Personal Reflection (20%)

Evan Hu
ENTR 4332: Venture Launch
Gillian Dunlop
September 29, 2015

Table of Contents
3 business insights I have learned and why they
are impactful to me:.............................................................3
3 personal insights I have learned and why they
are impactful to me:.............................................................4
3 things I would have done differently in hindsight and why:...5
3 things I would not change and why:....................................6

This was the second block week course I had the opportunity to take
part in. I really enjoy the entrepreneurial experience from these
courses as they allow you to dive in the deep end and embrace your
ideas in a hands-on manner. I personally enjoy the block weeks
because of how close I become with some of my classmates, the quick
build in chemistry with the team and how quickly ideas form into
completed projects. As someone who is impatient at times, I enjoy the
block week courses because of the efficient progression in line items
that get completed in such a short time frame.
I found it particularly interesting for me to help a classmate out for the
past week develop his once thought up idea become closer to
becoming a reality.

3 business insights I have learned and why they

are impactful to me:
1. Firstly, I have learned the importance of market research. With
our group, at the beginning we were broadening our customer
segment and key players to an extent in which developing our
ideas for other sections within the BMC became overwhelming.
When our group was able to sit down, narrow-in on a more
specific customer segment and really develop in-detail concepts
surrounding customer relationships, the channels we will be
using and the stream of revenue we can forecast. By being able
to truly focus on our customer segment, in this case multi-unit
complex residents/owners.
Being able to do the market research for one specific customer
segment at a time turned out to be much more productive in
nature and more easily managed. We learned that the average
condo owner recycles approx. $60/month in bottles and is

approx. 35 year old males which gives us some good insight as

to which marketing and business models will best appeal to this
targeted audience.
2. I also learned the importance of getting real-life feedback on a
product before brining it to market. What I mean is finding out if
the product you want to invest in is even going to be valued.
Conducting surveys, meeting people face-to-face and really
finding out what they want and getting their feedback on how
you could make your product even better before completely
launching is in vital. By taking this additional step you could be
saving yourself and your company valuable time and other
valuable resources.
Its too often entrepreneurs get so confident and caught-up in
their idea that they forget to ask if others see value in their
ideas. I have learned the importance of gaining perspective and
allowing your self to be a little vulnerable as an entrepreneur in
hopes of creating a sustainable, prized product.
3. Inadequacy is learning. After each presentation when we
received feedback from Evan and our classmates I felt that we
were growing as a team and as entrepreneurs together. They
provided up with great feedback on how to better or product,
tighten loose ends and offer support throughout our journey. We
also were able to do the same for others. I loved the working
environment we were in. It was non-judgemental, offered great
insight and taught us all from our first-hand experience as well as
from the presentations offered by others. The inadequacy in
others work as well as our own offered room for growth through
the power of discussion.

3 personal insights I have learned and why they

are impactful to me:
1. Patience. I have learned that creating a successful, sustainable
business does not happen over night. I now have a better
understanding of the processes involved with creating a business
and the importance of taking your time, ironing out every
possible wrinkle, checking and then rechecking all the decisions
that were made and then getting feedback on what you may feel
is the end product before its launched; because normally that
feedback will send you back to the drawing board to further
innovate and cultivate more ideas.
2. Time management. With every group member having different
scheduling for working on our project, it was important that we
could compromise on times that best suited the interest of the
entire team. If that meant being extremely early to start working
on the project, having to come late or leave early was not an
issue when we knew that the quality of the work when present
was excellent. I felt that I brought great ideas to the team,
helped to keep our team on track and raise questions about
some of the information we had collected that held each team
member accountable as they also did for me.
3. Acclimatization. Sometimes my need for control can throw me off
my A-game. What I mean is that normally I am the one who gets
the ball rolling, one of the first to get the pen to paper and the
conversation starter. I value time and look to work efficiently.
With this class I felt that we were all in control. Because the
business venture was not my idea, I felt as though taking lead
was not in my best interest. I felt that the person who the original

idea belonged to should have been the one to get the

conversations flowing as I did not want to step on toes. For this
reason, I stepped back, offered my feedback where I felt it was
needed and documented information as it was validated by the
team. I felt out of my comfort zone but looking back I am happy I
made that decision. By doing this, I feel the venture model went
in a completely different direction that where I first envisioned it
when I joined the group- for this Im grateful.

3 things I would have done differently in hindsight

and why:
1. I would have delivered my ideas in a more confident manner.
What I mean is at the beginning of this class when our teams
were generating ideas, I felt that some of my opinions and advice
were overlooked. From this experience I learned to be more
assertive in my communication. As an aspiring business
professional and business owner, I know there will be many times
when I will be involved in group deliberation and I will make a
more conscious effort to see that I the ideas of mine I feel most
confident about are better understand and less discounted for.
2. Take more control. I find myself to be a leader; I like to take part
in the development of ideas, the execution as well as the
presentation of the ideas. I felt as though I was not as in-control,
as I would have liked to be. There were a few slides we presented
that I felt could have been worked on a bit more but I did not
have access to this information. With following through on my
first change (assertion) I feel like I would have positioned myself
to have possibly been an editor for our work.

3. More research. Now looking back, I would have liked to have

figured out more statistics as to how large our customer segment
would be, the profit margin of our product/service, the exact
pains we are required to help within our customer segment and
more in detail costing associated with importing, manufacturing
and producing VendCycle machines. I feel that with more time,
we could have really had a great model for Alex to have the
opportunity to launch.

3 things I would not change and why:

1. I would not have changed my decision to join the team that I did.
The team that I had was very respectful and professional.
Everyone had great ideas and took initiative in completing the
tasks required. I feel that at times my team members went
above and beyond for the group. Members took the time to call
companys we would have liked to have had as key partners to
understand pricing, others spent additional time creating our
visual presentations, creating our blog site and ensuring
communication between our team was readily available.
2. The end product. As a team we had come up with a solid
product. I loved the pivot our venture took in regards to the
functionality of the machines and the customer segment we
narrowed down to. Alex originally came up with the idea that the
VendCycle would be only bottles and serve to provide instant
cash back. By the end we had a versatile product that offered
rewards through different point systems and would be dispersed
to all apartment complexes in Calgary and then to surrounding
metropolitan areas. These ideas would not have been possible
without the brainstorming and cooperation from our entire team.

3. The process. We had some hick-ups along the way in regards to

our main focus, the actual functionality of our product and where
exactly we were going to put the machines. Without having these
hick-ups we wouldnt have come together, reached for help from
Evan and come up with the final product that we did. I feel this
class was a great learning curve for perseverance and opening
our mind to new perspectives, ideas and just going with them.
Saying yes to everything and then eliminating ideas through a
constructive process afterwards worked the best for our team.
In conclusion I would like to comment about the growing experience I
have had a student and aspiring entrepreneur. I have learned the
importance of standing up for what I want, having a complete and
confident understanding of the product I am selling and the importance
of opening lines of communication with my customers to continuously
test the viability and sustainability of my business..