Saint Leo University Strategic Thinking for Entrepreneurs Discussion

must be no less than 100 words

Must use in book citation

Wheelen, T.L., Hoffman, A., Hunger, D. J. & Bamford, C. (2018). Concepts in strategic management and business policy; Globalization, innovation and sustainability (15th ed.). Retrieved from https://vitalsource.com/

• Chapter 7: Strategy Formulation: Corporate Strategy
• Chapter 8: Strategy Formulation: Functional Strategy and Strategic Choice

Shark Tank is a once in a lifetime or for some a reoccurring opportunity to inventors and entrepreneurs from all walks of life with an award winning idea to seek and investment on their unique business idea. The most exciting episode I have watched was for XPlusOne. The inventor of this new drone that goes 60 miles per hour, has a multi faceted rotation aspect that is great for filming in extreme conditions. The creator is an aerospace engineer who brought two amazing prototypes to the table. One of which was already making presales from a kickstarter campaign and the second that was an invention for the smartphone already in prototyping phase, extremely inexpensive to produce. The product of the first idea cost $400 to make and retailer for $1800 they currently had $173,000 in presales and another $30,000 on their website. On their website the price is down to $499. This tells me the help of the investors got their manufacturing costs way down and that they are able to sell more to the public in higher quantities making a greater return on investment.

The Sharks were very keen on wining the deal and the initial offer was for 500,000 for 10% of the company , and Mister wonderful started them at 750,000 for 25%, which turned into a battle going all the way up to 1Million dollar investment for 20%. The inventor asked for all the sharks individual help and investment fo a total of 10 million dollars. The exchange was very nerve wracking but I believe the inventor had answered all the sharks questions and won them over with his background as an aerospace engineer, marketability, sales history, and future projections for licensing deals, which is a very marketable aspect when someone is seeking an investment. The design of the products were very versatile and many companies can liscense it out and royalties were guaranteed with this inventors creations.

The characteristics of entrepreneurial leadership demonstrated where a supreme skill in their craft, with the background and education surrounding the technology aspect. A good research job done on sales and financial aspects of their business proposition as well as a new company open to innovation, diversification and licensing prospects. They found and an opportunity, with endless opportunity worth the initial investment.