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?