Venture Concept No. 2

The Opportunity: The opportunity that I have found consists primarily of the fact that pet owners are limited when it comes to the diversity and availability of medicines for their animals, and those that are available tend to have certain unavoidable drawbacks and side-effects. There are many, many different people who have this need, but the one thing that brings them all together is that they are pet owners, and in the cases of many of these pet owners, their animals are suffering from something serious, such as epilepsy. The nature of this need was mostly covered above, there is a need and desire among pet owners for medicines that will first and foremost be effective in aiding their pets, but also ones that won't break the bank and will help their pets while avoiding the side-effects that many traditional pharmaceuticals are accompanied by. The forces creating this opportunity in the marketplace are for the most part unavoidable, animals get sick, especially as they get older. Pharmaceutical companies also do not address the above issues because typically the medicines they create are the only option, so why bother, and also these medicines may be the best option on the market, despite the side-effects. This market does not have any particular geographic layout, there are pet owners, though demographically the people desiring alternatives to current medicines for their pets tend to be a bit younger, typically in the 20-45ish range. Customers are for the most part not currently satisfying this need, if an animal is sick you treat it with what is currently available, even if it is not ideal. Those that are satisfying this need are using various homeopathic treatments. Neither of these groups are particularly loyal to these options, they are just the only two that actually exist. I think this is a big opportunity, both because of the prevalence of pets in the American home, as well as the sheer amount of money that American pet owners sink into their animals, especially when it comes to their medical needs. I think this window of opportunity will be open shorter rather than longer, as other companies have already started to catch on and enter the market with similar products to mine.

Innovation: My innovation is one that is incrementally, rather than radically, innovative. This innovation is a line of CBD-based medicines aimed specifically at pets, as well as a two-pronged distribution service based on both an online pharmacy and getting the product stocked in existing brick and mortar pharmacies. I would not limit myself to pharmacies of my own creation, either, but actively seek to get my products on the shelves of mainstream stores such as the big box brands like Walmart and grocery stores like Publix and perhaps even membership-based stores like Costco. CBD is a non-intoxicating byproduct of cannabis, and studies have shown that it can be used to treat a wide variety of ailments, most significantly epilepsy and some cancers. CBD was the first form of medical cannabis to be legalized in the state of Florida. While CBD can be used to treat major ailments such as those listed above, it is also effective in treating minor things such as muscle and joint pains. The products I would be selling would be a line of tinctures, balms, and other forms of CBD-based medicines aimed at alleviating the symptoms of ailments both big and small. These products would typically fall somewhere between the $15 and $30 dollar price points, depending on quantities purchased and any associated shipping costs. After brief consideration, the company will be limited to pet products, no medicines will be marketed towards people, although they can certainly be used by them without any sort of negative effect. Future expansion would include other pet products such as foods and treats, both of which would contain some amount of CBD.

Venture Concept: The above innovation, CBD-based medicines, will address the opportunity by offering an alternative treatment to pet owners that is both safer and with fewer side-effects that traditional medications as well as being more effective and proven than homeopathic remedies. Customers will switch to this product because they love their animals like members of their families. If I offer them something that is safer and more effective than what is currently on the market, they will buy it. Those who are already using homeopathic remedies will certainly be easier to switch over than those who have not used those before, but given the increasing public knowledge of the benefits of cannabis-based medicines, I do not anticipate to much resistance to the switch, even from people who have no prior exposure to these medicines. The competitors are few and far between at the moment, but those that are around and pose a significant threat are the companies that have already cut their teeth on medicines for humans and those that are based on cannabis as a whole, both of which have grown more common and are more widely sought after than medicines for pets. These companies all have the major weakness of operating in a gray area on the federal level, even if their state has legalized all forms of cannabis. My company would certainly be struck by this as well, but dealing only in CBD insulates us far more than a company that deals with medicines based on THC as well. Distribution plays a fairly significant role in my concept, as one of the two main prongs of the concept is offering an online pharmacy as well as brick and mortar options for customers to purchase from, with the online option delivering straight to their door. I would organize a business like this similarly to how I would organize any other pharmaceutical business, with research and development, production, and all other main facets represented. The primary difference would be the presence of horticulturalists as well, which would be important to the production of quality medicine. The company would require a fairly significant number of employees on the horticultural and production side of things, but the specialized roles such as those of pharmacist would only require a few individuals.

As mentioned in a previous post, I think my most important resource will be approval from the FDA, because this will add a greater degree of legitimacy to my product and help it to gain wider representation in stores and veterinarians offices across the country. Future opportunities for the venture would utilize the same innovation, but it would be diversified and honed so that the medicines are more adept at treating specific illnesses as opposed to operating as a sort of cure-all type product. I think this will also aid in legitimizing the product, as well as pulling in additional revenue. In the next five years with this venture I would like to see it continue successfully, sitting at the top of the market as far as cannabis-based medicines for animals go, perhaps with additional plans based on the amount of publicity gained to move into other areas of pet care or even the opposite direction into medicines for people. In ten years I think I would remain in the same place as an entrepreneur, I do not see myself utilizing this as a springboard, but rather sticking with it to make it the best it can be and continue to change the lives of pet owners and their pets.

Feedback Summary: Although I did not receive any feedback on my original venture concept, I did receive some helpful things on my What's Next post. Both of the comments made clear they felt I was going in the right direction, and particularly highlighted my desire to get the product into mainstream stores, with one even going so far as to suggest Publix. Another comment agreed with my concern that I might overextend my company if we got into human CBD products as well as those aimed at pets.

Concept Changes: The two main changes were both direct results of the comments I received. One change I made was to explicitly state my intention to get the products into mainstream stores beyond my own pharmacies, which might only be available in larger cities. The second change was to confirm that I am going to stick with animal products, though those may go beyond medicines in the future.

Final Reflection

Throughout this course there are numerous different experiences that stand out to me, but one in particular stands out to me as being formative, memorable, and joyous all at the same time. This experience was the Special Sauce assignment. This experience was so cool to me. Once I was done with it I felt like I had learned so much about myself and how others, my friends and family, view me. The realization of how I viewed myself I thought was quite telling, while finding out how others saw me made me feel really really good. The difference between these two raised quite a few questions within me, I was and still am curious why I zeroed in on some aspects of myself while others focused on different aspects, perhaps ones that are more outwardly visible. My proudest accomplishment of this semester is probably my completion of the elevator pitches. I got off to a rough start with some technical difficulties that prevented me from getting it in before the deadline, so I was determined to do it right the second time around. It turned out fairly well, but there were still quite a few things I wanted to change, especially once I received my feedback. After lots of practice, across all three pitches, and many revisions to the pitch itself, my third pitch was one that I was exceptionally proud of. The result definitely mirrored the amount of effort I put into it.

I think that, over the course of this semester, I have definitely gotten closer and closer to having an entrepreneurial mindset. However, I do not consider myself an entrepreneur. I know that I have the skills to become one, but I think the big thing missing for me is the drive towards entrepreneurship. Although my business idea is one that I am proud of, and one that I have a personal stake in as well, it is most likely not something I would pursue in real life, and I think the same holds true for entrepreneurship in general. I have aspirations that will lead me in a completely different direction. If I do at some point stumble into entrepreneurship in my career, though, I know I will have the skills to do it right.

My biggest recommendation to students who will take this course in the future would be to foster within yourself a desire to learn entrepreneurship, and to treat every assignment as if you truly are doing it for the sake of a real company. To best perform in this course, and in online courses in general, I would definitely suggest maintaining a rigorous schedule for completing assignments, one that has you completing assignments days before they are due instead of hours or minutes. I think that taking the course as seriously as possible, buying into the idea of the course as I mentioned above, is key to fostering this success.

Reading Reflection No. 3

Book: Grinding it Out: the Making of McDonald's by Ray Kroc

1) The thing that surprised me the most about Ray Kroc as I read Grinding it Out was the fact that he started his McDonald's career so late in his life, at the age of 52. I've always told people that it's never too late to change what you're doing, and the fact that he did the same thing is something I really admire. I also admired his determination in pursuing his goals, even when things got touch, as he put it: "grinding it out". The thing I least admired about Kroc is the fact that he kind of took advantage of the McDonald brothers it seems. He recognized that they had a great idea and he took control of it to sell his own product and expand his own businesses, which seems kind of messed up. Kroc absolutely encountered adversity and failure, and like he mentions throughout he "ground it out". In the face of adversity and failure he squared his shoulders, grit his teeth, put his head down, and kept trudging forward despite everything that was going against him.

2) The core competency that I noticed of Kroc's was his ability to recognize great opportunities before anybody else. His first he recognized was the disposable cup and the turn towards disposable products, a prediction which turned out to be very true, though with a lot of help from the man himself. He also recognized the potential in the restaurant that the McDonald brothers ran, both as a way to revolutionize dining and as a way to sell his own product.

3) I was kind of confused when reading about Kroc's contracting with the McDonald Brothers and with the milkshake machine company before them, the specifics of the contracts were obviously important because they shaped what he went on to do instead and how he took McDonald's forward, but they were not super clear to me how that actually worked.

4) The first question I would ask of Mr. Kroc is if he could have ever seen McDonald's becoming as big as it became, with restaurants all over the world. I would be interested to hear his outlook on the company's success in the 21st century. I would also like to ask him about the role of McDonald's in popular culture and what he thinks of that. I am a history major, and the role that cultural institutions such as McDonald's have played in major historical events such as the fall of the USSR really interests me.

5) Ray Kroc's opinion of hard work definitely seems to have been that it would pay off in the end, as long as you really put yourself towards your goals in spite of the opposition you might face. Hard work is what got him to McDonald's in the first place, and it is what made him able to turn it into the worldwide phenomenon that it is. Kroc's principal of "grinding it out" wouldn't be possible without hard work, and I think that really tell's you all you need to know of his opinion on the matter.

Your Exit Strategy

1) My exit strategy could go one of two ways, depending on which way I take my company and how successful I am in that venture. If I decided to expand into a new market with a related idea as we discussed a couple weeks ago, I would stick with the company to guide it through the changes it would undertake, see my expansion come to fruition, and reap the benefits of said expansion. If I decided not to go this route, I would sell the company for a large return sometime in the next few years. Although the company itself is important to me, running a business is not something that necessarily interests me in the long term, my aspirations lie in different areas. These would be my two primary exit plans, but I recognize that if my attempts at expansion were to fail, it could affect the valuation of my company and might make selling it a little more difficult. A cost-benefit analysis of these options would be absolutely necessary to come to an educated decision.

2) I have selected these strategies because like I said, ultimately, my interests and aspirations lie outside of the realm of entrepreneurship. I would use the money I acquired from the sale of the company or from its continued success whilst at the helm to aid causes that are important both to me and to our country, such as climate change and the like. Selling the company would give me the chance to personally lobby for the causes I would champion, as opposed to going through a lobbying firm, the likes of which tend to be motivated largely by profits and returns of investment. My ultimate goal throughout this would be to aid in the removal of corporate money from politics altogether, unfortunately it is necessary to play the game according to the current rules rather than those you wish to see implemented.

3) I definitely think my exit strategy has played a significant role in many of the decisions I have made regarding my company throughout the semester. One area in which I do not think it influenced me was in deciding opportunities, I feel I would have gone the way I did regardless because the cause that my company seeks to assist in is one that is close to my heart, and first and foremost I want to help people and their pets. I do, however, think that my exit strategy influenced my expansion plans and my plans for acquiring the resources I need to make the company successful. Like I mentioned above, ultimately whether or not I expand will decide which exit strategy I go with, but because I have been thinking of these exits as potentials the whole time they have definitely influenced my consideration of expansion as an option. The exit strategies have also influenced my investigations into resources, to a certain extent. Many of my resources that I pointed out are long-term, slow burn type things, integral to the company but not something that I need to remain involved with to ensure their success. With the resources I have deemed the most important, I can set them up and then sit back and relax or leave altogether because they are almost completely self-sufficient.

Celebrating Failure

1) Academics have always been an important part of my life, and never has that been more true than while I have been studying here at UF. It should come as no surprise then that, although it did not occur in this class, my instance of failure was academic in nature. In addition to this online class I am taking Beginning Arabic 1 and an upper level political science class online for my major. Arabic has been going extremely well, but I feel as if I have failed on a number of occasions in my political science class. The failure I have experienced in this class, and continue to experience in this class, is my failure to adequately complete the readings and lecture videos for the course. I have completed all of the assignments with great success, but I find myself disinterested in the lectures and readings, something I have never experienced with one of my major classes before, which I usually enjoy. These failings came to a head with the midterm, which I thought I would just be able to skate through despite neglecting much of the course content. I ended up with a C on the midterm, bringing my grade down to a low B. Despite this experience, I have continued to fail in my attempts at keeping up with the content for this course.

2) At first glance it would seem that I have not learned anything from this experience, especially since I continue to exhibit the failing behavior. I do, however, think I have learned a couple important things from this. The primary one is that online classes, unfortunately, are not for me. I have enjoyed this class quite a bit, and found the assignments more and more engaging as the semester went on, but my experience in the other course has put me off of them as a whole. I think this is indicative of a couple different things for me. One is that the act of being in a physical class and interacting with classmates, something that I enjoy very much, is very difficult to replicate in an online course. I also think that being in a physical classroom is a big part of engagement in the first place, for me at least. While studying here at UF I have found that I am really good at making myself go to class, even if I am not necessarily feeling great or interested in the class, and I think that would be useful given my disinterest in this course content and the way it is being taught.

3) Failure for me has always been difficult, especially academic failure, especially because much of what I consider failure is me holding myself to standards that are unreasonably high and then not meeting those standards. I have found failure to be embarrassing on numerous occasions, often for the same reason I noted above, it's a failure to meet peoples' expectations of me, or my expectations of myself. I think my emotional handling of failure is usually okay, though sometimes I let it get to me more than I should, instead of just moving past it and changing things. I think this is a quality of mine that extends beyond failure, though, I think I have problems with overthinking things in general. Behaviorally I think I handle failure a bit better, but even then it's not particularly good. My example with the political science midterm is an excellent example of this. This class has almost certainly changed my perspective on failure. I may not be more likely to take risks than I was before, but I feel like I doubt myself less when beginning something that I have a chance of failing, and I think overcoming that is half the battle.

What's Next

Existing Market: I think the future of my venture lies in a continued effort to make the cannabis-based pet care market my own, expanding from medicines to foods and other products that can be produced with cannabis byproducts that I will already have access to from production for the medicine, such as hemp for rope-based dog toys. I also might consider moving into medicinal treatments for humans as well, although that market is already pretty packed with rapidly growing companies.

From my interviews with customers, none of them expressed the idea that I should move from pet products back into medicines aimed at people, it seemed like the novelty of the pet aspect sent them off in that direction completely. When I mentioned that I had considered going that way, I was met with massive amounts of enthusiasm, especially with regards to foods and toys. Customers seem to like the idea of organically-sourced and made products for their animals, regardless of what those products are or how much being organic actually affects their quality as products. Based on the interviews, and on my own thoughts, my plans for the existing market would be to shore up and fend off competitors in the realm of cannabis-based medicines for pets, while growing my brand and brand recognition among the public, before moving into lines of products such as toys and foods. Although the products that are directly derived from cannabis might never see the shelves of a Target or Petsmart, toys and foods based on the concept might have a chance of breaking into those and similar stores.

New Market: The new market I considered would be culinary products, various oils and the like that can be used in cooking that are based off of cannabis. My current venture might be able to create value for people in this market by creating products that add new and unusual aspects to the dining and cooking experience, something that those who are particularly interested in food would certainly eat up, pardon the pun.

Upon interviewing customers in this market I was met with as much enthusiasm as before, but these people were a bit more experienced in the general state of the market, and so were able to provide me with some information that I did not previously have regarding this potential venture. They both, though in slightly different ways, suggested not just producing cooking components but also completed foods and beverages that incorporate cannabis byproducts into them. To a certain extent I expected this suggestion, given that it is the natural conclusion to my initial idea, and I was also not surprised to hear that companies have already started breaking into this sector. Despite this, I think that this new market is still potentially profitable and attractive, especially if I were to work off of the brand recognition that I gathered through the production of the line of animal medications, though I would certainly want to steer clear of any direct association.

Venture Concept No. 1: CannaPet

The Opportunity: The opportunity that I have found consists primarily of the fact that pet owners are limited when it comes to the diversity and availability of medicines for their animals, and those that are available tend to have certain unavoidable drawbacks and side-effects. There are many, many different people who have this need, but the one thing that brings them all together is that they are pet owners, and in the cases of many of these pet owners, their animals are suffering from something serious, such as epilepsy. The nature of this need was mostly covered above, there is a need and desire among pet owners for medicines that will first and foremost be effective in aiding their pets, but also ones that won't break the bank and will help their pets while avoiding the side-effects that many traditional pharmaceuticals are accompanied by. The forces creating this opportunity in the marketplace are for the most part unavoidable, animals get sick, especially as they get older. Pharmaceutical companies also do not address the above issues because typically the medicines they create are the only option, so why bother, and also these medicines may be the best option on the market, despite the side-effects. This market does not have any particular geographic layout, there are pet owners, though demographically the people desiring alternatives to current medicines for their pets tend to be a bit younger, typically in the 20-45ish range. Customers are for the most part not currently satisfying this need, if an animal is sick you treat it with what is currently available, even if it is not ideal. Those that are satisfying this need are using various homeopathic treatments. Neither of these groups are particularly loyal to these options, they are just the only two that actually exist. I think this is a big opportunity, both because of the prevalence of pets in the American home, as well as the sheer amount of money that American pet owners sink into their animals, especially when it comes to their medical needs. I think this window of opportunity will be open shorter rather than longer, as other companies have already started to catch on and enter the market with similar products to mine.

Innovation: My innovation is one that is incrementally, rather than radically, innovative. This innovation is a line of CBD-based medicines aimed specifically at pets, as well as a two-pronged distribution service based on both an online pharmacy and getting the product stocked in existing brick and mortar pharmacies. CBD is a non-intoxicating byproduct of cannabis, and studies have shown that it can be used to treat a wide variety of ailments, most significantly epilepsy and some cancers. CBD was the first form of medical cannabis to be legalized in the state of Florida. While CBD can be used to treat major ailments such as those listed above, it is also effective in treating minor things such as muscle and joint pains. The products I would be selling would be a line of tinctures, balms, and other forms of CBD-based medicines aimed at alleviating the symptoms of ailments both big and small. These products would typically fall somewhere between the $15 and $30 dollar price points, depending on quantities purchased and any associated shipping costs.

Venture Concept: The above innovation, CBD-based medicines, will address the opportunity by offering an alternative treatment to pet owners that is both safer and with fewer side-effects that traditional medications as well as being more effective and proven than homeopathic remedies. Customers will switch to this product because they love their animals like members of their families. If I offer them something that is safer and more effective than what is currently on the market, they will buy it. Those who are already using homeopathic remedies will certainly be easier to switch over than those who have not used those before, but given the increasing public knowledge of the benefits of cannabis-based medicines, I do not anticipate to much resistance to the switch, even from people who have no prior exposure to these medicines. The competitors are few and far between at the moment, but those that are around and pose a significant threat are the companies that have already cut their teeth on medicines for humans and those that are based on cannabis as a whole, both of which have grown more common and are more widely sought after than medicines for pets. These companies all have the major weakness of operating in a gray area on the federal level, even if their state has legalized all forms of cannabis. My company would certainly be struck by this as well, but dealing only in CBD insulates us far more than a company that deals with medicines based on THC as well. Distribution plays a fairly significant role in my concept, as one of the two main prongs of the concept is offering an online pharmacy as well as brick and mortar options for customers to purchase from, with the online option delivering straight to their door. I would organize a business like this similarly to how I would organize any other pharmaceutical business, with research and development, production, and all other main facets represented. The primary difference would be the presence of horticulturalists as well, which would be important to the production of quality medicine. The company would require a fairly significant number of employees on the horticultural and production side of things, but the specialized roles such as those of pharmacist would only require a few individuals.

As mentioned in a previous post, I think my most important resource will be approval from the FDA, because this will add a greater degree of legitimacy to my product and help it to gain wider representation in stores and veterinarians offices across the country. Future opportunities for the venture would utilize the same innovation, but it would be diversified and honed so that the medicines are more adept at treating specific illnesses as opposed to operating as a sort of cure-all type product. I think this will also aid in legitimizing the product, as well as pulling in additional revenue. In the next five years with this venture I would like to see it continue successfully, sitting at the top of the market as far as cannabis-based medicines for animals go, perhaps with additional plans based on the amount of publicity gained to move into other areas of pet care or even the opposite direction into medicines for people. In ten years I think I would remain in the same place as an entrepreneur, I do not see myself utilizing this as a springboard, but rather sticking with it to make it the best it can be and continue to change the lives of pet owners and their pets.

My Venture's Unfair Advantage

My venture's resources:

1) Product approval from the Food and Drug Administration: This is valuable because it will serve to legitimize our products to a much greater extent than if they were not FDA approved, which could affect which stores carry them as well. This resource is not particularly rare, but it is time-consuming to acquire and not doing so would be a major impediment to getting the company going. This resource is easy to copy only in that other companies can seek FDA approval as well, the process is equally rigorous for competitors. There are no substitutes for this resource, not having it would limit the product to the shelves of homeopathy quacks.

2) A space to grow the cannabis for the CBD-based medicine: This is valuable because it will enable us to produce the main component of the product, cannabis, on an industrial scale. This resource is also not particularly rare, and definitely much easier to acquire than the above. Again, quite easy to imitate if only because there are bound to be numerous large properties that fit the bill which competitors could utilize. There are other resources that can be used in substitute of this, such as large pieces of property for outdoor growing, but a large indoor space is ideal.

3) Staff to grow and harvest said cannabis: This is valuable because like a large grow space, numerous employees with horticultural experience will enable us to turn out the components for quality medicine on an industrial scale. Horticultural labor is not rare at all, lots of people want to work in the medical cannabis industry, at all levels. Easy to imitate due to the high number of people wanting to work in this industry, even at the entry level. The resource itself does not exactly have a substitute, but there is a large labor pool, so individual employees are easily replaced.

4) A space for the CBD extract to be turned into medicine: This is valuable because without this space there would be no medicine, a designated space for this is absolutely necessary. While not particularly rare, finding and preparing a space that would meet FDA guidelines might be tricky or time-consuming. Again, only as susceptible to copying as their are other locations that competitors could utilize. There are not really any substitutes for this resource, it is necessary to both production and to FDA approval.

5) Specialists to facilitate and oversee this process: This is valuable because without such specialists the likelihood of turning out a safe, effective product is very low, as is the likelihood of any sort of FDA approval or wider sale. This resource is fairly rare, as the job requires both an understanding of horticulture and botany as well as pharmaceutical knowledge. This resource is only as inimitable as there are specialists in this field available for work, if there are none, then competitors are out of luck. There is not really any substitute for this except for maybe working with a larger pharmaceutical company to produce the product, but the idea of that does not sit well with me morally.

6) A website and mail service to distribute the product: This is valuable because it will greatly expand the number of potential customers who can purchase and receive our products in a convenient manner. This resource is not really rare at all, it is quite simple to have a website created for a company, and the products should be able to be shipped through the usual carriers without any problems. This resource is, however, easily inimitable, for the same reason that it is not rare. The only real substitute to this is operating exclusively out of brick and mortar pharmacies, which would greatly limit the reach of the company.

7) Brick and mortar pharmacies that will stock the product: This is valuable because it will expand the number of potential customers that the company can reach, and the ease and quickness with which they can purchase medicine for their pets. The rarity of this resource may vary, there is no telling for sure how much trouble a company would run into getting these products stocked in mainstream pharmacies, though medical cannabis pharmacies would surely stock it. Again, only as inimitable as there are pharmacies that will stock these products. The online-only substitute is not ideal, but it would be okay while the company is still starting out, but eventually a physical presence in stores would become a requirement.

8) Approval from veterinarian groups so members will prescribe our products: This is valuable because with this approval, veterinarians will be able to prescribe our medicines to patients, increasing the number of customers we can reach as well as the manner through which we can reach them. This resource is rarer than most, if only because these groups are not obligated to approve a product in the same way the FDA is if it undergoes their rigorous tests, which could make it hard to get our foot in the door for the endorsement in the first place. This resource is probably the hardest to copy for the same reasons it is hard to obtain. While there are not really any substitutes other than approaching veterinarians directly, a move that pharmaceutical reps do all the time, the approval of these groups is not absolutely necessary to success.

9) Advertising beyond word of mouth, both online and off: This is valuable because online and offline advertising will allow the company to increase public awareness of its products, leading to increased sales. This resource is not rare since it really only entails finding advertisers to run the ads and advertising firms or designers to create them. Although the resource itself is easy for competitors to copy, it would be legally challenging for them to copy it in any way that would hurt the brand. The only real alternatives to this resource are either advertising solely online or offline, or not advertising at all. The former would be difficult, but could eventually be made to work, the latter would sink the company altogether.

10) Funding to acquire the above resources: This is valuable because there is no way that one person could acquire all of the above resource to make a company such as this work. Funding for cannabis enterprises is not particularly rare nowadays, it would really only be a matter of creating a good pitch and getting our foot in the door with somebody who would be willing to fund the endeavor. Once again, this resource is only as inimitable as the number of investors there actually are. There is no substitute for starting funds, this is the most necessary resource, full stop.

My top resource: I think that of all of these, the top resource would be FDA approval of my products. Not only will this resource serve to legitimize my products and my brand, it will also help to facilitate other resources like funding, approval from veterinary organizations, willingness of pharmacies to stock the product, and the willingness of young professionals to come work for my company. Without this resource, my product would most likely be consigned to the shelves of homeopathy shops, not the place for it to be by any means.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

1) The Pitch: See above.

2) The Feedback: The main feedback I received on my previous elevator pitch was that I should try and be more enthusiastic. I recognize that this is exceptionally important because if I, the creator, am not enthusiastic about my own product, nobody else will be either! Comments on my last pitch also noted how my breaking things down numerically really helped in my organization of the pitch. I also received positive comments regarding my three letters bit that I did at the beginning.

3) The Changes: The main changes I made were all personal, really. I tried to be more enthusiastic during my filming of the elevator pitch, moving my arms about more and inflecting more as well in my speech. Things such as the numerical breakdown of the information I conveyed as well as the three letters bit were both aspects of the last pitch that went over well, so I brought those back in this one. I also felt more comfortable with my pitch as well, needing to reference my notes less and having a better idea of how my pitch should flow. There were certain aspects of my last pitch that also felt too lengthy, so I cut them down quite a bit to just the bare minimum needed to get the point across.

Reading Reflection No. 2

Book Title: Makers - The New Industrial Revolution

1) The general theme that Chris Anderson tackles in Makers is the idea that there are numerous different technological and economic innovations taking hold today that can bring manufacturing, which has largely been outsourced from the developed, service-based economies of the world to those less developed countries that can provide much cheaper labor, though often at the expense of the laborers themselves. These developments include things such as 3-D printing, the rise of coding as a major source of complexity in the manufacturing of different products, and the use of the internet to bring people with similar entrepreneurial interests together.

2) This book had numerous different connections to ENT, and overall it really added to the experience of the class. The main connection between Makers and ENT is that all of the industries and technologies that Anderson points out as being ones that can bring back manufacturing are all rapidly rising industries, not ones that have titanic corporations already dominating the playing field. All of these areas are ones in which savvy entrepreneurs could make inroads and form startups. The skills we have learned so far in this class are ones that would make us more than capable of doing so in these or any other industry.

3) If I were to design an exercise based on this book, it would focus on existing technologies, industries, and business practices and comparing them with rising industries that could in theory take their place and create a better product or better working conditions for workers. For instance, a student might choose the current practice of outsourcing tech jobs abroad to countries such as India. There are a number of different avenues through which a student could approach this scenario, but here they might look at the rise of the internet and self-instruction in coding which could bring these jobs back to the United States and right into people's homes. Other possible practices they could possibly examine include the use of sweatshop labor, slave labor really, in the assembly of many of the products that we use in our day-to-day lives.

4) My biggest "aha" moment with this book was when Anderson discussed the "democratization of entrepreneurship", where he pointed out that the large number of small, independent factories around the world make it much more feasible for entrepreneurs to retain a hold of their IPs and still create prototypes and the like because these factories will make these products in smaller batches than a corporate factory would, without the steep price. This was an "aha" moment for me because I realized that this is a growing practice in an industry that is very dear to me, tabletop gaming! The rise of Kickstarter and these independent factories makes it very easy for board game and role playing game creators to raise funds independently of a large company such as Hasbro, and then get their products created in small batches overseas. Although this can often result in limited runs of some products, the extent to which these entrepreneurs and creators retain control of their ideas, especially in an industry that is notorious for not being the most profitable, makes it well worth it.

Idea Napkin No. 2

1) Me: I am a political science and history double-major, with an innovation minor, in my third year at UF. I consider my primary talents to be my work ethic and my people skills. Within these two talents there are numerous aspects, with much of my work ethic being characterized by a level head under pressure and when subjected to guidelines, an eye for methodical research and fact-finding, and a great capacity for connecting with others and making them feel comfortable among my people skills. Most of my skills and experiences lie in the realm of political campaigns, specifically local campaigns that I participated in as a canvasser back home in Tallahassee. I also have some experience in business and innovation from my involvement in the Catalyst contest that all Innovation Academy students participate in during their freshman year. My aspirations primarily lie in the realm of diplomacy and social activism, particularly with regards to combating Islamophobia in the United States and abroad, hence my current study of Arabic. As for my business aspirations, I mainly just want to create a product and service which makes things easier and less painful for pet owners and their pets. If I were to start this business I do not see it playing a particularly significant role in my life. I would most likely hand off management of the business to somebody with more of a mind for management and entrepreneurship so that I could focus my time and funds on the issues that I am passionate about.

2) What I'm offering to customers: My business idea is both a product and a service. The product is a line of CBD-based medications aimed at household pets, primarily dogs and cats, which seek to treat all manner of illnesses and symptoms, ranging from minor aches and pains to epilepsy. The service would be an online and in-person pharmacy that would make these products available to pet-owners across the country, in both cities and rural areas.

3) Who I am offering it to: My product is aimed at pet-owners of all kinds, but specifically the owners of the most common household pets: dogs and cats. Within this demographic, my product does not tend towards any one age demographic, though it does tend towards those who may be more open-minded about the use of a cannabis byproduct to treat their animals.

4) Why do they care: Customers care about my product because they care about their pets, it's as simple as that. For most pet-owners, their pets are members of their family, and this fact is made even more apparent when one looks at how much money is in the veterinary industry. Pet-owners are willing to shell out thousands of dollars to keep their pets happy, healthy, and comfortable, so offering a product that does all of those at a fraction of the cost and with minimal side-effects compared to traditional medicines is certainly something pet owners will care about.

5) My core competencies: My core competencies lie in my people skills, specifically in connecting to people on a personal level beyond what they are used to outside of their family and friends. Everybody who knows me knows that I am compassionate and empathetic, and that these qualities make me a good source of advice for all manner of personal issues. Selling a product to somebody is little more than just giving them some strongly opinionated advice, and so I think these skills make me an exceptional salesperson.

I think overall the various facets of my skills and abilities fit together quite well in the context of my business idea. Although my core competencies and background lie mostly outside of the focus of my business idea, which is veterinary medicine, I think that these competencies make my good at connecting to customers on a personal and emotional level, which would increase my capacity to bring in new customers. If anything, I think the odd factor out in all of this is the business idea itself. Despite this, I think as a whole my business ideas and competencies function well together.

Feedback memo: I did not really receive any substantive feedback regarding my previous idea napkin, so I turned to some of my other posts to look for things to add onto my idea napkin. One of these aspects was from my secret sauce, in which the people I interviewed pointed out some aspects of my abilities and skills that I had not noticed previously, such as my eye for research, but which I thought fit in quite well to my idea napkin. The other area in which I changed things was in my examination of how the various aspects of my competencies and business idea fit together. The secret sauce post made me realize that my competencies and my business idea fit together much better than I previously thought, and I changed my idea napkin to reflect this.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

1) The pitch: see above

2) A reflection on feedback from the last pitch: Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, I was not able to get my first pitch post before the deadline, but I will list some of my own self-reflections on the video. The biggest reflection for me was that I needed to get the video done long before the deadline to account for any technical difficulties. I also felt that I should have done more to get better lighting for my video, as well as look more professional than I did in the first video. The most important thing to the overall quality of the video was to write up a better script than I did for the first one.

3) What I changed based on my feedback: The biggest thing I changed in this second elevator pitch was to get it done long before the deadline. I also took my time and wrote out a detailed script that I was able to refer to while speaking to remember my major talking points and the general flow of the pitch. To solve the issues with the presentation, I had a friend of mine film for me and we chose a location that has lots of natural lighting. I also made sure to dress to impress, like I would were I to deliver an actual elevator pitch.

Create a Customer Avatar

1) Describing my customer avatar: The prototypical customer for my product and service is a woman, roughly middle-aged, somewhere between her mid-thirties and mid-fifties. She is married, but it may be her or her partner's second marriage, and said partner may be a bit older than her. She has multiple children, most if not all of whom are young adults and no longer live at home. She is young in spirit, as is her partner, and they frequently go out to see live music together or do other, similar activities. She has numerous pets, ranging from the ordinary such as cats and dogs to more unusual animals such as rats, a bird, or reptiles. She is a liberal and a Democrat, despite her age she keeps up with and supports current social movements. She works in the education or healthcare fields. She doesn't read as much as she wants to, having a lot of different tasks to do around the house. She enjoys classic rock and pop music.

2) What do I have in common with the avatar?: Although I differ from the avatar in most discernible ways, especially when it comes to demographics such as age, there are a couple of key similarities. One is the enjoyment of live music, with another being that they are a Democrat. The most significant to my product, however, is that the avatar and I are both pet owners and like animals. I do not think that this is a coincidence. We tend to gravitate towards and are influenced by the people around us, and since I interviewed family members and friends throughout the past few assignments, it makes sense that my views and theirs would be similar. Some of them may have influenced my own, while others may be around me in the first place because I appreciate our shared values and enjoy associating and interacting with them.

What's Your Secret Sauce?

1) I think five ways in which I have human capital that is truly unique are:

• Empathy: I think I am a very empathetic person, and this empathy makes it easy to connect with other people and understand their needs and where those needs come from, something that is very useful in a field such as entrepreneurship.
• Ability to interact with strangers: I have extensive experience interacting with complete strangers from numerous political campaigns I have worked on, and I think this is a quality that is not only useful but also rare. As social media has grown more prevalent, it has also made our circles of relationships more insular and less direct: the ability to hold a conversation with a complete stranger and try to sell them on something face-to-face is a skill that has suffered from this.
• Trustworthiness: I feel that I am a very trustworthy person, and others see this as well. Because of this trustworthiness, I am often the person that my friends come to for advice on all manner of issues, such as relationships or academics. This trustworthiness also translates quite well into entrepreneurship, when you think about it trying to sell something to somebody is really just giving them incredibly biased advice.
• Work ethic: I think I have a strong work ethic, especially when it comes to my job and academics. One of the most frequent complements I have received at work is how much of a hard worker I am, and I think this translates into many other areas of my life as well. Although I may put off the work I need to do until the last possible day, once I get on it I work hard and turn out an excellent product.
• Functioning under pressure and stress: I think above all I am excellent at functioning in high-pressure and high-stress situations. This most frequently comes out when I am working on a deadline for a class assignment, in which case I become laser-focused and remain calm and composed despite the impending deadline. This quality also makes me quite good at thinking on my feet as well, I am very adaptable when it comes to work in those kinda of situations.

2) The following interviews with my three best friends, my girlfriend, and my mom tell what they think are the qualities and skills that set me apart, the human capital that makes me different:

• Interview with my friend Jack: https://soundcloud.com/elery-ostertag/jackentinterview?in=elery-ostertag/sets/ent-interviews

Jack primarily focused on my well-thought out approach to things, and the methodical manner in which I research topics that interest me. He also pointed out that I keep very well updated on issues and events that are important to me and the world.

• Interview with my friend Alex: https://soundcloud.com/elery-ostertag/alexentinterview?in=elery-ostertag/sets/ent-interviews

Alex emphasized my emotional intelligence. He said I have a way of making people feel special and welcome through a combination of my sense of humor and my attention to the individual.

• Interview with my friend Kyleigh: https://soundcloud.com/elery-ostertag/kyleighentinterview?in=elery-ostertag/sets/ent-interviews

Kyleigh pointed out my research abilities and the knowledge and well-researched approach I bring to things. She also noted my emotional intelligence and comfort around people as well.

• Interview with my mom: https://soundcloud.com/elery-ostertag/momentinterview?in=elery-ostertag/sets/ent-interviews

My mom pointed out my empathy and emotional intelligence as well. She also pointed out my logical approach to many things and my analytical abilities, especially regarding politics and the like.

• Interview with my grandmother: https://soundcloud.com/elery-ostertag/oohmamaentinterview?in=elery-ostertag/sets/ent-interviews

My grandmother emphasized my compassion and the like, something that others have also pointed out. She noted that this makes me quite adept at interacting with others in a meaningful way. She also pointed out that I am unwavering in my morals.

3) I generally tend to see myself as an industrious person who, despite some issues with procrastination, can be relied upon to put quality effort into any project and turn out a good end product. I think these attributes of mine are also bolstered by my abilities in interacting with other people, particularly with strangers. From the above five interviews, I found that, while the interviewees pointed to these qualities as well on occasion, their focus was on other qualities. My five interviewees were all quite consistent in bringing up my curiosity and thirst for knowledge, as well as the breadth of my acquired knowledge and how I bring it into conversation and work. The other main aspect of myself that the interviewees focused on was my emotional intelligence, the friends and family whom I interviewed were consistent in their opinion that I am not only good at talking to people, but good at making them feel at ease, important, and comfortable, with my sense of humor playing a large part in this. The primary difference in how I view myself versus how my friends and family view me comes primarily in the different aspects of my qualities that they pick up on. When looking at my list and their interviews, both suggest I am charismatic and easy to talk to, as well as having an innate drive to accomplish things. What these qualities are used for is the difference however, with my drive often fueling my research into topics that interest me and my ease of talking to people being expressed as emotional intelligence. I think these differences come primarily from the fact that I am viewing my own qualities from the viewpoint of the "giver", so to speak, whereas my family and friends are on the receiving end of these qualities. I know I am good at talking to people, but the aspects of what make me good at that come out more to the people who I talk to, with the same going for my work ethic and curiosity about the world and my interests. I definitely think that my interviewees are correct in their assessments of me, perhaps even more than I was in my assessments of myself. I think the aspects of my personality and traits that they picked out are more specific and accurate than some of those I put for myself, which is what leads me to think they were more right than I am. I think I also have a tendency to understate my own qualities when describing myself, but in their interviews they did not feel the need to hold back in their praise. If I were going to change my list I would definitely be more specific in reference to my various qualities. Instead of just talking about my work ethic and my skill at talking to people, particularly strangers, I would point out the areas in which I put my work ethic to use, such as research, which is definitely a boon in any sort of entrepreneurship situation, and in talking about my people-skills I would specifically focus on my emotional intelligence and the advice and deep conversations I have with people, which could also serve me well in entrepreneurship situations.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

1) Segment: The segment I chose to interview for this blog post is that of pet-owners with animals that are either very old or very sick, animals that need medicine to make them more comfortable in their final years as opposed to medicine that will cure them of their ailments.

2) Interview Summary 1: The first person I spoke with for this set of interviews was my step-dad. When it comes to picking medication for his animals there are a couple main considerations he takes into account when he's deciding between multiple options. The first and most important one is price. My step-dad and mom have a lot of animals, so minimizing price in areas like this is important to them. The second main consideration of theirs is how the medications affect the animals. By this I do not solely mean the effectiveness of the medication in treating the illness or symptoms of the illness, but also how well does it do those things while also having the most minimal effect on the animal possible. One of their animals has been on anti-seizure medications recently. He said these medications are the same ones as those prescribed to humans, but the doses have been reduced for canine consumption. These seizure medications, although effective in their treatment of the dog, also put a real damper on her personality and energy. This aspect of his decision-making has taken a larger role since then. My step-dad's purchases of said medications usually comes through either the veterinarian directly or through a local pharmacist, as some of them do carry animal medications. This second option is increasingly common for him as it tends to be much cheaper, especially for medications that were originally intended for humans. When it comes to evaluating his purchase after the fact, the above point of effect on the animal is typically the one that my step-dad looks at the most. If the medication successfully treated the symptoms as well as having a minimal negative effect on the animal, then it is considered a success. If it did have a negative effect on the animal, then he might consult the family's veterinarian for some alternative options.

3) Interview Summary 2: The second person I spoke to is the woman who succeeded my girlfriend in running the feral cat rescue operation in Tallahassee. For this woman, there are a few more factors that she considers than my step-dad does. Once again, price is a big sticking point for her. The organization is not particularly well-funded, and because of this they try to cut back in as many ways as possible so that they can put most of the donations they receive towards getting animals spayed and neutered. The effect on the animals is also a point of reference, though many of the animals she deals with are not suffering from the same sorts of serious illnesses that my step-dad is dealing with in his dog, so generally this is not as important. The third point of reference she uses in evaluating her choices is the ingredients of the medications. The organization, and this woman in particular, pride themselves on using all-natural and organic treatments for their animals, at least as much as they can for little things like mites and fleas and the like. When possible, she will go for medications that are all-natural and safe for the animals if they are accidentally given too much or if they ingest it vs something that might poison them as well as the fleas. This woman and her organization also tend to purchase their items directly from their veterinarians, thought at times they will order items online or purchase them at local stores that specialize in organic and all-natural products. The primary thing that she looks at in evaluating the purchase after the fact is the effectiveness. Given the high number of animals that her organization deals with and keeps in close proximity, the medications they use for things like fleas, mites, and colds need to be extremely effective to prevent those issues from spreading to all of the animals because quarantine can only do so much.

4) Interview Summary 3: The third person I interviewed for this post is my aunt. My aunt travels more than anyone else I know for her job, and she has three cats, so there are a few different points she looks at when comparing products. The primary point of reference she looks at is effectiveness in treating the symptoms her animals are experiencing. This effectiveness is so important because typically she is trying to treat them as quickly and safely as possible so they are feeling better by the time she next goes out of town. If this is not possible, she also looks at ease of treatment as well. When she is out of town, friends of hers will come over and feed the cats on a daily basis, but because the cats tend to be a bit skittish, it is not realistic for these friends to administer medication to them as well. In this case, she will also look for products that have a delayed release or can be applied to the skin and will work over the course of a week or more. One thing that does set her apart from the others is that price is not typically a sticking point for her when she is assessing her options. Like the others, however, she gets these medications primarily through her veterinarian. If anything she utilizes the vet more exclusively than the others do because she lives in a rural area, and it would take about three hours round trip for her to visit a larger city to shop for such items that aren't readily available online. In evaluating her purchases after the fact, the above points of ease and effectiveness are generally the things she looks to. If the medications are quick and easy, then they will probably be purchased if the issue crops up again.

5) Conclusions: Based on what I know about this segment and what I have learned from the above interviews, there are a few general points I can make about this segment's purchasing and evaluation habits. Typically, what they look for most often and with the most priority is a medication that is effective and safe. Beyond that price is generally important as well, as medications and trips to the vet can be very expensive. These purchases are typically made directly from the veterinarian, typically due to convenience, though sometimes the pricing at the veterinarian's office can lead them to shop elsewhere. Finally, the thing they look at to evaluate their purchases after the fact is most commonly the effectiveness of the product, especially its effectiveness in regards to the degree to which the medication negatively effects the animal.

Reading Reflection No. 1

Reading: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

1) In my reading about Steve Jobs, there were a number of different things that surprised me about him. Many of these had to do with his earlier life and career, for instance the fact that he once was sent to a juvenile detention facility for making a fake bomb, as well as his struggles with LSD addiction later in life. Unfortunately, I do not think there are very many qualities in Steve Jobs that are particularly admirable, but if I had to pick one it would be his stringent need for perfection in everything he did. This commitment was incredible and something that is rarely seen, but the admiration I have for this quality is certainly dampened by the way he treated others because of it. The thing I least admired about Jobs relates back to this. Jobs had a tendency to treat the people closest to him very poorly, be it his adopted parents, whom he refused to allow to visit him while he attended Reed, or his friends and loved ones later on in life. Jobs certainly did encounter adversity throughout his long and distinguished career, but I think much of what he encountered was ultimately caused by his own tendencies towards mistreatment of his supporters and the like. He did power through these adversities, but this often came at the expense of his personal relationships.

2) The primary competency that Jobs exhibited, though there were very many, was an understanding of, passion for, and skill with the technical, a skill that he took to artistic levels. This, as well as his understanding of what consumers wanted and needed out of his products, brought a new level of depth to the technology industry. In many ways, Jobs shaped much of what we see in the technology market today. The sleek designs and user-friendly interfaces are ideals that Apple strove for before any other, and it left its mark.

3) I did not find the reading to be confusing at all for the most part, although early on in the book when Isaacson provides some history of Jobs' adopted and biological parents, the order in which he introduced them confused me. I assumed a chronological approach that would have placed Jobs' biological parents in the earliest pages of the book, despite the importance of his adopted parents in shaping him as a person. After some outside research, however, I understood that section of the book much better.

4) The two questions I would ask of Steve Jobs would be relatively personal ones, but ones that I think would illuminate much about his character. The first would be to ask him what he thinks his greatest contribution to human culture was, and where it ranks among the thousands of other things that have been invented and occurred to make humanity what it is today. The second thing I would ask him would be was it all worth it? Was all of the conflict and contention between him and those who cared about him, and the hurt that he inevitably caused some of them, worth it given the achievements that he made? I think these questions would really give me an understanding of Jobs beyond any others, and even more importantly give me an understanding of how he viewed himself and his achievements.

5) I think Jobs' opinion of hard work was that it was vital to achieving perfection, and that hard work should be placed above all else in pursuit of ones ideals and goals, even if the personal costs may be steep.

Halfway Reflection

1) The primary behaviors that I have used and developed over the past two months of this course are those of self-understanding. Given the way in which this course is scheduled and presented for us, as well as my general inclinations towards procrastination, I have had to develop a better understanding of my own capabilities when it comes to academics and work. This course has led me to a better understanding of the time limits and the like that I am okay placing myself under. When I have misunderstood those limits in the past, it has led me to failing to turn in an assignment because I did not take into account the limits of technology when placed in conjunction with my own self-imposed time limits. When I have correctly appraised my capabilities, however, I have been able to comfortably finish work on my own terms and according to my own schedule.

2) I do not typically harbor an attitude regarding academics that allows me to give up, but there has been a couple of instances over the past two months in which I have come close. The one that occurred most recently happened when I was sick with an upper respiratory infection, and didn't particularly feel like doing anything, least of all homework. The thing that allowed me to pull through, however, were the high standards I try to hold myself to academically. I think I have definitely developed an attitude of tenacity over the past two months, and before then too. The things that have led me to this development occurred long before college, typically in high school when I was stuck in classes that just bored me and I had no interest in doing, yet I persevered knowing the impact they could have on my future. The fact that I am at UF today is certainly a testament to that perseverance.

3) Three tips I would offer to future students regarding fostering the skills to support tenacity and developing a tenacious mindset are as follows:

• Practice excellent time-management. By managing your time well, you will not be forced into situations which will make you question your tenacity.
• Look towards the future. No matter where you seek to go in life, always look towards the future, doing so will make anything that seems not worth doing feel worth it for your ultimate goals.
• Develop a strong support network. These supporters do not have to do much, but even just having somebody to vent to about a class that is difficult or some other irritant can make the difference between internalizing that frustration and letting it get the best of your tenacity and fighting through it to reach your goals.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

1) The Segment: The segment I chose to interview for this blog post is that of pet-owners with animals that are either very old or very sick, animals that need medicine to make them more comfortable in their final years as opposed to medicine that will cure them of their ailments.

2) Interview Summary 1: The first person that I interviewed from this segment was my mom, who has a couple animals that could be considered to fall into this category. One of these animals is one of my dogs, who is getting quite old and has begun to suffer from seizures. The other is one of our cats, also quite old, that appears to have some form of cancer. There are two separate needs for the same thing in this situation, with both of them coming at different times. My dogs need for this medicine came a few months ago, when she first began having seizures. These seizures were growing increasingly common, and my mom was forced to put the dog on a seizure medicine, basically a sedative, that has major side-effects typically consisting of lethargy and major personality changes for the dog. The need for my cat came more recently, since the diagnosis of cancer a week ago or so. My mom's information search process for both of these cases has been quite similar. Her first step is typically talking to the veterinarian about possible treatment options, and these options are usually the ones that my mom initially chooses. Once the animals stabilize a bit on the prescribed medication, my mom typically asks around further among family and friends who have similar pet issues, as well as with my step-dad's doctor, as my step-dad has tried CBD-based medicine before. Her explorations online are typically a bit rarer, only coming along after she has exhausted her in-person sources.

3) Interview Summary 2: The second person from this segment that I interviewed was my grandmother. Like my mom, she also has a fairly recent need for this sort of medicine, with one of her dogs having been diagnosed with cancer within the past week. This dog however, unlike my mom's dog and cat, is still quite young, which makes this treatment all the more important to preserving his quality of life, which up until the diagnosis has been high, like you'd expect of a young dog. The diagnosis and immediately following is when my grandmother became most aware of the need, and those moments where the symptoms are particularly bad for the dog reinforce that need in her mind. Her information search methods are similar to my mom's, but at the same time quite different. Both of them make use of existing contacts among family and friends, vets, and the internet, but the manner in which these are used and what they each get out of them is often quite different. My grandmother is fairly old and lives in a rural area, so much of the information that she gets from friends of hers is quite different from what my mom has been getting, especially where cannabis-based medicines are concerned. The rural area in which she lives is also problematic, as there are no pharmacies selling CBD medicines for humans anywhere close by, eliminating the possibility of acquiring information from that avenue. My grandmother's age also makes internet searches a bit difficult for her, resulting in searches online that may not be as precise as those of my mom, who works with computers for a living.

4) Interview Summary 3: The third person from this segment that I interviewed was my girlfriend. My girlfriend's case is a bit different from the others, as the dog is not particularly old or in any danger of passing from its illnesses, but they are debilitating enough that I think they fit within the same segment of need. My girlfriend's family's dog has had a rough life, with a traumatic brain injury from an encounter with a car when she was a puppy, to diabetes which continues to be an issue, and now with blindness setting in as a result of the diabetes. The need from my girlfriend is sporadic, certainly not as commonplace as with the two other interviewees, and when it does happen it is not as severe, but they have still considered CBD-based medicines for general use with their dog on a few different occasions as a result of her conditions. The information search methods that my girlfriend employs are similar to the above too as well, but due to various demographic differences also exhibit some differences as well. My girlfriends network of friends and family that she goes to for research regarding animal healthcare consists primarily of women who she works with in running their feral cat rescue organization. Some of these ladies are very knowledgeable, and they all have a vested interest in utilizing all-natural medicines on their animals and those that they rescue. My girlfriend is also the most tech-savvy of the three interviewees, and her searches into these topics are the most refines as far as search terms and websites go. Much of this is also due to her previous experience with animal care from feral cat rescue, she already has an idea of where to search for information whereas the others most likely do not.

5) Conclusions: The needs awareness and information searching of this segment are both closely tied, but also drastically different when examining the segment as a whole. Needs awareness in this segment is uniformly high, with all members of the segment having some animal that requires extensive medical care, so this need is on their minds quite frequently. Information searching, however, is the complete opposite of uniform. Because of the wide variety of demographics included in this segment, the relationships and tech-savvy that they have to use in their searches for information vary widely depending on the person. My grandmother, in her early 70s and living in a rural area, does not have the same access to information as my girlfriend, who is 19, in school and involved heavily in animal care organizations in town.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1) Me: I am a junior at UF double-majoring in political science and history, with a minor in innovation. I think my talents lie mainly in talking to people and understanding the way people think and what they want and need. In short, I think my best and most useful quality is my empathy. Most of my skills and experiences lie outside of the realm of business, though I think they can easily be translated to the field. My main skills and experiences are writing, and interacting with strangers, both of which I've picked up from semesters of writing history papers as well as extensive experiences on local political campaigns in Tallahassee. My core aspirations lie outside of the realm of business as well, my ultimate goal is to become a diplomat or work in the field of foreign policy in some capacity. Despite that, I do see this potential business playing an important role in my life. If I were to start it I would most likely sell it to somebody more interested in carrying on the day-to-day operations, but I think it would be a useful opportunity to flex my lobbying muscles, so to speak, especially on an issue such as medical cannabis, which continues to occupy a gray area in American policy-making.

2) What am I offering to customers?: The products and services being offered through my business proposal are twofold. The first is that of all-natural, CBD-based medications for use on pets and other animals. The second part of my proposal is the service that I plan to offer. In order to best facilitate these medicines reaching the people and animals that need them, specialized pharmacies, drug stores, distribution methods, and online ordering systems would be set up as well, so as to get these medicines out to as many people and their pets as possible.

3) Who am I offering it to?: The customers I am offering these products and services to do not share any one defining demographic, per say, but rather they would all be pet-owners. Where these pet-owners differ, however, would vary. These medications would be most useful to those with aging and ill pets, with illnesses and pains that could be assuaged by CBD-based medicines. Veterinarians and other animal healthcare professionals might also find use in these products and services, though their ability to access them is constrained by the requirements of their professional organizations.

4) Why do they care?: These customers will pay money for these products and services because the vast majority view their animals as family members, not simply animals. Just like practically every person in the world would want the best, safest, and most effective medicine for their human family members, so too do most pet-owners want the same things for their pets, and recent studies of the veterinary industry have shown that pet-owners are willing to shell out billions for this.

5) What are my core competencies?: I think my core competencies lie in how I interact with people, throughout my work campaigning and canvassing I found that talking to complete strangers, imploring them to believe in the vision that my candidate had and I had as well, came naturally to me and is something I am very good at. More importantly, it is something I enjoy too! I think the thing that I bring to the table for this business more so than other people is my sense of empathy. I wouldn't be pursuing this for monetary gain or to make a name for myself, but because I want to do some good.

Evaluation: While I think all of these aspects of my proposal are strong on their own, there are definitely a couple that do not fit as well, leading to a weaker proposal overall. Unfortunately, I think most of the disconnect comes from my relative lack of experience in the fields of business and medicine, something that I think would hurt the possibility of a business like this being brought to fruition when I, the main mind behind it, am having to outsource numerous important positions to people because I lack the requisite knowledge. There are certainly ways to counter this, and even make it work to my advantage: many of the skills necessary for campaigning translate very well into business and entrepreneurship, but it would require practice and experimentation, something that might hurt an already experimental proposal like mine.

Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Interview Summary 1: The first interviewee I spoke with was my other aunt, different from the previously interviewed one, who has some different pets than the first aunt. This aunt has a pet rabbit, and in conducting this interview I found that the medical requirements and issues associated with rabbits and other rodents can differ greatly from those of canines and felines. Many animals also do not have the receptors in their brains that enable their bodies to interact with the cannabinoids in CBD. This is the main thing separating the medicinal needs of this aunt and her pets from the others I've interviewed, the previous interviewees were solely dog and cat owners for the most part. The underlying need is the same, but unfortunately the need cannot be met by the CBD-based medicine opportunity I have found among other pet owners.

Interview Summary 2: The second interviewee I spoke with, a family friend active in the herpetology community, had similar issues with this opportunity as the first interviewee. Like with the aforementioned rabbit and other rodents, CBD-based medicines are not effective against or able to be used with many of the ailments that reptiles suffer. This comes from not only the difficulty of administering the medication, but also the source of many of their ailments being different due to the presence of scales and a very different metabolism. Once again, the underlying need is the same, but the limits of CBD treatments are rapidly becoming apparent when applied to animals outside of the most common pets that people have: dogs and cats.

Interview Summary 3: The third interviewee is a friend I know who moved to Colorado for college, and their interactions with the legal cannabis industry there revealed some previously unknown aspects of CBD treatments and their availability. In the case of this interviewee, they still have the same needs as the others: their pets have issues that can be solved through the use of CBD treatments. This interviewee revealed to me that in certain areas, particularly those that have fully legalized cannabis and have been allowed to extensively research cannabis for medical use, CBD treatments for pets are rapidly becoming available for pet owners to administer to their pets at home. Their needs do not differ in the slightest from the others, but they still fall outside of the boundary because the need has simply been fulfilled in the region in which they live.

Interview Summary 4: The fourth interviewee is an aquarium enthusiast friend of my family's. The treatment of fish poses similar issues to those of other small animals like the above rodents and reptiles, but their aquatic nature makes treatment even more difficult, especially where CBD-based treatments are concerned. This interview and the others have helped to establish the boundaries of CBD treatments for pets not just where legality is concerned, but also where the actual treatment of different animals is concerned. According to my family-friend, fish pose even greater challenges than reptiles. Most medicines are placed directly into the water of the aquarium, so treatment of specific animals, which CBD treatments would presumably require, requires quarantine. This and other issues involved with aquariums make CBD treatments, like with the other animals, for the most part nonviable.

Interview Summary 5: The fifth interviewee does not own any animals that are not able to be treated through CBD-based treatments, but they simply have no need for the treatments. Their animals are all quite young and, thankfully, have had no health problems so far. CBD treatments are not the type of mediciation that one would give to an animal without their being some issue to treat, as is the case with most medications, so for the time being there is no reason for this interviewee to have this opportunity. This may be one of the more significant boundaries and aspects of CBD treatments, and medications in general, separating those who have the opportunity from those who do not. The need for these medications often will not come about until an animal is sick. While this will not greatly limit the opportunity, it will reduce the number of potential customers at times.

Table:

Inside the Boundary:

Who is in: owners of larger mammals such as dogs and cats, as well as possibly veterinarians in the future and other animal medical providers.

What the need is: a need for natural and safe medications for major and minor ailments with minimal side-effects.

Why the need exists: the need exists because many medications given to animals today, and people for that matter, have significant negative side-effects that can often outweigh the usefulness administering the medicine in the first place.

Outside the Boundary:

Who is not in: owners of smaller animals and those with unusual living and medical habits, such as small mammals, reptiles, and fish, as well as professionals in organizations that prevent the use of these medications, at least for now.

What the need is not: it is not the need for an everyday supplement to be used on animals, CBD treatments should not be used as a daily supplement, and so may not see use among people with younger animals.

Alternative explanations: people may also want to explore a new trend sweeping the alternative medicine field today.

Solving the Problem

1. Selected opportunity: Expansion of the use and sale of CBD-based medical treatments to both public groups and private groups and citizens that may have a use and desire for all-natural, versatile medicines for their animals.

2: Product/Service: The product consists primarily of the CBD treatments themselves, which can vary greatly in their purpose and use without too much change in the product itself. These would be, at least at first, primarily geared towards pain relief and other acute issues that you would treat using over the counter medicines. An associated service could be the distribution method through which customers purchase these treatments, either a website, a specialized pharmacy, or a subscription service, all of which could be viable. There may be certain limitations here due to the legal gray area that cannabis treatments currently exist in, possibly necessitating an incremental release in certain areas to test the waters before expanding as medical cannabis use is legalized elsewhere.

Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

1. The Opportunity: Accessibility to organic, CBD-based medications for pet owners and their animals.

2. Opportunity Who, What, Why: Pet owners, caretakers, veterinarians, and organizations do not have access to organic, cannabis-based medications for animals due to the previous and ongoing prohibition of cannabis products as well as the fledgling nature of the medical cannabis industry in the United States.

Who: Pet owners, caretakers, veterinarians, and organizations

What: do not have access to organic, cannabis-based medications for animals

Why: due to the previous and ongoing prohibition of cannabis products as well as the fledgling nature of the medical cannabis industry in the United States.

3. Opportunity Hypothesis:

Testing the Who: Everyone in my current "who" shares this need, but there may be others that it would apply to. Zoos, rehabilitation centers, and conservation centers might all be able to find a use for CBD-based treatments for animals. Various sports as well, not that I support those like dog and horse racing, but also such sports as polo and steeplechase could possibly make use of these treatments to help their animals recover from injuries or illness.

Testing the What: The boundaries for this need vary greatly. The legality of cannabis-based treatments of any kind is blurry at the state level, while being completely illegal federally. In places that are legalized, it may be difficult to acquire medicines dosed for or prescribed for animals, especially in cases where veterinarians or pharmacies might have moral or professional objections to the use of these treatments for animals. There is also a societal component as well, with many people still generally uninformed about CBD treatments, often maintaining incorrect or outdated assumptions about cannabis in general.

Testing the Why: The above boundaries have many different reasons for existence. As far as government prohibition goes, this is largely still in place due to the placement of cannabis as a schedule 1 drug, despite its medical uses. Societal understandings of cannabis also come into play with the above boundaries. Many people who maintain these today, and are ostensibly also in control of organization policies that might prevent its use like those of veterinary organizations and the like most likely grew up in the time of Reefer Madness or DARE, further fueling incorrect assumptions about CBD medicines.

4. Interview Summary 1: The first interviewee was my girlfriend, who is a pet owner and also runs a feline rescue group in Northern Florida. Her understanding of CBD treatments comes mainly from the experiences of close friends and colleagues who have utilized human treatments. Her group would have lots of uses for these treatments, especially considering how versatile these treatments are. The fact that they're completely natural and safe, even in large doses, helps a lot as well. In her experience, administering medications to animals is not the most exact science given their propensity for resisting. There is some resistance, among members of her group, particularly those who maintain a negative view of cannabis in general.

Interview Summary 2: The second interviewee was my mom, a pet owner, as well as somebody whose early exposure to cannabis in general would have been through such programs and films as Reefer Madness. She first heard of CBD treatments through a 60 minutes special, and has learned more through research for my step father. She is open to the use of CBD treatments, especially given the problems associated with aging animals, but knows many people in her circle of friends who would shy away from such treatments. Concerns over legality issues in some states are also concerning to her for career reasons.

Interview Summary 3: The third interviewee was a friend of my step father's who is a veterinarian. He is kind of the hippie type, so he certainly did not have any moral objectives to cannabis or CBD treatments, but according to him there are certain barriers to this in the veterinary community. These barriers typically come in the form of prohibitions that could cost him his license to practice, which would be disastrous for his family. There are also no dedicated pharmacies for animal CBD treatments, making legitimate prescriptions difficult if not impossible to offer.

Interview Summary 4: My grandmother was the fourth interviewee. Given the generational gap between her and the other interviewees, I expected some drastic differences in opinion, and I was correct. Despite her nursing background, she was still concerned about such treatments, particularly for her animals. The societal role in concerns over cannabis treatments seems to be one of the largest obstacles when it comes to finding support and customers in a broader market. She did, however, acknowledge the medical uses of CBD, so perhaps these societal boundaries can be pushed beyond in certain cases.

Interview Summary 5: The last interviewee was a friend of my aunt's who at one time worked for a prominent zoo. Much like my family's veterinarian friend, there are many boundaries in this field that just cannot be broken in this case. Not only are there concerns from oversight groups and those that accredit zoos and aquariums, but also from the boards of the various zoos, who are concerned with many issues such as public perception, profit margins, and broader conservation programs and interactions with other zoos, all of which could be imperiled by such a treatment program.

5. Overall Summary: The above interviews gave me a lot of information I did not know before, particularly regarding common prejudices towards cannabis treatments. Such prejudices may not be feasible to work around, especially in cases of professional boundaries. This opportunity, based on all of this, would most likely have to be a private use, over the counter treatment for smaller issues such as pain relief rather than something that is prescribed by a veterinarian or used in other professional settings. It would also start out as a niche product due to societal prejudices, and it is possible that the product would remain this way.

Identifying Opportunities in Economic and Regulatory Trends

Economic Trends Opportunity 1: Strengthening global demands

Where I found it: jpmorganchase.com

What leads me to believe an opportunity might exist: I believe an opportunity might exist here because as the economies of massively populated countries such as China and India expand rapidly, as well as shifting from export-based to service-based, there will be a newfound demand for American goods, particularly luxury goods and technologies abroad as the spending power of the foreign middle and upper-class increases. Another area this demand will be found is in American intellectual properties, which will see increasing use overseas as well.

Most likely customer with the opportunity: The most likely customer in this opportunity would be a newly middle or upper-class person in any number of rapidly developing economies around the world, be they Chinese, Indian, or Brazilian.

Ease of exploitation: This opportunity would not be particularly difficult to exploit. If a company is large enough that there is demand for its products overseas, chances are they already have the infrastructure in place and the funds to facilitate entry into new markets, especially if those appear to be lucrative.

Why I saw this opportunity: I saw this opportunity because I have a vested interest in international relations as a political science major, and a major part of American influence in international relations comes from the ubiquity of American products and intellectual properties. One needs to look no further than the end of the Cold War to see how much of an effect this can have around the world.

Economic Trends Opportunity 2: Increasing energy demands

Where I found it: jpmorganchase.com

What leads me to believe an opportunity might exist: I think there may be an opportunity here because stabilizing oil prices, rising vehicle exports and purchases, and the continued boom of American oil all point to an increasing need and desire for energy sources, of which oil and other fossil fuels continue to be the most prolific.

Most likely customer with the opportunity: The most likely customer with this opportunity would be governments and companies seeking to import American oil abroad. These countries tend to be developed countries in Europe, as well as in other regions of the world lacking in fossil fuel deposits. This customer base extends from the governmental level all the way down to the individual level, as the citizens of said countries will need access to gas for vehicles.

Ease of exploitation: The ease of exploitation in this opportunity is quite variable. If a company already has the infrastructure to extract the oil and the means to export it, then these new demands will be fairly easy to exploit. However, a company just now entering this industry following the American shale boom would find this exceptionally difficult, given the juggernauts that already occupy the field.

Why I saw this opportunity: I saw this opportunity because I have numerous concerns about the environment and sustainability, and am a major proponent of renewable energy sources. Although the above opportunity presents an excellent chance for capital to enter the American economy, I was also quite dismayed, as it does not appear that oil is anywhere near faltering in the face of the increasing prevalence of renewable resources.

Regulatory Changes Opportunity 1: Trump Administration tariffs against allies and trading partners

Where I found it: businessnewsdaily.com

What leads me to believe an opportunity might exist: I think an opportunity may exist here because with the implementation of tariffs on common and important goods that we typically purchase from such countries as Canada, especially resources such as steel and the like, companies within the US will be looking for sources of these and other products that they can acquire without suffering from the penalties of the tariffs. There also may be further opportunity here as many companies take their production and products overseas to avoid the tariffs, opening up new spaces in US markets.

Most likely customer with the opportunity: The most likely customer with this opportunity would be, in the case of tariffs on raw materials, US companies that rely on trade with Canada and the EU to acquire materials to make their products. Another prototypical customer would be the consumers of products that may cease to be produced or sold in the US because of the tariffs.

Ease of exploitation: I think this opportunity would be rather difficult to exploit. Although there is plenty of room now for new companies to expand, these companies would require significant resources to reach the level of those that left, something that may not be worthwhile in the long run seeing as the above tariffs probably will not remain in place once Trump is out of office.

Why I saw this opportunity: I saw this opportunity because I have a significant interest in world politics, being a political science major, and economic and regulatory policies like the above tariffs play a major role in how the US interacts with and is perceived by other countries, particularly those that we are ostensibly allied with.

Regulatory Changes Opportunity 2: EU General Data Protection Regulations

Where I found it: businessnewsdaily.com

What leads me to believe an opportunity might exist: I think an opportunity may exist here because these new regulations will demand an increase in personal data protections for individuals and companies throughout Europe, as well as protections for copyrighted material. It has been suggested that the US might implement similar regulations, and if so, there would be a demand for companies that could facilitate the implementation of such data protections, especially for individuals and small businesses.

Most likely customer with the opportunity: The prototypical customer in this opportunity would be a business that frequently deals with customers' personal data, particularly those in banking and social media, where such leaks have been particularly damaging recently. There may also be individual customers as well, people looking to preserve their data privacy or intellectual property.

Ease of exploitation: This opportunity would be fairly easy to exploit. Although it requires a great degree of knowledge, the actual monetary cost of implementing these protections and the infrastructure necessary to run such a business would be small, with large financial gains to be made.

Why I saw this opportunity: I saw this opportunity because ever since the 2016 election, I have been increasingly concerned with data protection and privacy, and so seeing the implementation of these regulations and the possibility that they may be implemented in the US as well has helped to assuage some of those fears, especially once companies are forced to be more careful with how they handle consumers' data.