30A-Final Reflection

1.) I have had a lot of interesting times in this course throughout the semester. Some assignments were fun to do. I really enjoyed creating the customer avatar. It was fun to create their background story and it actually helped me a lot when thinking about my potential customers. I was able to get a feel for somebody who I would target my product too and understand what they may want or need. Some assignments were long and tedious such as the idea napkins and the venture concepts. However, I understand why. These are outlines out our entire plan and ideas for our business. They have to be thorough and comprehensive to get all of the information across. Some assignments were difficult at first (like the Bug List) but once they were done, it was clear to see how useful the exercise was. I probably dreaded the elevator pitches the most in this course. I do not like being filmed and have a hard time memorizing and remembering speeches. In the end though, they turned out to be not as bad as I expected.

2.)The most formative experience for me, was building my social capital. Contacting people who could potentially help me in my future was a very eye opening experience. I also thought that I got good experience at talking to professionals, a skill that I will need going forward. Even though the people I contacted knew that I was not actually selling this product, I felt like a real entrepreneur. I felt joy in this too. I am most proud of myself for finishing the elevator pitches. I have always watched in awe as people have given elevator pitches and been thankful that I never had to do one. When I learned we had to do them here, I was nervous. However with some practice I was able to finally memorize my pitch and give it with only a few minor errors.

3.) I do think that I have developed an entrepreneurial mindset. When I hear people speak or complain about issues I think of them as opportunities. I can now see the opportunity in many aspects of my life. I also think of failure in a different way. I know that failure can be hard but I have learned through this class that it needs to be used as a learning factor. Failure can be taken with a grain of salt and then used to better the future. I feel more like an entrepreneur after taking this class because I now know all of the effort that they have to put in, in order to get their desired results.

4.) I would recommend students to stay organized in this course. It can be stressful to keep tract of all of the dates and assignments. When it comes to assignments I would recommend them to keep an open mindset. If you do not think too hard and simply let your ideas flow you may end up coming up with a brilliant idea! I also encourage students to not get frustrated early on when trying to figure out an opportunity and later a product or service. It is okay to have a few different ideas before you find one that sticks! This is all a part of the entrepreneurial mindset.