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.