Term Paper Corrections

Over the weekend I completed my term paper.  Mr. Correa edited it for me. Today, I am making revisions, so I can turn it in by tomorrow, December 19.

Term Paper: First Body Paragraph

I started my first body paragraph today.

Sneak peek!  Full Paper Coming Soon!

Last summer, I was looking for possible summer camps, and I applied to Endevvr,  Endevvr is a summer incubator that helps high school students from all over the world start their own businesses. I was excited to be accepted with 24 other participants.  It was held at the beautiful Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta. I can not express how transformative this program has been to my life.  It introduced me to the entrepreneurial mindset. We were given intense instruction by very successful entrepreneurs from different countries, who became our trusted mentors. We were not only taught, but also challenged to start our own corporations.  I loved the fact that the principles we learned in the morning class could immediately be applied to our business that same evening.

Term Paper Introduction

Today, I wrote the introductory paragraph for my term paper

Here it is:

When I was 10 years old, one of my favorite books was Realionaire by Farrah Grey, who was a self-made millionaire by the age of 14.  One quote from that book has always stayed with me. He said, "Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs."  I knew then that I wanted to be the employer and not the employee.  Entrepreneurship has always been something I have enjoyed.  I started at the age of five selling Girl Scout cookies.  Of course, my mother was a big help back then, but I would still go house to house in my neighborhood and to my parent’s respective jobs.  It was at this stage I learned how to deal with the word “no”.  As I grew older, I became more involved and soon learned to count change, sort, and package the cookies. This experience cultivated many of my entrepreneurship skills. I then used these to start my own business that I call Baking Innovations. With my dessert catering business, I sell white chocolate, milk chocolate, strawberry, Oreo, lemon and banana pudding cupcakes. I also sell an assortment of cakes, cake pops, truffles, cookies, brownies, pies, and fruit arrangements. Since it is something I enjoy, I figured that I might as well make a profit from it.  

Term Paper

Today, I worked on a rough draft for term paper. I have decided to first talk of my previous experience with entrepreneurship. Then, i will talk about my experience at Endevvr.  While talking about Endevvr, I will compare my experiences to the method outlined in the book “Lean Startup” by Eric Ries. From that I hope to see any similarities or inconsistencies in our approach.  

New Book Added to List -"On the Edge"

While attending an awards ceremony for my Young Women of Distinction award, I had the honor of meeting a very inspiring lady.  Her name is Alison Levine.  She has served as the team captain of the first American Women’s Everest Expedition, and skied to the geographic North Pole. She is the first American to complete a 600-mile traverse from west Antarctica to the South Pole.What is amazing is she did this while hauling 150 pounds of her gear and supplies in a sled harnessed to her waist. Levine has also completed the Adventure Grand Slam – climbing the highest peak on each continent and skiing to both Poles. Her success in extreme environments is noteworthy given she has had 3 heart surgeries and suffers from a neurological disease that causes the arteries that feed her fingers and toes to collapse in cold weather, leaving her at extreme risk for frostbite. She has taken all her breath-taking and dangerous adventures and relates them to important leadership characteristics in her book “On the Edge”.  I am excited to say that Benny and I have decided to add that to our book reading list. Leadership is an important part of a startup, and without it the business will crumble.

Social Media

Since I am in charge of our social media presences as Plott, I took today to look up the pixel sizes of photos for our social media outlets. I had to find sizes such as profile picture and cover picture, I will now send these to our technology specialist so that he can give me the right sizes for everything. I will in turn update our Facebook , Instagram, and Twitter pages.  

Team Meeting

I recently have had a Google Hangout with my team.  I was excited to see that we now have a working app on the phone. Ethan has finished it and has even connected it to servers, so we can have multiple users. He also made few update to the website. He says he will have it uploaded to the App Store and Play Store by the end of the year.  I am very excited to see where we go from here,  Link to our website: http://plott.co/

Local Entreprrenuers in Dallas

  I recently bought a subscription to Entrepreneur magazine.  Today, I decided to read this month's issue.

I learned about WET, also known as WET Design. It is a water feature design firm based in Los Angeles,California. Founded in 1983 by former Disney Imagineers Mark Fuller, Melanie Simon, and Alan Robinson, the company has designed over two hundred fountains and water features using water, fire, ice, fog, and lights. It is known for creating The Dubai Fountain, the world's largest performing fountain, along with the 8-acre (3.2 ha) Fountains of Bellagio It has designed features in over 20 countries around the world, in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

NEAT FACT: Their first fountain was the Fountain Place in Dallas\
It was inspirational how they say their growth was slow and how their first office was Mark's Apartment and their first workshop was his garage.

It really shows how something can really grow. 

Absent

I was not in class today because I was at the Anatole receiving the Young Women of Distinction Award from the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas.

Lean startup analysis pyramid Pt 1

     

This grid was in the the part of the Lean Startup that I was reading today.  I really like this because it is an accurate flow chart that represents the lean startup methodology. 



At the base, you have the vision.  At Endevvr, we spent at 2-2 1/2 week on just the vision.  This was very frustrating for me because we constantly had to work in the abstract. I learned through Myers-Briggs Type Indicator that I work best when I am given a problem and asked for possible results.  However, I now know this is the most important part to your business.  Without it, it will fall from under itself, as shown in the pyramid.  That is why we did customer surveys to make sure we had a viable vision that was a painkiller and not a vitamin. 

Next time, I will explain my experiences with the second stage of the flow chart.

Networking

Networking is a very important skill that every entrepreneur must have. While in Atlanta, we went to the Atlanta Tech Village and listened to many 3 minute pitches.  Afterwards, there was always time to network with all the entrepreneurs at the event. This was my first real experience, and it was kind of scary.  The worst part was trying to end a conversation.  I found this article on Entrepreneur Magazine.com that how to end a networking conversation. It gives 5 main tips.

1. Pull in another person to the discussion.
2. Use a common excuse.
3. Ask for a business card.
4. Introduce the rambler to another acquaintance.
5. Take control of the conversation.

I personally like option three. This way you can stay in touch with that person. You never know if someone you meet could a potential mentor or business partner.  However, if the person you are talking to is not talking about anything you are interested in, then I suggest option 2. I also would like to add an option, and option 6. Just say, "Well, It was really nice meeting you." and shake their hand. I did this many times during these sessions.  All in all, I had a wonderful time and feel a lot more comfortable in networking situations.

Launch DFW

To follow up my post about Atlanta Tech Village, I wanted research start-up communities in Dallas. I cam across one called Launch DFW.

LAUNCH DFW is an organization that supports and promotes tech entrepreneurship throughout North Texas by way of events, this website, sharing information and connecting entrepreneurs to the resources they need to succeed.

Founded in 2010 by Bradley Joyce as a first step in building a better startup community, LAUNCH DFW now has the honor of being a key component of the local ecosystem.

They also have happy hours for entrepreneurs to meet a mingle and tons of informational workshops.  They are similar to Atlanta tech village because they also offer office space to small start ups.

 

Our Mentor - Gerry Newton

One thing I loved about Endevvr was the mentoring we received from successful entrepreneurs. The man to the far left of the picture is Gerry Newton.  He is Founder + Managing Director at Cyclr.com, a blog for the everyday cyclist.  My team loved him, and he was pivotal to our success.  He made us think critically about our product while giving us helpful ideas. We plan to reach out to him, so that he can be our mentor. 

Team Plott with Gerry Newton - awesome mentor!!!!!!!!

Atlanta Tech Village

I loved being apart of the Atlanta Tech Village while at Endevvr.  I loved the space and all the great people.

Established in 2013, the Atlanta Tech Village is a community of innovation powered by a 103,000 square foot building. The Village is designed for technology and technology-related companies that have a unique set of needs in their quest to change the world. Your workspace should be more than just a desk and a place to hang your hat – – it should bring the community together, promote serendipitous interactions, and be a powerful tool for recruiting the best talent. The Village is designed as a campus for cool people doing cool things in technology.
Their mission is to support and inspire entrepreneurs to achieve success through a community that promotes faster connections between talent, ideas and capital. Together, theywill fuel Atlanta’s rise to a top five tech startup center in the U.S.

Our Values

1. Be Nice.
2. Dream Big.
3. Pay it Forward.
4. Work Hard. Play Hard.

Atlanta Tech Village is a commercial office building designed for tech and tech-related companies between 1 and 30 employees.   Companies wishing to join pay membership dues and fees and the Village does not take equity in our members.

Here are some pictures

Lean startup analysis

Less frequently, the strategy may have to change (called a pivot).

We pivoted many times during the making of our business
I remember one group had to pivot their entire idea in the last two weeks of the program. Even though it is a tedious process, it is better for the business in the long run.  

This book is for entrepreneurs of all stripes: from young visionaries with little backing but great ideas to seasoned visionaries within larger companies such as Mark--and the people who hold them accountable.

Lean startup analysis

Here are some notes I took on the Lean startup by Eric Ries

I studied lean manufacturing, a process that originated in Japan with the Toyota Production System, a completely new way of thinking about the manufacturing of physical goods

• I found it very interesting to know that this is the origin of this groundbreaking method.  I now see how it can be applied to many other types of industries.

my definition of a startup: a human institution designed to create new products and services under conditions of extreme uncertainty.

Startups exist not just to make stuff, make money, or even serve customers. They exist to learn how to build a sustainable business.

Building block of lean startup - Build-Measure-Learn. The fundamental activity of a startup is to turn ideas into products, measure how customers respond, and then learn whether to pivot or persevere. All successful startup processes should be geared to accelerate that feedback loop.

Innovation accounting. To improve entrepreneurial outcomes and hold innovators  accountable, we need to focus on the boring stuff how to measure progress, how to set up milestones, and how to prioritize work. This requires a new kind of accounting designed for startups—and the people who hold them accountable.

• This was one of our biggest struggles as a group .  We wanted to hold each other accountable for certain activities without seeming annoying or overbearing. This was especially with our tech dept. We didn't want to rush them because  we didnt know enough about computers to hold them to a timeline.

Picture Day!!!!!  It was so inspiring to see all my friends in their graduation gowns, even though I know we have many long months ahead of us. 

I was absent on the week of the Oct 13.  I went on a college road trip. 

Presentation Day 3

I got to class late because of a doctor's appointment, so I was not able to watch the presentations.

Presentation Day 2

Today, Benny and I presented our thesis topic. We practiced two nights in a row over Google hangouts.  We made sure to split the slides, so we both received an even number.  I believe we successfully got our point across.  I loved that we got to wear our matching Endevvr shirts!

Action Item: Connect with our mentor Gerry, so he can be aware of our project.

Presentation Day 1

I loved all the presentations today!

Taylor - black hair in modern society
Marshall - statistics of the economy
Jackson - LGBTQ comics
Alvaro - film production
Flannery - down syndrome

I'm excited for the next set of presentations

Marberry Interview

Ms. Marberry interviewed me for my common app rec letter

College Day

(Sept 24 ) I revised my OSU essay today. '

Presentation Preparation

Today in class, I wrote the script for Benny and I's presentation. He has agreed to make the power point for our visual aid. We plan to add lots of pictures from our Endevvr experiences.  We will also add the previously mentioned list of books.  Next class, we plan to start practicing our presentation to make sure we are under the time limit.

Absence

I was absent on Thursday.  I am at the National Black MBA conference. .

Lean Startup Chapter 1

I have started reading the Lean Startup by Eric Ries. 
Here are some of my notes

Chapter 1

Entrepreneurs are rightly wary of implementing traditional management practices early on in a startup, afraid that they will invite bureaucracy or stifle creativity. pg 15
We were very hesitant to give people job titles
Ethan and Tejas - both wanted CEO both were both qualified for CTO
We didn't want to make ether one upset
As a result, many entrepreneurs take a "just do it" attitude, avoiding all forms of management, process, and discipline. pg 15
we did this
wasted lot of time
disconnected
would ask did you finish and say yeah long time ago

College Day

Today, I decided to work on my Senior survey. I hope to have it completed by Friday, so I can be on the right track for the college application process.

College Readiness

Ms. Marberry talked to the class about the college application process.

Thesis Book Club

We finally made our choice of books - see picture of me

We are going to start out with the Lean Startup by Eric Ries

Eric Ries defines a startup as an organization dedicated to creating something new under
conditions of extreme uncertainty. This is just as true for one person in a garage or a group of
seasoned professionals in a Fortune 500 boardroom. What they have in common is a mission
to penetrate that fog of uncertainty to discover a successful path to a sustainable business.
The Lean Startup approach fosters companies that are both more capital efficient and that
leverage human creativity more effectively. Inspired by lessons from lean manufacturing, it
relies on “validated learning,” rapid scientific experimentation, as well as a number of
counter-intuitive practices that shorten product development cycles, measure actual progress
without resorting to vanity metrics, and learn what customers really want. It enables a
company to shift directions with agility, altering plans inch by inch, minute by minute.
Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans, The Lean Startup offers
entrepreneurs - in companies of all sizes - a way to test their vision continuously, to adapt
and adjust before it’s too late. Ries provides a scientific approach to creating and managing
successful startups in a age when companies need to innovate more than ever
 - I aquired this description from Amazon.com - 

Plan of Action

Today, Benny and I sketched out the outline to our thesis project.  We started by identifying our central question - Which methodology is more effective for a youth-founded startup?  We plan to read at least 5 book on different methods and compare them to way we started our business.  We then can identify the pros and cons of each.

Correa Seal of Approval

Before class today, I gathered all my Endevvr materials.  I have two journals and a folder full of notes and handouts with very useful information from the summer camp. Benny and I decided that our primary resource will be "the Lean Startup" by Eric Ries.  It explains the lean startup methodology in detail, along with its pros and cons. (Quick Sidebar: We were able to meet Eric Ries over Skype and ask him questions about his book at the camp.) We thankfully received the "Correa Seal of Approval" on our idea. Next class, we plan to talk about how we can creatively present all the information we have to offer.  

First Post - Thoughts and Ideas

I am very excited to start this whole thesis process. As I sat contemplating about possible thesis topics, my friend, Benny, approached me with a great idea. We were both selected to participate in an awesome program this past summer called Endevvr. Endevvr is a summer incubator that helps high school students from all over the world start their own businesses. It was a five week program on the Georgia Tech campus. However, I can not express the impact it has has on my life.  It introduced me to the entrepreneurial mindset. We were given intense instruction by very successful entrepreneurs from all over the world. We were not only taught, but also challenged to start our own corporations.  I am proud to say that my team and I were successful and plan to continue our business in the coming years.  It was a great learning and networking opportunity.   
Benny suggested that we research the lean start-up method and then compare it to the way we started our businesses by expounding upon advantages and disadvantages. I am really excited by this idea and can not wait to see where it takes us.