FINALS WEEK

It's been a long four months, and I'd like to spend time reflecting on the moments of this semester. The interviews, the discussions, the comments, all blend to form a single experience that has been ingrained in me throughout this time. The most formative moment for me in this time has likely been having to assemble the team to truly perform the venture that I had envisioned. I do see myself as an entrepreneur after going through all the lessons I've had to to get here. To those coming after me, I'd say just remember to understand how to keep your work priorities at a distance so you don't remember to forget how important they are.

VENTURE CONCEPT 2

I seek to combine the opportunity provided by animals being near areas where people drive cars and the innovation of modern cellular technology and consumer bases to start my venture concept. In it I shall find the means to successfully develop an application service that allows people to keep their streets clean at the push of a button.

The feedback I received over these months has made me become more direct in seeking methods of communication as well as being tighter on what I define a success as. What was most important that I learned was to really think about the innovation around me and the times that I live in.

What I decided to change from my initial plan was the more loose structure of gathering customers via mouth-to-mouth reception. The truth was that the Internet is simply a more successful path to reaching a wider customer base. Also, I've become more dedicated to having a staff for this.

EXIT STRATEGY

All good things must come to an end so it seems, and therefore I have begun my plans to develop a proper exit strategy from the business and pay for a vacation in the Philippines. I'm betting on selling my business out within the next 5 years. From a realistic point of view, it's not gonna work out and we all gotta get ready to jump ship. My plan is to sell it to a property realtor or even wait until a new Starbucks comes to town and sell it then. Or if it goes well, more so than expected, then I'd gladly give the company over to someone more ready for the position. I've decided it's best this way because honestly I wouldn't give the burden of owning a business on my children, and I'd like to get on with my life now. I think this plan will now affect my major decisions instead of having always been. Now every plan is made with a more immediate risk in mind, and therefore we have just widened our profit margin by a great deal.

BOOK 3: THE LAST CRUSADE

This week I read Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and found a lot of quite interesting regarding details but overall having seen two movies about this guy it's retreading some familiar territory. That said, what really surprised me is how in-depth and rather cynical Steve Jobs' approach to marketing and business was. In a way, this is the quality I both admire and rather despise of his: his approach to selling was rooted in familiar, iconic, and artistic statements and has ultimately lead to the era of "cool" marketing, which is a huge deal but also has lead to a rather bleak view of art in the modern age. Masterpieces don't exist beyond their potential capital now. Jobs faced a fair amount of adversity (as is a common trope with these successful individual narratives in America), mostly stemming from what is believed to be his childhood feelings of being unwanted and inferiority. As a result he became an extreme individualist, feeling the ego and will were the main contributors to rational and overall sanctity in the world. This leads into what were his main competencies; his completeness of vision. In an objective view it can be said Jobs was not the greatest programmer or even an intellectual of the craft, but he was absolute in his vision and knew what he wanted based on what he felt the people needed to be sold. What was rather confusing was his death at the hands of pancreatic cancer; upon diagnosis he began moving headfirst into alternative medicines and extremely strict diets. It makes sense given his history in the whole hippie movement, but it's still rather bizarre behavior from one of the faces of American business history. The two main things I wondered about this guy were what his favorite contemporary (at the time) album because its clear he thinks highly of the power of art in my opinion. I would also ask him if he feared that the more automated and user-friendly he made his products, the closer we would live to a completely automated society without choices. He likely would've said no but I still would've liked to hear him say it. Regarding hard work, Jobs strikes me intensely as the definition of work smart, not hard. He never worked towards hardening his skills and standing in the world more than he did attempt to manipulate the forces around him to establish a strong position (usually against the will of those around him).

FAIL COMP. MUST WATCH

Look, the biggest failure that I've ever committed in my life is something too personal to go into so I've decided to look upon failure in the less human sense and more mental path. In other words, I'd rather not look at personal crises and moments of absolute weakness and degradation and instead towards moments where a simple case of thinking would've solved something quite quickly and made everyone's life easier. Ironically enough, my big failure involves one of my first successes in being able to travel to Ireland with the Innovation Academy. I had been accepted on the trip but also failed to contact a representative before leaving on my flight, failed to check and use my new computer, and failed to convert any currency to carry on my person. As a result I was lost in a foreign airport without a hope in Hell (in my mind, at least). I ended up having to pull $100 in Euros to pay for a taxi to drive me to the college where we were meeting before almost losing my luggage on a wayward bus. Once I had landed and gotten settled, I found my computer had contracted some malware and was without it for a week of studies. Another few hundred dollars and that was fixed, but all in all by the end of my travels I had barely $40 to my name after it all. In general, I learned that having a contingency plan for every action you commit is ultimately one of the best ways to live your life in terms of monetary gain and a stress-free existence.

All that said, I like failure as a concept. It is a necessary part of society, and I feel efforts made towards moving people away from the possibility of failure ultimately do more harm than good. To eat only sweets and never know a bitter flavor in your life? That's not living. Me, I try not to get existential about it. It is what it is, and you sweep it up and put it with the other failures in your life. After this class, though, I am more willing to see where failures will take me in terms of a narrative.

NEXT STEP

The next step in terms of my products and projects is likely going to lead us to sell more animal-cleaning products, so I went to the Pet Smart and other stores of that nature to see what people had to say about the idea. First I interviewed some person with a dog, asking them what they thought I needed to do. Specifically, what should I be planning to do that I'm not already? The person I asked said I should look towards selling products that allow people to perform my service without me having to do it. That way, eventually it'll lead to a point where the products I sell become sustainable enough that they'll consistently sell in that market. The other two people were standing by this person and agreed with them after I asked them the same question.

I pondered the reactions that I received from these strangers and began to devise a plan for the future of my project. The first step would have to be beginning to plan out how to compete in this market against other cleaning and garbage services. The major companies already have a stranglehold on the people through advertising, marketing, and long-term campaigns that keep people returning to their products. To break into that monopoly will take a lot of dedication and require much expansion on my part.

The next part would have to focus on innovation in the market. Money and resources would have to be diverted from maintaining the service offered to the market and towards research and development of products relating to what our service is. This would hopefully allow us to leg in on the competition of cleaning services and even compete with other products in outdoors or animal-based markets.

The new market that I'd like to reach out to beyond the demographic I'm already aiming at is a more upper-class group. The University itself is also on the map, as it generates high enough income in the surrounding area. But, specifically, those who live in gated communities will be my next targets. They're always looking for a new, niche cleaning service. To study the market, I snuck into a gated beach community of sorts and managed to interview two youths playing with NERF guns. They said that the better option for entering this new demographic (I'm paraphrasing) was to sell products instead of using a service, because most families in the area have a maid or gardening service of sorts that they could get to do work for them.

This new market was rather interesting to me. I do come from a middle-upper-class background, but to see the kind of gathered wealth in one area was new to me. My family was rather isolated deep in the farmlands of Maryland, and a neighborhood of people like us was rather unnerving. It did surprise me to see how many of my predictions came true, as ironic as that sounds. Political banners on front lawns, people of minority ethnicity doing labor outside, brats left unattended by possibly alcoholic parents. Yeah, kind of the whole nine yards on a rich as Hell neighborhood.

After I left I did more reflection on the market compared to what I had previously going on and did some studying on it. The demographic of middle and lower class citizens had more stability in it given my relationship with my own neighborhood, but the chance to make more money increased as the class of people I aimed for did. Also of note is that my theory of humanity's movement towards complete automation pays off better in the upper-class neighborhoods, as they'll likely be the first to go. It's still an appealing new market, and I'd like to move towards it despite all the risks compared to the original plan.

BIG PAPER TIME

The opportunity that I am leaping upon with the utmost intensity of all of my skills regards the local suburban neighborhoods and their lack of proper animal carcass care. This opportunity is more than anything in the fault of government structure that emphasizes maximizing profits and cutting corners at the cost of environmental concerns and the lack of proper environmental and biological education that is accessible to all the masses. The market I'm aiming at is specific to Florida; Floridian suburbanites in Gainesville who generally live along the middle to lower class lifestyle and tend to either lean more democratically or at least more pro-childcare and environment. The customers usually satisfy their needs for clean streets by picking up the animals themselves and endangering their household to a number of bacterial diseases or simply leaving the corpses where they are and ultimately multiplying the bacterial presence outside their home. Their current methods are admittedly tribal in many aspects, but their loyalty to the old ways is wavering in the age of automated capitalism. Simpler, quicker, and faster are always better among these people. The opportunity is admittedly small-time for the foreseeable future, given the size of Gainesville and the general scope of the project. That said, a potential profit still exists and it's enough of a chance that it's worth investing in. Plus, the window of this opportunity isn't necessarily going anywhere until the dystopian era where animals are but a memory in the collective unconsciousness. It's playing it safe, and that leads to less possible contingency plans.

The innovation that I an bringing to this area is the introduction of a brand new service that functions in the same vein of modern businesses such as Uber or even PayPal. The main focus of the innovation is being an online service, one that functions similarly to a garbage or mail service but is accessed and operated by the consumer in a fashion that makes more sense for those living in the 21st Century. The process of paying and interaction follows a likewise fashion, developed around an app advertised in social media platforms and, more interestingly, at outdoors and public stores where most people who are concerned about the environment and their lives go. How it works follows along these lines: a person in some way or some fashion comes across the service I am offering and downloads an app that allows them to call in my service to their area and clean animal carcasses that they've recorded and notified us about. The payment is consistent system, involving a flat rate and a bare minimum depending on the damage done to the corpse or the nature of the corpse.

The innovation mentioned in the last paragraph was developed for the situation described in the beginning, and I shall continue my discussion of these concepts with understanding how they shall come together to create a successful business. I believe that the people of Gainesville will turn to my product instead of relying on their old ways because the way of automation and innovation reigns supreme in the automated society. The need to leave the house diminishes at a yearly rate, and the ideal view of nature becomes more a distant ideal that is better maintained through a television screen rather than an actual view. It is not only a safe bet that my innovation will succeed; it is destiny. It won't be easy to get people to make the switch, but it is inevitable. The only competition in this field is the people's own will to maintain individual order over their lives. As for the biggest factor of our success, it would have to be on customer service. The package of the app is rather self-explanatory along with the other aspects of our business; what can truly make us stand out is developing monetary relationships with the community in order to standardize a profit flow between the neighborhoods and our business. The organizational aspect of the business is something I personally look forward to. To be frank, it'd be a small ship. The initial plan of working out of the home with the business doesn't have any flaws in it, in my opinion, and generally the number of employees shouldn't have to go past the double digits until the business is truly ready for expansion into a separate building.

There exists a secret poison to my business, one that gives me a particular edge against any possible competition. That secret is my personal connection and contacts in the local neighborhoods; relationships with people that ultimately aren't repeatable by people who would wish to edge in on my business territory. Relationships take time to develop, and require just the right context in order to maintain. The business that I'm running does have plans beyond Gainesville, but a rather linear expansion path if I must confess. The next big step for the business would be to move out of the house and establish operations in the larger area of Gainesville, and hopefully even to operate on UF. That I feel would be excellent for the business. As for me, personally, well in the following years I'd like to give this idea to someone just as passionate as I was when I first came up with this idea. I'm not a single track dude who can be tied down to just one concept; I, like all people, must be free.

RESOURCE GATHERING

Today I decided to list 10 of my company's resources in order to figure out what it is that makes us special. The list is as follows:

1. My social capital in the area. I find this more valuable and rarer than my other resources because the area that I live in and inhibit is unique to me. Someone could theoretically live where I live and do exactly as I do, but they wouldn't be able to mimic the relationships that I've developed as well as have the certain advantages I do given my circumstances living here.

2. My access to suburban neighborhoods. This is very mimic-able and not rare at all, but I find it valuable still and non-substitutable because these neighborhoods are where my business aims to mainly operate.

3. My access to animal experts. Given that we go to UF I'm sure anybody can find an animal expert of a sort, but I managed to have one in my personal circle so I feel my relationship with them gives me an edge.

4. My inventory of materials. This is absolutely non-substitutable as these materials such as trucks and cleaning supplies are an absolute must for my project. We can buy more, but not different kinds.

5. The backup savings. I have a personal amount of money set aside in case the project needs more money. Everybody has money, but the amount and the ability to use it varies among those with it.

6. The circle of experts. These people are not possible to replicate and are mostly affiliated with my business, making them a key factor of my business and resources.

7. My experience working with cleaning and animals. Not everybody spent a lot of time in the Scouts like I did, and I feel this edges me out in favor. I have an irreplaceable background knowledge on many of the things I'm working with.

8. The team. I'm not working alone in my plans, and having a group who are also interested in what it is I'm doing is helpful and unique.

9. My college experience. My education has taken me many places and I've learned from many fields and I feel that this adds up to have more background knowledge in the field I wish to work in.

10. My business experience. Simply put, not everyone has worked alongside businesses and having done so is a necessary experience to understand where potential errors can arise.

I would say my most important resource, in terms of value against all other resources, would be my social capital in the area that I operate in. It's impossible to recreate the specific relationships and contexts that I have with people here, and it's necessary to have a relationship with someone in order to conduct business that way.

ELEVATOR PITCH 3

https://youtu.be/Gb4j-NWYOBg

For my third elevator pitch, I really liked how I was focusing on covering all bases on how to sell my idea for a company. I also felt I talked with more emotion this time as I focused more on looking at the person and not around them. I felt I really did change up how I was filming this pitch with this video so hopefully people like it more.

NEW BOOK TIME

This week I spent some time to go out and read another book that was outside of my usual circle and that book was The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users by Guy Kawasaki. The general idea of the book was to be a large amount of information on how to maximize your potential use of social media and how every aspect of it can drastically change how your online image is perceived. In my opinion this book tied into the things we are learning in this class as we often talk about how to control the image of our business in order to maximize potential customers and marketing options, but often social media is a more vague field in what to do given how new it is. This book directly aids students in marketing and customer outreach in making people actually want to engage with us and our businesses. If I had to make an exercise around this book for class it would be to create fake Instagram accounts based on several business ideas (ones we're using or not, doesn't really matter), and the goal would be to successfully communicate with people and get them to engage with us as people rather than as a bot or a troll. The learning curve comes in how to build your account in order to convince people that you're a legitimate business, which comes in with the profile picture, the bio, the content on the feed, and how many other accounts you're linked to along with a follower count. For me, the most eye-opening part of the book was when it discussed the nature of how people immediately look at the links on profiles and make assumptions about a business or identity based on it. How clean these links can be stacked, whether or not the sites they lead to are legitimate, etc. It made me realize myself how often I do this when I look at online profiles and am suddenly quick to distrust certain accounts based on this simple observation.

COUNTIN ALL DIS SOCIAL CAPITAL

I went through a phonebook and did some Internet digging and found three individuals who I would consider experts in the fields that I am aiming to get a leg in.

The "supplier" of my operation is a fellow I met from when I got my car towed for illegal parking. Didn't really like him at first for obvious reasons, but I kept my composure and gentlemanly conduct and it seemed to wear off on him. He's not a trucker, but he's got a mini-truck and knows how to drive in tight areas. The supplies he could offer me would include sanitation wear, buckets, sponges and soap, and a truck to haul the gear and animals in. In exchange for me using his supplies, we have discussed the possibility of getting him involved with some profit that could arise from the business. Not a stock option yet, but perhaps a percentage of the profits and labor pay as well. This allows me to run my business at all, so in that essence I am exploiting this aspect of our relationship.

The "domain expert" shall be my girlfriend's roommate, who works at a zoo and also is working towards getting herself a degree in animal sciences. Given that we are dealing with animal behavior and corpses, her expertise regarding how animals act (faking death, moving en mass towards less populated areas, etc.) will be invaluable towards making sure that our service not only aids the community but is also humane for the animals themselves. In return for the expertise in the field her name shall be added to the staff and with that she'll receive the same share of the profits as everyone else does. Having someone like her in pocket will aid the company because it will allow us access to the greater animal-related services community and give us more legitimacy within the field.

The "market expert" I've decided to get in contact with is one of my grandmother's neighbors, who often comes around to help her with chores and her personal life. I asked her specifically because of her involvement in the community, having a more active relationship with the average person who lives in my area. Not only do they help my grandma out, but I also come around to participate in the church events that she and others host so in a sense we already have some relationship. This new relationship would come in exchange for a more active participation in the church, spreading awareness of animal diseases and the importance of the service to the flock. That's all she's requested as of now, still. This market expert expands my business because now we finally have a core audience to listen and watch our moves as we begin to start helping the community.

With regards to this networking experiment, I've found that I can rely more on my local neighborhood and contacts of contacts than I thought before. If I'm being frank, still, it didn't differ much from my previous experiences. Generally speaking, talking to people and getting them to do what you want is a very tedious experience. Exciting and nerve-wracking, but ultimately a systematic process.

IDEA NAPKIN NO. 2

Hello! I am Victor Ellifritt, an English student at the University of Florida. I'm very passionate about innovation, community growth, and proper education, and my hope is to one day be able to live a life with a coexistence between these things. This business aims to be an example of this. I am offering a service of cleaning the streets and neighborhoods of animal corpses when they appear, keeping the area clean and sound. This service is aimed towards lower middle class and middle class neighborhoods/communities that contain couples who both work and lack time to take care of efforts such as this. The demographic will likely also contain couples with children. People in these areas will pay for an easy and cheap service that not only improves the atmosphere of the community but also protects against diseases. We do a service that simply isn't offered by most community services, and insofar as people care about their safety and health this service will be quite helpful.

I believe that I've created a model of business consistent with itself in regards to its goal, function, and purpose in society. At the very core of my business is a devotion to improving the lives of other people, and the service and process of accomplishment reflects this. Regarding feedback, I took time to be more specific yet also plainspoken in how I describe my demographic and goals in life. Also, I've focused more on having a complete and whole piece to present. Each idea leans into and connects with the other to create a whole.

AVATAR: THE BLOGPOST

Alright I tried several times to properly download the avatar I created and it kept giving me this racist caricature of a man so I'll be contacting my lawyer while I write this post (SARCASM). The avatar of my average customer is someone in a suburban home, likely a college graduate who spent their time listening to music about the peace and love era that is long dead and gone. They've accepted the decline of humanity and the erasure of their individuality, leaving them time to dwell on humanity by reading Hegel and watching Bojack Horseman while also wondering how long their current lifestyle can last. They're past their twenties, they're employed, and, worst of all, they're assimilated. The prototypical customer for a guy like me is someone who views everything new with a sense of distrust, and therefore rarely purchases new products or services. They don't have kids themselves, and that leads them to actually like kids more so than other adults. They'd care more about the problem of urban decay, natural death creeping into the civilized world. Do I have a lot in common with them? Only in an American sense; I personally wouldn't care whether or not the nature of death starts to appear in our society and frankly I'd welcome it with regards to how we actually view ourselves within the world. That said, we both care a lot about things that no one else sees. Also, my prototypical customer doesn't lift weights. Can't even squat their body weight.

ELEVATOR PITCH 2

https://youtu.be/vLr8V3vRznM

The most improved aspect of this elevator pitch from my last is the length. It's a lot longer giving me more time to go into the newer aspects of what I've researched regarding my product. I also feel, given previous feedback, that I'm less anxious and nervous in this one. I'm speaking slower and more clearly overall. The other thing I changed is holding the camera myself like I'm Tai Lopez or something. He seems to be pretty okay for himself so I learn from the best.

MA SECRET SAUCE

If I were to divide my most unique assets and abilities I provide to organizations and coalitions, they would come down to these factors below:

1) I do what I want. In other words, I'm dedicated to the practice of individual understanding.

2) I study what I want. When something interests me I look into it, no matter how weird it may seem or obscure the texts can be. I try to understand what fascinates me.

3) I've done physical labor for money and for volunteering. I understand the conditions that people wouldn't want to put up with and know the limits of what can and cannot be built.

4) I know what people like at a glance. Music taste, extent of literary excitement, etc. I'm usually a good judge of artistic taste and aesthetics, giving me a bit of an edge in terms of marketing and selling ideas to people.

5) I'm usually a decent judge of character. Going past the aesthetics of a person, I usually can tell a personality type from an encounter or two. Selfish, altruistic, religious, etc. I've been known to predict breakups before they happen.

I then contacted 5 close associates and inquired them about myself and the interviews went as such.

1) First old friend of mine groaned at the idea of the conversation but after some tomfoolery and the promise of snacks afterwards he revealed that it was that behavior that was unique about me. I had a genuine excitement in trying to repay people for what they were due. I wanted to pay back those who did me right.

2) The next person I interviewed was someone I met here at UF. We chatted while watching We Bare Bears and she said that I was pretty strange but that meant I understood strange. Strange things often are viewed with disgust or distrust by most people, but she said I didn't have the same initial reaction to them. I guess she meant it as a compliment so I'm taking it as such.

3) My girlfriend came in the room soon after and I probed her for similar information. She said I was really nice, specifically to people who trusted me and put their confidences in me. Makes me useful for making business deals with new companies and employers, I hope.

4) I called a friend from Maryland asked them about my personality and what parts were more admirable than others. He said unequivocally the best and worst part about me was that I would call him at random times to rave to him about a new philosophical or otherwise discovery made in whatever book or TV show I'm enjoying. I guess he implied that he thought of me as someone who was thoughtful, which I thanked him for. Being thoughtful can be helpful, afterall.

5) I called my final friend for the interview about myself and we got to chatting about our old history and events, most of which were pretty reckless adventures involving automobiles and the journey for women. He said that we were both pretty crazy, and that I usually was down to try out new things like going to unknown areas. That was his favorite quality of me, and it's the one that I feel is most essential for entrepreneurship in the modern world.

BUYER BEHAVIOR

I presented three total strangers with my service and alternative versions of my service and sought to understand how the average shopper selects products. The alternatives to my service varied in price, availability, one even had a design on it whereas the others were without one. What I found to be the most similar characteristic between all three interviewees is that they all definitely directed their attention to the cheapest service at first before one rolled back and picked the one with a design and more availability/hours on run. Still, the other two stuck to their choice of the cheapest service and when asked they simply said they felt the price offered was the most appropriate for the service. This was worrying at first as it seemed that they didn't view the service being offered as necessarily necessary. More of a, how you say, bourgeoisie purchase. One thing they all unanimously agreed on, however, was the preference of an online option rather than using a check or cash-based service. PayPal runs our lives now.

What I've drawn from these interviews is that people are moving more and more towards instant gratification and convenience. The more easily available a product is, the more within reach of their monetary level, and the more fluid its path from destination to arrival, the more likely people will be willing to use the service/product. Post-purchase, however, the harder and more arduous you make the refund service the more likely that they'll simply forget they were paying for your service at all. Good news for the economy, for once.

DEAR FUTURE STUDENT

Dear future student of this online course,

I know the requirements and assignments of this course can seem quite overwhelming at first but take it from me as a fellow unmotivated college student, you'll make it through. The true key to survival in this course is willpower, self-motivation in a sense. You need to be properly inspired to do anything good in this world, I believe, so I would recommend a daily dose of doing something artistic. Listening to poetry online, reading the Quotations of Mao Tse-Tung, whatever it is you need. Don't think of it as an indulgence away from work but rather a key factor in understanding the world and what problems need to be solved within it. I often spend hours in the library just reading random books to accumulate a wider perspective on life and as a result I find most questions in this course more interesting to me than problematic.

The parts that gave me the biggest trouble were the interviews. I'm a really shy person when it comes down to it, and when faced with having to give interviews I honestly just considered making some crap up and posting it on the blog. What got me out of it, though, was self-reflection. I spent some time just sitting and chain-smoking and thinking about myself and why I am how I am and what I wanted from life and found that deep down I did want to connect with other people. I enjoy talking to them, and even if I didn't I still understand that I live in this world with them and couldn't live without them. Because I continually attempt to self-reflect in my life, I find the drive I need to complete assignments and generally do my best in everything I do.

My three tips to you would be this: look inside yourself, look at the world around you, and look at how you fit into that world. There's an overwhelming sense of connection and family in all the interactions we engage in, and simply put it was enough for me. If it isn't for you then sorry I wasn't much help at all, but that's my honest answer for how I find the motivation to do things. I hope you at least try to consider these things, but more so I hope that your future finds you well.

RAY KROC

The other day I read Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's, authored (at least in part) by Ray Kroc and while finding it morally reprehensible still found a lot of merit in reading it over all. I would have to say what surprised me the most about Ray Kroc is his general unapologetic nature over his entire life. I didn't expect him to be sorry over any of his business practices, but I would be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't have some regret over their treatment of others in their life. Then again, I wouldn't put my regrets in my autobiography. If I were to read this as a fiction novel I would say I admire the sort of manliness that is present in Ray Kroc. He's not so unlike Ernest Hemingway or Frank Chin in his lifelong journey towards independence (albeit through financial means), and like a character trope it can be a comfortable slot to fill one's self in. When I came back to reality, however, many of his qualities that I admire are simultaneously the ones I dislike. It's easy to act like a fiction character when you don't care about the consequences. Generally when Kroc met an obstacle he met it back with confrontation, doing underhanded business practices or openly disparaging and disrespecting the competition on the market.

The competencies I noticed in Kroc were a general self-driven willpower and willingness to do what it takes, as well as enough business-savvy and intellect to know what it takes. You really can't make a franchise like McDonald's without knowing ahead of time what it is you're going to do, who you're going to piss off, and what you might have to do if something gets in your way.

What I found confusing was Kroc's background overall; he presents himself as a hard-working and self-made man, but all I found was an American white male who managed to go unscathed through the Great Depression and then force his way into someone else's business venture.

If I could ask Ray Kroc two things were he still alive, I think they would be "should college be free?" and "your thoughts on Leninism?". I think it would be funny to see his reaction.

To a man like Kroc, I would have to imagine his idea of hard work involved a combination of self-determinism, individualism, and entrepreneurship. My idea of hard work is similar in ways, but ultimately we fight for different causes.

SEGMENTING MY MARKET

The segment that I am focusing on in the market is the demographic of 30-50 year old suburban parents, preferably those with younger children but regardless. I went around my neighborhood and interviewed three people who fit this description.

The first interview went rather straightforward. I interviewed a woman of 44 who was interested in my idea and talked with me about their needs regarding my plan. Their biggest concern for animals on the road was usually around the daytime, when children are outside and playing. This is problematic for me as that is also when traffic is at its highest, but we aren't thinking about that stage yet. Luckily they were also most concerned with neighborhood roadkill, where traffic is significantly less of a problem. When I asked about what they would've done at first when presented with this problem, they said they simply would've picked the animal up with gloves themselves if it was near the area their children were. Fair answer, and one that I got a lot. Specifically with the second interview; a younger man in his early thirties also replied that he would've simply googled how to take care of the animal but his need was more concerned with animals in areas where people aren't walking, such as in traffic. Possums carry their young on them (along with other mammals), and the offspring can survive even if the possum dies. He would want a service to check for the offspring and take care of them, at anytime as long as we can get them out of traffic heavy areas. The final adult I managed to get a hold of in my neighborhood also emphasized daytime, specifically the times when young students are going to and from school, as the primary need for the service I was offering. What they also said was that they usually talk to their neighbor or family member to help clean animals up. They're usually small (squirrels or vole) so they've never thought about needing a service for these things.

In summary I would have to say that the need for this demographic/segment of the market is emphasized at times when young children are more likely to be outside as well as when the potential for young animals to be saved is a possibility. With regards to information search I could potentially find a list of many animal diseases that would make any google search of how to solve the issue independently seem not worth the risk and make my business model more viable.

MY IDEA NAPKIN (NOT REALLY)

Me: Victor Ellifritt. Entrepreneur. Eagle Scout. Artist. Intellectual. Rebel without a Cause. I'm just a dude who wants to see the smaller things in life be improved for others. This can be something that allows, in my life, me to directly influence the thinking and ethos of my community.

What: I will solve the roadkill problem in Gainesville by offering a service that collects and properly disposes of these corpses.

Who: To be very specific, I am marketing towards middle-class, suburban parents with children and want to give the appearance of being environmentally friendly and progressive.

Why: This demographic will pay for my service because I know how terrifyingly strong the power of conformity and social status can be, especially with regards to causes such as environmentalism. If this can boost them up that popularity totem pole, then they'll throw money at it.

What Makes Me Special: I don't think anyone else cares about this topic, to be honest. I think people just don't know what they want until someone suggests it to them. What I have that allows me to do this is an eye for unseen secrets. I can see the things that people try to ignore and sometimes I can find why they wish to ignore these things.

Overall I feel this proves that my project is a well-rounded and waterproof idea for the most part. I have a specific market and honestly I'm not aiming too high to hit the sun and crash into the ocean in a fiery ball of debt. That said, there are places I could potentially improve. The only thing that sticks out to me is access to necessary material. I have a vehicle, and potentially a workforce to help me out, but there are still unaccounted costs that I would need to factor that I have not yet.

CHECK MY ELEVATOR PITCH

TESTING MY HYPOTHESIS AGAIN

In order to get a better look at who is truly impacted by my brilliance and who is to be left in the unfortunate darkness of a bygone era, I conducted more interviews with strangers on the street to get a look into what are the boundaries of my project.

The first person I talked to and told about my ideas pointed out that, as someone who lives on campus, they don't really get a big picture of the roadkill problem. The roads they walk on aren't near forested areas, and the total area they encompass in their life (currently) doesn't expand beyond that at all. Similarly another person I interviewed also mentioned the physical boundaries of my idea. They also asked me to clarify exactly what I wanted to do and, a bit dumbfounded, had to realize that my idea would have to start limited precisely to animals found by people. There's just no way to get every animal that dies in an area to be cleaned and properly dealt with.

The next person I interviewed I asked specifically why is it that there are groups of people who do not care and what they thought separated these groups and they said they thought it was a geographical and movement-based division. People who have cars generally don't care about roadkill and are the ones who cause it, whereas ones who walk to bus stops or in neighborhoods have to deal with seeing these creatures. The person they were with I also talked to and asked them at what point is someone not in the boundary of my idea and they imagined it would be when they don't have to walk or bike anywhere outside of town.

The last person I talked to was on the bus ride home from campus. I asked them if they had a problem with roadkill in Gainesville and they gave me a frank no. It simply didn't bother them the same way it did me. Never to worry, I'll convert them one day. For now, however, I have made this table that analyzes the differences between my hypothesis and what it is not.

INSIDE THE BOUNDARY: 

People who walk/bike/live in neighborhoods

Animals killed by vehicles or for other reasons are in areas near people

To preserve the environment and combat disease and lowering tourism rates

OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARY: 

People who drive cars or live on campus

Animals killed in forested areas 

We aren't trying to be a survey team just yet. Just collecting dead animals

MY BRILLIANT IDEA

Now that I have gathered all the evidence I need for my idea that will potentially solve the problem that I have been having:
I am going to solve Gainesville issue of dead animals being off the side of the road or in public parks by selling people an application that will allow them to access a map and mark the area and contact an animal service unit to collect the carcass efficiently and effectively.
The initial idea might be sound enough to just float (if it turns out of course), but if I wanted to take this product to the next step and possibly create my own animal service specifically for my app. It can be like the Uber of dead animals! I'M GONNA B RICH

TESTING OUT THIS NEW HYPOTHESIS I GOT ON, YOU LIKE?

I am going to pursue my hypothesis on the local community and roadkill, specifically "the issue of dead animals in our community is one that has some serious ramifications on our very way of life".

The Who: why the people of Gainesville, of course!
The What: the question of what to do with these dead animals.
The Why: the presence of these critters is one that has many implications and problems with it.

Testing: The biggest concern for the who is essentially some, how you say, haters on my idea who feel that they are above the concerns of the rest of us. Living in gated off communities, taking helicopters everyone, etc. If I could reach them somehow and convert them (perhaps with a copy of Quotations by Mao Tse-Tung) then this project would be more successful. As for the what, well it is a very open-ended question. How many animals are killed daily here? Where do they usually go? Why? Who takes care of their corpses? What if they're domesticated pets and not wild? I must investigate further but for now my agency will be on all animal corpses to be treated equally. The why, too, is rather open ended. Some people simply do not care about this issue, and even if I were to go through the diseases carried and developed by corpses as well as the philosophical or moral implications of leaving animals on the road I feel they'd still go on about their day.

Interviews: I've interviewed 5 random people from the streets of Gainesville and the campus grounds of UF to varying degrees of success in gathering constructive information. First person I interviewed was a student around Library West, and to sum it up I asked them about my concerns of reaching a bigger audience and referencing how some people simply are so removed from the community that an issue like this they might not even notice and they agreed and went so far as to recommend radical tactics such as finding numbers of animals killed in one day by vehicles and posting those statistics online or around the neighborhood. I like this idea, but it seems rather aggressive. Then there was a certain individual, also on campus, who I could describe as incredibly passive towards the subject. They made the who of the question seem harder to reach, as they were a member of the "average" population here and yet completely showed no interest in the questions I raised on the issue. The third person was also a campus student but I knew them from previous acquaintance. They were similar to the first interview in that they were enthusiastic about the idea and answering my questions, They suggested I contact local garbage companies to see if there is a protocol on dead animals or not. When I left campus to talk to people around the downtown area I got much more mixed reactions. Someone said that the idea would never work at all; there would need to be a new individual service that would have to park in areas heavily populated by cars. It would need a big down payment, essentially. That was pretty scary information, and the next person did help quell my initial anxiety but advised I do look more into the why of the question. Why is this even important, they asked. I must dig deeper to answer their questions.

IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES

1) Just heard in the news that Jeff Bezos is being divorced with no prenup and as such his wife is now the fifth richest person in the world. I imagine this will potentially impact Amazon's stock value and even power on the marketplace. I heard about this on the Internet (naturally), and I think this creates an opportunity because Jeff Bezos personally does not have as much buying and investing power as he previously did, even though he still has an extremely high amount. The average person that I could latch on to here is the clueless dad Amazon shopper who will go anywhere that's the cheapest to use. This can be hard to exploit however, as it's a very competitive field in terms of developing online markets. I think a guy like me noticed this because I'm very influenced by online meme-style advertising, especially in social media.

2) I read in NPR that a new President in Venezuela has been elected without U.S. support. Given our history of involvement in South America due to corporate interests, I see potential here to make a move on the supermarket/crop industries. This is a wider spread customer base than the previous example, as everyone buys groceries in one way or another. Most of which are imported goods from South America or other parts of the world. This too should be hard to exploit, however. Big names are in this business, such as Coca-Cola and Nestle. I feel like I'm someone who would notice these things because of my previous knowledge of CIA involvement in South American governments and a very basic understanding of exploitation in globalist, market economies.

3) Word on the online street is that there are going to be more regulatory efforts by the U.S. to establish bitcoin as a legitimate form of funds, and I feel this has great potential to explode in hopefully a positive way. Bitcoin is a bit of a niche economy in its own right, but there is belief that it could potentially be a profitable form of stock-exchange. The average customer who cares about bitcoin is likely either an alt-right conspirator or a chronic vape enthusiast, which is honestly good and bad news. Good in a general sense because people like me tend to have our eye on these kinds of markets, generally because we spend too much time on 4chan. Bad because that means I'm not the only one noticing this.

4) New regulations regarding online advertising and digital information has resulted in major companies such as Buzz Feed and Vice having to lay off hundreds of employees at a time to adjust to the new marketplace. This means that now is a good time to invest in either these major players or a smaller, independent media outlet, as I honestly do not see these companies going anywhere anytime soon. While most people might not want to admit it, they use websites such as these and other ones such as Pitchfork to get their daily dose of instant gratification. Most people being of course millennials and Internet users.  Being an investor isn't an easy job, not that I would know per se, but I do know that getting a good hand in this industry can go a long way in terms of favors and control. Why would someone like me notice this? I consider myself a bit of a neutral party in the battlefield of online politics and news sources. I trust none of them, and that leaves me in perfect position to potentially exploit them.

LOCAL OPPORTUNITIES?

I don't consider myself an avid news reader, given my paranoia and general distrust for media, but I decided to look through my grandma's favorite newspaper and find some interesting stories that could be potential problems for me to solve.

1)  David Godwin: Prescribed fire cultivates healthy landscapes

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=WORLDNEWS&req_dat=0D0CB57BE7FF6D8A&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F17112F8D46BC2EA0

What's being said here is basically an opinion piece that controlled fires in the state of Florida will cultivate healthy ecosystems the same way rain flourishes life in the rain forests. I believe the problem being presented here is that regulated fire as a system of aiding the ecosystem is either in danger or suffering from a social stigma due to ignorance of the public. This is a problem that affects all of us living here in Florida, and should something radically change it could spell disaster for our home. 

2)  Incumbent judges not often challenged in elections

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=WORLDNEWS&req_dat=0D0CB57BE7FF6D8A&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F1711819014FDFA48

This is an interesting piece on local elections for the judicial system, looking at the trend of long-time, incumbent judges and how usually they manage to run unopposed or with little resistance. This is because most other local attorneys risk bad publicity and broken relationships in the community, and so generally they wait for the state-mandated retirement age for these judges. Basically the problem could arise from this is that the older judges, while still popular in their communities, they often do not rank highly in the categories of "listening to newer legal problems" and "treating all with equal courtesy". This problem could affect the younger generations who are facing problems that are brand new to this world, problems that likely older generations will not be patient to listen to.

3) Editorial: Stop the use of shady political tactics

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=WORLDNEWS&req_dat=0D0CB57BE7FF6D8A&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F1711819051F84010

Given the midterms and the 2016 Presidential election I would think most Americans are familiar with the kind of brutal conflicts that can arise from these political games. The article goes into some extremely amoral political tactics that went on during the midterm elections in Florida, including false claims, ads paid for and not run, and using odd forms of accounting and money moving to hide the original donors for certain campaigns. This problem in today's political climate has only worsened everyone's faith in the political system, and as such many people (including myself) do not partake in voting or any form of active involvement in the government. Some people view this as a threat to our stability as a country, which, to some, is bad. 

4) Megan Hendricks: It's time to get serious about Florida's teacher shortage

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=WORLDNEWS&req_dat=0D0CB57BE7FF6D8A&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F1710DC5F633F8F40

In the article it is stated that state of Florida is struggling to keep its teacher count afloat, due to several reasons including enforced standardized testing, low teacher pay, and the rising responsibilities of the job. The problem here is that teachers are the foundation of all other professions and forms of education; without enough properly-trained teachers to educate each generation of children, there will be suffering in all fields overall. This problem affects mostly the children of Florida who will be faced with struggling schools and poor education as well as teachers who have to carry more weight to deliver education to these children. 

5) Ella Bennett and Sami Gattshall: Keep our classmates from getting addicted to nicotine

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=WORLDNEWS&req_dat=0D0CB57BE7FF6D8A&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F1710DC5F68581060

According to this article (written by students currently in high school), 95% of all smokers started before the age of 21, and they are seeing this as more and more students pick up on new vaping products that could lead to nicotine addiction at a young age. Apparently some people think this is a problem. Anyway, many people find that the marketing techniques and flavors of these nicotine products are targeting younger audiences and victimizing them to the downfalls of using nicotine. Young high school students who use these products are really being targeted for this problem, specifically. 

SUDDEN FEELING OF AN IDEA

I was just lounging around after a hard day of lifting weights when it occurred to me that I felt there was something missing here in Gainesville. As though there were a hole that a certain someone could fill up, in other words an opportunity.

Returning to the first idea I created in my listed problem post, there is a large problem in the suburban communities of dead animal carcasses. This is a problem that affects everyone who lives in the area, as the more compassionate elderly and children find it hard to live with themselves and their willful ignorance of these animals and the concerned adults fear the potential diseases that could spread. To be honest this is kind of a problem that has always existed in this area and most areas I've been in, and right now I don't know what anyone is doing to help out with these problems except for the construction workers who come on to the roads where the animals lay. I pass by the same dead cat daily on my bus ride home from UF, just to give an idea of the problem. I'm fairly confident (about 75%) there is potential for an idea here, but I'll need to ask some prototypical customers to see the true potential for this idea.

Customer 1 says that she thinks the idea for an app of some sorts to locate animal carcasses on a communal-based software is a good idea, as she has noticed that there were often dead animals by the road since she attained sentience. Likely because people tend to hit animals with their cars. She says that the problem should be fix mainly because they are smelly and a detriment to our community health. Also some explode due to build up of gas. I learned from talking to her that I am not the only one who feels these carcasses are detrimental to the community and that a solution would have to be based on communication between all people who notice these things.

Customer 2 said that the idea is interesting but also pointed out that there are similar existing groups on Facebook who dedicate themselves to finding lost pets, sometimes found dead on the road. That said, he still thinks that this idea could take the foundation of this community-based system and expand it beyond Facebook groups and potentially make some ad revenue. I was surprised to hear that there are such groups already existing, and the thought of locating pets didn't occur to me either. If I were to add an addition to this project related entirely to whether or not the animal was wild or not I'm sure there'd be more interest.

Customer 3 thinks that the idea needs more work due to it's relatively skeletal structure in terms of a functioning app. As an idea, yes, he's encountered the problem more than enough in his nineteen years of life, but overall the problem needs a more grounded solution than simply developing a community-based app. Currently, his solution is designed on direct communal action such as signs for where animals should be wary or even building fences for where deer or dogs may cross. His reaction most certainly was something that I had considered; if this app actually becoming the new standard for how we deal with roadkill I'd be very surprised. That said, he did mention something I did not find myself expecting and that was how does this service directly solve the problem? You need to be more direct than simply calling up dead animals services; you need to go out and take direct action by informing the community of the problem and maybe even like containers for the carcasses. Might not work out but I like the idea so far.

Wow, that was actually pretty interesting. Not everyone liked the idea but everyone did have something to add to it that is pretty goddamn beneficial if I do say so myself. In terms of my first guess being true, it turns off I was farther than I had imagined. I had hoped to knock this one out of the pack in one fell swoop, but it looks like I need more ideas on how to improve this. With regards to how much an entrepreneur should bend to the audience, well that is extremely contextual. I know from my experience in the games industry that more often than not businesses are criticized by fans for either never changing or changing too much. Both of which are directly at the fault of people making inaccurate measurements on how much their fans actually want the changes they're suggesting. So overall, right now I should listen to every customer. At a point, though, I must have a grasp on what I'm doing here.

MY ENTREPRENEURSHIP HISTORY

Now, as your local Gainesville tour guide and entrepreneur, I feel as though I must divulge some history of mine with business interactions and entrepreneurship in general. I myself didn't know next to anything about how to run a business or the importance of it aside from what I did in the Boy Scouts. Sure we worked alongside charities and other organizations to provide help to the community, but I never personally got to see the inner workings of the people who start these kinds of businesses. It wasn't until I got roped into the Innovation Academy and took a study abroad trip to Ireland (pictured above) that I got to interact with people who work with logistical numbers, in think tanks/incubators for ideas, and other parts where business ideas can come from. All of this was rather interesting to me, and was part of my reason to continue studying this new field. I felt as though even if I ended up becoming a high school teacher in my hometown having a decent enough background in business would allow me to better understand the workings of ideas that develop in young people all over the world.

20 PROBLEMS

Reader, I was sitting around minding my own business when it occurred to me that there are several sorts of problems that exist in our world that could be possibly exploited by exceptional individuals such as myself for profit purposes! Why, I got so excited by the notion that I decided to create this post of about twenty of these problems that I feel could use some future fixin'!

1) Noticed a large amount of dead animals by the side of the road, likely never picked up because the services to do so are never notified. A specific app that would let people notify certain people where dead animals are located would be a good idea because it seems it would be a simple help.

2) A large amount of potential land for development is lost to irresponsible housing and environmental disasters/conditions. The latter is really something most people have no control over (except for the 1% who own the oil and energy companies), but the former I find most egregious. If I may postulate my idea, I propose that we simply develop an entirely new way of living: through geodesic dome structures! Houses are an ineffective model of living in terms of energy output per person; a communal based system is much more effective.

3) This leads into my next problem; it takes too much time and effort to redevelop land lost by floods or other disasters. The natural movements of the world are to blame for these inconveniences, and as such we must further research methods of damming and controlling water flow throughout North America so as to maximize potential redevelopment of land.

4) I did some digging and found that nearly all efforts that have gone towards recycling programs have resulted in minimal environmental benefits. Given that most people still do not understand how to properly recycle and the near millions of dollars that we have spent on these programs over the years, I propose to lobby for anti-recycling measures in order to save our taxpayers dollars and fund more effective environmental programs (later, of course).

5) I and many others I know hate how when you get a new computer you can't transfer your music files from your iPhone to your iTunes account. There does exist software to allow this process, but it seems rather sketchy and possibly malware-infested. Someone should make a more mainstream/user-friendly application to allow this process. Or just protest outside Apple.

6) Another thing that isn't user-friendly at all: Dungeons and Dragons. I get that being complicated is a large part of the appeal, and there are billions of blogs on how to set up your own dungeon adventures, but what people need and want are solid resources. A book series, even in graphic novel format, would be extremely helpful and I think would sell well enough.

7) I'm really stuck on the idea of land, and there do exist cases of large areas of unused houses or condos that go to waste without any inhabits in them. For this I propose a co-development project with the U.S. Navy to produce satellite-based lasers on which we can glass land that otherwise would've gone wasted to unused housing.

8) Now you know what people really keep losing all the time? Their JUULS! It's black and it's small so of course you lose it! If I could get into contact with that company to develop a Juul locator app that works within a small radius (because people don't often lose them that far away), I'm sure people wouldn't have to buy so many Juul devices. Unless that's exactly what the Juul company doesn't want to happen, of course. 

9) You know, a lot of YouTubers I know rely heavily on advertising to make money. I imagine a lot of users who use AdBlock would like to support these content creators and still maintain their freedom from ads, so if I made a software program that would simply notify a user of their AdBlock status being on or off I'm sure I could get many YouTubers to sponsor me. 

10) Often in assignments we need to tinker with the time zones due to the online nature of modern education. It was only doing this that I realized public school has failed me in this regard, because I had to spend at least half an hour asking friends and navigating Google to figure out where I belonged. If the computer simply had a calendar-like system for marking time zones and where we each belong, this'd be a simple solution and maybe even life changing. 

11) Most common health problem that I see in every person I meet: dehydration. Every single person is consistently dehydrated because we aren't aware of the amount of water we should be taking in at all times. A simple app or device like a FitBit could potentially prevent several life-altering conditions or diseases for thousands of people if they maintained hydration. 

12) Every young kid, deep down, kinda wants to be a rock star. But often, at least when I was young and wanted to be a rock star, there is no way to connect with other potential like-minded musicians outside of high school or organizations. A simple ad-type application where people can post ads with information such as music tastes and equipment and room available would be amazing. 

13) Back to my Dungeons and Dragons idea: somewhat similar idea but for professional wrestling. How many potential fans are these wrestling companies losing because literally no kid knows the lore or history of professional wrestling?!?! It's insane! There needs to be an effective archive (for sale of course) that could essentially work as the "beginner's guide" to modern, televised wrestling. 

14) Okay same idea as above but for Marvel and DC. Seriously, these guys are losing so much potential profit because they literally have no idea how to introduce a little bit of subtlety to their narratives! If they just would release beginner guide's to these comic series as soon as their movies come out then I can guarantee at least a small amount of increase in readership. They are putting no effort in at this point. 

15) Going back to Juul and Juul pods. Everyone knows that one pod equals one pack of cigarettes. But does anyone know the ratio to nicotine per big cloud of vape? If I made an app that kept track of that per strength of blow it would make so much money.

16) A simpler invention for the Juul: a mini-garbage container designed to stack empty Juul pods. It'll be set up like a plastic garbage toy that is meant to fit Juul pods exactly. This'll get rid of the pollution problem they pose because people are too lazy to look for garbage cans.

17) Ashtrays are becoming a less and less common commodity in households due to the generation of parents who are more aware of the dangers of cigarettes. That said, we are approaching a generation of children who do not care for the dangers of smoking as well as more heavily smoke in general and as such it is important that we redesign ashtrays to be hip for these new generations. Ashtrays that double as plant vases or look like coffee mugs, etc.

18) I notice that among vinyl enthusiasts they consider themselves archivists of a sort. When they see vinyl being improperly stacked or never dusted, it drives them into a murderous rage in a way. That's why we must create a First Vinyl Collection type of kit for young music lovers. It'll come with all the professional editions to a vinyl collector such as dusting material, cloths, and instructions on how to stack and store vinyl.

19) I've already seen people make a living off of selling series of books dedicated to translating Shakespeare for young people taking tests, and the problem with this is we forget about the other, harder to decipher classic authors such as Ben Johnson or even James Joyce. Solution? Develop series for all the neglected classics who are in school curriculum.

20) Remember those problems that applied to vinyl enthusiasts? Same applies to music lovers. Too many local bands are simply using the same amps and strings they've had since they first got their equipment and we are seeing a slow decline of interest in local music scenes in favor of the cities that breed talent. It is vital that we combat this decline and turn a profit through developing either a First Musician Kit for each instrument or creating a music tech social media app that is more effective than reddit in tying people together.

Wow, I really did come up with 20 things! You know before I took on this challenge I was really worried about having to figure out so many things that bug me cause really I consider myself relatively calm with my surrounding environment. Excluding questions of political government and philosophical rights, of course. That said, I found that once I found about 5 or so problems that truly disgusted me the rest of them seemed to come naturally to me. 

WELCOME!

Welcome to my blaaa-oog! Welcome to my blaaa-oog! Welcome reader welcome reader welcome reader-

Alright introductions are due now. My name is Victor Ellifritt and I am an entrepreneur looking for new things to study and find solutions to in my local area. Right now my leading project for entrepreneurship is creating some sort of "underground" tour guide of the coolest places in Gainesville if your idea for fun is chain-smoking and stage diving. I am open to all sorts of suggestions and possibilities though, as you never know where the next big thing is.

A little bit about me: I study English and other literature at the University of Florida, I have no skills outside of a minor set of social skills and the ability to read big books, and my previous independent work experience sums up to writing reviews for music blogs.

But enough about that; I'd love to hear more about all of you readers as the days pass by!