Final Reflection

My most formative experience was probably when I was reading about Elon Musk. I loved learning about all of the risks that he took and how he didn’t know until the very last moment that he was going to pull through or not. This is the kind of mindset that you have to have as an entrepreneur. The thought that you are going to do this whether you will be successful or not. It takes a lot of motivation and trial and error and being able to read about it from someone else’s perspective is an amazing learning experience.

At this point in time I do not see myself as an entrepreneur. I am not motivated about the concept that I have brought forward for this semester and it takes a crazy amount of hard work to be a successful entrepreneur. I am not ready to put that work in because I haven’t found something that I am passionate about. I have definitely moved closer to being in that mindset though.

I would make sure that you find a concept that you are really interested in. There is nothing worse than putting in a lot of time for something that doesn’t interest you in the slightest. The decision had to be made early, but it was an important one. So, make sure your idea is solid and something you want to really dive into. 

Venture Concept No. 2

1)      The concept that I have is to provide people with a type of insurance when they travel. There are a lot of times that people get stranded in airports and they have to deal with the consequences themselves in a city they aren’t used to being in and pay for all of it out of pocket. With the ability to pay for an insurance plan that will allow them to protect themselves from that situation, travelers will be able to rest easy.

2)      A lot of the feedback that I have received has come about how I would be presenting my idea to the consumer. I wanted to be leased out by major airlines so my product would be available on checkout for people buying airline tickets. Therefore, I decided to make sure that I don’t simply limit myself to this kind of business model.

3)      Moving forward I want to make sure that I am thinking of innovative ways of bringing my product to consumers.

Your Exit Strategy

1.       My ideal exit for the idea that I have developed this past semester would be to sell it to a major airline. I am not attached to it and ultimately the business would run better being run by a major player in the business. This arm of the business would prove as a diversified arm for their business.

2.       I wanted to do this because I would like to spend my life doing other things than running an insurance company. The money would allow me to do other things that I want to get done with in my life.

3.       I think the fact that I want to sell it has made the concept much simpler. I don’t want to put that much capital into the business because I want to flip it as quick as possible. The lease amount of risk possible is what I am hoping for in the long run.

Celebrating Failure

1.       I have failed quite a few times this semester. There have been a great deal of things that I have applied to and interviewed for but was denied from. They were for leadership positions in the school of business.

2.       I learned that what people think of you is critical in deciding how you will progress in your future career. I am the author of people’s opinion of me and I need to make sure that I am painting a strong enough image that can help me gain the positions that I want in order to be successful.

3.       I allow myself to be down about something for less than a day. Anything more than that is hurtful, and anything less doesn’t give you enough time to be human.  I never want to be the victim either. Blaming my failure on others is not what I want to be doing. It is easy to begin to blame everything else on others and not grow from these experiences.

Reading Reflection No. 3

Steve Jobs

1.       The thing that surprised me most about Steve Jobs was that he created Pixar Animation Studios after he was ousted by the board at Apple.

2.       I admired how even with a lack of direction in his life he was able to do something incredible that was greater than himself. Not everyone is given great opportunities but I believe that you can be anything you want to be if you give enough effort.

3.       I really don’t like arrogant people and Steve Jobs was known for being a huge asshole. I don’t think he needed to be that way in order to be successful. I think he could have been much more influential if people liked him.

4.       Jobs was amazing at pioneering innovation. The design of the things he made was essential in shaping the future of how technology would go on to shape the future.

5.       I am still confused as to how he was able to be kicked out of his position at Apple. He was the creator and figure head.

6.       How did you gain the courage and how did you learn that this was an option that was available for you. These are things that I want to know about me and my passions and hearing someone else talk about it would be beneficial.

7.       Like all motivated people I believe that Jobs would think that hard work was essential for being successful in any facet. There are no amazing things that would have been done without hard work.

What's Next?

Existing Market

1.       The next steps for my venture would potentially be annual packages for people that travel very often. This would help them save money and confirm cash flow for the company in advance.

2.       When talking to the people that I interviewed they mentioned that the next steps for any type of insurance company is to raise a great deal of capital. So I would need to talk to investors and make sure that I have enough money to support claims in the early stages of my process.

3.       To grow in the existing market I will need to make sure that I am constantly doing research. By researching and interviewing with customers I will learn all of the things that are available to improve upon. Without doing this there is very little chance that I can grow the company in its existing market.

New Market

1.       As of now I am targeting everyday people. I could potentially target very affluent customers.

2.       I could offer safe and private flights to people that want privacy. These people could be famous but not wealthy enough to have their own planes. We would allow them to keep to themselves and get to where they need to go.

3.       The people that I interviewed that the main thing that I would have to adapt is people’s opinion on insurance for a one-time flight. I would need to make sure I showcase the benefits that come with a situation like this and how it will help people.  

4.       I learned that people that are more affluent are more willing to pay money for comfort. The scope of my business is providing that comfort to people and I could definitely provide it to this group as well.

Venture Concept No. 1

The opportunity that I am describing pertains to all those travel on major airlines at any point in their lives. There is a huge gap in the customer service that people expect from airlines and other businesses such as restaurants or professional services. The reason this exists is because airlines have a very tight grip on the market that they operate in and despite how they treat travelers sometimes there is little that is going to happen if your experience goes poorly.

Forces changing the environment that this venture would operate in would be the massive area that social media can cover in a short amount of time. People who have unpleasant enough experiences will take to the airwaves in order to voice their discontent with how they were treated by the airline they were traveling with. Whether it be a dog dying or a man being dragged off against his will, people will make sure that the PR of a company is tarnished. So that they can have a nice settlement from the company. With consumers having the potential power to seriously hurt airlines it is critical for airlines to begin stepping up the services they provide for distressed travelers. Airlines are great at being nice when things are going smoothly, but when you miss connections or get massive delays they do nothing to mitigate the damage that is done to people who are extremely far away from home.

The customers in this market are currently not having this need satisfied. The need of the peace of mind that you will be taken care of when you travel. Even if something completely out of your control takes place. People will pay money in order to help them in the future from something they can’t control. This way they feel like they have some kind of control over the situation. This opportunity isn’t a ground breaking discovery that will change the world. It is something that would potentially become an industry norm and be considered necessary when purchasing an airline ticket. A form of insurance that makes sure they get home safely and comfortably when things go wrong. The window of opportunity probably will not be terribly long because it will be difficult to put barriers to entry for competitors.

              The innovation that I have come up with in order to help distressed traveling is an insurance plan that they can purchase before they go on a flight. There might be things that are similar to this offering in the marketplace at the moment, but I want to make it a little different. My competitors currently sell insurance separately and not at the point of sale when people buy their  plane tickets.. For this reason they are missing out on huge revenue sources that I would be gaining.

              By positioning my product in a convenient place for the customer to purchase I can expect my service to be used over others that offer similar plans. If people simply just have to hit a button in order to get the insurance that they won’t be stranded in an airport when they are traveling. In order to make this a reality I would have to be in communication with the airline companies and integrate our payment plans into their payment processing interfaces. I know that airlines will be inclined to do this because my services would take the stress of caring for disgruntled passengers off of their hands. If people had the option to buy the insurance and they didn’t then the airline could avoid all liability for the situation that the person is in. This is a win-win for the airlines and would be the prime location for marketing my services to the target market that would be looking for it.

              I would be selling an insurance bundle plan that would calculate the cost of the plan (per flight) by taking a percentage of the total cost of the roundtrip tickets or how many miles a person is traveling. The farther a person is traveling, or the more expensive their ticket is, the more money you could charge for their plan. A thousand dollar trip could have an insurance cost of $100 because of how far a person must be going if they are paying a thousand dollars to get there.

              My innovation will provide for the opportunity that I am speaking about because it will provide travelers an option that they didn’t previously have. A lot of people probably would not have even known about any kind of travelers insurance because it is so uncommonly used nowadays. By using my innovation, and putting the option at the point of check out, I will increase the number of people traveling insured and potentially make it the norm to travel with an insurance plan.

Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

Ten Resources

- Investment Banking connections

              -             will help me as my business progresses

              -             not many people have access to this industry

              -             not easily copied because people can’t copy a network with ease

- Connections w/ current entrepreneurs

              -             will teach me skills of the trade

              -             only few people from UF will possibly be able to imitate

              -             successful entrepreneurs are hard to find

- Business school connections

              -             successful people in all sorts of different industries

              -             No one is capable of going through my college experience and being able to imitate what I have done

- Finance knowledge

              -             helpful in running a business and negotiating with potential investors

              -             only people who have a degree in finance will be able to compare

              -             there is a high cost to obtaining a degree that would imitate what I have

- Leadership knowledge

              -             Being able to lead a group of professionals

              -             few people focusing on leading rather than managing

              -             leadership education is hard to find and mentors don’t come easy

- Professional Experience

              -             Taught me how to operate in a corporate setting

              -             Hard to obtain internships with fortune 50 companies

              -             There aren’t many who can say that they have been able to do this before graduation

- People Skills

              -             Something that you can’t teach to people

              -             People can’t always communicate effectively and are awkward in high stress situations

              -             If people had them they would use them

- Wealthy Network

              -             knowing these people can help in raising capital

              -             can’t necessarily choose who you know and how they can help

              -             people can’t just decide to choose who they know and who would give them money

- Good credit

              -             will allow me to obtain loans from financial institutions

              -             few at my age have this going for them

              -             people can’t change this at the drop of a hat

- Great friends

              -             people will help me succeed in difficult situations

              -             not everyone has people that will do hard things for them

              -             there is a lot that goes into making good friends and a lot of time. Can’t imitate at the drop of a hat

- My wealthy network may be the most important in the beginning of a business because I will need a lot of funding that will allow me to grow. Without it I could run out of money and that would result in failure.

 

Elevator Pitch 3

Elevator Pitch 3




The feedback that I received from my last pitch was mostly positive. The energy and message that I brought was positive and reflected well on me as an entrepreneur. The best feedback I got was too look more to the business that I plan on developing and less on what I have done thus far. What I did to change my pitch based on this feedback was to look at the content of my pitch and make sure that it related strictly to my business plan and not on other unimportant things. The pitch was a lot easier this time and was easy to shoot. Third time is the charm!

Reading Reflection No. 2

1.       The general theme in my book is that the human mind works in a special way and there are different things that you can do in order to use it to your advantage. It argued that there are two systems of thinking in the human mind and that there are benefits to both.

2.       This book taught me that there are benefits to being able to take a step back and act intentionally instead of acting instinctively. This ties in to what we are learning because we are learning about social capital and being able to do something like this makes you more valuable.

3.       The exercise would consist of looking at our first opinion of certain situations and then comparing those opinions to some that are more thought out. This would show that the more time taken to think about something would render much better products.

4.       The thing that surprised me most about this book wasn’t in the book. I was in a session for the Florida Leadership Academy and a Disney executive came in to speak to us. He recommended a bunch of books for us but he especially noted this book as a great tool for getting ahead professionally.

Idea Napkin No. 2

1.       I am a third-year finance major at the University of Florida. My skills are that I am very math oriented and good at critical thinking and problem solving. Making people like me comes relatively easy to me and it has come in handy in multiple circumstances. The aspirations that I would have if I were to start this business would be to start a company that is a household name. If this was the case then I would have made a product that everyone is accustomed with and that has provided value in multiple people’s lives.

2.       I am offering a peace of mind to traveling customers that want to make sure they get to where they need to be. This could be in the form of an airline or a insurance package.

3.       The people that I would be offering this too would be relatively well-off families that tend to travel often and know the inconveniences that come with traveling. The thing that they all have in common is being familiar with the airline industry.

4.       Customers will pay me money to make sure that they do not wind up spending the night in an airport. Or making sure that they don’t have to spend a lot of money on hotels and other flights when they have already paid to have something done for them.

5.       What sets me apart is my drive to succeed and my ability to work harder than my competitors.

I believe that the elements stated above blend nicely. There is a lot of reasoning that is given as to why this business is valuable and why other customers will agree. The only weak link would be the part that pertains to me. I’m not sure what my core competencies are and how they would help me start this company.

Feedback

The first point that I addressed was my lack of talking about myself. In my first time around I talked about my idea exhaustively and let my selling of myself fall through the cracks. This time around I did my best to talk myself up as much as possible

The second point that I focused on was my description of why people would find my company valuable. To combat this I made sure that there was a well thought out description and examples of why my idea would be useful to others.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

Elevator Pitch!


Reflection and Changes

I really needed to brag more this time around as I gave my elevator pitch. I gave a lot of soft examples of things that I am good at in my last video. This time I decided to give concrete examples backing the things that I am good at. I could always add more energy but I don't like looking tacky. However, sometimes you need to do those kinds of things in order to achieve the things that you want to in life. It's always hard to change something like this because I haven't changed much since my last recording. There is always room for improvement though.

What's Your Secret Sauce

My Secret Sauce

My five things

1.       I am very hard to read and keep calm in very stressful situations. This could be a great asset in doing business.

2.       I have a great sense of humor. There are a lot of advantages to being able to enjoy your time and having others enjoy their time around you.

3.       I am very good at learning things quickly. During my time in college I have learned a lot of new things that I didn’t think that I would be able to. Being able to do this will help when facing challenges.

4.        My work ethic is unwavering. This must be a given for any entrepreneur.

5.       My creativity in problem solving opens a lot of doors for me and anyone that decides to work with me.

Interviews

Over the course of my interviews there were a lot of reoccurring themes that seemed to come up repeatedly. It was a little awkward sitting across from people and basically asking them to complement me on camera. One interviewee mentioned that when I get behind something I naturally start to obsess over the work that I am doing. When I am not into doing something, it shows in my work because I pick and choose what I put my effort into. Additionally, a few mentioned that I have a knack for connecting with people and getting on their level.

Reflection

There were a lot of similarities between the content of my interviews and my own analysis. A lot of the discussion had to do with why those things could benefit me moving forward as an entrepreneur. However, there was a lot more discussion about my ability to interact with other people. I don’t really think of myself as a people person and the fact that I was being given feedback relating to that makes me think that it is a certain strength of mine. Looking back I would not change any of my initial choices.

Create a Customer Avatar

Customer Profile

I will be profiling a stereotypical person that I see using my product down to a singular person. Not a type of person, but a single person. I see this person being a mom that is not traveling alone. There is a lot of planning going into making the itinerary for their family trip and they want everything to go perfectly smoothly. They have had horrible experiences traveling before and most of it was out of their hands. They have been jaded by horrible customer service and are expecting the worst of the worst when they deal with anyone from the airline they are traveling with. They would have taboos against certain airlines, but they have yet to find one that they are fond of. Outside of these bad experiences I see this person being extremely cautious and having a lot of responsibilities. The reason they would be my customer is because I would offer them a peace of mind that they would find hard to get anywhere else.

This woman would like to watch Ellen and have a husband that works in Finance. There would not be a single thing out of place in her house. Christmas dinner would be held at their home and they would have a Golden Retriever. Two children, one named Johnny and the other Sara (without an h). They feel pleasant to be around but for some reason you feel that you are constantly being judged. Her kids go to private school and they have a Florida Prepaid Account for the kids. There is also a good chance that this person voted for Trump, but her husband didn’t want to be bothered to go out and vote. There is a lot of work that goes into keeping a household so well kept together and they take waaaaaaay toooo much pride in it. Probably a few family scandals that nobody knows about.

I don’t have too much in common with this customer profile because I am a reckless college student. However, we do have a similar distaste for the airline industry. I don’t think that this is a coincidence because everyone who travels relatively often has similar points of view on this subject.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

Interview One: In this interview we talked about the alternative of traveler’s insurance. When talking through what this service provides it became apparent that it would possibly be a direct competitor with my service. If this is the case than I would have to compete on price point and possibly on breadth of service.

Interview Two: In this interview we dove deeper into how this service would be brought to our potential customers. After discussion we thought about negotiating with airlines to add an option at the end of their checkout to add this type of “insurance” to their travel itinerary. This would be good for the airlines because they could tell travelers that people who buy the insurance have priority and move some of the liability of traveling off of them if people do not opt into the insurance.

Interview Three: The last interview focused on whether people would think this option is worth their time or money. Truly, the only way for them to know for sure is if they need to use it. As claims keep getting made people will see how much this service could save them in the future. People will now have an option to spare themselves the hassle of being stranded in an airport and worrying about the expenses that come with this inconvenience.

These interviews showed that there could be a lot of obstacles in the way of making this a viable business opportunity. There are competitors in the market already and a lot of variables in the airline industry that raise very high barriers to entry. Looking forward, we will have to differentiate ourselves on multiple fronts to make sure that we can survive in a hostile market.  

Halfway Reflection

1.       The behaviors that I have used to keep up with the requirements for this course are persistence and organization. There are a lot of interviews that I have to schedule on a weekly basis and it gets very annoying to keep asking people to hop on the phone with me. I have had to keep pushing and making sure that my schedule is kept very organized, so I can fit in the calls when it is convenient for them.

2.       There a few times when I wanted to breeze through interviews just for the sake of saving my own time. What made me push through and not take the easy way out was that I need as much market research as possible in order to make sure that my idea could form into a valuable business. I don’t think my attitude would be defined as tenacious in this class. It would be considered as persistent. Not enough emotion to be tenacious.

3.       Three Tips:

a.       Pick a business concept that is something that you could potentially do

b.       Do more than the bare minimum

c.       Crank out more assignments than is required for that week

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

The segment that I have decided to focus on are distressed travelers or travelers that have been taken advantage of by airlines.

1.       In interview one I met with a friend who has spent more than one night stranded in an airport due to crappy weather conditions or poor execution on the airlines side of things. When he realized that there is going to be a problem (AKA delay or cancellation) he took a few steps that a lot of people that I have interviewed mentioned. He spoke with the concierge about switching flights or other possibilities, google searched alternative flights and bus tickets, and looking for potential places to spend the night if it came to it. This interview was eye opening because we talked about a lot of the side distresses that come with having a flight cancelled. He was stranded in a city across the entire country from his home and knew absolutely no one that he could call for help.

2.       A family member of mine travels for business and has been victim to canceled flights at night. She didn’t have to spend the night in an airport because she had her company pay for a hotel. The only downfall is that her night at home was taken away from her. There are a lot of day travelers in the business world and having to wait until the morning for a flight home is a huge hassle. She mentioned that the logistics of my service would be difficult because if the airline can’t fix it there is usually little chance another airline can at that point in the night. Being able to sell a peace of mind would allow people to sleep easy and know that if crap hits the fan they can be comfortable and know they’re going to be taken care of.

3.       The final interviewee has been heavily delayed by a system meltdown by Delta Airlines. In this circumstance he waited over five hours to get on his flight because of a system malfunction (AKA not his fault). The biggest take away from this interview was that there were plenty of options for him to take flights home that weren’t Delta. However, it was not worth paying for a brand-new flight and not being sure if he would get a refund.

After looking at the facts from each interview I have made a few observations. There isn’t always a solution to someone missing their flight. Sometimes a crappy situation is just a crappy situation and nothing can be done. However, if there was a peace of mind that they weren’t stranded and had an option there is a possibility that people would pay money for the added benefit. It would be a good business strategy to offer a flight insurance when a person buys a ticket. If they do this there is a guarantee that the person will be taken care of as the airlines priority. This could mean getting them on a different airline or putting them up in a hotel for the night depending on the circumstances. For an extra 20$ or so people can protect themselves from a lot of stress.

Reading Reflection No. 1

Elon Musk

1.       What surprised me the most about Elon Musk is just how many different things that he has been involved in. From his early twenties and on he has been starting companies and creating things that humanity has yet to see before. I think that it’s amazing that he went from starting a small financial services company to making reusable rockets that significantly reduce the cost of space travel. Usually people focus on one industry for their whole lives, but Elon has his hand in anything that he wants and continues to impress people with his intelligence.

a.       I truly admire Elon’s courage. While reading his biography it dawned on me that he hasn’t always been regarded as an infallible genius like he is today. His career has been littered with huge risks and moments of doubt and no matter what he has been gung ho on moving forward with his projects. Without the risks that he has taken we would not have all the technological advances that exist today.

b.       There was a period in Elon’s life where he kind of ran away from where he came from. Born in South Africa he decided to move away to Canada in order to avoid mandatory military service. I understand why someone would do it and I am glad that he did because of all the great things that have come from it. However, I felt that he was very eager to become an American citizen and for some reason it rubbed me the wrong way. Almost as if he wanted it as a symbol of status.

c.       Elon’s career has been littered with huge failures. Things that I would consider career crippling or roadblocks if I had started the companies that he has. There have been failed rocket launches for SpaceX a bunch of times. Some of them with millions of dollars of cargo that was their client’s. Musk was forcibly kicked out from PayPal while he was on his honeymoon as well. There are a crap ton more than these and he has moved through all of them as if they haven’t happened. It’s impressive at how good he is at belittling failure and using it as a resume point in some circumstances. He spun failed launches and endeavors as amazing experiences that he leveraged to move him further.

2.       The main competency that I have noticed that Elon has exhibited throughout his entire career is his ability to sell himself and his brain to investors. The realms that he is operating in are highly unchartered and give a lot of investors cause to be hesitant if he can even do what he says he can. They’re not wrong for thinking like this because no one has done these things before. It is not easy to gather money for an idea, yet he has numerous times throughout his career. Additionally, his ability to actualize the ideas that he has in his head is extremely impressive. Being able to do the things that he does from scratch is amazing. Musk is a pioneer in the things that he does and doesn’t have the templates that a lot of companies do.

3.       The part of the reading that was confusing to me was the timeline for all of his different companies. The writing was not always 100% chronological so I had to sit down and sketch out a timeline of when he was doing certain things. It took me a while to understand the he is essentially the CEO of two major billion dollar companies at the same exact time.

4.       The questions that I would ask would be “How much of your success is thanks to your education/success?” and “Do you believe in aliens?” I am interested to know how much of Musk’s success is due to his superior intelligence or if there are other people as smart as him, that are missing something that he has. Also, I would be interested to hear his opinion in detail about the potential for aliens.

5.       I feel that for Elon hard work is a given. There is only so much that hard work can get you and there are a crap ton of people working as hard as they can. So, if you aren’t there is no way that you can expect to beat out the people that are.

Elevator Pitch No. 1

My Elevator Pitch!

Idea Napkin No. 1

1.       I am a third-year finance major at the University of Florida. Some of my talents include math, public speaking, and critical thinking. I have had an internship with PepsiCo in their corporate FP&A department and this upcoming summer I will be an intern at Wells Fargo Securities in their Investment Banking Division. My aspirations regarding my business idea is to bring comfort and convenience to lives of distressed travelers who find themselves in bad situations.

2.       The service that I plan on offering to customers includes immediate flights to major airports that run on the clock at specific times. We will work as a reconciliation service for airlines that aren’t able to get travelers where they need to be in the proper amount of time. I am still considering offering this service for travelers that are more high profile and that don’t want to be bothered by fans or critics.

3.       The people that I will be offering this service to would either be the distressed travelers that are being disappointed by major airlines, or high-profile individuals.

4.       These people care because there are major airlines that are taking advantage of their power over people’s travel itinerary. People are forced to spend nights sleeping in airports or not get where they need to go when they need to be there. Offering an alternative service that is more frequent and convenient will bring value to this customer base.

5.       What sets me apart from the other major airlines is that my airline would be focused on taking care of our customers and making sure that all interactions with customers are pleasant ones. This will be attractive to customers when compared to other airlines.

I truly believe that offering an airline alternative to people who are being taken advantage of by the major airlines is a major opportunity. Being able to travel knowing that the airline will stop at nothing to get you where you need to go is a great feeling and would transform the way people travel. 

Solving the Problem

The problem that I have identified is the lack of options for people who have been stranded at an airport. This could be because of weather delays, cancellations, etc. I have personally experienced the inconvenience and hardship that airlines can put you through when you’re in a city all by yourself and can’t get home in the foreseeable future. During my time loathing the airline industry in this airport I realized that if I had the money to spend, I would pay big bucks for someone to get me home faster than I was expecting to.

The service that I have been developing is a fast pace and flexible airline that will have flights going around the clock and will provide solutions to people as they need them. During my time interviewing others, that I know would possibly use a service like this, I narrowed my focus onto a specific set of consumers. This service would thrive if it was focused on high profile individuals or business professionals. Money is not as tight for these people and they could afford a service like this. They would also more likely need it. Their lives are much more spontaneous and they don’t plan months in advance like common travelers.

Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Interviews

The first interview that I conducted was between a fraternity brother of mine who I know has been stranded in an airport before. The basis of our conversation consisted solely on the fact that people would be too cheap to purchase something like this when they would eventually get a flight home from the airline. The majority of these situations happen late at night also and that would mean that our operations would take place during the late hours of the morning.

Second interview focused on the situations that this product could be used by different people. The people that would be using this would most likely be day travelers. I know a lot of business professionals fly out for a meeting in the mornings and then fly home at night. If their flights were to be cancelled at night they would miss out on a night with their families and in their own bed. This would be a good market to focus in on.

Third interview went deeper into ideas formed during the second interview. We discussed the possibility of just focusing on business professional travel, or very high-end travel. Something that would cost more than commercial but not be as expensive as buying your own private jet.  We would offer smaller planes and allow people to book on very short notices. There are very high profile individuals that would potentially much rather fly in privacy than being in first class and have to walk past a bunch of people that know them.

              Fourth interview was one that took a negative turn. I believed that there was a good chance that something like this could work. Speaking with this person made me realize that services like this already exist. There are private airlines that could offer things similar to this and is charge much less. However, due to the sometimes-spontaneous nature of business I feel that a quick alternative would be extremely helpful and valuable for these people.

The last interview that took place focused specifically on the “why” for this opportunity. There is an oligopoly in the airline industry and it is not in the best interest for the airlines to offer amazing customer service. No matter what they do there is very little chance that you will run off to another airline. Airlines can do what they want for the most part as long as they eventually get you home. Some people have waited days and even weeks to get home due to weather delays. To have a solution to these problems would really help others and be a good business model.

Inside the Boundary	Outside the Boundary
Professionals traveling for work (fast pace)	Regular people traveling for pleasure (slow pace)
Spontaneous travel in many situations	Booking flights months in advance
Lack of incentive for airlines to help	Logistics and size of airline industry is huge and growing

 Summary

These findings are somewhat of a breakthrough in my super simple idea. There were no thoughts in my mind about focusing on a specific set of consumers. But it makes more sense to do so when thinking about providing the most value to most relevant group of individuals. By focusing on higher profile individuals and business professionals I am focusing the offerings on the people most likely to use them.

Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

The opportunity that I am pursuing is an alternative for people that are being screwed over by the airline industry. There are travelers that are severely inconvenienced due to the incompetency and error of airlines.

Who: There are very few that have the needs that these travelers have. By just offering services to those on a regular basis you wouldn’t be servicing the problem at hand.

What: The challenges faced in this scenario would almost certainly be at airports. People missing their flights and being stranded in strange cities is something that is definitely a problem for a lot of people every day.

Why: The why will differ in certain situations. Some circumstances will be the fault of the airline, some will be because of the airports, and then some could be because of the weather.

1.       My first interview took place with my mother. When first bringing up the topic to my mother she thought that it sounded good in practice. A problem that she brought up would be that airlines could easily push me out of the market by offering my services but better. Also, the who that is in question could refer to any people who are looking for last second lodging or travel accommodations. The opportunity relies in people needing things very last minute.

2.       The second interview was with my roommate. He was pretty agreeable with most of the points that I was making. There were a few great points that he made though. When looking into the “why” part there are a few things that we disagreed on. I said that people would be willing to pay high prices for immediate solutions to problems that seem like the end of the world. His stance was that people could already pay high prices for solutions but are usually too cheap to go and check with another airline. They would spend the night in the airport before they were to pay high prices for my solutions.

3.       Next interview was with an old high school friend that is interested in being an engineer. The points that he contributed to the mix primarily consisted of the what. Our discussion boiled down to the very nature of the opportunity that I wanted to cash in on. He noted that the “what” could consist of any situation where a customer is needing an IMMEDIATE solution to their problem. So the scope of my opportunity could be spread much farther than simply the airline industry.

4.       This interview was with an old teacher from my high school. There a high level of agreeableness in our interview and it seemed as if she felt she was doing me a favor by agreeing with my ideas. Our conversation primarily consisted of discussing the “how.” This teacher wanted to know the ins and outs of how I planned on the logistics of getting people places and being able to provide the value that I am speaking of. This conversation brought up a bunch of questions for me that I would really need to answer before moving further.

5.       The final interview I had was with a colleague in one of my business groups on campus. We had a very good conversation on the “what” that would be provided to the individuals looking to benefit from our service. He focused primarily that there is a huge market for immediate services and it is growing exponentially. There would be a great opportunity to go into any market with the mindset that I have. However, he mentioned that being able to do this in the airline industry would be revolutionary because of the sheer distances and difficulty in logistics that come with it.

A lot of the conversations that took place in my interviews were questioning the logistics that would be needed to take place in order for something like this to work. It would truly be difficult to make something like this work but it would provide immeasurable value to the people that desperately need it on short notices. The fact that this is so hard is proof that being able to do something in this sphere would help a lot of people.

Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

1.       The first opportunity is the stock market that has the DOW Jones Industrial Average over 26,000 points

a.       I found the information about the rising stock market on a newsletter called the Morning Brew.

b.       Since the market is rising at such a rapid pace there is potential room to make a profit as it goes higher, or to short the market and make money if it declines.

c.       The prototypical customer would be day traders or the heads of large trading companies.

d.       This opportunity would be relatively difficult for the average person to take advantage of without the licenses, or knowledge, to trade effectively on the stock market.

              I saw this opportunity because I am pursuing a career in the financial markets. My interests in this sector has led me to form a habit of keeping up with relevant financial news.

2.       A major economic opportunity right now is the market for cryptocurrencies and the ability to make money on it’s price swings.

a.       I found this information through the use of the app named Coinbase which tracks cryptocurrencies.

b.       There are huge price swings among the different cryptocurrencies in the market and by strategically buying and selling, there is a lot of money to make.

c.       The prototypical customer could be anyone from a trader on Wallstreet to a college student who has a few extra bucks to invest.

d.       The opportunity can get difficult for a lot of people to make money because of the trading fees that are associated with trading cryptos. If using large quantities there is the possibility of creating a mining rig which would cost $8k.

The reason that I saw this opportunity is because my friends are active investors in these things and they introduced me to the possibility. So essentially because of the people that I know.

3.       A huge regulatory change that is most likely going to take place in the recent months is an increase in the Federal Funds Rate.

a.       This information was made known to me because of the newsletter that I read called the Morning Brew. The chairwoman of the Fed has been removed by President Trump.

b.       This information yields an opportunity because with the rise of this rate, interest rates across the world will rise.

c.       The customer that would be likely to use this would be anybody using a bank or borrowing money in any facet.

d.       The opportunity is extremely difficult to cash in because you would need to be a bank or simply have the money to lend to others in excess.

I have seen this opportunity because I plan on working for a bank after college. Being interested in this world has led me to understand the monetary policies of the US and how they affect the economy.

4.       A huge regulatory change happening throughout the country is the legalization of marijuana on a state level.

a.       This is a huge social issue that is being discussed in all social circles across the country.

b.       This information is relevant because marijuana is a huge business that takes place already illegally. With it being legalized there could a lot more revenue coming from it.

c.       The most likely customer to use this would be millennials. They have grown up in a culture more accepting to pot and more likely to smoke it recreationally.

d.       The opportunity is relatively easy to do. However, there are a lot of regulations in this industry due to the fact that it has been illegal for so long.

I have seen this opportunity because I am an advocate for the medicinal use of marijuana and I keep up with relevant news on it’s progress.