Elevator Pitch #3

I received a lot of positive feedback on my last video about how my energy levels were very engaging
and that I did a good job informing the audience about my business idea. I did receive feedback that
I need to make it clearer that my business idea is an opt-in concept, and that insurance companies
will NOT be tracking the physical activity of every individual within their program without their consent.
Individuals must ask their provider if they can opt in to the program and from there, they will have their
physical activity monitored to be used by insurance companies to give them higher deductibles or more
accurately predict costs associated with that individual. I really believe my business idea is extremely
unique and allows insurance companies to become more dynamic, modern organizations instead of
archaic, boring things that every adult has to suffer to pay for without having much control over how
much they pay to their insurance providers.

Bringing In A Second Opinion

1. The argument of the book I chose, The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users by Guy Kawasaki argued how vital it is to adapt a great social media strategy in this day and age in order to succeed in this era. Additionally, it assists users in deciding which social media platforms and strategy would be best for their business and how to properly implement these strategies.  
2. I believe that this enhanced what I am learning in ENT3003 because I believe this class has geared my focus on creating my business, establishing what it will do, and focusing on the employees/resources I will need throughout this creation. But, it failed to put an extreme focus on social media presence, which is so vital to creating a successful business.
3. If  I had to design an exercise for the book that  I read, I would make students create a specific social media campaign for their business idea. I would probably make them create a “fake” Twitter/Instagram account and release images/tweets pertaining to their business and how they want to be portrayed. I would possibly also make them create a video commercial.
4. I think my biggest “aha” moment when reading the book was that different businesses need different social media strategies. For example, my business focuses on physical activities and partnering with insurance companies, so my social media presence would need to be targeted on being very informative and fact-dense in order to have people know about our program. Additionally, I think I would have to pay for advertisements on Twitter/ Instagram to attract customers to my profile. On the other hand, a bakery or some sort of cafe business would have to post pictures of their food or create special social media promotions.

Growing Your Social Capital

Software Engineer Expert:

1. Who they are, what their background is:
1. Kristen, a software engineer graduate from Stevens Institute of Technology.

2. How this person is a “domain expert”:
1. She has vast experiences assisting in building different databases for large technology companies, including Citibank

3. How I found and contacted this person:
1. Kristen is a long time friend of mine.

4. Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation:
1. Kristen assisted me in tailoring my software program to the specific databases of the insurance companies in order to ease access and implement effectively. In return, she will receive compensation.

5. How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:
1. Without Kristen, and with only knowing simple coding and understanding of databases, my project idea would completely fail. I need a software engineer in order to successfully build, implement, and tailor my products for different companies.

Computer Science/ Coding Expert:

1. Who they are, what their background is:
1. Cynthia, a computer science graduate from the University of Florida.
2. How this person is a “domain expert”:
1. She has vast experiences assisting in composing coding projects for school, as well as experience working for Goldman Sachs on their robotics and coding team.
3. How I found and contacted this person:
1. Cynthia is a long time friend of mine.
4. Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation:
1. Cynthia assisted me in coding my project and taking all of my ideas and composing it into a tangible item. She built my system entirely based on certain restrictions and safety measures I requested
5. How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:
1. Cynthia single handedly built my computer system for me and allowed my project idea to come to life. In exchange, Cynthia will receive a percentage of all company income.

Consulting/Project Management Expert:

1. Who they are, what their background is:
1. Chris, a graduate of Finance from Fairfield University.
2. How this person is a “domain expert”:
1. He has had an internship with KPMG and has vast experience in the consulting industry. He has been on many client calls where he has had to assist in developing the project goals of a certain project and relaying information to developers in order for them to build the system according to the proper requirements.
3. How I found and contacted this person:
1. Chris is someone I met during career fair.
4. Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation:
1. Chris built client relationships and allowed my product to be used by more clients and reach a larger audience. He was essential in making sure our company was profitable. In return, Chris gets a salary.
5. How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:
1. Chris was able to develop client relationships and exploit opportunities for our business to grow. Additionally, he was able to convey necessary information to our clients. He is a great notetaker and helps our developers build systems according to the company’s internal structure.

Reflect: This experience requires me to narrow down the types of people I need in order to succeed in my business. It requires me to mentally invest in my “human capital” and brainstorm what I need before fully investing myself and my money into my business idea.  This will definitely affect the way I network in the future because it makes me realize that I need to value networking with individuals that I need for my business, rather than just making casual business connections.

Idea Napkin #2

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

My name is Meghan Wren and I am a third-year student pursuing a Bachelors in Finance at the University of Florida. I have a background in financial management, auditing, sales and project management through various employment experiences. Additionally,  I am a very focused, motivated worker and see all things through to their entirety. I aspire to manage my own company or, if that does not work out, then to work at a hedge fund doing portfolio management for high net worth clients. I see this business playing a large role in my life, as it would allow me to combine my knowledge and background in finance with healthcare and technology.

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs).

I am offering a exercise tracking service for insurance companies to purchase the software from me for. I want to build a program that tracks the activity levels of potential or current insurance clients that want to opt into this program in order for them to get a higher deductible on their insurance if they are more active and are less of a health risk.

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

The demographic of my customers is definitely a younger, physically fit individual that just got off their family insurance plan a couple of years/months ago and is looking to find a way to stay motivated to go to the gym while saving money on this new cost that they have to deal with.

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe it’s valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service.

I think that insurance companies will want to buy my product because it will allow them to more effectively predict which customers are going to be of greater or less risk according to their levels of physical activity. Low physical activity is a source of multiple diseases, and if insurance companies were to know which individuals were at a lower chance of developing these diseases, then they can allocate less money to those individuals.

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you
have that nobody else has?

I do not think this product has been invented at all, which puts me at a large competitive  advantage and an opportunity to capture the market through patents and create a sizable income over many years.

Feedback memo:
Two key points that I received was that I needed to make my company more of an opt-in program, rather than a device that insurance companies use amongst all of its clients to track their activity. I made this adjustment in my idea napkin because I definitely agreed with the critique that it would be an invasion of privacy if insurance companies installed this on a company-wide scale. Additionally, I received feedback that instead of targeting a group of individuals that do not exercise in order to incentivize them to exercise, that I should target an audience that is already extremely active because they are the most likely to opt into my product.

Elevator Pitch #2

Reflection of feedback: I got great feedback on my video and all of my commenters said that I was

really engaging with the audience, which I tried to continue to be in this version of my pitch.

Additionally, I was told I had a very linear thought process and tried to utilize that strategy again and

build my ideas off of each other progressively so it made the most sense for my viewers.

What I changed in my pitch: This time I did my pitch, I tried to be more visually engaging to the

audience and monitor the inflections in my voice in order to increase their attention. Additionally, I

spoke about my ideal audience, which I did not do before. I believe by focusing on what I can offer to

the client more than what I can offer to businesses, the audience would be more inclined to listen to

my idea.

Customer Avatar

My product will focus on more of business-to-business selling, but I believe that there is a market of individuals that will especially enjoy buying my products from the businesses that buy them.

My customer avatar is a 27 year old fit woman that is probably a few years newly off her parents health insurance plan, and is looking to save money and not give up her dedication to Soul Cycle and her yoga studio. These memberships are expensive, and with the growing expense of being a young adult, she wants to be more conscious in her spending ways. She just moved to New York City, and lives in a high-rise apartment building in Tribeca. She loves Tribeca because it is a unique, more tone-downed version of New York City, as compared to Times Square.

My avatar works for a marketing agency and loves her job. She was recently promoted and is excited to continue her career in marketing. She probably drives a Volkswagen Jetta or a Toyota Prius. She does not have any children yet, but is recently engaged and is looking to save up for her wedding and before starting a family.

Secret Sauce

Five ways I have human capital that is truly unique:
Fearlessness- I do whatever I feel is right. I do not fear the unknown that much; I seek whatever opportunity I feel is right, no matter the cost.
Communication- I am very open and honest when communicating with others. I know how to tell someone what they need to hear, but I can put it in a really nice way.
Selflessness- I am very caring about others and that they are okay. I will do anything to make the people I am close to feel good.
Hard-working- I am tirelessly hard working when it comes to my job and my future. I will make sure that everything that needs to get done.
Autonomy- I prefer to do work on my own and can function by myself. This might prove to be a negative element to my personality when trying to make my own business because I will need a lot of help.

https://soundcloud.com/mcwsdw/sets/ent3003-secret-sauce

I chose to interview my grandma, my brother, my best friend and both of my parents. My grandma told me that I was very hardworking and punctual, which are two things I agree with wholeheartedly. My brother told me that I am a very personable person, and that I can talk to anyone that comes my way. My mom told me I am the hardest working person she knows, which is a statement I am honored to hear considering she is wildly successful. My dad told me that I am very dedicated to anything that comes my way, which is really flattering. Lastly, my best friend told me I have great time management skills, which makes me feel like I could be a really successful business owner!

I think my evaluation of myself and what others saw of me was very spot on. I am very critical of myself, so I would not tell myself I am something when I am not, which is probably why they matched up so well. The only two character traits my interviewees did not highlight is my selflessness and my communication, which are two skills I pride myself on. I think, though, that maybe they have not been able to see the communicative, selfless side of me because of the environments we have been placed in together and how I have not been able to showcase that. Overall, I am proud of how well my evaluation of myself lined up with my interviewees opinions of me!