Week 5 Reading Reflection

One thing I guess I really didn't analyze or think about in real depth was the fact that there are so many ways that a venture can fail. There are so many problems that range from internal problems, start-up problems, external problems and the list goes on. When you think about these problems there are so many that are out of your control as an entrepreneur. For example when the housing market crashed many Realtors who just started their businesses couldn't have foreseen that happening. Even people who were putting their house on the market suffered losses because of this but there was nothing they could have done to change the outcome of the crash.   

The only aspect of the text that I had wish was a little clearer came in the 6.3 table. There are a bunch of formulas listed with the title of the formula next to them but I wish there were examples given with these. This would help put the formulas in context of when they would be used and how they add value to a company individually. Just having formulas listed doesn't help the reader put in context the use of the formula. 

When looking at the "Pitfalls in Selecting New Ventures" section of the text I think there is another category that could be added and that would be the market opportunity. I think in the interviews that we have done on our opportunities the discovery has played a vital role in determining whether there is a market for our product or not. If you just assume or blindly walk into an venture without knowing this information it could be a mistake. Do you think this could be added as one of the subtitles of this section? 

The other question that I would ask the author is in regards to the feasibility criteria approach. Some of the questions listed in this section seem very specific, for example "Does the product have potential for very high margins?". When you are thinking of launching a product are these things that are really of importance to ask? I understand making money is important to a business but it doesn't have to make you a millionaire. It seems as though if the answer to this approach is no than it is implied that it might not be a good product. Is that a misunderstanding or really what this approach implies? 

I feel as though the author presented the material, except for the few things listed above, in a clear and understandable way. There wasn't anything that glaringly seemed to be incorrect in this chapter's material.