Current Event 12/17/2014

Victoria Grasso December 17, 2014Mrs. Wood Business Communications

After Starting 4 Businesses, College Entrepreneur Decides on Degree

John Grossman

December 10, 2014

This article is about Daniel Fine, a 21 year old student at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business. Fine’s primary business are foldable plastic sunglasses, called Glass-U, that bear the licensed brand of Universities, fraternities, musical festivals, and this years 2014 FIFA World Cup. Fine’s other businesses include NexTutors, which he started right out of highschool and funded the start of his other businesses, Dosed, an app to help diabetics track their insulin, and Fine Prints, a printing company. Besides these businesses, however, Daniel Fine also has a non-for-profit business which he started when he was 11 years old, called “Team Brotherly Love”, which at this point has raised about $1.9 million dollars. Although he was selected for the second round of the Thiel Scholarship, a $100,000 scholarship for students who take off from college to pursue their businesses, Fine decided that a degree was important, so he is staying at UPenn to finish his degree.  This is happening in the United States at University of Pennsylvania.

I found this article so interesting because I am at the point in my life where I choosing a major and a college, and it was inspired to see that there was someone not that much older than me do so much. About business, I learned that how you present yourself goes a long way. Daniel Fine is only 21 years old, yet he was able to convince the CEO of a company, whom he had never met, over the phone, to give him licensing rights to print the FIFA World Cup 2014 on his merchandise. When we had guest speakers, they told us that how you command an interview and answer questions says more about you than a resume ever could. Also, the fact that Fine was able to use the few resources he had to create four successful businesses shows that all you need to start a business is strong entrepreneurial senses.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/11/business/smallbusiness/daniel-fine-of-glass-u-decides-that-the-degree-matters.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw%2C%7B%222%22%3A%22RI%3A14%22%7D

12/2/2014 Current Event

Victoria Grasso December 2,2014

Mrs. Wood Period: 5

Online Sales for Girl Scout Cookies Are Approved

Elizabeth Olsen

December 1, 2014

This article is about Girl Scouts allowing online sales for the first time every. The article says that the Girls Scouts of the U.S.A. have been working for three years to develop a website that will be safe and convenient for scouts to sell their cookies on. The site includes provisions such as anonymous accounts for those under 13 and parental approval of material. Additionally, people can only access the page if a girl scout has sent them the link. The website will be launched this month in certain areas that have already started sales, and then across the United States starting in January. In the past, girls scouts have been prohibited from selling or soliciting online. There is much controversy over the online sales, however, because the tradition of having to sell cookies in person teaches girls the importance of hard work and helps them build people skills, which selling online will take away from. To make up for this, the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. have incorporated lessons on e-commerce, online marketing, and entrepreneurship.

Having been a girl scout up until 8th grade, I know the ins and outs of selling Girl Scout cookies. I do not think that online sales is a good thing because it takes away from the tradition of going door to door to sell cookies. I was also the girl that always forgot to sell cookies and made my mom buy 10 boxes the day the order forms were due. I have never thought of Girl Scouts as a business, but I guess that it is, and just like any other business, it has to adapt to the changing technology. This article does show, however, that online sales is becoming more prominent, and will eventually surpass brick and mortar. It will be interesting to see by how much the website will increase the sales of Girl Scout cookies. I think it will increase sales dramatically, especially because you can now pay with a credit card, which makes it so much easier.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/01/technology/online-sales-for-girl-scout-cookies-are-approved.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3As%2C%7B%222%22%3A%22RI%3A16%22%7D&_r=0