Venture Concept No. 1

The WiFi network on the University of Florida campus is often unreliable and restrictive. In our world where the internet is increasingly necessary, it makes it difficult and frustrating for students to complete assignments or do many other tasks. These students and faculty that are affected would be benefited from a more reliable system, that could substitute the current networking solution. The user group would be concentrated to people who work at or live on the University of Florida campus. Currently customers rely on the existing WiFi network or using a data plan. As was mentioned before, the existing solution is causing this problem, while the data plan has a speed limit and cost users money. Similar conditions may exist at other college campuses or neighborhoods, in which this venture could expand too. The window to enter exist as long as the current system is frustrating customers and no other free options present themselves.

This ideas's innovation comes more from technological advances rather than business ideas. The network that would be implemented would take advantage of mesh networking. This means that a devices using the service would also help propagate it. Doing this not only expands the range of the network, but also adds levels of reliability. Several nodes would be placed in or around campus that would help provide a foundation for a strong and fast connection. Each device would have some additional software to help create the connection and keep it secure. The service would be accessible for no charge to anyone in the area. It would create revenue by showing non invasive ads on startup and periodically throughout the connection. Unfortunately, because ad prices vary vastly based on view count, niche, and time of year, I can't find a good measure for how much would be charged for the ad placements. However, without invasive collecting personal information, we would know that the majority of users are students at the University of Florida. Being able to pinpoint this specific of  a profile would make advertising very valuable for local businesses.

People would be motivated to switch to this service, because it is more reliable than the existing one, while staying free for them. To switch, all it would take would be to download the additional software and install it on their device. Competitors would be the Universities existing network, as well as data plan for cellular providers. The problems with the existing network have already been stated. Data plans do offer a more versatile internet connection, but at the cost of being expensive and usually slower than a local wireless connection. The price point and low switching cost make it convenient for customers to try the network and see how it is for them. Many people may find it appealing to use the network, because it is coming from a UF student and would be a local business. Customer experience will also play a vital role, as the user base is relatively close knit and positive or negative experiences with it will quickly be shared with much of the group. The business would require one or two additional developers to help create the system as well as maintain it's speed and security. A financial adviser and marketer would also be useful in getting the venture going.

The most valuable resource would probably be being the first to market. This would allows the company to capture a large user base, and if the quality of the service is good, maintain that user base while expanding to other areas.

After rolling out to the University of Florida, the next step would be to expand to other campuses and neighborhoods. An option to pay to not display ads may also be implemented to appeal to people who don't like the ads, but also want the more reliable network.

In five years, I would want to see the venture expanded to many different areas. Helping to provide a better internet connection for less to people who need it. I personally, would probably want to move to another idea once this one was doing well and placed in responsible hands. This first venture would be stepping stones for me to improve people's lives, which is the main driving force behind my entrepreneurial goals.

Week 11 Reading Reflection

I had not considered business innovation as being on the same level of technological innovation. I now completely agree that it is an important factor, and probably plays a more important role for the company than new technology. A falling company could turn things around by reorienting their efforts, with the same sort of expertise and products.

I feel this article made a good amount of sense and didn't find anything confusing.

What would the author think, is the best way to determine what sort of innovation to focus on? If you have company history you can look back at that and see what you've already done, but being a new company, it seems more difficult. To me, it seems many technology oriented firms, would benefit from both iterative and new innovation, so what would be a good strategy to divide those resources?

The article mentions several times how innovative Apple is. Though there is no denying Apple has been successful, I personally feel that, with the exception of the iPhone, they haven't done anything revolutionary with technology. There were existing tablets, smartwatches, and payment services before Apple introduced their own. The difference, was that Apple has marketed their way into becoming a sort of "poster child" for innovation, and many people see them doing that.

Amazon Whisperer

My venture idea is to implement a mesh WiFI network on the UF campus. It would provide a more reliable and less restricted internet connection then the existing system.

The revenue drivers from my business would be largely based on selling advertising. This would be more valuable then regular blanket advertising, because the service's coverage area would be the University. Therefore without having to be invasive, advertisers would know a lot of information about the users.

The next thing the venture could do is expand it's coverage to other Universities or neighborhoods. Expanding the user base as well as building relations with other business to advertise with. Another option, could be to offer a paid tier where users don't see advertisements. This would improve the user experience. Considering most the initial users will be college students, many probably would rather opt for the free version.

My idea is more of a service then a physical product, but I found a T-Mobile Hotspot that could solve a similar problem. The Hotspot creates a wireless network for phones and laptops to access. It requires a T-Mobile data plan and sim card to operate.

The main issues are people wanting to use different types of data plans compared to the one that T-Mobile supports out of the box. Also some people reported T-Mobile is phasing support for the product out, but not informing users till after they bought the product.

Users did like how easy it was to get running if you used the suggested plan, as well as the ease it is to access the internet on the go.

I would change the design to work on multiple carriers bands, as well as support more types of data plans. In addition, I would also add an extend battery pack to allow charging for other devices from the Hotspot.

As I said before, this wouldn't be something my venture would sell, but a form of competition. The Hotspot means the user could get internet connection in most areas, however that connection is less reliable, slower, and cost more than my solution would.

My Unfair Advantage

1. Being a student here, I have a "hometown" advantage, and will appear more appealing to UF students.

• Valuable: Yes
• Rare: Somewhat 
• Inimitable: Yes
• Non-substitutable: Yes

2. I am not aware of any business doing something like this in America, which gives a brief period of no competition if it was started soon.

• Valuable: Yes
• Rare: Yes
• Inimitable: Yes 
• Non-substitutable: Yes

3. One of the personal human capital I mentioned before, was that I am passionately analytic. What I means is I am very good at diving in depth into a topic that I care about and learning all I can.

• Valuable: Yes
• Rare: Somewhat 
• Inimitable: Yes
• Non-substitutable: No

4. Professors are available for me to ask questions and grow my network.

• Valuable: Yes
• Rare: No 
• Inimitable: No
• Non-substitutable: No

5. Majoring in computer engineering, I do have programming skills and knowledge that can help start the business.

• Valuable: Yes
• Rare: No 
• Inimitable: No
• Non-substitutable: No

6. Students are willing to work on projects for little or no pay in exchange for experience or future careers.

• Valuable: Somewhat
• Rare: No 
• Inimitable: No
• Non-substitutable: No

7. I have devices to develop and test the network on.

• Valuable: Somewhat
• Rare: No 
• Inimitable: No
• Non-substitutable: No

8. There is some time that I can mess up and not be hurt. I am very fortunate that most my tuition and living expenses are covered with scholarships, so I currently don't rely on a paycheck to get by.

• Valuable: Yes
• Rare: Somewhat 
• Inimitable: Somewhat
• Non-substitutable: No

9. Another of my personal human capital is my leadership experience. For example, recently I was able to start a club that is currently growing and completing its goals.

• Valuable: Yes
• Rare: Somewhat 
• Inimitable: No
• Non-substitutable: Yes

10. This system does have a very dangerous possibility of endangering peoples privacy. I feel that I have the ethics to maintain that privacy, and would be able to find people to work with that would share those beliefs

• Valuable: Yes
• Rare: Possibly? 
• Inimitable: No
• Non-substitutable: Yes

My most valuable resource, according to the VRIN analysis would probably be being the first to market. I realize that this list doesn't put this venture in the best of light. With the help of being the first though, other factors are less important as long as the quality of the product was high and expansion was done appropriately. 

Week 10 Reading Reflection

I was surprised to learn about building and equipment depreciation. I knew their value does degrade over time, but I didn't expect it to follow a formula that the IRS sets out.

I still don't understand how if you are a new firm, or doing a totally new project, how would you possibly be able to estimate future cost or revenue accurately. Which many of these budgeting plans use to some degree.

How often is an accountant used in a small business, compared to doing it yourself? This passage also seems to be focused on the big picture, what about figuring out day to day expenses, which I feel would also be important to know.

I kinda feel a bit over my head with this material. I do feel confident in my mathematical ability, but being able to interpret the information correctly seems difficult. Hopefully after taking the financial accounting course this feeling will be different.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

1. Pitch 

2. Feedback Most the feedback form my previous pitch was positive, with only minor tweaks. They liked the content and the flow, with the exception of my conclusion. I also wore a Star Wars shirt that some people appreciated, but suggested I switch to some more professional attire. They also asked that I explain a little more about the advertisements.

3. Changed I changed my shirt and modified the end of my speech to add a better end and a little more info.

My Secret Sauce

1. Describe in five ways which my human capital is unique.

My time management and organization skills are big assets in my daily life. Beyond my engineering classwork, I am an officer for two different clubs (one that I founded), all of which requires a large amount of time. I plan my schedule factoring in spontaneous meet ups with friends and other unforeseen events, giving me time to complete everything I need.

When I become interested in something, I can spend large portions of my free time just learning about it. This quality of being passionately analytical, means that strive to know as much as I can about every aspect of something. How it works, why it's designed this way, etc. Which can lead to a better understanding of other things as well.

There are not many things that I can just pick up without much effort. This means I've developed a very good work ethic over time. If I want to do well on a class or give a good presentation, I know how hard I need to strive to accomplish the task.

If I feel that myself or someone near me is doing something wrong, I stop it. Though this can cause issues with certain people, overall I think it has a positive impact with myself and the people around me. Adherence to my personal ethics mean that I try to be  the best person I can to make other people's lives better, which I feel is an important endeavor.

Finally, I believe that I have a good leadership style. Most of it was developed during my years of Boy Scouts, where I served several terms in charge of the whole troop as well as worked my way towards Eagle Scout. This is continued today where I am a leader in my student organizations. As a leader, I feel my duty it to raise other people to their potential. It's about getting others to want to accomplish a goal, often by being the example others look towards.

2. Interview five people

My friend thought being analytical was a very strong trait I possess. I tend to dive into things ("nerd stuff" as she calls it) and try to understand everything I can about it.

My mom said I has a strong moral compass, as well as a drive to get stuff done. Particularly breaking a project into parts to make it more manageable. 

My dad also commented on my adherence to rules, though it can be a hindrance at times. Like my mom, he mentioned I do try to work ahead intelligently. He also commented on me diving into things I'm enthusiastic about to understand them, better.

This friend mentioned that I tend to focus more on work and getting it done compared to many others. He also said (alluding to my "obsession" with Star Wars), that I do tend to learn a lot about what interest me. 

They also mention that I tend to have a good work ethic. And like the others before, that I do get visibly passionate about things that interest me. 

3. Reflection

Based of these responses I do think people have similar thought about me. Particularly about being passionate about things (like Star Wars). I agree with what everyone said, even when certain traits, such as being a rule follower, can be bad. I don't think I would change much about my original list except maybe reordering them to more accurately reflect the most common traits people mentioned.

Week 9 Reading Reflection

I was surprised there was a whole section on Internet. I agree that it can be a powerful tool, but didn't think I would see a textbook describe the benefits at any length.

I thought it was kind of confusing that buyers associate premium stuff with evenly priced goods, and common goods with odd prices. Just a somewhat weird physiological thing people have.

I would want to ask the author when it is good to do market research? They discus what types of marketing to do, but not when they are useful. Not marketing per say, I would also want to ask about doing internal research to see employee happiness or efficiency.

There was nothing I saw that I disagreed with, just things I thought could of been fleshed out more. I suppose it's really up to a marketing professional to know a lot of the specifics, but it's always nice to know.

Idea Napkin No. 2

1. You. I am studying computer engineering right now. I have experience working on several programming teams and have started my own programming oriented club. Implementing this concept would take a considerable amount of time considering the number of devices it would need to support. After getting it working I would need to focus on popularizing it on different college campuses and other areas with poor WiFi.

2. What are you offering to customers? I would be offering a free secure wireless network for anyone to use without restrictions.

3. Who are you offering it to? The primary demographic would be UF students who are frustrated with the wireless network available. However, the technology could be implemented anywhere were people don't have access to an unrestricted wireless network.

4. Why do they care? Customers would want to use this service because they are frustrated with existing networks not allowing certain programs or websites. Or because they don't have access to a wireless network. Because there would be no cost to the users, customers don't lose anything for trying the service.

5. What are your competencies? Some of the software would be hard to develop so that would add a time barrier for other companies to come in. The other way would be to popularize the network as much as possible, and use brand recognition to keep out competitors. Being a student here may also give me a "hometown" advantage, meaning other students are more likely to support someone here rather than an outside company.

I feel for the most part, that these elements could work together. The weakest link would probably be me. Though I understand on a relatively basic level, how something like this would operate, actually implementing it would be a big challenge, and would require some additional help.

Feedback Memo: The main concerns people mentioned were: Security, how intrusive the ads would be, reliability, set up process, and privacy. Security and privacy would have to be considered in all steps of the design process in order for both to be truly achieved. The ads would take some playing around with to find the best place and time to display them. They would be more valuable from an advertiser perspective, because they would know everyone on the network would be at UF, and could serve more local and/or targeted ads effectively without having to track the users. The reliability and setup process would also need some extensive testing to make sure both were smooth for a wide variety of devices and users.