17A - Elevator Pitch No. 2

1. The pitch

https://youtu.be/lpedYFjcK3I

-The problem: hot and cold temperatures are uncomfortable and destroy the value of cars overtime
-The solution: automatic sunshade that is connected to the smart key and a mobile application, similar to a smart home thermostat. I even saw that Ford has developed cars with personal hotspots which would aid this platform. Furthermore, the app would allow you to pre-cool or heat your car in advance with a timer.
-Typical customer: 30-50 years old, males and females with cars over $30,000 in value that live in places that are hot or cold and do not have garaged parking full time
-Market size: there are 263 million registered cars in the US. The average new car price is $34,000 but I am assuming 25% of all cars are worth that today. That leaves 65 million, but perhaps only 50% of those cars are in places that aren't garaged or temperate leaving us with 32 million cars. Assuming we can obtain 25% market share at $300 a sunshade that would be a market share of $2.4 billion out of $9.6 billion domestically.
-Other uses: in home sunshades, airplane shades
-Strategy: Develop a good aftermarket sunshade to sell for $300 but also develop relationship with a car manufacturer like BMW to get in new models to expand business quickly.

2. Feedback reflection
I got one comment on my last pitch that said the idea made logical sense but needed more explaining. Specifically he was wondering if it was related to a smart thermostat in the house and if the sunshade would be connected to the app.

3. What I changed
I changed my pitch by saying it is similar to a smart thermostat in that it connects to the app and relies on technology. I am not a great tech guy but the BMW's I know of have smart keys that could easily connect to the sunshade and the app could connect to the BMW to circulate air beforehand. There is a feature to do that know but you have to set it up in the car and not on an app.

18A - Create a Customer Avatar

Meet Josh

Josh loves cars and is willing to spend money to soup his collection up. His everyday car is a $80,000 M6 Coupe that is blacked out. He wears a blue sporty overcoat even though he lives in Florida. He wears light shaded aviators with yellow rims to pop with his favorite blue overcoat. He spikes his hair with just enough gel to keep it looking fresh all day. He wears a plain white t-shirt to not attract to much attention and has an Apple watch for utility. He usually has a slight grin on his face and walks around like he has somewhere to be. He is a retired investment banker that runs a hedge fund and does private equity deals on the side. He is 39 years old but feels 29, and just bought a house on the inter-coastal in Boca Raton. His hobbies include jetting to the Bahamas, deep sea fishing, and watching NFL football. He would like to have automatic sunshades in his house that he just bought on the water because the sun's glare hurts his eyes when watching TV. He has no children of his own but a large German shepherd named Duke.

I relate to the prototypical customer because I appreciate nice cars and find the heat/ deterioration relating to cars very frustrating. I also owned a BMW and think that people within that price range and with that lifestyle could afford something like this. I also love finance and hope to have a life similar to Josh someday. I think this is not a coincidence of the similarity because I thought of this product as related to my everyday life, although not as glamorous as Josh's.

Anyways, Josh likes to take care of his stuff. His black M6 attracts a lot of heat in Florida and he smothers every time he gets in. Also, he has noticed that his older classic cars start to deteriorate in condition after 5 years in the sun. He is always busy and does not have time to put up a sunshade all the time even though he has one in all of his cars. He spends money on aftermarket parts and accessories for his cars and would be willing to find a permanent solution to this problem. He loves the idea of an automatic sunshade that would come down when you lock the car. He also likes the idea of an app that you can set the car to circulate air with before you get in the car. He would be willing to pay several hundred dollars ($200-400) for the sunshade and is uncertain about what he would pay for the app. Perhaps the app could be included with the purchase of a sunshade.

16A - What's Your Secret Sauce?

1. 5 things that make me unique

• Curiosity - I have always been interested in many different subject areas since I was a little kid. I would always ask questions to my dad, read books, or look up answers. I have always been fascinated with the idea of entrepreneurs and starting a business one day. 
• Ambition - I wanted to play golf on the team with my friend even though I never played so I played 50 rounds of golf in one summer to try out for the team. I am willing to put in the work when I set my mind to it. 
• Personable - I've always gone up to people and have tried to get to know them and their backgrounds. I am able to make connections between different friend groups and try to understand people beyond simple introductions. 
• Education - I am taking graduate coursework that has allowed me to understand how businesses operate, how to value businesses, how to raise capital, etc. Finance is a critical component of many startups and a reason why many of them fail. 
• Experience - I have had an accounting internship, a financial sales internship and a commercial banking internship. Accounting, sales and banking are critical areas for businesses and my experience working with companies would allow me to have a better understanding on entrepreneurship. 

2. Main questions: If you had to describe me in 3 words what would you say about me? Do you think  my education or experience is more of an asset? Am I more curious or more ambitious? What is one flaw about me? 

• Interview 1: Melissa 
• https://vocaroo.com/i/s0nWaDY32blz
• Melissa said that I am very intelligent with a curious mind. She also said that I am kind and able to talk to people. This is similar to what I thought. 

• Interview 2: Emilia 
• https://vocaroo.com/i/s03eLm0DCdYv
• Emilia indicated that the 3 words she would use to describe me are intelligent, kind, and resourceful. Kind relates to personable, intelligent relates to my experience/education and resourceful is related to ambition. 

• Interview 3: Jennifer 
• https://vocaroo.com/i/s18Ei9lxE2Z0
• Jennifer says that I am more curious than ambitious because I always look up things. I personally would like to be more ambitious. 

• Interview 4: Harrison 
• https://vocaroo.com/i/s0QpdsPFPnoZ
• Harrison said that what makes me most unique is my ability to constantly learn. I would say this is most related to curiosity. 

• Interview 5: Nick 
• https://vocaroo.com/i/s02M1oHSQFyw
• Nick mentioned that I am well-rounded because I play sports and fly airplanes. I think those activities relate to curiosity and ambition to do what I enjoy. 

3. Reflect on differences 

I would say overall all the people that know me first say that I like to learn or that I am curious. People thought my experience of internships, golfing, and flying airplanes were very unique to me. Furthermore, several mentioned that I am well-rounded which I agree with as well. While I am not amazing at any one thing, overall I can talk to people and manage to get decent grades/results in my achievements. One of them said that I was kind which I didn't think of right away but I guess that relates to me being interested in others. I would like to continue working on being kind and empathetic to others. 

15A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

Interviewees:
Mom: 56 years old, drives Lexus SUV
Dad: 59 years old, drives BMW
Greg: 44 years old, drives Nissan Altima

1. Alternatives - price, quality, style, other factors
Both of my parents indicated that a combination of price and quality was important when choosing a sunshade (the main alternative). They both bought the alternatives at Costco where that combination provided the best value. However, even though their cars are very hot during the day they forgot to put in the sunshades. Furthermore, my mom does not like the style of the shiny gray sunshade and how it takes up room in the back of her car. Greg actually uses side window sunshades that are there permanently and were purchased at Walmart. He does not use a front sunshade. All of the interviewees agreed that they don't know of any other options besides a typical sunshade and therefore buy one at Costco/Walmart etc. for a combination of value and utility.

2. Where do they buy
As I previously mentioned the regular sunshades were bought at Costco and Walmart (retail locations) in person. Sunshades range from $5 - $25 usually and are purchased with cash. If I were to relate this to my product I would agree that customers are B2C, purchase in cash, and purchase in person. Automobile products tend to be hard to ship (or expensive) and people are very tangible with their desires to modify their car.

3. Post-purchase evaluation
For the prices discussed above all three subjects said they did not regret buying them. They all bought the products during a particular hot time while they were thinking about it at the store. In other words no one went to the store just for this product. Greg did say that the suction cups always come off with the heat and that makes the purchase a little frustrating. My mom says the sunshade is not big enough for her windshield so that is also frustrating. My dad mentioned that it doesn't fold in half so if he has people in the backseat it has to go in the trunk (where he proceeds to forget about it).

4. Summary/conclusion
Overall people buy sunshades when they are thinking about it at the store in retail locations. Overall all three interviewees thought their purchases were average but had no regrets. The price is such that they are not expecting much and if it helps with heat a few times that is good enough. However, if an automatic sunshade was on the market and it could be communicated that it wouldn't take up any room in the back seat and you would never have to remember to put it up (and deal with the hassle) then people would pay a premium for this.

14A - Halfway Reflection

1. Tenaciousness is a competency. I agree that you can learn to work hard and to be tenacious. I used to let the smallest mistakes set me back or allow me to give up on that specific goal. Since then I have come to realize that not getting into a certain club or job the first time is just motivation to work harder to get in or make yourself a better candidate for other areas. Over college and in this course I have developed a few behaviors to get my work done. First and foremost is to have a great spot to study where you are most comfortable. For me this has been downtown Gainesville at a coffee shop with a friend. Second is to find a friend in the class because talking about the assignments makes you want to try hard on them and discuss the work you have done. It is also a great way to keep up with due dates. Lastly I try to give it my all by working ahead and having fun with the assignments. 
2. Tenaciousness is also about attitude. About a month into the semester I had two other tests and the last thing I wanted to do was my entrepreneurship homework. I felt like giving up by simply skipping those assignments. I actually talked to my mom during this and she told me about how she was working a 12 hour day as a nurse and going to volunteer afterwards and that made me stop feeling sorry for myself. My mom is always supportive and she gave me the little boost of energy I needed to study hard and get the assignments done. I feel like I have developed a tenacious attitude over the past two months because I know I can complete all the assignments thrown my way now. 
3. Three tips. Developing the tenacious mindset is easiest when you are happy with who you are. My first piece of advice is to have 20 minutes of “me” time everyday. For most people this is in the morning and includes some reflection or meditation or working out. In regards to fostering the skills to support tenacity I would suggest joining 2 to 3 clubs in college but not for your resume, rather to find what you are passionate about. Choose what you are most passionate about and find the people you really enjoy working with then work to become the leader or involved member at that organization. This will develop you more than you realize as you enjoy what you are doing. Lastly, I would suggest setting a time for ENT to keep up with lectures and make sure to take notes. The professor will mention Gator alumni that I didn’t know we had and will give you a mindset to think about things outside of the class - pay attention to why he is teaching and not just what. 

Tiger woods showed tenacity by winning after 5 years. 

13A - Reading Reflection No. 1

I read Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike. He came up with the idea at the Stanford MBA program when he wrote a business plan for a class talking about bringing cheap and high quality shoes from Japan to sell in the US. After school he asked for his dad's money to travel to Asia to experience culture and witness the manufacturing. He ended up getting a meeting with the CEO of the main Japanese shoe manufacturer and told him he would like to be the distributor of their Japanese shoes and to his surprise he said yes. He made up his company name "Blue Ribbon" and started the business. He sent the first shoes to his track coach from Oregon and the coach liked them so much he became the co-founder. Through both of their hard work over many years and connections with runners/athletes they were able to build a successful shoe distribution company. Eventually, they started manufacturing/creating their own designs and creating jerseys/other apparel to create a booming business with over $30 billion in sales annually. 

1. I was most surprised by how poor the actual gross sales were when he started the business. His first batch of shoes took almost a year to sell and his first year of business grossed around $8,000. It also surprised me how much capital he needed (over a million dollars) early on to fund the purchasing of 20,000+ shoes at a time. I most admired his ability to stick through the hardships. He thought about quitting at multiple times and even got another job at PwC as an accountant, but this was to help fund his business. This one is tough but I least admired when he stole his Japanese distributors information out of a briefcase at a meeting to figure out if they were working with another distributor. He was able to figure out some important information and pivot from that company but I think there is an ethical issue with that. Phil encountered countless adversity and failures but he learned from every mistake. Just getting in business and getting the brand out required him to takes years of no salary and living like a true entrepreneur. Trying to overcome two large lawsuits, one with the US government required him to remain tenacious. He ordered shoes that failed to meet the requirements and was short of capital on the brink of failure, but overcame all of this by working hard. 

2. Phil talked about a little bit of luck to get to where he is today. But his core competencies of hard work, being a team player, and surrounding himself with the right people paid off. He talked about when you are young and you don't have much to lose, it is best to go for broke because it is the best time in your life to give it your all. He stresses that if you have an idea you should give it your all because even if you fail you will learn a lot. The way he describes being a team player is to let people do their own work. Instead of telling them what to do he always gave people the end goal and let them be creative with how they got there. Lastly, he surrounded himself with smart business people who were motivated and had a diverse set of ideas. 

3. I was a little confused by the legal settlements with the US government and what exactly it was for. He was able to get the $30 million dollar fine expunged because he knew someone that had connections in the government. 

4. I would ask him what is the biggest risk he took in his whole life. I would be interested if it was simply starting the company or if it was a personal decision outside of business. I would also ask him how his work and personal life balance shifted as the business grew. It seems like he always worked very hard but perhaps he got better at balancing both.

5. Phil (the entrepreneur) constantly talks about hard work but I truly thinks he wants people to have fun with their work. He stresses the importance of finding your own path and pursuing all your goals because that will allow you to want to work hard and be successful. I certainly agree with this viewpoint.

12A - Finding Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Segment: 30-45 males and females driving a new or used car worth $25,000 or more

Interview 1: Amy – Amy is in the target market and drives an SUV. She lives in Florida and believes the need is most salient when the temperature is 90 degrees of higher. She also notices that when she does not park in the shade it is even worse. She currently has sun shades you pull up on the side windows that do not work very well to keep the heat out. However, she has no front window sunshade because she has not gotten around to buying one. She indicated she had not used Google to search for one but has looked at them in Walmart and had owned one in the past.

Interview 2: John – John was younger than my target market but drove a car right around the threshold. John indicated he was younger and enjoyed having all the windows on his car tinted very heavily (except the front one). However, he said he would buy a single automatic sunshade for his front windshield. He said he probably would not look this up on Google because it is something he only thinks of when it is really hot. He mentioned it would be nice if the car came with it.

Interview 3: Gordon – Gordon is my friend up North and gave me insight into the cold weather issues. He said having some sort of heating shade inside of the car that melted ice before getting in the vehicle would be a great idea. He mentioned he didn’t know if it would actually work but that he has looked up products in the past that don’t seem to work that well from the reviews.

The findings: It seems that most people are valuing the front sunshade because they may have tinted windows or side shades. The first two were not adamant in searching for a sunshade but said they were still interested. John mentioned that it would be nice if it came stock on the car. Gordon said the idea was fantastic for the cold weather but it might be hard to convince people it works.

The conclusion: Overall the idea has worth but might require a lot of marketing expense. Ultimately, it would be best to work with high end car manufacturers that can afford to install these for $500 or so on new cars. This would allow the consumer to buy a luxury vehicle without having to convince them of its worth because they would see how it works when buying. It could also be a good selling point.

11A – Idea Napkin No. 1

1)    You. I am a combined degree BA and MSF finance major at the University of Florida in my third year of studies. My talents tend to be related to critically thinking about businesses in the market and communicating with others. This past summer I walk in New York with JP Morgan analyzing businesses in the commercial banking segment. This next summer I will be an investment banking analyst with Jefferies analyzing M&A and capital raises for all types of companies. If I were to start this business I would use my experience to connect with successful people I know in the field to seek advice and raise capital. I would probably keep my other job until I have enough capital/confidence to commit to the company full time.

2)    What are you offering to customers? I want customers to think of our name when it comes to making cars more comfortable in a sense. I am going on the assumption that people care about their cars and care about being comfortable. My main products will revolve around solving the hot and cold temperatures that affect the person getting into the vehicle and the vehicle’s condition. I would sell an automatic sunshade for the front and back windows, and possibly the side windows that would work when you lock your car. Additionally, I would sell an app that allows heating and cooling of the car before getting in the vehicle using a timed app on the iPhone.

3)    Who are you offering it to? I am offering it to male and females between the ages of 30-45 with a car value above $20,500 (used and new). I am assuming that people in this age range with this type of car would be willing to pay for a high-quality product(s). All the customers (hopefully) value comfort/luxury while wanting to take care of their expensive cars.

4)    Why do they care? I believe customers will actually pay money or buy new cars with automatic sunshades because it is a need I have identified with the interviews I have hosted. Most of the interviews have been with college students who may not have the money or type of car necessary for this but I believe with my demographic people would be willing to pay $200-500 a sunshade depending on the car.

5)    What are your core competencies? As a college student I lack many core competencies such as extensive experience. I also lack engineering experience. However, I have a large network of people way smarter than me and I am willing to work hard to achieve my goals.

I would say most of these aspects work together in a general sense. It would be even better if my background was suited towards product development or automobiles in general, but I believe after interviewing people I have confirmed a need or at least desire for the product or group of products. I also believe if I committed to this idea I would have the necessary ambition and general understanding of business to accomplish my goals.