30A - Final Reflection

Final Reflection

• My most formative experience during this semester was watching the first person the professor interviewed. It stuck with me because the idea that I had put together and looked in to developing a few years ago was about solving the same problem I was trying to solve. At first it knocked me on my butt then I remembered the professor saying that just because other people have the same or similar idea, it’s not the same as what you have in your mind. That helped me push on and refine the problem to the point that I discovered I used to think more about the solution than the problem.

• I have always seen myself as a type of entrepreneur, but I realized that is in mindset only. Being an entrepreneur requires you to take the next steps which can be challenging but offers up its own rewards. I have always toiled over starting something on my own and I think it’s time for me to get serious with that decision. 

• For those who want to take the class seriously I would recommend they really find a problem at the beginning for the bug list that they are very passionate about solving. If they can grasp on to that they will be engaged in the rest of the class to see how their idea develops. Planning is key. There are a lot of interviews and finding people can be a challenge, especially for older, working students with children. This was a big challenge for me that proved to be the biggest time crunch. If you want to do well on the cupcakes you have to watch the lectures, which personally I enjoyed.

28A – Your Exit Strategy

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?

I plan to exit the business as soon as I can make it profitable to do so. Unless the forecast for growth is enticing enough to stay. I wouldn’t plan this business to be something to pass on to a family member as I believe when the competition comes in I will be pushed out of the market.


2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?
I picked this timeframe because I am passionate about the problem but there are bigger problems that I would like to focus my time on. I would like to use this problem as a lesson to learn how to launch something from scratch on my own.


3) How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources?

I do think that it influenced my opportunity after doing some research. When I found out there are other companies out there that are trying to solve this problem then it got me thinking about time. It hasn’t really influenced my growth potential or how I thought about acquiring resources. My exit strategy may even be to merge with a competitor to expand our growth potential.

27A - Reading Reflection 3

I read Elon Musk Tesla, SpaceX, and the quest for a fantastic future.

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

a. What surprised you the most? I was surprised mainly with his early years as an entrepreneur, mostly his days at Zip2. I didn’t realize that was his first company. The second big surprise to me was that he did not create Tesla but merely invested in the company at first before taking over as the CEO.

b. What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? His non-stop work ethic seems to be out of this world. Almost everyone in the book that was interviewed spoke about this.

c. What did you least admire? Although his work ethic is to be admired, there are times when he expects everyone to work the same way he does. One example from the book that I did not agree with was when he called one of his senior leaders who was at the hospital during the birth of his child and berated him – telling him he needed to get his priorities in order.

d. Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? Elon has encountered much failure with both SpaceX and Tesla. With SpaceX he almost ran out of money to the point that he could not make payroll if he didn’t come up with funds in less than a week. This was due to all the failures they encountered trying to launch their first rockets.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? Elon has exhibited many competencies we attribute to entrepreneurs. He built his first video game and won the competition at the age of 12. He is extremely disciplined when he has his mind set on a goal. He is not afraid to take chances – some more extreme than any of us will ever encounter. He accepts failure and moves on, most of the time getting stronger. He learns from mistakes, so he doesn’t make the same ones again.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. One part that confused me was early on when they spoke about their mother and father taking them on adventures in the airplane. It sounded like they had a great family upbringing only to find out his parents got divorced and Elon considers his upbringing horrible. For the most part he blames his father and being bullied at school.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why? I would ask the following two questions:

a. If you could do it all again, what would you do differently?

b. What was the most valuable lesson you have learned on your journey so far?

I would ask these questions because they provide insight into learnings I could use on my own journey.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion? I would expect Elon to say there’s no such thing as hard and not hard work - all work should be hard or it is not worth doing. I share this opinion to some degree. I believe in working hard and big dreams are not easy to achieve. However, I would not treat my employees the way he does at times and expect them to devote their life to me and my ambition over their families or friends.

26A - Celebrating Failure

1. Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester, and failed each time.
I work in a very fast paced company and I am used to failure. We test a lot of hypothesis to get to the right solution, so you must have thick skin. In fact, you are going to fail more than you will succeed. This is something I have learned. I have failed in this class quite a few times also. I interviewed the wrong people. I completed the wrong assignments and missed deadlines I gave myself more than I can imagine.


2. Tell us what you learned from it.
I always learn from failing. In fact, I tell my kids not to be afraid to fail. I am a believer that failing is the path to success. I don’t know anyone that creating a worthy goal and didn’t fail along the way. They may have achieved that goal but it likely didn’t happen the way they thought it would. For me, failing is one step closer to achieving my goals.


3. Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn't it? It's embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we have to change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failure (emotionally, behaviorally). Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were just a few months ago?
I think being an older student I have experienced failure more than some of the students who are in their late teens and early twenties. That’s ok, I understand they have had plenty of failures in their life already too. What I would like to say to them is – continue failing – just don’t give up on what you truly want. It’s there for the taking and you will get it if you put in the work. I deal with failure not as a ‘word’. I look at it as a decision problem. Maybe I didn’t have enough data – next time I need more data. Maybe it was a communication issue – I need to communicate more clearly. I first and foremost always look at my failures to become better. A better person, professional, husband, father, or whatever it is that I am striving toward. I wouldn’t say that I am more likely to take risks today than I was a few months ago but I feel better equipped to take on larger risks, especially in business, than I was a few months ago. I have really enjoyed this class and learned a lot.

25A - What's Next?

What’s Next

Existing Market

The next component of my product is going to be focused on the breadth of the service I provide. With the initial application being distributed for free to obtain users I need to come up with revenue drivers. The options that I plan to test in my interviews will be:

1. Free – An application that allows you to create your business contact information and share it with others. This will include the ability to record a 30 sec video of introducing yourself.

2. Basic – The basic plan will be an upgrade and cost $3.99/mth with a discount for those who pay annually. The basic plan will allow users to customize the introductory message, so it can be personalized to the individual they are sharing their contact information with.

3. Premium – The premium plan will have all the features from the Free and Basic plans above but also include a re-contact feature that can be automated to reach out to prospects with a custom message. This upgrade will cost $5.99/mth.

Interviews

· Janice, Senior Director of Trade Sales

· Chris, Regional Sales Manager, Outbound Sales

· Lisa, VP of Online Sales

Reflection

When I interviewed Janice, I expected this to be my home run. It was not. She has been attending Trade Shows for over 15 years and her first reaction was “not another app”. That took me back a little, so I asked her how well her business cards performed. When she told me, “the goal is not necessarily for her to make the sale but to generate interest, so the prospect is driven to the website” this was a new angle I didn’t even think about. I asked her to explain a little more about how they track this, and she mentioned they typically setup special web pages for Trade Show individuals, so they can monitor progress via Google Analytics or some other tracking software. OK, so this means I may have multiple segments in the Trade Show area that I need to investigate.

Chris was more receptive from the very beginning. He explained to me that todays sales process needs to incorporate a more personalized and consultative based approach. He liked the idea of being able to customize the message to a customer but told me he would not have much need for the free version of the product based on this consultative approach. He didn’t think the price point was too high, which was great feedback, but he was very persistent on the metrics. He explained Sales are very much data centric. They live and breathe data at the management level so anything that shows strength or weakness through the process would be a big reason for him to use the application.

Lisa has managed all sorts of Sales teams throughout her 25-year career. She gave me great insight into how the role of Sales is evolving in small/medium sized companies. The focus is now shifting from focus on the initial sale to more of a customer centric/building relationship role, so those relationships can grow in the future with the customer expanding their purchases in the future. To do this they need good data and an understanding of the customer journey. Providing the customer with a digital contact card she thought was a good idea to create the relationship. Pricing seemed low to her due to the high-end products her teams are selling. She suggested I investigate a model that would provide all the features for free and the end user only pays a % when they make a sale. This sounds like a good idea, but I can’t wrap my head around how I would connect my app to their sales tools.



New Market

Since I am going after the B2B market I have decided the most logical choice for my new market would be B2C. Logical because this market will have to use my product to communicate with the Sales person that shared their business contact information with them. If I could limit the product to work in a B2B to B2B environment that would be ideal for the initial launch, but I am realistic and know that will not happen. Sales people will inevitably distribute contact cards to individual consumer prospects. Therefore, it is necessary for me to keep this in mind anyway.


Interviews

Wife, Medical Professional, loves to shop online

Brother, Engineer, dislikes sales people in general


Reflection
When I described my product to my wife the first thing she said was “I have no need to buy that, if the sales person is good, he/she will know when I need their service”. Okay, now I must build a mind reading application I thought to myself. Once we got around to a serious conversation it was clear that she would not pay for such an app. She did agree that she would download the app but only if it was a seamless experience and she didn’t have to do anything. She liked the idea about having a recorded conversation of the sales pitch, so she could go back and have record of the deal she was pitched. One other area that I didn’t think of is when she mentioned the app being able to reduce robo calls. Aha! This may be another area worth pursuing.

My brother gave me the agreed upon time of 15 minutes. In his mind he doesn’t want to speak to sales people in person – only if it’s necessary. He certainly wouldn’t pay money for the application and would only use it if the sales person he was communicating with had to use the application.


When I reflect upon these interviews, I still believe B2B is where the market is. However, I need to be aware that the end user the Sales person is speaking to may be the direct consumer.

This will cause me to review my feature set to make sure I have the right options available for each end user.

What surprised me the most and something worth looking into is the possibility of eliminating robo calls. If I can change the culture of sales and my application becomes the new “contact” norm then that is a game changer.

24A - Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity

· Business professionals that utilize business cards to establish contacts for future business opportunities.

· The need is not focused on the business card itself but rather what data and feedback the contact card can provide to the customer.

· Business cards today generate almost $400 million dollars in revenue. From the 10 billion cards that are printed, approximately 8 billion are thrown in the trash.

· The market opportunity is broad since this is a global issue. However, the problem can be solved with a narrower focus to get things off the ground – such as Trade Show Sales people in the US.

· Today the need is satisfied by individuals using manual processes, if they even track them, to monitor how many contacts they received from distributing their business cards.

· Given there are 10 billion business cards created in the US alone I would conservatively estimate the market to be approximately 10 – 30 billion users.

· I believe this problem will be solved within the next 5 years.

Innovation

· The product will not only retain contacts that would otherwise be lost due to end users that receive business cards throwing them away.

· The real power behind the product is the performance reporting. Business professionals will be able to tell when their contact information was used, who reviewed it, what did they review, how long, and other details a static paper business card cannot provide.

· Individuals will download the application from an Android or Apple store initially. I will only launch in one for the MVP. There will be a simple setup procedure for the user to enter their contact information. Individuals that would like to receive a business card will be given a QR code to scan if they do not have the app (which they likely won’t until market saturation occurs). Once they have the app individuals can accept contact cards from anyone that has the app. The distributor of the contact card will be able to record a customized message for the recipient along with personal notes they can record for recall. The real power will be noticed through the performance tracking within the app. The business owner will be able to see how many times someone has viewed their contact information after they have distributed it. Who looked at it. Recall the conversation they had with that individual and all conversations that may have occurred in the past.

· How will you make money from it (what are you selling and for how much)?

· Revenue generation from the app is still an open question. However, this is a good thing as there are multiple models to choose from. The app itself will be downloaded for free. This way there’s no initial cut to pay to 3rd parties like Apple or Google. Right now, the thought is to allow the sharing of the business contacts for free as the initial creation is what costs money on the app and not sharing (sending) the information. We are still deciding on a Freemium model or a model that will expose more feature/functionality for paid vs. free users.

Venture Concept

· My innovation will solve the lack of feedback provided by paper stock business cards by turning them into digital contact cards that can track usage.

· Why will customers buy my innovation

· Customers will buy my innovation because they will be able to determine how and when their contact cards are performing.

· Customers will switch to my product because they will be able to define the right customer to distribute their business cards too. They will be able to use data to figure out what type of customer responds vs. those that just take the business card and throw it way.

· Since the contact card will be digital and most (if not all) of these individuals use smart phones I don’t see a problem with them switching from paper to digital.

· There are some smaller companies out there pursuing this opportunity, but the biggest competition is Vistaprint. They have a tight grip on the paper business market today and if they get their act together and focus on digital it will be hard for entrepreneurs like me to compete. Because they are so big is also a weakness – it takes much longer for them to turn things around and test in the market.

· Pricing is a big component to this venture. It is inexpensive today to buy business cards which is one of the reasons the industry hasn’t changed. Distribution is key as it must be very easy for individuals to share their contact information. Customer experience and customer support are always important no matter what type of business you are in.

· How would you organize the business to support ongoing production? How many employees? What roles are there in the venture?

· To begin this venture, I would need to start with two individuals. One to lead the technology efforts such as coding the app and getting the website up and running. The second would be myself leading the rest of the business efforts including customer service. I would look to bring in some other partners in a short time frame as I believe time to market is key to the success of this business given the competition that already exists. Since money will be tight this will have to be investment for stake in the company. Not my ideal approach but I have a lot of people I have worked with for many years that I trust would put the business first knowing the rewards ahead.

Unfair Advantage:

· The secret sauce in this application is delivering ROI to individuals that use the product. To make this happen several components, such as the analytics, the success plan, and recording revenue gained must be integrated.

What’s Next:

· Once I have it out to a single segment, I would like to expand to another and eventually across the US.

For Me:

Five years from now I would like to have exited the business and working on a new venture.

23A - Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1. Human Capital – With over 20 years’ experience in technology and business I bring a lot of insight into product development.

a. Valuable: It’s very valuable to have this much experience.

b. Rare: I don’t believe it’s rare, but I have a lot of knowledge in all aspects of business.

c. Inimitable: Only with a similar background experience.

d. Non-substitutable: I don’t believe the exact experience is substitutable but similar experience can be found.

2. Human Capital – I have an extreme work ethic that drives me to work for very long hours and under extreme pressure.

a. Valuable: I believe this to be very valuable.

b. Rare: Not as rare as I would like it to be but there’s more individuals, I have met with very little work ethic.

c. Inimitable: I believe it is very hard to imitate the work ethic that I have.

d. Non-substitutable: It could be substituted by another person with a strong work ethic.

3. Social Capital – As a member of several application development focus groups I will be able to get early feedback on my ideas.

a. Valuable: This social network is very valuable

b. Rare: It is not rare. A lot of technology forums and groups are available.

c. Inimitable: This can be imitated with a similar social network.

d. Non-substitutable: Substitutes can be found.

4. Social Capital – My network of colleagues past and present have long term experience in every aspect of business from M&A, Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, and Customer experience.

a. Valuable: It is extremely valuable to have this type of network. I can call on many individuals for financial, marketing, sales, and other advice.

b. Rare: I do not believe this is rare, but it does take time to build these connections.

c. Inimitable: This can be imitated through consulting services.

d. Non-substitutable: This can be substituted.

5. Social Capital – Partnering with many corporations over my twenty years of experience allows me to get my foot in the door easier so I can pitch my product. All of them currently use business cards in one way or another.

a. Valuable: Very valuable given that I need to get my product to other businesses.

b. Rare: This is not rare.

c. Inimitable: This can be imitated over time but I have a jump start knowing so many individuals.

d. Non-substitutable: This cannot be substituted but could be replicated with connections over time.

6. Social Capital – My closest friends are all application developers with many years of experience. They have already expressed interest in helping me with the project and some have expressed interest in joining the venture.

a. Valuable: Very valuable when it comes to building the application.

b. Rare: This is not rare.

c. Inimitable: This type of relationship can be imitated.

d. Non-substitutable: This can be substituted.

7. Financial Capital – I have been fortunate enough to put away enough funds that I can use to get the venture off the ground. I estimate that I can run the business for one full year with my current funding.

a. Valuable: Very valuable.

b. Rare: Not rare but it provides a bit of a head start without getting into debt.

c. Inimitable: It can be imitated with fundraising/grants.

d. Non-substitutable: This can be substituted for ownership and favors.

8. Financial Capital – I have an excellent credit score and a great relationship with a small credit union I have been using for over 30 years.

a. Valuable: Extremely.

b. Rare: It is rare today as most of the funding comes from large banks.

c. Inimitable: It can be over time but it takes a long time to build these relationships.

d. Non-substitutable: This cannot be substituted.

9. Operations – I have a home office that I can work out of and the business can be operated initially in a virtual environment.

a. Valuable: This is valuable as it keeps costs low.

b. Rare: It is not rare.

c. Inimitable: It can be imitated.

d. Non-substitutable: It can be substituted but will likely add to overall costs.

10. Operations – I already own the hardware/software necessary to build the product.

a. Valuable: This is also valuable to prevent new costs.

b. Rare: It is not rare.

c. Inimitable: It can be imitated.

d. Non-substitutable: It can be substituted with cloud storage/application development.

After completing the VRIN analysis I have a couple to choose from but the most important one that sticks out to me is my social capital. The people I have built networks with are going to be extremely important in this venture.

22A – Elevator Pitch No. 3

I received some great feedback from Elevator Pitch 1 & 2. The most valuable being that I had to extrapolate on the solution. I decided to do this by pitching for the follow up call based on a $400 million dollar market potential and the estimated cost to create a MVP.

My video for Elevator Pitch 3 is located below:

21A - Reading Reflection 2

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The book that I read for this reflection was Mindset. The reason I chose the book was because the subject can be used in business and personal life. The general theme of the book is there are two mindsets 1) Fixed Mindset 2) Growth Mindset. A fixed mindset is one that believes we are inherently born with qualities such as intelligence and talent. With this mindset individuals don’t believe they have to cultivate these qualities. The opposite is true for individuals with a growth mindset. They believe that the basic qualities they have need to be challenged to grow.


2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

The book connected with what we have learned mostly because we have seen numerous examples of individual entrepreneurs follow the growth mindset. They work extremely hard, fail, work harder, fail, and continue to work even harder. To be a successful entrepreneur you must have a growth mindset. To be an entrepreneur you must challenge your ego. Accept that you will fall but have the will to get back up and go again.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

I would use an example that was used in the book and one that I challenged my daughter with. I would create a small number of questions that ask specifically why an individual would ask these questions. The answer to these questions would indicate if you are more prone to be of a fixed or growth mindset.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

I think my biggest aha moment reading the book was understanding how many people that I know think a specific way. When I understood the concept, it became very clear to me why these people acted the way they did. The second aha moment was discovering that they did not have to have a fixed mindset. With practice, even in parenting, we change the way individuals look at challenges and approach them in a different way.

20A - Growing Your Social Capital

Domain Expert

1. Who they are, what their background is: 

• Elaine, Director of Tradeshow Sales. She has spent 15yrs is selling business software such as accounting, CRM, and lately Cloud solutions for Customer Success. 

2. How this person is a “domain expert”: 

• She travels around the country and meets with a lot of individuals during tradeshows. Each new person she meets she gives them her business card. 

3. How I found and contacted this person:

• A work colleague gave me her contact information as I am evaluating Customer Success software for the company I work for. 

4. Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation:

• She answered my questions about the value of the business cards she uses today and gave me some ideas about how I could make them better. In return I agreed to sit through a demo of her product. 

5. How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:

• She also agreed to be a “beta tester” should I get my idea off the ground 😊 

Market Expert

1. Who they are, what their background is:

• Jon, Senior Product Specialist at Salesforce. He has worked for Salesforce for 9yrs. 

2. How this person is a “market expert”:

• His main focus is attracting B2B customers to his platform with the intent on improving sales within their organizations. 

3. How I found and contacted this person:

• We utilize Salesforce in our organization and he is one of our account specialists. 

4. Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation:

• I explained my idea and asked him for feedback on how I could possibly make it better. He gave me some suggestions about using existing technologies and the idea of creating an integration with Salesforce itself. That was something that I did not even contemplate. 

5. How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:

• He said he would be happy to review my product when it I am ready to share it and if I wanted to look at integrating it with Salesforce he would be happy to point me in the right direction. 

Industry Supplier

1. Who they are, what their background is:

• Denise, Account Manager with Vistaprint. 

2. How this person is an “industry supplier”:

• Vistaprint is one the largest producers of business cards in the US. 

3. How I found and contacted this person:

• I have worked with Denise during partnerships with my company and Vistaprint. I haven’t spoken to her for a year or so but we keep in touch via email every once in a while. 

4. Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation:

• This was a little bit of a weird conversation as in truth, my product will directly compete with them and if successful could put an end to paper business cards. She was very open and although she couldn’t tell me if Vistaprint are working on something similar she did say they have some exciting things in the pipe. In return I agreed to order a new batch of ‘paper’ business cards ☹ 

5. How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity:

• I am not quite sure how this will enhance my ability to exploit the opportunity yet, but I am going to try to get more market data if I can. 

Finally Reflect: This experience requires you to do a little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How?

This was a great experience talking to others with connections in the industry. It opened my eyes to how willing people are to talk about what they do and problems they have that I can help solve. My other networking experiences where good in their own way but I didn’t get as much market/industry insight than what I did this time around.

19A - 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 James Lang. I am an older online student and I have been an aspiring entrepreneur for as long as I can remember. I say aspiring because my efforts always focused on a short term need to move forward at a very specific time in my life. I have been fortunate enough to work for a company that sows my entrepreneurial spirit with a safety net. Business and technology are what excites me. Combining both and being successful at it really excites me. I have failed more times than succeeded in my ventures but that’s what drives me. I have created products that have taken off and more that did not. My experience in the field is a key asset that I have, and my business maturity continues to evolve every day. This is an opportunity for me to test my abilities, years of learning, and give back. I am going to fall on my face and that is exciting!

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

In my previous posts I outlined that the business card market spends approximately $400 million per year with a waste of $352 million because people throw these business cards away. I am still working on verifying the facts around the environmental impact but so far it seems to be approximately 6 million trees needed to create this volume. What I am offering is an environmentally friendly way for B2B and B2C to utilize a product that is focused and measured on driving results for a fraction of the cost. A digital communication card that is dynamic to each recipient based on the moment the information was received. A communication channel for these individuals to stay in touch, negotiate, and build a relationship. The key to this digital information card is driving results with proven ROI to owners.

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?

B2B – This will be the initial market I will target. Corporations that spend money for their employees to carry around business cards that produce very little in return. This market will spend the most upfront and already see very little in return, so this will be my test market. To enter this market, I will focus on Sales managers.

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

Given that 88% of traditional business cards are thrown away within the first week I believe there’s a compelling argument for a product that performs better than what they are used to today. If I told you that 88% of your groceries would be thrown in the trash within a week would you buy the same thing again? No, you would look for an alternative. Do you remember the conversation you had with the piano repair guy a year ago (true story) and what he quoted you? No – I have a business card with a phone number and that’s it. Recollection of some sort of price but nothing concrete. My product will create a loose relationship with recall on the conversation that can be used to pick up where parties left off no matter how long ago. It also provides individuals distributing their information a way to analyze the performance of their distribution. Take that one step higher at the corporation level and executives can monitor performance against distribution to see who their top employees are – those that know who their market is!

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

I have been in business for 20 years. I have been a Product Manager, IT Manager, Customer Service Rep, Project Manager, Director of UX Design, and currently a VP of Customer Success. I have worked in a private company with 400 employees downsizing to 70 and losing $750k/mth. Rebuilding the company as a senior leader to 3000 employees and going public. Along the way acquiring many companies to sustain growth.

I know what it takes to go from nothing to something and beyond. It is brutal at times and sometimes not a lot of fun. However, it can be magical if you believe. You get the right people together, everyone believes the mountain can be conquered, and you are willing to give it your all – it’s an amazing ride you will never forget!

Paragraphs 1 and 5 fit together as they speak about you and your competencies. Paragraphs 2-4 also fit together as forces you to focus on the product, the market, and why someone would pay for your product in the first place. If you don’t have these defined it is likely a weak idea.

The feedback I received was mostly encouraging and offered guidance to “un-complicate” things and provide a more descriptive solution. With this advice I decided to narrow down my target market and more importantly focus on the problem – proving ROI – instead of the solution.

18A – Create a Customer Avatar

"Retired Ladies Who Do Yoga in the Morning"

I think not!!!

My customer avatar:

I have a lot in common with this customer as I love business in the same way that he does. He spends most of his waking life reading, teaching, and practicing business. Above all else his family is the most important thing to him. The fact that accurately reporting ROI is one of his main challenges validates the direction I need to go in solving this problem.

17A – Elevator Pitch No. 2

I received some great feedback from Elevator Pitch 1. The most valuable being that I had to extrapolate on the solution. I decided to do this by pitching for the follow up call based on a $400 million dollar market potential.

My video for Elevator Pitch 2 is located at:

16A – What’s your secret sauce?

Know Thyself

Five things that make up my human capital, in no order:

1. Creativity – Although I am creative to some degree when it comes to the arts, in this context I am creative at solving problems. I can look at large problems and break them down to smaller digestible tasks along the way.

2. Knowledge – I have been in business & technology for 20yrs. I joined a start up that grew from 70 employees to over 3000. A private company that went public. I have worked with every major US technology company to develop products throughout my career.

3. Training – I have attended courses through my job and on my own in Computer Science, Business, Product Management, Project Management, and Executive leadership. Each contributing to a well-rounded professional that understands the complexities of running a business.

4. Patience – This did not come naturally, and I credit maturity for the most part. I can pause in extreme stressful situations, listen to people, and bring things back to a level of normalcy. I can explain my expectations concisely to communicate the end goal.

5. Loyalty – I am extremely loyal to my friends, family, and others that are part of my life. I am also devoted to any cause that I pursue and give it 110% when I decide it is something I need to fight for. I never give up and never give in.

{I am still waiting for a couple of interviews to come in so I can add a summary}

15A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

Evaluating How Your Customers Evaluate Stuff

The individuals in my segment are B2B. When it comes to alternatives they are at the mercy of what agreement their company has with a vendor that supplies the business cards. Knowing this I was very limited in the general questions to ask since they all follow a similar, if not the same, purchase experience. The experience as follows: Order is sent to a secretary or purchasing agent, style is already selected based on company style guide, and paid for by the corporate account. Not very exciting. Therefore, I had to approach my interviews with an “if you could” statement to break them out of the normal mold and provide insightful information.

One out of three of my interviews preferred to stay with the status quo on ordering business cards. The process to him seemed easy. He would send an email and a box of business cards showed up on his desk a week later. The other two, one from sales and one from marketing went along for the ride with me to define alternatives. Both admitted that what they do today, albeit easy to achieve, is a waste of money. The reason being is that they do not see any return. They have tried QR codes and alternative ways to pass along their information, but nothing seems to stick on a large scale. The Marketing VP indicated the best performance she saw was when she hand wrote her information down with an inspiring quote. All three indicated the post purchase experience was nothing to get excited about. In my own words, not much more above getting your electric bill each month.

As non-productive as this exercise seemed at the beginning it was the exact opposite and probably the most learned of all. The opportunity in front of me is more difficult to solve that I originally imagined. Based on the interviews the two key takeaways I gathered was to solve:

1. Determine when to pass contact information to a potential lead

2. Determine how to define the success of passing the information along to a potential lead

As trivial as they may seem, these are complicated problems to solve. As the class progresses, these are the two questions I hope to answer.

14A – Halfway Reflection

1) Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course?

a. If you are taking ENT 3003 you are going to learn real world skills. You will develop time management, organization, public speaking, interviewing, and idea development skills to name a few. Don’t be intimidated by some of these competencies if you are not good at them or haven’t practiced them in the past. The course guides you through learning these important life skills.



2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

a. I have never felt like giving up in this course. Putting aside the requirement to complete this course for my degree I started the journey with 100% confidence I would get to the end. However, relative to not giving up could be not starting. Before signing up for the course I groaned a little after reading what was required. I talked to myself about all the negative aspects I was comfortable with or didn’t really want to do. In hindsight, I am glad I took this class. It has really kicked my motivation level for education and business up a notch and the open style of teaching that promotes students to think is really refreshing.



3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?

a. At the very beginning of the course read through the assignment descriptions and highlight the ones you are less comfortable with. Those are the ones you want to practice ahead of time. Items such as your first pitch and developing a hypothesis.

b. Pick your reading assignments ahead of time and start reading a little early with a few chapters per week. By the time you get to the reading assignment it should take you no time at all to complete it.

c. Pick a problem to solve that you are passionate about. You will be challenged by others that don’t necessarily think it’s worth pursuing but if you do then don’t let anyone persuade you otherwise.

13A – Reading Reflection

I read Twenty Seven Dollars and a Dream by Katharine Etsy.

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

a. What surprised you the most? I was first surprised by his formal education at Vanderbilt and his involvement in political rallies in the US after learning he was a distant and shy young man. The second big surprise to me was his marriage to a Russian lady.

b. What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? I admired his leadership and never give up mentality. Later in life his organizational and management skills were very impressive.

c. What did you least admire? I really couldn’t find anything about Yunus that I did not admire.

d. Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? He encountered adversity throughout his life. At the early age of 10 his mother was mentally ill and not able to take care of the children. Yunus stepped up and became a parental figure for his brothers and sisters. When the war between East & West Pakistan became a blood shed he leaped into action and put himself at the forefront of a possible solution. When he married a foreigner, he was viewed as an outcast. Throughout his life he courted with adversity and failure but never gave up. He was steadfast in his decisions and blazed his own trail.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? Yunus has exhibited many competencies we attribute to entrepreneurs at a very young age. His leadership skills as early as his scout years, his discipline to stick with a plan and a controversial path ahead, his work ethic throughout his life, and management skills are a few of the competencies I noticed Yunos exhibit.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. One part that confused me was why he was not chosen to meet with the leaders of Pakistan and his friend was instead. There wasn’t much detail around that decision which could have been pivotal for the country.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why? I would ask the following two questions:

a. If you could do it all again, what would you do differently?

b. What was the most valuable lesson you have learned on your journey so far?

I would ask these questions because they provide insight into learning I could use on my own journey.

For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion? I would have to think that Yunus doesn’t really see things as hard work. His whole life has been what others would consider hard work. For him it’s just another challenge to overcome – another hill to climb. I do share that opinion. I am very optimistic and every challenge that comes before me is an opportunity.

12A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Choosing a segment

I chose to interview individuals from the B2B category. Within this segment I focused on two groups, Marketing and Sales. The two sales people I interviewed travel frequently for business and the Marketing individual travels approximately once per quarter, however, she does interface with a lot of other business people from other industries.

What I learned

I learned that the distribution of information is not the real problem with this segment. All of them receive business cards on a regular schedule and supplemented by their companies so paying for something that doesn’t really cost that much to begin with is not a big deal for them. The sales individuals have learned over the years what they refer to as the “shotgun” effect. This involves distributing their cards to as many people as possible in hopes that 1 or 2 will result in a sale. Wow! To me that just spells waste waste waste. Waste of paper, time, and money. The Marketing VP that I spoke to is a light distributor of business information and often forgets to bring enough cards on her trips but generally follows up with email. All of them would welcome a solution that provided value from the people they meet and share information with. Too often this is not the case.

The Segment

This segment is going to be hard to sell a solution to unless you can really prove value and ROI. However, once you do it will be a steady stream of income. All three individuals have worked for their companies for 5-12yrs and each continue to order from the same company without really blinking an eye at possibly saving a few dollars here and there.

11A - Idea Napkin No. 1

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 James Lang. I am an older online student and I have been a mini-entrepreneur for as long as I can remember. I say mini because the size of my efforts always focused on a short term need to move forward at the time. I have been fortunate enough to work for a company that sows my entrepreneurial spirit with a safety net. Business and technology are what excites me. Combining both and being successful at it really excites me. I have failed more times than succeeded in my ventures but that’s what drives me. I have created products that have taken off and more that did not. My experience in the field is a key asset that I have, and my business maturity continues to evolve every day. This is an opportunity for me to test my abilities, years of learning, and give back. I am going to fall on my face and that is exciting!

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

In my previous posts I outlined that the business card market spends approximately $400 million per year with a waste of $352 million because people throw these business cards away. I am still working on verifying the facts around the environmental impact but so far it seems to be approximately 6 million trees needed to create this volume. The water waste I am still working on confirming. What I am offering is an environmentally friendly way for B2B and B2C to utilize a product that is focused and measured on driving results for a fraction of the cost. A digital communication card that is dynamic to each recipient based on the moment the information was received. A communication channel for these individuals to stay in touch, negotiate, and build a relationship.

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?

There will be three markets that my product will target.
• B2B – This market will be comprised of corporations that spend money for their employees to carry around business cards that produce very little in return. This market will spend the most upfront and already see very little in return, so this will be my test market.
• B2C – This will be a tougher market to crack and all in a larger market made up of small businesses. The folks in this market have very tight budgets and more cautious of spending. It only costs $20 for 500 business cards today so the loss is not the problem to solve here. Like B2B the problem to solve is the potential for a high ROI.
• Consumers – This market will be the recipient market that receives the product on a fremium basis. This will be a testing ground for the B2C market.


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

Given that 88% of traditional business cards are thrown away within the first week I believe there’s a compelling argument for a product that performs better than what they are used to today. If I told you that 88% of your groceries would be thrown in the trash within a week would you buy the same thing again? No, you would look for an alternative. Do you remember the conversation you had with the piano repair guy a year ago (true story) and what he quoted you? No – I have a business card with a phone number and that’s it. Recollection of some sort of price but nothing concrete. My product will create a loose relationship with recall on the conversation that can be used to pick up where parties left off no matter how long ago. It also provides individuals distributing their information a way to analyze the performance of their distribution. Take that one step higher at the corporation level and executives can monitor performance against distribution to see who their top employees are – those that know who their market is!

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

I have been in business for 20 years. I have been a Product Manager, IT Manager, Customer Service Rep, Project Manager, Director of UX Design, and currently a VP of Customer Success. I have worked this long in a private company with 400 employees to 70 losing $750k/mth. Rebuilding the company as a senior leader to 3000 employees and going public. Along the way acquiring many companies to sustain growth.
I know what it takes to go from nothing to something and beyond. It is brutal at times and sometimes not a lot of fun. However, it can be magical if you believe. You get the right people together, everyone believes the mountain can be conquered, and you are willing to give it your all – it’s an amazing ride you will never forget!


I believe for the most part that all these elements put me in a position of opportunity for success. However, I really must spend more time working out the value. Providing the same information that one finds on a business card in digital format doesn’t solve the problem. I have focused most of my time on the distributors of these cards but I believe a key to solving this problem is identifying what the recipients find value in.

10A - Elevator Pitch 1

The link to the elevator pitch is:

https://youtu.be/mAATar5cWGM

9A - Hypothesis 2

In this exercise we look at individuals that fall outside our target market even though they fit the original criteria.

Who: I interviewed three individuals from each of the original criteria:

·         Business Professionals: There was a lot of excitement in this group. Every person agreed that the way they share contact information with potential clients today is worthless. They do it because it’s “just how it’s done”. Knowing that 88% of the cards distributed today are thrown away did not surprise them. When asked why they did it I received an overwhelming response that very few other options exist outside of cards, email, and social media trolling. This gave me an option to probe further into what they thought would be better. One answered – don’t accept my card unless you really find it useful. The other two interviewees had more constructive suggestions:

o   Interviewee 2 - In business today, there’s a lot of skepticism that feels like ‘stranger danger’. You must build trust. It is a relationship – not a one-night stand if you are offering something of value.

o   Interviewee 3 – There’s a sense of instant gratification out there. It depends on the client though. The time to value is less with younger clients vs. older clients. This individual almost never gives his business card to younger clients as his services typically requires 8-12mths to start seeing a return on investment.

·         Small Business Owners: I learned quite a bit about this segment. All of them had less than 5 employees working for them and “time” is their most valued asset. They have a tight budget and scrutinize everything when it comes to spending money. When I talked to them about the waste they raised an eyebrow but didn’t seem to be too concerned. The reason for this is because they can get a 500 stack of business cards for approximately $20. None of them could trace back a return on investment and seemed to believe that it “gets their name out there”. I didn’t push back and tell them that it likely doesn’t, but I learned a lot.

·         Non-Business Owners: This group is just a non-starter. I thought I would investigate this group at different age levels under 50. The older group related the idea as a dating app and the other two age groups thought another hook up app would be awesome.

What: I have come to realize that the purpose of distributing these business cards have different purposes between the groups. Corporate professionals are very interested in solving the waste and low value proposition whereas the small business and non-professionals don’t seem to be as enthusiastic.

Why: For corporate professionals they have performance metrics to meet regardless of how many business cards they distribute. If they can’t find the right target market to invest in their product or service, they are likely out of a job. The current day business card doesn’t do that for them today, so they don’t even rely on it. Small businesses don’t recognize the waste due to the cost being so low. Individuals that are not in a business profession recognize economic benefits of not having traditional business cards but don’t see much additional value outside the tools they have today to connect with others.

Who	Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
	Corporate Employed Business Professionals	Small Business Owners Non-Business Professionals
What	To alleviate the waste and provide a product that produces real results for professionals and gives back to the environment we live in.	Worrying about people sharing every contact detail they have on the internet
Why	There is a real need here to produce results	There is no indication to me that this group is driven by solving the overarching problem

8A – Solving The Problem

How to solve this problem:

In previous exercises we flushed out the opportunity assessment. In the previous exercise we homed in on that opportunity.

My idea is to put the paper business card providers out of business.

Why?

· 88% of what is printed today is waste and that is just in the US

· 2.5% result in increased sales from business card distribution. That seems like a low number to me and everyone I have talked to so far find it hard to track sales to business cards distributed

· I don’t consider myself a tree hugger but reducing the number of trees we have to cut down to create paper is surely a bonus. Not to mention the plastic coating on a lot of these business cards

· The instant gratification age we live in today means I don’t want to wait or run out of business cards

· A paper business card provides no insights

How?

· Business cards need to be transformed to a digital version

· The options need to have controls for who you want to share information with

· The product itself needs to optimize the unknown opportunities that may be in front of you that you would otherwise not know of

· The card itself needs to contain context of its distribution to the viewer

· Conversions of distribution need to be trackable

· Information about the receiver or distributer should be dynamic and not stale. For example; maybe I want to share LinkedIn details with individuals but not others or maybe I want to keep my contacts updated if I change jobs/positions.

7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Title of the Opportunity: Digital Biz Cards

·       Opportunity: ~10 billion business cards are printed in the US every year. ~8 billion of them will be thrown out within a week because the benefits of the product or service being offered is not immediately realized or needed.

o   Who: Business professionals.

o   What: Their cards and information is discarded almost immediately because they have little value at the time.

o   Why: People live in the moment and don’t need their product or service at that given moment.

·      Testing Who: There are various levels of who across business categories. At the corporation level there are mid-high-level employees that network on a frequent basis. They travel for conferences, invite other businesses to present their opportunity, and attend functions that promote their company. For small business owners that do not have the capital to network as much still rely on these business cards to market their business with the intent of generating revenue. Since we are talking about ice-breaking with hopes to complete a transaction later, this could also be an opportunity for non-business professionals that want to take the first step in meeting or talking to other people. 

·      Testing What: Some of these business cards are pushed on individuals. It’s not uncommon for someone to stick a business card in your face as you walk by at a convention or attached to marketing mail you receive at home. We have all seen the little jars in restaurants that allow you to put your business card in with hopes you are drawn for a free lunch. However, I believe the majority are legitimate transactions based on real human interaction. What other reasons would individuals have to accept a business card knowing they are just going to toss it in the trash can almost immediately?

·      Testing Why: There is no need for the service immediately make sense but then why take the business card in the first place? Politeness or business etiquette maybe. A good portion of the ideas and pitches are presented to individuals that have no buying power is another theory.

Interview #1 – Executive professional in a large corporation that was very surprised to hear about the waste of business cards. She felt that although she didn’t fit in this category she could see how this can occur. I was informed during this interview that she only shares her business card strictly with individuals that have expressed a service or purpose that has the potential to make an immediate impact on her business. I got the impression that at her level there’s not a lot of room for small talk. She did express to me the importance of making backups or multiple copies and notes of prospects and told me about an opportunity she missed because she misplaced a contact.

Interview #2 – Myself. I wanted to get my own perspective down on paper as an exercise because I have been in this position several times. My goal is to really think through the hypothesis from my position. I have certainly accepted business cards that shoved in my face only to toss them in the trash less than 5 minutes after I get them. Why? Because it was not something I asked for or needed. I have accepted them in meetings from companies that present demos. Most of the time because they are given to me at the beginning of a meeting. It is very rare for me to follow up with any of these opportunities. The ones I want are the ones I ask for and the ones I get excited about are when I am asked for mine after the discussion.

Interview #3 – The sales manager I interviewed was very interesting. He didn’t seem to care about the waste factor. He informed me that he distributes as many business cards as he can to a) get his name out b) believes that the more people he gives his business card to the better chance of making a sale. When I pressed him on the second answer he believes that due to his success it proves that it works. However, what was interesting is that he couldn’t prove his mass distribution really contributed to his sales transactions.

Interview #4 – The marketing professional I interviewed next was interesting. She informed me that she keeps a Google spreadsheet of everyone that she gives her business card to and those that she has received. She wasn’t aware of the high number of waste but admitted to discarding most of the business cards she receives. She was also not surprised and told me her roommate gets on her case about killing trees when she brings home a box of 500 business cards.

Interview #5 – This was an interesting interview. A young gentleman that has just entered the workforce after graduating college. I wanted to get a different perspective from a non-seasoned professional. Once we got passed the “no need for business cards” and “that’s what snapchat is for” we had an interesting conversation. In part because he didn’t seem to observe the boundaries older professionals (like myself) do. A business card to him is considered “old school” and something he believed would be lost in a matter of minutes. When I asked him about the need for maintaining contacts that could be opportunities to better his situation in the future he informed me that it would be cool if he could get a girl’s number without going through the stress.

·      What do you know now that you didn’t before?

o   Based on my lowered belief of my first opportunity assessment I learned a lot during this exercise. My original idea was merely a solution looking for a problem. However, I think I found a real problem here. Everyone I talked to had no idea about the volume of business cards that are printed each year or the level of which they are discarded (88%) in such a short period of time.

o   I also learned that different professionals utilizing these business cards had different ideas about their purpose.

o   A real eye opener was the lack of recall to whom individuals distribute their information to.

o   Given what I learned in my last interview there may be more opportunities with a broader audience.

6A – Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Economic Trend – Baby Boomers are a Big Market

Source – http://danschawbel.com/blog/53-of-the-most-interesting-facts-about-baby-boomers/

Belief the Opportunity Exists – With a generation entering retirement and accounting for almost 50% of the economy I have a hard time thinking there’s not opportunity in this market. Then when I read that 80% are choosing the route of entrepreneurship, 86% are members of brand loyalty programs, and 70% of disposable income in the US is controlled by Baby Boomers I get more excited!

Prototypical Customer – The prototypical customer in this segment is born between 1946 through 1964. Estimated last year at approximately 74 million.

Opportunity Easy/Difficult to Exploit – I believe opportunities in this segment would be easy to exploit.

Why I saw the opportunity – I am certainly not the first to see this opportunity, but I think I grabbed on to it because we tend to think of our older generation as retirees that want to go off and play golf or fish or cribbage. This generation wants to be more active, engaged, and keep on working.

Economic Trend – Generation Z

Source – https://mashable.com/2014/08/20/generation-z-marketing/#Ru3kD.kCe8qw

Belief the Opportunity Exists – In this generation we have a makeup very close to that of Baby Boomers where 72% want to be entrepreneurs. More than a quarter of the population is made up of this generation. They are resourceful and self-serving.

Prototypical Customer – Born from the mid 1990’s to the early 2000’s making up 25% of the US population. Larger than the Baby Boomer population overall.

Opportunity Easy/Difficult to Exploit – This will be a more difficult opportunity to exploit. This generation relies on instant gratification and results immediately. Many of us older students have children in this generation and understand how hard it is to keep their attention for 5 minutes.

Why I saw the opportunity – I have kids in this generation.

Regulatory Changes – Net Neutrality

Source – https://www.komando.com/happening-now/433986/net-neutrality-explained-in-plain-english-and-what-it-means-to-you

Belief the Opportunity Exists – I am not a big believer in Government regulation of the Internet. Who decides who the traffic cop is and how do we make sure they are not bias. The internet has thrived on its own allowing startup companies to take advantage of the infrastructure and disrupt markets. Why is that a problem? I agree with the graphic shown in the article, we have provided a solution and are now looking for a problem.

Prototypical Customer – I think this hits the larger companies and entrepreneurs looking to take on companies like Facebook, Netflix, Twitter more so than smaller entrepreneurs/businesses.

Opportunity Easy/Difficult to Exploit – This would be a tough one to exploit as you have to be in a position to be in competition with the large companies mentioned above.

Why I saw the opportunity – I believe I see the opportunity because I have always seen the Internet as a free zone to be opportunistic in the same time-period Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Netflix grew from ideas to big business.

Regulatory Changes – Association Health Plans

Source – https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/association-health-plans

Belief the Opportunity Exists – I really like this idea and we use it to bargain throughout the United States. Think of Costco, Sams, or Medishare more specifically.

Prototypical Customer – Any group of customer. Think of a wide range from Carpenters to Contstruction Workers, or Teachers to Education professionals banding together to create their own association and bargaining group.

Opportunity Easy/Difficult to Exploit – I believe this would be a tough one to exploit as the majority of these folks are already enrolled in employee or union based plans.

Why I saw the opportunity – I recently dropped my insurance to go with my wife’s insurance plan that wasn’t great but much cheaper than mine.

5A – Identifying Local Opportunities

Story 1 – Hurricane Irma flood victims awash in memories one year later

Link - http://www.jacksonville.com/news/20180910/hurricane-irma-flood-victims-awash-in-memories-one-year-later

Description of the Story – A common problem we face in Jacksonville, Florida is the yearly threat of hurricanes. Until we come up with a way to deflect these storms from coming onshore we will always face the devastation they bring. This story talks about flooding in two problem areas in Jacksonville that are constantly on the news when a storm, not necessary a hurricane, targets the city – Black Creek and San Marco. I lived in San Marco about 12yrs ago and flooding was a major problem then.

Problem Presented in the Story – Flood prone areas that consistently go through the same problems every year when we have severe thunderstorms. Band-Aids cover up the real issue until the next storm.

Who has the problem – Approximately 60,000 people living in the San Marco or Black Creek area.

Story 2 – Duval County Schools again outspend revenue

Link - http://www.jacksonville.com/news/20180910/duval-county-schools-again-outspend-revenue

Description of the Story – In this story we first see that Duval County is spending more than it is taking in. More students are leaving the public-school system and going private and charter schools are on the rise.

Problem Presented in the Story – The real question here is why. Duval schools historically have been below the nations average.

Who has the problem – The impact of this problem hits many areas: 130,000 students, the families of these students who want the best education for their children, and the city of Jacksonville that needs to keep funding failing schools.

Story 3 – Vystar employee indicted for embezzlement of $5.4 million

Link - https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2018/09/11/vystar-employee-indicted-for-embezzlement-of-5-4.html

Description of the Story – An employee of Vystar who worked in the mailroom stole stamps and sold them in small portions over many years to another company that sold them at 80% market value and gave the employee a portion of the proceeds.

Problem Presented in the Story – I am not sure if I can fault the company that bought the stamps although they should have mechanisms in place to make sure the stamps they receive are legitimately owned. Where is the oversight? Surely when a cost incurs there’s a trace to the expense. Maybe there needs to be better checks and balances in the accounts payable department at Vystar.

Who has the problem – Ultimately the bank will try to recoup these costs which likely mean higher fees being introduced to its members.

Story 4 – Mayo Clinic announces $144 million expansion

Link - https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2018/09/05/mayo-clinic-announces-144-million-expansion.html

Description of the Story – This story hits home as my wife works for Mayo at this location. The story is about expansion and additional buildings they are planning for. It’s great to see growth like this but when you read the headlines and hear the real story it’s not all it seems to be. The new parking garage they built is great but what you don’t see in the story is that it forced employees to park a quarter of a mile further away. Not a big deal unless you are coming off a shift at 3am and now must walk 1.5 miles to your car.

Problem Presented in the Story – The story itself does not present a problem with the new construction, however, being involved at a personal level I know the problems are going to be with their employees now having to walk further across the campus with very little security.

Who has the problem – Employees at Mayo are going to have a problem with this.

Story 5 – Undocumented immigrant charged with murder, manslaughter in death of Nassau County deputy

Link  - https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/undocumented-immigrant-charged-with-murder-manslaughter-in-death-of-nassau-county-deputy/77-593004628

Description of the Story – This seems to be a major issue that hits home across the nation and here in Jacksonville. Undocumented or Illegal immigrant charged with murdering a US Citizen. While police questioned 6 individuals in the back of a pick-up truck one of them took off and the officer gave chase with a Border Patrol agent.  The chase caused the officers to cross a road in which the 32-year-old officer was struck by a car and died. He leaves behind a wife and 6yr old daughter.

Problem Presented in the Story – Weak immigration policies

Who has the problem – The problem is nationwide in the US

4A – Forming an Opportunity Belief

So in this exercise this is where we take one of our problems from the bug list and try to define if it's a problem worth solving. I believe there’s an unmet need for business owners, professionals, and entrepreneurs to have their business or contact information ready to share with others. When traveling for business, at a conference, or sometimes even in an airport I find myself meeting individuals I would like to follow up with regarding a business opportunity. The problem I run into is either I or the person I am talking to doesn’t have a business card on them. To solve this problem, I must write down their details on paper, notes or temporary in my personal contacts, and later transfer the information to my own digital contact spreadsheet on Google Drive. What I would like to do is always have this information ready to share and store it in a location that I keep all my business contact information. I am 75% certain this need exists.

#1 – VP of Sales

Q: Do you find yourself being asked or asking for business contacts, colleagues, or potential business leads for their contact information?

A: Absolutely. All the time. It’s part of my job and you never know when that person could become a lead or a prospect.

Q: How often do you find yourself in a situation where you don’t have a business card or contact information you want to share?

A: Almost never. I always have cards on me. Even when I go to my daughter’s recital I will bring business cards.

Q: When do you typically find yourself in a situation where you don’t have business cards on you?

A: Eh. To be honest it happens so rarely but when it does it is usually because I forgot to order more, or they are in my luggage or bag somewhere that I can’t get to. Maybe if I run to the grocery store, I am not sure really. Actually – one time I was on a business trip and spilled coffee on my bag which leaked onto my cards and ruined them. I had to get my secretary to put an order in and overnight them to me.

Q: How do currently share your information if you don’t have a business card on you?

A: If I don’t have a card on me I would typically get their card and send a follow up email with my details.

Q: On a scale of 1-10 – how happy are you with sharing your information this way?

A: I would say 8. I don’t really have a big problem. I have been doing it for 25 years so maybe I am just old school.

Q: What would be your ideal way to manage your business contact information?

A: [Laugh] – If they magically appeared on my contact list. Seriously though, the problem for me comes later when I try to remember the conversation and specifics I discussed with the person. If I don’t write these details down it’s hard to nurture a lead.

#2 – Product Manager, Marketing

Q: Do you find yourself being asked or asking for business contacts, colleagues, or potential business leads for their contact information?

A: On occasion. Colleagues I can easily find within our company and I don’t really work with leads.

Q: How often do you find yourself in a situation where you don’t have a business card or contact information you want to share?

A: For me I don’t carry them with me all the time. When I do talk to someone, like a customer using my product, that’s when I want to provide my contact details, so they can contact me and provide feedback about the product. If I go to visit a customer I always make sure that I have business cards with me.

Q: When do you typically find yourself in a situation where you don’t have business cards on you?

A: Most of the time really.

Q: How do currently share your information if you don’t have a business card on you?

A: This has only happened to me a couple of times maybe. Rather than write something down I went back to the office and sent an email to the customer with my contact information.

Q: On a scale of 1-10 – how happy are you with sharing your information this way?

A: I would say 9. It doesn’t bother me really.

Q: What would be your ideal way to manage your business contact information?

A: I would like a better way to track the ongoing communication with each customer and somehow tie that back to their satisfaction with the product.

#3 – Chief Technology Officer

Q: Do you find yourself being asked or asking for business contacts, colleagues, or potential business leads for their contact information?

A: Quite often, yes.

Q: How often do you find yourself in a situation where you don’t have a business card or contact information you want to share?

A: I don’t like to carry business cards. I would prefer to take the individuals information and then get back to them.

Q: When do you typically find yourself in a situation where you don’t have business cards on you?

A: As I said before I don’t typically carry them in bulk. If I am going to a speaking arrangement or a conference I bring along a bunch but mainly for networking.

Q: How do currently share your information if you don’t have a business card on you?

A: I typically get an email address or ask them to send their details to my email address.

Q: On a scale of 1-10 – how happy are you with sharing your information this way?

A: I would maybe give it a 7 as I get enough emails and a lot of time these types of email get a low priority in my day.

Q: What would be your ideal way to manage your business contact information?

A: Some way to rank it for relevancy so I can go back to it when a situation comes up that I need to engage with a person I met previously who could possibly help with a situation.

REFLECTION:

Reflecting on this exercise I was really surprised with some of the answers I received. I expected higher level executive types to be always ready to share information not be restrictive, but I guess it makes sense given their position and focus on their business. Product Managers and Sales people are two different animals. Sales people are more engaging and seem willing to strike up a conversation and share information at will without really caring too much about the method or tools they use. Product Managers are all about the feedback so whatever way the customer wants to communicate with them they are open to it.

SUMMARY:

I went into this with a belief that the business community had a problem with sharing contact information using the old method of business cards. When I look back on it I think I also went into it being tied to an idea on how to solve the problem that I hadn’t fully vetted ‘was’ a problem. My belief has gone from 75% to 45%. However, this was a great exercise that taught me to detach or not think about how to solve a problem before defining the problem. I still believe there’s an opportunity there but not exactly what I thought it was. I am now leaning toward the most important thing is not about how we share this contact information but recall as to why it was important in the first place to capture it. If I am going to move forward on this I need to adapt.