Assignment 13A - Reading Reflection 1

Assignment 13A – Reading Reflection 1

Reflection on Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

1.     I think a more fitting question for this autobiography is what didn’t surprise me. I think there is a stereotype of entrepreneurs today in that they are extremely extroverted, eloquent speakers, and brilliant salesmen. What surprised me the most was how different Phil Knight was from all of these adjectives. He was brilliant in so many other ways- most notably his ability to keep going. It also surprised me that he was not the one to come up with the infamous Nike swish logo or even the brand name Nike itself.

a.     Not only do I admire Phil Knight’s perseverance, but also his belief that “it’s never just business.” He has always believed in something more, something greater than just selling a product. He encourages people to “have faith in faith.”

b.     I can’t say that there’s anything I disliked about Phil Knight. However, if I had to pick one thing that I least admired I would say it is how much his work took him away from his family and children. However, that is ultimately the price he paid for greatness.

c.     He absolutely encountered adversity and failure. I don’t think there’s ever been a successful (or unsuccessful) entrepreneur that hasn’t. He was constantly in debt and constantly had to borrow money and worry about being able to pay it back. He also had to go through many lawsuits, unsuccessful products, and even a $25 million fine from US Customs.

2.     Like I mentioned before, his greatest competency was his perseverance, his ability to keep going when everything was working against him. He is extremely humble and gives credit where credit is due. After all, he didn’t even come up with the name Nike or the trademark symbol himself. He also believes that what he is doing is much more than just business- instead he is adding value to the world and changing people’s lives for the better.

3.     What was most confusing to me was how much fabrication Phil Knight did in order to get Onitsuka to work with him. In the very beginning, he simply makes up the fact that he works for a company called Blue Ribbon, which could distribute the shoes, when in reality this company did not yet exist. He also lies to them on other occasions, like when he says that he has offices on both coasts, when in reality no such east coast office existed.

4.     I would ask what he would do differently if he were given the opportunity to do it all over again, because I would want to know what the most important lesson he learned was. I would also ask what his opinion is of the things Nike is doing today and the company culture since he has left. I’m sure it is vastly different than what it was like when he was building it from the ground up and so I would be interested to know what he thought about the changes.

5.     I think Phil Knight’s opinion of hard work is that it is the single most important thing. Throughout the whole book, this is the one concept he kept repeating and emphasizing. Hard work is the only thing that got him through the countless failures and obstacles that he had to encounter along the way. It is an absolutely necessary part of any successful endeavor.

Assignment 14A - Halfway Reflection

Assignment 14A – Halfway Reflection

1.     Tenaciousness is a competency.

To keep up with the requirements of this course, the first and most important thing you need to do is make sure you know what the deadlines are. This class has no exams, so you are graded solely on assignments. The deadlines are consistent between blog posts, peer reviews, and quizzes, so Dr. Pryor makes it easy to remember. The second most important aspect is to pick a business idea that you are passionate about and that you truly believe will solve people’s problems. This should not just be something that adds to an already saturated market, it should be something that helps improve the world in some way. If you do this, the assignments will be easier because you believe in what your business is trying to accomplish.

2.     Tenaciousness is also about attitude.

I initially came into the course with a business idea that I had been thinking about already. While Dr. Pryor advises against this, I wanted to explore it anyway. However, after doing a few of the assignments I realized that I needed to come up with another business idea because I didn’t think mine was “good enough.” At this point, I did feel like “giving up.” However, I came up with another idea that I think will vastly improve people’s lives and so I was able to keep up with the assignments and develop a passion for this new business idea. I do feel like I’ve developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months because this is the first time I’ve gone into such complexity with a business idea.

3.     Three tips.

My three tips are as follows:

1.     From the very beginning of the course, pay attention to the world around you and try to notice things you have never noticed before. Look up from your phone and see what’s going on in the world.

2.     Keep going even if you receive negative feedback from interviews or peer reviews. However, pay attention to what they are saying and modify when you see fit. Only change your business idea if you are no longer passionate about it.

3.     Don’t miss deadlines. This is a really simple part of the course.

12A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior #1

Assignment 12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior #1

The segment I chose to investigate is the working professional without kids. This segment is recent college graduates who are just starting their full-time job and don’t have spouses or kids to worry about just yet. They are getting used to the 9-5 lifestyle, as well as following the millennial trends of healthy eating and food awareness.

Interview #1- This person that I interviewed is a new college graduate who had just started her full-time job this year. She is not big into cooking so she loved the idea of having someone cook meals for her. She is becoming more and more aware of the health hazards of eating out constantly and so has tried to cook more things at home but is still learning. She would probably use the service after work, around 5 or 6, and probably only once a week.

Interview #2- This person has been working full-time for over three years and does not have a spouse or kids. They currently eat out frequently at fast food places in order to save time. However, they want to start cooking because of the health benefits and the recent trend toward living a healthier lifestyle. They would definitely use this service over the weekend or after work in order to save time and to get quality, healthy meals.

Interview #3- This person has a job with irregular hours. They usually meal prep their food on the weekends in order to keep up with a healthy lifestyle and avoiding eating out as much. They would most likely use the service over the weekend to meal prep for them. They wouldn’t use it during the week just because of their irregular work hours and not knowing how long the service would take to complete.

This market segment of the working professional without a spouse or kids definitely has this unmet need. However, they go about solving it in different ways. They either try to cook themselves, eat out frequently, or meal prep on weekends. They would use the service after work, around 5 or 6, or on weekends to meal prep for the rest of the week.