18 A

      

My avatar is a 35 year old mom who likes to cook. She drives a small Toyota or a Mini if she is from a richer family. She watches movies such as “How I met your mother” or some dating shows. She also has two children. All her favorite books are related to psychology. She is not too interested in politics and would be classified as a moderate Democrat or a moderate Republican. She pay attention to very little details when choosing her candidate during election times (such as the candidate’s voice or appearance ). She feels a little younger than what she actually is (tough to be 35 when you are 25 in your mind).

I personally do not have much in common with that person. My mother would be much more similar to that avatar. I do not think that it is coincidence that I betrayed her this way. She is the typical western young woman.

17 A

1) The pitch.

Video link: https://youtu.be/mkAKMh-7APk


2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch. 

To be completely honest, most of the feedbacks I received from my last pitch were positive, the only critics I got were about the fact that I could have dressed more accordingly to a business pitch.

3) What did you change, based on the feedback?

I put on a suit and a nice shirt. I changed my introduction in order to make it more entertaining and I added a concrete example of how my application can impact someone’s life.

16 A

1) Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique.

I speak four languages (French, Hebrew, Dutch and English) which is very important  for business relations.

I have great skills of adaptation. I didn’t speak English and didn’t know anyone in the United Sates two years ago. Now I am fluent in English, I am involved in many organizations on campus and have completely developed a social life here.

I never give up. Difficulty is not an excuse to me. I keep studying and working until I achieve my goal

I am a great speaker. I have been working and interning for politicians, It helps.

I am able to differentiate long term goals from short terms goals which keeps me focus on what I need to focus.


2) Interview the five people who know you the best.

Emma: My sister: I love my family, I am funny and I work hard. I always know how to make her feel better.

Lilliane: My mother: I am a diligent worker with goals and I know how to adapt myself to different situation in order to achieve my goal. I understand the importance of family and know that my future success is related to theirs too.

Elliott:  My brother: I am smart and opportunist. I never miss a shot when the time comes.

Alain: My father: I am very smart, outgoing and easy to socialize with. I have very precise goals and I am always focussing on them. I know how to adapt in any environment.

Sacha: My best friend: I Know exactly what to do in order to achieve my goals and I stay constant, never fail and keep working until I get it done. I understand different people's mindsets and know how to act accordingly.

PS: As an international student:  my close friends an family all live in Belgium and they do not speak English. For security reasons they did not wish to have their faces on the videos so they sent me voice notes. Those voice notes do not load on "Blogger" but it shouldn't matter that much as they interviewed were conducted in French. Here is the short translated version of those.

3) Reflect on the differences.


I believe that I was pretty realistic in my own self-reflection. Many of the qualities I found myself having were reflected in my family and friends interviews.

 The only quality that hasn't been pointed out is that I speak multiple languages which is probably due to the fact that the people that I interviewed also speak those languages.

15 A

1) Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them.

I interviewed three of my fraternity brothers, Zach, Daniel and Matt. They all live in the fraternity house and they all want to cook their own meals.

3) Begin with alternative evaluation. 

For my product, they said that the most important things to them are the price and quality. They said that only a low price combined with a good product quality would make them buy my product since it is something new that they are not very familiar with.

4) How/where do they buy? 

If satisfied with the product, they would all pay with their credit cards. They admitted that they would rather pay online because it does not require them to go to the store. (something I didn't really expected )

5) Post-purchase evaluation. 

They said that depending on the frequency of use from my product will determine their satisfaction. If they do not like the product, they will just keep cooking dishes they are familiar with without making any changes.

6) Report the findings.

 I realized that if those who are interested in my product have a lot of requirements and expectations for my product. Selling them my product will not be as easy as expected. I found it very interesting that even people who fall into my targeted segment have very specific needs.


7) Draw conclusions.   

I found it very interesting that even people who fall into my targeted segment have very specific needs.

Reading Reflection: 13 A

1) You read about an entrepreneur: Steve Jobs

· What surprised you the most? The fact that his course of life hasn’t always been as easy as we may think

· What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? His vision for MAC

· What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? His college “career”

· Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? Yes, he did encounter a lot of adversity, especially when he first launched “MAC” but he didn’t give up and learned from the market in order to avoid making the same mistakes again.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? Steve Jobs wants to learn from others. The best example of this phenomenon is the time he spent in India to understand the culture and mentality better.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. On Chapter 9 “ Going Public, A Man of Wealth and Fame”, it confused me that Walter Isaacson went from telling us the struggling battle to success of Steve Jobs to the luxuous life of Steve Jobs. It’s almost like there was nothing between these two periods of time. It confused me a lot.


4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

My question would be: If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?

I would ask this question because even if apple is a success model, I am sure that there are plenty of things that he regrets or would have done differently.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
I think that he believed in the American dream. In this idea that if you work hard enough, you will get rewarded. He never gave up on this idea, even during some troubling times. Me too, I believe in this idea of the “American dream”. This idea that our future is determined by no one else but ourselves. No government, no competitor can destroy your dreams if you believe hard enough in them.

Halfway Reflection : 14 A

1) Tenaciousness is a competency.

I would say that the best way to keep up with the class is to never give up, not even if it is a small assignment or a cupcake. I worked ahead on every assignment and watched all the lectures in order to establish a fixed schedule.

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude.

Very often, I found the amount of work challenging, especially when added to the work of my two other classes. I remember that one week I had to study for two exams and I had two very long ENT assignments due the same day. The reason I pulled it through is because I know that missing one assignment and its peer review, worth three percent of our final grade which jeopardize my chances to get an “A” grade in the class. I definitely feel like this class helps us to develop tenaciousness. The assignments are not particularly hard and neither are the cupcake but this class requires a lot of extra work and it is this “extra-work” that contributes to this phenomenon the most.

3) Three tips.

Tip 1: Don’t forget to do the little things because everything is a little thing.

Tip 2: Work ahead

Tip 3: Really understand the grading system, so you can work and decide what to do according to your own standards

12 A

1) Pick a segment. I decided to pick the “middle class” american segment. Because these are the one facing the “time/ Price” trade-off the most.

2) Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them.

 I interviewed three of my fraternity brothers who considered themselves as medium income american.

3) Begin with need awareness. 

First, I asked them If they had the need covered by my product. They all responded positively to my question so went ahead and interviewed all of them to see “what are the ideal conditions for my product”.

Interview 1: Dani

When do you have that need?

Basically, whenever I go back home or to my dorm and look in my fridge. I never know what to cook based on what I already have which makes me pay extra money for food all the time.

Where do you have that need?

In general, at home or in my dorm.

In what context would you use my product?

I would use your application every night if it ever ends up on the market.



Interview 2: Rafael

When do you have that need?

I still live with my mom now so she knows what to cook, but last year when I was living in the dorms, I never knew what to cook and that was really annoying. Cooking books are too old fashion, your idea is what we need!

Where do you have that need?

At home when my parents are not with me.

In what context would you use my product?

Whenever I am alone and do not know what to cook.



Interview 3: Sacha

When do you have that need?

Everyday! I live alone and it is hard for me to eat something different every day especially since I am allergic to lactose. There are a lot of ingredients that I cannot use and it is hard to cook something different based on the same ingredients



Where do you have that need?

At home or even at my girlfriend’s place.

In what context would you use my product?

Whenever I need to eat. Easy solution to my problems.









4) Move to information search. 

I asked them “when u guys start being aware of your “cooking need”, what is the very first thing u guys do to find a solution to this specific problem? What sources of information do you guys look for?

Without surprises they all said that the internet is their main source of information. Two of them did not even bother try to find a solution to this problem but for Sacha, the situation was different. He regularly go on google to find new ideas of what to cook.

5) Report the findings of your research. 

These people who fall into my segment would be interest by my product. Many of them already knew a solution had to be created but they never really gave more attention to that problem. The best prove of this phenomenon is the fact that two of them never made researches on the internet to find new dishes to cook.

6) Draw conclusions. 

This segment will be responsive to my problem if my idea ever ends up going on the market .

11 A

1) You. My Name is Max and I have an innovative mind. I am a very athletic person and I love creating new things. When it comes to my work experiences, I have worked and interned for a couple big data companies and foreign governments. My aspirations? Creating my own sustainable business. I do not know if the idea I’m using for this class will end up being an actual project but is definitely a good practice!

2) What are you offering to customers? I am offering an application that analyzes the food components we have in our fridges and gives us the options on what to cook based on these same exact ingredients.

3) Who are you offering it to? I am offering this product to anyone who has a kitchen but more specifically for those who feel that they are always eating the same exact meals and want a change in their alimentation but do not want to change the ingredients they use.

4) Why do they care? They care because this is their best and cheapest alternative. Many order food from restaurants when they want to eat something different.

5) What are your core competencies? I speak four languages and have lived in two different countries. I understand that not everyone is fit for the same products and that’s not a problem. You just have to target a particular segment and understand that segment perfectly. (which is what I am doing with my project)



I do not see a lot of weaknesses in my project but if I had to be critical of my own project there is one thing I would be skeptical of: “who are you offering to”. My product can be sold to anyone which can result in nobody buying the product. It is probably not specific enough but overall I am sure this will be fixed within the next few assignments.