23A Venture's Capital Assessment

My 10 Greatest Assets 

Below, I have listed 

1. Social Media Wizardry 
• I believe that this is a very valuable skill to have in today's business world. I have worked with other small businesses in the past to build and improve their social media and think that I have an intricate understanding of the platforms that will allow me to reach far more people and have more of an impact on them through my content strategies. I think that this skill is potentially inimitable but can't easily be done. Anything a company does can be replicated, but if a competing company doesn't understand or keep up with changing trends or social media algorithms it is easy to gain a consistent edge over them. It really isn't substitutable by any other resources given that my financial capital is limited so something as manageable as Social Media should be kept in-house in my opinion. 
2. Digital Advertisement Strategy 
• Something else that I believe will play a core role in my business model is my knowledge in digital advertising systems such as Google Adwords and Facebook ads. Having this knowledge can gain me a very competitive advantage over my competition. Once again, because my financial capital is tight, I am being forced to leverage these skills to market my services and products to the audience I have identified as most practical and vulnerable to this issue without relying on an outside agency to help me with this, meaning my costs can stay even lower! 
3. Student Population at the University of Florida 
• Earlier in the course, I had identified that my peers and fellow classmates are the perfect testing grounds for my ideas for a Dorm Decoration service. While I plan to target mainly high school seniors, having a number of different dorm layouts and current college students to get feedback on designs and setups is hugely valuable and something that no other current company in the marketplace can copy! 
4. Lots of Potential Interns 
• While any company can hire interns, being a UF student based startup company means that the Gator Nation will be backing it! Many students that I know would much rather work for a UF startup than any other company out there! This is really valuable to myself and my company given that students might be willing to work for very cheap and help us grow simply for the experience and the idea of working on a Gator startup project. I think that this asset might be hard to replicate by other companies, but higher pay availability or more benefits could be an enticing bid to a potential intern to move to another company. 
5. Knowledge of Web Design 
• In my prior work experience, I have had the opportunity to build multiple websites and gain lots of practice with various web design platforms such as WordPress and Wix. I think that while I won't necessarily be building the site myself, I will be able to have a better understanding of the language associated with the project and will thus be able to better convey my ideas and visions over to the designers. This is a very replicable skill and I really don't think it will give me any type of super advantage in the marketplace but will only make my vision more possible. 
6. Meaningful connections in the industry 
• A couple weeks back we identified three valuable connections in the industry and I feel that having these connections as well as other entrepreneurial connections through UF experiences gives me an awesome asset. Having connections to people who have built businesses similar to mine or have the knowledge to take something from zero to hero is a great contact to have. Being able to call on mentors or friends and receive advice that could help you avoid pitfalls in the industry is a really great resource that is ultimately going to save a lot of time and frustration. Again, I feel that while my connections are valuable, I think that most larger companies that I'm competing with have their own connections and set of people they turn to for advice. If anything I think that my connections will only aid me in scaling up to a larger and more competitive scale faster than I would be able to do so on my 
7. Past Startup Experience 
• I believe that my previous history in entrepreneurship mentioned in my Napkin Idea articles will play a key role in the success of my business. Having previous knowledge of what works and the lessons learned from failures and successes will help me succeed faster. I think that other companies have already replicated this given that they are already in existence and somewhat successful. 
8. Small Startup Money 
• As Damond John said in his book "The Power of Broke", having little startup money forces you to get creative with existing assets, keep a low overhead, and ultimately play the cards you have. I think that while many would see this as a potential disadvantage, it is actually a resource that many companies can't compete with. Large companies have so many resources available, spending enormous amounts on marketing teams or other exuberant costs doesn't seem like a big deal but it ends up limiting creativity, limiting their growth, and limits their profit potential. Because I have to work with essentially the money I have saved in a savings account, every dollar is going to have to bring back return if this thing is going to work. Every move is going to have to be incredibly strategic and well thought out. 
9. Sounding Board of other entrepreneurs here at UF 
• I'm part of a group here at UF called Launch Pad; essentially it's a roundtable dynamic composed of many student-based startups here in Gainesville. Having the ability to test ideas and voice some of my thoughts and then receive feedback from other entrepreneurs is something I don't think that many companies can replicate. This is a really valuable resource that I have here in my own backyard and something I believe will benefit the launch and future growth of my company. 
10. Access to lots of professors and other academic resources 
• All professors here at UF have office hours and many have interest projects running in areas like entrepreneurship and venture capitalism. Having access to these mentors and advisors is something extremely valuable. Aside from professors, UF has many resources for entrepreneurs such as business plan competitions, advising centers, workspace, etc. These are all opportunities and resources many other startups and companies won't have access to and certainly won't be able to exploit them to grow their business.

After writing about all of my companies current and potential resources, I think that the most valuable trending resource that I see here is that I go to UF. Many don't realize how many awesome opportunities there are here for entrepreneurs but the potential is as big as you want to make it! I didn't really believe in a ton of school spirit type of stuff before coming to UF but there is something special about being a Gator that makes people want to help you succeed. The community here will stop at no cost to help get your visions and your dreams off the ground. From being able to talk with famous entrepreneurs at speaking events to working with startup owners right here in Gainesville, the University of Florida has provided me the greatest resources throughout my VRIN analysis. #GatorNation