Today, I started my day by continuing to observe some stock trends for my stocks and cryptocurrencies unit. Some of the stocks I looked at were Exxon Mobil, Nike and Adidas. After this, I began considering the niche that I would be filling. I believe that I could likely create business content because I have prior knowledge in the field. I feel like the field also doesn't require a large of amount of knowledge or experience as other fields.
I wrapped my day up by exploring more social media platforms that I could create my theme page on. I looked at Wechat and Facebook, which seem like very broad platforms because of their many resources. Wechat has a built in transactions system and Facebook has an established marketplace. Despite the better functionality, I believe these two platforms will likely require higher barriers to entry. Wechat is a Chinese-based platform and thus will be difficult to break into. Facebook is also difficult because it seems more connection based than Instagram and TikTok. The two platforms will potentially be good resources once I built a following, because they can likely be more profitable, but to start I believe these platforms will likely not gain traction.
Today, I started the social community organizing unit. I watched the introduction unit and learned that have a online social network can be surprisingly lucrative. I explored the first two social media platforms, Instagram and TikTok. While I have used both platforms before, I have not considered the fact that I could be making money from them. For Instagram, my big takeaways is that growing a niche page can allow you to grow a fast following. With a following, there are also many ways to monetize the page and make the effort profitable. Similar to Instagram, TikTok's monetization also revolves around building an audience by performing niche activities.
My biggest takeaway from learning today, is that I need to find a niche to focus on. Honing that niche will likely ease the process of producing content for now and into the future and help grow a secure base that I can rely on when I monetize.
I spent the bulk of the day analyzing stocks and making predictions. My predictions currently are that SPY and AAPL will rise because they are heavily correlated and I believe that the stocks will individually rally. I also predicted that TSLA will fall. I believe because they have currently been upheld due to the recent June low and because of news and controversy surrounding the CEO Elon Musk. If there is no more news surrounding TSLA, it should level out and begin to drop.
Today, I finished the learning portion of the stocks and cryptocurrencies unit. I reviewed options trading and read the risk that were entailed with that form of investment. I was aware of the risk of losing far more with options that with regular stocks, but being aware of the possible scams was also informative. After this, I read about commodities, which are essentially raw products that are used in production of items. It was interesting to discover that commodities could be invested in like stocks because I assumed they were only of interest for business owners. I ended the day by analyzing some stocks. I looked at SPY (one of my current positions) and TSLA. I believe SPY will increase because of the rallying of the market in general and TSLA is recovering from the recent Twitter news regarding its CEO Elon Musk.
Today, I spent the bulk of my time jumping around and learning about specific investment opportunities. First I finished the cryptocurrency section of the unit. I completed the quiz on blockchains and looked through more terminology regarding blockchain technology and uses. Then I researched trading crypto. I checked out Coinbase Pro briefly and learned about some of it's advantages compared to Coinbase. In addition, I learned some of the specifics of trading in cryto and it's unique because you can by parts of coins rather than needing to buying stocks in full shares.
After this, I skimmed around and looked at other trading opportunities. REIT and options trading seemed the most appealing to me. REIT is interesting because it is dividend based and pertains to real estate. I plan on investing into real estate in the future, so so investing in REIT (especially due to it's liquidity and low barrier to entry) would help in teaching me more information about real estate. Options trading also seemed very appealing because of its potentially large profit margins. I also have friends who trade options, so now that I have more information on how to effectively trade, I will be more likely to avoid the mistakes my friends have made.
All in all, it was good learning the trading opportunities available to me outside of stocks. I will have to do more research into option trading and REIT in the near future.
Today, I revised my executive summary. I did further research into the production and distribution cost of creating a video game to create a tangible financial plan for my company. I removed the section on plans for investment, because they were far too broad and became redundant with my financial plan. To generalize, my startup plan requires $75,000, which covers the cost of CTO salary, production, marketing, and licensing. This will develop the product to be able to be sold, which is planned for January 2023. Overall, I believe my executive summary is far more tangible as it details to financial logistics necessary for starting up my company.
After this I spent more time learning about cryptocurrencies. I learned about blockchains, which is essentially the technology that cryptocurrencies use. Additionally, that is the main feature of cryto, because the blockchain encrypts individual currency (coins, tokens, etc.) that isn't centralized through a federal bank. I also learned about smart contracts and new technology that is a part of cryto. Most of this revolves around making transactions more secure by streamlining the process, reducing risk of middlemen.
Today I continued my learning on the stocks and cryptocurrency unit. I started by reviewing some of the terms that I learned in the stock fundamentals section. I watched some videos on stocks outside of Techie Youth, and the terminology has allowed me to understand a lot more information (an example if the descriptions of bearish/bullish markets).
After this, I was happy to find that the next section was about reading stock charts. The videos and articles were super helpful because they were simple to follow, but highly descriptive. These sources taught me more terminology that I now have context for, like "support" and "shorting a stock". I also learned more information on Robinhood, which was helpful by teaching me check my watchlist and what stocks I should be looking to invest in. ETFs and mutual funds seem like a safe bet currently, because I don't have too much knowledge on investing and will be planning on holding long term. I also think the explanation of the risk involved with stock trading made me want to only invest income I will be okay losing. Trading safely and smartly will be my goal and I will make sure to do research before investing.
Finally, I wrapped the day by learning about cryptocurrencies. The articles were helpful in teaching me what a blockchain is, and also explaining why there are multiple cryptocurrencies. The premise behind cryptocurrency as a decentralized and protected also makes a lot more sense now because of the blockchain. Leaning about "pump and dump" schemes was also interesting because I have seen coverage on it prior due to the increased publicity of cryptocurrencies over the recent year.
I started the day by finishing the entrepreneurship unit. I finished my executive summary by completing the sections on keys to success, steps forward, and opportunities for investments. My executive summary likely needs development in terms of finding a CTO and possibly a CMO to start development for the actual product. Overall, this unit was very insightful in teaching me about the aspects of entrepreneurship. However, my biggest takeaways were the leadership tips that were given to be a better leader. Most of the tips were very practical like listening actively and knowing when to be silent and they made me reflect on how I carry myself. Even if I don't pursue an entrepreneurial field in the future, I will definitely try to be the best leader I can be.
After I finished the unit, I got to begin the unit I wanted to pursue in stocks and cryptocurrencies. I have already done some investing prior to this unit, but I'm looking to further my knowledge and learn some techniques of investing. I am also open to learning about cryptocurrencies as they seem like something I can possibly invest into for the future. I started the unit by learning simple information regarding what stocks are and some basic information regarding it. One thing that I previously overlooked is that you can purchase stocks differently. I previously bought market orders of stocks, but I have learned that limit orders are far more effective to buying stocks at a desirable price.
Overall, I look forward to learning more about the unit and possibly learning some tips in reading stock charts.
To start the week off, I began by continuing my entrepreneurship unit. I started by continuing to work my executive summary for my company idea. I was able to finish the problem, solution, and target market sections of my executive summary. To generalize, my company aims to solve the limited and often confusing information on learning entrepreneurship through an educational video game. This video game will have a target market that is inherently based around youth and aspiring entrepreneurs.
After working on my executive summary, I started and completed the financing section. My eyes were opened to the difficulty of a business financially. Raising money and acquiring initial investments are essentially a necessity. That showed me the importance of having a tangible and established executive summary rather than a random idea. I also learned the importance of a MVP (minimum viable product) when initially starting. Applying this to my idea, my MVP would be a functional game that taught the core ideas of entrepreneurship.
Finally, I watched the videos in the getting sales/clients section and learned some specific tips to have better opportunities of getting a sale. The psychological and interhuman tactics video made me think a lot about myself and how I interact with others. I realized that I have flaws in my day to day conversations that may limit my ability to get sales in the future. I need to work on my general charisma and develop with other people and my skills. The specifics I learned when pitching is to be knowledgeable, but concise. Being smart about the subject is ideal, but not convoluting the conversation and knowing when to be silent is just as important as knowledge.
Today I started by revisiting some videos in prior sections of the entrepreneur unit. I
re-watched some videos and did the quiz for the customer and section to apply the ideas to my business idea. The competitive advantage that I will seek to reach is to use video games to teach entrepreneurship. This seems like a unrealized market and is thus has strong defensibility. There are only a few video games that incorporate entrepreneurship and those that don't teach many ideas of entrepreneurs.
Continuing on the day, I worked on my executive summary that I would have to present at the end of the unit. Incorporating the branding section, I workshopped the name Risk It LLC as the flagship name and the name of the video game. I did a brief search of name and the two related games that came up were a board game called Risk and a video game called Risk of Rain (1 and 2). Both of these games were vastly different from my idea, so I believe there won't be many complications with the domain name.
I ended the day, watching the video on renting a commercial property for business. Watching the video showed me that the logistics of opening a commercial space is quite difficult and there are many factors that I had not previously considered like the design, heating/cooling, internet access, and layout. Commercial properties seem like something I need to learn and get logistics of before doing. This will likely be a plan of expansion in the future, but not an aspect to consider right now.
I spent today continuing the entrepreneur unit. I finished the section on business models and refined my business idea that I will discuss later in the blog. I also learned the importance of setting realistic goals and expectations and the mindset that early failure is reasonable and okay. Knowing this now will help me in the know that I can cut things off and stop my venture if things are not panning out.
Then I started the section on profit models and its importance and the different types of profit models like the product model, leasing/rental model, and freemium model. This made me consider the bottom line of a core objective of businesses, which is to make money to continue their eventual goal. This transitioned well into the next section on understanding the customer and the market. Learning about competitive advantages made me reconsider how I needed to make my idea unique. I also learned about methods to pivot if my venture through exit strategies (namely acquisition). Acquisition is from a larger game studio would be ideal for my idea.
Considering the things I learned today and applying them to my idea of making a video game for content creators and streamers, I had to change my idea drastically. Considering price models, my product (video game) would have a very narrow customer base directed towards only content creators and not the broader gamer demographic. This made me shift my idea into wanting to create an educational game revolved around learning entrepreneurship. This would target multiple demographics and provide a competitive advantage of being educational and entertaining. Considering profit models, there are multiple revenue streams that could be applied this idea. One revenue source would be being sold as a product direct to consumers. It could also be hosted on an online platform using a advertisement model to sell ads for money, which could allow a paid subscription that would remove adds as two revenue streams. A final way it could be sold is as a rental/lease model, to schools and teaching institutions as a "gamified" learning experience to teach classes.
I started the day off by finishing the Improving Your Quality of Life unit. I did the section on the jet setter lifestyle and learned about different methods to explore the world on a small budget. The digital nomad lifestyle seemed quite interesting and would be something I would like to pursue in the near future. I finished the unit by creating a document about things I need to do to improve my general quality of life. My main takeaways from the unit are planning and research are important things that I need to get a leg up on right now. I plan to do more research into different career fields and learn new/develop more skills regarding investing, money making opportunities, and health.
I want to pursue the unit in stocks and cryptocurrencies, so I started by taking the prerequisite entrepreneur unit first. I started by learning about what an entrepreneur is and basic information that their day to day lives. While watching the video, the business idea that I was thinking about was to create a video game. I often spend time watching and playing videogames so I was thinking of incorporating both by designing a game for live streamers to play where viewers could vote for situations to impact the player.
I ended the day off by learning about business models and their importance to successful ventures. Connecting this to my idea for creating a video game, I would make my business model revolve around producing a good product in having a enjoyable game. This way, my game would have substance that could be combined with marketing to create publicity to attract a customer base.
I started my day by finishing the section on time management. I learned about how to effectively plan out my schedule through the use of Kanban charts. After that I started the section on health and productivity. I learned the importance of health in terms of keeping my productivity to make more money. Both physical health and mental health are things that I should be keeping in mind as I grow older and maintain well.
The next section on stress management spoke a lot to me because it showed me a new perspective to approach in my mindset. I realized getting upset is largely a choice up to me and most of the time I get upset, I end up regretting my actions immediately after. Also, I often build stress from comparing my self to others and expecting too much, so lowering my expectations and working on myself will help me reduce my stress.
The final section I worked on was finding and reaching out to role models and mentors. I enjoyed the TedTalk about finding the right role model and it inspired me to look for a role model to aspire to. The article on reaching out to mentors will also be useful for me in the future to build my connections and reach out to people.
Today, I finished the first unit of the Techie Youth program. I first learned about how I should work at a remote job. One thing I found interesting as the Pomodoro technique that as in one of the articles. The technique is about taking timed breaks during work to help with productivity. I found the method interesting and I'm going to test it out in the future. I also learned that having structure in my work is highly beneficial. Making a long term goal to focus on, with daily plans and check-ins to work on those goals would help me stay focused on my task. There was also a brief section on scams that was informative in teaching me certain ways scammers try to trick people.
The final section was on networking, and I learned a lot on how to start professional conversations with others. I like the tip that was mentioned to search people up before meeting them in a networking environment. I also didn't consider the importance of tailoring my networking to people who could directly help me. I will look to people who can actually help me in my career the next time I network.
I started the next unit on improving my quality of life. The first section on financial awareness was information I had learned before in my college courses. However, I did takeaway many good tips from the videos that I watched. The tip in the video by Graham Stephan on avoiding lifestyle inflation was one of the main tips that I did not know before. Since I have gotten a new job recently, I will try to remain aware of saving my expendable income instead of spending more. The tips in the car video on buying used cars is another tip I will consider in the future. The information on saving and investing are also things I am familiar with.
I ended the day by starting the time management section. I found the information really applicable to my situation because it made me consider the time I waste. I have many bad habits regarding my time spending, especially with video games. I will be looking to cut down on that time wasted in the future and spend more time on something more productive.
I started the day by finishing the prerequisites to getting hired. I learned about writing cover letters and then updated my LinkedIn, resume, and made a cover letter template. I enjoyed the fact that there are articles about building resumes and cover letters with no experience because they were personally helpful to me.
After that, learned about the importance of one's public image. I also learned about the benefits of having a positive online presence. I created a Twitter account, and updated information, for my YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. I will maintain these accounts more actively and avoid doing negative things that could penalize my opportunities at future workplaces.
I also learned about many job search sites for remote work opportunities. I notice that many required experience, so I personally need to hone my hard skills before applying. Seeing the large amount of remote job opportunities was encouraging because I want to work in a remote or hybrid workplace in the future.
I completed the day by learning about the interview process. It seemed daunting to do interviews before, but now that I have learned how I should be approaching interviews, I realized how I can improve my chances. My main takeaway was to do my "homework" before applying to jobs. Being ready for questions and understanding what the company needs are important factors that I previously overlooked. I also like the analogy of treating interviews like a salesperson would. Bringing a mindset to close deals and having a goal will help with my tendency to ramble when I don't have a structured idea.
I just finished my first day at Techie Youth and I have already learned a lot.
I started the Intro to earning money online unit. I learned the basic run down of the task I needed to do in my day to day and started learning about making money online. I learned about the benefits of working remotely and was inspired to seek a career that allows me to work remotely. The freedom to dictate my hours and to be able to travel are inspiring and I want to become a leader in the future. It is also very easy to set up because only need a computer with Internet access, so I can likely pursue it in the near future.
After that, I learned about different methods of receiving payment. I learned how to write and endorse a check. I also learned more about checking accounts, and how they operate. I learned a couple of checking account banks like Charles Schwab and Bank of America, which are great because they offer zero fees to open. I also learned about setting up credit card transactions for an e-commerce store and the differences between PSP and merchant accounts. Since I don't have a store at the moment, I would likely use a PSP as my credit card transactions if I do start an online business. I was able to learn some more about cryptocurrencies, such as how they store money and how they are distributed. I think due to volatility I won't be using cryptocurrencies as a form of transaction.
I finished my day by learning some of the prerequisites to getting employed like having a LinkedIn and a resume. I found multiple tips from the video, like how make my profile look professional through photos/wording and how resumes should be tailored to the industry I'm pursuing. I also liked the tip where the speaker discussed creating experience my developing a website. That is something I definitely want to attempt during this time.
Overall, my first day was a great learning experience and I look forward to continuing my learning at Techie Youth.