Nick LaPietra

I chose to read the autobiography on Elon Musk, as I already had read a number of articles about this entrepreneur and have much knowledge about him. 1) What surprised me the most?: Honestly, what surprised me the most was how quickly he dropped out of a very prestigious PhD program at Stanford University. He dropped out very shortly after enrolling to develop a web based company during the early years of internet boom. This company was his first of many successes and sold to create his first small fortune. I was surprised at the chance Musk took in leaving school for the unknown in web development. (chapter 4) 2) What about the entrepreneur do you most admire? I admire Elon's drive to be a success. No matter how much money he made in all of his earlier endeavors, he always put all of the money he made into his latest projects and was willing to risk his name and fortune to succeed. That go getter attitude is why he is who he is. 3) What about the entrepreneur do you least ad...

Segment: For this assignment I decided that my segment is going to be College students from the ages of 18-22, either male or female. I decided that this is the group of people that is most likely going to be interested in a customizable acai bowl experience. I interviewed 3 people following setting the segment: a 18 year old Freshman girl at UF, a 19 year old Sophomore male at UF, and a 22 year old senior girl at UF. Interview 1: The first person I interviewed was a Freshman girl at the University of Florida, she is 18 years old. First, I made sure that she in fact had the need that I am attempting to solve, and she does. She said that she does not enjoy the fact that there is not a customizable option, however she eats the acai that is in the current market because it is the best she cant get. I then asked her what she does when this need arises as far as trying to fix the need. She said that once she looked up other acai options that she could drive to within Gainesville, but the ...

You: My name is Nicholas LaPietra and I am a Junior Economics/History double major at the University of Florida. I would like to attend Law School after I achieve my bachelor's degree, and go into Corporate Law hopefully specializing in mergers and acquisitions. I can see this business playing a major role in my life, if I am able to develop it effectively through these assignments. What are you offering to customers: I am offering customers an option for a completely customizable acai bowl, as opposed to the limited options that are currently available. A place they can go that is solely an acai place as opposed to a healthy food option. Who are you offering it too: My prototypical customer is a 15-30 year old male or female that is looking for a healthy option that is still enjoyable to eat. I have found through numerous interviews that all of my customers have multiple things in common. One of the things they all have in common is that they all workout and try to maintain a ...

Interviews Summary: I decided that it would be best to interview 5 people who feel that they do not have the need that I identified earlier in this class. I felt that this was the best way to gauge the extent of my opportunity and also learn how to make this new opportunity something beneficial for all people, not just ones that already felt the unmet need. I asked many random students within my fraternity and a neighboring sorority if they felt this issue, and I was able to interview the first 5 that said they did not have this issue. Overall, I learned from the interview what I needed to gather based on the guidelines: Who, What, Why. WHO : I have found through my interview that there are people who fall outside of my boundary. First of all, people who have previously tried acai and do not like the taste will undoubtedly fall outside of the circle. Next, People who are allergic to peanuts will be outside of my circle due to the fact that many granolas and acai mixes include peanut ...

Selected Opportunity: Over the past few weeks, I have identified an opportunity within Gainesville that may definitely bear fruit if acted upon. I believe that the current options for Gainesville acai loves is to scarce. There is only one main place that serves quality acai, however this place limits the customer to what he or she may have in their bowl. I feel as though the customer would like more options. Solving the Problem: I believe the way to solve this problem is to open a small restaurant that specializes in selling customizable acai bowls (as opposed to just offering them as an option on a healthy diet menu). I feel as though this new option in the acai market within Gainesville could potentially solve the problem of a drying out interest in what is a huge fad in southern Florida. This place will, hopefully, establish a new center for those who are just trying to have an acai bowl customized to their standards.

1)Opportunity: There is not enough of a choice in the large acai market within Gainesville. There is only one main option and that menu only has two choices of acai on it. 2) The main opportunity here has to do with establishing a place that is solely run on the acai market. Instead of a place being a healthy eating place, with acai as an option, it will be a place that only has acai but in more of a customizable system (similar to that of Chipotle). Who: Acai industry within Gainesville. What: The industries that are currently available do not give customers the extent of the options that they would like to have. Why: There has been no competition to which these current establishments need to revamp their menu to challenge. 3) Testing the Who: Currently the people who share this need are the only ones with it, however I feel as though with a newer establishment within the market in Gainesville will create new customers and acai lovers. Testing the What: I feel as though it i...

Economic Trends: 1) The first economic trend I have noticed is the booming avenues for investment we have noticed across the board. The DOW Jones Industrial is at an all time record high of 26,000 Dollars. This is the highest it has ever been by far. Also, we have seen the recent explosion of the Cryptocurrency market. I have found out about these opportunities on my own, as I am an avid investor in both the stock market and the cryptocurrency market (about 50/50 as far as stake). I believe an opportunity can exist in every avenue of investment right now, because of the fact that there is technology out there that has done very well in making prediction models as far as future graphs. We can almost come very close to predicting how these markets will behave, it is all about having the money to put in and being willing to lose it if it does not go well. I think the person who can really benefit from these opportunities is someone who is looking for a new avenue of income stream. Someon...