Reading Reflection No. 3

I decided to pick a book based on its title. This time, I read "Twenty-Seven Dollars and a Dream: How Muhammad Yunus Changed the World and What It Cost Him" by Katharine Esty. It was a very interesting book that really surprised me in different ways and that taught me a lot. I believe that social entrepreneurship is so important and that it is necessary to trust others when it comes to financing other people's business. Sometimes people hcaave great ideas, but due to several conditions and external factors, they might not have the capital to start their own business. I was surprised to see how $27 can change the world. I really appreciate Muhammad Yunus values and how he decided to help other people instead of making himself rich. One can argue that Yunus encountered failure when he was removed from the position of the bank that he founded himself, but it was a reason for him to go and do greater things.

In my opinion, Muhammad Yunus' competencies could potentially include: empathy, innovation, social service, solidarity, among other ones. One of the things that I found confusing was that why did he start the bank at first place and why did he not focus on this $27 project since the beginning. I would ask Yunus: "Did you ever imagine that you were going to globally impact the world in such a way?" and my other question would be: "Did you ever think of the risk of starting this project?".

I think that Yunus focuses a lot on the awards of dedication, motivation, and how these crops can be harvested!

Your Exit Strategy

I think that one of the most important things about my business or my program is that it has to be sustainable and it should be carried around through generations. To a certain extent I want to work on it until I have the time to do so. I would calculate that I want to spend approximately 5 years as the "CEO" or the main program manager. However, throughout these years I am expecting that we will have a lot of volunteers to keep helping other international students. I really want the participants to think that they were in an unfair position before and that wherever they are working now that they might realize that we helped them achieve the things that they have so far. It is important to set a culture of gratitude and to give back to it.

I have decided to select this particular exit strategy because I think that I want to help international students as much as I can because I understand the struggle of finding opportunities for reasons beyond our control. Nevertheless, it is so important for me to assign different emergent leaders that will be able to take over this program.

I think that it really influences a lot on my willingness to help people and how much I want others to succeed and to connect them with opportunities for growth. It will not benefit me, but it will benefit the future generations to portray them that they are not different than others, that if you come from a different country that does not mean that you are not allowed to apply the skills in a professional work environment.

Celebrating Failure

In this exercise, I am going to talk a little bit about a time when I failed.
I think this past semester I had to learn how to become a better public speaker in English because I have always considered myself a great public speaker in Spanish but when it comes to presenting in front of people whose mother tongue is English then I get nervous. I recall a specific moment when I realized that I failed and it was when I did all of my research for a group project but I only had 1 minute and a half to present everything that I had in my mind. I did not practice beforehand and when I was delivering my message I panicked because I had so many things in my head to say and I was trying to summarize it as much as possible that at the end it was an awful presentation. I apologized with my team and I talked to the professor about it because it was not fair for my team to get a lower grade based on my individual performance. I, then, decided to take a public speaking class to improve and now I have gotten so much better. I believe that it is so important to learn from failure because they can mark the impression of your personality and the way people perceive you.

Throughout this course, I have realized that it is okay to fail because we are not always going to have the victory. Sometimes we fail, sometimes these failures are beyond our control and sometimes they are our mistakes. However, it is important to realize that there is always room for improvement and that you can practice until you become the best! For instance, the elevator pitches that we had for this class. We can always make it better and better until you have a masterpiece.

Venture Concept

Opportunity. As people search for better opportunities to study abroad, they come here to the United States of America to pursue their undergraduate or graduate degrees. It is arguable that people study or pursue their degrees in order to find a job after they graduate. We have fallen into a social concept where it is required to have a degree to perform a job, even if sometimes one must not utilize the skills learned in class in the actual job.

Students from different countries come to the States to obtain a degree and they are hopeful to gain work experience that will help them out in their careers. However, these possibilities are very limited due to companies not giving them a chance to apply to internships or full-time offers. It is very hard for international students to find this type of work experience. Hence, this is an opportunity to help out students that are willing to work with dedication and determination.

Innovation. The program that I want to start is a non-profit organization that helps to pair great international talent with top and prestigious companies in the United States from a pool of students that currently study in the United States of America. This program is a win-to-win situation for both the company and the student who is willing to commit to a work experience that could potentially define their professional career.

The program starts with an application process. There is going to be a deadline for applicants to apply. Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors are welcome to apply but there is a preference for sophomores and juniors. The application process consists of an essay defining their professional career aspirations and why the applicant should be considered as part of the program. Additionally, as it is now, the applicants are only limited to business majors and people who are interested in opportunities within the business field. Additionally, the applicant must be enrolled in a university or college in the United States of America and they should be under a F-1 visa. After that, if selected, the applicant must have a pre-recorded interview to test if the applicant meets the requirements and their ability to perform in an interview. The interview consists of behavioral questions. After the team reviews the application of all of the applicants, we will extend the offer to be a part of this program. The program will consist of professional coaches to practice for interviews, review of resumes, and resources that will help them be prepared and informed of current business trends or news. Depending on the applicant's performance during this training we will refer them to exclusive opportunities with our partners. If the applicant is underperforming throughout the program we reserve the right to remove them from the program.

Venture concept. There is currently no competition and this is to help students that are committed to excellence. This is an opportunity in a lifetime for international students because some of them give up easily, but with this highly competitive program, they can have a bigger chance to obtain relevant work experience. In 5 years, we expect our participants that were benefitted from this program to volunteer and make it a sustainable project.

What's next?

Existing Market:

I think that it is very important and necessary to run this program so people will have the opportunity to gain more professional experiences. 

The three customers that I interviewed suggested me to get in contact with different recruiters so I can put in contact every applicant in my program. They said that it would be nice to open the opportunity to be volunteers after they land an internship so they can continue contributing to this program. 

In a brief summary, I would definitely say that my motto is to help international students based on my internship research experience. I want them to understand that it is a valuable opportunity and that they can benefit a lot out of it.  

New Market.

I think that the closest new market it can be in my scenario is to pair international students with specific colleges or universities in the United States or around the world. This would be a completely new target. The concept behind this is to pair people from all over the world with universities that are willing to accept diverse students from different countries. By doing this, these students provide more insight into different lifestyles from all over the world. 

I interviewed two people who currently study at the University of Vienna and Waseda University in Japan. They said it would have been interesting to have had the possibility to study in a different country. They would have been able to share their experiences. The only problem they mentioned was visas and things related to that. However, if there is a partnership with universities then it might be able to work out. 

I was reflecting on this assignment and I wonder how amazing it would be to have the possibility to study wherever you want without any restriction or limitation. It would feel amazing to learn from different cultures, perspectives, and even new languages! 

Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

Resources in my venture: 

1. International student background

Valuable: Very important because I can identify with my applicants

Rare: not everyone is an international student

Inimitable: you have to come from a different country to understand this

Non-substitutable: 

2. A unique program, no competition

Valuable: it is a win-win situation for the company and the international student

Rare: this opportunity is hard to find

Inimitable: this might be imitable at some point but it will benefit others so I am not competing against anyone

Non-substitutable: 

3. Volunteering experience within the program

Valuable: understand that this is to make a change and not to make a profit out of it

Rare: not rare but it is fine by me

Inimitable: the more that we can imitate the better because then we make a social impact in the world

Non-substitutable: anyone could be able to participate

4.Empathy and interpersonal skills

Valuable: it will remind me why I am doing this

Rare: not that rare

Inimitable: not everybody cares about other people. Once they get a position, they forget where they came from

Non-substitutable: it is a part of how you develop yourself and what you think of people 

5. Emotional intelligence

Valuable: so important to be self-aware of your strengths and weaknesses

Rare: not so many people take time to analyze themselves

Inimitable: it takes time to fully know yourself. A lot of reflection

Non-substitutable: it is something that people cannot teach you

6. Public speaking

Valuable: to pitch the idea to students and partners

Rare: very common 

Inimitable: it comes with practice but it is imitable

Non-substitutable: it is substitutable but so important to have

7. International connections

Valuable: reach out to other people to understand better cultures and other opportunities abroad, maybe

Rare: not so many people know people from 95+ countries

Inimitable: it is hard to imitate as you have had to be exposed to such a network

Non-substitutable: not a lot of people have had the opportunity

8. Extended network

Valuable: reach out to people to have a better insight into their recruiting process

Rare: it is a matter of time 

Inimitable: with time and meaningful interactions people can develop this

Non-substitutable: not everyone has the same network as others

9. Interpersonal skills

Valuable: it helps to connect people with great opportunities

Rare: not everybody wants to know everyone around them

Inimitable: it is part of someone's personality

Non-substitutable: it is more natural for some people 

10. Cheap to start, not a lot of resources needed, 

Valuable: because it could start as soon as people are willing to help out

Rare: not so common because a lot of ideas are expensive, but not this one

Inimitable: it is important to realize that it is hard to initiate this because of laws and external forces, but not impossible

Non-substitutable: there is no other program like this one. I wish there was one!

Elevator pitch 3

You can find my elevator pitch here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16WlHHUHKdRXX7kE9mi6kXuUV6KT6hma7/view?usp=sharing

It was an amazing opportunity to re-do my elevator pitch. I took into consideration all the feedback that I had from the previous ones. For example, I named my program and I smiled more.

Reading Reflection No. 2

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

I had the opportunity to read The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users by Guy Kawasaki and it talks a lot about the use of social media and how you can persuade people through social media. It was a very interesting book, I would say, mainly because this book is a lot about how social media could be so beneficial for companies and how to reach a bigger audience.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

I think it was very important to pay attention to the pieces of advice that were given throughout the book. For example, even though there is an important product or service that could be so successful, people have to portray and sell that idea to others and social media is a good tool to communicate this idea to a lot of people. Failure to do so might affect the company's revenue since they do not have many clients. 

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

I would definitely say that they should look themselves up on the internet and they have to submit a link from their LinkedIn as well as their facebook profiles without feeling scared that there are bad things in there. The purpose of this exercise would be to feel confident that their online image is clean and professional. 

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

I think it was just how nice the book presents the idea of social media. It was very interesting to read the facts of how many people use social media and how it could be so powerful nowadays. 

Growing Your Social Capital

1) The first person I contacted was Michal O'Brien who works for USB in Chicago.

2) Domain expert

3) He is a UF Alumnus

4) He was my warrington peer leader

5) To understand better the skills that his company requires

1) Juan Valdez and he is a technology operations analyst for Bank of America

2) Market expert

3) LinkedIn

4) He provided me with an insight into the recruiting process and possibilities for international students

5) He could potentially give me some insight to see what his company is looking for in a prospective candidate

1) Maia Schulte and she is a campus recruiter from Patagonia

2) Supplier

3) LinkedIn

4) She was just very nice and she gave the opportunity to talk with her

5) It is beneficial to hear what she is searching for in candidates

I had the opportunity to reach to people on LinkedIn, even if I had to try to connect with so many people but it was definitely worth it. It is nice to see if people are willing to share their thoughts. It is very discouraging to hear what they say about international students because most companies are not hiring international students because of laws that have been enforced by the new administration. These are external political factors that could definitely harm my program. 

Idea Napkin 2

1) You. I am an international student who wants to help other international students to pursue their dream of working for multinational companies. I am an information systems major and I want to do anything that I possibly can to help my peers to acquire professional working experience and help companies to recruit talented people. 

2) What are you offering to customers? I am offering international students a chance to prove what they can bring to the table and offering companies to recruit highly talented people.

3) Who are you offering it to? To be very specific, I am offering this opportunity to international students who are pursuing a degree here in the United States of America and who are from business or STEM majors. 

4) Why do they care? Because it is important for their future. If they want to have the opportunity to get a full-time job, they require some work experience and I would love to be able to provide them with this chance.

5) What are your core competencies? Intercultural, interpersonal, communication, leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, analytical skills.

Based on the feedback that I received from my peers, I believe that I adjusted my strengths to my program. It has been an amazing opportunity to hear what others people think about this program (my entrepreneurial idea) and I feel very supported. I would like to appreciate all of my classmates that are reading this.