Last Week - Last Lecture

I think a big thing about entrepreneurship is not coming up with a new idea. Anybody can come up with a business idea or a product, but just because you can think it up doesn't mean that somebody wants to buy it. Even if people like the idea, that doesn't mean they want to use it. The key is finding a pain point. The key to finding the pain point is talking to customers. Customers can tell you what is wrong with a current solution and help give you inspiration that will help you solve the problem and that the customer will want to use. Sometimes you have to be careful though as Henry Ford said that if he asked his customers what they wanted they would've said a faster horse. Those ideas are rare and we must always be careful of making our idea sound good and make it actually good. Then comes sticking with what we're good at. Knowing what you are good at might take time, but by figuring that out, that will determine how you will complete your products or services that your customers want. Also, having a great team. In another class I have, there was a presenter who told us about how there was a study that concluded that the more founders there are for a business, the more successful it will be, but also you shouldn't have a founder that doesn't bring something necessary to the foundation of the business, and also that they don't have overlapping skills. When you do have the business up and running, you need to keep in mind your priorities. There are two extremes to entrepreneurship. Putting in too much time into the business, or not putting enough and letting employees run everything about the business. You need to be somewhere in the middle, but also don't let personal matters fall to the wayside like family and friends. It is easy to let the business take over.

Week XIII

This week was interesting. Preparing for the presentation while also having to prepare for the exact same sort of presentation in another class was helpful. Things that I learned to prepare in my other class I was able to apply to this one. I have been watching a lot of Shark Tank, and while researching an entrepreneur who tried and failed, I saw Mark Cuban and was very intrigued to read about his past aside from what they already give on the show. I learned a lot from his story and seeing him in action on how he invests his money on the show was enlightening. In the article I read, it mentioned that he doesn't invest in companies that he doesn't feel fit well with his areas of expertise, even if he thinks it is a good idea. While watching the show I started to notice that no matter how much he enjoyed the product or idea, if it wasn't something he was extremely familiar with, he backed out. On the show he wouldn't say it was because he was uncomfortable or not confident, he would give other very thought out reasons and responses. Comments that were more constructive than just I don't want to be in that industry. I also liked reading about working on your business and not just in it. There is more than just working yourself to death or leaving everything to your employees. The best place to be is somewhere in between the two extremes.

Week 12

A few things this week mentioned family businesses. There is a great difficulty in family businesses. That familiarity brings trust and helps you count on them more quickly, but oftentimes that closeness can get in the way. It is never easy to tell someone you love that something is being done wrong, or that they need to change something. I also think that when starting a business it is imperative to bring people on that fulfill a business requirement. This keeps you organized and everybody will have a role in the development of the business. This keeps everyone motivated and everyone knows what is expected of them. Business relationships and family relationships may be difficult to separate, and it a business relationship goes sour, the family one might also likely fall apart.

My $100 business is going well. We have gotten good reviews from those we were able to babysit for, and they have told others that they recommend us. I feel bad making them pay us when others in the ward are doing it for free. Their only benefits in choosing me are supporting the nonprofits in Ghana and helping me with my class assignment. They still pay and it is nice to help others in such a cheap way.

Lesson 10

Babysitting on Friday was interesting. I had a water polo game and could only go for the first 2 and a half hours of babysitting and my wife stayed for the rest of the time needed. Then they went over time by almost 40 minutes. We had even been talking about maybe if I would even show up at all for that appointment. It got me thinking that maybe if we needed to, my wife and I could split up and do two appointments at the same time if the need arises. We are both certainly capable.

I learned a lot about franchises that I had not known before. I had no idea that a lot of chain restaurants are franchises. I had always assumed that it was the business acting as a whole to open new locations and not a franchisee opening them. I also didn't know about the requirements to even start a franchise that so many of the franchises have. I knew there were royalties to pay, but I didn't know exactly how all of that works out. Looking up the options made it so much easier to understand. Also, I read a lot about business processes today. It didn't feel like there was much of a relationship between that and the other assignments about franchises. It did feel like it was all information I should know. 

Lesson 9

I love reading Good to Great. I have read a lot of it for another class. It is an extremely information packed book. It focuses a lot on first who then what. I watched a video from a man a while ago that focused on that specific point. I can't exactly remember if it is the author or someone close to the writing of that book that was in the video, but he repeated himself many many times saying "first who then what". Most of the time we focus on the problem we need to solve and not so much the people that could make a great team to solve whatever problem. More of what we read this week was about the hiring process. I felt as though I was getting a sneak peak into the interview process. Having applied for many internships, it was interesting to be thinking about it from the other side of the table. As the interviewee, you aren't so much thinking about them not asking the right questions, or not making a good impression on you. Also, we watched a video about Matt Stewart. He made some interesting points about not focusing on the money or profits of your idea. Get the focus on what you want to do and it will make money. He said that all of his failures were because he had an idea that he wanted to make money off of. If you love what you do and can find people with similar passions in your related area you can do great things and the money will come, but don't let it be about the money.

This week was tough for the $100 challenge. I had another project for another class that took up a lot of my time. We were doing a mock-run of a consignment store to happen in Rexburg. It went very well. We were able to sell over $350 worth of clothes. We did have someone on our ward facebook group reach out to us for babysitting, so that was a nice switch for us. That appointment is to happen this week. Maybe I should have combined my ideas from the other class with that business to the one for this class. It went so well that maybe I should have done that.

Lesson Eight

I'm finding a little more success in talking to people about helping me support my non-profit organization. They are paying me more to support the non-profit than actually paying me for the babysitting. I was kind of counting on this, but it still surprises me how little people expect to pay for the care of their own offspring. I would think they would be willing to pay so much more for their children to be taken care of.

A lot of what I have been learning this week and not only in this class has been about customers. They often cause you to find a product that needs to be made or introduced, but not always do they know exactly what they want. Risks are often rewarded, but not always is the risky thing to do the correct one. You have to listen to those you are trying to help. They often know what their problems are. Not always do they know the perfect solution, but they know what they don't like. They also need to be paid attention to. We have to focus on them and how we are helping them and that the problem we think we are solving is actually a problem and that our solution is a real solution.

Lesson Seven

There were a lot of good things this week. We watched a bio of Bud Brigham. He is very into finding your purpose in life as that will guide a lot of decisions you make. He mentioned how he found this for himself was reading and studying philosophy. He also says it is important to surround yourself with similar values and beliefs. We also read some things about the importance of dedicated employees. There are a lot of ways that employees help the company. They can be detrimental to growth if they aren't dedicated and feel good about what they are doing. And a video we watched about Zappos and how they value their employees. They offer their employees money to quit. They pursue a higher quality of environment for their workplace and committed employees is how they accomplish that. those that take the money are those who were working for a paycheck. And then those that don't take the money are then more committed to the company because they had to make a decision to stay.

Progress continues with babysitting. Offers are not as plentiful as I had first expected. We continue pushing in our ward facebook group and seeking opportunities. I am still wondering how I can find more opportunities outside my ward.

Lesson Six

Progress continues on the $100 challenge. We had to make an elevator pitch this week. It was interesting. I felt as though my idea may be too simple. Everything has been very straightforward and obvious to answer. I have been having a lot of fun with this assignment all the same.

Every week we have to watch a video about an entrepreneur. This week was about Phil Romano. He is an interesting man. I really enjoyed something he had to say. He said that doing what people told him not to do is what got him where he is today. A lot of people tell others things that they shouldn't do because it's too risky or it won't work. These people care about you and know how bad it could possibly go, but that is how it all happens. Failure is something to be expected. We read something about marketing this week too and in one of the clips it said that 80% of products that come out brand new are off the market within the first year. Either they failed or are obsolete, but that is what happens. You need to pursue your dreams and goals and do what you love. When you can do that, then it doesn't matter how it all turns out, you'll be happy with the journey.

Week 5

We were able to get a babysitting appointment this week. We babysat for 4 hours. My wife was the one that found the opportunity and they were our upstairs neighbors. This made it easy as they dropped the baby off and we took care of him with the diapers and food that they gave us. I feel that this business is going to work extremely well for us. I think maybe we should charge more for our time. I feel that people are inclined to pay less than a reasonable wage because of the ease of finding willing babysitters, however, we are taking care of their child which is a very important thing. Also, we are offering to donate the final profits to a nonprofit.

I really enjoyed what Elder Hales spoke about. How can we provide for others outside our family if we cannot control how we live with our family. We must control the home before we can be expected to take care of things outside of our control. We are responsible for relatively so little. A big thing to think about is are the things we do to show love for our family or to show to others that we are a good provider. I love my wife very much and want to show her I love her but oftentimes I feel as if I am just trying to show off to her that I am the provider for our family.

Lesson 4

I remember from the video it mentioned the pivot. In another class that I am taking, we learned about this pivot as well. All successful startups have a zig zag course of how they got to where they are. The pivot is starting with one idea, seeing what works with that idea, and then changing to what fits with what works with that idea. Then from there you see what works with that idea and the things you've already learned, and then doing the same thing. Just because an idea sounds like a good idea, does not necessarily mean that it is a good idea. I remember reading an example about a website that connects you with other pet lovers. It sounds like a good idea, you could imagine that there are people that would be willing to use that site, but if everybody thinks that there is somebody that might use it but not them, then you end up with a big list of nobody and a another huge list of people that think it's probably a good idea for someone. The key is finding what works out of what you have and taking what you learned and changing course. We learned about the GEM model also. These relate extremely well. Gather, Enhance, Marketing. You gather your information, you enhance(pivot) and then market your new product. Lather rinse repeat. The more you do it the more perfectly into your market you will fit.

Activity 10

From the Harvard material, I was reminded of something I read in Good to Great. First who, then what. You pick your team of who is on the bus, then you give them the problem they need to solve. You need to find your team of creative thinkers that complement and work well together. The ride will not always be smooth, but it will end in a good result. The team seemed to me as the most important thing in  what we read about the creative process. Obviously it helps to give them a good environment that encourages their creativity and ability to ideate and come up with solutions.
For the $100 challenge I have brought my list of 20 down to 5 and think that I know what I will eventually pick. It is hard to choose based on a list of ideas that I think will work. Potentially one of the 20 I didn't pick could be a better choice, but I will not know because I chose a different route. I feel the list I came up with supports how I would best be able to accomplish the task of generating $100 of profit.

$100 challenge

This week we watched a video about Corey Bell. We also were supposed to come up with some ideas for this $100 challenge. In short the $100 challenge is where we start a business with $20 and try to make a profit of at least $100. One of our assignments this week was to write out a list of 20 ideas that we think might be possible to do where we are. I wrote out a lot of them. I could've written more, but I felt a lot of them were variations of the same thing, so I left those ones out. I feel that most of my ideas stem from doing something simple and telling people it is for a nonprofit organization just so that I can charge them more. That seems unfair and also not really filling the requirement of the assignment. I am trying to fix a problem. I know there are lots of problems, but it is hard to envision one that I can solve by myself and also with only $20. I may be able to get my wife to help. I don't know how fair that is either. I am excited and scared about this project. I hope I can find a good idea in the right spot to get the best out of this assignment.

Bruce Thompson

If you love what work you do then everything in that line of work will be enjoyable. You will love working with the people you work with. Get to know who you work with and you will find joy in getting to know them and look forward to doing things with them. Neither your family nor your job should take priority over the other. You do what things you have to do and when it is time for one or the other than you should focus on that. Treat other people’s money like it is your own and you will build trust and respect. The ability to persevere is extremely important. Wait for the right deal at the right time. Recovering from a bad deal can be far more destructive and difficult to recover from than just waiting for a good deal in the first place. Your relationship with your family, friends, God, and your faith that will set your mark and make the difference.

Final Week

This week I will post my own "Last Lecture" of all of the key things that should be learned from taking this course.

I don't want to number them, that feels too official. I'm just going to talk about points of things that I learned and I think they will all just kind of meld together. A big take-away I got from this class is about following your passions. Maybe entrepreneurship isn't your passion, and that's OK. the thing is finding something that you love and do that. That is what really makes everything worth it. Don't seek after money because you'll be miserable and may not even make a lot of money, but if you follow your passion, you probably won't make a lot of money, but you will love what you do so much that it won't matter so much.
Another thing is to make ethical guardrails early and check on yourself often to make sure you are following the guidelines you set yourself. By putting those in place early you will make it so much easier on yourself to make tough decisions that could be a bad decision, but because you know how you want to act when faced with those decisions you will make that decision easier on yourself to not do it.
Set a plan of where you want to go as your end goal in a career sense and the stops you are going to take to get to that point. By knowing where you want to go you can see the jobs that will help you acquire the skill set to get to that end goal. The stops may not all be right or may not come quite as you plan them, but you can at least be heading in the right direction. If at least you work towards your goal you may get there, or you may find yourself doing something better that you hadn't anticipated, but the heading on the horizon is what is most important.
Don't focus so hard on the next job you get being the last job you're ever going to have. There are so many jobs that people have and most people don't stay longer than 11 months. You pick up skills and connections that get you to the next stop and then you repeat the process. Always keep looking for the next thing that is best for you. You will gain so much experience on the way.
Also, always try to keep learning. Be a lifelong learner. Pick up as many skills and talents as you can along the way. It will help you get to another step and you can learn more there.

WEEK 13

I didn't quite understand what the man in our first video this week was saying. He mentioned career paths and dealmakers, but I wasn't quite sure at all what that meant. The second video I loved. He mentioned how most people work for a company for about 11 months and then move on. The idea is put in our heads that we stay with one company and move up the ladder in that company to get to where we want to be. I feel like a shift has happened though where that doesn't make as much sense anymore. Most of what happens is working at many different companies and finding new things and learning new things and then from there moving onward and upward. Moving to a new company with the skills you learned at the last one and hopefully learning more new things and repeating. It is so easy now to do that. He also mentioned that we shouldn't try to specialize in something. Technology advances so far and so fast these days that you could specialize in something and then eventually it becomes obsolete. New software is always coming out that makes our jobs easier. Also this ease in changing jobs makes it not as important where you first start because you probably won't stay with them forever. We are always on the lookout for something better. This idea used to terrify me that I would always have to work for the company I start with for a really long time, or that I just might not be able to find somewhere that I would want to work for for that long. However, that doesn't matter. You gain experience and skills and progress to gain more experience and skills. That is what is really important.

W12

This week there was a long video about entrepreneurship and consecration. A lot of what I picked out of the videos was to do something that changes things for good. As an entrepreneur we can make a big difference in other peoples lives. We can help others with our business, but we can also use what we do and the money we make to help those in need. There is so much that needs to be done in the world. Even big things like getting rid of smallpox has been made possible in the past few centuries. With a combined effort from people who wish to help a little here and a little there, so much can be accomplished. There are lots of projects in Africa and developing countries to give them clean water. There are many other businesses that could be used to receive money to give to those that need it. By developing that technology we can make a big change. Of course God is on our side if we do the things he asks of us. He can help us be that great change.

• Based on what you read in the first two pages (pages 3 and 4), why are virtue and integrity so vital to an economy?
• According to Charles Handy, what is the “real justification” for the existence of businesses?
• What are two solutions proposed by Handy that you agree with? Why?

Virtue and Integrity are vital to an economy because you need to be able to trust the companies that they won't try to take advantage of customers and situations. As customers, the more times you feel slighted by a company the less likely you are to buy from them, but if all the companies are doing it then you just decide how to get by without that thing. As a business, and other businesses are doing things to cheat markets and customers, you feel that there is no way to compete or make money against these all powerful monsters. Because of this, they back out and leave, leaving customers with only bad companies to deal with. Without Honesty and Integrity there is no trust, and without trust, there is no growth.

The "real justification" for the existence of businesses is to make a profit so that they can do something more or better. This creates progress.

Week Eleven

The videos seemed a little contradictory this week. Some of the videos week mentioned that you cannot be a successful business person and also live a balanced life, but some of the videos said it was possible. One of the entrepreneurs this week said that he had the goal of never saying the word "can't". He had a family and I would imagine that by bringing that up he meant that there are times when you feel you can't do both, but he would do both. There is the idea that you cannot be successful in a business sense and have a balanced home life too. I think it is definitely possible. Especially after the interview I had with my dad about being an entrepreneur. He at first thought that his only choice was to do what the hospital wanted, but as time went on and he was forced to make time for himself, the church, and his family, he learned how to make it work for him. By having more experience working, he learned how he could make those decisions to give himself more free time to do the other things he wanted to do besides work. There is slack that can be used to make time in a personal life, you just need to learn where you can pick up that slack and do what you want alongside the things you need to do.

Week 10

I really liked the videos this week. I shared the main ideas with my wife because I thought they were so interesting. One video talked about how his team got to be in the top 100 boat dealerships in North America 2 years in a row. He made a point of saying that he is just a normal guy, but as just a normal guy, he was still able to get into that top 100 of North America. Dream big, don't underestimate what you can achieve. Strive for greatness because the amount of effort is about the same and the reward is so much greater. I also really liked the video about the 20% at Google. By giving employees 20% of work time to work on whatever they wanted, half of the products that they came out with were a result of that 20%. The other half was the other 80% of their time. These people are smart enough and creative enough to use their top quality equipment to come up with good ideas and products. It also builds a trust between the company and the employee. The employee knows that the company trusts them and obviously wants to do well, apart from being even more motivated to make something they came up with work well. Also from the interview this week I learned a lot about a person who focused on running their own business without studying business to start their own business. It was eye opening to see that sort of perspective. I feel I could run a business at least partially well, but I don't have a product or service to give directly. I interviewed my father, and he went to school to be an orthopedic surgeon. His focus was on the service and the business experience followed. It had to, because he wouldn't have been able to stay in practice had he not learned the things that you have to do to run a business. Granted he said he may not be doing everything perfectly, but he does it enough.

Week NINE

A few of the videos focused on customer service and how important it is. Good customer service comes when you trust your customer. And when you trust them they will trust you. Another thing that was mentioned about customer service was that it shows how the company will perform. Financial statements show how the company performs based on decisions you already made. How customers respond to your business and service will show how you will do. Customers know what they don't like whether or not they know what they actually want. Another video that sort of tied in to this idea as well was about hiring the right people. By hiring people with good ethics and morals you will do well because in groups and teams, the people will get along well and get the work done well. If you are focusing on customers than those people will be trying to help the customers instead of just trying to further themselves in their careers. This ties into something that I really liked from Good to Great. "First Who, Then What". You need to pick your team and who is going to work with you before you formulate a plan. If you have the right people on the bus then everything should flow quickly and efficiently.

Week Eight

All of the videos and reading was inspiring for this week. the thing that most especially caught my attention was about the 5 whys. So, he did not explain too much about what they were but I think I got it from his example. He said that every problem can be traced back to a human problem. His example was about a code that was added to a website that then made the website crash. They traced it back to a problem in the code that made it crash. Then to the programmer who coded it and that he was new. Then that he wasn't trained well. And then finally to the manager who didn't train him very well because he didn't think it was that important. This was eye opening for me. That just because you think you have found the solution to the problem does not mean that you have found the ultimate solution and that it can probably be fixed fairly simply and that potentially could fix other problems before they start. Like in this example of the manager. You could leave it at the programmer and get him to code better and now that he is aware of this mistake you can solve some problems, but with the manager not wanting to train then you have a bigger problem that will spread to more than just that one programmer. I loved that video. Keep asking why even if it seems pointless or even like overkill, but if you can find your manager that doesn't want to train then you are miles ahead of where you where before. I also liked his insight about the manager saying he won't change anything but then he gives a solution to fix this manager problem. Each time there is a problem give him an hour of training to fix it and eventually he will have given enough training or things in place to have people stop making these mistakes.

Week 07

Passion is more important than money. Many people desire to change the world and most of the time they make money. Some people desire to make money and they don't. So if you can pick between the two, follow your passion and the money will probably follow, but at least if it doesn't, you're doing something you are passionate about. Being passionate about what you do is far more important than anything else in your goals about what you want to do as your career.

Another part of our reading this week was a talk by President Hinckley. He mentions be true to yourself. Be true to God and be true to others. Be honest in all your dealings. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints first and foremost. I must not be stained by moral sin, especially in the workplace. Other people count on me and I need to be able to count on them. If I am not honest in my dealings with others, how could I expect honest behavior of them?

Also we got an summarized version of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. What I thought was interesting was that it is split into 3 "categories". Private victories, public victories, and overall effectiveness.

Week 6

This week we got a bit about how intense it really is to be an entrepreneur. One of the speakers jokingly said that if you are single, stay single. It can be taxing on both your relationship and the business. Another taxing relationship can be our relationship with the Lord and the church. If we choose to ignore a calling and because we feel we only have time for our job, then when we are in need of help we cannot count on the Lord to be there for us. In such a situation, he knows where our priorities are. As an entrepreneur, we need to know, and have our priorities right before we become entrepreneurs. Going into a situation with no ideas planned out beforehand can cause what we really want to shift from good to bad. We need to have our own personal "default" settings determined before we face tough situations. We need to be in good standing with the Lord so that we can get help from Him in our businesses and other aspects of our lives. We need to be able to have our families know that they can count on us and that their problems will not be ignored for our own personal wants instead.

From another speaker he was talking about how entrepreneurs would be entrepreneurs no matter the circumstances. That drive to be an entrepreneur comes independent of making money.

Week 5

Do not be an entrepreneur for the money. You can make more money by working at Google. Also you should make a list of passions. Don't worry about picking one passion, aim at a majority of passions, but then don't look at the "horizon" or the long term goal of passions, look at the "foreground". Look at the short term choices that need to be made. When faced with decisions that you have to choose between a few options, look at it as that many options that opened up in front of you and not having to lose an opportunity in place of another.

This week we read a case study. We read about the passion of one lady and how she started a business and then we contemplated the possible outcomes of various choices she could make that would need to be made and taking her future desires into account. I feel that weighing the pros and cons of her decisions would be very important to figure out which decision to make. Also, in decisions that we make, especially in a business sense, these pros and cons can help figure out what choice best fits our needs. Another thing to think about is that everyone may have different needs and depending on their goals, their decisions may be different.

Week 4

This week we focused a lot on how you should work. One of the videos described the Venn Diagram with three circles. What You're Good At, What You're Born to Do, and What Someone Will Pay You to Do. Another video described the choices you make that lead you to where you are in business situations. Each decision you make leads you to a future of possible outcomes. Some decisions close some opportunities off and some open more options. The focus of this to me being that you need to know where you want to go and the choices you need to make to get there. So with that in mind you need to pay attention to those three circles. By combing these two ideas, you can know what you are good and and what you want to do and how you want to live and make the right choices to get you to that situation.

One thing that I really took away from Jim Ritchie was about networking. In business classes you hear a lot about the importance of networking, but he made me think about it in a different way. He mentioned he retired at 35 years old and was a part of 6 businesses giving him passive income. This made me think of networking in the way of finding those sorts of opportunities. The people you know can come upon these opportunities and if you have given them the idea that you are someone they would want to offer an opportunity such as that, and also that you would be willing to take part in that sort of business idea. It made me think of networking as ideas that you put out of yourself and less so of the people that you know and the number of them being so important. Obviously both are important, but you can know a lot of people and every single one of them can have a terrible idea of you and won't want to offer you any sort of thing that they hear about or that comes up.

Week Three

I got to read a case study this week. It gave us a lot of information about the decisions and goals that this lady had and how they affected her career. it made me think a lot about the things that would decide between jobs myself. If I were to become marketable enough that I had multiple offers and the things that I would have to choose between about what would be my deciding factors in picking one job over the other. I wish that I could work little enough to support my family and spend as much time with them as possible. I hadn't realized how big of a deciding factor that would be for me before until this week. Also this week we were asked to come up with our own ethical guardrails. I chose mine to be fairly broad so that they would catch more problematic situations than just a few specific ones. I think it will be nice to have something written to look back on though. I feel it may not always be at the forefront of every decision I make, but I know that these are the things that I want to give focus to, and I can know that I have made these decisions and how I want to act in my career opportunities.

Week 2

This week we were instructed to make a bucket list. I was intrigued to see that a majority of my goals were to travel and do things with family. I found it very easy to come up with the first few but then struggled after. Every once in a while I was able to find a lot of goals that were similar but different enough that I wanted to include them all. It was actually a very fun project to complete even though my original thoughts were fairly negative towards making a bucket list. We had a lot of reading this week and videos that focused on what we should focus on as a career. Things to keep in mind are what you are good at and would feel fulfilled doing. Also doing something focused on serving others. Anther thing that I really enjoyed reading was that it said to find something that needs to be done not just having a good job. I've always wondered what exactly is the thing that I should focus on a career and thought maybe I would just figure it out as life went on. As life goes on I still continue in my same state of mind. I still feel like I have lots of schooling to go through and my time isn't yet up on what I need to complete before I really need to make a career choice. I like business and I like creating things. I want to have new ideas and introduce something different. Not that it needs to change the world. I just always think about the guy that invented the rubber bands shaped like things. Such a simple idea, but it blew up like crazy. Obviously that didn't really have any lasting effects because I hardly see those anymore, but I want to come up with more than just one big hit. I don't even want to become famous for my ideas or anything. I just want to have been able to come up with something new and been a part of something different that just never was before. I feel that I don't even have to be an inventor, just maybe even improving the process of something. The job categories that I have been thinking about recently even though most have nothing to do with new ideas are Salesman, Marketing Manager or even be part of Research and Development.

Week One

This week was mainly an introduction to my "Introduction to Entrepreneurship" class. There were a lot of videos and text to read. It was all very intriguing even though a lot of it was a small peek into what we will be learning and and going over soon. I think my favorite video was of the Asian-American man that explained the importance of making a career out of something you enjoy instead of just doing it for the money. By choosing a career for the money you will definitely be miserable and possibly rich or poor. That all depends on how your career turns out in the end. I particularly enjoyed his story of Law School. He knew within 10 days that Law School was not the place for him. Some people take years to figure out what isn't right for them. I think that is a very important thing for people to learn and for me especially. Sometimes it helps to discover what isn't right instead of just trying to pick something and stick with it. A lot of things are discovered this way. Edison himself said that he discovered hundreds of ways of how not to make a light-bulb. This is tough for me because I don't like giving up on something. I feel that if I feel like I want to quit then I'm not giving it enough effort, and that it will probably get better or easier with time. This is a great way of thinking if you can get yourself to start doing it. Instead of feeling the need to continue on with something just because you think you should, you can say that there are other option, and I don't need to commit myself to this one thing just yet. I can't wait for the rest of the stuff I'll be reading and watching the rest of this semester.