Anthony Simon
Entre 472/473
Winter 2009
John, here is what I learned this quarter:
The Entre 472/473 class was quite the learning experience for me. After taking Mgmt 490
(Business Planning), I wanted more experience working in the team dynamic when making the business
plan, as the first iteration of my business plan that I made in 490, was me working by myself. Since I
usually take lead roles in most organizations that I work with, I wanted to work as a follower on a new
project, versus being the lead. I also wanted experience in developing a buinsess model in an industry
that I have no experience in. In the previous business plan/s that I have written, they have all been
within the service industry of energy efficiency consulting. I felt then what I feel now, that there is a lot
value in developing business plans of different types. Nonetheless I learned a lot about creating a
business plan and implementing it, as listed in the course description, and if I had to do it over again,
hands down I would. I am more and more reassured of this, and in fact two evenings ago I attended a
USC Alumni event, “Innovation in a Down Economy”. In this meeting, the deans of the schools of
business and communications departments described what their respective programs do for their
students and how they form their educations to help their students be successful. Frankly, I was very
disappointed in the fact that the business school didn’t mention anything of the sort of course that Entre
472/473 has to offer. Outside of sending students to foreign countries for spring break, it doesn’t seem
to me that they offer value that I have learned from experience in taking Entre 472/473.
If there was anything that I learned when working on this project, it would be what I learned about
myself, and that I need to voice my opinions even more. Edan’s voice is quite the contrary to my own,
because he’ll say pretty much what is on his mind, which may not always be good, but for me it is a trait
I need to learn. In the very beginning of the first quarter, I voiced the opinion to create a book like
Greenovations’ book from the previous class, and produce it while working on other aspects of the
business, then we would have a “Plan B” if and when we would need it. The idea soon was swept under
the rug, and because I wasn’t in the lead role, I abandoned my own idea with the rest of the team. I
think had I stood up for my idea, we would have at least made headway with the books, while trying to
develop the more difficult “business to business” model that we were working on.
Another thing that I learned about myself was that I’m at times too much of an optimist. By being too
optimistic, I assumed and very certain that our arrangement with Adrienne White of Greenovations, was
a sure thing, and that she wouldn’t want much if not any profits from the sales of the books that we are
now selling. By making this assumption and having high optimism, I misled the team in thinking the
profits were more than they were going to be. Edan I feel, took the brunt of the entire situation, being
the CEO, and also was very embarrassed when he asked questions about the profits with Adrienne in
meeting. Another part of my optimisim that I learned, was that I should sometimes keep that myself
and whether it is a product, or a task, I should underpromise and overdeliver, instead of overpromising
and underdelivering. I feel that if I had this mentality, the project could have gone better.
Although the class is a great way to learn how to run a company, and that students in this course can
play the “student card”, I feel that there was still a lot of realism that could never be taught in a
classroom. Whether making the cold calls, or speaking to a book purchaser in person, I learned that the
main directive of the project has to always remain in sight. For instance when I made a call with Group
Health, and they mentioned that they already have information being provided to them from a third
party, I hesitated and did not ask for their information, or move forward with getting a face meeting. If
anything I learned that I can always ask a question, and can continue asking them until I either get the
information I want, or the person on the other line ends the conversation. Since I learned the mistake of
not asking enough questions, I have used asking questions to my advantage. Recently I used this during
a job interview, when the company I was interviewing with informed me that they weren’t hiring new
engineers. I took control of the conversation and interviewed the interviewer on the company’s
business strategy and their business model, which I now can use in my own business plan.
As far as working with a team, I learned more about working with un-motivated people, and saw how
frustrated it would be to lead them (which I have had previous experience in doing), and how to work
around that. By holding people to their responsibilities, it makes things run better. And communication
is also a large part of that, simply because if you have no communication in your management team, you
have nothing, and the team will eventually crumble. Whether it was Edan or Saralyn, I had to support
them in motivating the rest of the team. To them, they found it difficult to hold people to their
responsibilities, and they were afraid of hurting feelings. If anything I learned that even the leaders and
CEOs need support in enforcing the rules of the group. I to a certain extent acted as an un-official colead and helped support the CEOs in making their decisions. It also became immediately known to
myself and Edan that many of the business students, even though they are taking entrepreneurship
courses, aren’t always self motivated.
I had a lot of fun in taking this course and would recommend it to anyone.