Reading Reflection

Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson

The most interesting thing I learned about Steve Jobs is that he had an interest in Zen Buddhism. We all know Steve Jobs for his technological accomplishments, but we don't know much about his personal life. I admire that Jobs was fully invested in his products from the idea to the final product. The biography talks about how Jobs was picky about every color, screw and detail of every product.

The reading talks about how Jobs was mean to people sometimes because of his perfectionism. This is something I would not have expected from Jobs, but this investment is what made his products good and make his employees work so hard. It is obvious that Jobs respects hard work and those who are committed to their ideas and skills.

Buyer Behavior

Pick a segment: For this, I chose to split my idea into a few segments. The one I want to focus on for this is the technological segment of my idea. What I mean by this is the speed of the app, the user friendliness of the app and much more. One thing I hate when I use an app is when it is slow or hard to use. This segment will allow me to see how well the technology itself is working for the company.

After interviewing three people I found a lot of similarities in where they may need the product. They all said when they go out to bars and clubs and don’t want to wait in lines. When asked about if they ever tried to find a solution, 2 of the 3 said yes. They both searched for products online, but what they had in mind never popped up. Google only gave them phone numbers of the places to call and ask. The three people agreed that this opportunity existed and wanted to learn more. I was also interested to know how fast the consumers of this product would expect the service to be. They all agreed that it should be as fast as possible because when you are out, you have to move quick or you’ll lose your friends and get lost.

Napkin

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. My name is Edson Abadia and I am a second year political science major, soccer coach, uncle, brother, and entrepreneur. MY aspirations are to become a lawyer one day, but for now, I am here developing this opportunity. I hope this idea is something that can take off one day. Maybe I won't be the one to do it, but I think it is something that we need in this world. If I were to start this, I think I would have to focus on this solely which I am not ready for.

2) What are you offering to customers? I am offering an app that will let consumers know how long lines are at bars, how much cover is, any drink specials and much more. Eventually, I'd like for this app to be able to have a link with something like apple pay where you can pay the bars straight from the app and pay cover before hand. I would also like something arranged with Uber where rides can be directly ordered from the app and even planned out. I would also like for drivers license to be able to be uploaded to the app so that no body has to carry a wallet when they go out anymore.

3) Who are you offering it to? This product would be more towards college students because they are the ones who go out often and there is usually a centralized "strip" of bars where they go out. Older individuals, although they go out, do not go to bars and clubs as much where there would be cover and lines. 

4) Why do they care? Consumers will pay for this because nobody likes to wait in lines, not know how much cover is, or buy a drink when there are drink specials you don't know about.

5) What are your core competencies? WI think I will be able to execute this idea because I have run ab business before and my role in my job requires a lot of management skills. I see pass just the basic ideas and understand the complexity that is behind each and every point of an idea. 

I believe that my idea in it's most simplest form is its strongest. Dealing with just the lines, cover, and deals. When you begin to add U

ber, apple pay, licenses and much more, there are a lot of gray areas that I do not know. I do not know the market for something like that, and even if I did, I do not think I have the time, expertise or motive to take this app to the next level. In other words, I would start the business with its basic level and then sell out to someone who then has all the materials and expertise it takes to take this app to the next level.

Testing - 9A

Again, I'd like you to conduct five interviews. I'd like you to find people who, all else considered, should have the unmet need you have identified, but, for whatever reason, do not. These people will not be the same 5 people from Part 1. I'd like you to try to draw conclusions based on:

Person 1: 20 year old male

A 20 year old male is the ideal person for this unmet opportunity, but this individual did not feel the opportunity was there. He felt that no mater what people are going to bring a wallet of their ID's and cards. This made me think, maybe this is a bigger opportunity for females, but males would still benefit.

Person 2: 45 year old female

This individual is a mom who rarely goes out. I picked her because I figured moms do not go out as much as college kids, and I was right. She said that she would not need this app because when she goes out it is to restaurants and is never getting too crazy where she would lose her wallet. She also shared that she does not get ID'd so she doesn't feel the necessity to always have access to her ID like on an app.

Person 3: 23 year old female

This female is a law student, and therefore said she does not go out as much as she use to in undergrad. She felt that the opportunity is there, but not for someone like her. She also said she does not drink so when she goes out she does not run into the problem of losing her wallet or anything. 

Person 4: 70 year old female

This individual is a grandmother and said she no longer goes out. IF she goes out it is maybe a drink at a restaurant but rarely. Restaurants are not the ideal business for this opportunity, it is mainly clubs and bars with college students. This means the opportunity is not there for people of all ages, just a target audience

Person 5: 18 year old male

This individual is under the age of 21 and is therefore not old enough to drink. If an app was invented to fill this opportunity, fake ID's would not work. This 18 year old likes to go out and drink and such an app would not make that possible. Therefore the app to fill this opportunity may not be for individuals under the drinking age trying to sell that they are over the age of 21.

Who: The target audience of this opportunity seems to be targeted more towards a specific audience such as 18-25 year olds. The population under 21 has to be a group that does not care to go under age and the population over 21 has to be one that goes out a lot and feels they lose their things when they go out.

What: This opportunity differs from incentives to go out and is more an assistance to make going out easier for the consumer and more enjoyable. This is not an opportunity to make ore people go out, but instead to make those people that go out safer.

Why: The needs of the people who do not see this opportunity is just simply not there. This opportunity is for people who go out a lot. If you do not go out a lot, you probably would not need this. You may have it so when you do go out you can check line size, wait time, and much more, but it is not the same as if you go out every night.

Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
College students 18-25	Adults over the age of 25 seem to be out.
The need is to help make going out more fun, easier, and better planned.	They are not interested in lines and cover because they do not go out often
This exist because lines, cover, popularity, and much more is unknown	When we go out we hate waiting and then finding out that it cost a lot more money than we want to spend

Goat Parties - 18A

1) My selected opportunity has to do with people going out to mid town and losing their wallets or forcing all the guys to carry everything. Party like a goat and forget having to worry about where your wallet, money, credit card, and ID are.

2) The first solution to this problem I came up with is an app. This app would have your driver's license (approved and certified), a scan way to pay for cover and drinks (possibly even paying cover before you arrive), a way to show how long the wait is at places and how busy it is, and much more.

The second solution takes advantage of one part of this opportunity, the cash. When we go out, we often have to go get cash out before we go to the bars or clubs. This is just annoying. So a solution is a group that sits around mid and downtown that has cash and when you need cover you just venmo or cashapp the company and they give you cash. 

Economic/Regulatory Opportunities

1) Economic Trends - 

Steep Gas Prices on the South Fork Draw More Than a Shock 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/30gasli.html

Pinning Down the Money Value of a Person’s Life

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/11/business/businessspecial3/11life.html

Regulatory Changes - 

Washington D.C. Marijuana Information

https://kushtourism.com/washington-dc-marijuana-information/

Penalty Inflation Adjustments for Civil Monetary Penalties

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/01/12/2018-00487/penalty-inflation-adjustments-for-civil-monetary-penalties

2) List each opportunity, one at at time. 

1. I found the first opportunity while browsing the New York Times and is something I have actually thought about quite often. There is a huge opportunity in the energy business and in this case the gas industry. Gas prices, although recently stabilized, often go through periods of high prices. When these prices are high, there is an opportunity for someone to figure out how to offer a lower gas price or stop the gas prices from rising. This opportunity is for everyone because we all use gas. Personally, I drive out of town 3 or 4 times a week and cheaper and a consistent price of gas would be very helpful.
2. This next opportunity is valuing someone’s life. We all are guilty of looking up how much Kim Kardashian or Nick Jonas is worth, but do we know how much we are worth. The opportunity is for adults for the most part, but personally I would enjoy knowing how much I am worth. This information can be value when assessing what happens when you die, decisions made, and much more. I also found this opportunity while reading the New York Times.
3. It is no secret that weed is making the news everywhere recently. Besides the fact that this is a multi-billion dollari industry and opportunities are flying up everywhere, this specific opportunity would benefit weed smokers in Washington D.C.. In D.C. you can buy two ounces of weed at once, but you can’t sell it, smoke it on federal land, only grow 6 plants, and many more regulations. D.C. is a place for tourism and tourist do not know this information. The opportunity here is finding a way to share these regulations with tourist easily so they do not get in trouble and enjoy their weed experience in D.C..
4. This last opportunity is one for people who receive social security benefits. This article talks about how the civil monetary penalties is changing. The opportunity is helping, educating and assisting those who receive social security benefits. People who receive social security often do not have another source of income. In order to help people who receive social security, they can be told what they are entitled to through social security and how to properly save this money with the changing regulations and such.

3)  I saw a majority of these opportunities and looked at the max educational opportunities. I am a soccer coach and both my parents are teachers. I have been and still am surrounded by education. In this cases, it seems that things are changing and people aren’t being probably educated about the changes. I also chose the value of someone’s life opportunity because I am always looking up how much people are worth, but have no idea how that information is found or how I can find out how much I am worth. It would be fun to be able to calculate that on your own.