22A

I received some good feedback from the last version of the elevator pitch. One was that eliminating my dog from the video was a good decision. He was definitely distracting me. Also making the app very user friendly was suggested. My biggest self criticism is that I really need to improve the delivery of the speech. 

For this version of my elevator pitch I really focused on trying to rehearse my pitch. I tried to make it sound more natural on the last version but I think that led to me having a hard time remembering the next thing I was supposed to say. This time I think the delivery is better. This assignment has helped make me aware that giving a pitch or speech is definitely a skill that needs practice.

21A

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck

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

The general premise of this book is that there are two types of mindsets that people have. A growth mindset or a fixed mindset. A growth mindset means that you believe that your personality traits and intelligence can be improved with effort. In contrast, a fixed mindset means you believe you’re stuck with what you were born with in these departments. Dweck argues that people with a fixed mindset are more easily disheartened when trying to achieve a goal. They shy away from tasks that may cause them to fail. Growth mindset people on the other hand are not afraid of a challenge and don’t fear failure. Dweck believes that having a growth mindset will help a person succeed in all of their endeavors.

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

I believe that there are a lot of parallels between the unwavering enthusiasm that entrepreneurs tend to exude and the attitudes of people with the a growth mindset. I think that making an effort to have a growth mindset would probably help me in achieving some of my goals. However, being the skeptic that I am, I don’t really buy into the fixed and growth mindset dichotomy. I think it is more likely a spectrum for most people or that they may have a fixed mindset on some days and a growth mindset on others.

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

I would instruct people to spend a week paying close attention to the way they handle challenges and failures and then writing a blog post about if they think they ae more of a fixed or growth mindset person.

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 wouldn’t say that I really had an aha moment while reading this book. However I was impressed by the amount of times Dweck managed to bring up the same examples throughout her book.

19A

I’m Emmylou. I am a sophomore at UF. I love animals and I am good at working with them. I am also good at telling people unpleasant things in a way that doesn’t sound so bad. I have a lot of experience living and working with animals. I aspire to live an interesting and adventurous life filled with cool people and animals.

I am offering customers a way to locate other dog owners in their area to meet up for playdates. I might also offer a dog park function where people can post if they are going to the dog park.

I am offering it to any person with a lonely or bored dog who would like to meet some other dog owners in their community.

They care about my service because they care about their dog. My app could help improve their dog’s wellbeing and so they would be interested in it.

My core competencies include an extensive knowledge of animal care as well as my drive to improve the lives of animals. I am also Microsoft office certified.

I think that 2, 3, and 4 fit together very well. They all address the product/service offered. 1 and 5 also fit together. I think that is mostly because they are almost the same question. I still don’t really believe that I have some skill or quality that nobody else has. That’s unrealistic in my opinion.

Most of the feedback that I got on the first version of this assignment was very positive. They thought that people would likely be interested in my app. One person was concerned that I would need to get a lot of people to use the app immediately or it would fail. This is a very valid concern and I’m happy that they brought it to my attention.

20A

Jason Paris – web designer

Jason is an FSU student that has a lot of experience designing websites. He is certified in web design and development.

I am filling the first slot.

Jason is a friend of a friend. I have met him briefly before but we had never really had a conversation. However, I knew about his skills so I asked for his number.

I texted Jason about this assignment and asked if it would be ok if I called him to talk about it. He was fine with that so I called and we chatted for a bit and then I pitched him my app idea. He thought that it holds promise although it would require a lot of work and design brainstorming to get the app up and running and to be user friendly.

If I ever did decide to actually make this app then I might contact Jason again and see if he would be interested in designing it or if he knows anyone else who would want to.

Chelsea Arlong – Gainesville Pet Rescue

Chelsea runs Gainesville Pet Rescue. If there is a person to talk to about the dogs of Gainesville, its her.

I am filling the second slot.

I knew of Chelsea because I adopted my dog from her rescue and got him treated for heartworm there.

So far I have sent her an email about my app idea but I haven’t heard back from her yet.

Including Chelsea in my network will give me ties to GPR which would be invaluable when I am trying to promote my app.

Bob’s Pet sitting

Bob’s pet sitting is one of a few local pet care businesses in Gainesville.

I am filling the third slot.

I googled pet sitting services in Gainesville and this looked like one of the more promising ones. There was an email listed on their page.

I have sent an email to Bob’s pet sitting with a written version of my pitch asking for his thoughts on if there is a market for an app like this in Gainesville.

Bob’s pet sitting would be a good ally when promoting my app. He could recommend it to his customers and in return I could promote his business on my app.

This assignment has been a challenging one. It is definitely outside of my comfort zone to ask favors of people that I don’t really know. I got some really good feedback from Jason though and I am hoping that I will also learn a lot from what the other two have to say.