Wednesday, March 23, 2016

My Unfair Advantage

Resources:
  1. Computer Science background and programming knowledge
    •  This resource is extremely valuable, especially in the context of a business venture that is based around a software application. Computer Science is a field that is in high demand by other fields. While there are many programmers and Computer Scientists out there, they are more uncommon than most people think. This also ties in to how non-substitutable this resource is. If I did not have any development and programming knowledge, I would have to hire a programmer to bring my ideas to fruition. This would bring additional costs to the venture since speaking from experience, most programmers don't work for free.
  2. Accumulated savings
    •  While this resource is very valuable with respect to obtaining capital to fund a new venture, it's really not very unique or rare. Many individuals have savings (maybe not college students specifically but I'm considering the population as a whole here) and I would not want to necessarily take on all the risk of a venture by funding it myself. This resource is highly substitutable. Banks exist for this very reason.
  3. Multiple sources of income
    •  Once again, in terms of the financial health of a new venture, this resource is very valuable. Multiple sources of income mean that I can stop receiving income from one source and be fine in the long run. Realistically speaking however, loans and investors would most likely be the best option for funding a venture (for the most part).
  4. Bilingual (can speak Spanish fluently)
    •  Having the ability to speak more than one language is extremely valuable, no matter what the languages are. In the case of being able to speak both English and Spanish, I have the opportunity to very easily make my venture accessible to the Hispanic market. While this is not an extremely rare resource (especially in Latin-American countries), most individuals in the United States are not fluent in Spanish.
  5. Professional Network
    •  This is a resource that is important in terms of social capital and how easy it would be to receive outside help when needed. I have had the opportunity to work at several different companies which corresponds to having met a large amount of professionals. While this may not be an extremely rare resource (everyone has a social network after all) it is certainly hard to replace.
  6. New Car (2016 Kia Forte)
    •  Recently I had to purchase a new car in order to replace my previous vehicle. While this resource may seem strange at first, I include it in this list because it signifies a reliable form of transportation. Many people take cars for granted and fail to realize how many opportunities would be missed without a reliable and consistent form of transportation. This resource is very inimitable and not that rare, but it still constitutes an asset that can only help in a new venture.
  7. Willingness to dedicate time outside of the normal work week
    •  While I find that many people claim to follow this mindset and consequently label it a resource, most of those people don't actually follow up with their claim. I work 23 hours a week while being a full time student, which only makes me available either right after work or during the weekend. Anyone can obtain this resource and work hard when others aren't willing to but it takes a large amount of perseverance to work at this.
  8. A drive to succeed and persevere at a large opportunity cost
    •  This resource is very similar to resource (7) with the exception that it pertains more to the opportunity cost of working hard. Persevering and working that "extra amount" to succeed really comes down to staying focused on the task at hand, even when there are other more desirable things to do. Once again, while anyone has the ability to copy this resource, most people will have to condition themselves to working hard when needed to benefit from their work later on.
  9. Computer game knowledge
    •  Some people may consider this resource to be extraneous and irrelevant, but together with resource (1) this resource represents a significant amount of value. Most ventures that I foresee myself involved in are related to technology and the culture that is inherently a part of technology. This resource is neither rare, hard to copy (all you have to do is play games for a long time), but it does give a slight advantage when developing a business centered around a software product.
  10. Ability to easily move to location of greatest opportunity
    • This resource is slightly different from the resource described in bullet point (6). Here I am describing the fact that as a young college student, I don't have any extremely strong ties to where I am located. If a new venture required me to move from one end of the country to the other, it would be a change that I would definitely consider. This resource is directly related to how many familial responsibilities an individual possesses and the fact is that the older a person gets the less likely they will be to have access to this resource. It's always possible to create opportunities but very little can replace the flexibility of being able to move when needed. 

Top Resource:
 My top resource is definitely resource (1). In my opinion, a Computer Science background coupled with programming knowledge is exceedingly useful in today's economy. Most venture's that I set out to start will be based around software, and the ability to create the product myself is, in my opinion, indispensable.
 

4 comments:

  1. Sebastian,
    You seem like quite the entrepreneur!! I am very impressed with your resources and have no doubt that these resources will greatly help your company in succeeding. Your computer science background will most definitely set you apart and the fact that you are bilingual will give you another resource that many others will not have. You seemed to have thought out your business very well and have many resources that you can bring to the table. Best of luck with the rest of the semester! Thank you for sharing! Feel free to check out my blog at http://blessingsinablog.blogspot.com/2016/03/my-unfair-advantage.html

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  2. Hey Sebastian,
    Great resources! I agree with you that your most important resource is your computer science background. Not only will this allow you to make the product exactly as you pictured it, but you will save a lot of money doing it yourself instead of hiring and paying someone else to do it. Your car resource was interesting- it's very true that it's important to have! My own list focused a lot on my interpersonal skills. You can check it out here: http://nicmcq.blogspot.com/2016/03/my-unfair-advantage.html

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  3. Good evening Sebastian,
    You have quite the set of skills here and I absolutely agree with your ability in computer programming/sciences is extremely valuable however I must say there there is another skill lurking that might be even better. Being bilingual in this day and age is an amazing combination that will improve all ventures tenfold. And I'm not diminishing any of your advantages because they are most definitely all valuable. You are in a prime spot to start your venture and I wish you the best of luck. If you're interested, check out my blog (I would post the link but there is a computer issue that I can't seem to fix and can't post the link)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good evening Sebastian,
    You have quite the set of skills here and I absolutely agree with your ability in computer programming/sciences is extremely valuable however I must say there there is another skill lurking that might be even better. Being bilingual in this day and age is an amazing combination that will improve all ventures tenfold. And I'm not diminishing any of your advantages because they are most definitely all valuable. You are in a prime spot to start your venture and I wish you the best of luck. If you're interested, check out my blog (I would post the link but there is a computer issue that I can't seem to fix and can't post the link)

    ReplyDelete