20A - Growing Your Social Capital

1. Domain Expert

I spoke to Melinda. She is an air conditioning contractor who works in Doral, Florida for HeatAndCool.com. She is an expert in this field and knows about identifying peoples’ needs for radiators. She has worked for the company for five years and quickly picked up on the ins and outs of the industry. I found the company online and simply called them. Melinda explained how she identifies the costumer’s needs and matches them with the correct product, which will help me identify my potential customers.

1. Market Expert

Emily is a technology expert at a firm called CB Insights. Her company sources information on technology and formats it into reports for the public. She has done some individual work on energy efficient household appliances. I met her through LinkedIn. We spoke on the phone and she gave me some guidance on how to start actually getting the physical product developed. This is an important next step for me.

1. Supplier

I had a quick conversation with Randy on the customer service line at Goodman, where they do wholesale air conditioning. I also find him and the company number through Google. He told me how they contact customers and about the kind of marketing strategies the company typically uses. He described the kind of people he usually comes in contact with in this industry. This will help me expand my customer base.

This experience was different than my other networking experiences because all of the people I spoke too were experts in similar topics. It helped me really concentrate on the questions I wanted to ask and the answers I needed to get. In the future, I will focus my networking conversations in more instead of asking general, getting to know you questions.

19A - Idea Napkin No. 2

1. I am a journalism major with boundless creativity and well-developed social skills. I know how to effectively communicate in writing and spoken word. I think this helps me keep in touch with consumers/the people I am helping. I aspire to help people in daily life through my innovation. This business could be the venture that takes over all aspects of my professional life.
2. I am offering radiators that turn on and off using highly sensitive motion detection technology. The radiators would sense people in the room and quickly warm it up. It will turn off abruptly when people leave.
3. This product is meant for people who live in cold places and have a use for this product. People who live in the south and rarely use heat or maybe don’t even have radiators have no use for this house. These customers are people who own their homes and properties. They have a reason to invest in a product that would lower their utilities bills and save them money in the long run.
4. They care mainly because their utilities bills will go down. They will be maximizing their use of all the heating and electricity they are paying for. This will be very helpful in the colder months when heat is a large expense. Additionally, the radiator will be hyper efficient in saving energy, so it will be better for the environment.
5. My main core competency in this project is that I can closely relate to the issue of being bothered by turning a radiator off and on and suffering the consequence of a high utility bill at the end of the month. By being so close to the problem, this makes me a good person to attempt to solve the issue at hand because it will improve my life as well.

I believe these elements fit together very well. The skills I possess are needed for an entrepreneur no matter what the product or service is. The element of customer outreach and receiving feedback is very important in formulating a good business idea. I can be successful in this aspect. The only part I am really lacking is the technological background to be able to actually develop the product.

My comments said that I am a good person for this project because it is obvious that I care about it. They noted how I am closely connected to the problem and the product at hand. I used this feedback to reflect even further on why I want this product to become a reality. I incorporated that into the napkin.

18A - Create a Customer Avatar

First and foremost, my customer avatar is someone who lives in a cold place and has the use for a radiator and heating technology. My customer is most likely someone a little older with an established career and the ability to afford the motion-sensor radiator. This is also someone who plans on staying in their residence — a homeowner instead of a renter. This person has children and spends time at home with them. They are middle to upper class people. They are most likely liberal because they care a lot about saving energy and helping the environment.

I have my values and life preferences in common with my avatar. I think we want the same things out of life and see why this product would be useful for a number of reasons. The main difference here is that the product targets an older age group that I do not fit in. I don’t think these similarities are a coincidence because I created this idea based on something that was actually inconveniencing my daily life.

17A - Elevator Pitch No. 2

The feedback I received on my last pitch was very helpful. I was told to sway less and use more effective hand gestures. By taking this advice into account, I think I look more professional in my second elevator pitch. I was also advised to explain my product in fewer sentences. This advice might be good, but I didn’t find it necessary in my case. I think it is important to completely explain the product, and it should be explained fully no matter how many sentences are used. That being said, I did try to be more concise in this pitch.

16A -What's Your Secret Sauce?

Ways I Am Unique:

1. I hate missing out. I love making memories and making the most of all of my time. It is important for me to live in the moment and be attentive.
2. I am enthusiastic. I encourage people to follow their hearts and I try to see the positive side of every situation. It is not hard for me to get excited about something.
3. I am patient. I rarely get annoyed waiting at red lights or in line. I understand that some things take time to achieve high quality.
4. I push myself to be the best. I am my own biggest motivator. I don’t like giving up or admitting defeat.
5. I don’t take things too seriously. I know that life shouldn’t be all about work and I value my personal life. I like to laugh and have fun.

https://soundcloud.com/molly-chepenik/sets/secret-sauce

I think most of the interviews are consistent with how I see myself. Some of the people mentioned qualities that I may possess but I don’t see as being specific to me. I think this difference exists because I present myself in certain ways to different people. The interviews about me are correct in their own ways and opinions. I don’t think I would change anything from my list.

15A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

Interview 1: I like saving money in general. I don’t typically shop for leisure, but for utility. I shop online only because usually I need really specific products. Because I like to save my money, I have a little more leeway to buy more expensive products. But in general, if there is a good cheap option for a product I don’t see why I wouldn’t choose that one.

Interview 2: I really value price when I am making a purchase. I like to online shop and a lot of the time I will list the products from cheapest to most expensive. From there, I will see which products suits my need. There is no value in spending little money if what I wanted in the first place doesn’t work correctly. I’ve only messed up a couple times by buying cheap things that barely worked.

Interview 3: I care a lot about quality but not if it means the product I want is going to be way too expensive. I like to buy things in person to make sure I am really getting what I think I’m getting. This way, i never have buyer’s regret. I can physically confirm my purchase and if something goes wrong with it, I’m the one to blame.

My interviews showed that people really care about price being low. In a perfect world, the best products would be the cheapest. Sadly, this is not how it is. Either way, most people value price over quality.