Venture Concept No. 1

Amazon Whisperer

Describe the revenue drivers you currently include in your business concept for this class. Revenue drivers are the different ways you make money. 

There are few ways to make revenue from an app that is free to the public. However, within the app upgrades and in app advertising are key. Additionally, obtaining sponsorships is another way to profit.

Describe what kind of product offering you believe should be next. What's the next thing your customers want?

I believe this particular product would be considered "one and done". This is because I feel everything that will be contained in the app to make users drink responsibly cannot possibly be expanded or continued until new technology becomes available.

Describe how this "next" thing will enhance your existing product/service offering. Does it improve the user experience, does it increase customer switching costs, does it foster customer loyalty, etc.

Instead of focusing on the next thing, I feel it is extremely important to put all efforts and ideas into successfully launching the first. If successful, I am sure users will convey future ideas and glitches that can be improved upon or fixed. 

My Unfair Advantage

My top 10 resources:

1. Valuable interpersonal skills
2. Availability to the public
3. Perseverance through challenging obstacles
4. Personal connections with a domain expert
5. Research through questionaries and surveys
6. Unlike any other thing I have seen that promotes drinking responsibly
7. Customer care
8. Professional networking
9. Background with coding
10. Easy access-on the go!

VRIN Analysis:
I believe the most significant part of my product is that it is not currently offered by anyone else. It stands out among the rest because of the highly advanced technology that is needed to properly make it effective. Although I believe #6 is my top resource, the remaining resources that my product possesses does make it valuable and inimitable.

Growing Your Social Capital

Domain Expert: David Flores
For this I decided to interview a family friend who is involved with tech and start up companies. Over the past several years, he has been a part of many teams who created and coded new applications. When I told him about my idea for the DrinkSmart app, he seemed to be extremely impressed. However, he did insinuate I would have trouble with developing some of the features that make it significant. He insisted more research would need to be done in order to get the ball rolling on an application like this. 

Market Expert: Shane Fitzpatrick
I was in luck by having a few dear friends work at 101 Cantina in mid-town. I interviewed one of the managers who targets the same individuals as myself. Numerous questions we're asked regarding the media needed to target these individuals. He suggested creating a free survey by walking around the bars on a busy night and informing individuals that this app is potentially life saving in dangerous situations. 

Supplier: N/A
I was unable to interview anything regarding a supplier. This is due to my product being an application with technology that has not yet been invented and/or is currently being worked on. 

Reflection:
This experience differed from previous ones because I actually was communicating and networking with real professionals. It was insightful to interview individuals who had at one point been in my shoes. 

Week 10 Reading Reflection

1. There was nothing that particularly stood out as surprising, however, I did learn quite a bit about the financial side of things in start up companies and businesses. I feel as if it was the most essential reading we have had thus far.

2. Similar to in the past, there was nothing confusing about this reading.

3. What is the biggest financial setback most companies face?
Do most companies have a personal financial adviser?

4. There was nothing I disagreed with in this chapter.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

DrinkSmart

Based off the feedback from my first two elevator pitches, I only made a couple of changes. The first change was me standing up instead of sitting. The second change was including that my hope for this up and coming app is that it would be free to the public. My video appears to be more professional, however I was unable to locate a friend at the time of recording to get away from my web cam. In the future this is the one thing I would change. 

Week 9 Reading Reflection

1. The most surprising thing I got from this reading was related to consumers. It is fascinating that one is able to predict purchases based on particular characteristics.

2. Every week I read the assigned reading thoroughly to gain a better understanding. Because of this, I rarely find it confusing.

3. What is the most efficient and effective way to do marketing?
How have marketers adjusted with the social media phenomenon?

4.There was nothing that stood out to me as wrong by the author. For the most part, everything was very easy to understand if read thoroughly.

My Secret Sauce

1. I have drive for things that I am passionate about
2. I have a creative element that assists me in thinking outside the box
3. I'm excellent when interacting in a social atmosphere
4. I excel in coming up with clever ideas and going the extra mile to accomplish them or make them a reality
5. I am a problem solver and am great at consoling my peers in times of need

I respect his opinion and agree with in entirely. I feel for the majority of the time I am very open minded about every situation I am presented.

Likewise to this opinion I do strive for the things I am passionate about. This is why I listed it first on the human capital I possess.

This one actually made me smile. I definitely agree when she says I stay true to myself. I know when I do something wrong, and immediately learn from it. 

Overall, I agree with what everyone said. The things I found that I possess they did as well. Although this human capital does not necessarily make me different from others, it still makes me stand out among my peers. It is relieving that the qualities I have do not go unnoticed. 

Idea Napkin No. 2

1. Born and raised in Gainesville, FL, I have always been surrounded by numerous start up companies. My mother is the executive director of GAIN: Gainesville Area Innovation Network and I have been recruited on a number of occasions to volunteer and work at many of the events held. Being a college student, I am continuously surrounded by partying--which always contains endless amounts of alcohol. I have witnessed first hand on a number of occasions where my peers have exceeded their limit and turned into someone they would never recognize. This too, has happened to me on a few occasions as well. My aspirations for this concept is to first find a feasible way with technology in order to successfully be able to pull this off. If this is something that is capable with modern technology, this app has the potential of aiding a lot of individuals.

2. What this offers to our target market is the opportunity to drink responsibly while still having fun. This app would be on your phone and would be able to track your BAC, the different types of alcohol and amounts consumed, as well as providing services to locate the cheapest and nearest taxi or Uber to get home safely. This would ensure, educate and lessen future incidents related to heavily drinking.

3. The demographic that this would be offered to would be individuals of all ages. I would not make it 21+ up because I am well aware of how individuals from the ages of 14+ behave when consuming alcohol, and act much more irresponsibly. Therefore, I would be targeting 'social drinkers' and these people all have in common the same thing--the desire to consume alcohol in a social setting.

4. I believe these individuals that we target care because more often than not they have most likely found themselves or one of their friends in a position where they have consumed too much alcohol. In order to prevent these scenarios and making rash decisions, they would find comfort in this app with telling them when to stop drinking and making recommendations on when they should go home.

5. I have done a little research on the idea and there are few apps that have anything related to drinking at all. I do personally have an application on my phone that will prevent me from drunk calling or texting individuals I would not make the effort to speak to sober. I believe this has been excellent in preventing me from doing so, and I feel as if creating an app to help one keep track of their limit could make the whole idea of social drinking a much more pleasurable experience.

These concepts fit together because I believe they could cover a large market. If technology allows, this app has the ability to boom among my generation and those upcoming.

For the most part, the feedback I received was all the same. Individuals that commented believed it was a great idea, but too struggled with finding the means to get the technology to work. However, if capable they all said it would be an app they would be interested in using to monitor their drinking habits.