22A – Elevator Pitch No. 3

A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch. Describe what stood out to you as important, what feedback surprised you the most, what feedback you think was outright wrong or silly or amazing and inciteful. 

What stood out to me the most was the comment that in my last video that I needed to make more eye contact and it was easy to tell that I was reading off a script which I was oops;) So this time I didn't use a script and tried to make it more personal. I enjoyed reading the feedback of people who said they would actually use my idea and they thought it was a good solution.

 What did you change, based on the feedback?
Like I said before, this time I didn't use a script, I just went off memorization and spoke more freely. I think this helped me be more personal and show more interest in my idea. I am definitely more comfortable on my third time filming this than I was the first time. My time was longer this time since I wasn't reading off a script and I had to think about what I was saying more but overall I think I improved thanks to the feedback from other students.

21A – Reading Reflection No. 2

I read "The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users" by Guy Kawasaki

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

This book was about the emphasis on social media that businesses should focus on in order to get their name out their more, advertise their brand, and gain more attention.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

I think this book definitely connected with what I am learning in class because it focused on the stress of social media in order to promote your business and in class we have been learning about how to get your name out their and how to attract attention to your business. I think it enhanced what I am learning because it went into more specifics than the class usually does and focuses on topics more in depth.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

My assignment I would create for this book would be to make a social media page, either Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram for the opportunity we have been using for most of our assignments and use specific strategies and tactics from this book in order to make your page successful.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

My biggest surprise I learned from reading this book was that Pinterest is the second most popular website used to promote oneself. I would have assumed Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram because I do not hear people talk about Pinterest often at all.

20A – Growing Your Social Capital

One person must be a domain expert in your industry.

1) Who they are and what their background is.

I talked to a person who works at Study Edge as a teacher, I am choosing not to put their name in this post as Study Edge is used by a lot of UF students. They teach various math courses the Study Edge building and have experience teaching and have a degree in mathematics.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

This person fills the domain expert slot because they work also to serve the convenience of college students. A lot of the people I know, including myself, use Study Edge to study for exams that I did no work for over the semester but need to cram the information in my brain before the test. This is convenient because instead of wasting time during the semester when I can just get it done in a couple hours because of Study Edge. I am also looking to work for the convenience of college students with my product, so I think this Study Edge contact works well. 

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

I found this person at a Study Edge review I went to the other day for an exam I have coming up. I talked to him after the review and asked about his business.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

This person talked about how, especially with college students, people want convenience and fast things so that's why his business is so successful. We talked about how no one wants to waste their time and energy when there is a better alternative. He helped me realize more about the convenience of people.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

I feel like this person will be useful to me because he can teach me about what consumers want, especially college students. He will help me exploit my opportunity.

 One person must be an expert on your market.

1) Who they are and what their background is.

I chose a librarian for this role, they've been a librarian for over ten years at UF.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

This person is a market expert because they have been doing "research" on college students for over a decade and sees their behavior.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

 I just went to Marston and asked around for a librarian I could talk to about my product.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

I talked about how college students behave in the library and she said that she sees a lot of students wandering around looking for seats for them and their friends a lot of the time, looking annoyed and stressed out. She helped me learn more about their behavior.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

Having this person in my network will enhance my ability to exploit my opportunity because she gives me an insight on my consumer behavior and their habits.

One person must be an important supplier to your industry.

1) Who they are and what their background is.

I interviewed a Starbucks worker at Marston, she's worked there for a couple months. 

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

This person is a supplier because they literally sell to people studying at Marston.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

I was at Starbucks buying a drink and I talked to someone cleaning the condiment bar.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

I talked to this person about how college students act and we talked about how they have Tapingo at the Starbucks and how that's based on college students wanting convenience. 

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

This person will help in my network and enhance my ability to exploit my opportunity because they work exactly where I would place my product and see college student behavior.

Finally: Reflect. This experience requires you to do a little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How?
This experience helped shape how I will participate in future networking events because it allowed me to see the power that having contacts has and how important it is to know people in your industry. I've never really networked in the past so this was an interesting learning experience that I think I really benefited from.

19A – Idea Napkin No. 2

1.  You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?
My name is Teagan Levee. I'm a freshman at UF and as of now I'm majoring in general business and either minoring or getting a certificate in Spanish. I'm minoring in Spanish because I love the language and love learning about new cultures, I want to learn more languages in my life. I like convenience so that was a big inspiration for my business. I want my business to make the lives of college students easier than before, eliminating wasted time and energy. From my feedback I've found that this idea will play a major role in a lot of people's lives because my consumers, like me, also don't like to waste time and value convenience. My feedback was a lot of people relating to me about the time they've wasted looking through the libraries for seats and how they would value a product like the one I am putting forward.

2. What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs)
I am offering to customers convenience. My product would offer a way to know which seats are currently occupied or vacant at Marston, so that people with large study groups can know beforehand if they can find a table or not. I am offering consumers something that will conserve their energy and time, because instead of searching throughout the whole library for a table, and sometimes not even finding one, now they will know where to sit. From feedback, I've also tweaked my idea to be presented on the website in which students can rent rooms at the library so that there wouldn't be a need for an extra app or website, making it even more convenient. Also I developed the idea that I will use sensors in the chairs so that it will register when people sit in them, registering weights of about 70 lbs or more so that backpacks aren't counted as people. I chose this instead of switches that people would turn on or off when they sat down or got up because in my interviews people said that they could easily be forgotten and chairs could register as occupied when they are vacant and vice versa.

3. Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?
At first I geared this idea towards to UF students on campus who enjoy to study in groups, mostly during midterm and finals weeks when the library is the busiest. They will be aged 18-22 usually and have a focus on their academics. They all have the goal of having a calming and nice study place to get work done. After interviews I realized that this product will also be used by people who live off campus who want to use the library, either during times when they are on campus in between classes, or just at times when they want to use the library in general. I also realized that this product doesn't have to be for study groups, it can be for singular people who just want to find a place to sit quickly, rather than walking around for a long time.

4. Why do they care? My customers care because everyone hates to waste time and energy for nothing. I'm sure they would much rather prefer simply looking at a website and seeing what seats are available in place of the current system, which is going on all of the floors of the library and walking around all the rooms until seats can be found. This was my first response in Idea Napkin No. 2, and I've found that this is the main reason and concern of consumers using my product, I wouldn't change what I said and feedback has backed that up.

5. What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 
I think what sets me apart from everyone else, is that I am actually a student who has experienced this problem, so I can relate to how it's a "bug" and be able to offer a solution that would actually work. The thing that frustrates me the most is when people made products that they wouldn't actually use in their everyday life so they don't care if it works as well as it could or not, but with my product I would use it and I would strive to make it the best. I think that my feedback helped me realize that this idea is really important to me and creating a more convenient and easy way of studying is a goal I have that I want to share with everyone at my school.

18A – Create a Customer Avatar

My customer is a typical student at UF, probably lives in the dorms and that's why he/she needs to study in the library. My customer can be of any gender, it doesn't matter. My customer is a regular student who enjoys Netflix, going out, but also knows when it's time to study and get schoolwork done, that's why they use my product to know when seats at the library are being occupied or are vacant. They are between 18-22. I said it's probable that they live in the dorms, but they could be a student who lives in an apartment that has time to kill in between classes and wants to study at the library before their next class or club meeting.

I have in common with my avatar that I live on campus and I like to go to the library to study, while maintaining other activities outside of studying. I think that this avatar can relate to a lot of students at UF. I have similar interests of watching Netflix and going out and share the same age range.

17A – Elevator Pitch No. 2

Reflection: Most of my feedback was really useful, especially the people that said I spoke too fast. Whenever I have a presentation or am nervous about something, I tend to speak really fast and not notice it until someone else points it out so it was very helpful and informative to see the comments that said I spoke too fast.

What did I change? I changed the speed of my voice, and this allowed me to, I think, get my points across better because in my last post someone said they had to rewind the video because I was speaking too fast. I also added more details into my presentation that I didn't have before but I since developed from doing the other exercises.

16A –What’s Your Secret Sauce?

Five ways in which I think I have Human Capital:

1. Time Management-In high school, I worked 40 hour work weeks while being in a rigorous academic program with lots of homework, tests, and time needed to study, but I always ended up getting my stuff done on time while being supervisor of a smoothie shop because of my time management skills. I would make schedules for myself and make sure I was making the best use out of the free time I had.

2. Driven-I am a very driven person and I don't stop until a goal is completed. I hate leaving a job halfway done and always want to finish my work. I think this works in my favor and allows me to be a stronger person.

3. Empathy- I am a very sensitive person, and sometimes this works against me, but for the most part it allows me to relate with others on a more personal level and be able to create stronger bonds. I feel like my empathy and sensitivity is a strong trait to have that allows me to see more human connections.

4. Exploration- I like to try new things all the time and am not afraid about taking on a new challenge or doing something I've never done before. This allows me to experience new opportunities and learn from them while strengthening myself.

5. Leader- I think that being a leader allows me to be stronger because it allows me to take responsibility for my choices and stand behind them. 

Interview the five people who know you the best.

https://soundcloud.com/user-340846047/sets

Reflect on the differences

My friend Anita commented on the same thing that I did about how I have good time management, especially with my job and being in IB. My friend Lei talked about how I was a positive impact in her life and have a good heart and that wasn't something I was expecting. I wouldn't make corrections to my list.

15A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

Report findings and draw conclusions:

These interviews made me narrow down my idea more because at first I wasn't sure if I should have buttons that people press or sensors in the chairs that let people know when seats are being used in the library. All of the people I interviewed favored the idea of sensors because buttons could cause problems. In my first interview, a girl said that it's possible that people will forget to press the button when they sit down or possibly even forget to turn it off after they leave, making the seat appear used when it's vacant in reality. So this is why I think that I've narrowed my product into sensors that sense the weight of people sitting in chairs in the library. But this brings me to another problem that my second interviewee brought up. This boy said that there needs to be a weight minimum on the sensors because he goes to Marston a lot and says that very often people put their backpacks on chairs next to them. This would cause the problem of seats on the website appearing used, when they are just filled by a backpack. So, I think that I would need a weight minimum of somewhere around 90-100lbs on the sensors to know when an actual person is sitting in the chair, not just someone's belongings. My interviewees liked the idea of the vacancy/occupancy appearing on the Marston website where people rent rooms because that avoids the extra step of having to download a separate app or going to another website. I've also been hearing about people avoiding the problem of not finding a seat in Marston by renting rooms, so I wanted to ask my interviewees about this. One boy says that he tries to rent rooms but a lot of the time they are already reserved so he has to end up sitting in the library regularly. This made me feel more confident with my idea because, although renting rooms is a solution, it cannot always be done and a lot of times the rooms are already going to be reserved. Overall, I learned a lot from my interviews and they helped me narrow down my idea.