30A--Final Reflection

As this class has gone through its course this semester there have certainly been some real ups and downs. I think the most formative experiences I've had in this course were the countless takes of my elevator pitches.I learned that doing something poorly a first time is something you can use to improve. Something I'll remember for years later is all of the people I had to go around campus interviewing for all of our assignments. My most joyous moment in the class is actually right this moment. I am happy to have gone on this journey and learn entrepreneurial values along the way, which is something I'm most proud of. I've undoubtedly moved myself closer to becoming a real entrepreneur in comparison to the beginning of the semester. My recommendation to future students of this course is to take it seriously as you may learn a thing or two from it. I suggest that they ensure they are on top of their deadlines because every point matters in this class. To foster an entrepreneurial mindset they should wake up everyday with the goal of being better then they were the day before. 

29A--Venture Concept No.2

Opportunity
Who has the need: People who are hardcore soccer fans that have a need to view games through a convenient means.

Nature of the need: Many soccer fans pay for expensive channel subscriptions watch streams that are clunky and lag.

Streaming is becoming more popular than ever before and as such is an opportunity that is well worth being jumped on. On top of this, soccer is still the most viewed sport in the world.

Geographically they don't have to be anywhere specific besides a place that has Internet connection to stream matches. Demographically there's no preset for being a fan, however the demographic for streamers is typically 15-24 and male.

Customers right now are fulfilling this need by either purchasing channel subscriptions on TV or streaming on other services such as Reddit. Loyalty to whatever they use depends on its cost.

I think this is a rather large opportunity given the size of the soccer fan population and the exponentially rising popularity of streaming in today's society.

This item will also be around for as long as soccer is still a sport and people are still a fan of it and streaming is still a relevant means of viewing content. Since this is the case I feel that it is important to jump on the idea earl before others think the same thing.


Innovation
The streaming service I am providing is different from others. It is essentially a forum that will contain a wide array of different sub-forums for each soccer match that is going on that day. Viewers will visit a forum for the game they'd like to watch and stream it from the link provided by the streamer(s) in that forum. Creating an account for the website/app is free but revenue will be made through ads that appear on the site/app. Should users decide to, they can pay monthly $7.99 to get rid of ads and gain access to better quality streams.


Venture Concept Customers would switch to my product because they want an affordable way to watch their soccer matches that is also easy to use. TV channel subscriptions are expensive to pay for and Internet streams on sites like Reddit are usually filled with malicious software and poor quality video. Since this is the case I don't think it would be too difficult to make them switch my service provides affordable easy viewing.

My competitors are TV channels that show soccer and streamers on the Internet streaming soccer matches. Weaknesses of Internet streams are that people may see them as no t worth the time as they are typically not great in quality and tend to give computers a hard time with loading and tend to have bugs. The main weakness of TV channel subscriptions is that people may think the large amount of money they need to cough up every month is not worth it.

Given that my product is not actually physical, there will be no packaging hassles to run into. The modes through which I will have my service are through a smart phone app and a website. This is exactly what defines my business concept because the very point behind it is that it is a streaming service.

I intend to hire a decent sized employment team that will be in charge of moderating the individual game forums. Profit gained from the business will go to further developing the service to be as efficient as possible.


The Three Minor ElementsMost important resource: My top resource in this venture is still going to be my knowledge and passion for the sport and more specifically my drive to make this sport a popular one in this country.

What’s next for the venture: As this service grows in size the next opportunity I'd like to tackle is converting non-fans into super-fans. I want people that don't know about the sport to be experts after using my service to watch all the games they want. Something I also may consider for the venture in the future is adding the streaming of other sports to the service such as American football, basketball and more.

What’s next for me: In 5 years I'd like to be seen as a pioneer in not only sport streaming services, but also as a pioneer for soccer advocacy in the United States. I hope that I will be an important part of the history of the sport in the country.

Feedback

The feedback I received was primarily focused on the fact that my human capital, or my extensive knowledge of the sport, was a great resource to have going into my venture. On the other hand, a critique I received was that exclusive sport streaming services are less popular and perhaps I should look into making the venture a multi-sport streaming service. 

Having taken this feedback into real consideration, I decided that I would be adding more sport streams to the service as it grows over the years. 

28A--Your Exit Strategy

The exit strategy I have decided to implement for my venture is to sell it off in around 5-10 years after its inception. The reason for this isn't because I believe the venture will do poorly or that it will begin to decline in that time, but more because I don't see myself making the venture a main part of my life in the foreseeable future. I would like to relieve myself of the responsibility in return for a nice return. Personally I don't feel as if my decision on this exit strategy has or will influence many decisions I make with my venture. I think that the slight influence it will have is just to perhaps not go all in with financial capital as I don't know how risky such actions would be.

27A--Reading Reflection No.3

In essence, the theme of How to Fail At Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams is that failure is a process that people tend to go through many times before striking success. A way I feel the book correlated to our learning in this course was that the book outlines the arguments that failure is something that should be thought of in a positive light as long as you learn from it. This is something Professor Pryor mentioned in lectures. An assignment I could make for this course that ties in with the book is to have students write down a list of some things they'd be willing to possibly fail at if it meant learning from the failure afterward. The biggest surprise I had reading this book was that Adams went through so many different occupations in his life before he finally became such a big success.

26A--Celebrating Failure

An instance in which I failed this past semester (on several occasions) was while playing pick-up soccer on campus. I was not used to the intensity at which people played soccer here as all the soccer I would play was casual with my friends back home. As a result, I was not playing very well and holding on to the ball for too long. This prompted me to play quicker and know what I want to do with the ball before I receive it. Personally I try my hardest to take failure with an optimistic view, and not let it bring me down. This class has taught me that failure is something that shouldn't be viewed as bad as long as you learn something from it. I'm almost certainly more likely to take risks now than I was prior to beginning this course.

24A--Venture Concept No.1

Opportunity
Who has the need: People who are hardcore soccer fans that have a need to view games through a convenient means.

Nature of the need: Many soccer fans pay for expensive channel subscriptions watch streams that are clunky and lag.

Streaming is becoming more popular than ever before and as such is an opportunity that is well worth being jumped on. On top of this, soccer is still the most viewed sport in the world.

Geographically they don't have to be anywhere specific besides a place that has Internet connection to stream matches. Demographically there's no preset for being a fan, however the demographic for streamers is typically 15-24 and male.

Customers right now are fulfilling this need by either purchasing channel subscriptions on TV or streaming on other services such as Reddit. Loyalty to whatever they use depends on its cost.

I think this is a rather large opportunity given the size of the soccer fan population and the exponentially rising popularity of streaming in today's society.

This item will also be around for as long as soccer is still a sport and people are still a fan of it and streaming is still a relevant means of viewing content. Since this is the case I feel that it is important to jump on the idea earl before others think the same thing.


Innovation

The streaming service I am providing is different from others. It is essentially a forum that will contain a wide array of different sub-forums for each soccer match that is going on that day. Viewers will visit a forum for the game they'd like to watch and stream it from the link provided by the streamer(s) in that forum. Creating an account for the website/app is free but revenue will be made through ads that appear on the site/app. Should users decide to, they can pay monthly $7.99 to get rid of ads and gain access to better quality streams.


Venture Concept
Customers would switch to my product because they want an affordable way to watch their soccer matches that is also easy to use. TV channel subscriptions are expensive to pay for and Internet streams on sites like Reddit are usually filled with malicious software and poor quality video. Since this is the case I don't think it would be too difficult to make them switch my service provides affordable easy viewing.

My competitors are TV channels that show soccer and streamers on the Internet streaming soccer matches. Weaknesses of Internet streams are that people may see them as no t worth the time as they are typically not great in quality and tend to give computers a hard time with loading and tend to have bugs. The main weakness of TV channel subscriptions is that people may think the large amount of money they need to cough up every month is not worth it.

Given that my product is not actually physical, there will be no packaging hassles to run into. The modes through which I will have my service are through a smart phone app and a website. This is exactly what defines my business concept because the very point behind it is that it is a streaming service.

I intend to hire a decent sized employment team that will be in charge of moderating the individual game forums. Profit gained from the business will go to further developing the service to be as efficient as possible.

The Three Minor Elements
Most important resource: My top resource in this venture is still going to be my knowledge and passion for the sport and more specifically my drive to make this sport a popular one in this country. 

What’s next for the venture: As this service grows in size the next opportunity I'd like to tackle is converting non-fans into super-fans. I want people that don't know about the sport to be experts after using my service to watch all the games they want. 

What’s next for me: In 5 years I'd like to be seen as a pioneer in not only sport streaming services, but also as a pioneer for soccer advocacy in the United States. I hope that I will be an important part of the history of the sport in the country. 

25A--What's Next?

Existing Market

I think that the next big thing coming in terms of streaming services like my own is making them to be seamless hubs of many diverse sources of information. Interviewee one has told me that we should be prepared to start the facilitation of sponsorship for streams or streamers. Interviewee two told us to be wary of the huge influx of potential streamers we could be getting. Interviewee three informed me that we should also be prepared to fight virus software or malicious computer content that streamers could attempt to plague viewers with. Funnily, all three interviewees told me that they feel consumers will really just be wanting to see an incredibly crisp way to stream; meaning ad-free, popup-free and quick streaming.

Based off of the information I received, the way I'd like to move forward with my venture is simply to keep my original vision in tact and continue to strive to give soccer fans the greatest possible game streaming service on the market. That means giving a hassle free means to viewing a wide array of matches across the globe.

New Market

The primary market I am targeting is hardcore soccer fans that watch the sport on a regular basis (several games a week). That being said, the new market I'd like to go after is people who are not big soccer fans or people who would like to get to know the sport.
I think that my service can create value to this market by providing them with easy access to get to learn a sport they don't know a whole lot about. One person I interviewed suggested I add stream moderators to each stream that can help explain different things about the matches being streamed that the viewer isn't very familiar with. The second interviewee said I should create forums for less knowledgeable fans and one for the experienced ones.

I learned that this market knows very well what I can do to help create the most value for them. I was rather surprised by the fact that they were so eager to learn about the sport and willing to do what it takes to do so. I think that this market certainly has the potential to be just as attractive as my initial one.

23--Unfair Advantage

1. My superior knowledge of the sport of soccer. This is very valuable to a business like mine considering it is based on the sport. There are knowledgeable people on the sport but it is not incredibly common. You cannot copy someone's knowledge, you must learn it yourself. You also cannot substitute knowledge of soccer with anything else because this is precisely what is valuable to the company.
2. I have a close friend who is well experienced with programming (for apps/websites). This is valuable as I don't need to search for someone to do this for me. It is fairly rare because not everyone knows a programmer as a good friend. However, it is certainly something that can be imitated. You can substitute having this friend with hiring a programmer but it will be more costly. 
3. I have the financial capital to startup the business. This is valuable because without the capital you can't really start anything. This isn't rare or inimitable but it is non-substitutable (you need the financial power to start no matter what).
4. My passion for making soccer big in America. This is incredibly valuable and also rather rare. However, it is certainly imitable. Also, you can substitute the reason behind your mission for something else. 
5. My ability to strive for things I'm passionate about. Not super rare and but definitely valuable. That being said, you can imitate this but you can't substitute it. 
6. I can motivate team members to work for a common goal. V- yes, R- no, I- no, N- yes.
7. I have a very strong support team. V-yes, R-no, I- yes, N- yes.
8. I can borrow financial capital from close ones if needed. V-yes, R-no, I-yes, N-no
9. There are many people I can seek out for good advice on an entrepreneurial venture. V-yes, R-yes, I-yes, N- no
10. I have an education from a credible university. V-no, R-yes, I-yes, N-yes

Valuable

Rare

Inimitable

Non-Substitutable

I think my top resource here is my knowledge for soccer. Other than the fact that it is non-substitutable, valuable, inimitable and also fairly rare; soccer knowledge will thoroughly help me tailor my service's experience to the customers liking as best as possible. 

Elevator Pitch 3

The feedback I received on my last pitch suggested I add some enthusiasm and spirit to my delivery, and as such, I tried my best to add that in this rendition of my elevator pitch. I can say with confidence that my pitch is far easier to recite now on this third attempt. I'm far more comfortable in  front of the camera and the overall quality of delivery has increased.

Assignment 21A--Reading Reflection No.2

In essence, the theme of Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter Drucker is that innovation is the specific tool of entrepreneurs, the means by which they exploit change as an opportunity for a different business or a different service. A way I feel the book correlated to our learning in this course was that the book outlines the arguments that entrepreneurs, by definition, shift resources from areas of low productivity and yield to areas of higher productivity and yield. This is something Professor Pryor mentioned in lectures. An assignment I could make for this course that ties in with the book is to have students write down a list of some of the riskiest things they've ever done, which is a reference to the book. The biggest surprise I had reading this book was that Drucker considers the word "innovation" as an economic term rather than a technical one.

Assignment 20--Growing Your Social Capital

1. Given that I want to work in the professional sports industry, Craig Schmitt is the domain expert I have chosen. I met Craig at a club meeting and I learned from there that his occupation at UF is to help students make connections in their respective fields. Since then I've met with him in person to discuss my future. What Craig has done for me is give me invaluable advice to get myself connected in my industry. He expects nothing in return as this is what he does for a living. Having him in my network will only help me network with more people.

2. The market expert I chose was Shelley Lyle, one of the managers for the UF Women's Soccer Team. Craig suggested to me that I email Shelley and so I did. Shelley told me she would try and get me an opportunity with the team. In return I would work to the fullest of my abilities. Having her in my network means I would have been able to get some experience before I get a job in the field.

3. The supplier I emailed was Vanessa Ramos, Operations manager at Miami FC. Mr. Craig Schmitt suggested I shoot her an email. I asked her information on things someone in her positions does on a daily basis at work and she did not expect anything in return. Having her in my network now means I have a professional in the pro soccer scene.

This experience will help me to be more confident in my approach regarding future networking events. Prior to these experiences I've written about I had never really networked with people for the intention of my furthering my career, so that's something different from my past experiences.

Assignment 19--Idea Napkin No.2

So, my name is Jake Mozo and I'm a second year Sport Management major here at UF. I have a huge passion in soccer and I have to say the majority of my talents stem from this area. I like to think I'm a good analyzer of the sport and I love to give opinions and talk about the sport. Aside from that I love video games and I'm pretty gross at FIFA. Regarding my business concept, should it take off I plan it being a big part of my life and in fact I plan on using quite often. I aspire to make soccer viewership an easy thing to do in this country.

What I am offering to the customer is still a website (also accessible through app) that serves as a hub for streams of all matches that go on daily. Individual forums will be created daily for every soccer match that is going on that day and streamers can feel free to post their game streams in those threads. Streams will only be obtained through legal methods (getting rights from television). This allows for consumers to have ease of access when looking for games to watch.

Given that the product comes in the form of a website and app, there is no true geographic segment that I will be specifically after. I am still predicting most of my customers would come from racially diverse areas of America and then Europe as well. Truly, the customers that I am targeting are more than just casual watchers of the sport and watch anywhere from 3-8 games a week

These consumers care because my service provides a clean and user friendly interface for accessing a wide array of soccer matches through internet streaming. It relieves users of pesky bugs and pop ups that they might face while streaming elsewhere. In other words, this is the easy, stress free means of watching all their favorite teams.

Being an enormous soccer fan, and someone who has vast experience in streaming soccer matches, I know exactly how a soccer fan would want a streaming hub to be like. On top of this, having extensive knowledge on the sport I know which matches I should be promoting each day.

Personally I feel that all of the information I made here go hand-in-hand with one another. Two points I took away from my feedback were that I could run into legal issues regarding TV rights and also that the service I am intending to provide is a relevant and necessary one. To address these points I made it clear that rights to these games will be obtained for streaming as well as emphasizing my strongest points from my first idea napkin.

Assignment 17--Elevator Pitch No.2

The feedback I received from my last pitch was crucial in helping me form this one. Something I feel was especially helpful was the advice to speak a bit slower and more calmly. I didn't find any of the feedback to be silly, in fact all of it was well warranted and appreciated too. In this second attempt at my pitch, I tried to use gestures more as well as be more calm in delivery.

Assignment 18--Create a Customer Avatar

The customer avatar I've selected for my product is Tom (made up for purposes of this assignment). Tom is 29 and is a huge soccer fan. He loves to have a glass of draft beer with his buddies at the bar next to the stadium before the games start. When he's not watching games live, he's watching games on TV or through streaming methods. Tom drives a compact car that's good on gas and is a muted color. He doesn't have any kids and tends to lean more towards the democrat/liberal side of the political scale. Tom watches as many soccer matches as he can because he loves to learn about the game everyday and feels a sense of accomplishment in being able to understand the diverse tactics that are employed during these games.

Funnily enough, I have a compact car with a muted color (grey Subaru Impreza) as well. I too watch quite a lot of soccer and I love to really study the way the teams play as it's all quite fascinating to me. Personally I don't think it's a coincidence that we share these things alike because entrepreneurs tend to attempt to solve problems that they themselves face too.

Assignment 16A--What's Your Secret Sauce?

5 ways I feel that I have truly unique human capital are the following:

1. If I am thoroughly interested in a problem, I become very passionate about it which aids in problem solving.
2. I am a great outside the box thinker when it comes to difficult scenarios.
3. My communication skills are strong and I work well in a team environment. I make sure to ask the right questions to find the information I actually need.
4. I don't have a fear of risks and take them if I feel it is what must be done.
5. I tend to think of myself as good at understanding how others feel and as such I am able to understand different scenarios from the views of other people.

This interview is with a friend of mine since elementary school. He spoke about my good work habits and people skills.

This is a friend of mine I've known since 8th grade. He believes I am very dedicated when it comes to getting things done. 

This is my father. He mentions a few strengths of mine as well as things he believe I can work on, such as punctuality.

This interview is with my friend from high school. He tells me that he has always admired my work ethic and determination.

This is another friend of mine that I've known since elementary school. He also praises my work ethic and ability to help others.


Essentially a lot of what my friends and family have told me is similar to what I had thought about myself too. My interviewees are people who have known me for the majority of my life so I feel that they are correct in their words. I don't think I would make any changes to my list because it represents pretty well what my interviewees thought.

15A--Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No.2

Given that my target audience was soccer fans who have a need for watching their soccer matches, I found 3 people who fit that group.

• Interview 1: This interviewee says that when she is looking for matches she typically finds a stream from sites like Reddit. She says it is free and most of the time fairly easy to do. This "transaction" occurs online but no money is ever exchanged. This interviewee says that she feels a bit guilty after streaming the games as it is typically illegal.
• Interview 2: Interviewee 2 tells me that the means through which they watch their soccer games by subscribing to channels that televise these leagues. He says it is worth it because it's legal and the quality is great. The transaction is done online and is a monthly payment service. He told me that he feels good after purchasing because he has a clear conscience. 
• Interview 3: The third interview has told me that his go-to method of watching games is streaming. He said it was because it was the only way he knew how to do as he's never been bothered into looking into subscriptions. Again this is done online but no money is exchanged. He informed me he doesn't feel guilty or think much of the situation after streaming.

It seems this segment may tend to shy away from high price services or services that tend to be more complicated. That being said they also seem to have a bit of a guilty conscience for streaming for perhaps a service such as my own could give them a legal means of streaming for their matches at minimal levels of complexity.

Assignment 14A--Halfway Reflection

A behavior I've used, and more importantly developed while taking this course, is proper time management. The assignments given weekly take time to do (especially those requiring interviews, videos, etc.).Since that's the case, I've found that it's imperative that you get head starts throughout the week otherwise you'll just be stressing on Friday nights.

While it certainly wasn't the end of the world, earlier this semester I had missed our first cupcake because I didn't realize they were due at noon. Though it was only one point, I was thoroughly disappointed in myself because this is a class I feel I'm fully capable of getting an A in. Since then I've done my cupcakes on Sundays after watching the lectures from that week. Experiences such as these have helped me develop a more tenacious attitude in the past two months.

Three tips I can give to future students of this course are the following:

• Develop a good sense of time management. This is crucial for you as these are assignments are no joke.
• Should something go awry on your journey (poor grade, missed an assignment, etc.) do not sulk, but instead realize that it was an opportunity to learn something that you should avoid next time around.
• Create a mindset that you will finish this class with an A from the get-go and don't let anything come between you and that 95+ points.

Assignment 13A--Reading Reflection No.1

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

by Ashlee Vance

Having read the biography from Ashlee Vance on Elon Musk, I learned a number of things. Something that particularly surprised me was that Musk actually had a complicated childhood according to the book. In fact, he was viciously bullied in school as well as emotionally abused by his father. What I was impressed about was that Musk sold his first company ZipX for a whopping $307M in cash. Something I admired a little less was the fact that he had to lay off 9% of Tesla's workforce in order to make strides toward real profit. Admittedly, though, these are some of the necessary actions that are taken in the life of an entrepreneur. Musk encountered a troubling childhood and as such he moved from South Africa to Canada to study at Queens University and sequentially the University of Pennsylvania. He then seized the opportunity of the rising internet age to create his own company.

I noticed that Musk was particularly adept at overcoming adversity. Overcoming a struggle filled past, he then established himself as a multimillionaire in his twenties. 

Something that left me a bit confused is why Musk went back on his decision to make his company private. It seems that the backlash of having made that announcement was too much and as such he reversed the decision.

Personally what I would like to know from Musk resides in these two questions: How much of an impact did criticism hold in forming you to be the man you are today? And how much of an impact does it hold now? I'd like to know this information because first hand experience from a self made millionaire can help give me some insight on becoming an entrepreneur myself.

After reading the biography I now have an idea of what it is Musk might define as hard work, which is something I'd agree on: It is the ability to overcome adversity even when it may seem futile.

Assignment 12--Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No.1

The segment I chose to go after were soccer fans who have a need for streaming their soccer matches and attend the University of Florida.

• Interviewee 1: This interviewee tells me that his need arises when he is scrambling at last minute to find a stream for the game he wants to watch right before it starts. I was informed by him that when this happens to him he tries to look on sites like Reddit for streams or and will often google the name of the teams playing to see if he can find a stream.
• Interviewee 2: The need that this interviewee has arises when he is not looking for a particular match and has no place to view a wide array of them. He solves this by looking up "soccer matches today" but even then there is no links to streams provided to him at that point. Thus, he needs to search individually for a stream.
• Interviewee 3: This person's need came up when trying to access a stream he was berated by ads and pop ups and says he'd prefer it not to happen. He says he usually gets it fixed by refreshing the page a few times. 

I've learned from my interviews that these are all needs that I predicted customers in this segment would have. That being the case, I think that consumers in this segment would be willing to invest in my service that will cater to all of these needs. The need awareness is high because it is something that people in the segment noticeably run into often. The people in this segment are also relatively adept in terms of information search.

Assignment 11-Idea Napkin No.1

1. So, my name is Jake Mozo and I'm a second year Sport Management major here at UF. I have a huge passion in soccer and I have to say the majority of my talents stem from this area. I like to think I'm a good analyzer of the sport and I love to give opinions and talk about the sport. Aside from that I love video games and I'm pretty gross at FIFA. Regarding my business concept, should it take off I plan it being a big part of y life and in fact I plan on using quite often.

2. What I am offering to the customer is a website (also accessible through app) that serves as a hub for streams of all matches that go on daily. Individual forums will be created daily for every soccer match that is going on that day and streamers can feel free to post their game streams in those threads. This allows for consumers to have ease of access when looking for games to watch.

3. Given that the product comes in the form of a website and app, there is no true geographic segment that I will be specifically after. I would predict most of my customers would come from racially diverse areas of America and then Europe as well. Truly, the customers that I am targeting are more than just casual watchers of the sport and watch anywhere from 3-8 games a week.

4. These consumers care because my service provides a clean and user friendly interface for accessing a wide array of soccer matches through internet streaming. It relieves users of pesky bugs and pop ups that they might face while streaming elsewhere. In other words, this is the easy, stress free means of watching all their favorite teams.

5. Being an enormous soccer fan, and someone who has vast experience in streaming soccer matches, I know exactly how a soccer fan would want a streaming hub to be like. On top of this, having extensive knowledge on the sport I know which matches I should be promoting each day.

Personally I feel that the skills I have in my belt don't necessarily mean I will be an excellent website or app maker but I do feel that my background and passion in the sport will give me an edge that others would be lacking should they decide to pursue a similar idea. I think that my product is a good idea, and if marketed to the right segment(s), it could be a hit.

Assignment 9--Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Who: With this round of interviews I was less fortunate when it came to finding people who would be thoroughly interested in the product themselves. Three of my interviewees (all on campus) gave me very similar responses in that they themselves were not invested enough into the sport to purchase the product however they did know people that were big fans and would be heavily interested. Another person I interviewed was a foreign student from London and informed me that the product would be something they were very interested in. My last interviewee was also a soccer fan, however, he told me that he probably would not be largely interested in purchasing because he is fine with streaming the games he wants to watch illegally.
What: It seems that the need to have this  product solely depends on the fact of whether or not the consumer is a fan of the sport/interested enough in it to buy it.
Why: The underlying cause for outsiders and insiders doesn't change; it has to do with if the given consumer has a need to have a one-stop-shop for European soccer league matches.

Inside the boundary                                                                           Outside the boundary
Who is in                                                                                          Who is not in
Fans of soccer                                                                                 Fans of other sports
Those who are interested in getting into the sport                      Those who are indifferent to the sport
What the need is                                                                             What the need is not
A hub for watching soccer games from all Euro soccer       A casual soccer viewing experience
leagues.       
Why the need exists                                                                  Alternative Explanations
Because there is not a lot of mainstream coverage of       Not many people are soccer fans in America.
European soccer in America.

Assignment 8--Solving The Problem

So,

Given that the opportunity I selected to pursue was soccer fans in the United States are unable to easily and efficiently watch European soccer matches on TV because there are a very limited amount of American channels that have the TV rights to these European leagues, my solution to this problem would naturally be to provide these prospective customers with a means to watch these European leagues on TV.

My product/service would be a TV channel subscription that provides viewers to television coverage of all the important leagues in Europe and even some around the globe. Some of the leagues customers can expect to have covered are the English Premiere League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Seria A, German Bundesliga, French Ligue 1, and Turkish Superlig just to name a few.

I am confident that soccer fans in the United States will be heavily interested in purchasing this product/service because of the wide array of coverage that it provides. Additionally, having a channel that can be seen as a hub for viewership of all kinds of European leagues may spark as an initiative for non-soccer fans to make an attempt to get into the sport with the purchase of the product.

Assignment 7--Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

American TV rights to European soccer leagues.

Soccer fans in the United States are unable to easily and efficiently watch European soccer matches on TV because there are a very limited amount of American channels that have the TV rights to these European leagues.

• Who: Soccer fans in the United States
• What: They are unable to easily watch European soccer matches.
• Why: Because very few channels have the TV rights to these leagues in which the matches are played.

Testing the who: Soccer fans in America are certainly not the only ones who have this need. There are others in countries like Indonesia or Pakistan that have to resort to illegal streaming in order to watch games as well. 

Testing the what: There are some soccer fans in the United States that pay premium prices for channels that broadcast European soccer matches, such as beIN or RAI Italia. Even so, these channels do not broadcast all matches and very often only show the teams with bigger followings.

Testing the why: I think the biggest reason for why soccer on TV is not easily acceptable is because it is simply not as profitable as the other bigger sports in the United States. For this reason these sports channels refuse to make TV rights deals with partners they know won't maximize their profit. 

• Interview 1: This person is a huge soccer fan and explains to me that it is very frustrating that she has to go through the struggle of finding illegal streams on her laptop to watch her favorite team play when she would much rather just turn on her TV and flip to the channel.
• Interview 2: This interviewee tells me that soccer is not really his favorite sport and prefers American football and basketball. He says "it would be cool if there were more soccer channels here". I get the feeling that this person wouldn't be hugely affected if this opportunity were or were not to be taken. 
• Interview 3: This interviewee is a foreign student from India that I spoke to on campus. He tells me that it's a bother that there's a lack of European soccer TV viewership in this country since that is his primary sport. He loves playing pick up soccer on campus so its disheartening for him that watching soccer is such a hassle. 
• Interview 4: The fourth interview took place with a professor I found on campus. She tells me that she is not a big sports fan in general and that she would not be particularly bothered if this opportunity were to be seized or not. 
• Interview 5: The last interview was held with another fellow student on campus who let me know that he doesn't regularly keep up with soccer but has many friends that do. After asking him how these friends of his feel about having to go through the inconvenience of streaming games through illegal means, he says they wish they had more channels with games.

The interviews I conducted gave me a mixed set of results that allowed me to draw a better conclusion than I would've been able to prior to conducting them. I am led to believe that while there are some that are not regular soccer viewers, there is certainly a market out there for soccer fans that want these American TV rights for European soccer. 

Assignment 6--Identifying Opportunities In Economic & Regulatory Trends

1. (Regulatory) The opportunity to establish recreational marijuana dispensaries.

I've found this opportunity through news (be it TV or articles) that laws may be passed regarding legalizing recreational marijuana. This information leads me to believe this information exists because should the substance be legalized, there will be a need to establish brick and mortar (and online too) locations to sell it to consumers. The likely targets for this opportunity would be those looking for a legal substitute for products like alcohol, or those who may use it for anxiety or stress relief purposes. I believe this opportunity shouldn't be terribly difficult to exploit because for many years now there have been calls for legalization of the product for recreational usage. I feel like I saw this opportunity because being in the university environment I am fairly regularly exposed to the usage of marijuana so I know that should it be legalized, it would be a huge business opportunity.

2. (Economic) The opportunity to establish more European football TV viewership in America.

I've read from Forbes that soccer will soon be America's third favorite spectator sport. This being the case, I'm led to believe that creating more American channel partnerships for European soccer league viewing would be an opportunity highly worth pouncing on right now. Likely targets for this market would be people living in America originally from European countries and Americans who are interested in becoming a fan of a less common sport in this country. Personally this opportunity, if done properly, should be easy to exploit. ESPN or FOX partnerships with soccer leagues in countries like Italy or Spain could result in huge economic benefit. I feel that as a huge soccer fan I was easily able to see this opportunity because it's actually something I've wanted myself for many years. It was an unmet need of my own.

3. (Economic) The opportunity to establish more NBA guest games in Europe.

Almost a mirrored version of the last opportunity, I read from ESPN that basketball is becoming increasingly popular in Europe. There have been NBA games played in London before so there is certainly a foundation for this. With all this information, I think the next step would be to have them hosted in more countries. The targets in this scenario are international NBA fans who want a chance to watch games in person without coming to America. This opportunity may be a little harder than the others to exploit because while basketball is popular in Europe, it is very far behind the already predominant sports there. Funnily, I saw this opportunity because I run an anonymous sports twitter account and I follow a lot of accounts that are not from America who really love the NBA.

4. (Regulatory) Opportunity to shift the market of E-Cigs.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the FDA is considering a ban on all flavored E-Cigs. Knowing this, there is an opportunity to aggressively change this market from younger users to adult users. The market for these products will now be to adults. Exploiting this opportunity may be difficult because the market for E-cigs for adults is not very popular when compared to college students. I saw this opportunity because I've seen first hand the popularity these products have within the college scene so I figured it would be worth trying to replicate it for adults.

Assignment 5--Identifying Local Opportunities

The local newspaper I chose to use for this assignment was the Miami Herald, because that's the newspaper I get back home.
That being said, here are 5 articles from the Miami Herald that present opportunities:

1. "Key Miami Dolphins starter is out for the remainder of the season. What it means"
https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMIHB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0914%21September%2B14&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E6EE255E82A370

Essentially what this article is telling us is that Josh Sitton is out for the season after having tore a rotator cuff this past Sunday. Obviously the problem at hand here is that the Dolphins have lost a starting player in their lineup. The problem here belongs to the Miami Dolphins, as well as its stakeholders. However, there lies an potential business opportunity in this scenario to start Ted Larsen in Sitton's place. Larsen can perform unexpectedly well and as a result boost the sales of a less popular player.

2. "Uncertainty around the Heat at shooting guard, and how the team fared against All-Stars last week"

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMIHB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0914%21September%2B14&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E702D481E03980

This article is similar to the first in that it involves an athlete injury being a problem to a sports team. In essence, Heat guard Dion Waiters timetable to return from injury is still uncertain. The problem specifically is that they will be missing a player who, when fit, is an important part of the squad. This is an issue for the Miami Heat's management team to sort out. A potential business opportunity resides in the possibility of the rest of the squad to gather some motivation from Waiters' absence and use it to put in some great performances throughout the season. 

3. "Miami-Dade's college campuses should have early voting sites like the rest of Florida"

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMIHB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0913%21September%2B13&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E6EE2558360F20

What this article tells us is that students of Miami-Dade Community College are requesting that they be granted early voting sites on campus. The problem here is that these students are frustrated that other schools have these sites, but they have to wait until the rest of the population is able to vote at other sites. This is a problem belonging to the Miami-Dade college students. The opportunity here is for MDC to implement these sites for their students in order to boost morale and perhaps even increase enrollment numbers. 

4. "Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band is now a medical-marijuana brand"

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMIHB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0912%21September%2B12&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E6757D94B2ACF0

This article is a little different in style than the previous ones. It entails that Jimmy Buffett's band has partnered with medical marijuana distributors Surterra to sell medical marijuana products themed with Buffett's band. There is no blatantly stated issue or problem in this article, however, you could say that Surterra wanted to add some sales to its products so they searched for a partner with a big following. That need of wanting more sales belonged to Surterra. The opportunity was to spike sales by partnering with Buffett. 

5. "After a poor debut, this Marlins pitcher is ready to finally get back on the mound"

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AMIHB%21Miami%2BHerald%252C%2BThe%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2018%212018/mody%3A0911%21September%2B11&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/16E62210DCBA5308

In another sports article, we're told that MLB debutante Jeff Brigham had a poor debut but is readily available to right his wrongs in his next start. The problem here is that Brigham did not play well in his debut against the Blue Jays and as such was a main contributor to Miami's 6-1 loss that night. This is a problem for the Marlins and obviously for the young pitcher. On the bright side, this is an opportunity for Brigham to bounce back and prove doubters wrong, which can get the fans back on his side. Doing so will can be a large benefit to the Marlins. 

Assignment 4--Forming An Opportunity Belief

I believe that there is an opportunity regarding students that don't want to wait in the huge lines at the box office here at UF for their football game day tickets. The unmet need is a desire to get their game day without having to wait in line for them. Those who have the need will be all UF students. I believe that I can provide a service that allows for the delivery of students' tickets right to their doorsteps. The need came from people no longer wanting to wait in line for their tickets, which has been around for a long time. To meet this need right now, they have friends go and pick up their tickets for them with their IDs. I feel that I have a 55% chance of making this work through a website that users purchase the delivery through. The following are chats with some prototypical customers:

1. UF Female Sophomore:

• How often do you go to our home football matches?
• "Pretty often, I go to almost all of them."
• How often do you come to the box office to get your ticket?
• "Only sometimes, I try and get my friends to get mine for me."
• Have you ever had a dispute with friends over who is picking up the tickets?
• "Yeah, actually."
• How would you describe your experiences of picking up your tickets?
• "Pretty unpleasant, for the most part. It's always so hot and crowded, I'd rather have my friends get them for me."

Reflection: Prototypical customers of this sort are likely going to be open to a service similar to the one I have in mind. The sort of customer I am referencing is an undergrad student who regularly attends football matches. 

2. UF Male Junior:

• How often do you go to our home football matches?
• "Every time, I have season tickets."
• How often do you go to the box office to get your ticket?
• "For every match, for me it's part of the tradition. I don't mind going."
• Have you ever had a dispute with friends over who is picking up the tickets?
• "Nope, we all like to go to together."
• How would you describe your experiences of picking up your tickets?
• "Well I wouldn't say it's pleasant but I definitely wouldn't say it's torturous, either. It's alright."

Reflection: Customers like these seem perhaps a little more enthusiastic about picking up their tickets at the box office. However, should the opportunity of a delivery service come there way, I don't feel they'd shy away. 

3. UF Male Graduate Student:

• How often do you go to our home football matches?
• "Only once or twice a year."
• How often do you go to the box office to get your ticket?
• "Every time I decide to go to a game."
• Have you ever had a dispute with friends over who is picking up the tickets?
• "No, I always just go pick up mine."
• How would you describe your experiences of picking up your tickets?
• "Hot and crowded. But that's a given, it's no big deal."

Reflection: These types of customers are not likely to be very receptive of the opportunity at hand, given that they don't often go to games anyway. 

Summary: After speaking to some prototypical customers, I see now that a bit of the opportunity has been lost. I would say that there is around a 30% chance of making this work now, which is likely a more accurate figure than the original. I think that entrepreneurs should definitely adapt their opportunities a decent amount based on customer feedback. Examples of such could be targeting more specific markets, or adjusting a product a bit to fulfill customer needs. Adapting too much can cause the opportunity/product to lose originality, so it's important to find balance.

Assignment 3--My Entrepreneurship Story

In my 19 years on this planet I've been exposed to a lot of entrepreneurship in one form or another. The story I'd like to share with you all, though, involves the experience of having my parents as former entrepreneurs. Growing up my parents had many entrepreneurial ventures that I had been around. Them, along with a few other family members, were owners of a small Latin restaurant chain in the Miami, Florida area called El Tropico. Additionally, my parents were heavily involved in the real estate industry, purchasing and selling properties. On the side, they purchased and ran a TV production warehouse.

Being entirely honest, the reason I'm taking this course is because my adviser told me I needed to. That being said though, I am actually very excited to learn the basics of being an entrepreneur. Who knows, perhaps I'll go start a business when December comes around.

Assignment 2--Bug List

Hey class...

Here's my list of 20 bugs!

1. When my roommate leaves his used plates on the table. Why? Maybe because he wasn't raised to do so.
2. When my roommate leaves food on his used plates for hours (sometimes days). Why? He doesn't care about his personal hygiene.
3. When my roommate decides to finally put his used plates away, but puts them in the sink with food still on them and leaves them there for days thinking they're clean. Why? He must've not learned about the dangers of bacteria.
4. When my roommate puts a gallon of full expired milk in the recycling bin in the laundry room (Mind you our recycling bin is just an open plastic storage container on the floor). Why? He must not know that rancid milk smells like death. 
5. When my roommate puts two loafs of moldy bagels in the recycling bin in the laundry room. Why? He must've not gotten the memo that mold is incredibly dangerous for your health!
6. When my roommate tosses his shoes all over the common area. Why? Perhaps he's lazy.
7. When my roommate opens my door without knocking. Why? Because he doesn't know too much about common courtesy. 
8. When my roommate hogs up the kitchen and I can't cook. Why? Because I didn't beat him to it.
9. When my other roommate has never come out of his room in the time that I've been living with him. Why? Because he's hiding from the mess my roommate has made outside (seriously though he's just a shy guy).
10. When I get to Hume field on campus to play soccer and there's no parking spots left. Why? Because I was late and everyone beat me there.
11. When I have to withdraw money to pay for cover at Mid or downtown. Why? Because it's a quick and efficient means to get people into the club.
12. When I get an opening shift and have to wake up at 4:30AM. Why? Because we all have to share opening shifts, otherwise it'd be unfair.
13. When customers at work treat you like you killed their mother. Why? Perhaps they're just having a bad day.
14. When my favorite team loses. Why? Because they didn't train hard enough. 
15. When I go to a water park and someone steals my shoes while I'm on a ride. Why? Maybe they couldn't afford their own. 
16. When I try to go to campus at 5 and a traffic light takes 47 minutes to turn green. Why? Because it's prime rush hour baby. 
17. When my phone breaks and I can't hear anyone on the phone, nor can they hear me. Why? Because Apple hardware is designed to break after 2 years.
18. When I go to a lecture and there's people leaning on the doors from how packed it is. Why? Because I was really, really late.
19. When people sneak their friends over to their seats that they're not assigned to at the football games and it becomes a sweaty and unpleasant experience. Why? Because people want to watch with their friends. 
20. When all you wanted was some Chipotle but there's a fundraising event that night and the line is out the door. Why? Because people were raising money for a good cause. 

To be entirely honest, I got nearly half of this list done in under 5 minutes (guess which ones). The rest of this list was admittedly difficult to come up with though; perhaps life isn't too bad? 

Test Post

TESTING

TESTING

1, 2, 3