Assignment 22A – Elevator Pitch No. 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xea4Uokdzg

All the feedback that I have received has just been positive reassurance that I have done a great job doing my pitches. I didn’t change much again from my first two videos. I used my opportunity belief idea this time. I wasn't as motivational since the topic itself is not something that is to be happy about.

Assignment 23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

1. Fundraising – I am currently working on putting together multiple clubs and groups to fundraise money for this awareness of drinking and driving.
1. Valuable -  I will need the capital in order to follow through with the product.
2. Rare – this is not rare; many people can fundraise on their own within the clubs or not.
3. Inimitable – it can be imitated in the sense of raising money, but cannot be imitated within the club because the club is unique.
4. Non-suitable – I can have a fundraising group to handle this portion of the business.
2. Government ties – Much of the government is trying to fight against this issue and figuring out different ways to prevent fatalities. This would help me sell my product with the government by my side.
1. Valuable – I can gain support from the authorities to back up my product.
2. Rare – There are many things that the government support and represent, but representing a specific product would be unique.
3. - Inimitable – this cannot be copied by other organizations and representatives unless they are also fighting against the same issue.
4. - Non-suitable – I would not be able to gain the same amount of power and publicity with any other company / organization.
3. Public speaking – I have multiple people that can give lectures and group talks about the concern with drinking and driving.
1. Valuable – this is valuable to society because it is spreading awareness to others.
2. Rare – this is not rare; I can hire anyone to do this.
3. Inimitable – this could be copied, but it takes skill and passion to be able to speak about these issues.
4. Non-suitable – communication is key to spreading awareness.
4. Personal relationships – I have many family friends that either work with the government, authorities and / or have family that work closely with them.
1. Valuable – having these relationships can help provide feedback for my product and also help publicize not only the product but awareness about the issue.
2. Rare – I could speak with any government employee or police officer, etc.
3. Inimitable – these relationships can be copied, but would be difficult unless close relations are involved.
4. Non-suitable – I could have someone else fill in for me, but they wouldn’t have the same networking that I currently have.
5. Support of DUI /DD organizations – There are many organizations and clubs that already exist that can help continue to promote awareness and provide advertising for the product.
1. Valuable – I can gain support from others who are fighting the same issue that I am.
2. Rare – this is not rare; there are many people and organizations fighting the same cause that I am.
3. Inimitable - this cannot be copied by other organizations and representatives unless they are also fighting against the same issue.
4. Non-suitable – I wouldn’t be able to gain the same amount of support from other groups like the ones I would work with that have much experience and knowledge of this topic.
6. Social media – Creating social media accounts help with publicizing the wrongful actions that this issue creates. Gaining followers helps spread awareness.
1. Valuable – the more people that hear about this product, the more sales occur.
2. Rare – if it’s a trending topic it is not rare for the product to get publicity.
3. Inimitable – anyone can advertise for similar products, but they would not have the same information nor be the first in the market to advertise for the product.
4. Non-suitable – I could try and have social media accounts on my own and advertise from my personal accounts, but having a more professional outlook would grab more attention to the customers.
7. Financial capital – I plan to invest in the market as well as continue to gain followers for my product who would hopefully sponsor the companies and organizations that are tied with the product.
1. Valuable – this would help the product grow in profits as well as sales.
2. Rare – this is not rare; I can have anyone as the sponsor.
3. Inimitable – this can be copied within each sponsor, as each sponsor will be recognized when money is donated towards the product.
4. Non-suitable – having sponsors cannot be substituted until there is enough capital coming from the sales of the product.
8. Social capital – University of Florida: Many relationships can be made with faculty, staff, and students.
1. Valuable – this can help push forward the awareness that is necessary in order to make this product successful.
2. Rare – anyone in the university can do this.
3. Inimitable – this can be copied; anyone in the university can make relations to spread awareness of the issue.
4. Non-suitable – these relationships cannot be replaced; each connection is unique.
9. Human capital – I plan to have my team take classes based on topics that are associated with the issue that way they can be as knowledgeable as possible. Also they will attend AA meetings to gain knowledge about drinking habits.
1. Valuable – this would create economic value to the team to help sell the product.
2. Rare – it is not rare; anyone can take these classes or attend meetings on their own.
3. Inimitable – this can be copied by other companies to help them become more united and knowledgeable of their market.
4. Non-suitable – these experiences cannot be replaced unless the person has their own physical experiences with drinking and driving.
10. Social capital – Getting in contact with victims of drinking and driving: Q&A as well as support group.  
1. Valuable – their stories would be of great help to spread awareness to the community as well as to schools to prevent further generations from making the same mistakes.
2. Rare – anyone can provide these stories to us; it is rare to have people come forward and tell their stories willingly.
3. Inimitable – I cannot make up these stories, so there is no way they can be copied. They are real life occurrences.
4. Non-suitable – this cannot be replaced because these are everyday life occurrences that happen accidentally.

Government ties, personal relationships and social media were my top three resources that I think are most important. I think the top resource would be government ties. I believe that with the help of the government and authorities in the local areas, we will be able to come up with a solution to this issue and be able to accommodate everyone that drives on the street. There are many different situations in which some may not need this product, but it will be safer to have it in one’s car for emergencies than not at all. This can help not only by creating regulations for the product, but also more media coverage, marketing and follow-up with statistics and gain feedback from customers.

Assignment 21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

The general theme of the book mostly talks about what it takes to be successful at social media. These tips and/or guidelines that they provided work best for those who are experts with social media, but anyone can still find these tips very useful.

This book spoke about “how to feed the content monster.” I feel like this correlated very much with the way we have had to arrange and interconnect with our potential market for our product that we have created. In the book it says to figure out what kind of people you want to attract to be able to make money. It also talks about finding out how to develop your social profile to perfect its posts for your followers. This is very similar to some exercises we have done in class such as speaking with potential buyers that fall into the categories of our market and interviewing them. Also, we have had to speak to market experts and suppliers to gain more knowledge on our ideas. 

It also talks about including photos in your posts. We have done that a few times with our assignments to post in our blog. Feedback was also another topic discussed in the book. We provide and gain feedback in this class every week based on the peer reviews. I feel that this is very helpful so that you know whether your social profile is useful or productive, or if you need to make changes to better target the people you want.

I would suggest having an assignment where the students have to posts something about their product to their twitter account to see what kind of responses they would get from their followers through their social media account.

I appreciated that they included some humor within the book. You rarely ever see humor in a book, so reading this was very entertaining. It helps you put the life experiences into reality better. My favorite line that he used to describe these tactics of social media is that they are “great stuff, no fluff.”

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.