ENT 3003 - Entrepreneurship Class Blog

Domain Expert  - Dustin Stephany - Sustainability Director for UF Planning, Design, & Construction Dustin leads the charge for pursuing LEED Certification on all major UF projects.  He directs and coordinates all sustainability efforts on campus. Based on Dustin's experience and title, I felt like he would be an excellent Domain Expert. I have worked closely with Dustin over multiple projects and have created a solid working relationship with him through networking events with the University. I called him this morning. I asked if he would check over my Napkin Idea and gave him my quick elevator pitch on the product I'm proposing.  He was more than happy to take some time out to listen.  Being the enthusiastic guy he is, he was exuberant over the idea of a product that would truly benefit him and all of his efforts across these several products.  He wants to be a part of developing this concept. By including this person in my network, I could use his ...

I am Jason and I am a senior graduating this May with a degree in Construction Management.  My talents lie with my musical and problem-solving, and social capabilities.  I play the guitar, piano and sing for my church worship team.  I've been working full-time in the construction industry for 3+ years now and have a wide range of experiences in that time, from fieldwork on job sites to budget and people management within the office.  My aspirations are to leave a lasting mark on my community by sharing the Gospel while also sharing love and joy to all those who I can reach, and to use my experiences and career as a vessel to connect with others.  My concept would allow my connections with others to expand further than just my community within the local construction community, but be a catalyst to make these connections with many around the world that share in the same interests for construction and sustainability that I do. I am offering a product that compact...

When I imagine my prototypical customer for the Sustainable Manager, I think of a male construction manager in their 30s/40s, with a semi-bulky build, wearing business casual attire, short clean-cut brown hair, and a beard.  He is the Director of Operations at a local medium-sized construction firm in Gainesville, FL, and is responsible for all University of Florida Major Projects (all major UF projects are required to be LEED Certified).  He drives a white 2019 F-150, has a wife and 3 kids(2 biological, one adopted), plays golf and hunts on the weekends, watches sports primarily, as well as some guilty pleasures with his wife (the Bachelor of course), does not like to read very much, but does love him some Ulysses S Grant.  Most importantly, he loves the Lord and tries to reflect him in his workplace and at home every day. Our values align pretty well in that we both are strong in our faith, are both in the construction industry, both have a heart for foster care and ...

New Elevator Pitch Video: https://youtu.be/n_K2V3cnIU8   I received no feedback comments on my original video.  I realized afterwards that I needed to develop a more personable attitude and I needed to come up with more of an attention grabber at the beginning of the pitch. Based on the internal feedback that I gave myself and Professor Pryor's comments on how to improve the pitch, I tried to have a more relaxed and less forced character as I spoke.  My speaking skills were still subpar, but I feel as though my point came across in a smoother way as well as being a little more tending to the audience with my demeanor.

 Describe five ways in which you think you have Human Capital that is truly unique. I feel as though I have the willingness and drive to accomplish whatever I set my goals on.  I work a 40-hour per week job while taking a full class load and am completing my Capstone project for my program, which has already taken well over 100 hours worth of work outside of class and my job. My unique charisma sets me apart.  I am a goofy person, but I am also pretty analytical and wise in a sense for where I am in life.  I feel as though my exterior facade of being goofy, relaxed, joyfulness, and strong sense of humor often gives people a surprise when they come to see how diligently I work, how smart I am, and how well I do my job. I think I am confident in who I am, but one thing that I have developed recently is to put aside my pride and arrogance at times while also staying true to myself and my faith. I have a knack for connecting with others by finding a medium ground ...

For this assignment, I only conducted one interview.  I thought I would go right to the source of my company to ask about the "alternatives" to the evaluation of my proposed entrepreneurial product, the Sustainable Manager.  I interviewed Don Kellogg, the Director of Operations for Scorpio, who makes the decisions on products that the company would subscribe to, such as Procore (Construction Project Management Software), Asana (Schedule/Task Management Software), Bluebeam (PDF Editor), etc.  Here are my findings: Alternative Evaluation What figure matters the most when selecting software for Scorpio to subscribe to? The effectiveness and usability of the software matter the most.  If one type of software is overall a much better product than another (i.e. Bluebeam, when compared to Adobe Acrobat Reader).  The price is definitely a factor, but if we believe the product helps excel the company over another, then it is worth the investment. Also, how bad do...

I have definitely had to make some adjustments to my work style for this class over the past couple of months.  Here are some of my takeaways: I have developed routine behaviors to conquer through this class on a weekly basis.  I had to learn the hard way to have a scheduled time to crunch out these blog posts and to not wait until the last second.  One week early on, I had realized that the posts were due at 12:00 PM (noon) rather than midnight on Fridays, so I had to leave a work meeting early and hit pause on my actual job to get the posts submitted on time.  No bueno to say the least. There are often times where my Senioritis hits hard and I wonder if I really care that much about my grade so long as I pass.  I pulled my way through by reminding myself that I didn't want to get into a bad rhythm that made it harder on me in the end.  If there's any time where I'm going to slack off, it's going to be in the end when I know that I have the wiggle room...