Mission and Vision Statement[TINST475]

GameTrainerz is dedicated to improving productivity and teaching life skills through the creation of interactive, engaging training software developed for VR and AR systems. We seek to make learning fun! Whether it be training for on the job skills, or undertaking a new hobby, GameTrainerz wants to help make learning these skills as fun and memorable as possible.

DotCom to DotBomb Andrew Fry Guest Lecture [TINST475]

The dotcom to dotbomb lecture was definitely the most interesting lecture of the quarter. Perhaps it was the plastic dinosaurs, or perhaps it was just the fascinating stories that went along with the lecture, but either way, it was very interesting and enjoyable. I still think that Mr. Fry's business plan for before the internet was pretty interesting. Looking back at it from today's perspective, the idea of a company focused around producing interactive cd experiences seems absolutely archaic. I found the stories about acquisitions and bankruptcies of various companies (especially those centered around the early internet) to be fascinating, it is interesting to see which companies are still around, and think about how they adapted to stay competitive and a part of the market during a time when so many companies failed. I would have like more elaboration on what was meant when Mr Fry said Internet Explorer killed Netscape, as I feel that we were unable to fully cover that topic. I appreciated the discussion and information about AOL, as that helped to further my knowledge of their history as that is something I have actually studied in the past. It was a surprise to find out that Mr Fry had delivered a paper at the second International World Wide Web Conference in 1994 and that was actually something I was interested in looking up after class. Overall, the stories and details of the dotcom to dotbomb era made this one of the most fascinating lectures all quarter.

-Don

Guest Lecture Shaddrach White[TINST475]

Mr. White's guest lecture was very interesting. I really appreciated the in depth backstory he gave, about how he came to become an entrepreneur. His insights and opinions were very informative. I especially appreciated his advice about "trusting your gut". His advice to seek good legal council early in the business development lifespan was interesting. I personally would not be likely to find and pay for an attorney early in my business process, however after his warnings of some of the dangers, I may have to reconsider that viewpoint. His company cloudPWR has a fascinating strategy to their pricing, I found his explanation of their pricing structure to be a fascinating idea. Purposefully leaving the pricing information generic, but not non-existant was a really novel idea to me. I can see the benefit of doing this as it allows you to remain flexible while still having a structure potential clients can refer to. I also plan to take his advice (something said earlier in the class by the teacher) to always try and have 2-3 months(but preferably 6 months) worth of backup funds for the company. This ties in well with the concept of the sales pipeline talked about in class, helping make sure that the company can make it through quarters that might not be so favorable. Overall, while a lot of the things said during this guest lecture were things already presented in class, I really appreciated hearing them again, and getting a chance to meet Mr. White, he seems like a very nice guy who was a pleasure to listen to.

-Don