Growing My Social Capital

• Domain Expert: My domain expert is a Hall of Fame baseball player by the name of Wade Boggs. The reason I consider him a domain expert is because he has been in the industry of professional sports for the last 40 years of his life. While he may not have the experience of selling something to a professional sports organization, he has many connections within the world of baseball. I've known Wade Boggs for the last 5 years. I first met him at my high school in Tampa when I first tried out for the baseball team, and after being on the team for all four years, I really enjoyed learning from him and gathering as much as I could from his many experiences. I think that having Coach Boggs in my network would put me ahead of everyone else trying to get into the professional sports business because he knows it like the back of his hand, which really puts me at an advantage. 

• Market Expert: My market expert is a good friend, Cooper Borden. He works for Under Armour, and they specialize in providing all sorts of things for these professional teams. I met Cooper about 10 years ago playing baseball, and we have motivated each other through everything since then. The reason he would be a good fit for the market expert job is because he has a good idea on how the market works. We may not be selling the same kinds of things, but with his connections I could learn a thing or two on how to get into the professional sports business. 

• Supplier: My supplier is one of friend's dad, Mike Garam. He is a retail specialist that sells sports equipment to local teams and organizations. I find him as a great fit for this because he has the expertise with selling to organizations in the same realm, and I think I could really learn a lot from his knowledge of the retail business. 

• Reflection: After completing this assignment, I learned what valuable connections I have already, and how easy it is to find someone who has connections that can get you to where you need to be. I know that sometimes social networking can be hard, but when you really sit down and think about who you know, and how they could possibly help you, the sky is really the limit on where you can go with it. For my future networking events, I would have to use the same mindset I did here, and try to think about the connections I already have, and which ones could be easily created, either through someone else, or going out of my way to find someone. As for my past experiences, I have never really been in a situation where I had to network, so I really don't have anything for comparison sake. 

Idea Napkin No. 2

I unfortunately wasn't able to complete the first idea napkin, so that puts me behind because I don't have any feedback as of yet.

1)You. I am Alex Broderick. I am a first year Computer Science major at the University of Florida and Innovation Academy. My talents and skills include coding, leadership, and a huge passion for sports. My aspirations are to become a successful programmer, and make a difference in the world in any way that I possibly can. For my business concept, I see this business playing the biggest role in my life. This is a concept that I will have to constantly monitor forever, and that will keep me focused on one thing, making my customers happy.

2)What are you offering to customers? My product, or program if you prefer, is something that will start out as a scheduling application for the four major North American sports, including baseball, basketball, football, and hockey. The reason that this solves a problem is because ever since the creation of every single one of these four leagues, there hasn't been an algorithm that can create the schedule for years and years in advance with taking into account the season rules for each sport, while also maximizing the efficiency of the travel schedules along with off-days for travel. I have seen too many times, a team go from the east coast to the west coast over night for an afternoon game the next day, and I think I can do something about this.

3)Who are you offering it to? This program will be exclusively offered to just the front offices of the four major sports, and after that gets off the ground, I plan to expand the program for other professional and non-professional schedules. Along with this, I plan to open the application to bigger businesses to plan out travel for their employees and clients travel schedules.

4)Why do they care? My demographic cares because it will make things insanely easier, and all those effected by these huge businesses, for example, a player on one of the MLB teams, will appreciate the travel schedule so it isn't as rigorous for the rest of their careers in comparison to what it's like now.

5)What are your core competencies? What sets me apart from everyone else is that I am trying to put everyone else before the money. I know that the business world is built on money, but I think that the consumer comes before that, and the foundation for a great product is great consumer satisfaction. Every player in every league deserves a change to their schedules to make things less painstaking. What I have that no one else haves is this program. No one else has put the athletes first, because these sports have been about their money, and will keep things the same as long as they're making a profit.

I really do believe in this program, and what it can do. I think it could benefit everyone in these demographics, but in due time, it can help everyone just like you and me. I do, of course, think that there is always space for improvement and the ability to adjust plans based on reality. On the other hand, I know what I want, and I have a good idea for going about it, so I will do everything in my power to accomplish that.

Reading Reflection No. 2

I read Makers: The New Industrial Revolution for this second reading reflection.

• What was the general theme or argument of the book?
• From just reading the title, I was instantly interested. From what I gather, the book was mainly about the future, and the realization that we are always going through a revolution, whether or not you notice. We have gone through a sort of circular pattern with manufacturing, and right now, it's at a fairly low level, and what this book predicts, and in my opinion predicts correctly, is that manufacturing is coming back. What that means to me is that we are all going to be our own factories, this doesn't mean that we are going to be building cars in our homes, but in fact building our futures with new software and technology. 

• How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
• From my perspective, this book did a great job of bringing things together and showing me that entrepreneurship is the way of the future in any and every society. If we want to move forward, we have to be willing to be creative and chase our dreams and aspirations. At the same time, we have to be willing to adapt to new technologies and ways for going about things. We cannot be one-dimensional and ignore the fact that the world is constantly changing, and our job is to change with it. This connects to the course specifically because we are learning what it is like to have an idea, and try to capitalize on it no matter what it takes. Whether or not we are all businessmen/businesswomen, we have be willing to make an entrepreneurial step to moving our world forward, and being the innovators for the things our world will be built off of in the future. 

• If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
• If I had to design an exercise for this class, I would have to go with an exercise to do some research and find out the three biggest ways the student thinks the world has changed because of entrepreneurship. This will give the student the ability to reflect on what has changed around them, and what kind of revolutions we have gone through besides the most clear and common ones. 

• What was your biggest surprise or "aha" moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
• My biggest surprise from this book would have to be the idea that we are all now designers, and what that means is that we are going to soon be responsible for our own products, whether it comes from 3D printing or some other kind of software or technology. This was most surprising to me because this is something that I never would have thought about if I had not read this book, and reflecting on it now gives me the chance to really understand the meaning and message of this book. We have to be the ones to take things into our own hands, and make something great out of it. 

My Secret Sauce

I really like the idea of human capital, and reflecting on yourself, in a good way. At times it can be really hard to see yourself as an accomplished, or motivated person, and reflecting on it and hearing other people talk about it really helps you see that. For my own human capital, I think that what makes me different is:

1. The fact that I am a people please-er. I have been this way my whole life, and in everything I am doing, I am usually doing it for someone else. 
2. The fact that I am good with people, and I can handle situations easily when it comes to confrontation. Although I am not very outgoing, I do understand when it is my time to step up and say something. 
3. The fact that I am very observant, and I listen a lot. As an introverted person, I am always tuned into the details, and I can sniff out a bad situation from a mile away. 
4. The fact that I am a problem solver. I've always liked things like math and puzzles, and I am always looking for solutions to problems right away, no matter the magnitude of the situation.
5. The fact that I really see myself to be super organized. I like to have everything set up well, and keeping everything organized just makes my life a whole lot easier.  

My first interview was with my very good friend Symone. One of the biggest takeaways I had from her interview was her looking up to me emotionally. I have always tried to be a positive and giving person around everyone, and it was good hearing from her that she noticed that.

https://soundcloud.com/user-715711442/secret-sauce-symone

My second interview was with my little sister Abbie. My biggest takeaway from her was the fact that I am a nice guy in her eyes. As a 12 year old girl, it was interesting to hear that perspective because of her experiences.

https://soundcloud.com/user-715711442/secret-sauce-abbie

My third interview was with my father Mark. The biggest takeaway from this interview was his workplace perspective. He told me that he works with a lot of younger people who frustrate him because of some of these traits, and it was interesting to hear that I'd be a better candidate because of my work ethic and drive.

https://soundcloud.com/user-715711442/secret-sauce-dad

My fourth interview was with my sister Alyssa. The biggest takeaway from her interview was her older sister perspective. Watching me grow up as an older sibling has really given her the best view of what I am dealing with and how well, or how badly I deal with certain situations.

https://soundcloud.com/user-715711442/secret-sauce-alyssa

My fifth and final interview was with my mother Daphne. I would say that she knows me the best, and from her experience with me, knowing that she recognized loyalty and passion within my personal traits was awesome to hear.

https://soundcloud.com/user-715711442/mom-interview

After all of the interviews, I found that I view myself very close to how others do, at least those who know me best. For me, that is great satisfaction, because I know myself better than I thought I did. There are, of course, some things that I may have overlooked, or didn't really see as something big within my personal traits, and I made sure to ask everyone if they had anything like that, and hearing some of those things really open up my mind to learning myself further. For the last part of this assignment, I am going to have to add my loyalty and passion to the list of my personal traits. There aren't any things besides that that I would change, but I really do think I may have overlooked those two parts.

My Customer's Avatar

My idea has transformed over the last month, and I have decided that I am going to continue with a business that is quite basically a scheduler. I will be writing a program that will generate a schedule for any of the four major North American sports, with respect to each sports rules, while optimizing travel distances and days off. This will target, at first, the front end of each of the sports, meaning it will be for the commissioners. After I have developed the program enough, I hope to give it out to people just like you, or other business who have to plan travel for their employees or clients, while maximizing efficiency, with the click of a button.

As I mentioned before, this program will be tailored for the executives of each of the sports, meaning that they will be very busy people, and very, very rich at that. They would be driving nice cars, like Mercedes, or Teslas, white with black rims. They watch the news all day, and stock trading channels, and have grand children. These people could be fairly young, to pretty old, and the old ones feel young while the young ones feel old and stressed out. As for myself, our common qualities are for the love of sports, and the love of competition. I think that being raised around sports my whole life, and playing baseball for 14 years has shaped my love and respect for all sports. Therefore, I don't think these similar qualities are by coincidence.

Here's the avatar I created:

My Portmanteau: Imagineering

The word that I created and fiddled around with the last couple of weeks was imagineering. It is just as you suspected the combination of imagination and engineering, which to many people may not sound so new, and of course it isn't, but it was tough to come up with something random that didn't really make much sense. I chose to stick these two words together because it would make for smoother mentioning of it. I would be able to use it all the time while just talking about everyday things with my family.

Just as I suspected, when talking with my family and saying this word over and over, in the best context I could, they started to notice. Later throughout the weeks I noticed my father starting to say it in some of the same exact contexts, which to me is awesome. Everyone else in my family kind of laughed at the word, but my dad really did understand the connection, clearly.

Halfway Reflection

1) Tenaciousness is a skill. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course?

- Since each assignment has a specific time to be turned in, most times on Friday nights at midnight, I had to figure out when I would make time to fit with this class' schedule. There is a very specific outline for each and every assignment, and being lazy won't cut it. Time management is super important, and making an effort on top of that.

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

- The "giving up" feeling has been a familiar emotion throughout this course. I feel like sometimes, the assignments aren't worth my time, yet I've decided to come back to it, and try to get myself out of the hole I've created for myself so that I can get a good grade and not have to worry about this class again. I don't think my mindset has changed much because I've simply been more focused on other classes like calc II and programming II.

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset'?

1. Always work towards your goal. This includes being super persistent with what you are doing because most of the time, the first go at something may not go quite right, so don't let that get you down and give yourself reason to give up.

2. This class really comes down to time management, so think about a schedule the best you can. Most first year students' schedules are hectic (I know mine is) and you really need to figure out the time it is going to take to balance this class among others.

3. Put yourself in a position to succeed. Don't spend the time that you could be doing something worrying about how awkward or annoying it will be.