30A - Final Reflection

1. It was nice to be able to go to one consolidated blog to see all the work I have done this semester. It was definitely a lot of work but it didn't seem too bad doing a little bit every week.

2. My most formative experience was taking the time towards the end of the semester for Venture Concept 1. I was able to take all of the work this semester and actually put together a mini business plan. I think I had a lot of good ideas such as licensing overseas, partnering with a brand manufacturer and creating a hand sunshade for $50. My most joyous occasion was interviewing a stranger in the industry and getting really good feedback. I am most proud of myself for sticking with it and working to develop the idea.

3. I would love to say I am an entrepreneur but without any experience I am probably just moving towards an entrepreneurial mindset. I would love to continue thinking of ways to innovate and coming up with ideas. This semester I have noticed myself thinking of different ideas and thinking if they would be viable ideas. These assignments allow you to shoot ideas down that don't work early or continue to think of innovations.

4. I would recommend students to spend the first part of the class really thinking about things they are passionate about and make a list of those. Then think of your favorite and least favorite things about those passions and try to come up with how you could improve. This will allow you to perform your best because you will care about the idea. Also, set alarms on Monday's and Friday's to remember assignments. To foster the right mindset always be thinking about ideas to improve your daily life and talk to friends.



I am passionate about flying airplanes and my product revolved around cars so maybe there will be a flying car in the future!

29A - Venture Concept No. 2

1. Venture Concept revised 

My company is called EasyShade and our mission is to provide used and new cars with the most high tech and easy to use sunshades in the world. Our products include an automatic sunshade, a fixed sunshade that would be pulled down with your hands, and an app that would allow pre-timed heating and cooling of your vehicle. 

The Opportunity:
Market Size 

There is almost one car for every person in the United States! That is about 300 million vehicles driving around the US. Everyone knows what a sunshade is but the age old problem is that people are too lazy to use them. Sunshades allow for a cooler car and protect the interior of your car. Our product is high tech and actually works, plus it is automatic! Our target market is 30-50 year old males and females with cars worth more than $25,000 new or used. A conservative estimate puts this at about 25 million vehicles. I would sell the non-automatic sunshade at $50 and the automatic sunshades for $200-500. At an average price of $200 this puts the total market size at $5 billion. Assuming we are unique and could obtain 50% of the market share this could be a huge opportunity. 

The Need

The nature of the need is that people like their vehicles and like being comfortable, therefore, they will pay for this. One negative force in the environment is that there is more public transport, however, I would sell shades to buses/trains as well. I am defining the market in the US but would like to license the idea overseas. This would allow me to save money on marketing but collect royalties while focusing on the US. I am going off the premise that people are not loyal to their current sunshades. However, I am also assuming most people see the value in a sunshade which may or may not be true. The window of opportunity should stay open if I can get a patent and partner with new cars being manufactured.

Innovation:
I am taking an existing product and reinventing the wheel so to say. I have a group of products with the main one being sunshades. The automatic sunshade could be sold in the aftermarket or in new car manufacturers. It would be sold for $200. I would also sell a sunshade that would attach to your windshield permanently and could be pulled out by hand for $50. This would appeal to a wide array of the market as well. The automatic sunshade would be installed at a shop or by yourself and would automatically go down when you lock your car. It would rely on a sensor in your car that knows when your car locks and would trigger the sunshade. My sunshades also come with an app that I will build out. This app would allow you to login and remotely turn on heating and cooling before getting in. This product duo is my version of innovation. 

Venture Concept:
Marketing

My desire is to bring my sunshade and app innovation to the market to help people improve their cars and feel more comfortable. I think it will be decently easy to get people to switch because they can buy the hand one for $50 or the automatic for $200, both of which are way easier than taking one on and off that may not even fit the windshield. A possible weakness is having enough capital to fund inventory and figure out the distribution strategy. One of the things I thought of from feedback was having a better marketing plan. Maybe I could partner with Subaru for their outdoor commercials and new line of cars and give them an exclusive deal or contract. 

Competition/Team

Competitors include current options, car manufacturers, and other auto aftermarket suppliers. The packaging will have to be superb and display the product well. Distribution online will be the most profitable but might require online marketing. I would possibly create some funny videos and try to go viral. My desire is to create a luxury brand and get people talking about the product. I would hope to have around 15-20 employees in marketing, finance, social media, engineering, and operations. Another idea I have is to enter the UF Gator Plan lab and partner with the engineering team including UF engineering students to see if they can help my actually develop the product. I would also recruit my friend who does film/social media to start working on videos. 

Other: 

My most important resource will be my ability to network with others and see the whole process come together. My secret sauce will be my ability to combine the automatic sunshade/ hand sunshade with the app. The ability to integrate these two will be hard to imitate. What's next is to try and get a MVP by talking to engineering students here at UF and possibly try to enter the UF business plan competition. Assuming I launch I would want to grow the business internationally and sell in 5 years to pursue other investment ideas for the remaining decades. This helps my company achieve profitability early because I am planning sell. 

2. Summary of feedback from previous description. 

I received one comment from on my Venture Concept No. 1 that talked about a couple of main points. First, the cheaper hand pulled sunshade ($50) that stays on your windshield is a good idea. Second, the products will be somewhat easy to market but marketing is definitely important. Lastly, a good mechanical engineer is a must so I will comment on finding one. 

3. I changed my venture concept from the feedback by bolstering my marketing plan to make sure I can create a big market and grow as fast as possible. I also talked about how I would find engineers and others to create a good team. I also tried to break it up in more categories. 

4. Picture:

I decided to include this picture going back to the second point of feedback about the importance of marketing. I would probably try to partner with an outdoor type car company like Subaru in their commercials because as you can tell this car is in the sun and could use my product. It would be awesome for the commercial to say "now in our new line an automatic sunshade."