20A- Growing Your Social Capital

1) Domain Expert in my Industry: For my expert I found my roommates uncle named Johnny who used to design websites and apps for multiple business he started with his brother. One of them included one called Hub Industrial Supply that was started in Lake City, FL. He is my expert because he is knowledgable in the app and tech field and made them for some very successful companies. I met hm through my roommate, who gave me his contact and allowed me to show him my idea napkin. While he was very pleased with the idea/ concept and could be very successful, he did explain how it could also be pretty complex to make and may cost a bit to full develop. He would enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity by advising me with the necessary tools to develop and make the app, as well as improve its functions and make it as easy and efficient as possible for the users.

2) Expert on my Market: The expert of my market was a high school friend of my other roommate named Rishi Ral who is a coder and web designer who actually developed a website for UF that would help students optimize their class scheduling. He never ended up officially launching the website yet as he is still trying to improve it but it was targeted at freshman and sophomore students and would perform services such as sending them texts if seats for classes they needed opened up. He is my market expert because he is going after the 17-23 year old demographic area and more specifically freshman and sophomore college students. My roommate gave me his contact and after I showed him my idea napkin, he said he really liked the approach that I had to the market and that even though there is a lot in one platform, it covers all the bases so if it is done properly, it can be potentially be very effective in satisfying those needs. Having him would enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity by helping me better target and reach my market and give me more feedback on their needs since he is hitting it from a different but also effective angle. He could also help me develop a website or strategies to reach out to my market more. 

3) Important Supplier to my Industry: As far as a supplier in my industry, I could not exactly think of a supplier for an app other than maybe the companies who supply the tech and software to create and develop these apps. I spoke to one of my father's old friends who used to be involved in supplying computer chips and software to certain small startup tech companies. He didn't have much to say about the idea besides it was pretty creative but only because he is more involved with supplying for the industry and not marketing or running it. He would still be beneficial, however, because he could help obtain certain software and tech to develop the proper app and could also help find the right costs and save money but still get good quality.

Reflect: As far as future networking events, this experience has taught me that not only does knowing people and having connections help you have more opportunities, it also gives you the chance to bounce off ideas with someone who is in the same area as you which can help improve your own company. Having no connections while trying to start a successful business is very difficult because you have no solid starting point and in today's world, it can be very hard to find good chances and opportunities for your company to blossom from unless you know some people. Usually whenever I have had networking experiences in the past, I was not very serious yet into the idea of starting a business and never really thought of the benefits I could have short term and mostly long term. Now that I am actually putting more seriousness and effort into this idea, getting feedback and advice from other people also in the field was very informative and beneficial.

19A- Idea Napkin No.2

1) You.
My name is Christian Frisone, I am from the Florida Keys and I am a sophomore here at the University of Florida. I am very creative and open-minded which I feel is a very good tool to have in the field of entrepreneurship. I have also been told I am an effective and efficient multitasker. As far as my experiences go, I have been exposed to acts of entrepreneurship that involved my father and one day I hope to run a business or create my own that not only is successful but can actually help improve peoples day to day lives. My business would play a large role in my life because as of right now I would still be one of the ones to benefit from it as well. Even with concerns of this relating to bias, having the need myself also helps me bring more relevant and creative ideas to the table because I know what the exact customer for this need is going through. The business is for students such as myself to be able to prepare themselves for life too so this would carry on to be a part of my life even after school.
2) What are you offering to customers?
The product/ service would be an app or program to educate students on how to live on their own and take care of themselves when they are in college. It will show students how to cook, clean, schedule/plan, budget, shop, etc. Many of those things students come into college having no knowledge of how to do either because the high schools never taught them how or their parents never really showed them how. This will take off an immense about of stress that has been drowning students over the years as well as improve their health as they will be eating better and having better overall hygiene. With poor budgeting tactics in college, more and more students are having little to no money for necessities like toiletries, food, and gas. 
3) Who are you offering it to?
Think about it from the perspective of a high school student about to go to college, we've all been there. You just spent the first 18-19 years of your life with your family, under a roof, having dinner on the table and in many families laundry is also done for you. Then all of sudden, you pack all your bags and leave all of that behind as you go live on your own with thousands of other people you do not know and having to take care of yourself. Now obviously every student did not grow with the same childhood but overall that is what most students have and it is what most students came from in my interviews. What all these students have in common is that they are all leaving home to go live on their own and take care of themselves for the first time and for a lot of them, they are clueless on what to do. This is to educate and teach these kids how to become adults and take care of themselves while they pursue their degree. This also is not just a short term fix, what these students learn from the app will last throughout their whole lives because even students once they leave college have trouble adjusting to the real world and this app would definitely help them survive those rough and stressful times as well. 
4) Why do they care? 
Customers will care about this solution because when you don't know how to cook, clean, budget and save, or even schedule your day/week correctly, than your life along with college and classes will be a very big struggle and cause stress levels that can actual be very unhealthy for students. More and more students each year are attending counselors at their universities for anxiety, stress, and depression and a lot of it has to do with them living in constant cluelessness on how to take care of themselves and live alone. With just the simple small purchase of the app or program, they will not only be assisted, but more importantly be TAUGHT how to do all those things and make their life easier not even just for college but for life in general. 
5) What are your core competencies?
What sets this apart from everyone else is that it has everything in one. You could go download a cooking app or taking a cooking class and do the same thing for budgeting and cleaning and everything else but that involves the purchase of several different applications and classes that also take up more space and time. With this app/program, you have everything in one. I believe that is what we have that others don't. If I had to put it into a term I would probably say convenience. I think another thing that sets apart this service from others is that is teaches the customers long term and not just for the time being. It really all depends on how they use it but if used correctly, these budgeting, cooking, cleaning, and all other tips and instructions will follow them for the rest of their lives let alone just get them through college. 
Evaluation:
I believe that these elements fit together because they are all part of the same struggles that students have and one fix for all can really change some students lives. To simplify it at its best, there is a group of people with an unmet need and a logical and realistic solution that can meet that need all at once. Yes, there are things that need to be fixed and some loose screws that need to be tightened but I do believe this is still an opportunity that can work. You could say that they could all just look it up individually or watch Youtube videos but I don't think that is very convenient for anyone. To have ONE service on ONE platform that can take care of it all for you at the click of some buttons. I would say if there are any weak aspects it would be the customers that already have knowledge of all or most of those factors and can just teach it to their friends, however, I feel that more students would find it more convenient to have it on their phone or just have it taught by experts who can make sure whatever is taught is long-lasting. 
Feedback Memo:
My feedback was mostly taken from my roommates perspective, since I was unable to pull any effective feedback from the comments on my original post. My feedback was that although is it is a great idea, would already tight budgeted students being spending more money to find out things that they could just look up on google for free. Another main point was similar to the first point but specified that not everyone needs help with all the things the app provides so if one student only need help with one or two things, why spend the money on something that covers way more than that and then you are left with stuff you already are familiar with. In the assignment I did state that for one small purchase, these students would have all the info at their disposal for good and forever and since it will all be on the same platform they won't have to go anywhere else individually to find them which is much more convenient. As far as maybe having too much info to where people will find some or most of it not useful, I do not believe it could ever hurt to have some more info on stuff you may already be familiar with especially since they will not be paying periodically or multiple times for having it in which it would be a concern. 

17A- Elevator Pitch 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgxjeW9eL4U

My feedback was more about me being a little monotone and not getting enough grabbers into my pitch. In other words, I needed to think of a better way to start it in order to pull the audience in more and set a strong tone to start. The most insightful was definitely starting my pitch and making it more approachable because if I don't start it well than I am already setting the mood of my audience and if its a negative mood than the rest of my pitch won't be as effective.

I changed the start of my pitch to a flashback approach. Bringing my audience back to right before they experience the need and put them in the shoes of that person so they truly get an idea of what the problem is and how it is being solved. I also was more physically into it, using my hands more and moving around a bit which I feel takes away some of the monotone problems I had prior.

18A- Create a Custom Avatar

My customer is ironically just like me. The reason why I even came up with the idea in the first place was based off the freshman year struggles of my friends and I from last year. My customer is anywhere from 17-21 and is like your average teenager. To go into more detail, imagine a young 18 year old male who's normal daily routine originally started with going to high school for 7-8 hours a day and then going home to his family where they have a roof over his head and food on the table. Besides your average microwavable foods and snacks all the home cooked meals are prepared by the parents per usual. He drives a white sedan such as a Honda or Lexus that isn't by any means brand new but not old and still up to date. His mom will toss in his laundry for him a few times a week while he is at school and every time she says he is going to have to start doing it on his own soon but that never really ends up happening. He watches ESPN to catch up with the latest sports news and to get him laughing and interested he'll watch some episodes of Family Guy or Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He works part time to save up some extra cash but he spends it all because he figures he will have his parents help or get an easy part time job in college. With the awareness that college will probably still be challenging school wise, he is not ready for the abundance of additional responsibilities that will come along with it as well.

Now fast forward to the next year, life is completely different. While independence and some more freedom is amazing and fun, he soon realizes that there are some things that come along with that. He focuses strictly on classes as any freshman would, but doesn't think about the other needs that were previously done for him such as breakfast, lunch, dinner (not just how to make them but the food he needs to get for them), laundry (which piles up very quick when you aren't paying attention), budgeting and realizing how little time you have to work your freshman year. All of a sudden he feels like he is 28 years old and actually being an adult when only 3 months prior he was with his family and life had way less worries. Now he has to try to balance all of these into a daily and weekly schedule and he doesn't have the easy ability to go home and see his family whenever he needs help or just wants to stray away from the responsibilities. Now this is obviously not every person and everyone has different backgrounds but this is the type of people my app would assist perfectly and help improve their first year away from home and on their own.

I have a lot in common with this custom avatar because this customer avatar was just like my friends and I during the transition of our Senior years of high school to Freshman years of college. This is not a coincidence because this opportunity was based off of experience of my own and of people I know. When I was a freshman, I struggled so much in trying to keep up with all my schoolwork, actual work, money, clubs, self care/laundry, that I would even be skipping numerous meals throughout the week because I was too stressed or didn't have the time or knowledge to make it.

15A- Figuring Out Buyer Behavior Pt.2

Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them.
The three people I interviewed were three students here at the University of Florida. Two being freshman (one male, one female) and one sophomore (male).

Begin with alternative evaluation.
  During the interviews, I found that price and quality are the two biggest factors with price being the overall most important even over quality. For the type of budget that college students are primarily on, price expectedly took the top priority. Both freshman said that since this is going to be something they rely their daily schedules and life on, they are willing to pay more for better quality but not that much more since they still always have google and other individual sources. The senior, however, said that they would definitely pay for more quality over anything but this is also because they were better budgeted now and had the funds to do so. 

How/where do they buy? 
Since my opportunity is based more in the direction of an app, all the students I interviewed would be paying on credit card since it would be through the app store. Even then, all students said that their primary purchasing method is credit/debit cards or apple pay instead of cash. Since this is also on the app store, all three said that they would buy online, but one freshman and the sophomore did stress concerns about buying things online and not being able to have the service performed in person to prove quality but overall still said it is more convenient to purchase online. 

Post-purchase evaluation.
Once they have already purchased the item product/ service and it has already been put to use, the senior said that what matters most is if the quality was worth the price he paid. Both freshman's responses were similar in that they care about efficiency and long term potential so sometimes it is hard for them to determine the rightness until some time has passed. They all stated that they want to get maximum usage out of the product as well and something that won't just sit in the middle of all their other apps and eventually get deleted because then thats just wasted money. 

Draw conclusions. 
Based on my interviews, I came to the conclusion that this segment focuses primarily on price, due to the lack of budgeting at this age and in school. They are ones that will prefer better quality but really won't go much further in price at all to get it. Their purchasing methods are primarily online and using credit or debit cards as well as apple pay and other electronic uses. Long term use and maximum usage is also very important in this purchase as far as post purchase behavior. This overall can still fit my product for the most part as it is used electronically and is relatively inexpensive. 

14A- Halfway Point

1)    Tenaciousness is a competency: To keep up with some of the requirements of this course, I have developed a few new behaviors such as time management and following instructions more clearly. Even though this course does not have any exams, it does have a decent workload of assignments each week that come up very quickly if you do not manage your time right. The assignments are actually pretty cool and interesting; however, they can get long at times so that’s why time management is key because trying to do it Thursday night when its due at noon Friday is not fun. Also, following instructions is key because when you finish an assignment, you have to perform multiple steps in submitting it and if you miss one step, you miss all of the points for the assignment, and the reviews. I learned this the hard way on the first assignment of the year.

2)    Tenaciousness is also about attitude: In the past month, I have filled my schedule to the top with things that I frankly did not have all the time for. I work at least three days a week, I have all my classes which include financial accounting (extremely difficult), I joined a fraternity this semester which has been very time consuming, and I have joined a club. There were plenty of times, especially during exams, when I felt like just quitting and not trying anymore. It just felt like the easiest decision and I was going to do anything to not feel as stressed as I had been feeling, however, every time I got close to the edge, I just remembered that it isn’t forever and eventually I will get past it by just taking everything one step at a time and by giving up, I would have done all of that stuff for nothing. I knew that in the long run, if I did not give up, I would be much happier and better off because of all the accomplishments and work I would have achieved over that time. Having the developed behavior of time management from this course actually helped me get through it a lot and I am very grateful for it because I will need it for the other times in the future when I feel that way.

3)    Three tips:

1.     Start strong. A lot of the assignments and work for this class are all based off your original ideas and answers from the first few assignments of the class so make sure you start those first assignments with stuff that actually interests you and real ideas because then the assignments after that will not just be easier, but more interesting and fun.

2.     Manage your time wisely. These assignments come up quick and what got me most was that it is due at 12pm noon on Friday and not midnight so I would wait and realize that it was due soon and cram it all in on Thursday night which I do not recommend. The class is not hard to get through unless you make it hard yourself by not paying attention to your deadlines and managing your time wisely.

3.     Embrace the material. For a lot of students including myself, there are harder classes you are taking with exams and everything that you devote more time to and that’s completely okay. However, this class does offer a lot and really can teach you to open up your mind more and be more creative and come up with some incredible ideas. If you have the time during these assignments, really try to read through them and think about what you want to put instead of just trying to get it over with and done because you are missing out on lessons and material that can really help you not just in the class but in your other classes and life.

 

13A- Reading Reflection

1) The book I read was Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight. I chose this book due to my large interest in the athletics and sports field and I was curious on the steps Knight really took to create one of the biggest brands on earth. What surprised me most about the whole thing itself is how Phil Knight really started this huge company by completely winging a spontaneous meeting across the entire world when he was right out of school with no experience or money at all. What I most admired about Phil Knight was his passion. It was the sole thing that drove him and kept him going throughout all the ups and downs and without it, I don't think the company would be here today. However, what I didn't admire much about Knight was his occasional carelessness with some of his business tactics. He seemed to wing a lot things or wait until the last minute like when he ordered all those shoes just assuming he'd somehow get the money and waiting till the last minute for the name and logo which may not be the biggest pieces but really do have a big part in the marketing and global factors. Throughout his journey, Knight encountered many obstacles like when he walked into a meeting with a Japanese company and had no planned presentation or business plan or when his partnership with Onituska crashed down and he had to scramble to find a spot in Asia to make and ship his shoes to the States. He also faced legal troubles with the US government and with the rapid growth of the company he had troubled keeping up with the expansion as far as warehouses, distribution centers, and factories. Knight just trusted the process and worked harder than anyone else to get through the obstacles and in the end his commitment was well worth it. 

 

2) Some competencies I noticed that Phil Knight showed was his commitment, passion, and his perseverance. Knight never quit on his idea or his business at any point no matter how hard it got or how small the chance at success was. He held onto his love and passion for what he did and used that as fuel to make him work harder and also used it has a key characteristic when hiring employees so they would have the same drive and work ethic as he did.

3) What confused me a little bit was overall why a successful Japanese shoe company just took the call of a random person claiming to be a business man and actually sat in a conference room meeting with him and listened to what he had to say without even doing a background check or doing more research and then they signed a contract with him. Luckily it paid off and i'm sure Phil Knight was very convincing and back then it was a little more laid back with less resources but that still kind of threw me off.

4) If I could ask Knight two questions, I would ask him, "What made you almost instinctively make these risky and last minute decisions when you didn't have anything to fall back on?" I ask this because he took so many risks that could have gone completely wrong and it seemed as if he never had a doubt and never even thought about having a backup plan or something to fall back on with all these risks. I would also ask him, "Would you change anything about the process you went through to create what you have today?" I ask this because in the book he even says there were things he did not love like the name and logo and he had a lot of bumps along the way so there may have been moments or decisions that he may believe should have been done differently. 

5) I think Phil Knights opinion of hard work is very strong in that it is so vital to success. It was the only reason Knight got his company to where it is now and without his hard work, he would have been stopped at the first obstacle that came in his way.  I definitely share this opinion with him because I have always worked hard to get where I am and all good things in my life have come from hard work. Never had I heard in a situation were something becomes very successful and long lasting without hard work involved.

12A- Figuring Out Buyer Behavior Process

Segment: For my segment, I chose the area of college students. I interviewed a freshman at UF from Virginia, a sophomore at UF from Maryland, and senior here at UF from Tampa, FL.

Interviews and Findings: During my interviews, I discovered that there is definitely a need out there for this service, however, it is very reliant on the conveniency to get it and if the student comes from out of state or not. When asked about what moments trigger their awareness for the need, the freshman said when he is trying to budget and spending way too much money than he really needs to such as grocery shopping. The sophomore said around lunch and dinner time because he does not know how to cook and eating the microwaveable and snack foods is a waste of money and makes him feel sick after a while. The senior said now, it is when he needs to schedule things and plan his week, but back when he was a freshman it was definitely when he needed to do laundry and cook for himself and be able to find time to do that all as well. However, he did say that being from Tampa, he was able to go home a lot to get food, have some stuff cleaned for him once in a while, but mostly just see his family more to relieve the stress of being at school sometimes.  I found that the awareness occurs most to the students when comes to finances and cooking but always around the later times like the evening when it is after classes or work and now you have to worry about what/ how to cook, what/ how to clean, where to go get your essentials and how much it will be. Usually when you were in high school, once school was done at around 2:30-3, if you didn't have practice or homework your day was practically over and you didn't have to worry about most of those additional responsibilities. When the need becomes aware to the students, everyone's first move was either to call their parents or look it up on google. That was surprising to me because I the first things I did when I was in those situations was ask my roommates if they knew, however, when I asked if they ever though to do that first, two of them responded by saying they didn't want the first impressions to make them seem like they were clueless of how to be independent (even though that was the case for most of them). I asked what their google search history looked like as far as these type of questions and some main terms or searches I got were, "how to cook in college", "essential college foods", "surviving college first year", and my personal favorite, "How to make clothes not shrink when washing". Overall, the students like to use google the most because they also said they felt bad calling their parents every day and also did not want them to feel concerned about them or worry that they weren't able to take care of themselves. It seems pretty common that whenever anyone has a question or concern of any kind they will go straight to google or online first before they ask other people.

Conclusions: In terms of need awareness and information search, this segment is definitely in need of this type of solution, however, it would have to be readily available for them to get such as an app or close by advisory program because not a lot of kids have time in their already busy schedules to go somewhere further away or something that would be like another class and most first year college students have very limited transportation. It was also be aimed a little more towards the students farther away from home such as out of state or even just more than a few hour drive because the ones that cannot see their family and get more assistance often are the ones that feel more stressed and struggle more and therefore would be in more need of a solution of our type.