Linnea's Blog

1)  Tenaciousness is a competency.  What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course?  I have developed good time management skills and also a better attention to detail. Because I'm taking this course 100% online and I am in charge of my own assignments and 'class time', it is completely up to me to watch the lectures, complete the quizzes on time, and complete my blog posts on time without going to class at a set time. Especially during busy weeks, it can be hard to remember all these different pieces of the class, so using my planner and writing due dates down has helped me a lot to remember everything and stay on track. Attention to detail is important because some of the assignments have very specific requirements, and I also have to consciously remember to declare the assignments after I complete them. This is something I've never had to do before, so I've had to develop this instinct to declare a post...

1)  What surprised you the most? What surprised me the most was how different safety standards and people's views of risk were back during the Wright brother's time period. Because there has not been all of the experience and knowledge we have now with flights and crashes, the viewpoints and standards back then were much different. I would almost say it was more shocking than surprising. After reading about Orville's crash and other flight fatalities, I was just surprised at how much more precautious and safety-oriented we would be in similar situations today. Death is much more rare now in fatal crashes because of our heightened senses and awareness from past instances.  What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? I admire many different things about the Wright brothers, but above all I admire their curious and driven mindset. On page 18, Orville said that Wilbur's most special characteristic was his "intellectual curiosity”, and I think that applies t...

The Segment For this assignment, I chose a segment of environmentally-conscious, open-minded individuals who use straws. People or restaurants/establishments that live near bodies of water could even recycle their straws straight into the water, as they can either fully dissolve or be consumed by a sea creature.  All three of my interviews were with friends, all of which who I know have expressed their dislike for paper straws to me before. One is in this class right now as well, one has taken it before, and the other is a criminology major like me.  Need Awareness & Interview Summaries My first interviewer finds this need every single time they go to a restaurant in Gainesville, because plastic straws are completely banned here. They really dislike paper straws and hate having to use them. The first thing they do to find a solution to their problem is go on Amazon and search for metal straws. He doesn't take them out though because he really needs a straw in the dr...

1)  You.  I have a passion for social justice and have shaped a lot of my experiences around this passion. I have a strong sense of communication, collaboration, and teamwork which greatly assists me in building strong relationships with others around me. I'd also like to think that I'm a pretty talented writer, which makes up for my very bad math and science skills. I have experience in different cultural backgrounds because my family lives in both Seattle and Japan. Because of this, I get to have different experiences in both places. I even went to boarding school in Japan for a summer! I've had experiences in different groups on campus that also discuss different social justice issue. My aspirations are to go to law school and work towards changing problems and faulty policies that I see appearing the world. I see my business playing a role in my life because the ban on plastic straws was a major policy change and I will be dealing with all sorts of policy changes in ...

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Summary of my 5 new interviews: Instead of individually summarizing each interview I did, I thought it would be more efficient this time to collectively summarize all five of them in one explanation.  I realized that the issue of paper straws not being sufficient straws applies to most people, but there are a few certain people, and mainly businesses, that may fall outside the boundary.  A few of the people I interviewed pointed out that some very environmentally-conscious people carry around their own metal or silicone straws.  These people would definitely fall outside of the boundary because they don't need an alternative to paper straws, they already purchased their own and carry it around with them. Someone else also brought to my attention that certain restaurants across the country use metal straws that they wash and re-use for the drinks that they serve. Even though this is more work for them, it eliminates the need for a plastic or paper straw. Businesses tha...

Selected Opportunity: Paper straws are a great alternative to plastic straws in being eco-friendly, but they are not functional and often soak up the drink and become flimsy/unusable. Product/service: A straw that is functional and able to stay sturdy but also  benefits the ocean and animals who inhabit the ocean by being made of a sea kelp formula that marine life can consume. I would intend to sell this straw to all establishes that previous used plastic straws in distributing their drinks to consumers. Because plastic straws are now more frowned upon and people are looking for businesses that are helping the environment instead of contributing to more harm, this could be in great interest to the business.  The straw will also be made of a material that won't bend easily or dissolve like paper straws do. It will be durable enough to last during the reasonable time someone is drinking something, but not durable to the point where it is becoming permanent litter that harms...

Hypothesis: People across the world, but specifically in the United States, want to eliminate the use of plastic straws and be environmentally friendly, but the current solution of paper straws is not very realistic because they lack functionality and are difficult to use as a straw. I want to create a straw that can be rolled out across the world that is made out of sea kelp and can dissolve in the ocean. First interview: She says she hates paper straws "with a passion" and would rather not buy a drink if it's going to be served like that. She also says that she does think there are minimal boundaries to this because she has never encountered a paper straw that didn't dissolve and become useless. I asked her why she thinks there needs to be a better straw that's not paper, and she says that plastic is obviously bad for the environment but paper is not appealing. There needs to be another solution. Second interview: My second roommate also says she has the ...

Regulatory Changes The first opportunity I thought of is related to the recent regulatory change in Florida regarding the legal age to buy tobacco products. I think that tobacco stores beginning to sell CBD products, which are legal for 18 year olds to buy, would be a great opportunity. The legal age changed from being 18 to 21+, which eliminates a large portion of the previous consumer base. My source of this information was seeing this change in person; I know people personally who had to stop buying tobacco products and have also seen tobacco stores shutting down and going out of business.  Because stores are closing down, I believe that an opportunity for new business ideas definitely exists. The ideal customer for this is college students under 21 years old. I think that the opportunity might be difficult to exploit because CBD is obviously a different product than tobacco, but a lot of people may like it for its relaxing effects and they like the "feeling" of smo...