20A – Growing Your Social Capital

Since my idea revolves around tutoring people to make them more familiar with technology, I have made contact with the following people to build my idea:

• I've made contact with a professor who currently teaches at a college campus. He would be the domain expert since he has experience in the methods of teaching to students. This professor was relatively easy to contact because I was a student in one of his classes and found that he teaches material very well. I believe this connection will help me develop some teaching skills that will prove to be useful when I or other tutors teach.
• The second contact I've made was with a human resource recruiter for the Synovus Bank. I've met this person before for other purposes and found that her expertise in HR will prove beneficial to my idea, thus making her a supplier to my teaching industry. Since my idea requires tutors and the recruitment of them, understanding how to hire and manage teams effectively is an important aspect to consider when starting this industry.
• The third person I contacted is an expert in the market. Since my industry has an emphasis on senior adults, I've contacted a representative of a senior retirement community. With this connection, I hope I can learn ways of better understanding where the majority of my customers. Perhaps he can bridge my services I am offering to his represented community as well as promote my idea to the community.

After attempting three contacts, I found that it was overall not too difficult. The only thing I found most difficult was trying to search for contacts who had expertise in an area. As my example demonstrates, it was helpful to make contact with people I have already met. It proves helpful to know people who you may contact again in the future. 

Second Shot at Idea Napkin No. 2

1. I am currently a Vietnamese first-generation student at UF. My parents and grandparents all originated from Vietnam as immigrants. Being the generation to live and grow in America, I am commonly explaining or translating concepts or terms in America that are unfamiliar in Vietnam. As Vietnam is considered a developing country, my parents ask me to one day give back to Vietnam for the opportunities I get in the U.S that otherwise would not exist in Vietnam.
2. I am offering teaching services regarding technological literacy through in-person tutoring.
3. I am offering this service to individuals who wish to better their life by making tasks more convenient through the use of technology. 
4. Customers would care as simply knowing that a faster way to complete something exists is appealing. Some want to minimize inconvenience in their lives. 
5. Translation is one of my core competencies. I do not mean from one language to another but in the sense of taking complex concepts or ideas (relatively to the client) and simplifying it so they can understand. This especially important when trying to teach people terms or functions relating to technology. 

My feedbacks for the first napkin were all positive. I did not realize that the napkin assignments wanted us to type out the elements. I, instead, actually wrote and drew my ideas on a "napkin". In this second napkin, I provided more information about the uniqueness of my idea as well as how my story influenced this idea. This story ties into a teaching service to help those who desire certain knowledge.

18A – Create a Customer Avatar

I have created an avatar using "mybluerobot.com" to get a better visualization of my prototypical customers. My avatar is a senior woman perhaps in her 60s or 70s. She lives with her husband and is a grandparent. Relatives usually come over to visit them during the holidays and religious obligations. Since she is inept with technology, her recreational time revolves around physical hobbies. She enjoys growing her own garden and cooking for her children and relatives. Occasionally, she may choose to visit her community neighbors to gift them a plate. Book and novel reading is also a method for her to spend her time relaxing throughout the day. However, there are some occasions when she must access technology to meet her needs and wants. These include playing the radio and music, paying bills, communications, and searching for answers.

After forming my avatar's story, there is no doubt that her story is influenced by me. However, I do think that there are seniors who share a similar lifestyle as I described currently. One of the things I have in common with my avatar is the interest in gardening. Raised from parents who did gardening, I love seeing the progress from growing a sapling to picking fruit or veggie. My parents usually incorporate their crops into the dinner they make a night and I still remember it the quality of it after moving into college. I also do have grandparents who struggle with navigating through technology whenever they use it. Usually, if they resort to technology, it is because the alternative method of doing it in person is either a hassle or unavailable. Like my avatar, I believe that there are seniors who also share this same issue. 

[Picture of my created avatar]

17A – Elevator Pitch No. 2

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGtGfDr_1mg&t=2s
2. Most of my feedback from the last pitch was positive despite me believing that my last pitch needed work. I believe my last pitch did not have enough rehearsal and lacked an organizational structure
3. One of the things I changed in my pitch was the original idea of teaching for the sake of selling. I've now broadened it to teaching technological literacy for the purpose of improving quality of life. Thus, this made me changed both my "hook" and purpose of my teaching service. I also made sure to rehearse more to improve word flow and delivery.

15A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

• For this assignment, I interviewed two UF students and a roommate of mine.
• In the interviews, I start off by figuring out their buying behavior. The first thing I ask is how they determine their choice of purchase given different options. I got a variety of answers from this question. In general, their decision is based on the type of product they buy and how they consider the scale of the purchase. One of the students says that if the product is relatively insignificant, then he would just buy the cheapest option there is. The example he gave was purchasing things like napkins or paper towels. A common answer I found is as the scale of a purchase rises, their willingness to pay more for quality increases. Products and services such as cellphones or tutoring are goods that they would consider paying extra.
• All of my interviewees shop both in-store or online depending on their circumstances. They usually buy atypical goods online or when they feel that they cannot find the item in-store. One thing I shared with my interviewees is that there are significantly more options to choose from when shopping online due to the number of sellers. Unlike online, in-stores only offer options that they currently have in their inventory. This can make online shopping much longer than one thought it would be.
• Concerning post-purchase evaluations, my interviewees are more likely to have this process as their purchases are more important to them. One of the main things they think about is the "bang for the buck". Essentially, they want to ponder whether they truly paid for the value they received. However, they also take into consideration of convenience and other service-related additions when they make these evaluations.
• Overall, I learned that consumers' decisions on choosing a specific option over alternatives may depend on the type of product. The type of product as well as their preferences both influence how they choose cheaper or more expensive alternatives. Additionally, online shopping tends to provide more options than going in-store. 

14A – Halfway Reflection

1. Learning to receive and adapt to criticism is one of the main aspects I’ve learned in this course. Because this class consists of heavy peer-reviewing, you will get both compliments and criticism for your ideas. I would not take them too harshly, but do consider them as your classmates did take the time to write their reviews.
2. It is very easy to give up an idea once you see the number of flaws in it. Whether you realize these flaws yourself or your classmates/professors identify these flaws, it can be hard to find the motivation to keep pursuing your idea. However, what is important is adapting to their reflections, your idea may just become true.
3.
• Stick to your idea. Criticism is not meant to kill your enthusiasm.
• When you commit to an idea, make sure you are indeed passionate about it. Otherwise, you will have a hard time during the assignments.
• Learn to change certain your methods, thinking, or executions. This will better help you develop and achieve your end goal.

13A – Reading Reflection No. 1

1. I’ve selected to read The Wright Brothers by David McCullough. Although these two are well recognized and popular, I have not delved deeply into their background story and life, thus I chose to read this book to better understand them. What surprised me most was how Wilbur became interested in “the art of flight” from a different individual, a German scientist Otto Lilienthal. What I least admire about these entrepreneurs was that they picked up this interest after Lilienthal’s death. It was very interesting to read that Wilbur became interested in aircraft after Lilienthal’s death and wanted to finish his work. However, what I admire most of these brothers is their tenacity. The book cites different passages that discourage the pursuit of flight by man. However, despite these deterrents, the brothers still pursued their goals.

2. Tenacity was a competency demonstrated by the Wright Brothers. I believe they displayed this trait from their commitment to forming aircraft despite criticism.

3. Because Wilbur caught interest in aircrafts when Orville was recovering from Typhoid, I am a little confused as to why Orville also became interested in aircraft.

4.
a. Why did bringing flight among men and women become a dream you had? What caused you to specifically figure this innovation?
b. How did you feel the moment you felt like your dream was being realized?

5. After reading the book, I believe that the brothers most likely think that hard work is effort placed into uncertainty. Even if the effort will result in failure, at least one can learn from all that effort. Although I have a different idea of what constitutes hard work, I do agree that learning from failure is one of the best ways to adapt and shoot for your goals again.

12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

[Reminder: the unmet need- the need to learn technology due to the lack of teachers, usually among older individuals]
I've completed three interviews with individuals who possess this unmet need about their behavior process. I specifically asked about their need awareness and how they tried searching for solutions.

Need Awareness 
All three individuals I interviewed cannot pinpoint an exact time when they realize that they experienced this unmet need. However, they generally believe that their need arose when they realized that they can achieve something with the use of technology, but cannot due to knowledge constraint. One of these interviewees knew that being able to sell online would be easier, but was unsure of how to do so on sites like eBay. The other two interviewees revealed to me that language is a large factor playing into their unmet needs. Because English is their second language, they cannot understand certain terms and phrases that are associated with technology. There is also a general realization of this need when they are required to access technology. One example I can give is when trying to upload or download files, one of the three finds difficulty in trying to locate and send the file to a different location.

Information Search
A common solution my interviewees tried was asking for help from one of their relatives. This is usually through calling a relative. Other solutions they mentioned was trying to learn on their own through online resources, however, they find that it is not easy when they run into variations. Since they are not always able to receive help, one has to bear the inconvenience of doing it in person. One example they provided was providing a file for insurance discounts. However, because they did not know how to operate the scanner function on their printer, they had to hand in the file in-person for the insurance agent to copy themselves.

Based on these three interviews, I find that basing my market on finding people who need to sell online is too narrow. I've learned that there are individuals who could have avoided inconvenience if they possessed the knowledge and experience to do so. Instead, I should broaden my market to reach those who wish to make their life easier through the use of technology.

11A – Idea Napkin No. 1

After completing the five elements, I find that some of the elements are not joint as I had thought. My concept focuses on using technology to sell, however, it is very limited due to how diverse one can use technology for. It can be very hard to find a market for people who want to learn to use the internet to solely sell online. I am considering generalizing the focus by just targetting individuals who face restrictions in learning technology.