28A – Your Exit Strategy

My exit strategy would definitely be similar to most tech startups. Build a company that grows into a market disruptor and is then purchased by a bigger and more established firm. This is prevalent in the world of technology as innovation happens quickly and whoever is able to acquire the company developing the newest and most innovative technology usually comes out in front when compared to its competitors. Since I would be running a small software startup the mission would be to grow our software, get a very favorable evaluation on wall street and use that as leverage when negotiating with a big tech unicorn, like Facebook or Google.

This strategy makes the most sense to me not only because it has become standard in the world of tech, but also because I would like to move on to other projects or ideas once I am able to flesh my idea out enough to get acquisition offers. If a company comes with a price that warrants my attention, then I would entertain the idea of selling the IP as well as the firm itself.

Since this is so common in tech, I think the idea of eventually selling the app or the company off to a bigger firm was always in the cards. Long gone are the days of being able to take a 1- or 2-man startup and build it into the next Facebook. So, logically, the better plan moving forward is to develop software that will entice one of the FANG companies (Facebook, Apple, Netflix, Google) to acquire it or to just absorb our firm into their already existing software development departments. The idea of eventually selling the IP or the firm has made me make sure that the app in development is unique enough to be a disruptor and garner the attention of the bigger firms so that they will eventually come with an offer.

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

For the last reading reflection, I chose to read Makers: The New Industrial Revolution by Chris Anderson. In this book, Chris Anderson talks about how we are currently experiencing another industrial revolution thanks to the rise of entrepreneurs and manufacturers that are known as “Makers”. The main theme discussed in this book is how advances in technology like open-source software and 3-D printing have allowed the everyday person to manufacture at a smaller scale at less cost thus allowing them to innovate and become successful entrepreneurs.  

I think that many of the ideas that Chris presents in this book are reinforced by the things, we have learned in ENT3003. For one, I think that the overall theme of risk-taking in entrepreneurship is present in both. Entrepreneurs have to take risks and as with any new innovation or change risks are associated with it. These entrepreneurs and “Makers” are driven by their ideas and take risks in order to see their products and services come to life. And because of advances in technology, they are now able to accomplish that. 

I think a good exercise that would illustrate the themes and topics covered in this book would be to encourage people to research how much of their manufacturing or development process they can now accomplish at home. With things like 3-D printers more people than ever can now manufacture products from the comfort of their home. It would be cool to see how much of the process you could do yourself and see how much money you could save by not having to use a third-party manufacturer.  

I think the aha moment for me was the inclusion of crowdsourcing as an innovation that was ushering in this new industrial revolution. To me, crowdsourcing is nothing new as we usually ask many people for their take on an idea or process. But what was surprising was how the author presented crowdsourcing in the context of modern times. With the help of technology, we can now crowdsource ideas from potentially everyone in the world. Through technology we have reached the point where anyone can voice their opinion, thus allowing for the free flow of ideas and innovation to occur on an almost global scale.

26A – Celebrating Failure

1.     One time I can say that I genuinely failed this semester was when a mistake I made delayed a project at my job. Working as a developer/programmer some of the deadlines for our projects can be pretty tight. During the semester my schoolwork began to pile up and I would get overwhelmed by my schoolwork on top of my responsibilities at work. As a result of being focused more on school and being exhausted and experiencing burnout, I made a critical error towards the end of the project that forced my team to delay it and take more time to rectify it.

2.     The big lesson that I learned from that experience was to balance your responsibilities. Starting this semester, I was overconfident and was super sure that I could handle my classes and a job at the same time. That failure was clear proof that I was having trouble handling both school and work. It was an eye-opening moment that led me to get my priorities straight and helped me reevaluate how I was working on school and work and in the end, helped me understand that I need to set aside time for both in order to succeed at both.

3.     Failure is something that has affected every person at some point in their lives. It’s something that we can all relate to and something that always stands out as a moment where real change can happen. I think that every failure, no matter how severe or bleak it may seem, is a moment from growth and self-improvement. When handling failure, I try to stay as positive as possible but that obviously is easier said than done. I think this class has shown me that to be successful in the world of business you have to take risks so I am more open to taking risks now because of it.