Giovanna Moraes

Entrepreneurship for Me Recall all of the experiences you've had along the way -- the highs, the lows -- the fun moments, and moments of drudgery, and even the moments of dread. This semester has been a very interesting semester for me. I am usually trapped in technical classes, and with that I rarely take a step back and evaluate my current life because I am stuck in calculating my next math problem. I personally LOVE the technical part of business, but I realize now that I was stuck in a loop. The moments of drudgery definitely have been those times I finished the assignments last minute. For me the worst (and best) have been the elevator pitches. Those are the posts that if I had the option to opt out of I would. But they are also the ones that I learned most from, just because I am not usually comfortable putting myself out there (especially on the web) but I did and I learned a lot about how I can improve myself and my businesses to come. What sticks out to you as ...

by Cynthia Knauf Venture Concept  Opportunity My opportunity exists because of the under-met need of sustainable architecture or parts in houses. My customer could be someone looking to buy a new house, or renovate parts of their house with new landscape/material. More specifically I will be working with the design of space to minimize electric costs. I also want to target large corporations and government buildings because it could bring a larger influence into climate change and harsh environmental changes.  The nature of the need is not super apparent right now. The target that should have the highest need to entertain this opportunity is the government because climate change and changes to their country could have negative effects on their policies. The common person would engage in sustainable architecture because it could provide financial benefits long-term. Corporations should want to be involved because of the growing concern for social responsibility. ...

Exit Strategy I intend to stay with my business for several years. A lot longer than 5 years. If I have a great team of technical experts with me that can make my dream a reality, I would love to continue with my business until I retire. Then I intend to sell to an individual who has the same passion and vision as I have. Why I chose this Exit Strategy I chose this exit strategy because it is something that has many expansion opportunities. Sustainability is something I am extremely passionate about, and I see myself working with it until I physically can’t anymore. How my exit strategy has influenced the other decisions I’ve made in my concept Until now I have not thought about my exit strategy. But yes I do guess it had somewhat of an impact on my decision. I knew I wanted to hit a large topic ever since I started working on it. And this topic is pretty saturated, for good reason, sustainability is on everyone’s mind. So I always knew I would want to work with it for a w...

Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life By: Lisa Chaney About Coco Chanel What surprised you the most? What surprised me the most was that Gabrielle (Coco) didn’t like being in front of customers. Such as when a customer wanted to talk directly to Gabrielle, she would prefer hiding in a cupboard than talking to the customer. She was in no way a good sales person. I relate to that, the notion of having amazing ideas, but getting timid (or just not be good at) talking to customers. That is why she hired her sister, who is a great talker and has a natural charisma.  What about Coco Chanel did you most admire? She was a truly modern woman. She was a trendsetter. Her designs, her thoughts, her way of life was truly modern for the time, and challenged the persuading traditional lifestyle that still existed. She changed fashion. Women were still trapped in their garments, corsets existed and overly designed elaborate heavy outfits were in trend. She used materials that people thought ...

A time this semester that I’ve failed: To relate to this class, throughout the course I failed to specify a problem (a very specific and defined problem). Therefore my solutions were somewhat all over the place. My problem was climate change (yes very broad). This came to bite me in the butt when I would interview people and they would have to ask me what the question was, what the problem was, and what was my solution (especially in the beginning but also still occurs). I tried getting more specific in my second interview; I defined that I wanted to work with sustainable architecture. Yet still super broad. I have the problem that I didn’t know what I wanted to work with specifically (for lack of technical knowledge and research). So the second interview was still a failure, I had tried targeting customers I thought I wanted to work with, and they would give me more broad answers than super specific because I couldn’t define what I wanted to define. Throughout time, and interviews w...

Existing Market What’s Next Through research and thought, I decided the first product I would like to expand through sustainable architecture is working on reducing electricity by opening up areas to the sun. This requires more design understanding. The next step I would like to work with is with different materials to build the setup of the house. Such as in the winter have insulated concrete or use more wood to maintain the internal temperature of the house warm. In warmer locations, work with natural materials (bamboo…) that would keep the house cooler, thus minimizing air conditioning. These materials have to be worked with so they can insulate very well depending on location. Technology is important. Maybe then work with having controls on your phone so you can control the insulated bricks to retain heat or not (for different seasons). Would need to expand on that. Existing Market Interviews Cory Something he believes I could tap into is sustainable landscaping. They ...

Venture Concept  Opportunity My opportunity exists because of the under-met need of sustainable architecture or parts in houses. My customer could be someone looking to buy a new house, or renovate parts of their house with new material. I also want to target large corporations and government buildings because it could bring a larger influence into climate change and harsh environmental changes.  The nature of the need is not super apparent right now. The target that should have the highest need to entertain this opportunity is the government because climate change and changes to their country could have negative effects on their policies. The common person would engage in sustainable architecture because it could provide financial benefits long-term. Corporations should want to be involved because of the growing concern for social responsibility.  Changes in the environment creating this opportunity is the growing concern for climate change and social respon...

Fundraising Abilities: increase capital, in the larger scope of things it will involve maybe dealing with loans, but fundraising helps understand logistics of amount of money needed. Valuable: I need money for my project. It is large scale, and requires money to get money. Rare: Not super rare, a lot of people have fundraised in their lives. Inimitable: many people have done, but it takes a lot of will and energy to fundraise a lot. Non-Substitutable: could substitute somewhat with loans Technological Connections: keep innovation up, so I create an always growing product Valuable: super, don’t want to lag Rare: not super rare, but my team would be loyal to me Inimitable: sure, but still a loyal team is crucial for these connections to reap benefits. Non-Substitutable: I can’t think of something that would substitute the knowledge of technology (that I don’t have) Environmental Awareness + Connections: will provide new knowledge on the area Valuable: it is the ...

The Pitch Reflection I have always been pretty good at memorizing my pitch, because I care for it. So I tried including more passion and excitement and emphasis on my important facts. I also included how I wanted to sell my service, and less random facts. I focused on my service, not sustainability in general. I want to target my audience.  My change I still did not receive much feedback, but I was able to connect on reflections based on the feedback the professor gives in class. I also tried focusing mostly on what I would provide and how, instead of just pitching why people should invest in sustainable architecture. I slowed down my speed and change my formatting to target my service.

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman 1) What was the general theme or argument of the book? The general theme of this book is about our System 1 and System 2 processes of our thinking. System 1 is the elephant and System 2 is the rider. This means that system one is our innate, primal first reaction to stimuli, it is the fight or flight notion. System 2 is the logical, processing and slower “system” because it analyses thought processes with more precision and care than our initial reaction that is System 1. What is interesting is that through our practice and knowledge something that was previously in System 2 could fall back to System 1. This is because eventually that practice will become more routine and will demand a lot less effort.  2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003? This book enhanced primarily how I think. I’m very glad I read this book, because now I take a step back when I have a gut feeling or h...