28A – Your Exit Strategy

I believe I would sell the business in 5 years if it met the needs of enough customers to be marketable. I dont belive it is a specific timeline but I milestone of growth.

If it takes more than 5 years and is fairly self sufficient then I may let the business grow naturally. Then I may consider who shoild take it over later down the road.

Knowing I woukd sell the business does change how I make decisions. I would rather make a decisions now than wait a year to have the perfect plan. It is important to scale to a certain size and have other minds in the mix. Once at that size then you can accomplish much more and faster. Until then each hurdle may take forever and prevent growth.

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

What surprised you the most?

That he was willing to fund a failing business through the worst economic time.

What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

That he did stop at one part of an idea. He was will to branch out and build the various pieces of his puzzle for the future.

What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

He did not balance social life and his quest to build the business.

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

He lost all of his primary investors and could not raise more money for tesla so he funded himself.

What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

He doesn't let any concept or relative impossibility prevent him from moving forward.

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

He read 10 hours a day as a kid. I really worry about how that was viewed by his parents. I would have pushed my kid outside.

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

1. What do you miss most about the early years?
2. Do you have any people that you have trainied up to take over when you're gone?

What do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

It is clear no other person has worked harder and also executed. Many others may have worked as hard but the bet result is not the same. I believe you work on the items that produce the most results. Working all day on laundry will not buy you a new car but will make you smell nice.

26A – Celebrating Failure

Failure comes daily in what I do for work. Software is bever perfect and my job is often to help find solutions to odd workflow scenarios that our customers need to improve. The hard part is if you give the customer a technically sound solution then it is viewed as too complex. Similarly if you give them too simple of a solution then it is not viewed as worth the cost. So failing is not often from your perspective but it subjective to whom is using your solution.

I enjoy findimg the sweet spot and thanks to this class have a solid picture of how to go into business for myself. It is not a crystal clear picture but I see enough to take the first big risk.