Reading Reflection No. 1

Assignment 13A

The entrepreneur that I read about was Berry Gordy.  I read this for one of many reasons; one, I love Motown (I’m a bit of a renaissance man).  Motown Christmas is one of my favorite albums, and listening to Michael Jackson sing about Mommy Kissing Santa Clause warms my hear.  I love Michael Jackson.  And two, Berry Gordy led the charge in probably the most influential record businesses of all time and in a barrier filled industry as a black man during a weird period in our history, so I wanted to read more about that too.

 

What surprised me most and what I admire most kind of intertwine together.  Berry Gordy was going to sell Motown Records to MCA for “more money than [he] could spend in a life time,” but at the last second balked and didn’t sign the deal.  This takes a lot of moxy.

What I least admired was Berry Gordy’s refusal to stay with the times, but I also kind of admire it.  Tradition is always good, but when you need to adapt you need to adapt man.

Berry Gordy had so much adversity it’s not even funny.  He not only built this company (this way of life!) out of nothing, but also felt the pressures of people getting mad at him for selling what was his to sell.  Not only this, but like I mentioned he was a African American businessman at a time where the world was more of a “white world” than today.  Berry Gordy was persistent and kept grinding, much like Joe Louis.  Gordy wanted something so he kept striving for greatness.  This is seen from the “Hitsville” sign that hung over the door where Motown started.

It’s not that I was confused by it, but the boxing and music section kind of threw me through a loop.  Gordy does a good job as using it as a comparison, but I don’t know.  Got kind of funky I guess (no pun intended?).

Oh man.  The two questions I would ask Berry Gordy is a tough question, I don’t like it being limited to two.  One would have to be, “what is it like working with so many talented people?” because I feel like if I were Berry Gordy I would just get star struck and not be able to boss them around like he was able to.  The second question would have to be what it was like being a black man doing what he was doing in the 70s and how that has helped in his life in all aspects just because that would be something of interest to me. 

Berry Gordy pretty much lays it out in the book, but I’m pretty sure that his opinion of hard work was that you have to.  If you want to succeed, it’s not going to be easy.  To use his boxing analogies, Joe Louis didn’t just end up a hero boxer by being lazy.  He worked at his craft, failed and loss a few times, got back and got going again.  That’s what made him great, was his determination just like Berry Gordy.  Of course I share this sentiment.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Assignment 12A

Segment: My idea has changed.  I am instead going to be focusing on a time machine.  For my segment, I am going to focus on young people who are interested in science fiction movies and want to time travel some day.  For the interviews, I sat down with my best friend Josh, my twin brother Jacob, and one of my friend’s friends Dennis.  These three all are young dudes who are interested in science fiction movies that concern time travel.

Interviews:

Josh: For the time machine, Josh thought it would be helpful if he needed some extra time to start studying for an exam.  After exams he doesn’t perform well on, he always wishes he could get a “mulligan” (Josh is also very interested in golf, which he says he wishes he could have unlimited mulligans so that he could get a lower score each round).  This is usually either in the classroom during the exam or after at home when he checks his grades.  Josh doesn’t really Google anything on this, it’s just something that he wishes he could be better at.

Jacob: Jacob seems to mess up with girls a lot, so he wishes he could go back in time and fix some of the problems more easily.  He was telling me about how his hindsight is 20/20, so that he wishes he could take that knowledge back in time, whether it’s talking to girls at the library or so that he doesn’t mess up relationships that he’s in.  Jacob said that he sometimes will Google why things didn’t go right in his relationship and find articles on how to be better.  There isn’t really any answers involving being able to go back and fix them, but rather how he can learn from his mistakes the next time he’s in a certain situation.  Jacob also says that he asks friends or his brothers for help sometimes too, but they often say that they, “don’t have a time machine.”

Dennis: Dennis really loves the idea because he is a big fan of Back to the Future series.  Because all the technology (except time machines) in those films has pretty much came true, he would love to just use the time machine to go back in time to meet some great people of history, such as most notably George Washington and Jesus.  For the problem solving right now (without the time machine), Dennis looks through Google with speeches or notable things they said or said about them.  Dennis really loves history, so going back in time would be helpful.

Summary: From interviews with all three of these people, I learned that there are a lot of reasons that someone in this segment might want to time travel.  The biggest I think though, subconsciously is that it’s to gain wisdom and knowledge from something and then be able to actually use it before they mess up.  Their all young and want to be better people.

Conclusions: Based off of the segment and what I learned from the interviews, I would say that the segment is those that want to get things right without messing up, while still gaining knowledge from failure.

Idea Napkin No. 1

Assignment 11A

You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

Hello there!  My name is Jeremiah Ordos and I’m a creative dude who studies advertising the University of Florida.  I have a very particular set of skills, skills that I have acquired over a twenty-two year period.  I’ve been called the glue to a lot of my friend groups, which shows how well I am at communicating and resolving conflict.  I've been called the song bird of my generation. I also write TV and movies in my spare time, as well as very successful copy for my advertising projects.  I just really like writing.  I want to make people laugh and enjoy life as well.  The business concept would play a role in me getting my scripts out there for people to consume and give feedback on, as well as hopefully getting produced one day.

What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

The product/service is an app for people to network and connect who are interested in screenwriting. This could be just the tip of the iceberg, with the app actually connecting people in similar creative careers that are not easy to connect on through networks like LinkedIn or Facebook.  There isn’t a place for creative people to go to where they can connect and receive critics.

Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

The app is targeted to any and all screenwriters right now, but specifically for those that are just looking to get noticed, a foot in the door, or a job in the industry.  The people in this demographic might be high school or college students, recent grads, and even people looking to switch careers that are leaving them unsatisfied.  The psychographics are aspiring writers or creative people who have ideas for TV shows and movies.  Also, it’s for people who really nerd out about movies and TV shows and stories in general.

Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 

You should care if you want to get a job in the screenwriting business and maybe don’t want to have to go to Los Angeles and beg people to read your script.  You might also care just to see how you are as a storyteller.  It’s something to use to help one find a job and follow a passion.

What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 

I don’t know what to call it or how to describe it, but I have that “it” factor.  I just have “it.”  That’s not me just saying that either, a bunch of my fellow students can tell you that about me.  Another thing going is that I’m me.  I’m the only person like me.  (And you are you, and no one else is like you.)  I have my imagination and creativity that would be up there with some of the best of us.  I can put a smile on your face like no other person in this world.  I listen to a lot of Kanye West music as well.  I am Beyoncé always.

In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others. 

Anything I do is successful.  And if it fails it’s something I learn from, which to me is successful as long as I’m learning. These five elements fit together and make the business concept a successful idea on paper.  The problem is execution.  But I think if everything falls into place, it can be executed to the same success it has on paper.