Halfway Reflection

Samantha Twohig
ENT3003
2/26/20
Halfway Reflection:

1. This course has not only taught me time management but also taught me how to think like an entrepreneur. It takes me some time to think like this as I am not an entrepreneur, so now I give myself ample time to read and really understand each assignment before I begin. This allows me to provide the best response for each question and help others understand my take on something.

2. When coming with an elevator pitch, there was a point I wanted to give up. It took me many tries to get the right thing to say and I was getting very frustrated. However, when I finally was able to get my message across I felt great that I was able to push through that because this exercise is something that I will most likely see in my career and I can't just give up. For the next one, I will give myself more time to write out what I want to say before I start the video in order for me to have everything I want to say in my head and I can do it in one take.

3. Tips:

1. Read the syllabus and each assignment very carefully. You can easily miss important information if you don't. 
2. Manage your time efficiently giving yourself ample time to do each assignment. 
3. If you are confused on any part of the assignment or course as a whole, don't be afraid to reach out to the professor or a fellow classmate for help. 

Reading Reflection No. 1

Samantha Twohig 
ENT3003 
2/25/20 
Reading Reflection No. 1 

1. 
What surprised you the most? 
What surprised me the most was Steve Jobs' use of LSD, saying it was a profound experience for him. He also stated that is helped to reinforce his sense of what was important. 

What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
I admired how persistent Steve Jobs was about having his bibliography written. I also admired that he didn't want any control over the book and trusted the author. 
  
What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
What I least admired about Steve Jobs is the amount of time he put aside for family. Family is a very important aspect in my life so I didn't like to read that about him. He focused more on reinventing our technological world than he did on his family and having a support system. 

Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
When the Macintosh was first introduced to the market, sales skyrocketed fairly quickly. However, as time went on and new technology came about, people started to notice the product's limitations and stopped purchasing it. Although he faced this issue within his company, he didn't give up but rather took the lesson he learned from this mistake and used it create a new and better product. 

2. What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 
Steve Jobs was hard working and determined. He had a drive in him from the very beginning to start his own business, for example when he asked to borrow $50,000 from friend, Ron Wayne in order to do so.

3. Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
One part of the reading that confused me was the section where they spoke about his partnership with Pixar. I was confused as to if he used their technology to enhance is and if so did he and his company benefit from this partnership decision?

4. If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
1. Is there any decision in your personal or work life that you regret?
2. Why did you take credit for your employees ideas? Was it a way to motivate them in some way?

5. What do you think the entrepreneurs opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
I think that Steve Jobs valued hard work the most in his life which is what made his so successful. I personally agree with this opinion because nothing is ever just handed to you, you have to work for it and that is what he did leading him to be one of the most celebrated entrepreneurs today.

Figuring out Buyer Behavior No.1

Samantha Twohig
ENT3003
Figuring out Buyer Behavior No. 1
2/19/20

Segment: The segment I chose is people of all ages that use social media daily. Although each social media platform is what is gonna use this product overall, being in college it is easier to find people to interview in my area rather than contacting top people from different social media applications.

Interviews: 

1. Person 1: Female age 20; She uses social media in her every day life in order to keep in touch with friends and see what is going on in society today. However, she is aware of the possibility of invasion of privacy that comes along with social media use. She worries that certain information like her full name or phone number will be taken and shared, which is why she feels that a smaller set of required data is necessary for each platform.
2. Person 2: Male age 15; He uses social media apps like Snapchat more than he uses Facebook due to his age. As the years go on, the use of Facebook decreases in the younger generations. Being so young, he did not realize how serious of a problem the violation of data privacy really was and how often it occurs. However, now that he is aware and has this idea in his head that it could possibly happen to him, he is on board with my idea and product. 
3. Person 3: Female age 50; Not only does she use social media but so do her children. The idea of invasion of data privacy is huge concern for her because of her kids constant use of these platforms. She sees a need for this product and the decrease of required information in order to protect herself and even more to protect her kids from this issue. 

I decided to conduct three interviews with people of three different ages to illustrate how many people are involved with social media platforms and how many people could be affected by this issue. Each interviewee demonstrated a concern for privacy when it comes to these applications and all showed interest in my product and the need to regulate certain information that is required when making an account. 

Idea Napkin No. 1

Samantha Twohig
ENT 3003
Idea Napkin No. 1
2/17/20

1. I am a sophomore majoring in Marketing. I am involved in many things on campus including greek life. I aspire to create a single software that all social media platforms use when customers are creating accounts. In my business, I will foresee all activities and make sure that all social media platforms are implementing this tool. 
2. My product is a set of required information that social media platforms can ask when consumers are creating their accounts. However, the difference between my idea and what is already being used is that I will make less information required in order to prevent data privacy invasion and all platforms will be required to use the same one in order to strengthen security all around. 
3. I am offering this mainly to social media platforms to implement into their service. I am also appealing to people who frequently use social media because they are the ones that need their data protected.  
4. Social media platforms care because their users care. If customers know that their data and their privacy is safe they will continue to use these social media applications. 
5. All social media applications have a set of required data but nothing like this. With less information required and will all social media platforms requiring all the same information, customers will feel more safe and more eager to use these platforms. 

These elements fit together because as technology advances, security needs to also advance. By implementing my idea into all platforms, customers will feel more comfortable about giving over personal information and will not fear that their privacy will be violated. 

Elevator Pitch 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn6JbbqraVk&feature=youtu.be

Testing the Hypothesis Part 2

Samantha Twohig 

ENT3003
2/13/20
Testing the Hypothesis


Person 1: A mother of two girls; She felt that this was a very serious issue as her girls spend most of their time on social media. She likes my idea of having social media platforms require less personal information because it makes her feel safer when her kids are using these applications.

Person 2: A 16 year old; Her favorite app is Snapchat and she believes they do not require as much personal information as something like Facebook so she feels she will not face this problem or opportunity.

Person 3: A 22 year old; He used social media often not only for pleasure but also as a way to find a job as he gets closer to graduation. Due to this, much of his personal information is located on these social media platforms so he does get nervous about the common issue of violation of data privacy.

Person 4: A father of a boy and a girl; With his children always on social media, he agrees that these apps need to require less information in order to prevent people from stealing or releasing personal data.

Person 5: A 70 year old; Technology and social media has changed very much over the years so she has never experienced this problem of privacy violations. She agrees that personal information should not be shared, however, she is not really first hand aware of this growing issue.


Inside the Boundary:

Who is in it: All people that use social media platforms

What is the Need: For stronger security

Why the Need Exists: Personal data is being taken from social media sites and shared


Outside the Boundary:

Who is not: Social media companies and the people that are actually violating customers privacy

What the Need is Not: Don’t show concern for data privacy

Alternative Explanations: Only care about the fun part of social media rather than the safety aspect

Solving the Problem

Samantha Twohig
ENT3003
2/6/20
Solving the Problem

One of the main issues in society today is that information is too readily available for anyone to misuse and exploit. The specific problem that I am focusing on is social media because it has become apparent that these platforms are not secure with personal information. Recently, hackers were stealing personal information off of Facebook to use for research for advertisements. Although this situation is basically harmless, these hackers could have used the information for other more detrimental purposes. I feel that social media platforms need to take more responsibility for these bypasses in their systems and find a way to combat hacking to ensure that people feel safe being active on social media. One way in which these platforms could improve their security is to require less information to have an account because without them having access to personal information, hackers won't have anything to search for. Also, they should make security a priority before they improve their applications. If social media platforms don't take action against this issue they are going to lose users and popularity so it is in their best interest as well.

Testing the Hypothesis

Samantha Twohig
ENT3003
2/6/20
Testing the Hypothesis


Opportunity: Apple and Facebook have been violating customer’s privacy making it apparent that higher level cybersecurity is necessary.

• The who: Customers that use products to store data and personal information
• The what: Need higher level cybersecurity
• The why: Facebook has been taking personal information from teenagers to use for advertising

Hypothesis:

• Testing the who: People need their privacy and company’s that people trust with their information should respect that the most.
• Testing the what: We need to try and find a way to increase the levels of security and stop Facebook from doing what they are doing
• Testing the why: Facebook may not see this as a problem because some of people’s information is on their profile but they should not be taking people’s information without their consent

Summary of Interviews:
After interviewing five people I can conclude that they also believe privacy is important and measures should be taken so that we can attain that. They recognized the dangers that can come from other people having their personal information and the untrustworthiness of these applications that house this information. All interviewees agreed that this was a problem for our own safety.

Identifying Opportunities in Economic and Regulatory Trends

Samantha Twohig
ENT3003
2/4/20
Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends


Economic Trends:
Opportunity #1: Johns Hopkins Doctor Says New Coronavirus is Here to Stay, Expects ‘Seasonal’ Outbreaks

• I found this on CNBC under the Health and News section
• If this is true and the Coronavirus is here, then this gives opportunities for scientists and doctors to work on possible ways to cure this disease.
• The prototypical customer for this opportunity would be doctors and scientists as they will be able to see the symptoms first hand and find ways to cure it before it gets worse.
• I believe that this is difficult to exploit because this virus is continuing to grow and each patient is experiencing different levels of each symptom.
• Someone may not see this as an opportunity but rather a bad thing as this virus has now spread to us. However, I see it as an opportunity to cure it while also an opportunity to help those who may already be experiencing the symptoms.

Opportunity #2: Restaurants become card only

• I found this in an article on the business sector of BBC News
• Many restaurants have started to take cards only, similar to the restaurant in New York City mentioned in this article. This shows multiple opportunities; one being the prevention of robberies at stores. Also it gives people the opportunity to carry less things around when shopping or getting food.
• The prototypical customer is both the customers and the stores or restaurants that make this change.
• I feel like this may be difficult because it is going to be hard to make sure that everyone starts to always carry their credit card around.
• I see this as an opportunity from my own experiences. For me it is easier to just have my credit card on me rather than having cash.

Regulatory Changes:
Opportunity #1: Privacy Regulations

• This was found in an article on internetsociety.com
• Privacy statements are a very important part of an organization. It is a way for consumers to get quickly informed about the organizations policies, however they are fined if it is hard to understand. This is an opportunity for the consumers to be fully aware of how and where their data is being handled.
• The customers are the consumers because with these regulations they are told specifically, about how their data is being handled by the organization.
• I think this will be relatively easy to exploit because all consumers want to make sure that their information is being protected.
• I see this as an opportunity because if it were me, I would like my data to be protected as well.

Opportunity #2: Apple and Facebook are hypocrites regarding privacy

• I found this on the atlantic.com
• Apple made a statement saying that privacy is one of their most valued aspects. However, it was seen that Facebook paid teenagers to install an app that was able to collect personal data from their phones. This is an opportunity because it implies that privacy regulations are necessary and we have an opportunity for that new regulation to happen.
• The customers of this opportunity are the consumers because their data will be more protected.
• I think this will be a little hard to exploit but it is definitely necessary
• I see this as an opportunity because I use Facebook and I have Apple products so what is that was me? I like my privacy...We all should!