22A - Elevator Pitch No. 3

Here is my third elevator pitch. I did not receive any feedback on my second one so I basically kept the same format. I am thankful for any feedback.

https://youtu.be/Sqd6qrktghc

21 - Reading Reflection No. 2 

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

The general theme of thinking fast and slow is that there is two thought processes. The first one is fast and instinctive, and reacts automatically to situations. The second one requires thinking and is more complex. It involves reasons and believes about what you believe to be true. For example, it would be deciding to increase your natural walking pace because you want to get places faster. 

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

I think that thinking fast and slow connected with ENT 3003 because there are always two sides of your brain working towards the decision you make. One of them is completely natural while one of them involves more logic. System one is usually enough for simple situations but when thinking is when system two comes into play. With ENT 3003 your ideas come to you naturally but then you have to engage system two to bring your ideas to fruition. 

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

If I had to design an exercise for class I would have students write down their favorite things about being a Florida Gator on gameday. Then I would have them contrast this with all the bad things they can think about on gameday. System one thinks about all the good times that you have had while system two thinks about what it actually good or bad during gameday. 

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 was surprised that system two is incapable of failure due to the inability to judge the facts of the situation. This is a result of ignorance and laziness where the logical part of the brain will not make up for the impulsive side when you do not have the required knowledge barrier. 

20A - Growing Your Social Capital 

1. Chuck (Domain Expert) - BMW Sales Representative who has helped me with all my car issues and understands the products really well. His background has always been working with and selling cars. I contacted Chuck over the phone because he is back home in Naples at my local dealership. I established social capital by asking him to help me with my idea for a class. He was able to explain what BMW already has (heating and cooling on timer) but without an app, and also that he thinks this would be a great idea to put in the actual manufacturing of the cars. He always sees sunshades in people's car but knows they don't use them because they have to replace the interior liner after 5-10 years. Chuck will help me make connections with BMW employees and understand what people want in a luxury vehicle. 

2. Megan (Market Expert) - 30 year old female who drives a car worth over $20,500 and has done market research on her friends for other products (beauty). I called her because she lives in Orlando. My sister is just inside my target market and drives a car that would be considered luxury. She is on the forward trend of innovation and sells products (granted not car products) to those in my market. For example, she owns a robot vacuum and finds deals to order UberEats/Postmates for free several nights a week with specials. I asked her what she thought of my product and after having to explain it for a couple of minutes she thought it was a great idea and something she would buy. She did mention that many of her friends would buy it but might have to explain in detail what it does for them. As I have found this will require high marketing budgets. 

3. Thomas (Supplier) - AutoNation which sells to many repair shops around Naples, FL. Thomas loves cars and is an expert in supplying aftermarket parts. I could use him to sell my aftermarket sunshades to customers because he would best be able to explain how they help and how to install them. I called him over the phone and asked him to explain his role as a supply expert. He was very impressed that I called him and in exchange gave me some great advice. He said to find someone who has engineered car products in the past and is with a reputable firm now. Give them equity because you will need their expertise to get the company going. From there, use suppliers like AutoNation to distribute. Going forward I might need his help to get AutoNation on board. 

Finally: Reflect. I have been to many networking events and have tried to improve my networking skills overtime. I agree that it is easy to stand there and not ask any questions. I have definitely done this in the past, especially when I don't have good questions. For this assignment I was able to have good questions and goodwill that will improve my networking going forward. 

19A - Idea Napkin No. 2

1. You. I am a junior at the University of Florida in the Masters of Finance combined degree program. I am 20 years old and I am a male. My talents are finance/accounting and communicating effectively with others. My skills include the Microsoft Suite, the Bloomberg terminal, and understanding the markets. Experiences include JP Morgan working with companies and a previous accounting internship. My aspirations are to work in finance until I get enough personal capital to invest in entrepreneurial ideas. I see the business I want to start as fitting in well to my desires because I will understand the finances really well and will have enough capital down the road to fund it. 

2) What are you offering to customers? My company will sells products and services to make cars more comfortable. My main product is an automatic sunshade that will automatically go down and up when you lock and unlock you car. This product will sell for $200-500 depending on the shape of the window and how much work it is to produce. I will also try to partner with a car manufacturer to put it in their new automobiles offering customers a better alternative to buy a new car. I will also offer a service through an app where it will connect to your car and you can set timers to heat or cool your car in advance of getting in. Another product I thought of is actually a non automatic sunshade that would stay in place on the top of your window and you could manually slide it up and down to click it in place. This opens up my market and I could sell it for closer to $50. That is also why I changed my company name to EasyShade from AutomaticShade. 

3) Who are you offering it to? My target market is ages 30-45 (male or female) with cars worth more than $20,500 (new or used). I assuming this market will be willing to spend $50-500 to help make their cars more comfortable and to stop the elements from making the car less valuable over time. My customers value ease and the use of technology to improve their lives. They understand the value of making their car luxurious. My customers all have the desire to feel and be innovative and young. 

4) Why do they care? Customers will pay to use this product because it is helping them in a variety of ways. First off, the sunshade makes the car much more comfortable temperature wise. Second, the app makes this even better will pre timed heating and cooling. And lastly, it protects the value of the car over time (i.e. the cloth lining of the car melting off). 

5) What are your core competencies? I am an ambitious young 20 year old that understands finance very well (going to work on Wall Street). However, I lack engineering experience and experience in starting a business. What nobody else has is my unique network of connections which include entrepreneurs, people with money to fund ideas, and engineers. I would rely on this heavily. 

I believe these elements fit in together for the most part. The weakest part is that the founder of the business (me) has no extensive automobile experience, engineering background, or any idea how to start an actual business. Overall though I feel like I could make up these shortcomings with my network of friends and that I can get through with my basic understanding of business. 

Feedback Memo: 

I received one comment on my original idea napkin. The two main points that I took away were to flesh out the desire of why customers would want this and to better explain what I am offering. I incorporated this in numbers 2 and 3 by adding more detail. 

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.