Growing Your Social Capital

After watching Dr. Pryor’s weekly update video, I realized that we should be reaching out to true experts that know a lot about their field. He explained that he doesn’t expect us to get responses before the assignment due date, or ever, and that helped me realize that I can reach out to bigger names for this assignment, with the hopes that they may one day respond, but the expectation that they will most likely not. 

Domain Expert

1. Who they are & what their background is:
1. I chose to reach out to the CEO of Apple regarding their Airpods. His name is Tim Cook. My idea is a lot like airpods and the design would greatly resemble them, as there are not many different ways to design wireless earbuds. I would basically be making one of Apple’s products, but with added features, so I thought that someone high up in Apple’s company could really help me.
2. How is this person a “domain expert”:
1. Tim Cook obviously knows a lot about Apple products as the CEO. It is obvious that to get to the place that he is now, he had to learn a lot about the domain and how the products are made and function. I think that Tim Cook was the perfect person to contact for the domain expert. Anyone that high up in the “Apple world” is obviously a professional and expert in their department.
3. How I found and contacted this person:
1. I automatically thought of Apple in order to reach out to a domain expert. I searched “contact Apple CEO” on the internet and ended up finding Tim Cook’s work email. It was so easy to the point where I’m sure he gets so many emails each day. 
4. Nature of exchange- What they did for me & what is the return expectation:
1. I sent Time Cook an email explaining my product idea with part of my pitch included. I also described that I would be creating something similar to airpods, so I thought he could have great advice. I am awaiting a response, but also not truly expecting it. The email included the information to write me back if he ever saw my message. 
5. How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:
1. Reaching out to my biggest competitor will hopefully affect my understanding of the product and what I need to do to make it successful; Not necessarily in sales, but to better the design, quality and features. If I were to get a response from Cook, I would have a lot more insight as to how to make the best product. I am aware that he will most likely not answer me, but you never know! 

Market Expert

1. Who they are & what their background is:
1. Corie Barry is the CEO of Best Buy. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and management from the College of St. Benedict.
2. How is this person a “market expert”:
1. She knows a lot about the market of selling electronics and their accessories. Since she is in the field of work that she is in, it is obvious that she is a great person to contact to get information on my possible earbud business. 
3. How I found and contacted this person:
1. I went to the internet to find Corie Barry’s email. I had to sign up for a 3rd party website to view her email, but it was free so I didn’t mind. 
4. Nature of exchange- What they did for me & what is the return expectation:
1. I emailed her almost the same email as my other experts. I began with my business idea and part of my pitch, but instead of asking for answers and advice on design, quality and features, I instead focused more on how to get the product out there. It is convenient that she is the CEO of Best Buy because I think that Best Buy would be a great company to have contact with. If my business could branch out enough to sell its products at Best Buy, that would be great. Again, I don’t expect much in return unless she sees my email and wants to reply. I reached out to big names in order to learn more on my end, so I would understand if Barry were to never get back to me.
5. How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:
1. There are a lot of opportunities for my business if I get acquainted with people high up in Best Buy. Best Buy is a great place for my product to be sold and I think that it would be great if I could get my foot in the door by messaging someone so important so early on in my business idea’s career. 

Industry Supplier

1. Who they are & what their background is:
1. Tim Howlett from Alpha Wire Co. The company is based out of New Jersey and it is a manufacturing company for electronic and electronic products for many needs, with one being entertainment. Alpha Wire Co. was founded in 1921 and is the second top wire and cable manufacturer in the U.S. with annual sales ranging from $100-250 million per year. 
2. How is this person an “industry supplier”:
1. Tim Howlett is the sales manager at Alpha Wire Co. He has a lot of responsibilities and with those, he has lots of knowledge and experience in his field. He is an industry supplier because he works with one of the largest companies that we could use when supplying my product, or at least parts of it.  
3. How I found and contacted this person:
1. Through the internet, I found his email. Once again, I found it on a 3rd party website and it was not that difficult. I contacted him by sending the email. 
4. Nature of exchange- What they did for me & what is the return expectation:
1. Just like my other emails to experts, I started by introducing my product and explaining some of the pitch. I think it is important for the email receiver to understand exactly what you’re talking about, and by starting with the description and pitch, this is possible. I, once again, am not expecting a reply very quickly from this expert, but I think that it is more likely to get a reply from Howlett rather than my other experts. I am hoping for the advice from Howlett and the insight as to what I need to do to produce the actual headphones with all of their features. 
5. How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:
1. I hope to establish a relationship with someone who can truly help my business flourish. I need people to help me make my business idea into a real product because I do not know how to do wiring and all of the inside technologies of headphones. It would be great if I could be introduced to people who would join my team, or help me out, in the beginning of my business. 

Finally: Reflect. 

This assignment was very interesting. It got me thinking of how hard it would be to create my idea with just me. I really do need help and advice from others, especially experts. I think that I would receive more from this experience if they responded, so I will have to wait and see if they do! I am glad that I got to reach out to different people with great knowledge in different aspects of this possible business. I think that I could really expand my business (if it were real) to new heights with the replies that I may get. In future networking events, I would know a little more about who I would want to get acquainted with. This experience was very different from all of the interviews and interactions that I have had in the past because this experience I am not sure if I will be receiving feedback, which is a little weird. I do think this experience still helped me though, mainly in the aspect of learning more about my product and who I would contact if I were truly making it a product.

Idea Napkin No. 2

1) My name is Carlie Darragh and I am currently an exploratory major with interests in many different categories. I will most likely be declaring my major as either Family, Youth and Community Sciences or Business Administration. I have a passion for photography and started a business for it in 2018. I would say it is one of my talents because many people say that I have an eye for photography and a gift to create. I had 45+ photoshoots last year, which makes me feel a sense of pride because all of those people get to keep physical memories that will last them a lifetime. I focus on photographing families, babies, high school seniors, college graduates and various events, but I one day hope that I can become a wedding photographer. If I were starting the business that I have chosen for this class, I think it would be fairly successful. There are many aspects of the business that I still need to figure out and fix, but the majority of the key details seem to work together and shoot towards a successful business. My life would definitely change if I created this business because I would focus more on the product rather than my photography goals. I would be advocating for transportation safety rather than creating memories for families and such. 

2) I am offering customers a pair of headphones that play music, but also detect motion when around them. These will mostly be useful to bikers who bike alongside cars. I think that there is definitely an unmet need with all of the people who get hurt due to the lack of awareness of their surroundings. Many bikers listen to music during their bike rides, whether it’s coming from a speaker in their backpack or any other device, so these headphones could combine the music and alertness in one. The headphones would have two settings for the bikers. One setting will turn off all music being played and leave the biker to silence, and the other setting will play a beeping noise, but not too shocking, to where the biker will know that they are being alerted. Also, when the headphones have low power or the volume is turned down, the alert will still play in the biker’s ear. This product is a key feature to the safety of future cyclists. 

3) I will be offering this product to many different people, as there are definitely extra uses of the headphones that I am not focusing on. Although this is the case, I will mainly focus my time on customers who are frequent bikers. These customers will mainly be between the age of 18 and 60. People bike prior to the age of 18 and after the age of 60, but I would definitely focus my attention on this range of people as I think I would be able to both sell and help more in this range. For people under 18, I would most likely think about later releases of a children’s version maybe built into a helmet, but I do not want to focus on giving children any distractions while biking at young ages. The customers I will focus on will be ones who see biking as a form of transportation, rather than for fun. This will ensure that the customers will be using the headphones enough for them to want to purchase. The customers I will focus on will be both male and female. 

4) Customers will purchase my product because they are concerned for their safety while they cycle next to cars. Many customers fear for their safety while on large roads biking, but many just put a helmet on and hope for the best. Since there is no current product like this, the customers will see these and realize the need for them in their collection. I understand that many do not want to spend extra money on items they may already have, as in headphones, but once the customers see my product, they will see the obvious need of the headphones and a chance to increase their safety in situations that they are already placing themselves in. 

5) According to what I have seen, there is not a product like this currently on the market. There are plenty of people that listen to music through various devices while biking, but there is no item that alerts them of motion. The only safety products on the market for bikers are helmets, knee pads, goggles and reflective lighting systems. There is no product that beeps when a car is coming, which might just be the product one needs to save their life. I hope to add design and technology abilities to my competencies. I think that my business would be able to flourish if I could really design the perfect in and outs of the product. I would most likely hire someone for their competencies and their ideas that no one else has! Maybe I will be able to adapt these competencies to my own in this sense. 

I think that the elements of this idea fit well together. I am concerned about making connections in the market to really get this product out there. With AirPods being such a big thing right now, I am worried that no one will even think to purchase another pair of headphones. My product could have all of the same aspects as Airpods, but since they do not say Apple on them, they may not be purchased as much. I think that will be the most challenging part of creating and holding up my business. I am worried that, even with the help that I am seeking, I may not get the sales and opportunities that I am looking for. I have also realized, due to interviews, that many people would not want to spend the extra money that these headphones would cost. I do not know much about true costs, but because of the extra features of these headphones, I am assuming that they will cost more than the average pair. I will have to hire someone to work with me on these aspects of the company so that I can price the product accordingly.

Feedback Memo

One of the main points of feedback that I received from my peers was that it may be difficult to actually create the technology to put together the product. For instance, the headphones will have motion sensors that will need to be connected to an automatic alarming noise. I honestly don’t know much about technology or how all of those elements come together, so this feedback was important. I would most likely hire someone to make it and not ever really learn that much about that part of the product. Another point of feedback that I found important was for the headphones to be manufactured perfectly. This involves the look, design, actual safety abilities and much more. I think that it would be important for me to know these aspects of the business and product. I would probably hire someone to work with me, but I would mainly be running the show when it comes to these aspects as I have some great ideas already. For this idea napkin, I incorporated these ideas when discussing my competencies. I would love to learn more about design and product development. Hopefully I will add these to my competencies and it will make my business (if I were to start it) better.

Create A Customer Avatar

Just as a reminder, my opportunity belief is a pair of headphones that bikers can wear when they are riding down the road and come in contact with cars. These headphones can play music but also aert bikers when cars are coming due to motion sensors. There are definitely other uses for these headphones, but my main focus right now is bikers and their safety.

When originally forming this opportunity belief, I based it off of my cousins who ride their bikes around their neighborhood every day. It is important to note that I later realized that most of my customers would most likely be college students and individuals in that age range. The avatar pictured is what I think of when I think of a college student biking around the University of Florida campus. I can picture this man’s hair moving in the wind as he is biking throughout campus.

My prototypical customer is named Joey. He is adventurous, likes to bike (obviously), active, healthy and very intelligent. Joey enjoys playing video games sometimes, but always tries to be outdoors when he can. He is interested in mechanics and engineering. Joey does not currently have a car. Joey rides his bike everywhere he needs to go. There is also great public transportation open to him, but he likes the exercise of his bike when the weather is nice. Joey doesn’t watch a ton of TV, but when he does, he watches “How It’s Made” on the Discovery Channel. Joey does not have children but hopes to one day. Joey spends a lot of time reading and is very interesting in books involving adventures and the challenges that come with them. Seems like he’s not into a specific genre, since lots of books have adventure aspects. He’ll read just about anything. Joey is interested in politics and is set on who he is voting for in November. He doesn’t share his political views, though. He went to high school in Florida and couldn’t wait to go to the state’s #1 public university. He is a senior at the University of Florida and maintains a 3.6 gpa. Joey thinks it is very important to respect other people and their personal space. Joey bikes in the bike lanes of roads and tries as hard as he can to stay off of sidewalks to allow other pedestrians to take them. Around campus, Joey tries to not kill the walkers as he bikes around. Joey is different from some other students on campus because some other students plow into students. Overall, Joey has a huge heart and cares for so many people, whether he knows them or not. 

I also have a big heart like Joey. I think our personalities are somewhat similar, except he is more adventurous than I am. Although he is a male, we have a lot of the same ideas and ways of life. I like biking, am adventurous and I would like to say that I am intelligent. I am assuming that everything that I have in common with the avatar is because when I was thinking of a business idea, I had myself in the back of my mind without knowing. I used my own experiences when thinking of opportunities of a product or business. I also think that I based my prototypical customers off of people that I surround myself with that could use this product. People like Joey symbolize my potential customers!

Elevator Pitch No. 2

1) The pitch.

Please read before watching:

• I am working on swaying side to side. Somehow I keep doing it, but I will get more used to the camera by the 3rd pitch for sure! 
• I understand that I am over on timing and have taken out lots of the fluff!
• The shirt I am wearing is a business shirt and not a track suit even though it looks like it on camera!
• Days after recording, I have a new script that I made after the video, but didn’t want to change the video because I want my third one to be the best! I wouldn’t be able to watch my progress if I uploaded a better one after I already uploaded my second attempt at a pitch. The new script can be found at the bottom of this post (It should come out to 90 seconds instead of 120 seconds because I took out a lot of fluff).

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t3ra31vUsA&feature=youtu.be

2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch.

All of the feedback that I received struck me as important. I needed to hear what other people thought to continue the success of my idea. I enjoyed that all three comments stated that they liked my product idea. It was great to hear from my peers that it wasn’t a dumb idea because I had previously been worried about that. I also found it very important that my peers commented on the little things in my pitch. There were a few aspects of my last pitch that were unprofessional and I had a feeling that they would be discussed. I did not have the appropriate attire for the elevator pitch and I knew it would stand out. I agree with my peers that the background noises of talking, doors shutting and toilet flushes were very distracting. I enjoyed that one of my peers commented on how I swayed side to side. I do think that it is distracting and am glad that someone pointed it out. I do not think any of my feedback was wrong or silly. All of the feedback given was very useful and insightful, especially about changing the little things. My peers noted that they would be able to take me more seriously if I had dressed in the proper attire and got rid of the other distractions. 

3) What did you change, based on the feedback?

Based on this feedback, I decided to dress in nicer attire. I did not have any business clothes in Gainesville, but now that I am home, I have more appropriate attire for the pitch. With my clothing, I changed my stance, but still swayed because I need to get used to recordings more, and attitude on the pitch. I tried to take this more serious in comparison to my last pitch. I also changed the wording of a few parts of the pitch. I hope that for the final elevator pitch I will be able to memorize what I will say and not have to read off of a screen. I think that it would make my pitch much better overall.

Improved Pitch:

In 2016 alone, 840 cyclists died in accidents. That’s over two cyclist deaths per day. In 2018 there were 6,568 bicycle crashes in Florida alone which resulted in 148 deaths and over 6,000 injuries. Now I am aware that these deaths and injuries are many times due to the automobiles that are driving on the road, however, it is very common to see distracted bikers in these cases as well.

Have you ever realized how difficult it is to ride your bike while jamming to music and paying attention to the cars passing you going 25, 45, or even 55 miles per hour? Biking on the roads alongside cars can be a true nightmare, but with A WEAR PODS there’s no more stress! These motion detecting earbuds turn off your music when a car is passing so that you can focus on what you’re supposed to! It is important to realize that while people bike alongside the backroads and neighborhood streets, some do not have bike paths or sidewalks and bikers sometimes just bike in the middle of the street.

There are two settings for A WEAR PODS. One setting will turn off all music being played and leave the biker in silence, and another setting will play a dramatic sound to where the biker will definitely know that something is coming. Also, when the A WEAR PODS have low battery or the volume is turned down, or even all the way off, the earbuds have been programmed to still play the alert in the biker’s ear. This product is a key feature to the safety of future cyclists.

Since they are purely motion censoring earbuds, there are many other ways to use A WEAR PODS as well. Do you see how valuable this product would be in saving lives? If you are a cyclist or know a cyclist and want to make a change in the way you see biking and its safety, get behind A WEAR PODS.

What's your secret sauce?

Five ways in which I think I have human capital:

• Detail-oriented: I pay attention to the details in both my work and others’ work. With this, I look deeper into things and analyze the true reasons why things are the way they are.
• Learner: I am very curious and continue to learn new things every day. I put in the time to pursue opportunities that will help me learn through experiences.
• Listener: I am a great listener to people’s viewpoints and opinions. I think that it is important to be level-headed as an entrepreneur. Being able to take and apply critiques to your work is a skill that seems to be very beneficial and I am glad that I have it. 
• Photography and the arts: Looking at everyday objects with an artistic mindset has helped me progress in my design abilities. I think that if I had to design a physical product, package or advertisement, I would be fully equipped because of my photography and art skills. 
• Tech-savvy: I know how to work modern technology and I never have a problem using these items, such as computers. I think this would really help my business as some people today are still confused about modern technologies.

Interviews:

One of my friend’s birthday was being celebrated this past weekend, so I had the opportunity to interview 5 of my high school (and current) best friends. It was perfect because they truly know me best. (side note: These interviews look staged, but we had to record each one multiple times because there would always be laughing or loud noises, so they got used to what they were saying repetitively pretty quick.)

• Interview 1: Marc Miller has been one of my best friends for 5  years. He said that I am very motivated and when I set my mind to do something, I get it done. He also said that I persevere. 
• https://youtu.be/Fj43dO6qGPo
• Interview 2: Alyssa Long has been one of my best friends for 8 years. She said that I am different from others because I bring a different perspective to the table during conflicts.
• https://youtu.be/w-Gz-t1FS8w 
• Interview 3: Cole Tzoumas has been one of my best friends for 5 years. He said that I’m always willing to listen to people’s opinions. He also said that I always work hard to make the best option for everyone in situations. 
• https://youtu.be/k-Tyhz9Ar8o 
• Interview 4: Emma Mastro has been one of my best friends for 4 years. She said that I’m very creative and I’m always looking for new ways to innovate my photography business. 
• https://youtu.be/vf4A5r3C_FM
• Interview 5: Tomas Panqueva has been one of my best friends for 4.5 years. He said that I have a compassionate heart and passion for people. He said that I reach people through these two things.
• https://youtu.be/CvF86UAfI-k 

Reflection:

I’ve always found it interesting to compare how I see myself to how others see me. I had recently been faced with the task outside of this class, but I was focused more on my personality traits rather than my human capital. I had very different reflections for that exercise as compared to this one because no one was focused on any of my negative character traits. Although we all have them, they do not necessarily build human capital and were not discussed in this. I think that I agree with what my best friends said about me. It was great to know that the people that I surround myself with have some of the same mindsets about me that I have of myself. It’s easy to get caught up in the similarities in everyone and not realize your true individuality, but this assignment really helped me with that. Of course, there is still a lot to learn about myself, but this class is opening my mind up to my qualities that help in the entrepreneurial world.

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Figuring Out Buyer Behavior, No. 2

Segment:

As I was home for spring break, I got to widen my range of interviews. I live right around the corner from Florida Gulf Coast University, and since my sister is a student there, I thought it would be great to interview some individuals, outside of UF, that attended that university. The segment that I chose for my last assignment was students who bike around campus, so it was perfect for my trip to FGCU. All three students were undergraduate students at FGCU who seemed to not fear for their safety as much as I have heard from UF students, which I thought was very interesting. 

Interviews/ What I learned:

From my previous interviews, I had been told that when bikers purchase items to increase their safety, they usually include knee pads, elbow pads, helmets, light accessories and much more. My newer interviewees all agreed that this was a good list of items that they would consider buying if they were looking to increase their safety while biking. One of my interviewees claimed that price was more important than quality and style to him, and my other two interviewees claimed that both quality and style mattered more than the price. One mentioned that the reason that he focuses more on the quality and style rather than the price of many items is because his college is free and he has lots of money to spend elsewhere. At the time, I thought this was TMI, but it ended up giving me a better understanding of where his head was at when picking alternatives to my product. 

All three interviewees answered with Target when asked where they would most likely go first for these safety alternatives. They all agreed that this was because it was the closest store to campus and they didn’t have to question if it had the items they were looking for. One decided to add that “Target has everything,” which I thought was interesting because they don’t have my product! ;) I asked the interviewees how they thought that they would purchase the product and they all said that depending on the day, they would use cash or a debit/credit card. This question was not very specific in helping me towards learning about my product because at a place like Target, many forms of payment are used. 

When thinking back on their purchases, my interviewees gave slightly different answers regarding post-purchase evaluation. The one interviewee that claimed that the price was more important than quality and style made it apparent that he bases his ‘rightness’ of a purchase on his personal use. He said that he will analyze over time how much he used the product and will decide if the product was worth buying, or spending the money on. It makes sense that he answered this way due to his priority being the price of the object. I would assume that he cares more about what every one of his dollars are spent on in comparison with the other interviewees. The other two interviewees claimed that they base their ‘rightness’ of a purchase on the product’s life span. This makes total sense to me because when purchasing, they are more worried about the quality of an item. If they buy a product that they think is great quality and it breaks within a month, they would see their purchase as a bad idea.

Conclusion:

I think that all of the information that I received from these interviews made perfect sense. People will always look at products differently and it was interesting to see how some look for the best price and some look for the best quality or style. I am taking all of this into account when pricing, designing, and finalizing my product idea. I think it would be important to make the product as affordable as possible, but also be able to have a high profit margin, if this product were being made. I am glad that I chose this segment originally because it let me analyze feelings of students on both UF campus and FGCU campus.