unfair advantage

1. Connections to coders

Valuable: Coding a website is the most important material for my website.
Rare: It's only really rare among people who don't know anyone in the computer science crowd. Online, this isn't really rare.
Inimitable: Pretty tough, as coding websites takes considerable experience.
Non-substitutable: Could substitute coding lessons.

2. An audience

Valuable: They'll help spread the word about my website when it goes up.
Rare: Building a following while being well-liked and reputable isn't as easy as it seems!
Inimitable: Very few could.
Non-substitutable: No one else in my market is trying to make something like this, so no.

3. Connections to artists

Valuable: Graphic design know-how is imperative to a nice-looking website that people will want to use.
Rare: Most people aren't artists, so pretty rare.
Inimitable: Art takes years to learn and finesse.
Non-substitutable: I have my own art skills I could use instead.

4. My own artistic skills

Valuable: Using my own skills may not save time, but it will save some money.
Rare: Again, most people aren't artists so fairly rare.
Inimitable: I have my own style and aesthetic, so I'll say yes.
Non-substitutable: There are other artists out there.

5. Being a part of my own market

Valuable: I have years of knowledge and experience that you just can't buy. A fantastic advantage against outsiders thinking of entering.
Rare: It's a niche community, so yes.
Inimitable: Anyone else in this community has similar experiences.
Non-substitutable: Most people in this community are artists or in STEM, so I'm sort of alone as a business major.

6. Accounting knowledge

Valuable: Essential to maintaining a business
Rare: Most artists probably haven't taken an accounting class.
Inimitable: However, anyone can.
Non-substitutable: Could hire an accountant.

7. Bright future $$$

Valuable: Money is vital to starting a business.
Rare: It's a very common scholarship in Florida.
Inimitable: There are many others with the same level of BF as me.
Non-substitutable: And there are many other scholarships and ways to make money.

8. Being a UF student

Valuable: We're a top 10 public university, and the best in Florida, which gives me a pretty good education.
Rare: 50,000 students go here, but I wouldn't say we're common.
Inimitable: The quality makes my degree on the more difficult side to imitate
Non-substitutable: 

9. My empathy

Valuable: Vital for making sales, networking, and maintaining a good corporate culture.
Rare: Not everyone has it, but not rare.
Inimitable: I've been told I'm extremely empathetic and relatable, so if it sticks out to people then I must be above average.
Non-substitutable: Can't substitute ingenuity! 

10. My energy

Valuable: Being motivated is the easiest way to get things done.
Rare: Not really.
Inimitable: Being genuine and energetic is pretty hard to fake.
Non-substitutable: Can substitute with a strong work ethic and self-discipline at the cost of some fun.

I'd say my most valuable resource is #5, being a part of my own market. It's got the best VRIN analysis out of all of these, as it's the hardest to imitate and really can't be substituted. People could be interviewed, but I think it's hard to grasp some things without experiencing them for yourself (like college).

the final pitch

The feedback that stood out to me most last time was positive reception on my updated hook, so I kept that in there! Otherwise, besides shortening my pitch for the sake of timing, for this elevator pitch I focused on presentation. I noticed in my past pitches that I moved around a lot and constantly had my eyebrows stuck in this weird surprised state, and while the assignment encourages you to be energetic, that probably doesn't coincide with being obnoxious. This third time around I was a lot comfier in front of the camera, and I think it shows.

Reading reflection II

I chose to read Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Dr. Carol S. Dweck.

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

In each chapter, Dr. Dweck compares two mindsets: Growth and fixed. At first, I thought it was going to be 8 chapters of her preaching how the growth mindset was better because being open-minded and learning from you failures is vital to success and all that jazz, but I was wrong. She realistically explains how each can lead to both success and failure in their own right, though inevitably growth mindsets are the way to go.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

In chapter 4, the author talks about what makes the mindset of a 'champion'. It's in a sports context, but it heavily reminded me of entrepreneurship. It's all about how those with growth mindsets find success in doing their best and find setbacks motivating. Entrepreneurship is all about coming up with hundreds, if not thousands of ideas that will ultimately fail, but not letting that deter you.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

It would involve enforcing a growth mindset by both reflecting on past failures or setbacks that you moved on from as well as anticipating any possible failures in the future. It's grim, but important to prepare for the worst.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

The most eye-opening thing I read was about how we are conditioned in school to believe we are 'smart' in subjects we pick up quickly and 'dumb' in subjects that take longer to learn. Praising children's intelligence harms their motivation and performance. They'll associate victory with being smart and failure with being dumb, which could ultimately make failing a much more traumatic process than it needs to be. Growing up as a perfectionist, it's almost sad how true this is! I'm still trying to unlearn my association between failure and being seen as a fool.

Growing your social capital

1. Domain Expert: François Chollet

Chollet is the creator of Wysp, an art community that focuses on practice improvement. She is my domain expert since I also want to create an art website with strong community features, albeit with a different focus. I found Wysp via a blog post, and found Chollet's contact info on Wysp's FAQ page. Since Chollet appears to be a normal young person just like you and me, in my email I basically asked about things I was worried about concerning my own project- getting the word out, unexpected challenges, and how she created the website. Additionally, I noticed there are no ads on Wysp, and there doesn't seem to be a paid membership system, so I was curious about where Wysp created revenue. Having her in my network will add a nice sense of camaraderie as well as a possible mentor- small website moderators have to stick together!

2. Market Expert: Silvia Barnett

Silvia is a digital artist who's been in the artist roleplaying community for over five years, so she's representative of my market. Since I'm in the same community, we met through there and have been friends for a few years now. I chose to contact her through a freeware application, Discord, since that's where we usually chat to keep things casual.

In my message to Silvia, I asked her mostly about her views on how big my market is and what kind of features should be free versus premium on my website. Having her in my network will be helpful since she is deeply rooted within it and has a large reach of her own. She could help me spread the word about my website.

3. Important Supplier: Allison Zhao

Zhao is a freelance coder who works with clients in building websites and small video games. When your service is a website, coding and technical help are the most important supplies. I found Zhao through a tweet advertising her coding commission services. When I contacted her through Twitter, I basically described my website idea to her in hopes of getting suggestions and a quote. The more you know! Having this person in my network is vital for my website's creation due to her expertise.

Reflection

I can see that networking is super vital, as I've been told since I was a freshman at UF. They give you the info and boosts that classes and money can't buy, and I wouldn't doubt if they were the gap between some businesses succeeding and failing.

napone naptwo napred napblue

1) You. 

I am a 3rd year marketing student. Since I'm not too experienced in that field, most of my wisdom in life thus far has come from communicating with large groups of artists online. Despite these not being in person, I've actually gained a surprising amount of people and leadership skills from this.

As for aspirations, I would love to tie my business major into an art-related industry. Video games need marketers, too! I'd like to get some experience with a large firm before starting my own projects and ideas, such as this one!

2) What are you offering to customers? 

I am offering a new, modern, socially acceptable website for artists to gather on and use as a form of social media as well as a platform for their creative endeavors. All in one place that was meant for them. (Some social media websites such as Twitter and Tumblr can be difficult to post artwork on due to quality, size, and file restrictions.)

3) Who are you offering it to? 

Young, tech-savvy artists who carefully craft their online image as a way of personal branding.

4) Why do they care?

Again, personal branding. My only competitor is considered outdated, corrupt, and known for being home to niche, socially unacceptable artwork. A good chunk of my market use their art as a source of income and get work through the internet, so having pretty profile pages on shiny new websites matters to them.

5) What are your core competencies?

To reflect on last week's assignment, I'm really good at relating to people, as well as possessing leadership skills and innovative tendencies. Thus, being a part of my own market gives me maximum relatability. #likeliterally #canteven

she reflec

Basically, I think I can make something people want due to my own insight. Due to this product being for a niche audience, I believe that gives this product strength, as the whole 'one size fits all' marketing scheme went out of fashion a while ago. As for the pieces fitting together, I feel that I could still make my market stronger. It consists of both hobbyist artists as well as professionals, but I'm not sure which one there is more of. This could potentially matter, as hobbyists tend to be much more casual.

Feedback

One of the main pieces of feedback that I got stated that catering to the digital artist community is a smart idea. Honestly, since so few people do, I can't help but agree! It's part of the reason that drove me to do this business idea for this class. I mentioned the niche audience thing earlier.

In my first idea napkin, I stated that switching costs would be my greatest challenge. However, after interviewing several people and learning that many are already pretty fed up with my main competitor, DeviantArt, I think people would be more than willing to switch to a new website, especially if it's pretty and easy to use. To get there, I'm gonna need some more coding knowledge beyond HTML and Java, though.

Custom avatar

When I picture my prototypical customer, I immediately imagine a college student who spends their weekends drawing and being on the internet. They're probably more meme-savvy than most of their peers and extremely liberal. In their spare time, they like to watch anime, read webcomics and manga, and visit cute cafes (especially ones with boba tea!) Racially diverse as this is an international crowd, with especially strong presence among the Asian-American and Asian communities. Very artsy people who would probably pick Gravity Falls over Riverdale. They are probably well-versed with the [toxic] fan culture of Tumblr that they regrettably spent years of their early teens on, and have written or read fanfiction. Dungeons and Dragons are a familiar topic, though not all have tried it before.

Through this assignment, it's especially evident that I fit right into this demographic. Since I'm also an artist who can be kind of a shut-in compared to most people my age, there is no coincidence here.

and the krabby patty secret formula is

Five ways that make my human capital unique:

1. My sense of humor. It's always been a useful way to make friends, diffuse situations, and add entertainment value to my life.
2. Ability to relate. Empathy? I attempt to be open-minded and understand everyone's viewpoint in attempt to be humble. People behave a certain way for a reason, and usually it isn't because they're crazy.
3. Creativity. Even if some people find me weird because of my ideas, I choose to embrace them anyway and just go to town with my passions or ideas. Being a normie won't get you anywhere in entrepreneurship, where you're supposed to not be like everyone else.
4. Genuineness. I honestly don't have much of a filter and am pretty transparent, which makes it hard to feign excitement or affection for someone. I've learned to mend this by thinking more positive thoughts in general, but my passion for something always shines through because of this. I definitely try to come off as someone with no ulterior motives.
5.  Optimism. I've come to realize that focusing on the negatives hurts my productivity, so I try to focus on the best in people and my situation (while taking note of anything problematic so it doesn't harm me in the future) to keep a genuine persona.

I recorded these interviews using the voice memo app or another recording website, so I had to upload these as audio posts onto my ancient Tumblr account.

Erica Audio

I'm a good listener with an "otherworldly" sense of humor. When she comes to me to talk about something, she ends up laughing about her problems and always feels better. Erica also said I'm a strong, empathetic person who can pick herself up from rejection and throw herself at the next hurdle in life. Also, she thinks I have good time management (I'm so flattered my god

Chase Audio

I'm a good, empathetic leader that he thinks of as a role model (awww!!!!). I'm a quick learner, people-oriented, and pleasant to be around. I am articulate and good at relating to others, creating a positive atmosphere. This boy called me the life of the party!!

Dipa Audio

I find unique, innovative ways to connect with people online. I have artistic talent and am very good at finding opportunities and making them my own, putting my own twist on things. I am also very good at reading people and understanding them at a quick rate, and good at maintaining my emotions and mental health.

Mom Audio

I am a perfectionist with a passion for the arts. I'm a good listener and helpful friend. I enjoy doing difficult things for the sake of a challenge, and will not relent or give up.

Dad Audio

I love my family and am a good worker who will finish the job. I am also determined and passionate, but to a fault; if I'm not excited about something, my motivation and productivity are zilch.

Conclusion

I was so flattered by all of these interviews! I personally don't see myself as someone with a strong will or heavy determination since I'm not personally satisfied with my productivity, but it appears that others don't share that viewpoint at all. In my teens, I used to be very shy and quiet, so I'm happy to hear that people now think of me as more of a leader and someone who can thrive in center stage. I can't say all of these are completely correct, but I'm okay with that, since I know I can't stop hustling. Reflecting back on my first list, based off my interviews I'd maybe make things sound more strong-willed. Apparently.