Chase Your Goals

-Steve


Many of us know Mark Cuban as the guy on "Shark Tank" or the owner of the Dallas Mavericks. But Mark Cuban was not always worth the $3.4 billion dollars he is today. Cuban had a very different path to success, he took various risks and always pursued his goals.

Cuban graduated from Indiana University in 1982 and had a bartending job at night but he knew he wanted a job in the technology field. Soon later, he got a job as a software salesman but lost that job and decided a year later to start his own company. This company was called "Microsolutions," it sold and installed software and about six years later Cuban would sell this company for $6 million dollars. Five years after selling his company Cuban was now onto trading stocks, profiting him about $15 million dollars. At this point he was satisfied with all the money he had, he was just trying to protect it now. The way Cuban did this was by diversifying his holdings to reduce risk.

This article about Mark Cuban's background can teach us a couple valuable lessons. One is that you should always pursue your goals because you can do anything you set your mind to. Cuban is a prime example of this, a young man graduating from Indiana University that wanted to work with technology and he did not stop until he accomplished this goal. Another lesson we can learn about this article is that not every billionaire is selfish and only cares about themselves. Many billionaires, like Mark Cuban, try to better society and have a positive impact on others.

Sources:
Sullivan, Paul. "How Mark Cuban Hangs Onto His Money." The New York Times. The New York Times, 19 Feb. 2017. Web. 26 Feb. 2017.
Wilson, Matt. "How This Recent College Grad Scored $1.5M from Mark Cuban."Under30CEO. N.p., 28 Oct. 2011. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

Entrepreneur Articles

Prompt #4 By Zach

I will be comparing the delivery and style of both of the articles below. I will also talk about the intended audience and purpose of each article.


One Thousand Customers To One Million
Delivery-

This article opens up with how Uber, Airbnb, and Etsy have all became extremely successful companies in such a short amount of time. It then goes on to explain the different business strategies each company used in order to attract customers.

Style-
The style of this article was very informative and explained what companies should do in order to be successful.

Audience and Purpose-
The audience for this article would have to be an entrepreneur or someone that needs help in their business. The purpose is to inform the reader about how companies can use different business strategies to become successful.


How To Start A Business

Delivery-
Has tips for starting a Business. Each tip has a link the will take you to another in depth article.

Style-
Informative and fast. Its very easy to read and very informative.

Audience and Purpose-
The audience is entrepreneurs and the purpose is to inform those who want to start their own business.

Which one should I trust?
Both of these articles are from reliable sources and are very informative.

Sources:
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/turning-one-thousand-customers-into-one-million

https://www.sba.gov/starting-business/how-start-business/10-steps-starting-business

Preparing For An Interview

By Zach

Graduating college is both a rewarding and scary feeling. Once you're out in the real world you will need to start applying for jobs. Most companies you apply to will ask you to come in for a face to face interview. In this blog post I will be teaching you how to become great at interviews and helping you get the job you apply for.

Interview Attire-
When you meet your potential boss for an interview you want to be able to impress them as soon as you walk through the door. In order to do this you will need to dress very nicely as if you were going a wedding or some other fancy event. I would also advise you to wear a watch. People that wear watches always know what time it is and it shows a greater sense of responsibility to interviewers.

The Handshake-
Most interviewers will make the gesture to shake your hand upon first meeting them. Believe it or not, there is a lot you can tell about a person from their handshake. So we need to make sure you nail this in order to impress your potential employer. First off, when you shake their hand make sure you have a firm handshake and not a flimsy one. This shows a sign of confidence and respect. Second, you will want to look them in the eyes while shaking their hand. This will also demonstrate your confidence and outgoingness. Lastly, give a nice quick smile while greeting your interviewer. Everyone enjoys a smile.

Body Language-
While the interview is going on you should be paying attention to your potential employer. Do this by making eye contact the whole time and maybe take some notes. Stand up straight to show that you are a leader and that you are confident. Don't wander off into space or start playing on your phone during the interview. It is rude and disrespectful to your possible future employer and they will not appreciate this at all.

In conclusion, if you apply all of these tips during your interview you will do great and hopefully get a call back!

Golf and Business

-Steve

Many people believe that both golf and business go hand in hand and this for the most part is true. In a survey taken by 401 executives, almost half agreed that "the way a person plays golf is very similar to how he or she conducts business affairs." Also, while playing a round of golf with a business executive you are able to develop a better relationship with them. Negotiating on the golf course is a more casual setting that beats sitting in a conference room negotiating for hours. In fact, a third of these business executives found that some of their biggest deals came on the golf course.

Cody Plott, vice president of sales at Hyatt, says "In a short period of time, you can find out more about the integrity and focus of an individual than in any kind of interview setting." For example, if you see a business executive move the ball or not count one of his or her strokes you can infer two things. The first is that he is not trustworthy and has probably cheated at least once while executing a deal. The second is that he or she does not like a challenge and likes to chose the easy way out.

Overall, I believe, like most people, that golf and business definitely complement each other. We are able to learn about one's character while on the golf course and that a golf course is an excellent place to close a deal with a business partner while not being too laid back but also not overwhelmingly serious.

Sources:
Byrd, Veronica. "COMPANY NEWS: Study of Executives and Links; In Golf and Business, Similar  Strokes Seen." The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 July 1993. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.
Admin. "Business Lessons Learned On the Golf Course." Pervasive Marketing Company. N.p., 25 Dec. 2016. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

Job Experience

Prompt # 8
by: Jake

Many majors and fields seem appealing to students which makes it difficult to choose a major. But you can never truly know if you enjoy a career path without gaining some entry level experience within the field itself. Thankfully, I was able to gain this experience with  two different State Farm agents this past year.

My father works as a sales leader for State Farm, and I have always considered becoming a State Farm agent as a future career. But I never knew if this was something I would enjoy or would even like to consider doing after college.

During my senior year I was able to work for a State Farm agent in Richland, MI. I was very excited to be working in a professional environment and to gain both experience in and understanding of the business field. Unfortunately the job was not as glamorous as I was hoping. As I moved to college and began work with a new agent I made the same realization. I found that I enjoy jobs that involve an aspect of problem solving and that have varying operations. To my disappointment neither State Farm Job had either of these qualities. Both of my entry level jobs involved cold calling and only cold calling. I was grateful for the experience but cold calling is not something that I am excited about or looking for in a future career, and has made me reevaluate my career choice.

I am extremely thankful for my opportunities at State Farm, but long hours of cold calling were not enjoyable at all and have made me stop and think. I am still interested in the entrepreneurship aspect of becoming a State Farm Agent, but entry level cold calling positions are no longer something I will consider or pursue.

Strengths and Your Career

By: Jake

Most people believe that one of the keys to enjoying life is to find a profession you love doing. Many argue that this is even more important than the income you earn from a job. But in a field as large as business, it seems impossible to find the perfect job for you. Everyone enjoys different things, and with so many jobs to decide between, how can you find the one that is right for you? I believe the answer to this question is to play to your strengths.

Clifton, an online publisher, published a  quiz which when taken will reveal your top 5 strengths. These are an essential part of who you are and play a pivotal role not only to which job you will enjoy, but which you will thrive in. You can purchase access to the quiz here. Studies show that it benefits people in very small increments to work on improving weaknesses but there can be exponential growth when focusing on strengths. There are also many physical and psychological benefits to playing to your strengths. These can be found at this website.

After taking the quiz, I found that my strengths in order are: Analytical, Woo, Relator, Consistency, and Includer. At first I did not agree with them. I thought the names sounded dumb and that the quiz was all wrong. But once I took a closer look it started to make more sense. Analytical means I analyze everything. I think through decisions and choose what to do based off of what will benefit me the most. Woo describes my extroverted personality and how I love talking to and meeting new people. Along with this, Relator means I love getting to know people, finding things we have in common and having intellectual conversations with them. Consistency describes my desire for clearly set rules and expectations and for these to be met time and time again. Lastly, Includer reflects how I always want everyone to feel apart of the group and to not be left out.

Knowing what my strengths are and understanding how they work will play a key role in finding a job that I both enjoy and thrive in for the future. Strengths also play a leading role in which classes you should take, how you study, and who your friends are. Based on my specific strengths, I will want to have a future leadership role where I will be able to meet new people frequently. I will want to be able to think critically and analytically at the same time as maintaining personal relationships with both customers and coworkers. Because these strengths line up with those needed for a field in business, I believe my major is fitting for my personality. For some, this may cause them to rethink their major or classes, and that's perfectly okay.

At the end of the day what matters is finding a job you enjoy that can support you and your family. Playing to your specific set of strengths is the best way of finding a career you are both good at and enjoy, which will likely lead to a happy and successful life.


Works Cited

Gallup, Inc. Clifton StrengthsFinder. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.

"Strengths." Big Energy Coaching. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.

Gender Related Business Stereotypes

- Jake

It is commonly known that different fields and majors commonly attract stereotypes and expectations of people, and the business field is one of the worst in this aspect. Generally people think of business men and women to be dressed nicely 100% of the time and to be very fake. It seems that the image people usually get is a very well dressed but unethical car salesperson.

I quickly searched "businessman" and "businesswoman" and found these two images. I feel these accurately represent what people generally think of the business field. Some of these defining qualities include: well dressed, serious looking, located in a city, younger/middle age, and intimidating demeanor. As we can already assume, it is rare that someone will actually fit this specific mold of "businessman/woman," but in this post I would like to focus on a different aspect of business stereotypes; gender stereotypes.

In many fields, primarily business, it seems that the standards are that "women take care and men take charge. We can see this in the article found here. Essentially this means women are expected to stay home, cook meals, clean the house, and care for children while the men go out, work, and provide for the family financially. Other common stereotypes of women in business are that they are generally single and put their job in front of their relations, making them lonely. They are also seen as cold, tough, and masculine.

It is extremely unfair, but it seems that the negative jobs or stereotypes of the business field are linked with women rather than men. For a very long time we have related dominant jobs and characteristics with manly qualities. This has shaped images of what people in these positions should look like in our mind. Eventually this leads to the development of stereotypes. This is not at all fair to women and likely plays a factor in the wage gap, but these were all started by us as a society. Because we judge people and view positions of power as manly we have developed these stereotypes subconsciously, which directly affects women in these roles. As more and more women are independent and gain positions typically held by men, I hope that these stereotypes will start to change for the better and more accurately reflect the personalities of people in these types of fields and roles.

Works Cited

"Businessman Profile Looking to the Left." Freepik. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.

"Today’s London Woman." Todays London Woman. N.p., 23 Feb. 2016. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.

Women “Take Care,” Men “Take Charge:” Stereotyping of U.S. Business Leaders ExposedABOUT CATALYST (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

Exploring Communication

Prompt #3

-Steve

I interviewed my brother-in-law, Martins, who is a KPS Capital Partners Associate in New York City. When I asked him what he writes and how he writes it. Martins stated that although he does not write much, he does read a lot. He has to read a lot of research and summarize what he has learned into short summaries and turn this information into investment committee reports and presentations. So there is writing that goes with putting together presentations and reports but it is not much. However, Martins also said that he does a good amount of writing in his emails, which he uses to communicate with his co-workers daily.

Next, I asked him what were some common misconceptions in his field. Martins responded with a few chuckles and said that everyone in finance is always made out to be stuck up jerks that only care about themselves and their money. However, he told me that is far from the truth, he has met a lot of very kind and selfless people in his field and is friends with many of them. He also stated that it is those few individuals that you come across that give people in the finance field a poor image.

Lastly, I asked him about the communication at his workplace. Martins emphasized that this was a very crucial and important part of his job. Everyone at his workplace communicates through emails, sending anywhere between twenty to fifty emails a day. Nonetheless, he also has daily meetings with his co-workers to discuss certain projects, share information, and make sure everyone is on the same page. Along with emails and meetings, they also hold conference calls if work needs to be done from home on the weekends or if one of the co-workers is out of town on business.

Overall, communication is a very important aspect in the business world and we are able to see this through the information given by Martins.

Sources:
Martins Trautmanis (Brother-in-Law, KPS Capital Partners Associate) Garg, Nishi Grover. "The Real Key to Agile Success: Communication | Page 1."AgileConnection. N.p., 23 Mar. 2016. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

The IF Function

By Zach

In this Blog Post I will be teaching you about the IF function in Microsoft Excel. The IF Function lets you apply some type of variable if it meets the requirements you're looking for, and if not the variable won't be applied. I will explain this more in detail in the video below. Hope you enjoy.

Sources: CSE101

Delta Sigma Pi

Prompt#5
By Zach

Delata Sigma Pi is a Business Fraternity at Michigan State University. I happen to be friends with someone who applied to this fraternity last semester, his name is Alex. Alex and I went to high school together and we never really knew each other until college. He is a smart student with a great personality. I interviewed him over the phone and asked him a bunch of questions about his fraternity. Such as how to apply to the fraternity, what the fraternity gives back to the community, and how the fraternity is represented.

Applying to Fraternity
To apply to Delta Sigma Pi you need to have good grades. The fraternity stresses good academics over anything else. The average GPA for the fraternity is over 3.0. You also need to have two sit down interviews with someone from the fraternity in order to join. After that, you have to complete a pledging process which Alex unfortunately was unable to disclose to me.

Giving back to the Community
Delta Sigma Pi gives a lot to the community. You are required to complete numerous service hours and participate in various community service events.  For example, they will be going to a Haven House that is home to foster kids and they will be making dinner for them next week. The fraternity has also organized an event to go ice skating with needy children.

Fraternity Representation
Delta Sigm Pi requires all their pledges and members to dress business casual or business professional at all of the fraternity meetings. They communicate with one another with mass E-mails, group messages and google docx. I think that Delta Sigma Pi is a very professional and academically focused fraternity. Overall, it is a great way to meet new people and make lasting memories while at college.

Paying for College

-Steve

In today's society many high school students feel pressured to go to college and get their degree. But many students are not able to afford the luxury of going to college. Our new president, Donald Trump, has stated that he wants students to be able to refinance their student loans and that these universities should use more of their endowments to aid students in paying for school. However, there have been no actual proposals by President Trump.

If you are fortunate enough to be able to attend a university, Kevin McKinley, a financial adviser in Eau Claire, Wisconsin can supply you with a plan to pay for college that reduces the stress that comes with student loans. McKinley's advice is to "Save a quarter of the cost over a child's first eighteen years. Pay another quarter out of current income over the next four years. Borrow the rest, split among the family." (McKinley, Para. 5)

First, save a quarter of the cost over a child's first eighteen years. The key to be successful at this portion of the plan is to assess how much you expect to spend on college and how much you would need to save monthly and at what interest rate. You can see McKinley's example here (Paragraph 7). Another key aspect is instead of spending money on pointless things, you could be putting that money away towards your child's future education. This is where many people go wrong and they look back wishing that they had put more money aside.

Next, spend a quarter, this step is very difficult because it doesn't allow you to spend your money as you please. Instead of going on that annual vacation, you are going to have to put that money towards the monthly college bill. Which McKinley estimates to be five hundred dollars a month in his example here (Paragraph 11).

Thirdly, the borrowing, McKinley says that this should be your last option because your debt can quickly add up because of the horrible interest rates. But if you do have to take out a loan, take out a federal loan because once your child graduates and does not have a large income, you can see if you are eligible for lower payments.

Lastly, split among the family, there are a bunch of people that are not able to put away five hundred dollars a month or even any amount for their child's education. However, this plan that McKinley has constructed is flexible, you could borrow more or save more depending on what situation you are in.
Paying for college can become even more difficult if your child is attending a private school, or perhaps you have two children in college. This is a good opportunity to see what financial aid that you are eligible for and what possible scholarships and grants you may receive. Many times families are given the difficult choice of having their child attend a very prestigious school or a more mediocre but less expensive school. 

This decision can be one of the most important decisions of you life and it is far from an easy one. So you want to make sure that you take every aspect into consideration when deciding what university to attend. But when it comes down to saving money for college, save what you can and build on it.

Sources: 
Lieber, Ron. "How to Pay for College with Less Stress." The New York Times. N.p., 23 Sept. 2016. Web. 2 Feb. 2017.
Castillo, Andrea. "Families Still Finding Ways to Pay for College." SalesHQ. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.