Celebrating Failure

Similar to my celebrity crush and pseudo-father Drake, I'm the furthest thing from perfect (like everyone i know)


  Despite my failures, I am always schemin and plotting on the low. Always trying to improve the ratio between success and failure. Ive encountered a few recent failures, something I'm not proud of but can use to ignite the path to triumph. The important thing is to bounce back from this- to become a Phoenix of failure if you will; reborn from the ashes and becoming something powerful and beautiful. Today, I'd like to share my most recent failure, one that happened not in the classroom but on the basketball court.

   Full court. 5 on 5. The score that we all updated mentally had just become 20-16. The score seemed close but in reality the difference couldn't be greater. I felt I had failed multiple times. I had missed easy shots, turned over the ball carelessly, and in one incident threw up a 3 that fell about 2 feet short of the rim. This was strange because usually I am a decent athlete, but on this night lacked focus and vision. Every play I tried, but could not seem to make anything work. It wasn't my body that was failing me, it was my mind. I got stuck in the rut of self doubt, and didn't have fortitude to pull myself out.

  I learned a lot from this game. I should never take ability or odds for granted. Study, play, teach, lead like you still have to prove yourself (which you do). Stay hungry, and use failure as a stepping stone to success. After that game, I spent hours shooting, doing drills and practicing. Next game went so much smoother, the only thing smoother was my game winning mid range J.

 Failure is the inability to meet an established goal. This is true in almost any setting or aspect of life. Work, relationships, school, personally and externally. One thing I like about myself is my general indifference to failure. Yea, I obviously don't want it to happen, but if it does I don't cry about it or freak out. I just know another way of NOT to do something (shoutout Edison and the lightbulb). This class has shown me that failure can be a tool. It's just a part of business. Not something you necessarily want to repeat, but something that is invaluable to finding true success.

Weekly Reading Reflections #luckynumber13

Opinions on Chapter 14: Valuation of Entrepreneurial Ventures from Kuratko's Entrepreneurship



The main thing that stood out to me was the myriad of variables that factor in to the valuation of your business venture. There are so many ways to look at it and explain how much your venture is worth, and depending on who computes it; it could be drastically different.

I get how the book explained P/E and Term Sheets, but these two things seem more complicated then how it was drafted. I still am not sure how to properly prepare and use LOI's but I can do my own independent studying i suppose.

Questions:

"Is this a procedure mostly handled internally or do most businesses prefer to hire consultants?"

"How much is Cengage valued at?"

Eh as far as I know the author is correct on his terms and methods described.

Exit Strategy

  My basic exit plan would be to build up a successful company and retire gracefully after 10-15 years. I would want to expand our brand into other projects as well to position ourselves as a competitive leader in the industry. This would provide me and my loved ones with substantial comfort for the rest of our lives, and the chance for my children to learn and try their own ventures.


  This plan was decided upon by our board of directors because it has the most benefits. We won't have to worry about the legal process of switching hands or for that matter have to worry about the extreme long-term longevity of our business.

  It hasn't influenced anything besides how I would plan budgeting and creative concept. Budgeting would be allocated with extra concern towards quick initiation and acquisition. The future of the company is a long-term goal, but in order to get there we must look to the short-term, the here and now, the present.