Many developing countries and areas that suffer from natural disasters, unstable economy, or war supported by the United Nations are later able to develop more stabilized lifestyles. Although the United Nations improves the lives of the people around the world, they are not able to personally help a specific group of people in need.

The Arc Initiative, “a two-way exchange of knowledge and ideas [that] creates and sustains long-term relationships,” and social enterprise, on the other hand, consists of a small group of students and leaders that help young social entrepreneurs to build business and economic knowledge. Through this experience, these individuals will eventually learn and grow as leading entrepreneurs, eventually influencing their community. The Arc and social enterprise definitely has a more personal help and a long-lasting relationship.

The United Nations is a great help in funding areas in need. However, sometimes, the world doesn’t just need an organization with money to solve their problems. Some problems in the world need leaders that are willing to give up their time and effort to help individuals learn and improve business skills, in hopes that they will be able to achieve their goal as successful social entrepreneurs.

Reference and image:
http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Global_Reach/ARC_Initiative/Programs/Student_Internships

Just like the title, this article emphasizes about the fact that any data is useless if people do not analyze it. Monster, one of the biggest job recruiting websites, collects unbelievable amount of data; however, the recruiters were not organizing  the information the right way, which made the data useless (Borzykowsi). This article reminded me of one of the Sauder alumni who came to speak to us during our lecture on November 4.

Paul Davidescu, one of the founders of Tangoo, shared with us how the pocket concierge provides a service for users by gathering all sorts of data, such as ratings, reviews, and photos, of restaurants into one app. By having choice functions of occasion and mood, Tangoo provides a more personalized and succinct recommendation to the users. Although many apps that recommend restaurants have already been launched, Tangoo is definitely more attractive and has an advantage in this service industry, providing the special functions stated above. Tangoo is a great example of showing a way to use big data to interpret and figure out the perfect social outing location for users. This being the case, Davidescu and his team were able to establish Tangoo successfully.

“Big data is a problem if you can’t interpret it” definitely speaks the truth, whether it be working for a company or even during daily life. Being able to analyze given information is clearly one of the skills companies look for when hiring new employees – why wouldn’t they want to hire someone that will help them improve and develop and be one step closer to being a leading firm!

References:
Borzykowski, Bryan. “Big Data Is a Big Problem If You Can’t Interpret It.” The Globe and Mail. N.p., 22 Oct. 2013. Web. 06 Nov. 2014. <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-managing/leadership/taming-the-data-monster-is-a-growing-challenge/article14964625/>.
https://tangoo.ca/

Images:
https://blog.tangoo.ca/content/images/2014/Mar/Welcome_to_Tangoo.png

In a blog post by Seth Godin, he mentioned how he also started out his publishing business in a dorm-room at his university. Godin reminds us that we should try exposing ourselves to fresh and fun ideas rather than to only look at the serious nature of business and continuously worry about failing at it. The way for poor college students (or anyone) to make money is to build something that we can at least make normal profit to produce again for the next consumer. We won’t be making big bucks but at least we will be building something that might lead us somewhere in the near future.

Reading this short blog post by Godin reminded me of Tom Dobrzanski, a Sauder graduate and entrepreneur. Dobrzanski, also a college student with a tight budget back in 2002, started a small recording studio in the basement of his parents’ house. Reading a blog post of Seth Godin’s and also meeting a Sauder alumnus in person helped me to widen my perspectives to those starting businesses as young university students. When someone’s really passionate in something and is willing to sacrifice a few days of the week, building a business might actually work! Reading more and more about entrepreneurs inspired me to find what I’m truly interested in and to, one day, find a job or start a business while doing the things I love.