Last week, one of our classes was focused on entrepreneurs and startup companies.  Interestingly enough, just yesterday I read an article that connected with these concepts.  The article was about Shnarped Hockey, an app created by a recent graduate from UBC.  Shnarped Hockey, “connects professional hockey players and fans . . . the core feature, ‘the pound’, allows fans to send players a virtual fist-bump in real time after a game well-played” (“Ubc grad scores,” 2013).  Through this app, you can also watch game highlights and read related articles.  The founders of the app even appeared on an episode of Dragon’s Den!  “Together with his co-founder, Kyle Hagel, Sproat went on the show asking the investors for $100,000 for ten per cent equity in their company.  They walked away with $250,000” (“Ubc grad scores,” 2013).  Cole Nakatani, one of our guest speakers, spoke to us, and an interesting thing he said was that not a lot of the successful entrepreneurs grow up knowing that they are going to start a successful company.  He said there is many different career paths an entrepreneur can take, and this article provides a great example of an unlikely path, as both Hagel and Sproat played hockey for the minor league teams of NHL franchises, and have now successfully created a startup.  Hearing and reading about Sauder grads like Dustin Sproat, Cole Nakatani and Brian Wong has taught me that becoming a successful entrepreneur is indeed possible.

Ubc grad scores big on cbc’s dragon’s den. (2013, October 31). Retrieved from http://news.ubc.ca/2013/10/31/ubc-mba-grad-scores-big-on-cbcs-dragons-den/

Image: (2013). Shnarped Hockey [Web Graphic]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/shnarped

I was reading Jiya Dassan’s Blog, and one of her posts caught my attention.  I found her blog post on Gillette creating a cheaper razor for men in India interesting because it perfectly demonstrates something that our instructors and teaching assistant have been preaching the entire semester, which is that all of the building blocks of the business model canvas are tied together, and if you change one of them, then other blocks are going to be altered as well.  This post demonstrates this because it shows how changing the customer segment aspect of the business model canvas from Canadian and American men to men in India has resulted in a change of a lot of the other building blocks as well.  For example, Gillette had to change its value proposition because; “men in India usually shave less often, have thicker hair, and are more price sensitive than Americans”.  The change in the value proposition also lead to a change in the cost structure segment, as cheaper razors for consumers means Gillette must lower their costs as well, so their margins don’t take a huge hit.  I personally believe that if a company changes one aspect of the business model canvas, but does not alter the other connected blocks, then the company will not be successful in achieving their goals.

Gillette Fusion ProGlide Challenge [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://moodbuddy.finesoft.com.sg/events/view/18

I recently read one of Amy Lio’s blog posts, and I found the story she chose to discuss very interesting.  I found it very interesting because it connects with one of the course concepts we recently learned about, which is People, Culture & Teams.  In that class, Danielle Van Jaarsveld talked to us, and something she said that really caught my attention was that, “it is not about keeping employees happy, it is about keeping them motivated”.  I agree with this statement; however, I also believe that the motivation must be done in a certain way; a way that improves the human resource management of a company, which is, according to Danielle, “the lifecycle of an employees relationship with a firm from hiring to the employee leaving”.  According to Amy’s blog, Aritzia motivates its employees by making it known to them that they are, “expected to sell at least $500 worth of merchandise every hour in order to keep their jobs and perhaps be promoted”.  I find that while this strategy may motivate employees, it is very detrimental to the relationship between Aritzia and its employees.  I think that Aritzia should instead find strategies that do not include threatening to fire its employees if they do not meet a certain sales mark, because with this current model their employees are motivated for all the wrong reasons.

Bellamy-Willms, M. (Producer). 7 Things We Can Learn From Aritzia’s CEO [Web Graphic]. Retrieved from http://shoppertunity.com/suburbia_shopper/7-things-we-can-learn-from-aritzias-ceo/

          A few weeks ago in class, we talked about Financial Markets, specifically about technology companies and their I.P.O’s.  The company we discussed the most was Facebook, and the mistake they made by overpricing their I.P.O, and many people wondered if Twitter would do the same.  It turns out that Twitter learned from Facebook’s mistake, as their I.P.O was not overpriced.  Twitter’s I.P.O was set at $26 a share, and on November 7^th 2013, when Twitter hit the stock exchange, shares were being traded at $45.10.  However, I read a very interesting blog post by Vauhini Vara on The New Yorker, who provides a completely different perspective on the situation.  Vara says, “Twitter made a different error by underpricing its I.P.O.  Twitter’s mistake, actually, might have been worse”.   This blog post was very interesting and useful to me because originally, after constantly reading and hearing about the mistake Facebook made, I only looked at I.P.O pricing from one point of view, and that was that overpricing an I.P.O is a mistake.  However, after reading what Vara had to say, I have come to the realization that underpricing an I.P.O is a mistake as well.  This is because Twitter only got $26 a share, which generated them $1.82 billion.  However, the fact that at opening, shares were being traded at $45.10 and then closed at $44.90 on its first day of trading shows that there was much more money out there for the taking.

Vara, V. (2013, November 09). Who gained from twitter’s underpriced i.p.o.? . Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2013/11/who-gained-from-twitters-underpriced-ipo.html

Popper, B. (2013, November 07). Twitter’s stock closes at $44.90 a share, up 73 percent on its first day. Retrieved from http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/7/5076484/twitter-ipo-twtr-public-offering-stock

Wall Street Graphics. (Designer). (2013, November 04). Twitter bumps its IPO price to $23-$25 per share [Web Graphic]. Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57610649-93/twitter-bumps-its-ipo-price-to-$23-$25-per-share/

One of the companies we have continuously talked about in class is Netflix.  We have read and analyzed their SWOT’s during different stages in their development, examined the growth of their stock, and discussed internal and external events that have had major impacts on its success.  We have also talked about how the emergence of Netflix and the online streaming industry has essentially killed the video rental industry.  As it turns out, Blockbuster, the company that used to be so successful is finally giving up, as the few still existing stores in the United States are shutting down, while Netflix continues to grow.  One of the main reasons why I think Netflix has become so successful, and will continue to be successful in the future is because of its management information systems.  As discussed in class, management information systems help companies make decisions.  One aspect of this is customer relationship management.  Netflix uses management information systems to make their platform more personalized for their users.  Netflix uses management information systems to capture data about their users (based on what they have previously watched) and then uses this data to recommend shows and movies they think their users will be interested in.  This makes their users feel more welcomed on the platform, which in turn prevents them from using different alternatives like Amazon Instant Video or Hulu.

Last us blockbuster video rental stores to close. (2013, November 06). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24844350

Kirschenbaum, D. (Designer). (21, March 2013). How to Watch USA Netflix Streaming in Asia [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.flashrouters.com/blog/2013/03/21/watch-netflix-in-asia/