Hammished

1) I found the words 'hammered' and 'famished' on the front of an old Men's Health magazine I found at my mom's house. I will bring these words together to form the word 'hammished'.

2) Hammished will be defined as the phenomenon of contracting boundless hunger after one becomes inebriated.

3) I used this word with family, friends, and online liberally.

4) My family and friends thought it was pretty funny, as it is a situation that many of them have experienced during their lives. Saying things in the comments section is risky business and when I used hammished there, I expected to receive some brutal and hilarious feedback (I did). However, I was hugely surprised to discover that most were generally receptive, if not outright dedicated to this word. I think that as it is a common experience, most can at least relate to the word. I think it fun to say, fun to listen to, and sums up the situation quite well. I have hope of this catching on and am pleased of this potential word to our lexicon. 

Halfway Reflection

1) This class has put me in several positions that I do not believe that I have ever been in before. Namely, approaching strangers to ask them questions about a product in today's extremely divisive college atmosphere. It seems that if you inhale oxygen within a five feet radius of much of today's college students, they are offended in a way that I do not understand. It seems that while I was in the Navy, the country's fracture between its citizens has propagated in a way that threatens our democracy. What does this have to do with tenaciousness? Approaching people that you can tell do not want anything to do with you is a struggle. 

2) For one of the exercises, I found a classmate that was willing to be interviewed, as she is a large proponent of healthy fast food. I began my second question with "As a female college student...", which I thought was an innocuous way to begin a sentence. I was then berated for the next five minutes about my role as a misogynist and how I was making the world a less friendly place. What makes it worse is that I crafted the question (had I been allowed to finish) the way I did because I believe it was the best way to get the most useful information from a potential customer. I cannot imagine how those words can cause someone to behave like this person did. I can say that this did cause me to give up for the particular assignment. This class has made me realize how little I enjoy being a college student and how much I cannot wait to graduate!

3) Firstly, I would recommend thick skin. I have spent a lot of time in the military taking abuse from a lot of people, but nothing like this. 

I would also recommend approaching people with a huge smile on your face. That seems to be the biggest factor in my success in getting people to agree to the interviews. 

Lastly, I would suggest anything that is useful to you for overcoming social anxiety. Never in my life have I found myself nervous to talk to someone, but at this point I do not know what is ok to say and what is not. Hopefully those in future classes have an easier time with needlessly rude people than I do. 

Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life? 

I am Chris Campbell and I am an Environmental Geosciences major and a veteran of the Navy. I have come to believe that people that spend their lives helping others live longer and happier lives. It is important for me to help other, as I believe that I can. I want to focus this energy on something that will improve the quality of life for as many people as possible and I believe that my idea will indeed fulfill that. If I were to start this business, I would certainly no longer be going to law school, as I would want to get the concept out as quickly as possible. 

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

Currently, our fast food options are limited almost exclusively to the unhealthy category. With people getting busier and less time in the day to cook meals, I believe that the need for healthy, fast, and available meals is going to increase dramatically as time goes on and more data about health comes out. I intend to make the health food McDonald's in every since of the description.

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

I believe that this will be most useful for students and young families on the go. Both groups have limited time and desire to consume nutritious meals. It is certainly not limited to these groups, as they do not have the monopoly on being busy. 

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 

More and more studies continue to come out that suggest that fast food is simply not food at all, with the word poison being used by many. In addition to it being terrible for you, these restaurants source their food from the cheapest spot, which usually further condemns the quality, as well as being part of the industrial agriculture system that will bleed the freshwater from this planet if left unchecked. My restaurants will offer consumers an escape from both of those situations, as the business model is based around sourcing food from local, sustainably-grown farmers. This will also increase the demand for local farmers, establishing a symbiotic relationship between the restaurant and its food providers.

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 

There are no major chain restaurants with this combination of concepts. My restaurants are the way of the future. 

In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others. 

I think the kinks lie with sourcing the food and providing a reliable menu. The latter part will likely be impossible, as certain foods have short seasons and the integrity and quality of the product can never be in question. Establishing a relationship with 'adventurous' eaters that will enjoy the rotating menu will be key, as well as establishing a festive, exploratory atmosphere. Having said that, I think that a college town is the perfect place to launch a proof-of-concept and that the customers are there. 

Reading Reflection No. 1

Andrew Carnegie by David Nasaw (Week 7)

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most? I am always surprised when I here that someone obscenely rich gives away their fortune.  
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? I admired his problem solving strategies, speficially when dealing with the famous strike of 1892.
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? I wish he did not sell off his interest in steel to Rockefeller. It removed a lot of his ability to make positive changes. 
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? He dealt with several catastrophes during his life, including the Johnstown Flood of 1889 and the aforementioned strike.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? He was very sure of his life philosophy. He believed life is split onto three phases and you should work toward the goals of those phases. 

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. Although it expressed what a difficult decision it was, selling his stake in U.S. Steel to the Rockefellers. I understand why he did it, but it is not the choice that I would have made.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why? What do you think of Pittsburgh today and would you change you mind about selling U.S. Steel?

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion? He was an immensely self motivated. One of his most famous quotes is  “People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.” I believe that we today lack self-accountability in a way that has never existed on this planet before and that we could learn a lot from men like this.