Week 1 Journal Entry
Questions
1. Am I an entrepreneur?
2. What is success?
3. Am I a self-starter? How well do I follow through on my ideas?
4. How does ODU view entrepreneurship?
5. What is my role in this ecosystem?
Answers
1. At this current moment in my life, I am not an entrepreneur. I have the potential to be an
entrepreneur, but my current issue would be myself. I tend to procrastinate at the wrong
time and give up at the first inconvenience that may arise. The goals I have set for this
year will help me address the inconsistencies within myself than I will be able to
determine if I have what it takes to become an entrepreneur.
2. Success honestly depends on the individual and how they define what success means to
them. To me success is achieving a goal for yourself regardless of how big or small it
may seem to others. Success is what motivates many of us to push forward with life when
things may be hard, and it also allows us to determine where we want to be in life and
how we plan to get there.
3. I am most definitely a self-starter! I believe if you cannot motivate yourself, you will not
be able to others. I am also a single parent, so I believe this is another reason why I am a
self-starter. I have someone depending on me to figure things out as issues may arise. I
would say I am not as good as following through on my ideas I tend to play it safe and
give up once the road starts to become a little bumpy, but this year I plan on giving up
this bad habit and dealing with issues head-on.
4. I would say ODU views entrepreneurship as a top priority. The university offers many
valuable resources for entrepreneurs/future entrepreneurs such as courses, its own
division “EED”, and many other programs for student entrepreneurs and future
entrepreneurs. This allows many entrepreneurs the opportunity for growth and progress
within their companies as well as their personal and professional lives.
5. I have yet to pinpoint my exact role within the ecosystem, but I believe my role involves
helping other people. I do know for a fact that I am a blessed individual and I’ve been
placed on this earth for a reason, but at this moment I cannot honestly say what my role
in the ecosystem is. I do know that I would like to help people, I’m just not sure what that
would look like outside of the things I do on a daily basis.
1. What is design thinking?
2. How has design thinking influenced a product I use?
3. What are the connections between opportunities and planning?
4. What opportunities have I missed?
5. Can a successful venture be unethical?
1. Design thinking will provide you with a different perception about
how you respond/react to a problem. Design thinking is a creative
way to approach problems in today’s society. This allows problem
solving to directly depend upon actions rather than the normal
discussions to improve upon something. Rather than “talking”
about how to go about the problem, the actions that you employ
will effectively help you find a resolution to the problem at hand.
2. Design thinking has influenced many products that I use, that I
honestly did not know even used design thinking. The biggest one
that I know of would be Uber eats. Uber wanted to create a
product that would address the needs of each city and came up
with one of my favorite products “Uber Eats.” This was created by
learning the experiences of restaurant workers, delivery partners,
and the consumers. The team designers traveled to different
markets to conduct interviews, built prototypes, and conducted
research to evolve and transform their app and expand the
experience of food delivery.
3. Planning leads to better outcomes and a higher success rate which
leads to unforeseen opportunities. I do believe there is a balance
between planning and opportunities, without one the other could
not exist. Planning leads to a better perspective and understanding
of a product or an opportunity.
procrastination, fear, and the opinion of others. I am an older
college student, and I honestly could have completed my education
sooner than now, but everything happens for a reason. I did join
the military, but I joined as enlisted and had the opportunity to
become an officer but due to fear I missed out on the opportunity
to advance in my career and move to a different area.
5. Yes, successful ventures can be unethical. Honestly, some of the
most popular ventures are actually unethical. An unethical venture
in my opinion entails anything that falls below minimum standards
for the business code of conduct. Which could be mistreatment of
people or animals, exploiting workers, etc.
Journal Entries: Week 3
Questions
1. Why do ethics matter in entrepreneurship?
2. How does my own personal budget related to an entrepreneurship budget?
3. Why do we need budgets?
4. What is social entrepreneurship?
5. What are the most significant legal issues entrepreneurs face?
Answers
1. Ethics is an important part of entrepreneurship especially in today’s society. Ethics within
business ensures that the company has a standard set of procedures to guide them through any mishaps as well as decisions that may occur. This is also needed to gain the trust of stakeholders and even the customer, because no one likes to do bad business.
2. As of right now my personal budgeting skills aren’t where they should be, but I don’t believe my
personal budget should look anything close to that of an entrepreneur at this current stage. I do
believe these two matters should be handled separately in order to have an accurate account of
what the business expenses are in comparison to my personal expenses.
3. We need budgets to help center us and to create overall financial stability. A budget also helps us
keep track of what is coming in and going out in regards to our funds, and helps us in areas we
need to improve on.
4. Social entrepreneurship is a business in which entrepreneurs develop and finance solutions that
address issues within the community. Basically, this is a business built to serve a good cause.
5. Businesses face many legal issues and within today’s society I have noticed numerous issues that
I haven’t noticed until this year. Many include copyright infringement, non-compliance with
laws, discrimination, trademark issues, and taxes.
Week 4 Journal Entries
Questions
1. Why do entrepreneurs get in trouble with the law?
2. What does psychology have to do with marketing?
3. What types of marketing sway my decisions?
4. How can I pitch ideas better?
5. What are my strengths and weaknesses in pitching?
Answers
1. Many entrepreneurs get in trouble with the law, for numerous reasons. The first being that they
truly have not prepared for what to may arise in the future and what to expect in the present
moment. For example, many fail to follow the basic corporate compliance laws governing their
area of business, by trying to cut corners or rush their overall product which will create many
legal issues in the future.
2. Psychology plays a very important role in marketing. Using psychology within marketing allows
many to understand the thought process a customer may go through. This allows business owners
to get a feel for what a customer may feel, think, or even the way they make decisions. It can also
help form the basis for developing a strategic marketing plan for the company or even their
product.
3. The marketing that seems to sway my decisions is the ones that promote their product by
producing a well-rounded campaign and even an endorsement from a celebrity. I also tend to
notice the colors, packaging, and the overall “neatness” of the product.
4. I can pitch ideas better by actually trying to pitch an idea. Many may believe it is easy it’s basic
promotion, but it is more in-depth than that. Pitching an idea is a process that starts out with a
basic problem or story. From here I should have a clear and precise resolution in my mind about
what is needed. Then begin explaining my idea as if I’m talking to a close family member or
friend. I could also write down any critique I receive from anyone I have pitched my ideas too.
5. My strengths in pitching would be that I tend pay attention to detail, I’m not afraid of being
criticized, and I am willing to learn. My weaknesses would be I tend to overthink things that are
not of importance, I get anxious until it is time to perform then I am fine.
Week 5: Journal Entries
Questions
1. What are the connections between the disciplines addressing entrepreneurship at ODU?
2. Is entrepreneurship an art or science?
3. How is failure good?
4. What have I learned from failing?
5. What ethical issues might arise related to what I am working on?
Answers
1. Entrepreneurship at ODU is addressed through the business major as well as other
disciplines. The Strome College of business offers an entrepreneurship program and courses.
that specializes in entrepreneurship such as this course. The College of Engineering and
Technology also has an entrepreneurship program dedicated to the technology startups.
2. This honestly depends on the person who is asked and what their perception may interpret it
to be. In my opinion I believe it is an art. I say this because the level of creativity, skill, and
risk-taking one must possess in order to make their business a success is an art within itself.
3. Failure is good for numerous reasons. It shows you what areas you need to focus on as well
as what areas you were successful in in-spite of the failure. It also, provides you with a new
and improved blueprint for your next opportunity to be successful. Failing to me isn’t
considered a failure it’s a lesson that will ultimately lead you to your greatest blessing.
4. Failing has taught me that although I may say I am ready for something, that isn’t
necessarily true, especially without the proper planning and preparation in order to
accomplish that goal. Failure has also showed me what areas I need to improve on as well as
overall patience.
5. In today’s society many ethical issues may arise as we see with companies all over the
world. A few ethical issues that may arise that I have seen increase over the years include
discrimination, harassment, social media rants, and whistleblowing.
Brittney Hines
Week 6 Journal Entries
Questions
1. Describe five businesses or non-profits that have been created in my field.
2. What is your overall perspective on the entrepreneurship experience?
3. How did the entrepreneurship prepare or not prepare you to be a competitive candidate for vacant
positions?
4. What suggestions do you have to improve the experience?
5. What’s next for you?
Answers
1. Five business or non-profits that have been created in my field are as follows:
Cybercrime Support Network: is a public-private, nonprofit collaboration created to meet
the challenges facing millions of individuals and businesses affected by cybercrime.
https://cybersecurityventures.com/cybersecurity-associations/
National Cybersecurity Association: is a non-profit organization focused on providing
cybersecurity education, awareness and advocacy to small businesses.
https://nationalcybersecuritysociety.org/who-we-are/
National Cybersecurity Alliance: is a non-profit organization on a mission to create a
more secure, interconnected world. https://staysafeonline.org/
KnowBe4: Business that provides security awareness training.
https://www.knowbe4.com/
FireEye or Trellix: is a business that adapts at the speed of threat actors and delivers
advanced cyber threat intelligence. https://www.trellix.com/en-us/about.html
2. My overall perspective on the entrepreneurship experience has been nerve-wracking. I am a
person who has to have everything planned out and in entrepreneurship I don’t think that is
possible, because an issue will consistently arise but that is the cost of doing business. I wasn’t
too pleased with how my group communicated or the lack thereof, but I did learn a few valuable
lessons along the way. In order to succeed you have to be as strong and as flexible as your
teammates or you will have struggles in which we did. This was my first time working with a
group as well, all of my work, personal and professional has always been done independently and
working with a group has shown me my area of weakness. I wish I could say my experience was
the greatest, but it wasn’t it did teach me some new things so I am grateful for that overall.
3. I don’t believe that entrepreneurship has prepared me to become a competitive candidate. I think
that is something that is instilled in you when it comes positions and business overall. Do I want
this as much as the next person? Or am I willing to do more than the next person to secure my
role? I don’t think I’ve reached that mindset at this present time, only because business isn’t my
immediate focus.
4. The only suggestion I would have to improve my overall experience would have been having the
opportunity to opt out of the group project and do an individual project if the group members
weren’t willing to put in 100% of the effort that was required for the project. Other than that I
enjoyed the experience! Learning something new that I can actually use in my current position
helped me a lot so I wouldn’t say the experience needed to be improved overall just one minor
thing.
5. Well, I’m scheduled to graduate on May 6th, but I am a bit nervous about it mainly this course has
been the most stressful for me so I’m a little worried. However, taking this course did teach me a
lot of things that I feel will benefit me in my personal and professional life so I am looking into
getting my MBA. I found four programs (Howard, William & Mary, ODU, and the University of
Maryland) that I am interested in attending starting in the fall so I am hoping all goes well and I’ll
be able to begin that. I am also interested in a new position at my current employer so I took a
leap of faith and applied. So I think my career path will be changing in the next few months.
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