My Unfair Advantage

1.     Unique Designs –all of my designs are unique to my brand and line of clothing.

2.     Unique Idea- this style of clothing has very little if any competitors.

3.     Creative Ability- the product line has immense potential to grow and become a full line of apparel that is unique and hard to imitate.

4.     Appeals wide group of people- the product line appeals to a wide variety of people, but with a niche concept.

5.     Drive to succeed- I am extremely driven to succeed and I will not stop until I achieve my goals

6.     Network- I have connections in the clothing industry that can help propel my line of clothing in to the for front of the industry

7.     Product creates a new category of clothing- my line of clothing is unlike anything in the industry

8.     Product culture- The company provokes a level of comfort while maintain the productivity and style of business attire

9.     Work environment- the company obviously does not exist yet, but the culture will be very relaxed and inspire creativity

1.   New material- All items in my line of apparel will be made out of a revolutionary material that no other company offers

My top resource is a balance between the material and the designs the line of apparel will offer. These two resources are my greatest strength simply because they are unique to me and they are what separates my clothing line from the rest.

Growing My Social Capital

For this exercise I decided to get in contact with individuals related to the industry I am actually interested in going into rather then the individuals related to the product idea that I am using for this class. Thus, I got in contact with individuals within the real estate industry.

Domain Expert

Name: Brian Gianone

Background: Owner of Occulus development and partner in strategic real estate development company The Ridge LLC.

Contact: Brian is one of the owners of the new student housing development The Ridge, which I currently work for as a sales and leasing consultant. I simply sent him an email asking if he wouldn’t mind helping me a quick project.

Favor: The relationship we have is one of an employer and employee.

Networking Impact: Brian is constantly finding new real estate ventures and is essentially doing what I plan to do within the next 10 years. He is an extremely valuable connection and someone who could potentially help me in several ways.

Market Expert

Name: Carlos Miranda

Background: Carlos is the Director of Operations for The Ridge LLC and specializes in management and marketing.

Contact: Carlos is currently working the leasing office in order to establish a presence in Gainesville and help facilitate the pre lease process. I work in the same office, so I simply asked speak to him in person.

Favor: The relation is one of an executive and a lower level employee.

Networking Impact: Carlos has worked for several large corporations and has connections throughout several industries. He is an extremely valuable connection and someone who I learn from on a daily basis.

Supplier Expert

Name: Kelly Mahoney

Background: Kelly is the principal of The Ridge and a multi family construction company called VAC LLC.

Contact: Kelly spends the majority of his time on the construction site of The Ridge’s new development, but often comes into the leasing office to get updates from management. I speak with him when he comes in the office.

Favor: The relationship we have is one of employer and employee.

Networking Impact: Kelly is extremely driven and constantly working on new project and investments. He is an extremely valuable connection for both his market knowledge and potential network contacts.

Reflection

This networking exercise allowed me to realize the importance of the networks that I am building at work and the value of those connections now and in the future. This exercise simply allowed me to utilize the connections I already have.

Week 10 Reading Reflection

1.     I was surprised to find that the graphing approach is still taught in textbooks and is still a process used in modern society. I would assume that at this point technology has superseded any sort of pen and paper methodology.

2.     There was no part of the text that was confusing to me.

3.     If I could ask two questions to the author the first would be: How do individuals come up with financial theories and create these financial processes? The second question would be what happens when people incorrectly enter in their balance sheets?

4.     There was nothing about this chapter that I thought was incorrect.  

Elevator Pitch No. 3

My previous pitch did not receive much negative feedback aside from the fact that my pitch could definitely be slowed down. I definitely agree with the feedback and did my best to slow down and take my time to fully present my idea in a clear composed manor. Below is my new pitch.

My Secret Sauce

1.     I strongly believe that every individual possesses unique characteristics and abilities that separate them from everyone else. For me personally I believe my most valuable characteristics are my creative ability, my eye for design, my work ethic, my thoroughness, and my relentless desire to succeed. Many of these characteristics are very general, but ultimately I believe what is unique to me is the way I work for things I care about and my talent for design.

2.     With each interview I asked the exact same question and simply looked for the variations in response. I would simply ask what quality do you think I possess that separates me from others, what quality do you think is you unique to me. Each individual I interviewed had a different unique answer. I was only able to find four friends with the time and availability to be interviewed, but I believe all of them had unique useful answers.

My first interview said that he believes my creativity is my best quality. This is something I believe correlates with my own vision of myself and I am glad to hear that others have similar opinions on my skill set.

My second interview said something very interesting and said that he thinks I’m very direct. This is not a quality that I would normally think of, but it was definitely interesting to see his rational.

My third interview said that I am a hard worker. This answer also seemed to correlate with my view of my self and I think is a skill that is valued in any position.

My four and last interview said that my skill and a skill that several people in my generation possess is the tenacious mindset. I don’t know if I would consider this trait to be particularly unique to me, but it was interesting to see what he considers tenacious.

3.     I think there are minor differences in what others see in me, but for the most part I believe others have a relatively similar view of my abilities and myself. I think that there is always variances in the way you assess yourself and the way other assess you. Each person has unique qualities that they consider unique to them and they also have talents that many people don’t have the opportunity to see. I think the differences stem from people’s experiences with you. If you work with someone there will definitely be a difference in how the see you vs. how a friend of fraternity brother sees you. Looking back I don’t think I would change anything in my list.

Week 9 Reading Reflection

1.     I find it extremely interesting and surprising to learn that several entrepreneurs consider some aspects of market research to be irrelevant. I find that data is always useful. The data simply needs to be decoded to understand what variables are at play.

2.     It is slightly confusing to process how entrepreneurs forecast sales for a new business venture especially if the business has no cap on supply.

3.     If I could ask two questions to the author the first would be: What company at this point in time do you think has the best marketing strategy? The second question would be: How do you personally evaluate whether a company is a good venture or not?

4.     There was nothing particular in this chapter that I believe is incorrect.