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.