Week 4: Reading Reflection

1) From the reading there was one thing that really stuck out to me that I found to be very interesting. There was a creative exercise in the book, and I took the time to try it out. It was really amazing the types of things you could come up with for uses and functions to the oddest items. I did an exercise like this in one of my classes at Valencia College before attending UF. The difference was we made a list of as many functions we could think of with a paper clip. It is really amazing when you take the time to do this. Plus, it ends up being rather difficult as well!

2) Something that I found to be confusing in the reading was when I got to the types of innovation. I noticed in that list, there was duplication. At first, I was surprised that duplication was even there, and then when I read about it, I became even more confused. I think of duplication as an exact copy, but here it is a copy that has been changed. I am not sure I understand how this could be called a duplication because of this.

3) If I was able to ask two questions to the author, these would be my two questions:
- If the entrepreneurship mindset is quite as important as it seems to be, why is creativity not taught more?
- This one is not much of a question, but I think that the brain blocks a lot of creativity out with knowledge. In the past I saw a study of people asked to be creative about a "blob" of paint and describe what they saw, and there were two groups; six year olds, and grown people. In the study the results had the six year olds blowing the grown ups out of the water with variety of ideas and quickness.

4) This part kind of goes back to number 2. I don't believe that duplication is a good way to describe something that is innovated because it is not a copy of the previous piece even though we obviously know what is implied.

Week 4: Top 5 World Problems

List of five big problems:

1. Isis is a huge problem for almost all of the world

2. There have been a significant amount of mass shootings in the past several years.

3. In every city, there is some kind of problem with drugs in the streets

4. In other countries there are people starving to death and dying from contaminated water. (even our own)

5. Just down the road from UF there is a large tent city, which is a homeless population that lives in tents as you may assume

List of most possible solutions:

1.  Implementing more food drives and water donations for the starving people is already something that is happening so that makes me believe that this solution would be one of the easier to accomplish.

2. For the Isis problem, an Internet campaign against their recruiting seems like it  could be a possible solution that would just need some brain power and collaboration.

3. The tent cities is another one that people have began to try to fix, but so far nothing has quite worked out to the fullest. I believe giving the homeless an opportunity for a job rather than no opportunity at all, or hand outs even, would help them to get back into society enough at least to have a healthy place to live rather than in a tent.

4. Mass shootings are another big problem, and it is very difficult to handle. My fifth point is about drugs and it goes right along with it as far as the laws only preventing the law abiding citizens from breaking them. I am not sure of a solution, but if I had to make one, it would be doing a better job of screening as well as background checks and things of that precautionary type of thing to be done.

5. Drugs being on the street every day and night is a big problem, and a very difficult one to tackle. It may seem easy enough to say get rid of the drug, and then problem solved, right? Wrong. Laws only prevent those who follow laws from breaking laws. That sentence sounds repetitive, and I am not saying laws are a waste of time and money. But in some cases, the law is just a minor impact on the reality of the situation. I do not even know what we could do to stop this from happening.

 It was no easy task choosing these two top five lists. As far as the first top five, being the list of the top five biggest problems, I chose them because they are issues that are very widespread, as well as a large impact on our everyday lives. Some of them may be things that we see constantly on the news, and others we may not here much of at all even though it is a huge problem that we may be putting on the back burner. Additionally, I chose the top five list of my problems solutions through some careful examination. What I noticed, was the "biggest" problems, I seemed to have an easier solution for rather than the not as big of problems where I could not even come up with an idea. I think that is because those bottom problems have been issues for many years while the others are more recent and people haven't had time yet to get an answer.

Week 3: Reading Reflection

In reading chapter 3 from the textbook, I am a little bit surprised that team building is a listed quality of an entrepreneur. I say this only because just thinking about an entrepreneur, you think of the individual who created what ever it is that they created. You don't really stop and think of all of the resources (the team) that they had to put together to make the entrepreneurial idea take off.

I am not entirely sure why the author uses profit motive as a measurement of risk for an entrepreneur. In class, I believe we said that profit is not really what the entrepreneur is seeking. Of course, why would someone create something that will not make money, but, that is not the idea. I think rather than calling it a profit motive, maybe thinking of it as capital to do another project. An entrepreneur only has so much capital to get an idea off the ground. If they use all of it on something that may they determine to be likely to fail, maybe put less money into it, or not do it at all.

Week 3: Identifying Local Opportunities

This is a list of five local news paper articles I found and want to share with you today that present a problem with an opportunity. Each and every problem in life is simply an opportunity to make it better.

1. http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A7EB54875837F0?p=AWNB

Anti-gambling group targets deal with Seminoles

In this article, the Seminole Indians had a specific deal for gambling in both Miami Dade county as well as Broward. That contract has just recently expired, and they continue to offer their gambling. An Orlando organization called No Gambling is trying to prevent them from renewing the contract and definitely keep them from expanding their locations beyond those two counties.

The problem in the story is that the Seminoles want to keep their gambling rights, while Orlando's No Gambling organization is trying to make the gambling leave the state.

The Seminoles and the Orlando No Gambling organization face this issue.

2.  http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A83F20C6E8A958?p=AWNB
Recent crash at UCF highlights heroin hazards

This article was actually very disturbing as I read it. There was an automobile accident on the campus of UCF and the car was on fire. UCFPD was trying to get the man inside to leave his car, but he insisted on lighting a cigarette inside while gasoline leaked out beneath his feet. The officer then noticed a large syringe that the man had just used for heroin. There has been a bad outbreak in the last few years in Orlando with heroin overdoses so they are trying to take action to stop it.

The problem is the spike in usage of heroin in Orlando, especially near the university.

This problem is the areas around UCF that need to be helped and/or cleaned up to help remove the drug problems so it is safer for students, and anyone else around campus.

3.  http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A83F1FEAF711B8?p=AWNB
Dark side prevails as 'Star Wars' film delayed - Release of 'Star Wars: Episode VIII' pushed back to December 2017

If there are any Star Wars fans out there, you will be upset to know that the next movie was delayed from May of 2017 now to December! There was not a real reason to why it was pushed back, but it now has to compete with the second Avatar movie, which also comes out December of 2017.

The problem here is that one, people have to wait longer for the new movie, but two, it has to compete with another very highly rated movie in the same month!

This appears to be a problem, or an opportunity all in the same for the film makers, and movie theaters.

4.  http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A8936B034785F8?p=AWNB
Garbage, yard waste woes still evident, street by street - County says it's improving service, though

This article is speaking on the side of the homeowners who cannot figure out exactly why they have had trash piling up in their front lawns for the past few weeks. The Garbage company has created a cheaper routine for trash pick-up, but obviously so far it has not been enjoyed by the homeowners.

The problem I see in this article is conflict of homeowners putting the new cans out correctly, as well as the new system missing large portions of their area and a build up of trash.

This problem is directly on the garbage company as well as the homeowners because they are both messing up throwing a wrench in the process.

5.  http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A8E7D71F243AA0?p=AWNB
Millennials increase savings but fall short of target rate

This article is particularly interesting to me given that I would like to be a financial advisor. It is speaking about the millennials, which the article refers to as people between the ages of 25-34. Basically, it says that the percentage of savings done by this group of people has increased a couple percentage points in the last few years. However, according to them, they need to increase it a lot more for these individuals to be able to retire comfortably without fear of living past their savings.

The problem here is that people do not tend to enjoy saving their money. I mean after all, isn't that hard earned paycheck there to spend now?

The problem is targeted at the millennials not having enough to retire, but also, the problem will soon turn to the younger population if they wait a long time to begin saving. Obviously, the sooner you start saving, the more money you will be able to accrue.

Week 3: Very Short Interview No. 1

What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is someone who is able to find needs or voids and then develop a product or process to complete that need or void.  The need could be something missing altogether or an improvement on something that already does exist.

 What do you think I should learn in an entrepreneurship course?

Seems like the basic, necessary skill for an entrepreneur is to be able to identify or create a marketable need.  Then to be successful, one should also learn marketing, budgeting, business finance, time management, communication, and the business start-up process and alternatives.

 What do you wish you had been taught in school before setting out on your own path as an entrepreneur?

I think time management is a necessary skill that did not have much focus.  Also, methodology for raising capital and how to create a strategy for growing the business would be important information to learn in school.

The man that I interviewed owns a business that my father also works at. His name is Duane. He is a partner in the firm that his father before him had opened up. He has been a part of the company for about 20 years. Speaking with him let me learn a lot about how a business works, and the mindset it takes to come up with the idea and keep it going. Though he owns part of an engineering firm, I was still able to see what it takes for my aspirations in owning and starting a financial advising firm. I was very fortunate to have this interview and I am looking forward to our next one.

week 3: World's Biggest Problems

10 of the words BIGGEST problems:

1. Isis is a huge problem for almost all of the world

I think a probable solution to Isis would be by going after the issue via campaigns and propaganda. That is essentially their entire recruiting strategy, therefore, if you are able to advertise why 'not' to join Isis, I feel that it may help destroy their goal of gaining supporters. Obviously there is more too it, and much that I do not know, but this seems like a good start in my opinion .

2. Our politicians act like savage animals on the campaign trail.

This to me is a huge problem. I am almost embarrassed for other countries to see how our politicians act while they are trying to get elected. When I first watched the movie "The Campaign", staring Will Ferrell, I thought it was a great mockery to how people look at politicians. Now, however, it appears to represent the actual way they are by a much smaller stretch of the imagination.

3. I love to fish, and it kills me when my family and I go to the coast and see trash in the water.

Even when people know that it is horrible for the oceans to have plastic, and other harmful things in our waters, they ignorantly and lazily toss their garbage right into the water anyways. I have seen waste baskets near the beaches and on fishing piers, so something has been done. It is up to the people now to stop being lazy and just do the right thing.

4. In other countries there are people starving to death and dying from contaminated water.

Though the United States does make an effort to give some of these places food and clean drinking water, it is still seen all to often that there are many people dying each day because of this. I am not sure how this problem would be solved, but it is very sad to know that it is happening.

5.   There have been a significant amount of mass shootings in the past several years.

If I was to give my opinion of a solution, I would say that it is important to allow mentally stable, non-criminals to carry a weapon with them for their own protection. Taking away guns from the law abiding citizens does not stop the criminals who do these hate crimes from continuing. If people are carrying a weapon in most of these cases, there may be a few deaths still, but I am certain that the shooter would be stopped before a large number of innocent people's lives are taken.

6. Just down the road from UF there is a large tent city, which is a homeless population that lives in tents as you may assume.

Many people in Gainesville could possibly go their entire time living here and never know that it was there. I only recently found out because I was looking at an apartment near it and the property manager informed me about it. A solution to this could probably be to find a way to get these people some kind of job for an income. Many of them may have some kind of criminal background, or health reason to why they aren't working, but if we could come up with something to give them an earned income rather than asking tax payers to fund it, I think that this would create a great impact.

7. In every city, there is some kind of problem with drugs in the streets.

I am not sure what exactly could be done to prevent drugs from entering the streets, but I do know that making them illegal has not done very much to help. If I am talking about prescription drugs, one thing might be to tighten up the sales to people by the doctors and pharmacists. Sometimes it is as easy as going to the doctor and telling them you have a symptom of something that calls for that drug and in some cases it is prescribed just like that.

8. Not as big of an issue, but people are always seeming to be attached to their cell phones.

I have noticed that most people, including older folks, are becoming dependent on their cell phones. I am quite confident that if you were challenged to go 24 hours without it, most people, including myself, would have a very difficult time with that. It has become a key part of every day life. A solution to this I guess would be to use more face to face communications or phone calls rather than the typed form of communication that shows know sense of communication skills. The only thing typing does is it shows how grate of a spelar you are. :)

9. My finance professor informed me how little students study now versus how much we used to study just a few years ago.

This is a problem. Students are spending less and less effective time studying, and more time doing other things. This goes back to the cell phones again briefly. It is very easy to be distracted by your phone and put off that boring studying you need to do. It is only natural to find a reason to stop doing something that is not exciting. I think the cell phones and electronics as a whole going away during studies would increase the study time a little bit.

10. Now that I am clearly running out of big issues to talk about, I suppose I will mention fishing again. It is horrible when I am fishing for crappie out on the lake just this past weekend and watch a man take a 5 inch fish and toss it into his cooler for dinner.

There are specific size regulations on certain fish, such as crappie, so that they can have a sustainable harvest. How can people accurately and effectively protect fish, when people feel that it is okay to make their own rules? This is another case where people just need to step up and be more responsible.

This is an image of a tent city to show just what it looks like and how big of a problem this could be.

Week 2: Reading Reflection

During my reading, what I found most interesting was the list of myths. Some of them made sense as to why they are myths, such as the one that states all an entrepreneur needs is money. Some of these were a little bit surprising though. I think that it is great to say that luck is a myth but the way the author stated it an entrepreneur uses their preparation to take advantage of the luck of a situation.

This chapter was more about the basics and understanding at an introductory level of what entrepreneurship is so I was not really confused at this point in the reading. But if I could ask the author a question, this is what I would ask. First off, I would think that we were in more of an entrepreneurial revolution about 10 years ago or more with the development of the new technologies and new things giving many gaps for people to fill so what makes you say now? Also, I would like to know about the Gazelle companies and their survival. It says in the book that no gazelles live and they all end up dying. Though that may be true because nothing lasts forever, how long of a surviving company would be called an unusually long life?

I thought that this chapter was very well written and I found no reason to disagree with things that he mentioned other than some clarifications as I said in my questions.

Week 2: Bug List

There are always things that "bug" people in their every day lives. I have twenty things that I could say bug me and what I believe to be wrong with these things.

1) wider seats on the RTS busses in Gainesville
-The seats on the RTS busses are very close together and if they each were a little wider with an arm rest it would be more comfortable for everyone.
2) There is only one main way in and out of campus, therefore, at 5:00 in the afternoon during the fall and spring semesters the traffic becomes very heavy.
-It would be helpful if there were more lanes, as well as more than one way in and out that is still convenient to get out.
3) The swimming pool at my house in Orlando is solar, but only stays warm when it is sunny.
-The solar panels should be able to absorb energy from the sun and save it rather than only have the water go through the hot panel coils when it is sunny.
4) The lines at Super Walmart in Gainesville are always very long.
-If the stores had not had budget cuts, and had employees working on registers when they are busy, the lines would not be so long all the time.
5) The toilet in my apartment complex always runs and wastes water as well as makes a lot of noise.
-The Maintenance crew could be a little less cheap and use tools that fix the problem rather than temporarily patch it for a few days.
6) In the movie theaters the front row seats are all wasted because of the terrible angle looking up at the screen.
- This happens because they are trying to maximize space, but it can be changed by moving around the design of the seating.
7) Other countries have high speed trains, and the US still has regular railways.
-The advancement in technology is here, we could have a faster railway to make it more convenient to use for everyday travel.
8) Advertisements on TV take too much time during movies.
- They are used as promotions for companies, but there has to be a better place to add them in aside from movie channels.
9) Hit and run car accidents are a common thing that happen on the roads today.
- If we were to have more cameras in cars and at major intersections it would be easier to stop people from getting away with hit and run accidents.
10) The drainage ditch in the front of my house creates a mess when it rains.
- It is a good idea for all drainage ditches to be filled and have a pipe run under the ground.
11) There is always a lot of food that is wasted from restaurant, and plenty that comes from theme parks.
- We could have more ways of recycling the food, or saving it and donating it to something to be more efficient and environmentally sustainable
12) One of my family members cleans office buildings and she does it alone. It takes a very long time because she has to do a lot of work that takes a lot of time.
- If there was a way to have some kind of programmable robotic I-cleaner to do the work of another person to make the process go faster and be more efficient.
13) Having to hear a smoke detector go off constantly when the batteries die is very annoying for anyone have the smoke detectors use a small solar powered charge so that you never have to replace the batteries again.
14) While on the topic of batteries, my father has been having battery problems in his boat. It is a pain having to keep changing out a battery every time you want to start the engine.
- If there was a way to have something other than a battery to turn the crank shaft in the engine, we would never have troubles getting the boat to start again.
15) It is a little bit inconvenient sometimes when playing the lottery because it is hard to tell how much a winning ticket is worth unless it is scanned at the store.
- It would be great if there was a mobile scanner to tell you how much you won right away.
16) It is a pain to get up and open up a window that is, say, behind a couch in your home or apartment.
- The solution is to have windows that are electronically opened by remote inside the home.
17) It is expensive to replace your shoes when they wear them after a while.
- It could be a lot more effective if there was a good way to "re-tread" your shoes. In other words, put new soles on the bottoms to get a possible double life out of them.
18) Mechanical pencils are great, and a lot of college students. Unfortunately, the graphite is very thin and tends to break very easily.
- I would like to see a sharp, but thin stick of graphite and be able to push it and not worry about it breaking.
19) Many people have DVD's, but DVD players are becoming more and more out of date and rare.
- We should be able to save the DVD movie to a playlist right into the TV to select it and watch.
20) I don't like taking my car in to get an oil change every 3,000 miles.
- I would love to have an oil that does not need to be changed, or refilled. It would be cheaper, as well as more sustainable for the environment.

At first, I thought that it would be a really easy task to come up with twenty issues that I could feel could be corrected or made better. It turns out that I was wrong! There was a lot of things that came right to me at first, but after about ten or so, I was having trouble thinking about things that I felt could really be innovated to help with day to day life.

Week 2: My Entreprenuership story

Hello everyone,

In my experiences I have met one person who is an entrepreneur. It might not be the traditional creation of something that is completely different than anything else, but it is a new business in a brand new innovative location. This gentlemen's name is Scott Brown, an independent financial advisor for Raymond James. He worked hard for Raymond James for many years and then decided at some point that it would be a great time to change locations and have his own practice using the name of Raymond James. He has been a successful business owner now for over twenty years.

This leads into the next part of this post. The reason I chose to be in this ENT 3003 course is for the knowledge of the entrepreneurial mindset to be able to do what Mr. Brown has done. As I have said in some other posts, I want to become a financial advisor as well. Taking this class I believe will give me the knowledge to have a better chance of being successful.

week 2: Introduction

Hello everyone,

My name is Derek Foster. I am from Orlando, Florida where I was born and raised. I am a transfer student from Valencia College, also in Orlando. My major here at UF is General Business. Upon my graduation, I would like to become a financial advisor and I am going to strive to own my own practice. One of my favorite places that I have traveled is the Keys. I love to fish, and the Keys are known as the fishing capital of the world. I will put a picture of me fishing in Tampa, Florida last spring.

Week 2: Entrepreneur's Mantra

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