Assignment 20A – Growing Your Social Capital

Domain expert

1. Who they are and what their background is.
1. Jimmy, Lieutenant/Assistant chief in Miami Shores, FL.
2. How this person is a “domain expert”
1. He deals with different cases every day, sometimes consisting of drunk people, sometimes even drinking and driving. It can be from him stopping a car and finding the driver to be intoxicated or from receiving a call to head to an accident caused by a drunk driver.
3. A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
1. He is a family friend that has been an officer all his life. I called him to ask him a few questions.
4. The nature of the exchange: what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
1. I explained to him the class that I’m taking and the product that I have come up with to help prevent drinking and driving. I asked him about current statistics that he and his coworkers encounter every day. I also asked what the most common excuses are as to why the driver says they committed the act.
5. How will including this person enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?      
1. He would provide the statistics of drunk driving and the fatality rate based on a given area if needed. Also, he thinks this issue is not publicized enough and needs to be spoken about in schools so that students understand the consequences as they get older.

Market expert

1. Who they are and what their background is.
1. Nicole, student at FIU, who came to visit UF last weekend for a friend’s birthday. She is in Alpha Xi Delta.
2. How this person is a “market expert”
1. She has been exposed to peer pressure by deciding to get in a car with an intoxicated driver.
3. A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
1. She came to visit UF and I had the opportunity to ask her a few questions.
4. The nature of the exchange: what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
1. She did not want to give all the details, but we were able to spend some time conversing about this issue. She was exposed to peer pressure in high school when some of her friends decided to drink and drive on multiple occasions. She realized after one bad experience that she was making the wrong choice not only by putting herself in danger but also her friends that were driving intoxicated.
5. How will including this person enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
1. She is someone that has firsthand experienced one of the issues that I have spoken about when it comes to being exposed to peer pressure and intoxicated driving. Also, I have gained insight on what people have experienced instead of just making up scenarios. 

Supplier

1. Who they are and what their background is.
1. Thomas, manager at Best Buy.
2. How this person is a “supplier”
1. He works at Best Buy, which sells different kinds of breathalyzers for personal use. I would be able to compare the different products and see what sells better based on size, quality, color, etc. to better my product.
3. A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
1. I called a store and asked to speak to a manager for a school assignment.
4. The nature of the exchange: what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
1. I explained this assignment and spoke to him about my product. I asked him some questions about the current breathalyzers that are sold at the store and compared them to the product that I would create.
5. How will including this person enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
1. He can help me focus on the market that I have created for this product. I can also adjust my product based on the feedback that I receive from what this manager has seen based on the sold products in Best Buy. 

Finding people who knows or belongs in your market is much harder to find. It wasn’t difficult to find people who are advocates for this issue, but it was difficult to find to market expert without being too personal. I feel like I could find people much easier that are more relatable to my product by a second-connection such as my family-friend, Jimmy. Knowing someone directly is much more difficult because this issue, although affects all of society, mostly is involved with the younger generation.

Assignment 19A – Idea Napkin No. 2

1. You 
1. My name is Lourdes Rodriguez. I’m a senior studying Construction Management in UF’s Rinker School of CM. I would say that my talents are being good in sports and also that I’m very handy with household chores. I have a lot of experience in Hispanic culture since I am of Cuban descent. I’m a very good listener. I have a passion for adventure and I aspire to be a great mother and have a big family. If I were to start this concept, I think it wouldn’t just affect my life but also many others in the world. I would feel so at peace to think that there would be less people being affected by the issue of impaired driving.
2. After speaking with the five closest people to me, I am very determined to make sure this product works to its best ability and that there are no bugs to it. I want to make sure this product will be useful to anyone at any age and is accommodating to those interested.
2. What are you offering to customers
1. I am offering a product that can be bought individually or sold by the bulk to car manufacturers that helps prevent drinking and driving over the legal limit which is 0.08% BAC. I am solving the unmet need of people not feeling safe on the road afraid to get hit by a drunk driver. I am helping those who do not realize the danger of this issue. I am helping those 28 or so people that get killed every day due to a drunk driver. I am helping car manufacturers with a better sales pitch to parents who want to buy their teenage kid a first car. Many parents are worried of their children with peer pressure and drinking underage.
2. Nothing has changed here. I still want to make sure everyone is safe and try to avoid this danger as much as possible.
3. Who are you offering it to?
1. I am offering this breathalyzer machine to individuals and car manufacturers. Individuals include anyone who owns or drives a car. The age range is different in every country, but for purposes in the U.S. can range from 15 to 80s. I am offering it to people who have had the experience of drinking and driving and do not want to commit the act again. I am offering it to college students who are more likely to drink and drive because of peer pressure. I am offering it to parents to input it into their child’s car to prevent underage drinking. I am offering it to individuals because not everyone has a new car, let’s say new within the last 5 to 6 years. Lastly, I am offering it to car manufacturers to begin inputting this machine into new vehicles so it can eventually just become another accessory that every car would have.
2. I would like to make more of an emphasis on teenagers and college students. It seems that this age range is more common for drinking and driving to occur. It is very important that parents take this product into consideration and put in in their child’s car to prevent any more accidents or fatalities due to impaired driving.
4. Why do they care?  
1. I believe many individuals will pay money for this product because society has a major focus on this issue and have been promoting sober driving for a while now. This issue is only getting worse every year. By buying this product it would prevent people from actually starting up a car and driving it while impaired. Car manufacturers would buy this product because they are always following trends that are happening in society, and one trend in particular is sober driving. By implementing this machine into their new car models, it shows people that the industry is worried about your safety on the road. I believe many will buy this product to ensure their own safety as well as for their loved ones.
2. Based on the feedback I received, many people would buy this because they care for their loved one’s safety. Mothers are worried of their children anytime they walk out of their homes. They would feel much better if they knew that drinking and driving wouldn’t be an issue if this product were installed into their vehicles.
5. What are your core competencies? 
1. Compared to other preventatives of impaired driving such as Uber, Lyft, cab services, this product will only cost you money one time. Once installed in the car all you have to do is use it. There’s no charges every time you want to get in the car to go somewhere. It has worked very well for those who have multiple DUI’s and I can’t see it not working for the average person. I also know of people who have first-hand experienced using this product and can give positive feedback on the machine itself.
2. This is a very real issue that has been going on for quite some time. Not much has been done to prevent the fatality rate from further decreasing in the United States. Many more people have become aware of this issue and have spread the word of the danger, but that is not enough.  
6. 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. 
1. I do believe that these elements can fit together. However, I do not have any capital or networking to be able to follow through with this product. I believe that if I pitched this product to individuals and car manufacturers, then I would gain backup and be able to move forward and begin producing the machine. Secondly, I feel that I am out-of-joint with a percentage of people that I put into the category of the purchase of this machine. There are people that will not buy this product, nor want to buy a new car in the near future with it. There are individuals who do not drink at all and others who do but know their limits to not drive impaired.
7. "Feedback memo"
1. I only received feedback from one person and they emphasized on the importance of safety and your loved ones. I mentioned the importance of purchasing this product especially for teenagers and college students since they are more likely to commit this act. Based on the feedback the person mentioned how many parents, especially mothers, are worried for their children so they would definitely be interested in having this product in their vehicles. Safety is the most important thing for parents. This product would keep people off the streets driving while drunk and would save many more lives. This would also help decrease the fatality rates around the United States due to impaired driving. We can save many lives by just reducing the amount of people while driving impaired.

Assignment 18A – Create a Customer Avatar

He lives in a big city, such as San Diego, California, which has a higher percentage of fatalities due to drinking and driving. He is 22 years old, about to graduate from college and lives a few hours away from his family for school. He enjoys watching and playing sports. He watches mostly ESPN or any channel that has a sports game on. He also likes to hang out with his friends and roommates and goes out to bars and clubs on the weekends for fun.

He drives a 2016 black Ford, Mustang. He doesn’t drive to school because there is limited parking so he takes the bus instead. He uses his car mostly for necessities, but occasionally drives when going out with his friends. He finds himself pressured sometimes to be the driver of the group since he is one of the very few that has a car. He does not feel comfortable driving to places when he knows that him and his friends will be drinking that night.

In common: I also have a car in college and live away from my family. Almost all of my friends have cars here in UF so we alternate who drives to places. I do feel that I too sometimes do not feel comfortable driving somewhere when I know we will mostly likely drink. Instead I suggest to call an Uber so that none of us have to drive with a few drinks in our system. I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I think it’s just something that is very common with people in their 20’s. This is a very big issue with our society and percentage rates of fatalities keep rising every year. Fatalities rise between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. We need to continue to be very careful especially with the holidays coming up.

Assignment 17A – Elevator Pitch No. 2

https://youtu.be/Znfs1E_WaQw

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

All of the feedback that I received was very positive. Many were impressed with the idea and thought it would be helpful for them. Another student though it was interesting that I did not pitch my opportunity that I have been describing throughout previous assignments. I thought it would be interesting to do something different so people wouldn't read / listen to the same things.

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

I did not change much from the first elevator pitch except for the background /setting of the video. I tried to use more gestures throughout the video.