Elevator Pitch No. 1

It's not a surprise to most people that organic foods are priced higher than conventionally processed foods. College students who want to eat healthier in the long term without spending too much money do not have many choices, if any at all, to obtain fresh food – especially those who live on campus or have limited transportation. For my pitch I am proposing a service and app called Fresh Campus which aims to provide fresh, organic food at a lower price through a community garden system.

Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Students living in dorms or apartments without yards are unable to obtain freshly grown organic foods at an inexpensive price because of higher production costs associated with growing organic crops compared to conventionally produced crops.

The who: Students living in dorms or apartments without yards

The what: They are unable to easily obtain freshly grown organic foods at an inexpensive price

The why: Higher production costs associated with growing organic crops compared to conventionally produced crops

Testing the who: From the interviews, it seems that mostly people in the current ‘who’ share the need.

Testing the what: Some boundaries of the need would include what kinds of crops would people want to grow on their garden space and the other ways students obtain organic, fresh foods.

Testing the why: Most of the people I interviewed seemed to share the same issues with the need: they would like their diet to consist of more organic fresh foods, but the availability of lower cost fresh foods is low. They all provided a similar explanation for the problem.

Note: I would greatly appreciate any critique or feedback on structuring my interviews in order to make them longer. The first one was kind of short because I tried to conduct the interview without any basic structure. In the later ones, I was able to make some kind of format, but even then, they were kind of short. Towards the end of each interview I tended to struggle with coming up with other questions and it was a tad bit awkward.

Interviews

Interviews 1-3

Interviews 4-5

My Solution

One of the problems I identified in a previous assignment, the "Bug List", was that phone chargers sometimes easily tangle and / or are not long enough. A simple, rough solution would be to design a phone charger made of a material that does not tangle. As for cord length, I am sure there are already third - party chargers that are longer than default ones.

Looking for Opportunity

The previous post focused on local opportunity. This one focuses on a broader perspective: economic trends and regulatory changes.

Economic Trends

              Rise of the sharing economy – opportunity for a peer to peer sharing venture.

a.       The source: http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21573104-internet-everything-hire-rise-sharing-economy

b.      The Economist is a weekly news magazine that was founded on September 1843. The praise and accolades of the magazine ensure that it is a quality academic source for insight on economic trends.

c.       The prototypical customer of this opportunity is someone who lives in a relatively medium to largely populated area, ideally a metropolitan city where there is more opportunity for more people to share their products and services.

d.      I think this opportunity is relatively easy to exploit because an increasing number of customers are becoming familiar with the concept of a sharing economy. For example, anyone who has used an Uber is familiar with the sharing economy. Because there are low barriers to entry, starting this kind of venture would be easier compared to others, but low barriers to entry also mean increased business competition.

e.       I saw this opportunity from living in a “college town” like Gainesville where a service like Uber is well known. Additionally, the media covers the sharing economy as a new hybrid market model. The Pew Research Center has also written an article on the impact and evolution of the sharing economy. That article can be viewed here: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/05/23/qa-the-impact-and-evolution-of-the-sharing-economy/

              The increase of robotic automation – opportunity for an automation venture.

a.       The source: http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21689635-jobs-poor-countries-may-be-especially-vulnerable-automation-machine-earning

b.      As mentioned in the previous opportunity, The Economist provides solid economic information that an entrepreneur could possibly draw conclusions from.

c.       The prototypical customer of this opportunity would not necessarily be an individual, but rather another business that would either want to lower costs over the long run or compete against other technologically advanced enterprises.

d.      I think this opportunity would be in the middle on the scale of difficulty in exploitation. The rise of automation can be seen in many industries such as e-commerce, logistics, healthcare, agriculture, etc. However, there is controversy about how quickly robotic automation is eliminating jobs and that not enough jobs will be created from automation in order to replace the jobs lost to automation. Also, there are many ventures that already provide automation services to businesses, so making one’s venture “stand-out” from the rest would be an important consideration.

e.       I saw the opportunity for an automation venture from watching the news. The media focuses on the debate about automation’s effect on employment rates. Also, as someone who eats fast food more often than I should, I have seen some fast food chains, such as McDonald’s, utilize digital ordering systems as an optional substitute to a cashier.

Regulatory Changes

Privacy and security laws: credit card fraud chip-card transactions – opportunity for a digital security venture.

a.       The source: https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/emv-chip-credit-cards-required-law/

b.      NerdWallet is a personal finance website that helps people find the best credit card offers, cd rates, savings and checking accounts, insurance, and other financial products. The article provides helpful and clear information about the EMV liability shift.

c.       The prototypical customer would be a store that has to upgrade to EMV chips.

d.      I think this opportunity would be relatively easy to exploit because new businesses who have not upgraded to EMV would want manage their fraud risk more effectively and keep up with the competition technologically.

e.       I saw the opportunity from past media coverage on the credit card data breaches of retail stores like Target. Also, some of my friends are computer science students who have an interest in the field of cybersecurity.

Environmental protection; green technology – opportunity for a “clean tech” solutions venture.

a.       The source: http://www.cleantechlaw.org/

b.      This website provides news developments in renewable energy & cleantech law. Regulations in this field vary by region or state.

c.       The prototypical customer would be a business that wants to establish itself as sustainable and environmentally friendly. This would improve its social perceptions, thus encouraging environmentally-conscious consumers to use their products.

d.      I think this opportunity would be relatively easy to exploit. There is an increase in venture capital investments in green technology firms, and topics like global warming are more apparent in political debates.

e.       News coverage on climate change and increased awareness on environmental impact from both the private and public sectors have contributed the reasons why I think there is an opportunity in clean energy legislation.

Forming An Opportunity Belief

I believe there could be an opportunity in creating an ice cream truck venture for on-campus students. The unmet need would be a lack of freshly made ice cream that could be obtained without having to walk to take the bus to a dining hall or an on-campus restaurant. This unmet need mostly belongs to students on campus without cars, students living in dorms, and students who are just on campus for a long period of time and want to get a refreshing snack on a hot day. In order to meet the need of a cold snack on campus during a hot day, students currently either buy ice cream from the on-campus Wendy’s or the Freshens in the Reitz Union, get ice cream from one of the dining halls, or (if they have cars) drive to a local ice cream / frozen yogurt shop. At this point, I am about 80% sure that this opportunity exists. It’s no surprise that the weather is hot during most days in Florida, so there should be a significant need for a cold snack for students walking around.

Prototypical Customer #1: incoming UF freshman

Reflection from Interview #1: From the first interview, I learned that my opportunity would depend on how often people would actually prefer ice cream to various other product substitutes available near them on campus. I have to be more specific in regards to the “truck” aspect of the ice cream truck opportunity. It’s interesting that Erica mentioned a “tracker app” because UF has one for the RTS bus system. If my opportunity could include a tracker similar to that, then it could possibly be more successful because many students will already be familiar with its interface. Nothing really surprised me in this interview.

Prototypical Customer #2: rising UF sophomore

Reflection from Interview #2: From the second interview, I was provided with a few specific details on when a customer could become aware of the need. With these details, I learned that my opportunity would most likely have peak times of demand – for example, high demand during a hot week or during a hot afternoon. I also suppose that the ice cream truck would have to “dock” at locations that are far away from places like Wendy’s or Chick Fil A during the beginning of its venture in order to be effective.

Prototypical Customer #3: rising UF sophomore

Reflection from Interview #3: From the third interview, I learned that there was actually an ice cream vending machine on campus. I didn’t know that existed here before. So by emphasizing the “mobile” aspects of my opportunity belief, I could offer a differentiated service compared to a vending machine.

Summary: After some interviews, I conclude that most of my original opportunity is still there. However, I seemed to have overestimated the potential demand for this service. I believe that my new opportunity is more accurate compared to when I started. Based on the information I received from the interviews, I think that for the most part, entrepreneurs should adapt their opportunities based on customer feedback. However, it depends if the product the entrepreneur is offering has already been done or if the product is something significantly new. My opportunity has similar services already in the market, so I would have to differentiate in order to stand out in the market. In order to do so, I would need to adapt my idea from customer feedback. I could ask the question: “How can I take that service and make it better?” As for a significantly new product, Apple would be a good example. No one knew they wanted something like the iPhone before the first model debuted. Steve Jobs told Business Week, “A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” ‘It’ refers to a significantly new product.

Identifying Local Opportunities

The local newspaper I chose was the Tampa Bay Times. As I was searching for articles in the database, it seemed that many of them were based on local politics and recognition of accomplishments. The problems I found were based on the local school system and transportation.

Pinellas works fast to replace dozens of teachers leaving troubled schools.

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15CE79949BBDEDC0?p=AWNB

The story: As of last week, more than 80 teachers had requested a transfer or were told that they couldn’t return to 5 local elementary schools. Many potential candidates for replacement teachers attended an interview event for those schools. Some teachers were drawn to the schools by the challenge and a chance to improve the results of struggling schools. Turnover in struggling schools is very high, so district leaders are trying to attract more experienced teachers.

The problem: Mike Gandolfo, president of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association called the teacher transfer process a “hatchet job” in which some teachers were forced out after initially being told they could stay. He also stated that “fear and frustration” were the reasons most of the teachers left, so he is doubtful of how the schools will effectively fill those positions. Also, some teachers with fewer years of experience will have to make the extra effort in working longer days, participating in extra training, and teaching summer school just like the older teachers, but with significantly less pay.

Who has the problem: These problems could exists possibly for the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association as the process of finding replacement teachers has been described as hectic. Also, the younger, less experienced teachers receive less incentive to dedicate more hours into their work, thus having less time to do other things.

The PTC rejects a temporary plan that would let Hillsborough County regulate Uber and Lyft.

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15CD296C6942AAF8?p=AWNB

The story: In Hillsborough County, ridesharing is still illegal. The Public Transportation Commission board rejected a temporary agreement that would allow the county to regulate ridesharing. Taxi and limousine companies called for the removal of Victor Crist from the PTC chairman position. However, Victor Crist defended his leadership by stating that he “wasn’t their puppet.” The companies argue that rideshare drivers should be subject to the same regulations and regulatory costs that they have to follow. Some of the points that have not yet been resolved include fingerprint-based background checks.

The problem: First I should define what “ridesharing” is. A quick reference to an online dictionary states that ridesharing is “an arrangement in which a passenger travels in a private vehicle driven by its owner, for free or for a fee, especially as arranged by means of a website or app.” The PTC seems to be ineffective in establishing regulations for ridesharing companies. The board seems to be caught between taxi and limousine companies and ridesharing companies. Victor Crist suggested that he wants to change the governing structure of the PTC.

Who has the problem: The PTC acts as a regulatory intermediary between the two different types of transportation services. The negotiations seem to have gone nowhere. The fact that the rideshare regulation issue is unresolved affects the PTC, taxi and limousine operators, ridesharing companies, and potential ridesharing users in Hillsborough County.

3 Charter School Closures Look Likely

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15CCD6ACE3A73668?p=AWNB

The story: District officials of the Pinellas County School Board made the case to issue 90-day notices to terminate the charter agreements of Windsor Preparatory Academy, East Windsor Middle Academy, and Newpoint Pinellas Academy. The schools operate under management contracts with Newpoint Education Partners. That company, along with three others, was indicted for charges of grand theft, money laundering, and aggravated white-collar crime. Also, the district is seeking to terminate the charter of Florida Virtual Academy in Pinellas. The four schools combined enroll about 1,000 students and receive $6 million in public money.

The problem: There are several problems with the schools. According to previous audits, the deficits of the three Newpoint schools total about $1.3 million. After several site visits, the schools lacked gifted services and Spanish classes that were promised by the schools’ charters with the district. There was also a lack of curriculum and materials for students at Windsor Prep and East Windsor.

Who has the problem: While the schools have these problems, the students and their families are affected by the problems the most. The article summarizes this pretty well in its concluding sentence: “Chris Wenzel, vice chairman for the board overseeing the three Newpoint schools and a parent of a third grader at Windsor Prep, said parents will have no options comparable to Windsor should the school close.”

Mayor Buckhorn touts growth and diversity and acknowledges violence and mass transit issues.

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15C39E02F67C3E00?p=AWNB

The story: Mayor Bob Buckhorn themed his annual state of the city report on the phrase “We built this,” but recently said the city has challenges ahead to address from climate change-driven flooding and the need for better transit. By emphasizing diversity and local culture, the city of Tampa has attracted some well-known companies, which leads to increased employment and an increased presence of talent. Mayor Buckhorn stated that “The Tampa renaissance is real.” Investment capital into urban core projects is now or soon will be utilized. While Tampa is successful in those aspects, the city faces many of the same problems as other large cities. He mentioned the acknowledgement of violent crime and the issues of mass transit.

The problem: Like other large cities, as Tampa grows, there is also a presence of violent crimes and transportation issues.

Who has the problem: Some residents of Tampa face this problem in some way or another. For example, most who take public transportation would probably agree with the issues on mass transit.

TBX protesters walk in the shadow of I-275 and on neighborhood streets.

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15C79F1284B951F0?p=AWNB

The story: 75 protesters gathered for an afternoon march to protest the Tampa Bay Express highway expansion. Most of them don’t have homes or businesses that could be swept away by the expansion. But, they don’t view TBX as a solution for the city or as a way to fight off traffic congestion. Instead, they would rather see billions in funding go toward a transit system. Florida Department of Transportation officials say TBX will reduce travel time and offer congestion-free and reliable trips. Some protesters wore white masks over their mouths to draw attention to Hillsborough county’s air quality, which they said is poor from the area’s excessive reliance on automobiles. One protester believes that the TBX will only encourage urban sprawl.

The problem: TBX protesters state that the superhighway will worsen air quality in Hillsborough County, encourage urban sprawl, and could decrease investments in transit systems.

Who has the problem: The TBX protesters and the owners of the 140 homes and 30 businesses that the Department of Transportation will be required to buy in order to make way for the highway expansion, which is about five years off depending on how soon the department gets the money it needs in financing.

Bug List

What are some things that "bug" me? Throughout the course of a few days, I took note of some aspects of daily life that I found to bother me. Some are reasonable, some are frivolous.

1. The bus-tracking app is sometimes inaccurate; the inaccuracy of a bus’s arrival time could mean the difference between being late for a meeting or a class.

Why? Inaccurate tracking and timing in the app could be due to a programming error. This programming error could be improved through a software update.

2. I can only park far away from certain buildings on campus because I can only buy the Park & Ride decal.

Why? Undergraduate students living off-campus are only eligible for Park & Ride decals. I wouldn’t mind that aspect, but sometimes the bus tracking unreliable. Refer to #1.

3. When the stovetop indicates that there is a hot burner but isn’t specific about which one. As someone who sometimes uses different burners when cooking a dish from scratch, this can be a little confusing.

Why? This probably was just a design aspect. Why? The company probably thought a more specific indicator would increase the cost, thus not choosing to include it in the design in order to keep the price low enough for customers.

4. When I’m using UF Wi-Fi to work on an assignment, then it suddenly disconnects.
Why? This could be a technical issue. It is sometimes quickly resolved by resetting the Wi-Fi adapter, however that’s only an occasional solution. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

5. When somebody cuts me off without using their signal when I’m driving.

Why? Either they’re in a rush to get to their destination or they’re just inconsiderate.

6. When I’m watching a lecture online and my laptop’s fan suddenly goes into high power and the CPU processor utilization goes to 100% then drops to normal levels.
Why? This could be a technical issue, but I figured that a laptop from a top company like Microsoft should have a simple fix for this. I haven’t found a solution for this yet.

7. When I have to repeat something to someone when I’m talking to them one-on-one.

Why? That person was probably focused on something else that they deem more important. This one does not bug me as much as the other items on the list.

8. When I am caught walking behind a group of people who occupy the whole width of the sidewalk.

Why? The people in the group are probably caught up in their conversation to notice anyone walking behind them. I also don’t want to seem awkward and interrupt their conversation.

9. Receiving Facebook notifications to play some random mobile game.

Why? The notifications are probably automated by the game’s app. Otherwise, people wouldn’t choose to invite as many Facebook friends to play some Facebook game.

10. When students are not able to choose which charge to pay online. Rather, any online payment is allocated towards the oldest charge.

Why? Someone who designed the system thought it would be simple for students and would reduce potential late payments.

11. When people leave their keyboard sounds on their phones in a quiet environment.

Why? People who do this probably don’t mind the keyboard sounds therefore don’t consider what other people in the room think of it.

12. Trying to avoid driving over potholes on a busy road.

Why? Potholes are caused by water weakening the soil beneath the road pavement. I try to avoid driving over them to prevent wear and tear on my vehicle.

13. When the end of an iPhone charger cord gets easily damaged.

Why? The material used to coat the wire isn’t very durable to bending.

14. When the audio for some TV commercials is noticeably louder than the shows being watched.

Why? Either, the show’s audio is lower than normal or the advertisement believes that louder audio grabs the audience’s attention. To do the latter, the advertiser could process the audio to make every part of it as loud as possible within FCC legal limits.

15. A lack of reasonably placed speed limit signs on an unfamiliar road.

Why? Drivers who are more familiar with the road already know what the implied speed limit is. However, someone who’s unfamiliar with the speed limit is just left to guess until they find a sign or could risk getting a speeding ticket.

16. When a public restroom is out of paper towels and I just washed my hands.

Why? This one can be explained simply by many people using the bathroom within the intervals of whenever the paper towels get replaced by new ones.

17. When pens used to write on a receipt at a restaurant are out of ink.

Why? The restaurant staff probably do not consider ink in the pens to be of the high priority. That’s understandable, but sometimes it’s awkward writing on a receipt with a dry pen.

18. When the wind in a storm is able to bend an umbrella I’m using.

Why? The design and / or material of the umbrella is not durable to certain wind speeds.

19. When a shoelace becomes untied while walking on a busy sidewalk.

Why? This could either be a design flaw of the shoelace or me not tying a decent knot at the time. If it’s the latter, this could be solved by simply taking more time to tie the knot and actually making sure it’s durable.

20. A few times, my laptop randomly decides to restart install new updates when I turn it on.

Why? This could either be a technical problem or my laptop’s software was purposely designed to do randomly install new updates when I turn it on.

As I began compiling the list, I found it easy to record a few technical difficulties that bothered me on occasion. Once those were completed, I definitely encountered “writer’s block”. I eventually came up with more things that bothered me, but while I was writing them, I thought to myself, “Is it reasonable to complain about such a thing?” It was certainly more difficult to find different items to add to the list towards the end. Since I found it difficult to record new items after recording the “technical difficulties” on my list, I suppose that I base most of my perspectives on potential improvement for technology, rather than applying that perspective to other aspects of daily life.

Test Post

I was already familiar with Blogger so I kind of went ahead and posted "My Entrepreneurship Story" before making a test post. But anyways, here it is.

My Entrepreneurship Story

I forgot the name of the shop, but trust me, it was a weird and probably poorly thought-out one from the minds of an 8 year-old and a 7 year-old.

Those little kids who devised a pretend "shop" with some weird name were me and my older sister. When my older sister and I, now 20 years old and (almost) 19 years old respectively, were bored one day and our aunt was visiting, we devised an idea to present a shop of random candies and other unattended random items we found around the house. In a light-hearted manner, our aunt played along with it and gave us each a $2 bill for a single mini Hershey's bar we found in the pantry. I kept track of inventory on a piece of copy paper while my sister organized the display of a "wide variety" of items on sale. Watch out, Wal-Mart.

Looking back on it, the act of collecting random items and pretending to have an actual customer base was really silly. But there was some determination involved. Determination to build an inventory, to set a display, to find (or in our case, imagine) a customer base. While it seems like some frivolous game from today's perspective, back then, it was my first exposure to the elementary understanding of entrepreneurship.

Most of my exposure to entrepreneurship has been through reading and watching different stories about entrepreneurs.
Recently, I've been watching a series online called Bloomberg Game Changers that provides a biographical account of various entrepreneurs and other leaders in different industries, from tech to comedy to hip-hop. The encouragement and sense of drive I get when listening to and watching these leaders' stories is particularly helpful when I find myself trying to deal with my own personal failures. Two of my favorite episodes are the ones that cover Steve Jobs and J.K. Rowling. I find their stories of early struggles for success to be inspiring. I also find Steve's basic goal to change the world and to not only be successful, but leave a legacy to be motivational. Because of that, I want to look for more in a career besides a starting salary. I aspire towards something that aligns with my interests and is purpose-driven.