30A – Final Reflection

I was looking over my post over this past semester and found a lot of improvement on my business model. I wanted to work on this business venture for some time now and seeing it progress along the way has been motivating for me. What sticks out to me was the small changes I made that plays a huge influence in they way I’m going to distribute and advertise my product. I’m definitely going to remember the important factors of creating a business model that will allow me to create many other products. I enjoyed grinding the ins and outs of my business venture. Improving the small to bigger qualities was fun.

I highly believe that I have developed an entrepreneurial mindset. I have improved many traits that I didn’t have much strength in the beginning of the semester. I recommend, for serious students that want their product out in the market, to grind weekly working on the small things that could play a bigger role on the more significant factors for later in life of being an entrepreneur. Go all out and fail. Failure leads to change that will lead to victory eventually.

29A – Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity:

Trading activity and trading accounts have doubled in the last decade. New traders entering the market because of the Coronavirus. Rookie traders need some type of guidance in their new journey of trading. Everyone wants to invest their money. Everyone wants to make money by not working, but for their money to work for them.

·       Trading activity and trading account have nearly doubled, meaning that more traders, especially novice traders are entering the market. This means more target customers for my product.

·       The trading world is always expanding, with different ways to cope with emotion with their trading. This product is the first of its kind and creates an opportunity for itself to be tested by the public.

·        Huge investments firms have slashed their fees, which brings in another incentive to trade in the markets. This creates a greater demand for products to help newbie traders, and even experienced ones that still have trouble with their emotion.

Innovation: This product will analyze the facial expressions of traders while they trade and give them notifications on whether they are profitable on the trade they are currently taking on. This product will enable traders to make logical decisions, instead of emotional ones.

Venture Concept:

 Customers, or I should say people, have emotion. People have emotional ties with their money. It is challenging to invest one’s money when losing it is on the line. There are no competitors when it comes to my product because there is nothing like it in the market. Customers will want to use my software because is easy to use and durable. All they need to do is download the software and carry a specialize camera that can fit easily in any backpack. Customers like to see results and whether their investment in the product was worth spending. The packaging is also easily accessible by purchasing the camera through amazon and downloading the software through my website.

The distribution will only be through my website and amazon. Customers are familiar with Amazon, so this makes it a bit more trustworthy when purchasing it through a place that people are familiar with. Customer support will be handled by a team of traders who have time to meet the needs of the traders. There is not specific location for trading. Trading can be done around the world if there is WIFI and a laptop. This product would start small demographically with a handful of employees who can manage the product easily. Most employees would monitor the software’s severs, along with customer service.  

The Three Minor Elements:

Frist:

My secret sauce is being one of its kind. There’s no other product on the market that support traders that the software provides.

Second:

The next step would be to engage with StockTwits users and advertise my product through their system. Overall, marketing is the next step.

Third:

I want to take my venture as far as possible in terms of users and helping traders around the world. I want something that can make trading easier, because it is challenging. Eventually, I would like to sell my business and create other business product in a whole variety of markets. I want to be an entrepreneur of all sorts.

Different departments:

(Marketing, Software, and Customer Service)

·       Marketing will be done by spreading news of the product through Stocktwits, and other social media that traders use daily.

·       Software Engineers to manage the ins and outs of the software.

·       Customer service if the customers need help installing the product.

·       Financial advisors to help manage the funds of the business.

Competitive Advantage:

·       There is no other product out there that offers the same benefits as mine. It is the first of its kind. My product will be able to control the market in a way that may even influence certain decisions in the trading world.

What’s next?

·       I think I need to work on my website to create the installation that can be downloadable through different versions of computers. I need to hire programmers that can make this happen as well as designers for the website.

·       I need to improve my programming skills and interview many more traders to make my software even more diverse than what it is.

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Scott Adams

1) The overall theme of this book suggests accepting failure in a way that still produces positive returns in the end. Scott Adams, the author, connects to the audience by giving numerous stories of his failures. Nevertheless, he does not allow failures to bring him down emotionally. This enabled him to win big, just like the title suggests. What I liked most about this book was the comparison of his ideals with goals and systems. Adams convinces the readers that goals are for the losers and that we should put our trust in systems instead. Putting our trust in the system will lead us to the goals that we sought out in the beginning. The goals that are special to us.

2) The reason why I chose this book was because of how closely it related to several assignments about failure in this course. Interestingly enough, just like the assignments we do weekly, it is almost like a system that we have put our trust in to get a good grade in the course. And more importantly, we see results that take us closer to our goals for our business plans. We regularly see failures for several assignments, well at least I do. However, by putting out trust in the system, I have seen true progress made and goals reached in this semester. 

3) One assignment based on the book would be to named several cases of failures. One similar to assignment 26-A. However, to enhance the assignment, students should explain what they gain from that failure and decide whether the pain from that failure is worth the growth that came with it. 

4) One of the biggest surprises I had in this book was definitely connecting the system (this course with the weekly assignments) versus goals. We need to trust the system. We need to trust our professor, Chris. If we put trust in the system we will see results that Adams mentioned in his book. These results will allow us to grow closer to our goals.

Your Exit Strategy

Business plan recap: A software that analyzes the facial expressions of traders while they trade to make logical decisions, instead of emotional ones.

I love the finance world. I see myself in the markets even when I am still an old fart. However, I do intend to sell my business in the next 5 years for a large return.  I want to hold onto my business until I see that it will perform the same way for its users while being managed by someone else. I'm the one not to pass down a family business. I want my children to create something for themselves.

There are so many other products that I want to develop that aren't focused on finance consumers. I do not want to become known as the person for that one product, I want to create many business ventures in a wide variety of markets.

I think my exit strategy has influenced many other decisions in my life. I never really wanted to stick to something, because I grew bored of it fast. I wanted to become a lawyer when I was little, but I learned that they have the same daily operations throughout the year. There are so many different ways to trade and new strategies arising daily. This concept has allowed me to acquire resources in a short period and utilize them efficiently.

Let's Fail, A Lot!

        This past semester I failed numerous times out of class. I am a full-time student, however, I trade in the markets from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm. This semester I wanted to improve my trading by finding five stocks per week with more than twenty percent upside in price. I would make a list of five companies that I thought were going to perform very well through earnings, rumors, new products, the overall market or sector, etc. I would do a weekly analysis on companies that would belong to that list, no more than five. Throughout the semester, I failed every week to find those companies that would produce a twenty percent upside that week. It's not that easy. My best has been three out of the five that were chosen showed results of the standards I wanted, however, I could not get to a total of five companies. I learned how much patience and creativity you need to achieve specific goals. It took me long hours to weed through hundreds of stocks that would produce returns I wanted. I learned that only a small handful of stocks in a specific sector would show similar returns, so picking tickers from the same industry would decrease my chances. I also learned that the most profitable days out of the week have been Monday and the worst days have also been Monday. 
       I gain so much more knowledge by failing on this task. I started growing connections with each failure. It was fun for me. I have also been a risk-taker because it has proved results that I am far happier with than playing it safe. I took some serious failures in life because of that personality I developed. I guess I can say I liked failing. I think it would be boring to understand everything in life, or succeed in everything around you. When I experience failure, I can't help but knowing what it feels on the other side of it. Failure is one of the reasons I chose to become a trader and why it's still my dream job in the future. Traders take losses throughout the year, its common to them. Traders see failure as a cost on their profit, whether it is positive or negative, we desire to limit those losses and become more consistent.

25A – What’s Next?

Existing Market

1.       I believe what’s next for me is installation of my website to make it look professional as well as creating an easy platform to use for many users. I want to make my website as simple as possible so that users won’t be discouraged to download the product.

2.       The three interviewees all loved the idea. All three of them are heavy traders, one of them trades for a living and the other two have made thousands of dollars in the market. Mark, the one who trades for a living, suggested creating live videos on how the product works. The live videos should be based on different scenarios that the trader is trading. Richard is one of the most experience traders I know. He suggested creating customizable cameras incase a trader wants a specialized camera for different angles, brightness, etc. This will allow for more revenue by creating different divisions in the revenue segment. The main line of revenue will be done through fees and buying the software. The second being the camera the works with the software. And then different types of cameras that will enhance the experience. Allowing different types of revenue streams will benefit me in the long run. When I talked to Jason, he mentioned that I should create some type of social media accounts that relate to trading and create following base. This will allow me to market the business product for free and have a following that is likely to buy the product.

New Market

1.       Since I am focusing on a wide variety of different people who trade. I should focus my attention to traders who trade for a living who want to lower their losses to gain a greater profit.

2.       Wealthier people are likely to buy the product because it is easy for them to do so. Traders who are wealthy still want to lower their losses to gain more money. Fees will be low; however, the download will be expensive enough to cover employee’s salaries and some profit. Eventually, I want to be able to afford to offer my product to retail-traders around the world and make it affordable, however, the software is difficult to maintain.

3.       Michael is one of the first traders I met in the trading world. Michael suggested targeting a specific section of users on Stocktwits. The pricy stocks that users usually chat about that are too expensive for retail-traders with small portfolios to buy. When focusing on this section, you can separate the big fish, from the small. Robert one of my close friends that started trading, thinks I should focus my product on retail-traders, instead of wealthy traders. He thinks retail-traders have a difficult time with emotion while trading, and that they may be easier to connect to with my product. I believe that he does have a point and that I should consider his opinion. Clark has no experience in trading; however, he has released many products in athletic training to the public. He suggested, going out and giving samples to people by showing them the software and the camera. He also said to do walkthroughs in public as well in business events.

24A – Venture Concept No. 1

·     Opportunity  

Everyone wants to invest their money. Everyone wants to make money by not working, but for their money to work for them.

·       Trading activity and trading account have nearly doubled, meaning that more traders, especially novice traders are entering the market. This means more target customers for my product.

·       The trading world is always expanding, with different ways to cope with emotion with their trading. This product is the first of its kind and creates an opportunity for itself to be tested by the public.

·        Huge investments firms have slashed their fees, which brings in another incentive to trade in the markets. This creates a greater demand for products to help newbie traders, and even experienced ones that still have trouble with their emotion.

Innovation: This product will analyze the facial expressions of traders while they trade and give them notifications on whether they are profitable on the trade they are currently taking on. This product will enable traders to make logical decisions, instead of emotional ones.

Venture Concept: Customers, or I should say people, have emotion. People have emotional ties with their money. It is challenging to invest one’s money when losing it is on the line. There are no competitors when it comes to my product because there is nothing like it in the market. Customers will want to use my software because is easy to use and durable. All they need to do is download the software and carry a specialize camera that can fit easily in any backpack. Customers like to see results and whether their investment in the product was worth spending. The packaging is also easily accessible by purchasing the camera through amazon and downloading the software through my website. The distribution will only be through my website and amazon. Customers are familiar with Amazon, so this makes it a bit more trustworthy when purchasing it through a place that people are familiar with. Customer support will be handled by a team of traders who have time to meet the needs of the traders. There is not specific location for trading. Trading can be done around the world if there is WIFI and a laptop.

This product would start small demographically with a handful of employees who can manage the product easily. Most employees would monitor the software’s severs, along with customer service.  

Different departments:

·       Marketing will be done by spreading news of the product through Stocktwits, and other social media that traders use on a daily basis.

·       Software Engineers to mange the in and outs of the software.

·       Customer service if the customers need help installing the product.

·       Financial advisors to help manage the funds of the business.

Competitive Advantage:

·       There is no other product out there that offers the same benefits as mine. It is the first of its kind. My product will be able to control the market in a way that may even influence certain decisions in the trading world.

What’s next?

·       I think I need to work on my website to create the installation that can be downloadable through different versions of computers. I need to hire programmers that can make this happen as well as designers for the website.

·       I need to improve my programming skills and interview many more traders to make my software even more diverse than what it is.