30A – Final Reflection

I feel writing out the entire Venture Concept was the most formative experience and what I am most proud of accomplishing. It is easy to have rough ideas about an opportunity, but putting it down in writing makes it tangible and seems attainable. It is also something that I can easily forward along to colleagues and mentors so they can provide feedback on the holistic opportunity. I really enjoyed each Elevator Pitch and will certainly remember them years later, and hopefully, use them in real life soon.

I certainly feel that I have developed my entrepreneurial mindset and am more of an entrepreneur in my current job. Just two weeks ago, I capitalized on an opportunity I saw at work, put together a presentation, and was able to drive a behavior change in our business. I may not have been looking for opportunities in my everyday job if it wasn't for this class.

I would honestly recommend future students to truly be openminded to growing their entrepreneurial mindset. Not everyone will venture out on their own and be a traditional entrepreneur, but the skills developed in this class can help you be more of an entrepreneur with your current job, which can lead to potential recognition and promotion. The assignments are not hard and they are designed to truly teach you, so don't mail them in!

29A – Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity:

·        A bad hire costs a company $114,000 due to producing a lower quality of work than expected and harming the company’s culture.

·        A company of 100 employees with an average yearly turnover of 10% will lose almost $912,000 a year as a direct result of bad hires.

·        Bad hires are a direct result of a company’s Talent Acquisition team having inadequate skills, inefficient processes, and not properly utilizing their Talent Acquisition technologies that are in place.

·        Companies of every size have the need to hire better. With that said, small to midsized companies, 100 to 1,000 employees, that are experiencing growth are the target customer. They are big enough to have the financial resources to pay for my firm’s services but not big enough to not care about the $114,000 financial hit resulting from a bad hire.

·        The current force growing this need is COVID-19. Companies are laying off employees due to financial difficulties, which will create a lot of openings to fill once the economy rebounds from this recession.

·        The target market is South Florida companies from Miami to West Palm Beach.

·        Customers are currently satisfying this need by having their own Talent Acquisition teams try to improve their hiring, augmenting their current Talent Acquisition team by using external recruiting agencies that focus on plugging one hole in the boat at a time instead of questioning if it is the correct boat to be in in the first place, or completely outsourcing their Talent Acquisition function to an external firm.

·        Eighty-four percent of mid-market businesses South Florida, or for-profit businesses with annual revenue between $10 million and $150 million, and 78 percent of small businesses in South Florida, or for-profit businesses with annual revenue between $2 million and $10 million, are prepared or somewhat prepared to seek out growth opportunities.

·        The immediate window as a result of COVID-19 may last 6 to 12 months. Beyond that, there will be a consistent need for companies to hire better.

Innovation:

·        My firm will provide a wholistic consulting service to companies’ Talent Acquisition departments where we will train their Talent Acquisition team to upskill their capabilities, redesign their processes to make them more efficient and impactful, and help them better utilize their existing Talent Acquisition technologies.

·        My firm’s consultants will spend a 2-week engagement onsite with the Talent Acquisition team. They will start by performing a needs analysis in all three areas mentioned identifying the nuanced opportunities for that specific team, develop customized solutions and lead them through the execution or implementation of those solutions.

·        The 2-week engagement will cost of $38,000.

Venture Concept:

·        My firm will help companies reduce their bad hire rate by 60%, resulting in an initial annual savings of $547,000. The initial direct bottom-line savings and long-term revenue increase from having more productive employees and a better culture are why companies will want to buy my service. It will be somewhat difficult to get a company to buy my firm’s services because it is something they have not done previously, and historical handcuffs are tough to break. With that said, once they see the immediate return on investment and long-term rewards, it will be difficult for them to say no.

·        Some specific competitors offer siloed solutions, but not a holistic solution like my firm. There are consulting firms such as Bain or any of the Big 4 that focus more on operational efficiency gains through technology and processes or with organizational design. There are staffing companies that provide the companies with candidates to hire but do not train the companies on how to hire better. My firm will do all the above.

·        Price points, customer experience, and customer location certainly play a role in defining my business concept. My pricing is a premium and will initially be seen that way before the return on investment is realized. The premium reputation will play into establishing a credible brand in the market. Customer experience will be the most important factor as I will need to leverage each customer for referrals and as references for future customers. Customer location will play a key role initially since I have an established network in South Florida.

·        I’d have a relatively flat organization with my title being Chief Talent Strategist. I would initially hire two Talent Strategists who would report directly to me and would be my consulting partners on the engagement. I would also hire a Business Development Strategist reporting directly to me as well that would be responsible for appointment setting. Additionally, I would hire a Marketing Strategist that is focused on building our brand through an omnichannel approach.

Unfair Advantage: I have an established network of decision-makers in South Florida companies that I can immediately leverage. I would be able to get immediate business and cash flow. The instant success from my network would give me the cushion to expand outside of my network, which would create a sustainable business model.

Next for the Venture: I would work on establishing partnerships with Talent Acquisition technology vendors for applicant tracking systems, AI chatbots, and gamification assessment companies to act in a channel sales capacity.

Next for Me: In 5 years, I would look at identifying other markets to enter, which would be solely based on being able to hire someone with a similar established network and skills in that market as I have in mine. I would also be focused on developing someone under me in the South Florida market that can take over the day to day leadership so that I can focus on the expansion strategy. In the next 3 years, I would focus on growing my business in the new market. Once I have shown it is scalable in other markets and the original South Florida market is still producing at a high-level without my day to day involvement, I would look to sell my firm to a large consulting firm looking to enter the same vertical. At that point, I’d turn my attention to becoming a board member at a fast-growing company that is disrupting the market and needs guidance on how they can hire better.

Summary of Feedback: I really only received positive feedback on my Venture Concept No. 1 assignment. The one sort of question or idea was to try to stay in it longer and hire other people to help me scale it.

How I Changed My Venture Concept: Based on the idea to stay in it longer and scale it, I detailed out more specifics in the "Next for Me" section to show how I would prove the business model works in a new market while also developing someone to lead the South Florida market.

28A – Your Exit Strategy

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?

In 5 years, I would look at identifying other markets to enter, which would be solely based on being able to hire someone with a similar established network and skills in that market as I have in mine. Once I have shown it is scalable in other markets, I would look to sell my firm to a large consulting firm looking to capitalize on the same vertical. At that point, I’d turn my attention to becoming a board member at a fast-growing company that is disrupting the market and needs guidance on how they can hire better.

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

I feel once I have shown my business is successful beyond me and my market, there would not be a lot of additional challenges left for me. I would simply be staying in the business to make money, which certainly is not a bad reason. I know myself though and I love to be continually challenged. Money by itself has never kept me at a job if I felt I wasn’t challenged and growing.

3) How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources?

It certainly has influenced my growth intentions. I designed my new markets strategy based on my exit plan. Once I show I can scale my business to a new market, my business will immediately be a target for large consulting firms to buy.

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

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

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

I believe the theme of this book is that we will all fail, and fail continually, on our path to winning big. Winning big though will look different for each person based on what they are focused on. If we focus on taking care of ourselves and spending time with the people who matter to us, we will, in the

end, win big regardless of career accolades.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

I think there is a clear connection between focusing on what matters most. Chris does a great job explaining how sticking to physical business plans are not as important as most people think, yet a lot of entrepreneurs spend a lot of time working on their business plans instead of doing what is actually important – going out and selling your product. Likewise, Scott’s book does a great job outlining what we should focus on to win big.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

I really liked the breakdown of goals versus systems. I’d design an exercise where the class would write down 2 goals and then detail out all the steps to get there. I’d then have the class go back and reflect on what putting the framework of a system around those goals would look like and compare which would have a better result.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

For me, it honestly was the goals versus systems. I have been diligent in writing out all of my long-term goals, and just as the book discusses, I have at times become overwhelmed and feeling like a failure if I missed 1 step in 1 day that I perceived as putting me behind in reaching my goal. I am going to evaluate how to put systems in place for my personal goals.

26A – Celebrating Failure

1) Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester and failed each time.

I worked 2 months on a project to redesign the workflows my Talent Acquisition team uses so that there would be a better user experience for our hiring managers. I mapped out the old processes, worked with my team to identify opportunities, and then created the new processes. I presented the new workflows to the HR Director during a 30-minute meeting, only to get a quick no at the end of the presentation.

2) Tell us what you learned from it. 

What I learned is that the HR Director was not concerned about the actual workflows my team used. She was more concerned about how the new workflows would create a better experience for our hiring managers. After figuring this out, I grabbed another 15-minute meeting on the HR Director’s calendar and showed her the improved experience for our hiring managers and she approved the new workflows.

3) Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn't it? It's embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we must change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failure (emotionally, behaviorally). Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were just a few months ago?

Failure certainly is difficult, especially if it is in an area where we may not have thought we could fail. I try my best to use every failure opportunity to evaluate my approach and learn how to do it better. I am certainly not perfect at this, but it is a conscious choice to use failure this way. I fee through this class I am somewhat more likely to take a risk. I have a different view on the number of easy opportunities there are to solve, so I may take some more chances for a quick win.

25A – What’s Next?

Existing Market:

I have an established network of decision-makers in South Florida companies that I can immediately leverage. I would be able to get immediate business and cash flow. The instant success from my network would give me the cushion to expand outside of my network, which would create a sustainable business model. I would then focus my attention on establishing partnerships with Talent Acquisition technology vendors for applicant tracking systems, AI chatbots, and gamification assessment companies to act in a channel sales capacity. For example, if through the engagement with a company it is identified that their existing applicant tracking system does not meet their needs, I would be able to refer them to a couple of options that would give my firm a percentage of the sales price to that company. I’d initially focus the first 2 years on serving my established network before focusing on developing new relationships. With that said, a great strength of my established network is that many decision-makers I have relationships with have moved on to different companies, so I will already have existing warm leads at companies I did not previously support.

New Market:

In 5 years, I would look at identifying other markets to enter, which would be solely based on being able to hire someone with a similar established network and skills in that market as I have in mine. I would have to be strategic with the markets I chose to enter since my firm would focus on small to medium-sized businesses. The financial sector of New York, for example, would not be an ideal market. But growing business hubs such as Jacksonville, FL and Houston, TX would be ideal markets to enter.

24A – Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity:

·        A bad hire costs a company $114,000 due to producing lower quality of work than expected and harming the company’s culture.

·        A company of 100 employees with an average yearly turnover of 10% will lose almost $912,000 a year as a direct result of bad hires.

·        Bad hires are a direct result of a company’s Talent Acquisition team having inadequate skills, inefficient processes, and not properly utilizing their Talent Acquisition technologies that are in place.

·        Companies of every size have the need to hire better. With that said, small to midsized companies, 100 to 1,000 employees, that are experiencing growth are the target customer. They are big enough to have the financial resources to pay for my firm’s services but not big enough to not care about the $114,000 financial hit resulting from a bad hire.

·        The current force growing this need is COVID-19. Companies are laying off employees due to financial difficulties, which will create a lot of openings to fill once the economy rebounds from this recession.

·        The target market is South Florida companies from Miami to West Palm Beach.

·        Customers are currently satisfying this need by having their own Talent Acquisition teams try to improve their hiring, augmenting their current Talent Acquisition team by using external recruiting agencies that focus on plugging one hole in the boat at a time instead of questioning if it is the correct boat to be in in the first place, or completely outsourcing their Talent Acquisition function to an external firm.

·        Eighty-four percent of mid-market businesses South Florida, or for-profit businesses with annual revenue between $10 million and $150 million, and 78 percent of small businesses in South Florida, or for-profit businesses with annual revenue between $2 million and $10 million, are prepared or somewhat prepared to seek out growth opportunities.

·        The immediate window as a result of COVID-19 may last 6 to 12 months. Beyond that, there will be a consistent need for companies to hire better.

Innovation:

·        My firm will provide a wholistic consulting service to companies’ Talent Acquisition departments where we will train their Talent Acquisition team to upskill their capabilities, redesign their processes to make them more efficient and impactful, and help them better utilize their existing Talent Acquisition technologies.

·        My firm’s consultants will spend a 2-week engagement onsite with the Talent Acquisition team. They will start by performing a needs analysis in all three areas mentioned identifying the nuanced opportunities for that specific team, develop customized solutions and lead them through the execution or implementation of those solutions.

·        The 2-week engagement will cost of $38,000.

Venture Concept:

·        My firm will help companies reduce their bad hire rate by 60%, resulting in an initial annual savings of $547,000. The initial direct bottom-line savings and long-term revenue increase from having more productive employees and a better culture are why companies will want to buy my service. It will be somewhat difficult to get a company to buy my firm’s services because it is something they have not done previously, and historical handcuffs are tough to break. With that said, once they see the immediate return on investment and long-term rewards, it will be difficult for them to say no.

·        Some specific competitors offer siloed solutions, but not a holistic solution like my firm. There are consulting firms such as Bain or any of the Big 4 that focus more on operational efficiency gains through technology and processes or with organizational design. There are staffing companies that provide the companies with candidates to hire but do not train the companies on how to hire better. My firm will do all the above.

·        Price points, customer experience, and customer location certainly play a role in defining my business concept. My pricing is a premium and will initially be seen that way before the return on investment is realized. The premium reputation will play into establishing a credible brand in the market. Customer experience will be the most important factor as I will need to leverage each customer for referrals and as references for future customers. Customer location will play a key role initially since I have an established network in South Florida.

·        I’d have a relatively flat organization with my title being Chief Talent Strategist. I would initially hire two Talent Strategists who would report directly to me and would be my consulting partners on the engagement. I would also hire a Business Development Strategist reporting directly to me as well that would be responsible for appointment setting. Additionally, I would hire a Marketing Strategist that is focused on building our brand through an omnichannel approach.

Unfair Advantage: I have an established network of decision-makers in South Florida companies that I can immediately leverage. I would be able to get immediate business and cash flow. The instant success from my network would give me the cushion to expand outside of my network, which would create a sustainable business model.

Next for the Venture: I would work on establishing partnerships with Talent Acquisition technology vendors for applicant tracking systems, AI chatbots, and gamification assessment companies to act in a channel sales capacity.

Next for Me: In 5 years, I would look at identifying other markets to enter, which would be solely based on being able to hire someone with a similar established network and skills in that market as I have in mine. Once I have shown it is scalable in other markets, I would look to sell my firm to a large consulting firm looking to enter the same vertical. At that point, I’d turn my attention to becoming a board member at a fast-growing company that is disrupting the market and needs guidance on how they can hire better.

23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

1.      Corporate Talent Acquisition experience with a Fortune 500 organization that is recognized for its business excellence and outstanding culture.

a.      Valuable: This is valuable because there are only 500 organizations on this list and a smaller number recognized for both business excellence and an outstanding culture.

b.      Rare: This rare as it is very difficult to get hired into Talent Acquisition for a company like mine.

c.      Inimitable: It is somewhat hard to copy, but each Fortune 500 organization has Talent Acquisition Advisors.

d.      Non-substitutable: This experience can only be found within other Fortune 500 organizations.

2.      Communication and influencing abilities that allow me to connect with all levels of people in an organization.

a.      Valuable: This is valuable as I will need to communicate with and influence decision-makers and individual contributors.

b.      Rare: Somewhat rare due to most people communicating and influencing at their same level.

c.      Inimitable: Yes, this can be a copied and developed skill.

d.      Non-substitutable: These are soft skills, so hard to find something to provide the same resource.

3.      Built out a new market office in South Florida for a staffing agency headquartered in Chicago, IL.

a.      Valuable: Extremely valuable since I built the office from myself to a team of 12 over 3.5 years. I built go-to-market strategies, developed and scaled processes, and hired and trained my team. We were generating $2.5 million of revenue as an office when I decided to leave and join the Fortune 500 organization.

b.      Rare: This is very rare as the average tenure in staffing agencies is 1.5 years and very few opportunities to build a market office from scratch.

c.      Inimitable: This would be extremely hard to copy due to the success of my team and I had.

d.      Non-substitutable: Somewhat non-substitutable in the staffing industry, but there are countless other startup successes with similar stories in different industries.

4.      Strong experience with training.

a.      Valuable: Very valuable, especially since my firm would provide training.

b.      Rare: Not very rare, there are a lot of good trainers across all industries.

c.      Inimitable: Yes, easily copied.

d.      Non-substitutable: Can be very easily provided by other resources.

5.      Contract negotiation skills.

a.      Valuable: Very valuable as cash flow is of the utmost importance for a startup.

b.      Rare: Somewhat rare, most people don’t know how to appropriately stand their ground and walk away from business if the price points don’t make sense.

c.      Inimitable: Yes, this can be copied and a developed skill.

d.      Non-substitutable: Somewhat hard to have another resource provide the same service or benefit.

6.      Strong conceptual thinking ability.

a.      Valuable: Extremely valuable as a large part of my future role would be to connect the dots and provide solutions.

b.      Rare: Somewhat rare since thinking conceptually is not a natural thing for a lot of people.

c.      Inimitable: Yes, this can be copied to a certain extent.

d.      Non-substitutable: Other resources could help with this.

7.      Strong analytical thinking ability.

a.      Valuable: Extremely valuable as a large part of my future role would be to analyze data to identify important trends.

b.      Rare: Somewhat rare since thinking analytically is not a natural thing for a lot of people.

c.      Inimitable: Yes, this can be copied and a developed skill.

d.      Non-substitutable: Many resources can provide analytical support.

8.      Have an established network of decision-makers in South Florida companies that I can immediately leverage.

a.      Valuable: Extremely valuable since I have decision-makers I can call today and get immediate business from.

b.      Rare: My specific network is extremely rare due to the strong relationships and credibility I have.

c.      Inimitable: This is not easily copied.

d.      Non-substitutable: This would be very difficult for other resources to provide the same service or benefit.

9.      Have developed my emotional intelligence.

a.      Valuable: This is extremely valuable since I have consistent emotional responses in most situations.

b.      Rare: Somewhat rare, but it is a trend that is growing, and people are focused on developing in this area.

c.      Inimitable: This can be copied through training.

d.      Non-substitutable: This is a soft skill, so it is difficult to find a resource to provide a replacement.

10.   Successful at increasing diversity and quality of hires in companies.

a.      Valuable: This is very valuable as most companies want to increase in both areas.

b.      Rare: This is somewhat rare in the industry, which is one reason I have achieved the level of success that I have.

c.      Inimitable: Somewhat copiable.

d.      Non-substitutable: Yes, other resources can provide this service.

I believe my top resource is having an established network of decision-makers in South Florida companies that I can immediately leverage. I would be able to get immediate business and cash flow. The instant success from my network would give me the cushion to expand outside of my network, which would create a sustainable business model.

22A – Elevator Pitch No. 3

Reflection: Feedback from Elevator Pitch No. 2 was very positive. My delivery and energy level improved and my message was clear. Professor Pryor gave some specific feedback that I needed a smoother transition to describe my firm, be specific with the size of companies I was targeting, and then talking about the savings my firm would bring before the cost of the engagement.

What I Changed: I added in a few more specifics about my firm and had a smoother transition describing them. I did mention the size of the companies that my firm would focus on. I also moved the cost of my engagement to after where I communicate the savings it will bring. This is obviously the point, but I like my 3rd pitch the most. I took the feedback from the first two and feel I have a solid pitch at this point that I can feel confident delivering to my target customer.

21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

Innovation and Entrepreneurship - Pete Drucker

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

I feel the theme of the book is that innovation and entrepreneurship should be a normal everyday thing. It can be learned, practiced, and scaled. I like the thought of this, as I used to have a mindset that an entrepreneur has some special skill that I don't have. Certainly, successful entrepreneurs are better at things than others, but everyone should practice these at ever chance. 

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

I believe that the analysis piece, specifically in the first part of Drucker's books connects to our class. We all have great ideas, but we need to perform analysis, whether through interviews or industry research, in order to validate if those ideas are scaleable and can make money.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

I would design an exercise for us to journal for a month straight about one thing we did that day that was innovative or entrepreneurial focused. I bet we do a lot more than we are aware of. So if we bring better awareness to it for ourselves, it will give us more confidence to act on it.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

I mentioned it briefly in question one, but it's that we should be incorporating innovation and entrepreneurship in our everyday work and lives. It is easy to get set in routines and stuck in the same thought patterns, especially if we have a career that does not afford a lot of creativity. But we can make a conscious choice to have this mindset, it is not just something that we have or we don't. 

20A – Growing Your Social Capital

Person 1:

Jim Wong is the Founder and Board Member of Brilliant, which is an award-winning recruiting firm. He has over 15 years of experience in recruiting. I would consider him a domain expert based on his vast knowledge of the recruiting industry and with how many companies he has assisted in helping them hire better people. Jim was recommended to me by a former colleague of mine who met Jim at an industry networking event. I sent Jim my elevator pitch to get his feedback. The feedback he provided is that it is a sound idea, but the challenge may be that the time it takes for the Talent Acquisition teams to truly start reaping the benefits of my service, they may have lost out on additional qualified candidates during that time, which would lead them to still leverage a recruiting firm. I will continue to keep in touch with Jim and solicit more feedback. He may even be a potential angel investor down the road.

Person 2: 

Peter Leffkowitz is the Owner of Morgan Consulting Group, which is a consulting firm that specifically trains recruiting agency recruiters to be better. I would consider him a market expert due to him offering a similar service, but focused on recruiting agencies, not companies. Another former colleague of mine went to a training seminar that Peter led and recommended I contact him. I emailed him to connect and have not received a response from him yet. I feel adding Peter to my network can provide invaluable insights about building a consulting business based on training. Additionally, I would assume he has a vast network of former agency recruiters that he trained that now work on the corporate side that I could tap into. 

Person 3: 

Daniel Zinn is an Enterprise Account Director at pymetrics, which is a recruiting assessment company that uses neuroscience backed gamification assessments to help companies better identify candidates for their openings. I would consider him an important supplier in my industry since he is currently selling a technology product to companies I would be targeting. I came across Daniel from some of my own research since my company may be looking to add an assessment. I spoke with Daniel and he was receptive to my idea. He felt there could be a partnership opportunity for some channel sales of pymetrics through my engagements. Adding Daniel to my network may open doors up into existing pymetrics business partners.

Reflection:

This networking exercise was right up my alley since a larger part of my job in Talent Acquisition is proactively networking in the market to find the best candidates. With that said, this was my first time networking for myself, so it was interesting pitching myself in a way that did not come across over-confident. I will certainly do more proactive networking for myself moving forward.

19A – Idea Napkin No. 2

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? specifically, regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

I am currently enrolled for the online BA in Business degree at UF. I work full time as a Sr. Talent Acquisition Advisor for a $17 Billion automotive company that is recognized by Fortune as one of the best companies to work for in the US – I’ve had this job since September 2016. I spent 6.5 years as a headhunter, with the last 3.5 of those years before joining my current company helping a company in Chicago expand into the South Florida Market. I was the first hire in South Florida and built the office into a team of 12 generating $2.5 million of revenue yearly before I left. I see this opportunity as a way to eventually run my own business. With the 6.5 years as a headhunter for recruiting agencies and the 3.5 years now on the corporate side, I feel I have the experience needed to start my own business. 

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs).

I am offering customers a way to grow their revenue by improving how they hire. My firm would train their employees, redesign their hiring processes, and help them select the best technologies needed to have an effective talent acquisition program.

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

In general terms, I’d be offering this to any companies who want to grow their revenue by hiring better people. More specifically, companies that have current challenges hiring and retaining top performers due to limitations with their people, processes, and technologies would be my target customer.

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe it is valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service.

They will care because my solution will have significant long-term ROI for them. My firm would not be coming in for a one-time fix. We’d be positioning the companies to have sustained success after our engagement is over. My firm would be providing value like the Chinese proverb "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." I feel companies will care, especially now with the COVID-19 financial impacts because they will want to save money longterm by hiring the best employees. If companies are able to pay the upfront cost for my service, they will absolutely not only save money but also generate more revenue long term. 

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has?

I personally already have 6.5 years as a headhunter in South Florida where I acted as an external consultant to companies who were not able to recruit for specific positions. I had to negotiate contracts with leaders from Fortune 500 companies down to family-owned small businesses in which I provided a custom solution to fill their positions. I am skilled and influencing and changing business behaviors by leveraging data and getting emotional buy-in.

In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others.

I feel my experience and career/education choices have positioned me well to tactically execute on this business opportunity. Additionally, I have worked very hard over the last 3.5 years to grow my emotional intelligence. I have been a part of a start-up environment before when I was hired to start a South Florida office for a company in Chicago. I know what it takes to enter a new market segment and how to scale processes and teams to meet business objectives. I have established relationships and an established brand in South Florida, so I feel I am positioned as well as I can be.

Feedback Memo:

So I only received one feedback comment from my peers for Idea Napkin No. 1. The two main points from that feedback are that my experience certainly aligns with my business idea and that companies who are able to pay for the service will do so due to the longterm value. I added some of this feedback to why companies would care. They will care because they will save money by hiring better. And in certain roles that are revenue generators, they will be able to grow their revenue more as well.

17A – Elevator Pitch No. 2

What stood out to me the most about the feedback from my first pitch was that I had a solid delivery. There was some feedback to be more specific with what my startup does and to clarify a statement I made about technology that seemed to come out of nowhere. Another piece of feedback was to further define how a bad hire actually costs a company the $114,000.

I took all of that feedback and added in a couple of clarifying statements, specifically defining/quantifying a bad hire while also being more specific with what my startup consulting firm will do. Even though I received positive feedback on my delivery, I feel I smoothed it out and had more energy while also shortening it. I feel the whole pitch is improved from the first one and I would be confident actually pitching this to a potential customer. I am certainly interested to see if the improvements I think I made are actually seen as improvements by whoever reviews it.

18A – Create a Customer Avatar

My ideal customer is a 42-year-old female Director of Talent Acquisition for a company that has between 100 and 200 employees. She has 15 years of professional Human Resources and Talent Acquisition experience and currently manages a team consisting of 2 Talent Acquisition Advisors and 1 Talent Acquisition Coordinator. She is an avid reader of books focused on developing her emotional intelligence and she attends group fitness classes at Orangetheory at 5:30am every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. She drives a 2019 Lexus RX SUV, which is perfect for her to transport her 2 kids to school and sports activities on the weekend. She loves watching reality tv shows in order to completely disconnect from the daily challenges her job brings. She was an avid support of Amy Klobuchar before she dropped out of the presidential race.

I have several things in common with my ideal customer. First, we both have been successful in our Talent Acquisition careers. This will create instant credibility and a common language between us when I meet with her. Secondly, we are both focused on self-development - specifically with our own emotional intelligence. We recognize that the more our emotional intelligence grows, the more impactful and influential we will be in our people-focused roles. I think we have these things in common because it speaks to the type of people who are successful in our industry.

16A – What’s Your Secret Sauce?

My Human Capital:

• I feel I am skilled at building relationships with all types of people.
• I feel I am strong at influencing peoples behaviors and decisions.
• I feel I am a contrarian and always bring new ideas to discussions.
• I feel I am able to use my emotional intelligence to navigate tricky situations.
• I feel I am action oriented and can quickly identify a solution to a problem.

Five Interviews:

• Interview 1: Katie Jones - Katie feels I can use my energy and soft skills accurately assess people and situations.
• Interview 2: Jennifer Furbino - Jennifer feels I am a strong relationship builder and that I am able to share my knowledge in a way that doesn't come across pushy.
• Interview 3: Mayra Kotch - Mayra feels I do what is right no matter the circumstance and that I live by my convictions. She also feels I bring humor to people's lives.
• Interview 4: Sergio Sibaja - Sergio feels I am able to flex my personality to get along with people at all levels in all circumstances to build strong relationships. He also feels I am able to identifying opportunities.
• Interview 5: Jason Holland - Jason feels I am skilled at deconstructing problems down to the core cause in order to create the correct solution.

Reflection:

I feel the observations made by the five colleagues I interviewed were extremely accurate and align with my own thoughts. I am glad that my colleagues feel I am able to build relationships and solve problems, especially since it is a core part of my current job and is important moving forward for my business idea. I would not make any corrections to my list based on the feedback from the interviews. 

15A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

I interviewed two business leaders and one HR leader. The Two business both communicated that an alternative to my services would be for them to simply engage more external recruiting firms to help fill their open positions. Their mindset was more tactical about quickly filling the positions and potentially saving overhead costs by outsourcing their talent acquisition function. The HR leader said she would send her team to more industry conferences and pay for skills training and certifications in order to increase the skills of her team.

All three interviewees communicated that ultimately, their CFO and Procurement team are responsible for negotiating and making final buying decisions. They will typically go through an RFP process to get competing bids and demos from competitors in the same space. They will then build out internal requirements of the need they are hoping the vendors can solve and then rate the bids and demos in key areas in order to come to a final business decision. Once the decision has been made, they then move forward with the implementation. Part of their agreements include yearly evaluations of expectations versus outcomes in order to see if they need additional vendor support. They do pay for yearly support through an annual licensing agreement.

I would say this segment has a solid process in place to buy a product/select a vendor. I believe this is the case out of necessity since each interviewee came from medium-sized companies that are growing, which means they are constantly evaluating new partnerships to help continue their growth.

14A – Halfway Reflection

Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course?

• The main behavior I have used to keep up with the requirements of this course is sticking to a schedule. I use one hour every Sunday to plan my week out. I group my week into time-blocks based on the importance of what needs to be done while considering deadlines. If I see that my week is filled with activities that are not value added, I remove those and focus on what is important.

 

Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

• So, I honestly have never felt like giving up in this course. If anything, as each assignment has come and gone, I have grown more invigorated at continuing to move forward. It does help that I commit to my schedule, so I am never caught off guard by a deadline and I am never working from behind.

Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset'?

• Don’t lose focus.
• Work ahead at every possible opportunity.
• Have a growth mindset so you will truly learn from this class.