Final Post

Having finished the B183 course and looking back at the entire semester the things I take away from the course are mostly going to be tied to the stories of the individuals we studied and the personal reflection I had to do on myself.

Each of the individual we reviewed in the lessons be it through the Acton Hero’s or the other videos, each of them had a unique experience to share. Basically, to be an entrepreneur doesn’t require an individual to fit a mold, anybody can make it as an entrepreneur, all it takes is determination to succeed. I’ve often thought that it takes a special breed of people that have all the right qualities to have an idea and turn it into a business. In reality, they’re all just like you and me except that they decided to take the leap of faith and go for it. They didn’t have all the skills or even all the brains to launch things successfully right off the bat, they were just determined to make it work and learn all they could along the way.

A common thing among all the individuals too was that they surrounded themselves with people who they knew could make them successful because of what they could learn from them. They did all they could to glean whatever bits of advice they could apply to their business and improve their business with.

Another common theme I found with all of them is that they read. My dad would always tell us kids that “smart people were not just born smart, smart people are smart because they read. Smart people are always learning.” I see entrepreneurs very much the same way. Each of the individuals we read about and reviewed are constantly learning and reading about how they could improve or just reading because it keeps their mind constantly moving and developing.

Lastly, I took a lot away from having to reflect on my learnings and then write about them in a blog. I struggle a lot with having ideas but where I fail is in writing those ideas down and doing something about them. While doing this class I was reminded about a quote by Benjamin Franklin. He said “the dullest pencil is better than the sharpest mind”. No matter how much I enoyed learning new things unless I put them down in writing I would tend to forget them. Putting my learnings down on paper has helped me to internalize and have them more committed to memory and available to me for review. 

Week 13 Post

What I’ve appreciated most about this course has been learning through the experiences of others in the real world. So much about getting an education is beyond what a book will teach you about being an entrepreneur but rather what the real life experiences are of others that we can turn to and apply to what we see and face every day. For instance, there is much to be learned about being a good manager and a resilient entrepreneur from Randy Haykin and Larry North this week. Each comes from diverse backgrounds and has their own unique experiences that led them to be successful entrepreneurs. There isn’t just one way to do it and there isn’t any guarantee that it will work in the end.

With Randy he developed strong relationships with former colleagues and bosses who he was able to call upon when he was considering new ideas or wanted a change of scenery. He didn’t just wait for things to happen but rather took his experiences and let the ball start rolling by parlaying those experiences and skills he learned from each of his jobs and started new companies. He made it a point to be well rounded and use his knowledge and relationships as an asset to begin new businesses. 

Week 10 Post

To many people money means freedom, happiness, or fun, to me I've come to realize it's each of those things in some ways but much more in others. To me it's mostly just a tool to help me provide for my family and live comfortably but never has it been what motivates me or brings me happiness. I've always been told that many only magnifies whatever problems you already have and whatever person you already are. If you're greedy you'll want more, if you're humble you'll keep it quiet and not change what type of person you choose to be. 

Unfortunately, I know of too many individuals who have allowed money to be the source of their life to the point that they've given up some real joys to get it. I've seen fathers ignore their family before eventually losing them altogether. I've seen others desires to have money and toys cloud what their purpose in life is and give up their beliefs and lose their way. The scary part is that it's not that hard to do when life is going well and money is coming in. I've been asked by some good friends why I still pay tithing even because it's a 10% boost in my income if I chose not to! The truth of the matter is that when money becomes the root of your motivation in life you lose sight of what invaluables you have around you and what makes this life so good!

Week 9 Post

For this week I interviewed my brother who is a successful entrepreneur in the technology gadget field. These are the top 5 comments he made during that interview. 

1. Believe your product will revolutionize the industry. His thoughts were that if you aren't thinking big enough then you're selling yourself short from the beginning.

2. Always be open to critical feedback of your products. Some of your best ideas and feedback comes from those who don't like the product you're offering because they offer the most honest opinions.

3. If at first you don't succeed, try and try again. The launch of their first product didn't go as planned so they retooled it and relaunched it with HUGE success. Your product won;t be perfect right off the bat but that doesn't mean all your ideas or that even that product won't be great.

4. Don't hire or partner with people who think just like you. It's important to have opposing views with those you work with, you're more likely to find holes in your product with different minds than like minded individuals.

5. Love what you do. Being an entrepreneur is not easy but it can be incredibly rewarding! Be patient and trust that what you're doing will get the results you expect, don't get caught in the weeds of negativity when things don't go your way. Be happy, have fun, and love being an entrepreneur!

Week 3 Post

The biggest takeaway I got from this week was reading Magdalena Yesil’s case study. She was a very driven person who knew what she wanted and proved that if you allow that to drive you then it’s possible to achieve your goals. What she proved was that it doesn’t mean you have to have a pedigree of wealth in order to make it in the world, but rather that it takes determination to succeed. Her attitude and desire to succeed stood out to her peers and showed in her work everywhere she went. It’s not easy jumping from job to job and maintaining a positive reputation but obviously that wasn’t an issue for her as she was highly sought after and jumped from start up to start up because of her accomplishments at each job.

How this impressed me personally is that it has led me to wonder what my peers or others would say about me. Do others see me as a driven and knowledgeable leader that is capable of performing at a high level all the time? Whether I choose to be an entrepreneur or not I can still carry a reputation that others want to work for or with me. 

Week 2 Post

I had the opportunity to hear the speech by Randy Pausch a few years ago and it is just as inspiring to me now as it was then. You can tell that what he had to share was truly coming from the heart and was a way of life for him. The fire in his heart is very real and you get the feeling that he is out to make the world a better place and leave his parting thoughts as positive seeds for others to take and grow.

Why I think Randy w as able to achieve his childhood dreams is because of how he was raised and how he chose to take advantage of those lessons. To me I get the feeling that he never really had to make a choice to be the light he was but rather it was instilled in him by his parents that his dreams truly can come true. I loved the pictures of his room and how they allowed him to develop his imagination by posting  things all over the walls. He was allowed to express his imagination and dreams freely which helped open his mind and expand his possibilities.

I do feel that dreaming is important. I think it’s important to not be the one who squashes others dreams either. I think about the part of the Will Smith movie “The Pursuit of Happyness” where he catches himself shooting down his sons dreams and goals. Instead of allowing it to go he turns to his son and tells him to never let anyone put him down and take away his dreams because they are his and only he can choose whether or not he wants to fulfill his dreams. Dreams drive us to achieve our goals and passions in life.

A dream of mine from my childhood was to play football at BYU. Unfortunately as I grew older and develop some health issues I wasn’t able to fulfill them but I’m okay with that. I was allowed to do all I could in high school and although I didn’t play football at BYU I realized that I have a lot to be grateful for because so many others with my disease aren’t able to. 

Week 1 Post

This week some of the big takeaways I had are about what it takes to be successful as a person and as a businessman. 

President Hinkley's talk was all about inspiring us to do good and to be good. Not to give up on who we are and what we need to do every day as sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. We need to stand up and not give in to the negative things that surround us every day. Elder Bednar also spoke about how we need to truly gain an education and not just take the easy route, something that I know I've accused myself of on more than one occasion. 

As for what it takes to be a successful businessman I look at what Jim Ritchie did and listen to his advice as well. I've read many of the books that he suggested but will pick out the others and will read them as well. It's inspiring to see someone retire at the age of 35, that's 4 years away for me! Of course it's more than just reading the books, it's about applying the lessons and advice supplied in them.

Over the past several months I've been considering opening my own business and I look forward to getting the kick in the rear from these lessons to help me push myself to get out there and do it.