30A- Final Reflection

This has been a very interesting, but fun, class. I have mostly enjoyed it, however frustrated I got at some of the assignments on occasion. Picking what to finally work on was especially hard. Perhaps the biggest low for me was randomly reading the syllabus one day like two weeks ago. It seemed to imply that I might get an E in this class for falsely declaring on an assignment which I accidentally did not turn in. Very worried, I emailed the professor, who quickly informed me that I was fine. That was a terrifying ten minutes.

Recalling all of what I did this semester, a few things stick out to me. The first is making Elevator Pitches. I used to love making videos in high school, but now that I’m in my second year of college I don’t have as much time to do anything like that. Just being able to be a little more theatrical and editing a video gave me a rush of excitement and sort of nostalgia. I also really enjoyed reading the third book, which really opened my eyes towards a number of things. Had it not been for this course, I never would have read Mindset.

I honestly do not see myself has an entrepreneur. I do not have the toughness required or will made of stone to get through the world like this. I would much rather live a more humble life than the one that I pretended to have throughout this course. I don’t see myself doing anything like this in my future, but it was cool to learn this about myself. This has been an eye-opening course, and I’m glad to have found out so much about myself.

Students in the future should ALWAYS MAKE SURE THAT THEY TURN IN EVERY ASSIGNMENT. On several occasions I did the entire assignment and forgot to submit the URL. To foster an entrepreneurship mindset, I encourage them to get out of their comfort zone and look at the world in a way that they might not have ever seen it before. That’s what I attempted to do, and I really did learn quite a bit of myself.

I’m not sure what picture I should include, so here’s a picture of me shortly before this course and one just after finishing this final assignment!

Before

After

29A- Venture Concept no. 2

INTRODUCTION

               Innovation is an opportunal force. It comes and goes in the world, passing from person to person as it tries to find a home in a single mind. Innovating is a hard-enough task to learn, but for it to come to one person numerous times shows a true gift. That’s why inventors and developers are becoming more and more sparse and few between these days- it almost seems as if everything’s been discovered already. But, every once in a while, a true spark of genius comes out and a person can truly be glorified as an innovator, typically once, but sometimes two or three plus times!

               Opportunities can be hard to find, but they come so frequently in the music world. The music industry as a whole needs a lot of fixing, but perhaps it is in the songwriters that it needs the most help. Between fees, not getting paid enough, and trying so hard to find the perfect sound, it can be hard for someone to even want to be a songwriter, and those who do will merely do it for the love of music. This small group of people are constantly bullied by the market and those who run it, unable to find footing or afford something to help them. That’s why I wanted to work with this group.

WHAT IS OUT THERE????

               As industries everywhere seem to move forward and find new ground to cover, the music industry seems trapped in the past. Just look at some of the most popular cheap recording software. Audacity, for instance, is a great program that runs smoothly, but, aesthetically, is entirely barebones and looks just like it did ten years ago. The music industry needs more innovation, and that’s why I wanted to create a program to help songwriters get off of the ground and truly discover a love for music.

                                                                               Audacity

             There’s not much out there at the moment to help budding songwriters, and everything that is is either expensive or doesn’t work. I remember when I first started up, I found a book that was supposed to help with songwriting, but the book was just so long and uninteresting. A program that walked me through would have definitely been more interesting. This market is an ever-changing one, and I’d like to be the forefront of a new style of songwriting and connection. This is a pretty big opportunity, as there is literally nothing cheap out there to help people like this.

                                                        Songwriting Book I have seen in libraries 

              

MY INNOVATION

            

             A program that allows you to input a song, and it will tell you all sorts of facts about the song- chords, keys, modes, melodic lines, etc. It will also contain “maps”, which will involve taking a chord and then offering you a selection of different chords that would sound good after it. It would help with keys and finishing up melodic lines, analyzing your songs for cool things that could make them better. I would sell this program for cheap ($5) once it got off the ground, although the inputting of songs part would be a more-expensive addon, about ($30+). I would donate 95% of the money I personally make from this (Not including money needed for supporting the project) to a nature conservation organization, so buying it would be very helpful to all aspects of the world and could excite musicians who really want to help the world that they live in while learning about writing songs.

                                        The chord chart I used when first learning about keys and such         

    

COMPETITION

             There aren’t many competitors, and I certainly have not seen a program like this in my years of songwriting and music production. Packaging wouldn’t play any sort of role in my program, as it is online. Customer support would be very important, as I would love for each customer to have all of their questions answered. The design of the program would also have to be very aesthetically pleasing, as I wouldn’t want people to be turned off by how it looks. A business would come up to support me and the program, helping customers and going through and fixing bugs and making sure that everything is taken care of within the program and within the songwriting community as a whole.

    

IMPORTANT RESOURCES

        

             My most important resource will be a community of musicians that I have built up around the world. They will help to make sure that everything runs smoothly. Up next for the venture, we would probably continue working on the program to make sure it is perfect for everyone. We would also probably move on to other ventures, involving music. For me, five years after this, I would personally love to take the money and travel the world, giving up many of my possessions and having a great time going to other countries and studying wildlife there.

               

CHANGES

I received some feedback in my last Venture Concept. My peers suggested that perhaps my price could increase as more features were added and that my writing could use more paragraphs and breaks between ideas, as well as adding images so that everything flows better and keeps readers interested and invested in what I have to say. Someone also suggested giving the proceeds I make from this to a charity relating to conservation, which was very exciting to me, so I added it in. 

28A- Your Exit Strategy

My exit strategy is simple. I would sell my business down the line and hopefully make a decent return, and go off and do whatever I want to do in my life. I wouldn’t want to be held down by something like this, which would inhibit me from doing anything that I really want to do.

I have selected this because, while I am incredibly passionate about music, it is not something that I expect to do with my life. I intend to actually go out in the world and explore nature and deal with animals, helping them as mankind continues driving the Earth into the ground. This is where I truly want to make a difference, and I feel like sticking to a computer program like this would not allow me to help in the areas that I truly want to.

Having this exit strategy has definitely influenced my decisions in this project. I was probably not as serious about everything as I should have been, as I knew the whole time that this wasn’t something I would want to stick to long-term. I’ve helped people with music before, and while I’ve always enjoyed it, I don’t feel like my ideas are the most extraordinary or necessarily helpful. 

27A

I went over Mindset: How You Can Fulfil Your Potential, by Carol Dweck. This was a powerful book that discussed the power of people’s beliefs. Everything we think and do is shaped by our beliefs, and there is a specific belief within you that has been guiding you throughout each and every part of the life which emasculates you. The novel is based off of years of research and includes numerous examples, many from the author’s own life.

This book greatly enhanced what I was learning in this class, and, to be honest, very well might be the best book that I’ve had to read since starting school at the University of Florida. His science is gripping, his tales are moving and often funny (some even using celebrity names, like Tiger Woods), his writing is relaxed and personal. The only reason I had picked this book was because it was highlighted on the reading list, but it surprised me and took me by the hand. I started it last night and couldn’t put it down. I usually hate reading books on my computer, but I honestly didn’t mind this one.

Sorry for the review, I’ll get back on track now. As I said before, it greatly enhanced what I was learning in this class, and goes along well with both failure and trial-and-error. It makes you take a good look at yourself and your past to see what truly affects you in your life, and I feel that I am more improved after having read it. The fixed vs. growth mindset, which describes the two mindsets most people have, was especially intriguing to me. I mostly viewed myself as a fixed-mindset person, but I sort of realized, early on in the book, that I can change myself and my mindset to be more growing. I can work on myself, change what I do and who I am, and keep growing. It was all very exciting! People with the growth mindset thrive and accept failure especially well, which is a great trait to have.

Perhaps a sort of a-ha moment was Carol’s comment that we always keep a running account of what’s happening to us at any given moment. Our minds constantly monitor what’s going on and interpret the world. It made me realize how much our minds do, and these sensory inputs and such can lead to numerous responses, such as anxiety, anger, ease, depression, excitement, etc. I had never thought too much into that before, but it was really cool to read.

If I had to design an exercise of some sort, it would be as follows. Each person in the class would have to label themselves as either a “growth” or “fixed” mindset-type person. It would be an ongoing assignment, and at the beginning of the semester they would declare themselves to be either one or the other, and comment on what they could do to change themselves and better themselves in thinking. Throughout the semester, they would keep a log and update it every week, discussing what they did to change themselves that week, and how they felt they grew as a person. At the end of the semester, they would have a reflection and look upon themselves as either a changed person or the same. It’d be fun and easy!

26A

One time that I failed this past semester was when I took a chemistry exam. I had been doing surprisingly well in Chemistry until I got to the third exam, which I got a 64 on, despite studying for nine days in advance.

I learned that sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you are just not prepared for what comes up in the end. I should have paid more attention in class instead of cramming in the last few days!

Usually, when I fail, I lounge about and act miserable for a bit but get up and move on pretty quickly afterwards. I am always looking for new ways to do something and try again, just as long as it’s still within the realm of possibility.

I don’t really think this class has changed much, but maybe I am a little bit more ready to get out there and experience failure firsthand. 

24A

               Innovation is an opportunal force. It comes and goes in the world, passing from person to person as it tries to find a home in a single mind. Innovating is a hard-enough task to learn, but for it to come to one person numerous times shows a true gift. That’s why inventors and developers are becoming more and more sparse and few between these days- it almost seems as if everything’s been discovered already. But, every once in a while, a true spark of genius comes out and a person can truly be glorified as an innovator, typically once, but sometimes two or three plus times!

               Opportunities can be hard to find, but they come so frequently in the music world. The music industry as a whole needs a lot of fixing, but perhaps it is in the songwriters that it needs the most help. Between fees, not getting paid enough, and trying so hard to find the perfect sound, it can be hard for someone to even want to be a songwriter, and those who do will merely do it for the love of music. This small group of people are constantly bullied by the market and those who run it, unable to find footing or afford something to help them. That’s why I wanted to work with this group.

               As industries everywhere seem to move forward and find new ground to cover, the music industry seems trapped in the past. Just look at some of the most popular cheap recording software. Audacity, for instance, is a great program that runs smoothly, but, aesthetically, is entirely barebones and looks just like it did ten years ago. The music industry needs more innovation, and that’s why I wanted to create a program to help songwriters get off of the ground and truly discover a love for music.

               There’s not much out there at the moment to help budding songwriters, and everything that is is either expensive or doesn’t work. I remember when I first started up, I found a book that was supposed to help with songwriting, but the book was just so long and uninteresting. A program that walked me through would have definitely been more interesting. This market is an ever-changing one, and I’d like to be the forefront of a new style of songwriting and connection. This is a pretty big opportunity, as there is literally nothing cheap out there to help people like this.

               My innovation is as follows. A program that allows you to input a song, and it will tell you all sorts of facts about the song- chords, keys, modes, melodic lines, etc. It will also contain “maps”, which will involve taking a chord and then offering you a selection of different chords that would sound good after it. It would help with keys and finishing up melodic lines, analyzing your songs for cool things that could make them better. I would sell this program for cheap ($5) once it got off the ground, although the inputting of songs part would be a more-expensive addon, about ($30).

               There aren’t many competitors, and I certainly have not seen a program like this in my years of songwriting and music production. Packaging wouldn’t play any sort of role in my program, as it is online. Customer support would be very important, as I would love for each customer to have all of their questions answered. The design of the program would also have to be very aesthetically pleasing, as I wouldn’t want people to be turned off by how it looks. A business would come up to support me and the program, helping customers and going through and fixing bugs and making sure that everything is taken care of within the program and within the songwriting community as a whole.

               My most important resource will be a community of musicians that I have built up around the world. They will help to make sure that everything runs smoothly. Up next for the venture, we would probably continue working on the program to make sure it is perfect for everyone. We would also probably move on to other ventures, involving music. For me, five years after this, I would personally love to take the money and travel the world, giving up many of my possessions and having a great time going to other countries and studying wildlife there.

               

25A

EXISTING MARKET

What’s next: I think the market is going to keep expanding. There’s already loads of great opportunities and products in the music world, and I’d be excited to be a part of it. Up next, I would probably work on some cool affordable analog synthesizers.
Person 1- (ADAM) wants me to have an app where I can hum a song into it and I can recognize the song based off of the progression of my sounds.
Person 2- (ELIJAH) wants a device that you can put on an object and allow it to record and modify a sound from it.
Person 3- (SHAWN) wants a “clippy” for music, like the infamous Microsoft word mascot. He would come up and recognize what song you were making, then offering tips about what to do from then on.

I would most likely go more into designing physical objects and cool instruments, like what Elijah suggested.

NEW MARKET

I would work in animal conservation and protection.

Helping animals would always be a dream of mine, and I think that my idea of helping people in music could shift to helping animals in the world. Both want to create something greater, and be a part of something greater, and I’d be happy to accept.

I interviewed a veterinarian, a brother of a neighbour. He says that more people need to be more careful in the pet trade, not selling illegal or invasive species. They think that to be successful, I should have a large campaign.

I did not learn much from here, as world conservation was my original idea. But I am glad to know that I already have a firm grasp on how to help boh people and nature out in the world. Most of my expectations were correct, but this is a much harder market to offer a product in. I’d be lucky to even think of  a real one!