Two Weeks Left

Quick Update: I am currently in the exams period and I can easily say that I have performed well in the first three exams: Java, Math and Computation. I just need to do two other exams and then I am out of this country. I will leave in two weeks time. This is what is waiting for me:

Yes, I live in Rome.

ps: If you have any questions about the exams, just leave a comment below.

UPs An Interesting Product

UPs SolidEnergy is our innovative new caffeine energy sweet which we launched in Manchester, January 2013.

Kaffeination consists of four founders, three of whom studied together in Manchester doing their Masters in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship. The fourth founder studied Business and Engineering in Dresden, Germany.

The team has an international background, complementary skills and a unified passion for innovation.

I have come across this product a couple of days ago, it is called Ups.

What I have found incredible at first glance was the idea behind it. What they are basically trying to distribute is a sweet which is able to give the energy you need during the day. If you are not able to drink coffee or have an energy drink, Ups is the solution for you. In fact, just 16g of this product are equal to one cup of coffee, in terms of the Caffeine that they have.

At this moment, the only flavour that they are producing is Strawberry, which I think is probably the most interesting they could have chosen. However if they want to take this further they will have to able to produce other different flavours. In my opinion lemon, orange, pineapple, melon and pear could be the next ones. Even if I would try to make something completely different with a “banana” flavour, which I think it has never been tried before by anyone.

The product comes out in two versions, the 16g and the 50g pack. I have been lucky enough to test both and I can easily suggest to stick to the smaller one, which contains the equivalent of one cup of coffee and it is not too addictive. Further it is small enough to fit in your pocket; you can do the same thing with the second version, but I think it is too big to bring it around.

In the next months they will probably face two main issues: distribution and the improvement of the product. The distribution, from what I have been able to see, has been achieved in the best way as possible by starting from the University of Manchester user base. On the other hand the improvement of the product will have to focus on the next flavours and on a low calories product.

Even though it is just a sweet, it has up to 333 calories per 100 grams; which is not a lot, but this number can be lowered. Here you can find the nutrional table, which gives you a general idea:

I have been able to test it during revision time today and I have to admit that I am pretty well satisfied by it. I have tried the small pack first, which I think it is the right caffeine for my body, and it was useful and even tasty. It remembered me a lot hairbo, but with a different vision. That is what makes them different from other sweets. They are trying to distribute a product that can help people, not just a mere sweet that is able to fill our greediness.

I believe they will have to work on their vision a lot, because that’s what it makes them unique and different by the others. Although this looks like a small market, it can be a huge one for the simple fact that there isn’t one yet. They are introducing a different way of gaining solid energy to achieve what we want.

That’s why they might find a big user base in students, who are constantly studying, revising and trying to do more at University; but also in professional workers, who need to be focused on what they are doing for hours, without any break. Being in a University is extremely important if you want to start a project like this one, because you can actually see how the product flows goes by testing it directly. Further students have connections all over other Universities, which are important assets for this product.

In fact they can use the Facebook distribution model from one University to the next one, University by University. If the product is good enough, it will take over even in the offices, impacting the niche we were talking about; but there is still time for that. Now they just need to focus on students, because they will be the future professional workers.

I am definitely going to order more packs for the next exams and I suggest you doing the same at this website get-ups.com

This article first appeared here: http://greatpreneurs.com/ups-interesting-sweet/

Why You Should Go To University

A huge dilemma or the silliest thing to think about for a Young Entrepreneur?

Peter Thiel once said:

You can’t teach people a specific way to change things for the better. I don’t believe people can become entrepreneurs as an aspirational thing. It’s like saying you want to be rich and famous when you grow up–it’s too abstract. The motivation is what’s important. There should be a problem you want to solve, and in the process of solving it, you might have to become an entrepreneur.

In the same way, many Entrepreneurs would completely agree on what Thiel states. You can’t teach Entrepreneurship because it is something that you feel inside, not just an “aspirational thing”. Likewise many mentors see College as a waste of time and resources. Young Entrepreneurs aren’t able to see the world from several points of views, but they can see it just from textbooks.

Further Students are overwhelmed by student loans and part time jobs, things that a Young Entrepreneur can not bear. When you are young you should start seeing dots, connections and links in order to build what it is going to be your future. In many aspects, College can’t help you and it could be easily considered something to leave out.

However there are thousands of reasons to go to College to be Entrepreneurs.

Connections

This is one of the main point. Connections, as we already said before, are extremely important for a Young Entrepreneur who needs a mentor and a group of people that can support and stimulate it. Further when you build a strong network, you can easily ask for help. During the development of an idea or a project, you turn to the point in which you need a developer or marketing strategist and if this person is in your connections, you don’t need to look for other people, because you already know the right person and you have complete trust in him.

Inspiration

I strongly believe that Entrepreneurship is an aspirational thing. I mean, you have to be creative and you have to feel it, but you can easily look for it if you really want to become an Entrepreneur. College is the best place to find it; through courses and the learning of new things you can get the most.

Critical Thinking

What an Entrepreneur should have is Critical Thinking. When you have a problem or an idea in front of you, you should be able to see it from a critical point of view in order to understand if it can or can’t work. Likewise CR can let you understand and connect the dots in particular areas such as Social Networks. What you need is a different way to look a the world and this is what College is about.

Psychology and Sociology

A real Entrepreneur should understand people’s needs and what they could want. People’s psychology is extremely important to see patterns into society and to think as your future costumer. A strong study in this area lets you see dots and connections in a clear way. A recent proof comes from Mark Zuckerberg, who studied Psychology and Computer Science; he was able to develop most of what he learnt from this course (Psychology) in Facebook, making it more social and engaging.
If you don’t want to study it, you can learn it by meeting new people and talking to them. The more you talk, the more you understand social interactions.

History

From the study of what other people did in the past, you can perceive the mistakes and the good things. If you know what others did, you could apply your knowledge in the challenge that you would encounter in an Entrepreneurship life.
With this idea in mind, Sir Isaac Newton once said:

If I have seen further, It is only by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Communication

This is one of the Critical Skills that an Entrepreneur should always have and to get it you need to live, to interact and to meet people. You don’t need an extend course about public speaking to understand what communication is about, you just need to meet and talk to people. The key to do it in an easy way is to go to College, one of the most overcrowded place on Earth.

Although there are dozens of reasons to move to College, we decided to list the most important key points that you would gain in College. What we wanted to underline is that College could be the most interesting experience of your life and there is no reason to lose it for a young and immature project. Life is long.

Further you can always think about “dropping out”; if the project is very strong and you are really motivated, you should definitely drop out.

Just relax and take the most from it.

“This article first appeared on GreatPreneurs