Halfway Reflection

1) Perseverance is probably the biggest behavior I have used throughout this course so far. There have been times where it can get tough, but the motivation of finishing the class over dropping is far greater. This class asks you to do things you've probably never done before and it can seem impossible to figure out how to approach some of the assignments; however, if you take everything one step at a time it becomes possible.

2) There was really one moment when I felt like I was going to give up on the class. It was when I found out that we had to talk to strangers and interview them almost every single week. I feel like that is not something that is easy to do and I almost wanted to drop the class because of it. After doing the first assignment, I quickly found out that it actually wasn't that bad. The hardest thing about the assignment now is finding time over actually talking to people. I do feel like I have developed a tenacious attitude when it comes to this course mainly because I want to see it through to the end. I do not want to drop the course and give up. This means that I will not be pulled apart before the end of the summer semester.

3) The first tip would be to never let talking to strangers scare you away. These are people you will probably never see again so even if you embarrass yourself a little bit, it ultimately won't matter. The second tip would be to forget about how many points you need to get to reach the grade you want. If you spend so much time on what you need you may miss out on what this course actually has to offer. The third tip would be to apply what your learning to your actual life. This course deals a lot with how to attack your plans and what behaviors an entrepreneur should have, but almost everything you learn can also be applied to other areas of your life.

Portmanwho "Terrigreat"

1) I combined the words "terrific" and "great" to create the word "terrigreat".

2) The definition is to feel so amazing that neither terrific or great can accurately explain how happy you are. It is to be the most excited feeling you've had in a long while.

4) Using this word around my friends made me feel silly, especially when I tried it around my parents. I think for a second there they questioned the class I was taking, but they seemed to get used to it after a while. My friends used it a couple times after I had been saying it for a week, but every time they said it they mainly just laughed. I also tried it on a couple of strangers and most of them just gave me a weird face. I think given more time, people could get used to the word and start using it, but at first glance more people seemed to find it silly rather than useful.

Reading Reflection No. 1

1) The Entrepreneur
 I read the biography about Steve Jobs for this post. The most surprising fact I found about Steve Jobs was that his entire venture was originally started in a garage in Pasadena. What is now the Mac originally began as a circuitboard that was designed and manufactured with Wozniak right out of a garage. From that point on, the Mac line of products exploded and grew into what Apple exists as today. I truly admire Steve Jobs because after all he went through, he continued to push forward and stay on top. When the Apple board of directors kicked Jobs out of his own company, Steve chose not to quit, he moved on to a new computer business and even helped the creation of Pixar. Several years later Jobs was put back on top at Apple. The only thing I disliked about Jobs was how cruel he could be towards his employees. In one instance he actually screamed at an Apple designer because of the way a particular font appeared.

2) Competencies of the Entrepreneur
 Steve Jobs did not have extensive technical knowledge, yet he was CEO of the world's best know computer company for years and years. This was because Jobs is hardworking and never knows when to quit. His biggest competency was his sharp eye for design. The products he was making didn't look like a giant plastic box, it actually brought design and beauty to the technical world.

3) I'm Confused
 If there was any part of the reading that was confusing, it was all the different relationships that Jobs had with in his personal and professional life. He went through several breakups in his life but they all seemed to be over questionable reasons. He even had a falling out with his start-up partner, Wozniak, over several different issues.

4) Two Questions
 The first question I would ask Jobs is, "What made you enter the world of computers and programming in the first place?". Throughout the book, it never became obvious why Jobs entered this business in the first place, it almost seemed as if he was just taking advantage of Wozniak and the opportunities presented.

The second question I would ask is, "What made you continue in the world of computers after being forced to leave from Apple?". I would ask this questions because I found it impressive that being kicked out of his own company did not stop Jobs from being successful.

5) Hard Work
 I believe that Jobs had a strong belief in hard work. Everything Jobs did was based on handwork. Jobs, in fact, may have been a little over focused on hard work because he worried about every single detail and could actually be cruel to his employees. I share the opinion that had work is important, but not to the point that people get hurt or fired over small little details.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You
 I live in Orlando and have lived here for my entire life. I have a strong passion for tourism because my family had owned a travel agency business for over 40 years in Puerto Rico and in Orlando. I currently am a cast member at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando. I have always dreamed of being a mechanical engineer so that I could design and update the rides in the attractions. Because my business venture is heavily based on tourism, I feel like it would be something that I could enjoy doing for years to come. I could see this as a business where I could make some extra money on the side, but would still have to be constantly updated to meet current tourist attractions.

2) What are you offering to customers?
 I feel as though that there is no where for guests to the Orlando area to be able to find information about the attractions they should visit all in one place. My business will create a website and mobile application where people will be able to view every single attraction that is available to visit in Orlando. They will also be able to purchase all the tickets they need in one, easy online interface. The biggest feature of this application will be its ability to tell guests what attractions they should visit and how much time they should spend there based solely on the interests of everyone in the family.

3) Who are you offering it to?
 The customers that will use my application will for the most part be located everywhere outside of Orlando. Most of the people who will use the application will most likely be from outside of the state of Florida. Anyone who has never been to Orlando before will also be a likely customer for the application. It will mainly be designed for people who have never been to Orlando before and have no idea where to start.

4) Why do they care?
 People will pay to use my product because they are choosing to spend large amounts of money on their vacations to Orlando and will want to to make the most of every penny they spend. Time is also a scarce resource for guests to Orlando and the application will help every guest make the most of every second.

5) What are your core competencies? 
 I have lived in Orlando for twenty years and have advanced knowledge about all the attractions and transportation in the area. I have a passion for tourism and planning vacations that not many people have even in the Orlando. This will be an application that will help guests plan vacations based solely on their interests, which can be found through personality tests.

I truly believe that all the components of this business combine together in a beneficial way. Unlike Expedia and Travelocity which focus on flights, hotels, and rental cars, my new software will focus exclusively on the attractions that make Orlando great. Because of my background in tourism, I believe that I could make this venture a success.

Tweaking the Innovation

My new software called "Experience Orlando" will give people to plan out the attractions they want to visit in Orlando by assessing the interests of the people in the group while also allowing customers to purchase all the tickets they need in one place. The drivers that my software will have will be a the website data, the interests assessment, transportation, and the ticket purchases.

The first item will be the website data. The benefit of this item will be access to a wealth of information in one place that can give new visitors to Orlando all the information they need about the attractions. The tangible will be the actual part of the website that people can log onto and search for any attraction that they would like to. This item could be re-innovated so that people would have to pay a subscription fee to access all the data. It could also be designed in a way that people could create accounts and save the information for attractions they are interested in on their own profile page. This information could also be linked to social media sites so that people could plan with their friends over the internet.

The second item would be the "Interests Assessment". The benefit of this item will be that people could plan their vacations by knowing how much time to spend in attractions and which attractions to focus on solely on the interests of the people in the families or groups. The tangible level of this item would be the actual interests quiz. It would be a set of questions that can determine what type of attractions people would have a strong interest in. The augmented level is that the quiz can compare you interest results to what attractions have to offer, thus allowing users to make informed decisions.  This item can be innovated by designing different quizzes for different members of a family. For example, the quiz for a little girl could be made easier to understand than a quiz  for the father of a family which could be more detailed and comprehensive. A second innovation could be a specific version of the quiz designed for the bigger theme parks. For example, Walt Disney World could have their own version of the quiz so that people could figure out what they should do in each of the parks.

The third item would be transportation. The benefit would be that users would have access to different bus system routes and services instead of having to pay for and use a rental car for the duration of the trip. The tangible level of the item would be a map of routes and a list of the different companies that could be used by any of the users at any time. The augmented level of this item would be for the ability to purchase tickets for the transportation through the app. Innovations could include the ability to contact taxi services through the application and the ability to link the app to the schedules of the bus systems so that you know what time to be ready to be picked up by.

The fourth item would be ticket purchases. The benefit would be the ability to purchase all the tickets you need for attractions on one website before you even arrive in Orlando. The tangible level of this item would be an actual page on the website that you could order tickets from and use your credit card or PayPal to pay for tickets. The augmented level could be the ability insure the tickets so that the users money could be refunded if the user must cancel the visit to the attractions. Innovations could include the ability to package tickets for different attractions together in bundles. A second innovation could be the ability to send tickets to someone as a gift automatically.

Elevator Pitch No. 1

My solution to the problem with planning trips to Orlando is called "Experience Orlando". Unlike Expedia or Travelocity which focuses on how to get people to a location through flights and hotels, my application and website will allow people to plan what attractions they will go to Orlando based on the interests of themselves and their families. The program will tell them what attractions to go to and how much time they can spend there. It will also give people a single place to purchase all of their tickets before they even leave for Orlando with only a convenience fee added to every purchase.

The link to YouTube below contains my First Elevator Pitch.
https://youtu.be/v3SWeaq_GUg