Week 8 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise for me in the reading was reading that venture capitalists expect such high rates of returns. To me that seems like an immature expectation from an investment perspective, where time-tested investment practices for venture capitalists would show a reasonable return to be prudent.

I was confused by that same venture capitalist expectation on returns. I would ask the author why venture capitalists in general demand such high returns when it's far more likely that success will be achieved through even normal returns. I would also ask the author for an average rate expected from venture capitalists.

I didn't feel the author was wrong on any aspects in this chapter.

Half-way Reflection

This course has been challenging from a time management perspective. I missed a couple assignments just because I wasn't on top of the due dates. I knew the assignments were looming but I still missed them. I actually did all of the video interviews for one and somehow forgot to "Declare" after "Sharing". I learned a lot from that experience and have developed a better sense of time management, which has since helped in this course.

I did feel like giving up when I went through the process of doing the interviews and somehow forgot to "Declare". However, I accepted the knock on the chin and and understood that it was still a great learning experience, both in the interview process and in the process of crossing all the t's and dotting all the i's.

Three tips I would offer to future students for tenacity would be: 1) stay on top of the assignments; 2) get ahead of the assignments as much as you can; and 3) don't be shy, as you'll find that the more you're in front of strangers asking them questions that matter to you, the less shy you'll become.

The Twenty Percent

The first business owner I spoke to was a veterinarian. Her target customers are "friendly, long-term clients with one or two family animals". From a needs perspective, she said there is a current trend she's seeing where travel for animals internationally often requires too much time for travelers and they end up boarding instead, even though they intended to travel with their pets. She finds customers through light advertising on her website and through word of mouth. Her target demographic is domestic pet owners in the middle class to upper class who can afford top tier veterinary services. Her customers typically find veterinary services through word of mouth.

The second business owner I spoke to was an interesting Digital Marketing agency owner. His target customers are "Fortune 1000 customers embarking on transformation changes in their Digital presence". He set an unmet need for potential customers is the gap between the people who can handle the technology and the people who understand the business. He finds customers through "Requests For Proposals" (RFPs) and through the clients he already has. Customer demographics for him are Fortune 1000 companies. His target customers read the Forrester and Gartner reports as well as popular Digital websites to find agencies to work with.

The third business owner I spoke with assembles bicycles for companies like Walmart. His target customers are large resellers of bicycles. The need he sees is "ready-to-go bicycles in bulk". He finds his customers through the reseller network he has. The demographics vary greatly for him, from lower income to high income customers buying specialty bikes. His customers read the reseller materials to find the bikes that he assembles for them.

Week 7 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise for me in the reading was the nugget about the Miller Lite ads. I remember the mud-wrestling ads, but I'm surprised to learn that those ads did not actually increase sales. When I think about it though it does make sense as they were appealing to an existing strong customer segment of theirs.

I was confused by the need to get so granular with segments. Don't large customer segments hold tremendous value, for large campaign efforts? I would ask the author to clarify that notion, and I would also ask the author to provide specific examples where a more granular segmentation effort has been successful.

I don't think the author was actually wrong on any topics.

Week 6 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise for me in the reading was that rivalry can be destructive to a business in many scenarios. If someone would've asked me prior to the reading I would've said that rivalry almost always resulted in progress and innovation.

I was somewhat confused by the author's highlighted statement, "Faced with pressures to gain market share or enamored with innovation for its own sake, managers can spark new kinds of competition that no incumbent can win". That is a mouthful but somewhat unclear. The subsequent reading did not clarify that section for me much either.

I would ask the author what the section mentioned above is intended to convey. Is the message intended to be that innovation into new areas can overcome existing businesses already thriving in those new areas? Is the message intended to be that incumbents in a current area will not thrive into new areas without innovation?

I do not disagree with any of the author's messaging.

Idea Napkin No. 1

I am a low risk taker who is great at problem solving and providing solutions to complex challenges. I'm persistent and thorough, but need to be able to focus to do my best work. This product allows me to solve for the intense technical challenges it presents and I could dedicate time in my life up front to make it happen. As it succeeds I can balance my life by delegating ongoing activity to employees.

The product allows customers to manage the electrical efficiency of their pool pumps, which historically just turn on and off on a relatively inefficient schedule.

I'm offering the product to swimming pool owners.

Swimming pool owners care because pool pump electricity costs are significant, one of of the more expensive electrical devices in the home.

I have a long history in technology and also in pool ownership. I'm keen on emerging technologies and how the data that IoT devices drive can be used to make significant changes in the physical world.

I do believe these all fit together well, though I'm pretty weak on the part where my life improves with this venture. I have to work on that.

Week 5 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise for me in the reading was that you don’t actually have to have a working product in order to get a patent. Just the concept alone, with the right detail, can be enough to secure a patent.

I was a little confused by what actually constitutes intellectual property. How do you know for sure that your idea is complete enough to be considered intellectual property?

I would ask the author to better clarify intellectual property as a defined term, because I’m confused about that even after reading the material. I would also ask about average costs for patent research, because I don’t have a feel for what it would take financially to get a patent.

I don’t feel the author was wrong about any topics.

Elevator Pitch No. 1

My elevator pitch is for Drift, a pool pump automation device that optimizes energy efficiency for swimming pool pumps.