Top 5 World Problems

Top 5 Problems
1) Rapid Climate Change
2) World Poverty
3) The Increasing Global Population
4) Global Water Crisis
5) Species Exintction

I believe rapid climate change is the most imminent threat to our species as such widespread weather changes could cause effects worldwide. This problem poses as much of a threat to a billionaire and a homeless person. Weather does not discriminate. World poverty is second. This is because it is such a huge problem and affects millions of people. This also causes great instability in many countries. This issue, I believe, is not as imminent as the first two. Although, in a few decades, this could prove to be the world's largest problem by a long-shot. This problem is similar to world poverty in that it is causing many people to live terrible lives and even die from lack of water. Again, this problem is not as imminent as the first two, I believe. Species extinction is something we face even today. It is extremely widespread and difficult to control. Although I picked this as the fifth problem because it has the most implementable solution

Ranked Solutions
1) Construct more preservation and national parks in which endangered species are protected. Also crack down on poaching with anti-poaching services employed by the government. Also enact laws to help prevent and eventually stop environmental destruction for industrial use.
2) Make agriculture more sustainable and improve our systems to convert reclaimed water into drinking water. Also expand our research into converting salt water into fresh drinking water.
3) Provide international help to provide food and services to improve the areas. Also have companies to provide more job opportunities.
4) A reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases can help preserve our ozone layer as much as possible to help stop the melting of the polar ice caps. Unfortunately, a big problem with pollution is methane from cows and may be something that cannot be stopped due to the world's reliance on the animals.
5) Although there is no permanent solution once the population gets high enough but to develop more land to be 'livable' and organize cities more efficiently.

I believe the solution to solving species extinction is the most implementable for many reasons. Firstly, it can be handled generally on a species-by-species level. Laws can be made for specific animals and specific areas of land to be protected. In hand there can be people employed to protect these said areas of land. Making agriculture sustainable globally will take a long while. However there have been many recent advances in converting saltwater to fresh drinking water in an efficient matter. Solving world poverty is no small issue although with help from western countries and true commitment the problem is starting to slow down slightly. Trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is a huge problem. So many countries use machines and have industries that emit these gases. Reorganizing cities and making land that seems uninhabitable, habitable is a huge issue. This is an issue that I do not believe can be implemented easily and it will take a very, very long time.

Week 3 Reading Reflection

One big part of the reading that stood out to me and even surprised me was the section on the Entrepreneurial Mind-Set. It was surprising to me that a mind-set could be broken down and into so many categories. It was also talked about a lot in depth. The categories were Determination and Perseverance, Drive to Achieve, Opporunity Orientation, Persistent Problem-Solving, Seeking Feedback, to name a few. There was a description for every aspect an entrepreneur should have. From what I grasped from the reading, an entrepreneur needs to be well-rounded, motivated, creative, and have a true passion for whatever they are pursuing. There is such a strong emphasis on working hard for your goal as an entrepreneur because to become successful you have to do it on your own.

I found the Dark Side of Entrepreneurship a little confusing at first. After I read into the section I discovered that risk can be a huge 'road-block' for any entrepreneur. It is often hard for an individual to take that first risk, as the consequences can be substantial. After I thoroughly understood the section, I realized it was an important point to mention. There are potential consequences for almost every entrepreneurial venture people take.

My first question would be what characteristics are the most important within the Entrepreneurial Mind-Set to focus on, as there are many. I would want to know this info to be a strong entrepreneur. Secondly, I would ask for clarification on the 'Metacognitive Perspective'. It was an interesting section and I understood the great majority of it but the metacognitive model was a tad confusing for me. I would want to know how to process my brain to gain an edge on my competitors as an entrepreneur.

I agreed strongly with the whole Entrepreneurial Mind-Set. The author made solid points and listed many strong characteristics an entrepreneur needs.

Identifying Local Opportunities

1)
Uber drivers plan another work stoppage at midnight Saturday to protest Uber's low rates
http://www.tampabay.com/news/transportation/uber-drivers-plan-another-work-stoppage-at-midnight-saturday-to-protest/2262480

In Tampa, Uber drivers are protesting lower fare rates by staging a work stoppage that started on Friday night at midnight. Earlier in the month Uber slashed local fares by 32 percent to attract more people. Although these higher rates have made it hard for them to drive for Uber without losing money.

The problem is that Uber drivers cannot make enough money with the rates Uber gives their drivers.
They are protesting this issue.

The Uber drivers that are 'employees' of Uber are having this problem.

2)
Tampa Bay should get ready for a chilly Gasparilla Children's Parade on Saturday
http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/tampa-bay-should-get-ready-for-a-chilly-gasparilla-childrens-parade-on/2262479

In Tampa, the parade on Sunday was experiencing chilly temperatures. The article discussed the fact that children will be outside in the relatively cold weather for the area. This article was more of an advisory for people who attended the parade.

The problem is that weather might make the parade turnout less tan expected. Cold weather is not a regular thing for central Florida.

The people that are affected are the populous of Tampa that attend the parade.

3)
One Allegiant Air plane had four emergency landings within six weeks
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/airlines/allegiant-air-appoints-new-coo/2262384

The article discuses Allegiant Air's recent troubles with multiple planes and how emergencies landings were forced because of some technical issues. Allegiant Air Flight 815 had just departed North Carolina bound for St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport when a gray haze began to fill the cockpit and passenger cabin. The plane was landed safely in Raleigh-Durham, NC.

The primary problem is with the plane MD-88, tail number 403NV. There were 4 reports with smoke or fumes in the aircraft on flights all bound for Florida.

The people affected are the passengers of the airlines. They were delayed in their travels. Thankfully none of the problems were that serious and all the flights were landed safely.

4)
Lightning's Stamkos mum on reported contract offer
http://www.tampabay.com/sports/hockey/lightning/lightnings-stamkos-mum-on-reported-contract-offer/2262616

This article is in regards to the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team captain Steven Stamkos' contract offer. Today, Stamkos neither confirmed nor denied an eight year, $68 million contract extension in recent weeks. Stamkos is likely to confirm the signing as it is $1 million more than what Stamkos is making this season.

There is a possibility that Stamkos could refuse the offer and either become a free-agent or play for another team. Stamkos is a huge part of the Lightning team and brings a lot to the organization. It would be a huge blow to the club as a whole. Stamkos is both a phenomenal player, leader, and a figurehead for the team.

The Tampa Bay Lightning Club is affected by this issue. Losing Stamkos would be a huge blow.

5)
Control at the crux of Drouin's bold moves
http://www.tampabay.com/sports/hockey/lightning/control-at-the-crux-of-drouins-bold-moves/2262581

This article is again regarding the Tampa Bay Lightning but discussing the recent actions of other one of their younger players, Jonathan Drouin. He did not show up for a game and got suspended indefinitely by the team. Drouin's agent said he did not show up for the game because he did not want to risk injury ahead of an imminent trade. At this point Drouin will almost surely leave the Lightning.

The problem is that Jonathan Drouin did not show up for one of his assigned games and has been suspending by the Lightning while waiting for what seems like an imminent trade.

The Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey Club is affected by this problem along with Drouin, as this could possibly hurt his trading hopes.

Very Short Interview No. 1

The entrepreneur I chose to interview is my cousin Rob. As for his background, he obtained his Bachelor's Degree at the University of Minnesota and was then deployed to Iraq in the mid 2000's After returning he attended the University of Southern California and obtained his MBA. In his first year of work he worked as a family employee. He then discovered his partner who he wanted to work with. They established their own corporations and split revenues. My cousin's corporation, Veterans Business Concepts (VBC), was made to generate business opportunities for small veteran-owned businesses. His function is to consult directly to veteran-owned, small businesses, for contract management and management consulting. He also works with the medical Veterans Assocation. The reason he wanted his own corporation is so he could control his business functions and have an impact. His partner does consulting as well but operates on a more short-term basis, constantly taking on different endeavors. Although, they still split their profit. Rob provides a more stable aspect to their partnership while his partner is constantly focused on innovation. As Rob said, "he (his partner) is much more risk-tolerant than I am."

What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?

In the short, it is the ability to run a business where the decisions that you make day-to-day directly affect the company. My decisions affect profitability, strategy, what customers I target, etc. All business functions, are under my control.

What do you think I should learn in an entrepreneurship course?

So, a few things. Cash is king, everything with a small business and a start-up is all about cash. You need to know how to raise money and manage cash flow. Using cash accounting is useful where you are essentially recording what cash goes into your bank and how much comes out. Second, start small and fail fast. Do your research before bringing an idea to the marketplace. Do not use money from an existing line before you know you are going to be successful. Do not be afraid of having your idea stolen in the marketplace, take some risks, you already have a head-start, chances are it will succeed. Also, learn more from people that might buy your product or service. Take your ideas to customers as soon as possible, do not sit at a desk all day.

What do you wish you had been taught in school before setting out on your own path as an entrepreneur?

Small business (cash) accounting! Big business schools are not going to teach about this. Accounting from the perspective of a large business, is often too general. Cash accounting just says, if cash comes in I record it and if cash comes out I record it. This is the system that most small businesses use and there are some subtleties to this way of accounting. Business school trained me to be a bureaucrat in a Fortune 500 company. In general, I wish I would have learned more about small business management.

Rob offered some great entrepreneurial advice for the future. He went into many of the technical aspects of managing a small business while also offering ideas for how to become an entrepreneur in general. Customers are the primary reason small businesses exist and there has to be a strong connection in order for any entrepreneurial venture to eventually succeed. This was the big piece of information I pulled from his answers. Also, there generally are an amount of risks involved in any small-business and you have to take some. Finally, I would conclude that the 'start small, fail fast' motto is vital for any entrepreneur to be eventually successful.

World's Biggest Problems

1) Rapid Climate Change
Describe: There is significant evidence that the world's climate is changing rapidly with more extreme colds in the winter and extreme heat in the summer. This is causing astronomical changes for the sea level and can threaten our species eventually.
Solution: A reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases can help preserve our ozone layer as much as possible to help stop the melting of the polar ice caps. Unfortunately, a big problem with pollution is methane from cows and may be something that cannot be stopped due to the world's reliance on the animals.
2) Global Water Crisis
Describe: Over the last 50 years the human population has almost tripled. Industrial pollution, unsustainable agriculture and poor civic planning have decreased the overall water supply.
Solution: Make agriculture more sustainable and improve our systems to convert reclaimed water into drinking water. Also expand our research into converting salt water into fresh drinking water.
3) Species Extinction
Describe: Many species of animals are going extinct due to poaching, environmental destruction, and climate change.
Solution: Construct more preservation and national parks in which endangered species are protected. Also crack down on poaching with anti-poaching services employed by the government. Also enact laws to help prevent and eventually stop environmental destruction for industrial use.
4) Economic Collapse:
Describe: The global economy is extremely unstable and with conflict in the Middle East it is prone to collapse.
Solution: Stabilize the economies in the world that need help to help the global economy sustain itself and grow.
5) The Increasing Global Population
Describe: Eventually the population is going to get so high where living area might become scarce and conflict may arise.
Solution: Although there is no permanent solution once the population gets high enough but to develop more land to be 'livable' and organize cities more efficiently.
6) International Terrorism
Describe: Many nations throughout the world have faced this terrible phenomenon. ISIS among other organizations have claimed attacks that have taken thousands of innocent lives.
Solution: Enlist more anti-terrorism forces and attack the organizations at their homes to break them apart and stop the terror.
7) World Poverty
Describe: Much of the world is poor and has a lack of both sustainable living and a consistent food supply. This issue is widespread and worse in some countries more than others.
Solution: Provide international help to provide food and services to improve the areas. Also have companies to provide more job opportunities.
8) Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
Describe: Many world powers believe that the vast amount of nuclear weapons may cause great harm to the world at some point.
Solution: This has already begun as nations such as the USA and Russia have agreed to start the disarmament of the vast amount of weapons they have.
9) Severe Income Disparity
Describe: There is a vast polarization of incomes in emerging and devloping countries. Established countries have this issue as well.
Solution: I cannot think of a pertinent solution. My best guess would be to try to employ more people and decrease the wage gap.
10) Great Incidence of Extreme Weather Events
Describe: Due to the world's vast changing climates there has been a greater incidence of tornadoes, mud slides, wildfires, etc.
Solution: Stop pollution on a global scale and turn to more renewable energy that does not give off bad pollution.

Bug List

1) When people do not say "thank you" when someone holds the door for them.
Some people are rude or have not been taught the proper manners that would be expected from a normal individual.
2) When somebody answers their cell phone in the middle of a conversation with you.
This happens sometimes because of an urgent situation but otherwise it is similar to the answer for the first bug, some people are just rude.
3) Snoring is a real pet peeve of mine.
Snoring can be caused by how you sleep and your health regarding your sinuses and whatnot.
4) Body odor, especially on a college campus with so many people walking around everyday.
Unfortunately, this happens a lot!
This is caused by either the lack of deodorant or body spray along with improper hygiene, maybe not showering enough.
5) When people drive too slow in the left lane. This is a HUGE bug of mine.
Sometimes this is caused because many drivers are oblivious of others that are around them or maybe someone is just not paying enough attention when they are driving.
6) When waiters ignore you in a restaurant, aka lousy service.
This could be caused by a bad service staff, unfortunately this also tends to happen when restaurants are busy.
7) Crying babies!!
This really can never be stopped entirely, it can be due to a baby feeling pain, hunger, boredom, etc.
8) Hot weather (I want to move out west after school).
This is caused by the sun and the weather of the Earth.
9) Waiting for medical appointments
This bug is normally caused by variability in appointments, sometimes appointments go much longer than expected, hence the excess waiting time.
10) When my contact lenses are dry, very irritating.
My contacts get dry just due to how long I have been wearing them and the weather outside. Sometimes my contacts are too old and I need to wear a new pair.
11) Being interrupting when I am talking.
This happens when people are either uninterested in what you are saying. This can also happen if people are not paying attention to others.
12) Getting sick, which happens a lot more in college being exposed to so many people.
This is caused by an excessive of germs in a small area because of the vast amount of college students at UF.
13) When people take things too seriously, life will go on!
This is caused by individual's viewpoints on life. It is a more subjective issue.
14) The DMV
Many DMV's are relatively understaffed and sometimes unorganized.
15) When my flight is delayed.
This is a variability that will almost always exist from technical issues to weather delays.
16) People that chew with their mouth open
This is just how some people eat, even though it is kind of disgusting.
17) Stubbing your toe
Unfortunately this happens too often and it is fully by accident.
18) Reality TV
Many people enjoy this portion of TV, which is why it exists. However, I feel it is kind of ridiculous.
19) Getting sunburn, aka living in Florida
This is caused by excessive exposure in the sun.
20) Humid climates
These climates exist because of the humidity from large bodies of water.

I did not find it too difficult to come up with this list. My only point would be that some things on this list bother me much more than others. It was a fun exercise though!

Week 2 Reading Reflection

In my reading of the first chapter, Entrepreneurship: Evolutionary Development-Revolutionary Impact, there was a distinction made early on in the first chapter that surprised me. The section discussed entrepreneurs versus small-business owners. The explanation was very interesting and showed that the primary difference between the two was simple. Small-businesses "are not dominant in their fields, and usually do not engage in many new or innovative practices" (pg 3). On the other hand, entrepreneur's "principal objectives are innovation, profitability, and growth" (pg 3). Essentially both people work for a profit but small-businesses are focused on constant profit and minimal growth while entrepreneur's want high profit and heavy growth.
One part of the reading that was confusing to me was on pages 7-8. The author was discussing nine myths about entrepreneur's. The ninth one titled, Most Entrepreneur's Initiatives Fail, discussed how more than 50% of the initiatives succeed but many still failed. I feel like this was a confusing statistic as I would have expected the percentage to be close to 60-70.
If I could ask the author two questions the first would be if entrepreneurial firms are the economic solution for recessions, downturns, and challenges in other capitalistic countries other than the U.S. Secondly I would ask in what field that the most successful entrepreneurial firms are found, may it be technology, sports, etc.
I thought the author was correct in most everything he said and had research to back his claims.

My Entrepreneurship Story

I have an interesting story relating to entrepreneurship when I was in middle school. My neighborhood friends and I had orange and grapefruit trees in our yards. We picked about twenty of each, and put them in a wagon. We then preceded to go door-to-door and sell them. We made a few sales, but what we noticed was that we sold many more grapefruits than oranges. At one door a customer said no thanks to the oranges, and she explained she already had an orange tree in her yard, but gladly accepted our offer for the grapefruit, Over time my friends and I began to realize that my neighbor had one of the only grapefruit trees in the neighborhood, and it was therefore a valued commodity. We quickly ran back to our houses, got rid of all the oranges and picked more grapefruit. Our sales increased greatly and we had a great day of fun. This was my first experience with entrepreneurship as we altered our products to deal with the interests of the consumer.

I am taking ENT 3003 for multiple reasons. First it is a 3000-level business elective and a certain amount of 3000-level elective hours are required for many majors in the business school, including Finance. The main reason I chose this class however is because it offers advice for almost any business situation. Entrepreneurship is constantly happening all over the world. As new and exciting products are put on the market, many fail but few succeed and change the world's market greatly. I feel in order to be a successful businessman you must have a good knowledge of entrepreneurship and how it advances markets forwards,

Introduction

Hello! My name is Austin Ham and I am from Tampa, Florida. I am a second year Finance major. I chose this major mostly because it was a much better choice for me than engineering, my first major at UF. Additionally both my parents are manufacturing representatives so I have been around the business world for quite sometime. If I am successful in graduating with my BA in Finance I want to work as a financial consultant/analyst out in the western United States. I have always wanted to expand my horizons and move out to Colorado or California as both the weather and atmosphere are more to my liking (I have visited both states a bunch as well!). Another big passion of mine is snowboarding, and those locations are also ideal for that,
Other than that, I have a passion for pets, especially dogs. Also, I really enjoy playing and watching soccer, football, and hockey. My last major passion is music, I do not play any instruments, but I enjoy a lot of indie-alternative and indie-electronica.
Looking forward to a great semester in ENT 3003!

                                                                (Downtown Tampa, FL)

My Entrepreneur's Mantra

First Post

Looking forward to ENT 3003!