Grant Leff ENT3003

This class has definitely provided some interesting experiences. Coming in, I thought this would be an informative and valuable class for me. I was excited about what it had in store. However, it started off with a low. I didn't realize the assignments were due at noon, so I went to submit assignment 2A at 3:00 pm only to realize I had missed it. This was really frustrating and set a bad tone for the class for me; however, I was able to bounce back. I put a little more focus on it, and I ended up enjoying the rest of the proceeding assignments. I think the best and most formative experience was finally coming up with a business idea. I had struggled with that for a while, and the ideas I had come up with were mediocre at best. But, eventually, my idea to help school lunches came to me, and it felt like the light bulb turned on over my head. That was extremely satisfying and I'm proud of the work I have done using that idea. While I think I have moved closer to an entrepreneuria

My business involves providing better school lunch services to schools around the country. The people who have this need the most are elementary school students. A majority of kids rely on school lunch food for their meals. Teachers also have this need, as a good amount of them also rely on school lunch. They are all at school for a long period of time, and they are unable to go out and get outside food. There are no changes to the environment that are causing this need. It is a need that has always existed without a real solution existing. The geographic area I am covering will be to start in Florida and later expand to around the United States. Demographically, I am focusing on 4-10-year-old elementary school kids. Customers are currently satisfying this need through the basic food provided by their local school district. Most would be more than willing to switch over to my company given the opportunity. I think this is a huge opportunity since there is such a huge market and so few

I think my exit strategy would be to sell my company to a previously established foodservice company such as College Chefs. I would spend the next few years building up my presence in the elementary school market before transitioning to middle and high schools. While I had planned to then move on into the college market, I think at that point one of my potential competitors would rather just buy me out. I think that would be my best option, as that would allow me to move on to other projects. I think this strategy does affect my plans to grow the company. If I know I am intending to move on once I get a big enough hold on the market, I will be willing to take more long term risks since I won't be around to deal with the fallout in the long-run. However, I wouldn't be reckless about it, and would be transparent about my intentions and my actions throughout my time working with the company,

1) You read about an entrepreneur: What surprised you the most? I think what surprised me the most is it didn't try to hide some of his less remarkable qualities (like his thoughts on women). What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? I admire that his goal is essentially to help save humans from themselves. What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? I don't like how often he snaps at people in anger-filled rampages. Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? His journey to creating multiple hugely successful companies was littered with challenges, but his desire for perfection allowed him to overcome them, and then move on to his next project. 2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?  He cares deeply about his work. He puts his all into it and doesn't stop until the output is perfect. 3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. I was confus

A few months ago, I was put in charge of a project in which I and 5 other people were supposed to build a table. I had no real building experience, but I was chosen to lead the project so I figured "why not?" However, I quickly realized that I was in over my head. I had no knowledge of the best types of wood to use, the best tools, the proper techniques to use, or pretty much most of the other aspects required to build a good table. After a few sessions of working on the table, I resigned from my leadership position and gave it to one of the other members who clearly knew more than I did. The lesson I learned from it is to not try to take charge just for the sake of it. I knew going in that I didn't really know anything about building a table, but I ignored that and tried to lead the project anyway, and I failed. I now know that in the future, I won't put myself in a position where I have a fairly good idea going in that I won't be successful. Failure, in genera

     I think next, I would expand to bigger food packages. Right now, I am planning on doing three of them: basic, advanced, and premium. Once I get those up and running, I would expand to even more packages to allow schools more options. I asked three teachers what they would do next if they were running this business. One said that I should I move into the catering business. They thought that if schools saw that we are good enough to do catering than the food must be high quality and they would be more inclined to partner with us. The other two suggested more food options. I asked them about my idea to add up to 10 customizabile package options, and all three liked the idea.      My plan going forward would be this: I would add the custom packages to the potential options. Then, once I get big enough, I would expand into middle and high schools. After a few years of that, I would try to move into the college market. The amount of dining halls and fraternities/sororities that serve f

     My business involves providing better school lunch services to schools around the country. The people who have this need the most are elementary school students. A majority of kids rely on school lunch food for their meals. Teachers also have this need, as a good amount of them also rely on school lunch. They are all at school for a long period of time, and they are unable to go out and get outside food. There are no changes to the environment that are causing this need. It is a need that has always existed without a real solution existing. The geographic area I am covering will be to start in Florida and later expand to around the United States. Demographically, I am focusing on 4-10-year-old elementary school kids. Customers are currently satisfying this need through the basic food provided by their local school district. Most would be more than willing to switch over to my company given the opportunity. I think this is a huge opportunity since there is such a huge market and so

1. Fraternity Chef V: It is valuable because he can provide me with inside knowledge of how the school lunch industry operates R: There aren't many people who have the knowledge and experience that he has, and there aren't many people trying to create a business like I am trying to make that have someone like him at their disposal I: It is impossible to duplicate the exact experience of a person, so I would say it is pretty inimitable N: There are probably other people that can provide similar information, but not identical 2. Family Friend on School Board V: She is valuable because she is the type of person I would need to convince in order for a school to agree to use my service. R: It is rare to know someone who plays such a big role on the school board of the second biggest county in Florida. I: Someone else could theoretically copy that by introducing themselves to her and becoming friends with her. N: She is pretty non-substitutable because she is one of th

I really appreciated the feedback I got. They gave me a lot of helpful pointers to make my pitch better. The one that stood out the most to me was my swaying. I know that sway a lot in general, but after seeing multiple people point out to me how distracting it was, I went back and rewatched it, and I 100% agree. So, my main focus for this pitch was to control my swaying. I didn't totally eradicate it, but I was conscious of it as I recorded my pitch. I also took some advice from my first pitch and dressed more professionally. I agree that it gives the pitch a little more luster and makes it that much better. Overall, I think this is the best of my three pitches, and I definitely feel like I am getting significantly better at giving it.

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book? The general idea of the book was a provided list of over 100 tips on how to be successful on social media. It tries to find ways for older generations to connect with the current generation that is growing up with social media. 2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003? It connected with the class because it expands our knowledge base as entrepreneurs. In any sort of business, it is essential that we are able to connect with and relate to our potential customer base. Nowadays, this is done primarily through social media. This book provided a better understanding of how to be successful with social media, therefore enhancing our ability to connect with customers and increasing the likelihood that our business is successful. 3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve? I would design an assignment where w

1. Domain Expert The first person I contacted was the chef for my fraternity. He has been a professional chef for 20 years and is well versed in the school foodservice industry. I put him as my expert because he knows how the school lunch industry works and has been around it for a long time. I found him through my fraternity and I talked to him in person. I told him about this assignment and asked him if he thought my idea was feasible. He thinks it would be difficult because I will have to go through the bureaucracy of a school board, but if the right people put the right amount of effort behind it he could see it being successful. Having him in my network is beneficial because I could use the expertise of someone who has been on the ground in this industry for so long to make sure I take the right steps. 2. Market Expert The next person I contacted was a family friend who is on the school board of the county I grew up in. She has been on the board for more than 10 years and ha

1. Who are you? My name is Grant Leff. I am a junior from Weston, Florida. I have done a lot of work in the live television production field. I have worked for ESPN, CBS, HBO, and have interned in DC with a Congresswoman. However, my idea is focused on helping make school lunches healthier. I grew up eating school lunches, have worked at a school with kids, and have parents who are teachers, so I have been around school cafeteria food for a long time. I know from personal experience the problems it has, specifically in terms of healthiness. 2. What are you offering? I am offering a company that would provide healthy school lunches to schools around the country for a low price. We would have different packages that range from sending recipes, to sending ingredients, to sending trained chefs to the schools. 3. Who are you offering it to? I will be offering this to schools. Specifically, we are targeting elementary school children and their teachers. They all rely on the food provided by

My customer avatar is a 40-year-old third-grade teacher. He has a wife who might also be a teacher and two young kids, one four-year-old and one two-year-old. He drives a Nissan Altima to keep him and his family safe. He likes to read, watch sports, and take his kids to their little league games. He watches drama shows on Netflix with his wife at night after work to relax. He gets really tired after a long day of work and being with his family, so he doesn't have the energy to make himself a lunch every night for the next day. He is trying to save some money to take his kids to Disney World, so he doesn't like to spend money on food. He relies on the school lunch food every day. I have some things in common with my customer. We both like to relax by watching sports and TV shows at night, and I also oftentimes don't have the energy late at night to make my lunch for the next day. I don't think that is a coincidence, as both a college student and a teacher have long,

I received a lot of interesting feedback. Some of the positives included my use of a statistic as a hook, my enthusiasm, and my persuasion overall. I did receive a few pointers, too. The clearest one which I definitely agreed with was my lighting. I didn't really realize how bad my first one looked until it was too late, so I completely understood where that feedback came from. I was also told that I swayed too much, so that was something I focused on while doing this new pitch. My hand movements were also a concern. Some people liked them, some people didn't. So, I tried to walk a finer line when I recorded this new pitch. So, since most of the feedback was on the aesthetic parts of my pitch rather than my content, I kept most of the actual meat of the pitch the same and changed some aesthetic things like my lighting, my swaying, and my hand motions.

Five Ways in Which I Have Human Capital: 1. Discipline: I believe I am a very disciplined person and have the ability to stop or start something as needed. 2. Hardworking: When I put my mind to something I will work as much as I can to make sure that goal is accomplished. 3. Dedication: When I dedicate to something in my head, I stick with it. I won't give up on that thing even during the low points. 4. Trustworthiness: If someone relies on me to do something, they can be assured that I will do it no matter what. 5. Open: I am open with my thoughts on most issues. I won't keep something to myself if I feel it is necessary for others to hear it. Interviews: (After clicking link select Open with Music Player to listen) 1. Jeana https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y_voy3e52aD_jIeISUen6DcV5I_97Iao/view?usp=sharing Jeana believes I care about the work I put in to everything I work on. She refers to how I always help out with video projects and I make sure that everything

I found three new teachers to interview. The first thing I asked was what makes you choose what you eat for lunch during the school day. One of them answered they go based on convenience, which is why they eat the school lunch. The second said she chooses based on healthiness, so she brings her lunch. The third said price, which is why she eats the free school lunch food. When asked if the school lunch were to improve would that influence your decision, the one who brings her lunch said yes while the other two said no but they would appreciate that. I continued to ask them the questions like what matters most to them and what makes them feel they made the right decision, but all three were fairly consistent with their answers. The two that already eat the school lunch said they will continue to eat the lunch no matter what, but would definitely prefer the food get better so they would like a service like the one I'm providing. The third said that she will continue to bring her lu

1) You read about an entrepreneur: What surprised you the most? What surprised me the most was how large a role he played at PIXAR. I always knew he was involved, but didn't realize the extent of it. What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? I admire his minimalist style. He likes to make everything as effective and powerful as possible in the simplest way possible. What about the entrepreneur did you  least  admire? I don't like that he was so opposed to allowing for changes or upgrades to products he made. Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? He encountered adversity when he was forced out of the company he founded. He overcame it by working his way back in and saving them. 2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?  He exhibited obsessive attention to detail. He was very meticulous about everything that he did and created. 3) Identify at least one part of the reading

Some behaviors that I have developed is to keep a calendar. I realized the number of assignments that appear on Canvas look way more daunting than it is (there are three separate parts for each assignment with multiple assignments due each week), so I realized early on I need a calendar that I can check off assignments as I do them to keep me more organized. I got really frustrated and wanted to give up pretty early on, actually. In the first week, I saw that parts A and B for the first assignment were due on a Friday. So, that Friday afternoon I sat down and did the work. I finished around 3 pm and went to submit them, only to find that the assignments were due at noon. That was really frustrating to me and got me extremely annoyed. However, it was a great learning opportunity for me. I realized that I need to be more vigilant of assignment directions and be a few steps ahead to avoid completely avoidable situations like that. Had I read a little more closely I would have seen that it

For my interviews, I wanted to talk to three elementary school kids. Unfortunately, it was hard to find three kids who I could talk to, so I went with three teachers instead. While not my primary segment, teachers are a major group that I am also targeting with my service. When discussing the problems with school lunch food, the consensus in the three interviews I did was, unsurprisingly, the need primarily takes place at schools during lunchtime. I asked them all how they attempt to satisfy the need for better lunch for themselves. All three mentioned that bringing their own lunch could be a solution, two of the three didn't see this as something they could realistic do on a regular basis. The third said she brings her own lunch everyday. While they all acknowledged the problem, only two of the three felt my service would be a sufficient solution for them. The same one who brings her lunch said that although she sees how others would find this service useful, she personally would

1. Who are you? My name is Grant Leff. I am a junior from Weston, Florida. I have done a lot of work in the live television production field. I have worked for ESPN, CBS, HBO, and have interned in DC with a Congresswoman. However, my idea is focused on helping make school lunches healthier. I grew up eating school lunches, have worked at a school with kids, and have parents who are teachers, so I have been around school cafeteria food for a long time. I know from personal experience the problems it has, specifically in terms of healthiness. 2. What are you offering? I am offering a company that would provide healthy school lunches to schools around the country for a  low price. We would have different packages that range from sending recipes, to sending ingredients, to sending trained chefs to the schools. 3. Who are you offering it to? I will be offering this to schools. Specifically, we are targeting elementary school children and their teachers. They all rely on the food provid

Who : My interviews made me realize there is another group of people who I had not previously considered: teachers. I interviewed 3 teachers, and 2 of the three said they regularly eat the school lunch, while the third said she does on occasion. They all agreed that having improved, healthier school lunch would be a great benefit to everyone. Although, one expressed doubt of the feasibility of it. He wasn't convinced that this could find the balance between high enough quality food and low enough prices where this could be effective. I also interviewed one parent who said no matter how improved the food is she would still send her kids to school with lunch. She doesn't trust what the school provides or would provide with this idea, and she claims that she personally knows a large contingency of mothers who would agree. The last parent I interviewed made me realize there was another large group of people who this idea couldn't help: kids with severe allergies. This parent

My problem is that school lunch food is not healthy enough. Kids are being forced to eat this food that not only impacts their long term health, but also hurts them during the school day as they are mentally weaker and will therefore do worse in class. Parents realize this is a problem and try to send their kids to school with food, but that is not a realistic option for many parents. A large amount rely on the school lunch for their kids. This opportunity allows for a lunch service that provides healthy, good tasting food at a price that is affordable for schools. The service would send out chefs across the country along with the ingredients in order to cook healthy food for kids that they will actually like to eat. There are plenty of healthy foods that actually taste good that kids would eat, and this service would allow for kids to be healthier while actually enjoying their food. It would make parents happier knowing that they can rely on the food their kids are eating at school, a

Healthier School Lunches Kids today aren't being served healthy enough meals from schools for lunch Who: Elementary School Kids What: Are not being served healthy meals by their schools Why: School's neglect the importance of healthy foods and resort to cheaper/easier options Hypothesis Testing the who: This problem can expand beyond just elementary school kids. Middle schools, high schools, and even college dining halls can have this issue, as well. It impacts younger students the most, however, because they are the ones who most need the nutritious value, and they are in less control of what foods they eat. Testing the what: There is an argument to be made that this country has issues with unhealthy food. My counter to that is that schools absolutely have the ability to serve healthier options, but they openly choose not to for financial or convenience reasons. Also, again, other people have options in terms of what they eat; kids stuck at school do not have a c

1.  Economic trend: Value of the British Pound Decreasing Source: BBC  https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49179234 I believe an opportunity might exist because this represents a significant change in not just the economic foundation of an entire country, but also its relationship with the EU and the rest of the world. The most likely customer would be the people of the UK This would be a difficult opportunity to exploit because it involves the destruction of an economy rather than the growth of one I believe I saw this as opportunity because of the way this class has taught us how to approach certain situations. The average person would see that the economy is getting worse in the UK and would think to stay away from it, while this class has shown us that we should think like an entrepreneur and try to find value where others don't see any. 2. Economic trend: A Market Crash is Coming Source: USNews  https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/the-smarter-mutual

Tropical wave descends over the Bahamas, odds of tropical depression formation strengthen to 70% by weekend for Florida https://www.orlandosentinel.com/weather/hurricane/os-ne-tropical-depression-storm-humberto-chances-rise-bahamas-florida-20190912-75tc5om2ezadhboql5p4k3bhfi-story.html This article is about a tropical wave that is forming over the Bahamas that could potentially become a tropical depression, or even a tropical storm. The problem in the story is that the storm, should it develop more, would impact the Bahamas just weeks after the country was hit by Hurricane Dorian. The people who have the problem are the people of the Bahamas. They are already dealing with the fallout of Dorian, so the potential of another major storm could be catastrophic for them. FOX channel pulled from Dish; ESPN and Disney could be next on DirecTV https://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-bz-disney-espn-directv-dish-wsvn-contract-talks-20190910-xzworjtdwfdhzierw53z2jzca4-story.html This