Linnea's Blog

Venture Concept Description:  The SeaStraw will solve the initial problem (a lack of a functional, yet environmentally friendly straw) by providing customers with a straw that will not hurt the environment or animals in their natural habitats, but still functions as a normal straw and stays put. This straw will not fall limp in the middle of a drink or start melting into paper in your mouth. Customers will want this product because they are desperate for a straw alternative, and customers who already have metal straws may switch to this product because they are curious, want to help feed animals in water ecosystems with it, or are served a drink with it at a restaurant. Most likely they will be served it at a restaurant or given the straw by a distributor, but some very eco-friendly individuals may be interested in purchasing it themselves, too. Anyone else on the market with a plastic straw alternative is my competition, but I will work against them with advertising and spreadi...

From the beginning to the end of the semester, my posts definitely improved. It took me a little bit to get into the swing of the class and understand what made a good post, and being able to peer review my classmates and see how they were completing their assignments also helped me a lot.  2) I felt like me and those that I peer reviewed were like a little community of entrepreneurs always supporting each other. Even though it was a required assignment to comment on other posts, it still felt nice to see familiar names giving me kind and helpful feedback by the end of the semester! The most formative experience was probably in my last elevator pitch, because I felt like I was truly representing and talking about a real product that I believed in. We grew these ideas from the start and treated them as normal, functioning businesses which I had never gotten the opportunity to do before, so I liked that a lot. I'm proud of myself for not procrastinating and developing a better wor...

The book I read was Coco Chanel by Lisa Chaney. What surprised you the most?   What surprised me the most was that after Chanel's first love of her life "Boy" passed away, her next lover was actually supposed to be an heir to a Russian throne (but he was exiled). I only knew past information about Coco Chanel's fashion views, I had no idea she dealt with such heartbreak and was involved with such interesting men. What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? I admired how self-raised and self-driven she was. Her dad wasn't in the picture much growing up and her mother died when she was around ten or eleven, so from that point on Coco Chanel made her own dreams come true through perseverance. She was taught to sew by nuns and grew her skillset from those available to her and her own drive. What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?   The book mentioned certain drug habits that Coco Chanel had during her lifetime, which I don...

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children? I plan on staying with my business until it makes enough money for me to be comfortable moving on and doing something else. However, I also plan on doing other things along with this business (like having a day job potentially) so I hope that this business does not become too overwhelming and taxing on me. If a large return is possible, I would be open to selling my business in the next five years. I don't intend to make it a family business or a business that lasts decades and funds my retirement; this is partially because I do not know if I see my business ever being profitable and large enough to do so. I don't see it as something I want to push on my children and have them become involv...

1) In another class this semester, I completely failed the first exam we took. My teacher told us it was open-note and open-book, so I approached it pretty confidently and reviewed the textbook a little bit before I started the test. It totally took me by surprise because even though it was open note, the questions were so detailed and so complex about certain class topics that I couldn't just look up an answer. If I didn't know the material (which I didn't) I was totally screwed on the exam. I went into it way too cocky and expecting such an easy test, and was stressed out by the second question. It was the worst I'd ever done on a test and I didn't even know if I would be able to recover in the class from it, because we only have a few big test grades like that. On the second exam, I studied more but still didn't do nearly as good as I would want/need to do well in the class. By the third exam, I finally prepared for a week leading up to it and got the gr...

EXISTING MARKET What's Next?  I think that the next step for the SeaStraw should be to create a new model of the straw that is somehow foldable, compressable, pop-up, or more portable in any way. Since I'll be marketing partially to UF students, this feature could be an attractive feature for people who want to bring the straw out with them to the bars or just on-the-go in general. Regarding services, I just want to keep spreading word about the SeaStraw and getting it out to as many businesses, distributors, and happy customers as possible.  First interview:  The first person I interviewed brought up how the next step should be to back up the claims with more facts. He asked me how I would be getting this seaweed, which I obviously do not know right now, but it shows that this product will need to be well-explained and science-based for people to fall in love with it. He also really liked my idea of making the straw more portable because he would not carry aro...

Opportunity             The opportunity I identified was born through my own personal experiences and a significant change in our community. Gainesville began to ban the use of plastic straws, and this change in my environment created an opportunity for a new straw alternative. I was being given more and more paper straws as Gainesville banned the use of plastic straws, and I was noticing more and more how much they didn’t work. Time after time I was left with a ruined experience and useless, soggy straw that was falling over. I began to see a significantly large group of customers with the same need as me—an environmentally friendly straw that actually works. People on social media making memes and tweets complaining about paper straws made me realize that there was opportunity beyond just me and my friends (who hated paper straws just as much as me). The potential customers here are anyone in the world who is looking for an eco...

1. Fundraising Experience: having to raise a lot of money while fundraising for my philanthropy, breast cancer education and awareness Valuable: Because my idea for the SeaStraw is totally new and will cost a lot of money, being able to fundraise for it is valuable Rare: not very rare, many can do this Inimitable: although many people can imitate and do this, I have experience with making graphics and doing in-person fundraising so it'll be hard to imitate these various fundraising ideas Non-substitutable: I can do it through the Internet instead of spending time on it in person. 2. Relationships with others involved in entrepreneurship: I know many people who are taking/have taken this class and thought of ideas of their own who inspire me, and my dad is also an entrepreneur as I mentioned in an old post Valuable: being surrounded by others who are going through your struggles/successes and trying to do the same thing as you is very valuable Rare: this i...

For the second reading assignment, I chose Mindset: The New Summary of Success by Carol Dweck.  1) What was the general theme or argument of the book? This book was all about the mindset someone has, and how to become self-aware of your own mindset and strive towards keeping a better one. The author really emphasizes the power of the mindset and how being successful in everyday life, school, work, sports, relationships, and more are all related to the mindset. The main point was the two different kinds of mindsets, one being a fixed mindset and one being a growth mindset. The fixed mindset believes that someone accepts things being predetermined for them, like being able to do certain skills or activities. The growth mindset is the opposite, believing that traits aren't fixed and someone is able to learn new skills, adapt to changing environments, and change their attitude or abilities. Because mindsets are usually linked closely with one's behavior, the growth mindset...

Link:  https://youtu.be/0kvIDB8OEbQ 2) In my past pitch, people liked how I incorporated statistics so I made sure to keep that part of my pitch in. I am still working on memorizing my pitch, which was another piece of feedback I received, but I recently made some tweaks to it so I am still working on full memorization. Ultimately I really like and appreciate the feedback I receive! As I mentioned above, I changed a few aspects of my pitch. I strengthened the story I tell at the beginning to try and make it even more relatable. I also try to talk as if I am speaking with a friend, but this may come off as unprofessional so I may refrain from this to an extent. I also changed the outfit I wear in my pitch! In my last two pitches, I did not wear a professional top and wished that I had. I simply forgot before. This time I made sure to put on a business-casual shirt and I felt more equipped doing this pitch,