Final Reflection (30A)

1. Best moments was being able to read about others potential business ideas and to see how others thing about what potential problems are out there that people need help on and to create a business out of them. Fun moment was definitely doing the first elevator pitch as I’ve never done something  like that before, and it was definitely dreadful having to do it multiple times after messing up.

2. The experience I’ll remember the most was the first time I asked strangers questions about my potential business idea as I kind of got out of my comfort zone to do that. I’m most proud of and joyous of doing the second elevator pitch as it felt pretty natural for me by that point, and I thought I did well.  The most formative was probably doing the venture concept as it got me to think of the quality of the business idea.

3. I don’t see myself as an entrepreneur, but I do see myself as someone who is now thinking of potential problems in the world and how I could potentially solve them.

4. What I would say to future students is to really enjoy the class, and to always try and stay ahead of the assignments. Really take the time to do the interviews, and to not procrastinate to do the assignments. To foster that mindset, really stay organized and have some structure in the way you do things.

Venture Concept No.2 (29A)

Intech.Inc

The opportunity in this venture is to have a true wireless charger for laptops. This venture comes from the need for people to have an easier way to recharge their laptop as the laptop is the primary PC people use for the daily work. The hassle of having to use cables, a power brick, and be situated near a wall outlet can be very difficult if you find yourself in situations that don’t have. The people I would say who have this need the most would be college students, and tech professionals.  There is also a broader need to anyone who would want the wireless laptop charger. There would also be a potential really niche opportunity in targeting frequent travelers in planes as a lot of people travel more often on planes, and as more planes have Wi-Fi on them, a lot more travelers could potentially use their laptops on them without worrying about having to recharge it getting off the plane, or not using it at all because of that reason. The forces that have created this opportunity are that many people are using Laptops as their main computer and people use it everywhere and frequently. This market is mainly aimed at people who use laptops frequently, and geographically, there is no boundary. Customers are currently satisfying this need by having to charge their laptop in the same way as they always have been; with a power brick, cables, and wall outlet. I would say there is a big opportunity to enter this market and build this product as consumers are wanting more flexibility and ease of use with their tech products.

The idea for this product would be a wireless USB charger. So, it would basically be a USB drives, except it will be charging your laptop instead of for storing files. All you would need is to be connected to a network or have an internet connection. Then you would plug in your USB charger into your laptop and if you are on a network, the USB will detect the signal and begin charging the laptop. If one doesn’t have an internet connection there is also the option of draining battery for your phone (an adapter will be included that allows the USB charger to plug into the phone), to then be used to recharge your laptop. This product will sell for $65, including the wireless USB stick and all of adapters needed.

I think people will go to this product as it is convenient and people will find great use for it, as a lot of people are always on the go and using their laptop. It won’t be that hard for people to switch to this product as this would be the only product out there like this. The competitors would mainly be other wireless laptop chargers and potentially laptop manufacturers. Their weaknesses and vulnerabilities might be the fact that they haven’t designed and made the technology like this and might not be able to if some of the technology gets patents. The way the product is packaged, and the way it is presented is important as we want people to feel this is a legit and viable piece of technology, not one someone buys and then never uses because it is a gimmick. In saying this there would be many departments in this business, such as actual technician and support, engineers looking to enhance and innovate with the product, and there would be marketing employees in to make this product available to as many people as possible.

The most important resource for this business would be the connections and innovation that would happen because of the employees and connections surrounding this product. There would be a lot of avenues for this product to get into because of the connections that are with this product. I would say another important resource I need to maintain throughout the whole process is having a great team of innovators, engineers, and scientist to make sure the best quality product is out there in the market. As far as the next venture, I would say there is an opportunity in creating software that wirelessly chargers the laptop, eliminating peripherals all together. Where I would want to be 5 years into this venture is working on the next project, and someone I have trust in to continue managing this business if it becomes successful. In the next 10 years I think this venture helps me in being able to move all the cogs in order to run a successful business, and in the next venture it wouldn’t be as hard as it would be now, since I have no experience currently. I would hope to be more into the software side of the technology business in the next 10 years, and potentially have a group of software engineers that are designing and creating technology that is for the use of making everything powered through the internet, and creating sustainable networks that can always keep things running through the internet without interruptions. The idea would be that energy and power can go through internet connections and not need the use of natural resources in order to keep things running.  There would also be a research institution that goes all in with Machine learning and allows computers to do the work in creating and sustaining energy. Another potential concept that could be on the horizon would be looking at producing affordable chairs and furniture for people that work heavily on the computer. As so many people are stuck to their computer, having comfortable while affordable furniture that helps with ergonomics could be a potential market to enter in. Not only this, but it would allow the business to diversify while still sticking to a common theme of being in the computer ecosystem.

3. A lot of my feedback came in the form of being able to maintain connections and innovation in this venture. The connections I make in the technology industry and market will be a huge factor to  see if this product is successful or not. Without the connections, there is no possible way to stand out, as the market is so saturated already with tons of different tech products coming out each year. Having a great team of innovators and scientist would also be crucial if my company were to survive, and then also thrive. There was also a point made in being able to reach another huge market.

4. Based on my feedback I added about the importance of the resources of how having a good team around the business that will make it successful in the future. What I also added in my venture concept is the possibility of a new potential market that I hadn’t really thought about, which was the need for travelers to have wireless laptop chargers. Lastly, I added an element of a potential diversification of my business to include chairs aimed at people who work on their computers all day.

Your Exit Strategy (28A)

1. Depending on how profitable the business is I would potentially sell it. However, in selling it I would want to sell it to someone who would hold the business to the same standards I would of excellence. So potentially I would sell it to someone I would trust rather than to just anyone, or another company that would try to buy.

2. I intend on this strategy as I don’t want the work I put into it to go to waste in a couple of years by selling it to someone who wouldn’t have the same care of the business. It would also not look good on me to sell a company for someone to then destroy it or not provide the same level of excellence it had when I had it.

3. I really don’t think my exit strategy has influenced anything. I always knew I wanted to build a business that has a good reputation to it and provides a quality product to the customers. In terms of growth intentions though I would plan to branch out into more areas to become diversified. However, I would still want to maintain the level of excellence in every aspect of the business. So, if that potentially means to sticking to one area that I would do exceptionally well in, I would stick to only one area rather than being mediocre in a lot of potential markets. 

Reading Reflection No.3 (27A)

Book- Andrew Carnegie by David Nasaw

1. What surprised me the most about Andrew Carnegie was how fraudulent he was and the unethical practices he developed as he was rising in wealth and power. What I most admired about the entrepreneur was that he was financially savvy and independent, and one that knew how to manage money. What I least admired was again his fraudulent and unethical practices he committed as he was already wealthy. There wasn’t really a need to do some of the thing he did. Andrew Carnegie did encounter failure, particularly in his childhood as he was poor. He dealt with the adversity by using the skills and talents he acquired to work hard and saved money from his job to grow his own business.

2. The competencies of Andrew Carnegie is him being brilliant with money, and his way of working to improve his business to gain any advantage possible. Carnegie was also willing to adapt his plans to be able to continually improve on his own perspectives and thoughts on how thing should be done.

3. There wasn’t a part of the book I really found confusing or difficult to understand. If anything, I really want to understand his change of heart to becoming a more moral person as he all of a sudden changed to become more giving, and philanthropic.

4. My questions:

What made you change your values and attitudes  in becoming more moral as time passed on?

How did it feel like being the richest person in the world at that point?

5. What I believe his opinion of hard work was to value the work one did. He became the richest person in the world by begin able to save and be financially smart with his money when he earned it. He valued his hard work to the point where he wanted to eventually let the money work for him. He was frugal, and that benefited him greatly as he was able to make it on his own because of it. If he didn’t value his hard work, he would’ve wasted the money and never became the person he did in the world. I agree with this as there are a lot of people that work hard, but never have a frugal mindset in order to save. This leads to that work sort of being useless as you have nothing to show for it.

Celebrating Failure (26A)

1. During this semester I failed in getting an internship at my top interest company: Texas Instruments

2. What I learned from this is just getting used to being denied on opportunities, and to learn to accept the outcome, even if it is something you really want. I felt pretty good when sending my resume, and going through that process, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

3. In terms of the failure, I really believe I just need to be continually improving to become the applicant they want and for any employer. Whether that be with technical skills, people skills, and knowledge in general. I use failure as a source of motivation for myself as I like to be challenged and enjoy trying to prove myself to become the ideal person, and for a job, the ideal candidate. This class has taught me to take more risks, get a little uncomfortable and to just talk to people. I feel more comfortable just approaching people in general because of this class.

What's Next (25A)

What I would say is next is finding the next potential  market to enter in the PC space, or potentially going into services within the PC space.

Based off what I received from my customers they all said to begin in looking to make software that can automatically start recharging laptops without the use of any peripherals. They said this would be an idea that would radically change the way laptops are used, as this could potentially bring more people to using them. Not only did they say to do this but to also begin looking at ways where being connected to a network or the internet can begin to power devices in general. Sort of like the Internet of Things and Power of ethernet concepts that are beginning to emerge.

I would say I would be going more towards the software side of things in this new venture, and would be targeting more of the enterprise and tech manufacturing industry in order to capitalize on the potential technologies I would create in this new venture. I guess we could become the “suppliers” of the technologies that we would be able to create to then sell to PC and tech manufacturing companies so they could implement it into their products.

New market

                A radically different market I would potentially go into would be the office chair/ furniture industry. I would go into this industry as so many more people are sitting looking at screens all day, a good chair to sit on is needed for a lot of people, and yet people don’t seem to invest a lot in their office chairs, and end up having physical problems because of it/ poor ergonomics. The value would be there would be an affordable option that is also quality in delivering a comfortable sitting experience for people in their offices or wherever they are sitting to do work for an extended period.

                The product service mix that the people from my interviews gave me would be to allow for different age groups to receive different types of chairs regarding their physical condition, and to have chairs that would fit the needs of all different body types. There would also be a different product service mix as there would be the need of people who would want a chair that looks more “executive” in style, and then people who want a chair that is comfortable not as stylish stylish, but still helps maintain good ergonomics when sitting in front of a screen.

                What I learned about this market is how many people really don’t care to invest in a good chair for the time people are sitting in front of their computers, and the poor posture that is involved with it. I would say my assumptions were correct that not many invest in a good chair, but I found it way more surprising how little people are spending on something they must sit on for a lot of the time. However, what I also learned is this industry is very competitive, but one potential exploit could be the price, as there aren’t many great chairs that are available for a good price.

                I still believe the market is attractive, but the process for manufacturing and supply chain must become extremely efficient in order to give a product that is quality for a good price. That would be the hardest part of entering into this venture, as many are trying to come up with a good chair for a good price, but have failed to do so. This makes this product somewhat niche, as only people with money are going after chairs that are expensive. So, if there were a way to make a good chair for a good price, this venture could potentially take off.

Venture Concept No.1 (24A)

Intech.Inc

The opportunity in this venture is to have a true wireless charger for laptops. This venture comes from the need for people to have an easier way to recharge their laptop as the laptop is the primary PC people use for the daily work. The hassle of having to use cables, a power brick, and be situated near a wall outlet can be very difficult if you find yourself in situations that don’t have. The people I would say who have this need the most would be college students, and tech professionals. There is also a broader need to anyone who would want the wireless laptop charger. The forces that have created this opportunity are that many people are using Laptops as their main computer and people use it everywhere and frequently. This market is mainly aimed at people who use laptops frequently, and geographically, there is no boundary. Customers are currently satisfying this need by having to charge their laptop in the same way as they always have been; with a power brick, cables, and wall outlet. I would say there is a big opportunity to enter this market and build this product as consumers are wanting more flexibility and ease of use with their tech products.

The idea for this product would be a wireless USB charger. So, it would basically be a USB drives, except it will be charging your laptop instead of for storing files. All you would need is to be connected to a network or have an internet connection. Then you would plug in your USB charger into your laptop and if you are on a network, the USB will detect the signal and begin charging the laptop. If one doesn’t have an internet connection there is also the option of draining battery for your phone (an adapter will be included that allows the USB charger to plug into the phone), to then be used to recharge your laptop. This product will sell for $65, including the wireless USB stick and all of adapters needed.

I think people will go to this product as it is convenient and people will find great use for it, as a lot of people are always on the go and using their laptop. It won’t be that hard for people to switch to this product as this would be the only product out there like this. The competitors would mainly be other wireless laptop chargers and potentially laptop manufacturers. Their weaknesses and vulnerabilities might be the fact that they haven’t designed and made the technology like this and might not be able to if some of the technology gets patents. The way the product is packaged, and the way it is presented is important as we want people to feel this is a legit and viable piece of technology, not one someone buys and then never uses because it is a gimmick. In saying this there would be many departments in this business, such as actual technician and support, engineers looking to enhance and innovate with the product, and there would be marketing employees in to make this product available to as many people as possible.

The most important resource for this business would be the connections and innovation that would happen because of the employees and connections surrounding this product. There would be a lot of avenues for this product to get into because of the connections that are with this product. As far as the next venture, I would say there is an opportunity in creating software that wirelessly chargers the laptop, eliminating peripherals all together. Where I would want to be 5 years into this venture is working on the next project, and someone I have trust in to continue managing this business if it becomes successful. In the next 10 years I think this venture helps me in being able to move all the cogs in order to run a successful business, and in the next venture it wouldn’t be as hard as it would be now, since I have no experience currently. I would hope to be more into the software side of the technology business in the next 10 years, and potentially have a group of software engineers that are designing and creating technology that is for the use of making everything powered through the internet, and creating sustainable networks that can always keep things running through the internet without interruptions. The idea would be that energy and power can go through internet connections and not need the use of natural resources in order to keep things running.  There would also be a research institution that goes all in with Machine learning and allows computers to do the work in creating and sustaining energy.

You Venture's Unfair Advantage (23A)

Human Capital: Group of engineers/ technicians willing to help produce the product. 

Financial Capital: Enough to get to launch of product

Resources: Batteries, USB cases

Capabilities: Knowledge about circuitry, wireless networks

Culture: Innovative and Ambitious

Social Capital: Connections to many in IT industry

Marketing/ Advertising connections

Ability to sell product on Amazon

Experience in working with Wireless Technologies

Experience in managing finances/inventory/resources

VRIN Analysis

Valuable: Valuable as it would be the first true wireless laptop charger in the market

Rare: Wouldn’t say its rare as this idea is very simple, and many are probably trying to come up with an idea that is similar.

Imitable: One that would work the way it is intended would be rare, also with potential patents on the technology, and as well as costs to enter with the patent would make it hard to be imitable.

Non-Suitable: I would say there can be potential other products in the market not made yet that could replace this product. Such as wireless charging already integrated into the laptop.

I would say the top resource is the connections to many in the IT industry. I would say this is the most important as the connections provide me with a lot of good information on not only about who would want the product, but I also have a lot of information about the potential innovations and technologies that are being produced that could challenge or support the product I’m trying to build.

Elevator Pitch No.3 (22A)

Link https://youtu.be/YBXyT8m-ank

Reflection: I definitely saw that my mentioning of the ease of use and ease of mind were a good choice of words to use, so I kept them in. At first I thought it was a little cliche to use words like that in a pitch but in my feedback, they thought it was a good way to market the product. Also mentioning the price of the product was an important part of the pitch my feedback agreed on.

What did you change: I definitely felt more relaxed in this pitch and I felt it was more fluid and natural overall. I was definitely more comfortable in front of the camera this time around.

Reading Reflection No.2 (21A)

1. The theme of the book “Thinking Fast and Slow” is a book that focuses about how the mind works and how the operations of our mind dictates decisions, choices, and way of how we do things. System 1 is fast thinking and is mainly a form of automatic thinking and doing that requires little to no effort. System 2 is slow thinking and is the part of the mind that focuses on the processing of complex logic, operations, and activities. Also, there are the downfalls of how humans think, and how those downfalls can influence thinking.

 2. I believe it has connected with what I’ve learned in ENT 3003 because of the way you must think, plan, and rationalize how you want your business to come alive, and survive. The amount of thought and planning to not only have a business idea, but a good business idea is perplexing. A lot of the assignments have required a lot of thought in order to find a business idea, but to also think about problems. Such as the Bug List, it wasn’t until I thought about past experiences that I’ve had that made me realize there are a lot of problems which have a potential solution.

3. The exercise I would have would probably be a series of logic puzzles, or riddles that people had to figure out, and then analyze the thought process behind how you got there.

4. I really learned how the mind worked in this book. It wasn’t a narrative book, but very informative in that there are a lot of examples of how the mind processes different types of information. There were also some aha moments in that some of these same thought processes have come up in my management class, so the correlation was cool to see how this really does affect everyone.

Social Capital (20A)

Who: Rodrigo, Network consultant for Raytheon

Slot: Domain Expert: Fills the spot as he is someone that is working with networking components. He works for Raytheon but is an independent contractor also involved in multiple technologies, mainly with industrial computer and networking components. His specialty is in wireless technologies for industrial uses, such as machinery.

Description: I found this person from a friend who has a connection with him through a job they had with AT&T together. Was able to get his contact information an email him, eventually spoke with him.

Nature of Exchange: I explained to him my business idea, and he gave me feedback on the network concepts of how having a product like this would work.

Ability to exploit an opportunity: I believe he can help me if there were any opportunities with wireless technologies as far as the implementation to make the technology work in any environment. 

Who: Darren, Sales Director for VMware

Slot: Market Expert: He fills this slot as he has been involved in the sales but also innovation side of technology products for a long time. He’s worked with a lot of analysts that give him data about consumers that would be interested in products, and also has relationships with the people who use the products.

Description: My brother met him as a lead role in a project team he was working on using VMware products. I got to send him some emails after asking my brother if he knew anyone.

Nature of exchange: I told him about my idea, and he explained about the capabilities of 5G technologies he is working on with some other companies in collaboration with VMWare. One of them including wireless charging on tech devices without the need of any peripherals. It would literally just begin charging devices if it received a 5G connection.

Ability: He would definitely help me in being able to find a demograpphic of consumers that would be interested in the product, and in particular potential enterprise customers.

Who: Ryan, Lambda Labs Engineer

Slot: Supplier: He works with a team that makes deep learning workstations, servers, laptops, and cloud workstations. His team makes them for various big companies.

Description: Made this connection at work as our team was wanting to buy a GPU server off of them, or at least wanted a quote from them. Then I just asked him if he would be willing to hear out my business plan afterwards through email.

Nature of Exchange: I explained to him my business idea, and he talked about the various steps of how to get this product out into the market. His focus was on enterprise, but he gave me ideas on how I would be able to get this product on the market, and what potential suppliers I would need in order to do this. He also talked about the relationships you want to develop with suppliers, in his case computer hardware suppliers, and how deals can arise after a long enough time developing those relationships.

Ability: He would help me in being able to develop an effective supply chain and how I would be able to develop relationships with my suppliers.

Reflection: I would say it shaped me in being able to be a little more forward and confident in asking people for feedback and questions. A lot of people are willing to help, I just need to do more asking and develop those connections. I wouldn’t say it’s differed other than I tried targeting a more direct audience which helped because I was more comfortable being in my element in talking about technology. Overall though the methods to developing a network has been the same for me in just being intentional but also giving something back and not letting it be a one-way relationship. Other than forming the initial connection (which is my problem), I really do want to form meaningful relationships that go past “business,” or just getting something out of them.

Idea Napkin No.2 (19A)

Idea napkin No.2

1. You

            My talent is being able to understand concepts and to put things together. I’ve been told I just understand how things work, and, I’m a jack of all trades because of it. My skills are mainly  investigative, but also analytical, and being good with technology. I think this business would start playing a role in my life as it’s exactly how I would envision myself in the future; involved in a lot of areas. Not only in tech, but in finance, people managing and all the areas that encompass running a business.

2. What am I offering to customers

            What I’m offering to customers is a way for laptops to be recharged without having to be plugged into an outlet. It would be a USB wireless charger (Just like the USB drives that store your files, except not with that purpose). Being connected to a network with the USB plugged in would automatically start charging the laptop. I believe as more people are using laptops as their main PC, a big issue is battery life of laptops and the hassle of having to plug it in while not at home. Many people are on the go most of the time with their laptop, so there is always the case of them running out of battery and having to recharge it in a public location, or having to ratoin their battery life ofr fear of having to do so.

3. Who are you offering it to?

            I’m mainly targeting tech professionals and college students. Typical age would be 18-45 (can be older, or younger of course). I’m targeting this age group as I would say this demographic has grown up with technology, is constantly using it the most and has experienced the evolution of it. What my customers all have in common is that they are using technology daily, and perhaps can’t live without it.

4. Why do they care?

            This target audience has the need of wanting more convenience in charging their laptops. There might be times where because of time constraints someone may not have been able to charge their laptop at home, or potentially forgot to leave it charging and then they must go out with little battery life.  Having a wireless USB charger can eliminate these problems as you don’t have to sit next to a wall outlet anymore or must carry a charger in your bag. All you need to have is the USB (carry on your key chain: extremely portable) and a Wi-Fi connection. Customers really enjoy convenience and this product is exactly for that.

5. What are your core competencies? 

I would say what sets this product apart is the fact that it is truly wireless and extremely portable. No wires, power brick or wall outlet are needed for this product to work. The size is of a USB stick, and it’ll come with the various USB adapter connections that computers are now offering today (USB 3.0, 3.1, USB type-C, thunderbolt).

 Summary:

I believe these elements fit together but my concern would probably be the reason as to why someone would buy this product, or the audience. I still believe this is a luxury item but investigating more I’ve realized the phenomena of having more convenient and efficient tech products is creating new markets (Ex, Apple EarPods, wireless phone charging, etc.). People don’t realize how “useful” they are until they are using it, and word of mouth starts. This could benefit as my product will gain popularity and free advertising through that word of mouth. However, if the market does turn out to be more niche than expected it could raise a problem in how valuable this product is to consumers.

Feedback memo: What I took away from my feedback is that this item potentially more beneficial than EarPods, discovering the want and potential need of convenience consumers are wanting in their products, and just how involved people are with their technology everywhere. I incorporated this in my napkin by talking about what the actual need is that could make this product successful, and that is; the convenience of it. I mainly incorporated the fact that the product can be valuable to consumers because of the practicality and convenience of it,

Elevator Pitch No.2 (17A)

Link: https://youtu.be/2pLGI_hrUAo

Don't know why the video quality came out like it did, sorry about that.

2 & 3: Unfortunately wasn't able to do the first elevator pitch, so I wasn't able to get the feedback for these parts.

Creating a custom avatar (18a)

                My prototypical customer is a software developer. They are really into movies (action thrillers, science fiction the most), and love playing video games. They are also very analytical, are exceptional in math and gifted with logic questions. They typically stay up late either working on a program or are just playing video games with their buddies. They are still young and aren’t married and don 't have any kids. Roughly they are about 23-25 years old, and are working right out of college. They feel a bit older though because of their sleeping patterns and as they really can't see anything past than 2 feet without wearing glasses. They really don’t affiliate with any political party; they just choose the best candidate based of of actions, plans, and character. Quite skeptical though of political parties in general though. 

I say I some things in common with my custom avatar. Definitely not a math person, but would consider myself analytical in trying for figure out the best solution, and do like to think carefully. I also like to play video games and watching good movies is a big hobby for me. I think I can relate to my avatar as I think everyone has been used to using technology in their everyday lives, and some can't live without it. 

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior (2) 15A

In my first interview,  although I gave some alternatives, the research scientist actually gave me a completely different idea on the potential of not even needing the USB wireless laptop charger, but instead relying on creating a software that can take the Wi-Fi signal and then convert it into power for your laptops. This would work as she stated some devices (very few) can already convert the Wi-Fi signals into energy. So, the idea would be the software can transmit the signal through the processor (a semiconductor circuit in all computers “the brain”) and then release the accumulated power into the battery already in your laptop.  She said this kind of software could then either be payed and downloaded by consumer or make contracts with laptop manufacturers if they wanted to implement the software with their laptops. Either way she would be willing to pay the extra price for a completely hardware or wireless free alternative to recharging her laptop

My other two interviews were a little more straightforward as they said instead of a wireless USB charger, they would be intrigued in buying laptops that offer wireless charging already integrated if they had the chance. In my second interview he said that he was looking to buy a new laptop, and if it offered wireless charging, he would pay the extra price for that one “perk.” His basis for this decision is he is looking to buy laptops with the best features and specs as his work is in video game development and he also likes to game. His laptop purchases come from looking online and surveying some of the best gaming/ workstation laptops he can buy. Most of his purchases come with a lot of thought and research and he’s happy when he finally decides on the one he wants. 

 My third interviewer was indifferent to all the alternatives I gave him. He said he would really be fine with any of the products, but he would decide depending on his budget and need at the current time. He recently received a laptop for Christmas, so he went with my solution of a wireless USB charger, though he said it wasn’t necessary. Among the alternatives he also picked an already integrated Wi-fi charging laptop. He said though that his choice wouldn’t be based off the wireless USB charging, but the price of the laptop. Although he would like for his laptop to have it, if it wasn’t in his budget, he wouldn’t really give up the extra money for that “perk.” His shopping was also online, and his evaluation was really based on if he got the best deal for what his money could buy.

In conclusion, there was a lot to learn from this. It's all about the budget. Two really didn’t care and wanted to have the feature of wireless charging, yet one had a budget and wouldn’t give up the extra cash for that feature. In terms of post purchasing evaluation, I believe everyone had the same concept of getting what they specifically wanted whether it be with features or in a budget. If it met those criteria, they were happy with the purchase. I also realized the alternatives to the Wi-fi USB charging are more directly integrated with the laptop rather than a peripheral which could potentially hurt my product.

Halfway Reflection (14A)

1. I feel the best thing for me has been keeping up with a schedule of when to do my work. I think I’ve developed more discipline in terms of focusing on getting the work done and working a little ahead to not fall behind on some weeks where my other courses took a heavier weight. Also changing my morning schedule to wake up earlier to get work done has really helped my mindset overall of getting work done.

2. I don’t feel like I’ve had a moment where I’ve wanted to give up. I believe it’s because I took a gap semester and as this is my first semester back, I feel really motivated to get the work done. I feel my attitude has developed in that I feel like I’m close to finishing school, so this is the last “push” before I get to do so.  I would say the experience that has helped me is that gap semester, as at that time I really didn’t feel motivated to study, but now I do.

3. I would say developing a tenacious mindset comes from being disciplined and having goals/ ambitions in mind. This becomes a “life” attitude as in college there are deadlines, and your sense of alertness comes from wanting to get a passing or good grade. I would say for three steps: Have a schedule and be disciplined about it, get involved in other things other than school to develop a work habit, and I’d say get sleep and wake up early. I’ve found doing the work early in the morning gets me feeling accomplished already throughout the day and makes me want to keep going.

Reading Reflection (13A)

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

1. What surprised me the most me was that he worked with Bill Gates early on. I never knew Bill Gates was helping Steve Jobs with software on the Macintosh, and the eventual betrayal Jobs felt when Gates made Windows. Though they technically both stole from Xerox, I found it interesting that Jobs felt as if Gates “stole” "his" idea of a GUI for computers. I most admired the perfectionist attitude he had with technology. I believe it shows as the quality of Apple and its innovation somewhat “peaked” or stagnated when he wasn’t there, and now as he isn’t here. I think that stems from that perfection he wanted in the products Apple made. What I least admired is his almost two-faced attitude or sort of thinking he was  above everyone else. Like the Bill Gates incident, he believed Gates stole the idea when making Microsoft, but Jobs stole the idea of the GUI from Xerox. Steve Jobs did encounter failure, and he handled it by just being resilient and he kept working. He moved from different projects, and in life, he was always able to reflect and then move on and try to improve on his mistakes and achievements.

2. The competencies I notices were his artistic ability, and his drive to achieve a “perfect” product. In his artistic capabilities, he was able to produce and envision technology that would be beautiful and efficient in how they were used. He didn’t just want it to work, he wanted it to look good and in a way that would improve efficiency in using the technology. His drive I would also say is a competency as he was always looking to make a product that was perfect. He wouldn’t settle for anything less, and that’s what made him achieve so much in terms of Apple and with Pixar.

3.I really didn’t find anything confusing, but one part of the reading I found kind of off was the Music Man chapter, as it deviated from the autobiography a little bit to talk more about musicians. It was in the part of the book about the iPod and iTunes, so it made sense somewhat, but I found it talking more about musicians rather than Jobs.  

4.Two questions I would ask Steve Jobs:

Did you enjoy your time more at Pixar or at Apple?

What would be the next potential product Apple should research into making?

5. I think he believed hard work was a symbol of who you are. I think he believed hard work was a factor for success and for a solid reputation. Though he had his problems with people, people also knew that he was someone that worked incredibly hard to achieve something special, which they had to respect. I would agree with this opinion as working hard can lead to a lot of success and build a reputation that can lead to success.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior (12A)

For my segment, I chose tech professionals, and more specifically computer programmers. Two of my interviews were with computer research scientists (one associate, one head of research), and my third interview was with a freelance software developer.

Interview Process Information:

After my interviews, I learned the need for my product is very sustainable for this segment. They all demonstrated a need in wanting to have wireless USB laptop charging. In particular, the head of research had a very intriguing need to have a product like this as she is always traveling on planes. Considering all the projects she undertakes, she wants to use her time as effectively as possible and sometimes using her laptop on the plane for a long time isn’t feasible, so she must stop. And considering planes are now offering Wi-fi she said it would make sense to have a product that can charge without the need of wires. All three also had a very interesting topic about being in a “zone” when coding, and that sometimes they must stop to go get their charger before their laptop turns off. They talked about cases where they didn’t plug in their laptop before starting to code, get into a “zone” and then have to stop to take out their charger which messes up their flow.  Also, as they sometimes program in any spot, they said it would be nice to just have the USB on them to plug in and not worry about carrying the wires, and then having to find an outlet. At work this isn’t so much a problem for them, but outside of their offices it is.

Their solutions were simple: 

They would just go get their laptop charger. They did say that sometimes they would wait until the very last second to go get their charger, as again they were in a zone; they didn’t want to get out of while they were writing their code. None of them really used Google searches as they really haven’t seen a product that offers that wireless charging need. They just annoyingly deal with the issue.

Describing this Segment

There seems to be a lot of potential with computer programmers. They all use laptops as they want to be able to program anywhere, yet they all have the inconvenience of having to plug in their laptop when they really don’t want to do it. They either must plug in their charger at the beginning of their “session” or risk having to do it later on.  There really aren’t many solutions they could look up with this need, as it really is just a matter of recharging a laptop.

Idea Napkin (11A)

You.

I’m Raul, a recent transfer into the University of Florida, majoring in business. I don’t really see myself as talented in one thing, but more of a person well rounded in many areas. My skills are in solving issues that are tech related, as that is what I’m currently working in, and would hope to for a while.  My aspirations are to hopefully just continue to learn about many different subjects and to gain as much knowledge as possible about the world. I would like to eventually master 1 subject area (probably in tech solutions) but would like to still hold that title of a person that is kind of handy for everything. I would see a business playing a major role, as it’s exactly how I would envision myself in the future; involved in a lot of areas. Not only in tech, but in finance, people managing and all the areas that encompass running a business.

 What are you offering to customers? 

What I’m offering to customers is a way for laptops to be recharged without having to be plugged into an outlet. It would be a USB wireless charger. Being connected to a network with the USB plugged in would automatically start charging the laptop. I believe as more people are using laptops as their main PC, a big issue is battery life of laptops and the hassle of having to plug it in while not at home. Many people are on the go most of the time with their laptop, so there is always the case of them running out of battery and having to recharge it in a public location.

 Who are you offering it to? 

I have 3 target audiences being college students, tech professionals, and in a broader scope the general public. The main reason for this is as I’ve seen the majority of (college students and tech professionals) their PC’s being laptops. The common characteristic is that both college students and tech professionals are frequently on the move. I also say the general public, as this is a product that really everyone can benefit from if they have this necessity (or some could say it’s a luxury). Anyone that has this need with their laptop could potentially buy.

Why do they care? 

This target audience has the need of wanting more convenience in charging their laptops. There are moments where having to sit near a wall outlet for your laptop to charge is inconvenient. Also, there might be times where because of time constraints someone may not have been able to charge their laptop at home, or potentially forgot to leave it charging and then they must go out with little battery life.  Having a wireless USB charger can eliminate these problems as you don’t have to sit next to a wall outlet anymore or must carry a charger in your bag. All you need to have is the USB (carry on your key chain: extremely portable) and a WiFi connection

What are your core competencies? 

I would say what sets this product apart is the fact that it is truly wireless and extremely portable. There are other wireless chargers out there, but they still must be plugged into a wall to have battery and are like a giant battery pack (heavy and blocky).  This is a true wireless product that doesn’t need the anything but a connection and a laptop to plug into. The size is like a USB stick, and it’ll come with the various USB adapter connections that computers are now offering today (USB 3.0, 3.1, USB type-C, thunderbolt)

In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others. 

I believe these elements fit together but my concern would probably be the reason as to why someone would buy this product, or the audience. As I said this could be more of a luxury item rather than a necessity, so the prospective buyers could be smaller than expected. That said this could be a product like the wireless headphones phenomena (ex. Apple EarPods). People don’t realize how useful they are until they are using it. That could potentially make this more of a need than a luxury eventually. If the market does turn out to be more niche than expected it could raise a problem in how valuable this product is to consumers.

Testing the Hypothesis Part 2 (9A)

Who: After these interviews, I did find people who fell outside the boundaries of my opportunities. I interviewed a couple of high school students who really didn’t feel the need of wireless charging. A lot of high schools are now permitting students to use laptops, but the students I interviewed don’t really seem to have a problem with their laptops going low on battery.  This is mainly because students use their laptops for shorter bursts of time, and they also are still primarily doing paper/ pencil work, so their laptops aren’t as needed. I also did interview one teacher who gave me an interesting response as to why she could use wireless charging on her laptop. Sometimes she just wants to put grades into the gradebook on her laptop while being on the couch at home. The next two interviewers were two graphic design major students. One brought up an interesting aspect I hadn’t thought about. One of them doesn’t use a laptop, but rather the iPad pro to fulfill their needs. They said for them specifically the portability, and the fact they can draw and design on it makes it way better than a laptop. The other graphic design student said that while they are using a laptop, if they had money they would switch towards an iPad or a Surface Pro.

                In looking up these last two products brought up by the graphic design students there could be a case that tablets offer better battery life, are even more portable than laptops, and for specific purposes would be better to use because of the stylus features that are integrated within these products. They also come integrated with Wi-Fi already so charging features could potentially be integrated within the tablet’s software.

What: I realized throughout the interviews that the need is more based on practicality. Some of the people I interviewed told me that the main reason they didn’t have the need was based on the efficiency of the laptop battery or the amount of time on the laptop. This could be true as there could be a difference between a real “need” vs having a nice “perk”. Sort of like the wireless headphones. Are they nice, absolutely, but will it kill you if you don’t have them, absolutely not. The real dilemma is how much more efficient will laptops be, or will people continue to use laptops. There is also a transition as I stated, where people are using tablets instead of laptops because of the portability and specialization. Though laptops are portable, an argument could be made that a tablet that has similar specs, are thinner, and lighter would be a consumer’s choice any day of the week.

Why: I would say there is a reason that some may not even want to use laptop chargers as they don’t have laptops altogether. However, with the high school student interviews I would say the main reason they brought up the unwanted need is that they aren’t required to use laptops all the time. If they eventually did have to use the computer (like in college), their need would then be like those in college. Like the teacher there would be more convenience for the high school students being able to charge their laptops wirelessly to do their work.

	Inside	Outside
Who:	Teachers	High school students, graphic designs majors
What:	To be able to have wireless laptop charging.	Some students don’t have to use the laptop all the time. Some people base their PC use from their job/ occupation and would be better suited with a tablet than a laptop altogether
Why:	To be able to have the comfort of being able to do grading in a casual setting. More convenient than wired option.	Some based on needs would rather have a tablet than laptop Also there is point that schools other than college still use paper and pencil more than laptops for work.

Solving the problem (8A)

My opportunity has to do with a more efficient way of charging laptops, particularly going full wireless. There are some “wireless” options out there, but they are more like battery packs that you still have to charge into a wall, and then you can carry that and plug into your laptop. My idea is full on wireless.

Its going to be using sometime simple: A USB flash drive wireless laptop charger (a little bit larger in size for a specific purpose)

How it works: So essentially it’s going to be a USB flash drive (except this one doesn’t store files, it’s to establish a connection, like how sometimes you need a wireless USB stick to connect to the internet, its exactly like that) you plug into your laptop, and as long as you have connection to a network the USB is going to begin charging your laptop wirelessly. The connection can come from the hotspot from your phone, restaurants, basically anywhere you can get into a network. If you’ve heard of Power over Ethernet (PoE), its essentially that concept (not entirely the same method) except wirelessly. What is Power of Ethernet?  It’s a standard or system which pass electric power along with data on twisted pair Ethernet cabling. This allows an ethernet cable to give both data connection and electric power to devices such as wireless access points, IP cameras, and phones.

Glaring problem right now would be: What if you can’t connect to a network?

                This is where it would be a little impractical (overnight maintenance/ charging) but would help: Once the USB drive detects the laptop is 100% charged, the flash USB drive will act as a battery reserve (which is why it has to be a little bit bigger than the average USB drive, it'll hold a little battery), meaning: the flash drive will hold reserves for up to 1 hour of charging. So, if the flash drive doesn’t connect to a network but does have battery life it’ll use it as “life support” for your laptop.

The other issue would be the multiple dongles (USB 3.0, thunderbolt, USB type C) and ports laptops have.

                My solution to this would be to just give adapters to attach to the USB flash drive. Also depending on the connection this would allow for faster charging speeds. The adapters would sort of be like those micro SD to SD card adapters. So, I would plug in whatever adapter I needed into the USB drive and then plug it into the port I need on the laptop. The adapters would come with the product.

Testing The Hypothesis (Part-1 7A)

Opportunity: More efficient way of recharging laptops

I believe there is an opportunity in a more efficient way to recharge laptops for college students and traveling employees as a lot of people experience inefficient ways of recharging their laptop. Students and employees are on the move more often so they can’t always charge their laptops for a prolonged period and some places may be difficult to find an outlet to charge them.

The who: College students, commuting employees

The what: In need of easier and more efficient method to charge laptops wherever one is.

The why: More people are on the move a lot of the time and don’t have time to leave a laptop charging. People have a laptop as their main PC which run on batteries.

Testing the who: I believe basically anyone with a laptop and is traveling frequently (whether short or long distance) have this need. Many people now use laptops as their main PC compared to desktops.  

Testing the what: There are already some wireless laptop chargers out there. However, they are still clunky, still need to be charged in an outlet to use, almost like a battery pack. Basically, it’s a laptop charger without the wire, making it “wireless.” It still uses wires though. Right now, in the age of wireless, laptops still need to be charged with typically a power brick and cables, which is inefficient.

Testing the why: More and more people are using laptops as their daily PC, mainly, because of the portability factor. College students have this need as they go to clubs, classes, and want to move around to do work. Employees, particularly in the tech environment have this need as well. They travel, commute, or sometimes must do work remotely, and need their laptop to constantly be on to function.

Interview #1

Software Developer Citi Bank

The software developer I interviewed has had some trouble with laptop charging issues. He has a main desktop PC, but also has a laptop for travel. He pointed out that one major problem depends on the power (in terms of computer specs and components) of his laptop. His laptop is basically a portable workstation to be able to do his work. He says because of this he usually has to lower some performance settings, so his laptop doesn’t die as fast as he sometimes doesn’t have a place to charge it in other than the hotel room. Also, he mentioned that in the couple of times he has had to fly out to meeting “conventions” for work the crowded meeting areas usually has laptop charger wires all over the floor.

Interview #2

College Student (Sophomore)

The college student I interviewed did believe a better way to charge her laptop would be nice, but she also put an emphasis that their laptop was very efficient in battery life. She really didn’t have to use the charger until she got back to her apartment. She believes though that at the times she did need to use a charger it would be nice to have a more efficient option. She said that her charger weighs more than her laptop, and for her personally, she doesn’t like to carry around that much in her day to day activities. However, she wasn’t too annoyed by it.

Interview #3

College Student (Freshman)

This college student has involved himself in a lot of activities, so he is rarely at his apartment. He spends a lot of time on campus and does most of his work on his laptop. He tells me he sometimes must accommodate himself to a spot near a wall outlet when he sees his laptop get low on battery life, which annoys him. He also told me that when he eats out or gets coffee and decides to do work he usually has to control the time he is on it as he knows he is going to be in other places that needs to use the laptop, and doesn’t want to be recharging it. He is uncertain if he would be able to make it throughout the day without recharging, so he just manages his time on his laptop to avoid that situation.

Interview 4

Computer Scientist IHMC

The research scientist I interviewed has a MacBook Pro to do his work. Even though he loves it, he also stated that his laptop charger wire is starting to come apart as the coat protecting the actual wires is beginning to rip open. The costs to replace the charger is expensive and he’s only had it for a couple of years. This is because of the amount of traveling he must do for competitions, and meetings. He usually ends up cramming his charger in his backpack at the last second when he leaves. He feels the wire coating for it isn’t very durable (he says in general most apple chargers don’t last). Even though he knows he should take better care of it, he doesn’t like how unreliable the cables can be. He is on his laptop and must have the charger plugged in at all times for the sheer amount of applications and google chrome tabs he has open.

Interview 5

College Student (Senior)

This college student feels that while it would be nice to have a wireless charger, he doesn’t feel like it’s an absolute necessity. He has a MacBook Air, and says it lasts him throughout the whole day. He also brought up the fact though that his usage is very sporadic and for short periods of time. He does carry his charger around just in case but doesn’t need to use it. He did say though that if there were a time, he would like to have a wireless option, it would be at his own apartment. Sometimes he wants to move around to work in a different area rather than his desk and finds that he has to sometimes go back to his desk or backpack to go get the charger and then situate himself near an outlet. But for him it was more of a “nice to have” rather than a need overall.

What I didn’t know before:

This opportunity may come down to a case by case basis. It seems like people who have more powerful laptops have this need more than others. However, I realized there also seems to be a case of people that have to be, let’s say “frugal” about the battery life with their laptops to make sure it lasts the whole day. It seems like people just want to avoid having to plug it into the wall until they are back home. Also, the research scientist I interviewed made me think about Apple Chargers. I’ve also had the experience of their wires not being durable and having to replace them. There could be more of an opportunity with laptop chargers on the Apple product side rather than the PC (HP, Lonovo, Dell, etc.) side. I also found out that maybe not so many people are annoyed of having to carry around their charger as I thought. They mentioned it, but not entirely annoyed by it which I found surprising.

Economic and Regulatory Trends (6A)

1^st trend (economic)

Economic Trend: Emerging markets will continue to tread water, as debt reaches new peaks

Link: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/global-growth-stabilized-2020/ (bottom of the page)

- I believe an opportunity exists as some of its factors that say emerging markets are in trouble are dependent on China, and commodity prices which are stated to be short term issues. If they are short term issues than emerging markets still have the opportunity of being able to grow and that these issues are “bumps” in the road

- I think the prototypical customer would be entrepreneurs, investors, or companies looking at new markets to develop or start in.

- If they are able to survive the short-term issues, it could be a 50/50 split between easy and hard to exploit as they would be the first ones to be able to create companies, products, jobs and revenue in those emerging markets with little competition. However they would still need to be wary of government and culture environments there.

- I saw this information as more of an incentive to risk going into these emerging markets to see if you can breakthrough and start something. While others seeing this information might stay away, I see this as a chance for someone to take advantage and get in “early on the action”. I have a belief that as long as nothing ridiculous globally happens, and stability comes into place, markets, nations, and economies will continue to grow overtime.

2^nd trend (economic)

Economic Trend: Housing

Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/06/05/major-economic-trends-all-downbeat/#2199b55f13fe

- It think an opportunity exists as with housing being so expensive as noted in living/ rent costs, and house prices in general, a price correction in the housing markets will allow people who couldn’t afford to buy to be able to get in.

- The customer would be potential house buyers, and real estate investors.

- I would say relatively easy to exploit as compared to house prices today, getting the house at a lower price means a safer purchase or investment, and you then can profit if housing surges again, or the value of your homes goes up if you are a buyer.

- The opportunity exists as when the housing crash happened, a year later my family was able to buy the home we wanted at a ridiculous “discount.” Many were unfortunate to lose their homes, but we were able to actually buy a home that fit our needs. While many might not want to catch a “falling knife” in housing as uncertainty can loom, I see hosing prices going down as the opportunity to buy.

3^rd trend (regulatory)

Regulator Trend: Technology/Data Security

 Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/waynerash/2019/12/19/regulation-in-2020--new-ways-the-government-will-affect-your-business/#5a35633d3f23

-I believe an opportunity exists because in the growing and expansive use of technology and transferring information through technology, a big issue affecting millions is data security. Many breaches have happened recently, and cyber-attacks continue to grow that affect everyone.

-Customers would be people that use the internet, technology/ data companies, government, businesses

-I say it wouldn’t be easy to exploit as one would need to be ready to invest a lot of time and resources to effectively protect data. There would also be a lot of regulation into how the data is being secured and if the ones inventing these solutions are to be trusted.

- I see this opportunity as I don’t really see that many people that are aware or scared of data breaches, even though they are happening at a very large scale and rate. People don’t usually think about getting hacked, or information about them being stolen online until they are affected by it somehow, which is why some might not see this as an opportunity.

4^th trend (regulatory)

Regulatory Trend: Privacy Regulation Will Reshape Personalization.

Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/gregpetro/2020/01/03/7-predictions-for-retail-this-year/#9471f5c78614

- I believe there is an opportunity here as privacy over the internet has become a big issue for everyone that uses the internet recently. Businesses want to know how to get information on internet users to help them sell online, through advertising, but that also leads into practices that could harm users and businesses if information is breached, which it has been.

- The customers would be internet users, e-commerce businesses, businesses that use the internet and online advertising agencies as well.

- This opportunity wouldn’t be easy to exploit as user privacy would be heavily regulated, and the ability to get useful information for business advertising would become extremely difficult.

- The opportunity is present as the challenges faced almost make it seem impossible to be able to get good information for advertising purposes. However there are always going to be loopholes that businesses can go through in order to get information, or they can come up with more generic ways of getting information and then “specify” is to cater to every user they want to reach through seeing sales demographics, memberships, and loyalty programs.