Week 6 reading reflection

1)    What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

a.    What stood out to me the most was how significant buyer power is.  Before reading this article, I was not aware of how much of an impact even a few buyers had on a business.

2)    Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

a.    There was not one part in general that confused me, is the threat of substitution topic.  While I understand how it is a potential threat, it confuses me as to why I would be such a big threat considering that if the product was unique that people would still like to purchase it.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

The first question I would ask the author is how he decided that these 5 tools were the most important to understand where power lies in a business situation.

The second question I would ask him is how long did it take before his article went viral in the business world.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

There is nothing I read that I thought the author was wrong about.

Napkin Idea No.1

1. I'm a business administration major here at the University of florida. I'm also a member of the Innovation Academy, which has given me many useful skills and knowledge I can take into the business world. Personally, I hope to run my own medical practice sometime in the future. This idea could potentially give me a start into owning my own business and give me the experience I need to be a successful entrepreneur.

2. I'm offering customers an easy way to get headphone at the gym for an affordable price.

3. Currently I'm offering this product to gym goers. The headphones will be in a vending machine so that if for some reason you don't have your headphones with you or you simply don't want to waste your good headphones at the gym, you have an alternative. If you go to the gym and listen to music, your part of the demographic.

4. Countless times, people have been at the gym with the miserable reality of having nothing to listen too, or worse have to listen to the horrific music the gym plays. It's proven that music is an excellent motivator at the gym, without headphone you lack the proper motivation to get a good workout.

5. There isn't any existing market similar to this in America, hopefully I can take advantage of that and doing something no one else has. Best buy has done something similar in airports and it seems to be working well for them.

I think all the factors above plus my customer interviews prove that this is a viable business model. One thing I am concerned about is repeat business. For example, how many times will someone forget their headphones and buy new ones before they always remember headphones. Also, headphones are normally a product you by once and don't buy again until you need new ones. I need to find out if there is a consistent enough use of this vending machine to make it economical.

Interviewing Customers no. 2

After my first round of interviews I think my opportunity is pretty high. I believe I talked to the right customers, as I interviewed college kids who went to the gym. I did not really think I needed to change any of my interview questions, because I received great feedback from my last round.  I learned that I still had a pretty good opportunity after doing this second round of interviews.  What I learned from this round of interviews is that you can learn a lot about your product just from talking to strangers.

Week 5 Reading Reflection

Something that surprised me in this chapter is that many entrepreneurs lack objectivity. This surprised me because I thought objectivity was a characteristic of entrepreneurship.

What was confusing to me is the section about lack of Venture Uniqueness.  I was confused as to how this a trait of entrepreneurs as I thought this is what made them successful.

If I were to ask the author two questions, they would probably be why do entrepreneurs have poor financial understanding, and why do they have so many pitfalls in general.

 I do not disagree with anything the author wrote.

Week 5 Elevator Pitch 1

How many times have you showed up the gym ready to pump some iron to your favorite tunes, only to realize you left your headphones at home? Instead of dragging yourself through a mundane workout, how great would it be if there was a solution to this? A simple low cost way to still listen to your classic jams during your lift? Well we have the solution right here.  The headphone vending machine is a cheap and convenient way to still enjoy your work out.

Week 4 Reading Reflection

The thing that surprised to me the most in this chapter was the story in incongruities.  What surprised me is how Fred smith was the first person to ever come up with the idea of over night delivery, and how the government had never thought of this.

One thing confusing to me was the incubation process. I did not really understand this concept in its entirety and would it need it explained to me further.
A question I would ask the author is what his favorite concept of identifying opportunities is.  There are plenty of these concepts and knowing which one the author thinks works the best would be interesting.

There is nothing I disagree with in my readings.

Customers Interviews No. 1

An opportunity I saw was how frequently people forget headphones at the gym.  Working out without music is a pretty mundane task for most, so I came up with the idea of putting vending machines containing disposable headphones inside gym's for those working out to purchase if they forget their headphones, or wish not to use there nice headphones while they workout.  I went around my apartment complex and knocked on the doors of 3 different rooms, and interviewed a few random tenants about the potential of this product.

What I learned about this opportunity is that it has the potential to actually be an implementable service for a product that people prefer to have when they are at the gym.  No one really likes working out without music and would be willing to throw a couple of dollars to avoid the dullness of working out in silence.


What I learned about interviewing customers is that it can be a tad awkward at first.  It is especially awkward interviewing strangers, and possibly interrupting their leisure time. However a found that it is a great way to get genuine feedback and a product or idea.