13A - Reading Reflection No.1

Twenty-Seven Dollars and a Dream: Katharine Etsy
Entrepreneur: Muhammad Yunus

What surprised you the most?

What surprised my the most about Yunus is how adamant he is about his idea. Sometimes though it was shocking how he is very personable and an inspiring figure but also she could be rough and come across as impersonable when something doesn’t go his way. The author even mentioned that after talking to Yunus for such a long period, he made the assumption that maybe entrepreneurs are good at being an entrepreneur because they lack the social need that normal people have, and that allows entrepreneurs to focus more intensely in their goals. 

What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

Reading about Yunus, I was inspired by his ability to always chase what he believed in, even though there are strong challenges to protest. He came from a very underprivileged and socially oppressed society, but he always saw that it was not how he thinks people should live. So he created a microcredit bank (Grameen bank) to help alleviate poverty (he believed by 2050 he could completely eliminate poverty so much that people would have to go to a museum to know what it was). He always had high hopes and wanted to be able to measure it, not just blindly believe his ideas.

What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

I did not admire his seemingly lack of connection with people he supposedly loved. He did not fight at all to stay with his first wife whom he loved dearly because he could only focus on his project. That is an amazing trait to have to be able to finish a project, but he lost many loves and friends along the way.

Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

Yes, he got ousted from his own company because of critics and political fake news, but he always continued advocating for social businesses and how important it is for us humans to make an effort to help those less fortunate. 

What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

I noticed Yunus is a very skilled speaker. He is able to attract anyone to him, and not by brainwashing or any unethical means. He is just such an eloquent and passionate speaker. People can notice that he cares deeply about his project and is confident it will succeed. He is also a very determined person. He won’t let unfair critics discourage him, he knows what he knows and is always willing to test his hypothesis further and further so he gets more data. He is intrigued by economics and statistics, and wanted to apply it in the real world rather than just learn it in college and carry on. 

Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

I am still quite confused on why he got ousted. I know politics in Bangladesh heavily influenced this action, but how could he get kicked out of his own company. He didn’t lose equity or money he couldn’t pitch in. He got ousted. 

If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

How did you not let fears of failure interrupt your work? You had so many critics and adversaries all throughout your career but you still carried on, and it feels like it didn’t create a huge dent in you.

How important are your social connections to you?

For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

Yunus’ definition of hard work is to be focused on your work. Don’t be afraid to try out your dream, especially if you can quantify it through statistics and field work data. If you are going towards a dream, hard work shouldn’t be hard. You should want to live that work, that dream. I do agree with him because he always worked with what seemed like positive energy. He was always able to bring people under his good vibes when he was working, so much that he it seemed like he was easily able to get people to share his dream.