Guest Speaker - Jim Kastama

This Post was never written, since we did not have time in the quarter to hear form this speaker.

Dot.com to Dot.bomb

On Tuesday, March 8 Andrew Fry gave the class a presentation about what happened during the Dot.com to Dot.boom Era. Andrew explained that previous to the Technology bubble bursting there had been many and different kind of market bubbles, like the Tulip Bubble a long time ago, or housing market bubbles. 

In this presentation he used Dinosaurs to represent how the bubble came to be. The Dinosaurs were the big companies that thought they ruled the technology world because they were so big and their leadership was old and cocky. They used to think that the way they had always done business would continue to stay the same and that because they had stayed a float for quite a while that their business model worked.

Yet, one by one they perished. And the big hit that wiped most of them was when the World Wide Wave took speed and everyone started to go on the web services that would be free or lure the masses into trying new things that would be based on new business models. Indeed, only few of this dinosaurs survived and can still be found on the depths of the web such as Yahoo or AOL. 

One of the key points to take away from this presentation is that as people or companies age they need to continue doing their best to adapt to their ever evolving environment if they want to continue thriving in it. Otherwise new things and things that may seem weird or strange to them may take over for them. On the other hand, as opposed to the dinosaurs, we also have an option to just let go of those things and just enjoy the rest of our time on our own terms. 

In a short sentence, the main concept to remember is to be flexible and perceptive to changes that go around us so that we can continue to thrive and not perish. 

Guest Speaker - John Dimmer

John Dimmer

On Thursday, March 3 we had John dimmer come talk to our class. I found him to be very interesting as I wrote 8 pages, front and back, of notes of what he had to say to us. In general I found him very excited and eager to share with us what his experiences had been like and what he had learned throughout his journey as an entrepreneur in very specific areas. 

John graduated form Clover Park High School. He attended the University of Oregon, where he received a B.S. in Finance. He also played for their golf team during his first years in College. Soon after college he worked at Puget Sound Bank.

He knew from early on that he wanted to get jobs that would provide him with good experiences and opportunities so that one day he would be ready to start a business of his own.

In 1994 John and Andre Fry started Free Media Range, a web development firm in the Puget Sound area. In 1999, prior to the .com bubble burst, they sold the company to Luminant Worldwide Corp. And he retired on January of 2000. 

He said that after he was fully free from any connections to the company he had a lot of free time and wanted to spend it with friends playing golf but all of them were working on their regular jobs so he found himself bored many times. 

He decided to do something constructive with his time. He became an angel investor and soon was contacted by a friend to start a Honda dealer in the area. He mentioned that after about 11 years his and his partner's business heavily relied on the management experience of the manager of the Honda car dealer they had hired from early on. John says that in making a business successful "the key is in hiring the right people." He also says that "When you are running your company it is a 24/7 business."

John and his friend needed to find the "Golden Handcuffs" to use on their best employee, the manager of the car dealer so that they continue thriving on their business and not loose him to a competitor. This came in the form of opening another business down in Oregon. This time they would open a premium RV dealership in Portland, Oregon, and the manager of the Honda dealership would be given stock options on this new business. 

After that he discussed other things in class, such as how to fund your business and important things to consider while doing that. He is a very informative speaker and I would highly recommend him to anyone looking for advice on how to start your business. 

Guest Speaker - Amy Sallin

Business Plan Competition Flyer( Font and Back side)

On Thursday, February 25th Amy came to our class to speak to us about the UW Business Plan Competition. She told us that this competition is open to all students in colleges all over the state. She said that on the first round over 102 teams apply and only 36 teams move forward to the next phase. In the end the top 3 teams are picked and receive a cash price. As noted on their Website: 

2015 Prizes

$25,000 Grand Prize sponsored by the Herbert B. Jones Foundation
$10,000 Second Place Prize sponsored by WRF Capital
$5,000 Finalist Prizes sponsored by Friends of the BPC and Fenwick & West

She said a good way to think about the competition is to think of how you and your team would keep your company running for the next 6 months to a year. She recommends applying and following through on it as best as you can because a lot of good things can come out of this for you. She said that over a period of 6 years they have helped create 46 companies, out of which 37 are still in existence today. But if for example you were a student who is thinking of going to a job right after you are done with your degree then you should still apply. She says even if you do not want to go work at a startup or start one yourself with the team the experience you gain is very valuable. This experience will show your employers that you can start and finish a project given the fact that you basically started a whole business from the ground up. And the networking opportunities are tremendously valuable as many of this people could be helpful contacts in the future whether you want to start a business or get hired by a company.

Company's Vision and Mission

My company's vision is to let children, youth, and adults know when their favorite treats are near them across the nation.

Many times people do not know that their favorite treats are near them and they miss out an opportunity to enjoy them. If only there was a free service available to them that would inform them of the trucks driving nearby, then they would get a chance to drop their current activity and hurry for a sweet treat. As this service becomes popular and people start to use it more and more then they will never go out another day without knowing when and where their favorite treat is coming near them.

My company's Mission is to bring happiness and provide smiles to the world. We do this by informing people of when and where their favorites treats are. We will also seek to make the work experience of our workers enjoyable. And lastly but as equally as important we will seek to make our funders happy by providing great returns on their investments.

My Company story

Name:

                   Ice Cream n' Coffee n' More

Logo:

Product:

The main goal of my company is to deliver happiness to those who seek it. We will provide this by connecting users primarily with ice cream and coffee trucks so that they can know when these trucks are coming near them. Customers will have the ability to see when these trucks are coming to their respective locations and even get reminders of when they are driving by. 

We can think of users as being parents and children. Children seek ice cream and other goodies but never know when these trucks are coming by because they are not as aware about timing as adults. This is where my service will help these children set up reminders of when these trucks are coming by and they find more information about what these trucks sell. 

For parents, well they could also go out and get something from these trucks, like coffee and other goodies. Many adults are busy, but if they have a reminder or know when the Coffee truck is coming by they may drop what they were working on in their dining room and head out for a special treat to refresh their mind and get some happiness. Maybe they bring the kids for a treat as well. 

Of course, the app will be free and the revenue will come in through ads. The design is still in process. The "more" on the name of the company refers to the option of food trucks to provide other things based on their markets and customers. 

Guest Speaker - Brian Forth

On Thursday January 27, 2016 we had the privilege to hear Brian Forth talk in front of our class about his experience as an entrepreneur. Brian founded and is the president of SiteCrafting Inc. since 1998 (18 years). Brian attributes many of his strengths to the experiences that prepared him from an early age. He worked for Disney and from there he learned the ethics of service and got businesses referrals. 

Many of his experiences help to teach us a lesson. He says that as a CEO you must always be present where the action is. Brian states that the CEO "can not tell somebody to do something they would not do themselves". He recognizes that new employees should be allowed to fail, preferably early on so that they can learn from their mistakes pretty soon without too many consequences. 

He says one of the main things the CEO does is to motivate others to believe in the company's mission and fully invest themselves in their work because it makes a difference in the world. He personally like the strategy of fully satisfying his customers to ensure they will come back or recommend his company to others. 

He says no plan survives, it always changes with all factors that surround it. So the best thing one can do is embrace this change and not ponder on it. He suggest to move forward without looking back and never giving up as the best strategy to recover from failure or the unpredictability of making tough decisions.