Sunday, January 31, 2016

Customer Interview NO.1

     For my customer interview I sought out the opportunity to eliminate paper waste caused by the obsolete receipt system. After doing some research I found out that over 9 million trees are cut down to produce paper receipts, and the crazy thing is that most of us dont even keep them! With such an unnecesary waste of the environment and the modern convenience of smart devices such as phones, laptops and tablets, an digital receipt system can be implemented. A simple app on a phone that saves and organizes receiptsin an online cloud database could be very effective and after doing a little bit of research ive found out that people agree with me. In my interviews I asked 5 questions:

  • What are your thoughts on paper conservation?
  • Would you agree that we need to recycle more?
  • How often do you buy things?
  • How often do you keep those receipts?
  • Out of all the receipts that you keep how many of those do you lose?
  • What are your thoughts on a paperless receipt log on your phone?
These were the results ...
Interview 1
Interview 2
Interview 3
Interview 4
Interview 5

From this I learned that people are very willing to help the environment, they only need something worthwhile to support. For this I need to create a quality product that is easy for people to understand and more convenient than the traditional way of doing things. During my interview I also learned how to interview people and try to make them feel comfortable on camera. Also I learned some of the most awkward ways you can ask a stranger for an interview.

Week 4 Reading Reflection

1)     The thing that definitely stood out most about this chapter was the part about muddling mindsets whan thinking bout probabilities. I have always found myself to be a very logical and strategic thinker strongly weighing out the pros and cons of something before I do it. This is one of the reasons, at least in my opinion, why being an entrepreneur would be very difficult for me because taking on entrepreneurial projects involve far more cons and risks than benefits.

2)     I was confused when the author explained how entrepreneurs need to find a niche the market. I always believed that new and innovative products come out of a personal necessity rather than somebody looking for a problem to fix.

3)     The two questions I would ask to the author would be, do you truly believe that anyone has the capabilities to constantly seek out problems or niches in a market, or is that a talent only reserved for certain people? Also do you think that an entrepreneurial team made of someone with a creative freeflowing mind and someone with more logical and gounded thinking capabilities would be more effective than someone working alone?

4)    I disagree with the author on the topic of the creative process and the overall theme of the chapter. He makes it a point that entepreneurs require extreme creativity and a freeflowing mind. I do not completely agree with that because i think that someone with a logical and administrative mind that is not necessarily as creative can also be very successfull.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Top 5 World Problems

1) The climate change and environmental problem the earth faces is by far the biggest. Without a suitable habitat (planet) to live on we will not be able to solve any of the rest of the worlds problems. The best way to go about doing it is for the worlds govenrments to instil and enforce tighter regulations on environmentally harmful companies and factories, and focus more funds into renewable energy research.
2) Global poverty rates are still staggering and what is even more staggering is how genuinely easy it is to end it. In my opinion the easiest way to solve this issue is for world governments to put a reasonable and small tax on those who are able to pay to collectively raise $15-20 billion annually to help send aid to those in need.
3) Domestic abuse is a very big world problem and it affects us alot here in the US. The govenment could help to solve this by educating youths about the dangers of domestic abuse, how to avoid it, and what to do if in an abusive situation. By educating young minds the future of the country may be saved from rampant domestic abuse.
4) Abortion is something that is very close to my heart. I believe that not only does it take the lives onnocent children but it also can be emotionally harmful to mothers. The embassasment and guilt of having an aborting has led to hundreds of thousands of  suicides in the US and millions of cases of depression. I believe that rather than make abortion sound like it is no big deal we 1. reach out to women who plan on having an abortion and 2. reach out to the women who have had an abortion and are in a depression. I believe that the right minded charities can be the ones to do this.
5) And im gonna finish off with cockroaches. The government needs to fund more research on cockroach pesticides, because they are definitely the bane of the earths existence.

Friday, January 22, 2016

Very Short Interview #1

For my entrepreneur I decided to Interview Gustavo Salazar who founded Trust, the largest insurance broker in Peru.
Question #1 – How did you start off your career?
               I first began as a very low level insurance salesman at the age of 17. I would go to all of my father’s friends asking them to help me out by insuring anything. I insured lawnmowers, golf carts, and anything else I could get my hands on. Soon I began insuring bigger things like cars and eventually houses. After I made some money I put it all into founding my company Trust and began to grow it.
Question #2 – What are some of the biggest obstacles you’ve faced as an entrepreneur?
               My biggest obstacles were the original failure of my company. When I first began we had no clients for the first three months of our business, I lost lots of money but I never gave up. I kept persevering and eventually found success.
Question #3 – What do you consider your greatest success?

               My greatest success is actually not my business. But rather it is my ability to never be in debt when it comes to family matters. I have completely paid off my house (He has many houses) and my family wants for nothing. Also as a family man I am happy to be able to spend every moment of free time with them and I am thankful I have provided well for them.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

World’s Biggest Problems and Solutions


1)      Well the obvious first problem in the world is the environmental situation. Climate change, pollution, environment loss, and resource draining are taking a heavy affect in today’s world and reform needs to be implemented. The only way to truly fix this problem is to simply stop using so many resources, preferably any at all. It is obvious this isn’t something that will actually happen so all we can do is try to slow our depletion of the planet. This can be done by improving our technology to stop using so many fossil fuels and releasing so much carbon dioxide into our planet’s atmosphere. One of the best ways to do this is to eliminate the use of gasoline powered cars and switch to electric vehicles.
2)      Another problem is that of global poverty. Almost half of the world lives in poverty (less than $2.50 a day). 22,000 children die every day in poverty due to preventable circumstances. It is no secret that worldwide poverty needs to be addressed. The UN estimates that if everyone who lived in poverty learned basic literacy over 175 million people can be lifted out of poverty. It has been calculated that to end global poverty over the next 20 years it would cost around $175 billion dollars, which may seem a lot but put into perspective it is not really that much. Americans alone spend around $33 billion annually on donuts. The average American worker spends $1000 a year on coffee, which translates to $184 billion on average in America alone! Global poverty then seems to be only a matter of awareness and generosity on the part of those who have money.
3)      Wars! Wars are a problem. The senseless killing of innocent people for greed or religious fanaticism needs to stop. I don’t really know a solution to this other than just stopping it. But too many people are dying for no real reason.
4)      Racism. People, especially in America, grow up to be very-obsessed which I believe to be one of the main problems behind the issue of racism. People hold themselves so highly, almost to the point of making themselves a deity, they do not acknowledge the basic rights of another individual because they look different. Once we all get on one page as a society and realize just how simpleminded the concept of racism is, and actually grasp the concept that just because someone looks different doesn’t make them any less of a human being then racism will end.
5)      There is something so sacred about the life of an individual and nobody else should have the right to take the life of another, yet we see so many senseless murders happen daily in our world? And why is this? Failure to properly educate people? Desensitizing of our minds? Something is wrong and it needs to change. I find it appalling that groups of people have no problem taking a human life. And the only way to change this is by making the world a more loving and less hateful place.
6)      Greed I feel is the cause of many social issues in our country including poverty, divorce, crime, and dishonesty (especially amongst this country’s leadership).  So much of the world’s problems, including pollution and wars, can be traced down to greed. If honest and selfless people ascended to world leadership I believe that many of the world’s problems will be remedied.
7)      1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence in their lifetimes, and men are victims to almost 3 million acts of domestic violence yearly. There isn’t much that can be done to prevent people from entering an abusive relationship, however there can be steps taken in order to prevent more abuse. Proper education on what can be done if one is abused or is about to be abused. Also there needs to be advocacy for those who are in abusive situations to help get out of them. People in abusive relationships tend to stay in that relationship because they have nowhere to go should they leave it. By helping to provide shelters and by having people speak up and volunteer to shelter people who are stuck in abusive relationships we can help lessen the amount of domestic abuse.
8)      This may be a controversial topic, but I do believe abortion is a big problem especially in our country. As I have stated before I believe the human life is something very sacred and something that nobody else has a right to take away. I also believe that a baby in its mother’s womb is truly alive and deserves to have life, to grow up, and to be a person. That isn’t to say that I don’t have sympathy for women stuck in these kind of situations. In fact I have very much sympathy for these women, and I do not think that they should be left alone to deal with the hard task of carrying a child. Honestly  I think that if it weren’t so “shameful” in today’s society to be pregnant, and we were all accepting of a woman being pregnant and even commending her for taking the hard choice of having a child then there would be far less innocent children taken before they had a chance to even live.
9)      Cockroaches. Not much to be said here other than they’re gross and need to be out of my life for good. Maybe we can invent some sort of super cockroach killing spray or something.

10)   Lastly I think more needs to be done to research a cure for cancer. Cancer is the second biggest killer in our country, and I believe we can be doing more to end it. We, as a country, can donate more money to research; People should also be more educated on how to detect risks of cancer so doctors can detect it early in its formation and hopefully stop it more easily.

Thursday, January 14, 2016

My Entrepreneurship Story

For my entrepreneurship story I will desccribe my first experience with entrepreneurship. And while i have experienced members of my family become successful entrepreneurs/ businessmen, my first experience with the lifestyle, which was far more entertaining, happened while whatching an episode of Spongebob Squarpants named "Chocolate and Nuts".
In the episode, SpongeBob accidentally receives Squidward's Fancy Living Digest magazine in the mail, inspiring him and Patrick to become entrepreneurs. At the suggestion of Patrick, the pair become chocolate bar salesmen, which results in them purchasing large quantities of chocolate bars from the Barg 'n' Mart. The first customer in their door-to-door travels, however, just screams "CHOCOLATE!" and chases the two salesmen away. Afterward, SpongeBob and Patrick attempt to sell chocolate to another person, only to be conned into buying chocolate-carrying bags from that person, twice in a row. They then try to sell it to a woman who then wants to buy one, but when SpongeBob can't find a chocolate bar because of all of the carrying bags, the customer gives up. They are then chased away again by the chocolate fanatic.
After their disastrous results in their previous attempts, the two take a break at the diner, and decide to "try being nice." However, this is unsuccessful, ending in Patrick buying pictures of a customer in his childhood, as is their attempt to "focus" (resulting in Patrick staring at a customer until the customer slammed the door on Patrick's eyes.) Then, they decide that the only way to sell chocolate is to "stretch the truth," which is successful when they convince an old woman (to the dismay of her daughter) that it "makes you live forever." The lying continues, but after they attempt to help a seriously injured man (who turns out to be the same man who sold SpongeBob and Patrick the carrying bags in disguise) by buying his chocolate, their profit is lost. However, the chocolate fanatic catches up to them, and, in a turn of events, buys all of the chocolate that SpongeBob and Patrick have. They then use the money to rent out a fancy restaurant, allowing access only to themselves and their dates, the old lady and her daughter who they sold chocolate to earlier.
As far as why I enrolled in this course, it is required for me as I am a student in the Innovation Academy. This class is mandatory for me to receive y innovation minor. I would like to receive an A from this course and possibly gain more information on how to become an entrepreneur so i can be the next Steve Zucherburg or whatever.

INTRODUCTION

Hello class, my name is Nahel Abugattas. I am a second year biology major in the Innovation Academy. I was born in Peru, but my family is from Palestine. I hope to be able to travel the world someday. My ultamate goal is to live in Madrid so I can watch my favorite soccer team play every week, also Europe is cool. I have a huge heart for people and hope to work with impoverished people as a doctor across the world; I also want to work with the homeless here in the United States and hope to one day start a charity that would help the homeless get back on their feet again.