Business Reflection #5 - Brianna

Young Toronto Entrepreneur Makes Forbes' 30 Under 30 List

Article taken from Times & Transcript February 3, 2014

The article that I read was about Derrick Fung, who created the business Tunezy. He is 26 years old, and quit his banking job to pursue his dream. Derrick made his spot on the Forbes' 30 under 30 list along big music names like Drake and Lady Gaga. Fung created Tunezy which he describes as a unique music experience, including backstage passes to concerts and meet and greets with a customers favourite artist. Derrick noticed that artists were not making as much money on selling their actual music, so he created a place where artists could offer unique experiences to promote themselves. 

Derrick was a graduate of University of Toronto in 2009 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. This story is a great example that any of us in this class could create a big business if we put our minds to it. Two years after creating Tunezy. it was  bought from American electronic dance promoter SFX for a seven figure amount. This story really inspires me that our youth in Canada can reach great heights, especially if they have a passion for what they are doing. 

Business Reflection #4 - Brianna

Victoria's Secret Planning a New Store In Metro 

Article taken from Times & Transcript February 8, 2014

I was very pleased to discover the buzz I was hearing recently happens to be true. Victoria’s Secret will be opening its first store in New Brunswick; the store will be located at The Champlain mall in Moncton. To the males in the class this may not be a big deal, but to me it surely is. There is no set open date, but the word got out based on a job advertisement for a manager released on Victoria Secret website. For anyone familiar with Champlain mall Victoria’s Secret will be located on the corner where Laura Secord was previously located. To the new Victoria Secret store this is a prime location, being steps away from Bath & Body Works, as well as Sephora.

 On the other hand, Victoria Secret is also steps away from La Senza which is an off brand of Victoria Secret. Victoria Secret offers a wider variety of products, and I feel this could damage sales at La Senza. Everyone has their preference, but only time will tell what happens to the competing stores. In my opinion, having a Victoria’s Secret in Moncton will be a great move on the company’s part. Based on the popularity of the chain and the placement of the store they will do amazing at Champlain Mall. 

Business Reflection #3 - Brianna

N.B. Company Sold to U.S. IT Giant

 Article taken from Times and Transcript Wednesday January 29, 2014

This article is about a small technology company created in Fredericton. The company named UserEvents was created to track online transactions, and alert corporations when a consumer is having problems making online purchases. Recently UserEvents was sold to LiveOps which is a company based in Redwood City, California. The purchase price was not released, but there was a 33.3 million debt financing agreement along with the deal. After the deal was made, the seven employees working for UserEvents now work for LiveOps; the employees will still work based in Fredericton.

Jeff Thompson, the CEO of UserEvents, stated that the company's goal from the beginning (2012) was to help large organizations. Thompson got to that goal by selling to a company in California, which now allows his program to reach more than 300 companies around the world. Jeff comments on this big accomplishment by saying, "It's another feather in our cap and shows we can do tremendous things in a small town in a small province on a world stage." UserEvents is challenging old ways of doing business, and I believe it was a great step for Fredericton. Personally, it gives me great hope that other companies in New Brunswick can reach the same heights. 

Business Reflection #2 - Brianna

Canada Helped Spy on Phones

 Article taken from Times and Transcript Wednesday January 29, 2014

In this article it says that Canada was helping allies from Britain spy on smartphones by possibly using the app "Angry Birds". The data they could receive from spying on the app would include, phone models, screen size,or personal things like, age, and gender. To me, spying through an app seems a little bit ridiculous and creepy. Spies could access things on phones, including the microphone to listen to conversations; tapping is called making the microphone "hot". According to this newspaper piece, the code name for making a microphone hot was "Nosey Smurf". Spies used this name trying to keep with the "playful theme". 

All of this information was released from a former American spy Edward Snowden. To me, it is scary to know that a company could be spying on me while I play a game on my phone. I have never played Angry Birds before, and am glad that I have not. Although, that is not to say that in the future, a company would not pick a different app to spy through. Overall, I was shocked to read this and will be more aware with downloading free apps on my phone. The world is changing, and technology is becoming scary if you ask me.