-Yes. There are federal standards and state standards that her firm must adhere to, and her firm must have a person with a MOT certification to ensure that all of the rules are followed. For example. whenever there's a lane closure. there's standardized setup for the cones and signs that must be adhered to. -The equipment is standardized, as well. The Federal Highway Administration' Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) defines nationwide standards for the installation of traffic control devices. This is why a stop sign looks the same, whether you're in Florida, Hawaii, or Utah. In addition, Florida has its own standards that add on to the uniform standards set by the federal government.

two types of free financial models are as follows:

DIRECT CROSS-SUBSIDIES: -a strategy in which a product or service is priced above its market value to make up for losses involved in giving a different product away for free or selling it below its market value. -the idea is that the company can attract customers by eliminating or reducing a product or service's up-front cost, only to make up for it with subsequent charges. -ex. airlines might offer low fares but charge exorbitant fees for checked bags, seat selections, or extra legroom. -ex. a movie theater might sell tickets for $1, only to charge high prices for concessions. MULTIPARTY MARKETS: -a multiparty business is one that offers a free product to one group of customers and a paid product to another group of customers. -it offers a free newspaper to commuters, but it charges advertisers. -ex. The Public Library of Science gives away scientific articles but charges authors to publish them. -ex. Adobe gives away document readers but sells document writers. -ex. Match.com gives away listings but sells premium search functionality.

types of revenue models

UNIT SALES: -generates revenue based on the number of units of a product or service sold. this model involves the sale of physical goods or intangibles directly to the end user. -a variation of the unit sales model is the razor-and-razor blade model, in which one item is sold at a low price in order to increase the sales of a complementary good. -ex. Gillette sells its Mach3 razors at a low price in hopes that customers will buy the relatively expensive razor blades that go along with it. ADVERTISING: -generates revenue through advertising goods and services for others. -promoted content: advertisements appear in the flow of the content that users read. these ads are often blended into the content in such a way that users don't know that they're viewing an ad. -Facebook, Google and Amazon are the three largest online advertising platforms, and many businesses rely on these platforms to generate interest in their products and services. DATA: -generates revenue by selling information that is exclusive, valuable, and of high quality to others. -in the United Sates alone, there are more than 100 data brokers that sell third-party data to a variety of organizations. -a large portion of this data is sold to websites like Spokeo, Intelius and PeopleSmart. -Facebook, Google and Amazon also collect a lot of information from their customers. INTERMEDIATION: -generates revenue by acting as brokers, or middlemen who organize transactions between buyers and sellers. -ex. eBay brokers transactions between private buyers and sellers of goods, while Airbnb brokers transactions between people who need accommodations and people who want to let others stay in their homes for a fee. LICENSING: -generated revenue by allowing others to use protected intellectual property in exchange for a fee. -ex. iPhone apps may be licensed to Apple, which can then sell them to a wider audience. -licensing is an important revenue model for UF, which licenses its logos for particular designs. FRANCHISING: -generates revenue by allowing another party to trade under the name of an existing business. -in this case, the franchisor is the existing business, and the franchisee is the party buying the right to trade under that business's name. -in exchange for a franchisee fee and royalties, the franchisor also provides support in marketing, operations and financing. SUBSCRIPTION: -generates revenue by charging customers for continuous access to a product or service. -this model was traditionally used for periodicals (magazines and newspapers), but it has recently been adopted by a wide range of other companies. PROFESSIONAL: -generates revenue by providing professional services. -this model has traditionally been used by lawyers, accountants, and consultants, who charge by the hour. UTILITY AND USAGE: -generates revenue on a pay-as-you-go basis in which customers pay based on the frequency of their use of a good or service. -ex. a mobile phone carrier might charge a fee based on the number of minutes used or text messages sent. FREEMIUM: -mixes free basic services with premium or upgraded services. -there are at least two tiers of a product or service offerings. -the company usually gives away the low-end version, and it charges for the higher-end version.

Another important entrepreneurial competency is the ability to convey a compelling vision. You've spent a lot of time on public speaking and telling stories. What are your perspectives on that? (Taylor Williams)

-According to Taylor, you should follow three important rules when telling a story to convey a compelling vision: 1. You should have a main character. 2. Make sure you focus on your point. 3. Talk about emotion, feelings, or "meaning-making." -Research shows that people are more afraid of public speaking than they are of dying. -Her own internal research shows that people are so afraid of public speaking because they're afraid that they will be judged by others. This is closely related to the fear of rejection, embarrassment and being shamed. -Taylor believes that one of the pitfalls of public speaking is that people look towards larger-than-life people such as Simon Sinek, Barack Obama and Gary Vee and decide that they can't live up to those standards. -It would be better to study the public speaking skills of everyday people, such as professors, ministers or even confident bartenders.

Tell us more about Ameriprise and the role of technology in the organization. (David Boneparth)

-Ameriprise is a large financial services company headquartered in Minneapolis. Historically, the company's "bread and butter" was providing financial security and planning options for Midwesterners. The company eventually evolved into a most dimensional financial services company that offers a wide variety of solutions, including wealth management, asset management, insurance, annuities, and real estate planning period this wide range of offerings makes a different from many other financial services companies, which are essentially just big banks. -The technology aspect of the community, which David manages, sits over the whole company. he does fintech for the bank, and he also works on advisor compensation systems, which help calculate how much financial advisors should get paid. -Ameriprise has two kinds of financial advisors: employee advisors and franchise advisors. David's father and brother are both franchise advisors who essentially owned their own businesses but rely on technologies, systems and products provided to them by Ameriprise.

learning from failure: intelligent failures and creating a blame-free culture

-Aspiring entrepreneurs can learn from the failures of others, but they also have to be willing to fail themselves so that they can learn from their own failures. -Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos claims to have spent billions of dollars on failures, and he attributes his successes to the lessons that he's learned from those failures. According to Bezos, companies have to learn to embrace failure and constantly experiment. -Experimentation is about testing something, observing what happens, learning from it, and moving forward. -Experiments may involve a series of failed tests, but those tests are the basis for future learning and better decision making. As a result, the term "failure" should be re-framed as "'intentional iteration," which involves prototyping, testing, analyzing, and refining ideas with multiple experiments. -The goal is to make intelligent failures, beneficial failures that provide new knowledge that can help the entrepreneur avoid roadblocks and overcome hurdles in the future. -People sometimes incorrectly perceive an experiment as having two outcomes: success or failure. The reality is that even a failed experiment can ultimately give rise to a successful outcome if it results in beneficial learning. -When people fail, it's natural for them to try to blame it on themselves, on others, or on bad luck. However, a "blame culture" is counterproductive in organizations because it prevents people from learning from failure. -Entrepreneurs should strive to build a blame-free culture in which people can freely share, accept, learn, and recover from their failures. -Entrepreneurs should strive to assure employees that they will not encounter a negative reaction when they admit their mistakes. By admitting mistakes, employees give the team an opportunity to analyze and learn from what went wrong. -Entrepreneurs should also be open about their own shortcomings and past mistakes. This will encourage the team to be open about its own mistakes when they happen. -Of course, not all failures are acceptable, and the entrepreneur should make it clear what kinds of failures are and are not acceptable. For example, unacceptable failures might include reckless or negligent conduct, violation of laws, wasting resources, or lack of commitment. On the other hand, small failures that occur as a result of experimentation should be deemed acceptable failures. -If failures are viewed as a strategic resource rather than a regrettable reality, everyone in the organization can benefit from valuable learning.

Do you have any mentors? (Taylor Williams)

-Taylor is close with her parents, and she has had many supportive teachers and coaches through the years. -She has mentors who are improv coaches and faculty members in the UF departments that she teaches for. -According to Taylor, having mentors had been a true gift, especially for a person who works for herself and manages her own work experience.

Case study: Balaji Viswanathan (Invento Robotics)

-Balaji Viswanathan is the founder and CEO of Invento Robotics, a company that specializes in developing service robots intended for customer interactions. -This company is different from other robotics companies in that it has used a revenue model has provided a reliable source of cash flow, which is important in capital intensive, cash-hungry industry like robotics. -According to Kraft, an often-ignored but very important source of funding is your customers. -According to Harvard Business professor and author William A. Sahlman, the best money comes from customers, not venture capitalists. If you can attract customers who are willing to pay you while you're developing your product, you know you're on to something. Customers matter more than anything else. If you have the demand, you'll be able to find a way to meet that demand. -Balaji grew up in India, where he helped his dad who was a bank manager who made loans to local entrepreneurs. This gave Balaji his first glimpse into the life of an entrepreneur. -While he was in college, he began his own business, which made photocopies of materials that professors would hand out to students. Students were willing to pay for this service, rather than having to spend the time and effort making copies themselves. Soon, Balaji began to collaborate with professors, and he helped them proofread and build content for their classes. -After completing his undergraduate degree, Balaji earned a master's degree from the University of Maryland. While working on his master's degree, he took an internship at a robotics and artificial intelligence company. -After completing his degree, he took a job with Microsoft as a software design engineer. -He eventually got his MBA from Babson College. -He soon wanted to start his own robotics and artificial intelligence business, so he started Invento Robotics with his wife in India in 2016. His wife was important because she had skills in operations, management and finance, all complementary skills that Balaji lacked. Balaji used his network of friends and family for initial funding. -Invento Robotics developed robots that were targeted for use with customer interactions at places like banks, hospitals, cinemas and retail stores. -One of the early adopters was an executive at India's Canara Bank, who was enthusiastic about bringing robots into the bank.

pricing strategies

-COMPETITION LED: a strategy in which a business sets its prices based on the prices charged by other businesses selling similar products and services. -CUSTOMER-LED: a strategy in which a business sets its price based on what customers say they are willing to pay. -LOSS-LEADER: a strategy in which a business offers a product or service at a lower price in order to attract more customers. -INTRODUCTORY OFFER: a strategy that encourages adoption of a product by offering it either for free or at a deeply discounted price. -SKIMMING: a strategy in which a high price is set for a new product or service with little or no competition. this allows the business to extract the maximum value from customers upfront. it can then reduce its price as competitors launch rival products. -PSYCHOLOGICAL: a strategy that attempts to attract customers by making them think it is cheaper than it really is. -FAIR: is a strategy in which a business attempts to set price that both the business and the customer believe is reasonable. -BUNDLED: a strategy in which a business packages a set of goods or services together and sells then bundle for a lower price than if the goods or services were purchased separately. bundled pricing makes customers think they're getting a bargain, and increased sales can lead to increases profits for the company.

You didn't have any background in computer science or finance, and you never had a job banking. How did you get where you are now? (David Boneparth)

-David was lucky enough to have a father who could connect him with decision makers at Ameriprise. He started as a generic business systems analyst, and then he started working closely with data. He built a reputation for getting things done and making improvements, and he build up a team of smart people and good managers and leaders. -Today, David manages a worldwide team of 30 people who run on a 24 hour cycle. David recognizes that the members of his team are often smarter than him. His role is to identify any problems or roadblocks that they might face and remove them so that team members can get the job done. -David also emphasized the importance of being patient. One of the criticisms Of the younger generations is that they're impatient. Once you transition from a student to professional, you must be patient enough to learn from others around you, benefit for mentors and steadily move up in the organization. -While it is important to be patient, it is also important to tactically strike when the moment is right. David follows an 80/20 rule, if you signed an 80% chance to success and 20% chance of failure, that's a good enough ratio for him to take action.

Case Study: Emily Lagasse (Petwell Supply Co.)

-Emily Lagasse had a dog who got sick from eating traditional dog food, so she started to cook all natural, homemade food for her dog, whose name was Fenway. -She quickly decided that there was an opportunity to provide a differentiated product to dog owners, a high nutrient dog food without synthetic vitamins. -In 2014, she started her company, Fedwell Pet foods, which was the first company to manufacture and sell pet food without synthetic vitamins. -Emily faced several challenges to growth period two of them were as follows: -Manufacturing issues: her manufacturer didn't follow through with its agreement to manufacture the food in a particular way. Traditional dog food is made by subjecting the foods are high heat and high pressure. This method produces food cheaply and quickly, but it also leads to a significant nutrient reduction. Emily had negotiated for a particular manufacturing method that would not significantly reduce the nutrient quality of the food, but her manufacturer ended up using the traditional methods anyway. -Slow sales: early on, most of Emily sales were online. She had a hard time getting retailers to carry her pet food because it had a higher price point then the competition. In addition, the pet food industry was already very concentrated. Without a customer base, a lot of her money was tied up in inventory, and she was unable to spend money on marketing, branding and product development. -Emily soon realized that her pet food company would not be successful. She took what she learned and started another company, Petwell Supply, which sells food, medicine, and other holistic remedies for pets. Emily works with local veterinarians, who provide valuable information about what product they are recommending. The veterinarians, intern, recommend Petwell Supply to pet owners. -Emily later added traditional pet products and services would help her attract customers who are looking for something familiar. Once they've made a "traditional" purchase, they would be more likely to explore the store's non-traditional offerings, such as supplements. -In the long run, Emily hopes to open a national franchise and go back to producing her own brand of food. If she does so, she will draw on the mistakes she made and the failures she experienced early on to increase her chances of future success. -Finally, Emily has realized that it is important for her to live a healthier and happier lifestyle. She has decided that she can't work all the time; she needs to devote some time to her own self-care. This would make her a happier person and a better entrepreneur.

What are the biggest challenges that you have had to overcome? (Taylor Williams)

-Taylor works alone, and she misses the camaraderie of working with a team. Whenever possible, she intentionally places herself in situations where she is working with a group. -Work/life balance has been another challenge for Taylor. It has been a challenge for her to not work all the time, especially during the times when she doesn't have her kids. -According to Taylor, there's a point of diminishing returns to additional work. At some point, you have to let yourself rest.

fear of failure

-Even though failure can lead to beneficial learning, many people fear failure and try their best to avoid it. -This anti-failure bias results from the fact that the idea of failure evokes a negative emotional reaction. -Entrepreneurs fear the shame, guilt, humiliation, anger, and self-blame that go along with business failure. This is especially difficult for entrepreneurs because they often view their professional failures and personal failures as the same. -If entrepreneurs can identify and manage their emotions, they can begin to learn from failure. The best entrepreneurs find failure acceptable and normal, and they strive to make the best out of it. -Some people fear failure more than others, and researchers have found that parent-child relations may be to blame. -Children who are punished for failing and not praised for achieving are more likely to fear failure. Other factors that may contribute to a higher fear of failure include high parental expectations, maternal irritability, and paternal absence. -These people see failures as mistakes or losses rather than an opportunity to improve one's skills or learn. They associate failure with shame, so they go out of their way to avoid it. This keeps them from taking risks, which prevents them from succeeding personally and professionally. -The first step to managing your fear of failure is to assess the extent to which you fear failure. Once you do so, you can take the following steps to reduce this fear: -Reframe your goals to make them more achievable. -Separate facts from feelings. -Allow yourself to feel fear. -Seek support from your role models. -One's culture often gives rise to a strong-rooted fear of failure, which explains why there are regional differences in the extent to which people fear failure. -The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report measures fear of failure by country. This report shows how people's personal perceptions influence their decision to start a business, and includes the following dimensions: -Perceived opportunities: The extent to which people perceive opportunities to start a business. -Perceived capabilities: The extent to which people think they are capable of starting their own business. -Fear of failure rate: The extent to which fear of failure prevents people from starting a business, even if they perceive opportunities. -Entrepreneurial intentions: The extent to which capable entrepreneurs intend to start a business in the next three years. -Interestingly, the study shows that Africa has the highest percentage of the population that ranks high in perceived opportunities, perceived capabilities, and entrepreneurial intentions. Europe and North America ranked lowest in entrepreneurial intentions, even though they scored high in perceived capabilities. -The fear of failure rate was lowest in Angola (16%), followed by Colombia (23%). The highest fear of failure was Morocco (64%), followed by Greece (57%), and India (50%). The fear of failure rate in the United States was relatively low, at 35%.

Did you have an office when you started out, or were you suturing people in your garages? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-Lisa and Della started out in an 1,100 square foot office that cost $1,100 per month. They were both still practicing in their "day jobs" at the time, and they wanted to pick a location that was affordable because they were funding the business out of their savings accounts. -Lisa mentioned that she acquired the company's first exam table on eBay for $60. The table was a 1960s-style birthing exam table, and it was pink.

What do you do to maintain mental health and sense of balance in your life? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-Meditation, praying and physical activity are important to Della. She hasn't been to Orange Theory since march 2020, but she recently took up tennis, which she enjoys very much. She encouraged students to find a physical activity that interests them. She also emphasized the importance of nutrition and sleep. -Lisa also emphasized the importance of exercise, meditation and eating well. In addition, she believes that reading, learning and spending time with your family are important. She tries to get to the beach whenever possible.

Resilience is one of the 13 entrepreneurial competencies that the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation focuses on. How important is resilience in the face of failure? (Taylor Williams)

-Resilience is very important in entrepreneurship and innovation. -sometimes the things that are most difficult for us lead to transformative learning opportunities and gives us the confidence that we can achieve more than we previously thought. -When you fail, you have to be honest with yourself, admit that you failed, and embrace it so that you can learn from your failure.

What has been your biggest challenge? (Seyi Falade)

-Seyi's biggest challenge has been dealing with ever-changing objectives as she works to grow the business. It seems like she has to devote her attention to something new all the time. Seyi often feels like she's running on a treadmill, trying to keep up with the business. -At first, she wondered if the business was legit and could be sustainable. However, she reminded herself that even Coca-Cola had a "Day 1." -She likes to think of the picture of Jeff Bezos working on Amazon from his garage, with a handmade "Amazon.com" sign above his head. Today, he's flying to space for fun! -Sei's parents recently relocated to Nigeria, and she faced a September deadline to find staff to fill her father's role. Luckily, she met the deadline, and she's excited to continue to expand the business on her own.

Do you have any last bits of advice for students? (David Boneparth)

-Take it easy on yourself. -There's a lot of pressure on you, and there's a lot of things going on in the world. Take some time to sit back, relax and know that everything will work out fine. -The job market is booming right now, and you should be looking everywhere for opportunities. You should also be proactive about assembling a portfolio of skills and experiences that will allow you to succeed. -Finally, you should fast fail in life. Experiment now because failure becomes much harder to recover from when you get out in the real world.

guest speaker: Taylor Williams (Guts & Glory GNV)

-Taylor Williams is the creative director of Guts & Glory Gainesville, a company that brings live, original, true, first-person, polished storytelling to Gainesville. -She is an experienced speaker, teacher, trainer and performer with a backup business and mental health. -Taylor offers private coaching, event hosting, workshops and trainings. -In addition, she is an adjunct lecturer at UF and a frequent contractor for a number of programs at UF. -Taylor grew up in Gainesville. She chose to stay in Gainesville for college and attend UF, where she was on the volleyball team. -She didn't know what she wanted to study, but her parents encouraged her to pursue a degree in business administration because that would allow her to keep her options open. -She eventually set her sights on becoming an athletics director, which would combine her love for athletics with her business education. -She also had minors in human nutrition and religion and spirituality, which really helped her with her later endeavors. -Taylor was injured early in her volleyball career at UF. -She always considered herself an athlete, and the injury that put her on the sidelines made her question her identity, which led to anxiety and depression. -This experience taught Taylor a lot about reliance, failure and the human condition, so she decided to pursue graduate school for mental health and counseling. She got her Education Specialist and Master of Education degrees in Mental Health Counseling from UF. -After living in Florida all her life, Taylor decided to move away and have different experiences. -She took a job as a career counselor at George Mason University in 2007, and split her time between NYC and D.C. -She got acting experience in NYC and she started ti get involved in improv comedy. -Acting and improv helped Taylor regain the self-confidence she lost when she was sidelined as an athlete. -She learned a lot about innovation, creativity, failure and producing something from nothing. -Her transformative experience in improv led her to identify a potential business idea, she could help individuals and businesses gain their confidence through improv, as well. -She started doing consulting work, and she eventually moved back to Gainesville and started Guts & Glory GNV. -Since then she has started a podcast, taught as an adjunct professor and written books. -Taylor is about to release a new book called Beyond the Words. Taylor mentioned that the book was a "gift of the pandemic" because without the extra time, she would not have been to finish the book.

How do you promote your business? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-The company primarily relies of word-of-mouth from satisfied members. -Della mentioned that companies can even save money on their workman's compensation insurance policies through the use of direct primary care. -Other than word-of-mouth the company does a lot of print advertising. -Lisa and Della also do a podcast and are involved with the Gainesville Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Gainesville, and three Business Networking International groups. -Lisa and Della also serve on various boards of directors of different charities and nonprofits in Gainesville. -Della pointed out that the value of positive word-of-mouth is far greater than the value of any other promotional techniques. The goal is to create "raving fans" who will tell others about their positive experience with the business.

How do you market your business?

-The construction business is different from most other businesses. Cornerstone primarily deals with government projects, so everything is public. Seyi determines which general contractors have made bids on which projects, and she contacts them to let them know that Cornerstone is available to do MOT work. -Cornerstone has minority and small business certifications, which is an important differentiating factor for the business. The company has a minority/women-owned business enterprise (WBE) certification with the City of Tampa, a small business enterprise (BE) certification with Alachua County, and a disadvantaged business enterprise (BE) certification with the Florida Department of Transportation. Securing those certifications required a lot of work, but it has paid off because general contractors often preferentially hire subcontractors with these certifications.

How did COVID affect you? Did you get Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding? (Seyi Falade)

-There was a lot of uncertainty at the beginning. The shutdowns postponed a lot of contracts, but Cornerstone was fortunate enough to remain open. -The company did receive PPP funding, which was very instrumental in ensuring that it could stay open and continue to pay employees. -Seyi mentioned that her local accounting firm (James Moore) was helpful in getting Cornerstone through the PPP funding process. The firm recommended Florida Credit Union because it has great Small Business Association (SBA) relationships and was the fastest to approve and disburse funds. In contrast, larger banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America took a lot longer to disburse funds after approval.

How has COVID affected your business? (Lisa Magary and Della Tuten)

-They shut down in March 2020 like most other businesses. -Patients were still able to receive care via telemedicine, though, and staff could still fill prescriptions for patients. This continuity of care was important during a time of considerable uncertainty. -While existing patients were still able to receive care, the pandemic hindered the company's ability to recruit new members.

How difficult is it to expand the business to other states? Are some states easier to expand to than others? (Seyi Falade)

-This is something that Seyi is working on now. She knows that the Georgia Department of Transportation operates differently from the Florida Department of Transportation, but she also knows that Georgia devotes a lot of money to infrastructure spending. -Seyi knows that it is possible to expand the business across state lines because she sees other contractors doing it.

Case study: Balaji Viswanathan (Invento Robotics) Pt. 2

-This part of Balaji's business model, the revenue model, is what sets Invento Robotics apart from other robotics companies. From the beginning of the business, Balaji recognized that cash flow is important. He focused on generating revenue and cash flow so that he could build a scalable business model. -Balaji recognized that the robotics industry is special because it is build on the prospects of future development. He discovered that people would be willing to pay a lot of money for access to these cutting-edge robots, even if the prototypes were not perfect. The company generated cash flow by renting its prototype robots to companies for use at corporate events and conventions. These robots gave companies the "wow factor" that would set them apart from their peers. -Kraft pointed out that Invento's early revenue model was a utility and usage revenue model, in which the company generates revenue by charging customers on the basis of how often its goods and services are used. In this case, Invento rented its prototype robots out to companies for a certain period of time and that amount of time dictated how much revenue the company generated. This revenue provided the company with the cash needed to finance capital-intensive research and development and hire top talent. This helped the company grow, advance and remain competitive. -The company has intentionally made the leadership team search for new sources of revenues. When it earns a profit, it reinvests that profit in the business to bring cash flow near or below zero. This provides the incentive to always look for new revenue streams, which will allow the company to further expand its operations in the future. -Kraft mentioned that Invento Robotics might try a subscription model in which companies pay a monthly fee for continuous access to a robot. It could also license the artificial intelligence technology to other companies. In the end, the goal is to move to a unit-sales revenue model in which the company generates revenue based on the number of robots it sells to customers. -Balaji is also well known for his huge network on Quora, a website where people can ask questions and connect with others who contribute unique insights. Balaji has more than 500,000 followers and has posted more than 5,000 answers to questions, making his network more extensive than anyone else's.

tolerating failure: building grit

-University of Pennsylvania psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth has spent decades studying the relationship between character and achievement. She has found that traditional measures of talent (such as IQ, SAT, and GMAT scores) are less effective predictors of achievement than grit- the courage, resolve, and strength of character that allows people to continue to work hard and pursue their long-term goals. -Duckworth studied the relationship between grit, resilience, and achievement with self-report questionnaires distributed to cadets entering the United States Military Academy at West Point. The dropout rate at this program is infamously high. She found that cadets who exhibited qualities that she associated with grit were less likely to drop out. She has similarly found that grit is positively correlated with resilience in first-year teachers, sales agents, and even spelling bee contestants. -The following are several attributes associated with grit: -Courage: Courageous people do not fear failure, which they view as part of the learning process. -Conscientiousness: Conscientious people work tirelessly toward the achievement of long-term goals, even in the face of challenges. -Perseverance: Perseverance refers to one's commitment to achieving long-term goals with purposeful, deliberate practice. -Resilience: Resilience is one's ability to overcome obstacles and recover from failures in order to move forward and achieve long-term goals. -Excellence: Striving for excellence involves prioritizing improvement over perfection and committing to activities that improve one's skills and result in learning. This often involves "tinkering."

You mentioned proprietary technologies and processes. Does Ameriprise have an intellectual property protection on these? (David Boneparth)

-Yes. Sometimes, David and his team come up with solutions that are patentable. -However, it's becoming increasingly difficult to develop something unique because financial technology is becoming more and more commoditized, and it is becoming easier and easier for people to build new tools of their own.

introduction to failure

-a business failure occurs when a commercial organization fails to achieve its goals and meet investors' expectations, causing it to go out of business and experience bankruptcy or liquidation. -entrepreneurs can learn from any type of failure, large or small, and this learning can help improve their chances of success in the future. -As a result, entrepreneurs have to embrace failure as part of the entrepreneurial journey. -Learning from failure will leave the entrepreneur more prepared, confident and motivated to succeed at the next startup venture. -While learning from failure is beneficial, failure itself can be financially costly and emotionally painful. -A business failure can be just as painful and difficult as losing a loved one or ending a long-term relationship. -An entrepreneur who has failed will experience feelings of grief, loss and shame. He or she may also face a stigma, or a type of social dishonor, as a result of failure. -Research has shown that entrepreneurs who have failed can re-enter entrepreneurship and avoid stigma using three practices: 1. Detachment: entrepreneurs can detach themselves from the failed venture by rationalizing the failure or making it seem like it was not a big deal. 2. Acknowledgement: entrepreneurs can own up to the failure and openly discuss it with stakeholders. 3. Deflection: entrepreneurs might simply ignore critics and dismiss their criticisms. -According to an analysis of 101 startup post-mortems, the top five reasons why startups fail include lack of a market need, running out of cash, not having the right team, getting outcompeted and price/cost issues. Other important causes of failure include poor marketing and loss of focus. -All entrepreneurs experience small failures, and the best entrepreneurs are able to react to those failures with a pivot, or a change in the direction of the business.

the business plan continued

-a business plan typically consists of 20 to 40 pages, with additional pages for financial statements and appendices. -it includes a statement of the company's mission, strategies, tactics, goals, objectives and financials, as well as five-year pro forma forecast of income, profits and cash flow. this information is typically subdivided into the following parts: -the business concept: in this section, the entrepreneur discusses the industry, products and services, business structure and the plan for making the business a success. -market: in this section, the entrepreneur describes potential customers and competitors. -operations and management: in this section, the entrepreneur describes how he or she will design, develop, and implement the plan, with details on operations and management. -financials: this section includes details about income, cash flow, and profitability, with pro forma financial projections. -on the path from idea generation to business plan, writing a business plan comes after idea generation, building the BMC, writing a business brief, conducting a feasibility study and creating a pitch deck. -it is important not to try to write a business plan too early.

the spectrum of failure

-according to Harvard professor Amy Edmonson, failures can be arranged along a failure spectrum from big to small, and from blameworthy to praiseworthy. this emphasizes that not all failure is bad, and that a situation that might traditionally be thought of as a failure might actually produce a positive consequence. -Brief descriptions of each of the types of failure along this spectrum are as follows: -Deviance: occurs when a venture fails due to the entrepreneur's violation of legal and ethical standards. This is a type of blameworthy failure that not only results in a failed venture but also a tarnished reputation for the entrepreneur. -Inattention: occurs when the entrepreneur becomes sidetracked from the core business, leading to business failure. As ana entrepreneur, you have to be able to devote your attention to a small handful of projects, Your ventures may fail if you stretch yourself too thin. -Lack of ability: exists when the entrepreneur lacks the skills to get the job done. A founder's lack of ability sometimes leads to failure as the business grows. Founders frequently lack skills and abilities to manage this growth and take the business to the next level. -Process inadequacy: occurs when wrong processes in the organization lead to communication problems, which can result in failure. -Uncertainty: is a lack of clarity about the future that can cause entrepreneurs to take unreasonable actions. Uncertainty can prevent an organization from pivoting to a new strategy, which can ultimately result in failure. -Exploratory experimentation: a method in which the entrepreneur uses market tests to get early feedback, leading to valuable information and important learning. Failures during this stage are praiseworthy because they are done in order to gather new information that will lead to beneficial learning.

the business plan debate

-proponents of writing a formal business plan make the following arguments: -a business plan provides organization, clarity, and a core message that team members can align themselves with. -writing a business plan establishes legitimacy and shows that the entrepreneur has done his or her research. -many times, entrepreneurs benefit from writing a business plan just for themselves. it makes them think about things they had not thought of before, and it makes them question their own assumptions. -vetting an idea during the business planning process can help the entrepreneur avoid wasting money on an idea that is a bad opportunity. -opponents of writing a formal business plan make the following arguments: -writing a business plan is time-consuming and costly. -nothing ever goes to plan and circumstances are always changing, so the business plan is outdated as soon as it has been written. -business plans are often based on untested assumptions and financial projections that are too far out. -the entrepreneur should be spending time taking action, getting customer input, making early sales, and gathering real data, rather than devoting it to speculating about what the future may bring.