16A –What’s Your Secret Sauce?

1) Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique. 

I consider myself a really hard worker and fast-learner over topics that I am passionate about. I would also label myself relatively open-minded, as I typically like to analyze all points of views before reaching a conclusion. Another unique feature about me is that I am pretty shy when I have not broken the communication barrier with others, but can be very outgoing once I feel comfortable. I put happiness above all else since I believe that it is not money or professional success that matters most in this world, but rather the relationships and memories that I create. Lastly, my focus makes me unique. I tend to believe that I can work harder than you, which makes me very focused. 

2) Interview the five people who know you the best. 

https://soundcloud.com/user-960319070

1- I interviewed my sister, who said that I was ambitious and hard-working.
https://soundcloud.com/user-960319070/secret-sauce-1

2- I interviewed my mother, who said I was passionate and have a big heart.
https://soundcloud.com/user-960319070/mom-describing-me

3- I interviewed my friend Gabriel, who said that I like to spend time with people.
https://soundcloud.com/user-960319070/secret-sauce-3

4- I interviewed my friend Santiago, who said that I can be a problem solver.
https://soundcloud.com/user-960319070/santi

5- I interviewed my Dad, who said that I am a nice guy. 

https://soundcloud.com/user-960319070/dad

3) Reflect on the differences. 

It's kinda cool and kinda weird to have other people describe you. For the most part, however, the words that I used to describe myself vs the words that others would use to describe myself were fairly similar. Others see me as hard-working, showing great effort at all times, and a genuinely nice guy to be around. I do not think that there were really any differences but just used other similar words that I had not thought about previously. I would not make any corrections to the list because those were the words that I chose to best describe myself, whether it is wrong or right, it is my point of view of my life, so it could be the most accurate but it could also be the most biased.

15A- Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

1) Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them. 

The three people that I have selected (whom I will not include names due to privacy) were old high school friends that I re-encountered when visiting home over the break. I chose them because I know that they like to watch TV and watch shows, as well as hang out with friends and possibly sleep on the couch.

2) Begin with alternative evaluation.

To introduce my alternatives, I went over to the City Furniture webpage and gather many options from their "Living Room: Sofas" page. 

When the interviewees picked their sofas, they considered price mostly, followed by style/how it would fit into the apartment or home, and how comfy the sofa looked. 

Some factors such as price and color were more important that extra features that the sofa could have. With that being said, there was not been a SmartSofa installed, which makes people not aware and therefore not be mindful of how important extra features are to a sofa. 

3) How/where do they buy? 

Because most people like to have second opinions and would actually like to see how comfy the Sofa is in person, most people buy their furniture at outlet stores. They are more likely to finance the purchase or pay with a credit card since some sofas are relatively expensive and it is unusual to carry a large amount of cash with you.

4) Post-purchase evaluation. 

What matters most to my customers they will most likely think of how comfy the sofa actually is. If the Sofa is comfy, and it shows that it can survive cat claws for example, and it does not get dirty easily, then it will probably be a right purchase for them. If the Sofa was uncomfortable, or the texture is not good enough to survive animals jumping on the Sofa, then it probably will be a bad purchase. 

6) Report the findings. 

Within my interviews, the main thing that I gathered was the fact price and comfiness were the main two driving forces when influencing the purchasing behavior. I also analyzed how my friends navigated through the webpage and what the main things that they looked for. 

7) Draw conclusions. 

This segment evaluates their alternatives by sorting out their price range, and then looking at all the available options, mainly drawn in by interesting colors or designs. 

When purchasing the decision, these customers want to have others with them who will give them second-opinions in what they are purchasing. They also like to go to the store and visually see the product and test out its comfiness. 

Post-purchase evaluation includes testing out its comfiness over time, the durability once animals join in, how many people can actually fit in the sofa, etc. 

14A- Halfway Reflection

1. Tenacious is a competency:
     In order to complete this course, and be an entrepreneur, one has to recognize and accept the fact that the first draft of your product will not be perfect and that there is important feedback that others can give you that can help your product out. With that being said, you are tenacious when you learn that one needs to continue modifying and attempting different models of the product in order to develop one that actually sells.

2. Tenaciousness is also about attitude:
     A moment when I felt like giving up was when I made some mistakes while at my new internship. Knowing all of the risks that I took when taking this internship, it was really a pain to feel that I was very close to losing it all over a tiny misjudgment and making a mistake.
     What helped me pull through was guidance and advice mostly from my parental figures, as they explained to me that it is normal to make mistakes and what matters most is how you stand back up when you are down. I do feel that I have developed a tenacious attitude since I went through that situation, and my progress with this class, since I have had to constantly think and make adjustments to my product.

3. Three tips:
     Three tips that I would offer next semester's students are: 1) be prepared to make changes, 2) listen to others tips, advices and thoughts, and 3) As long as you like what you are doing, you will be motivated and therefore successful. With these skills, one would develop a 'tenacious mindset.'

13A- Reading Reflection No. 1

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

1) - What surprised me the most about Musk is the fact that he got beat up as a kid and that did not stop him from being so confident and determined around people.

- What I admire most about Musk is the fact that he is not driven by money, but rather driven by ideas.

- What I admire the least is the fact that he is not as great a leader as many of his workers have shown complaints by the expectations, hours, treatment, etc. that must exhibits to his clients. I do not give him much fault, though, since he did get beat up as a child and he has to be bad at ONE thing.

- The entrepreneur did encounter adversity and failure, such as getting beat up as a child and have a large amount of people who disbelieve and talk down all of Elon Musk's space exploration ideas. Musk simply does not listen to those people and continues to prove them wrong. As a child, he moved to Canada, away from South Africa, in order to not get beat up and be successful.

2) Elon Musk exhibits competency in pretty much everything he tries. He built, not one, but two companies and sold them to make around $250 million to then create SpaceX and Tesla, who are both really successful companies right now. His company built the first ever rocket to go up and then land in the exact same spot that it took off. Elon Musk simply has a trait for being incredibly determined and is a very smart guy with the ability of creating these things.

3) Some parts of the reading that were confusing to me is when the reading got a little bit too technical or scientific. As someone who struggled in Science in high school, some words were very complex, although they did not really change the plot or any of the ideas that the book was trying to portray, it was just included in some examples.

4) When do you think you will be satisfied? Has doubt ever ran through your head?

- I would ask these two questions because: I would like to know, although he is a very successful person and has accomplished wonderful things, if he is really happy, or if he feels that he needs to accomplish something, and if so, what that something is. The second question, I would ask it because I feel that doubt is what prevents everyone from actually going through with something, a business idea, for example.

5) I think that Elon Musk's definition of hard work would be absurd. His colleagues mentioned how while they would work 20 hours a day, Musk would work 23. I think this definition of hard work is a little bit too insane to the point where it is unhealthy and inhumane.

12A- Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Segment
For my segment, I decided to do a psychographic segmentation of people who watch most of their TV on a chair, sofa in their living room. I interview three people under the age of 25 of different households to gather diverse data.

Need awareness
After interviewing three people, I have found out that the majority of the time where these people realized that this product would be useful was when they fail to locate their remote controller when they wish to switch the channel, switch the show on Netflix, lower/raise the volume, etc. This typically happens after long-sittings watching TV or when many people have a say in what is played on TV. This also occurs at night when people are falling asleep, this is when people become the most emotional since they hate when they have to lose their sleep in order to find the remote in order to turn the TV off. To some people, it has taken them weeks before they can find the remote again.

Information search
When my consumers become aware of the need, that is, when they cannot find their control remote, the very first thing that they do is to look below and in-between the pillows and sheets, followed by the night table and drink table, and then proceed to the rest of the living room/bedroom depending on its interior design. Since it is nothing that Google, for example, can help you with, no one really looks for other sources of information rather than just looking for the control remote. They talk to friends and family once they cannot find the controller and they think that the person whom they are asking will have a better idea.

Summary
Learning exactly WHEN my consumers become aware of the need was a very crucial step, in my opinion, in developing this business. Most of the information acquired, due to the fact that it is not a very complicated scenario, was previously researched and analyzed.

Drawing Conclusions
I would describe this segment as mainly homebodies who like to watch TV as they are falling asleep, tend to be lazy and want everyday tasks to be as efficient and as easy as possible.

11A- Idea Napkin No.1

Me.
     I'm just your average college student with a passion for constant improvement. Whether it is your work, grades, relationships, friendships, I have found that the way for growth and happiness in your life stems from constant improvement in every day life.
     My aspirations include working in the field of sports, specifically as a coach of a professional soccer team. As a coach I can utilize the concept of constant improvement by always wanting to improve the abilities of each player and the team as a whole.
     Since my passion is not entrepreneurship, I do not think I will ever grow this business. But assuming I do, I would probably look for investors who know way more than me about running a business and can also take management positions to best decide the company's route.

What am I offering to customers?
     The product is a SmartSofa, which is a sofa, bed, or any type of sitting furniture that has a bluetooth pairing to the TV, in order to eliminate the existence of a control remote. The 'new' control remote will be attached through a retractable chord to the sofa, in order to be able to pull it out and retract it back into the Sofa, or its' 'keeping' spot.

Who am I offering it to?
     This product will be offered to individuals, families and businesses. More specifically, this product's main target market will be those who watch TV as they are falling asleep, or like to take mid-day naps on the couch. However, a SmartSofa could be used by any individual, family, or business that is simply tired of losing their control remote every few days.

Why do they care?
     My consumers will care about my product because it will eliminate a bug in their life which is that they have to constantly look for the control remote once it falls beneath or in between the pillows or sheets. This, as well as the possibility of expanding the product into something greater or simply to have a 'luxury' item is why my consumers will care about my product.

What are my core competencies?
     What sets me apart from everyone else is that it is a unique product that solves an annoying bug that has occurred to everyone, especially those who watch TV all the time. The fact that my product has the potential of expansion in order to create customer loyalty and keep a steady flow of cash through years to come.


I think all of these elements fit well together because they all seem to match up for a perfect business strategy. Yes, there are many big brands that would serve as tough competitors but those brands will not have the differential of everything that a SmartSofa would represent, which is uniqueness, luxury, and efficiency.

10A- Elevator Pitch

9A - Testing the Hypothesis

In trying to verify the validity of my product, I have interviewed 5 more people, this time, people who do not have the unmet need. My conclusions are the following:

Who: While I have confirmed that everyone watches at least some TV, I have now found out that not everyone, or not as many people as I thought, watch TV while falling asleep. Some people like to fall asleep while listening to music, watching videos on their phone, or simply just closing their eyes. These people, although they have experienced the problem of losing your control remote in between the sofa pillows, do not experience this as much enough to be considered an unmet need. Others are quite conscious of the problem and come up with ways in order to NOT lose the control remote, such as placing it on the table ahead and not moving it much from there.

What: The need is to have a more efficient way to control your TV without you ever having to sacrifice sleep. However, more than this need, there is a need for more comfort and more efficient. Also, there is a need for some people to have a better product. Especially considering the possibility of feature expansion for this product, there is a need for some people to improve on their mundane sofas that they have at home. Also, there is a need for this product to be visually appealing, so modern-day fashion trends can and should be considered.

Why: The people that are outside the boundary do not have the same need as the people inside the boundary simply because they do not watch TV as much and/or they have other alternatives to help them fall asleep that are not by watching TV.

Inside the Boundary
Who is in:
People who watch TV consistently and watch TV as they are falling asleep, or watch TV for long periods of time.
People who hate losing their remote as soon as they are about to fall asleep.
People who want an upgrade on their mundane sofa and furniture.
People who take naps during the day.

What the need is:
A more efficient way to control your TV and to never lose your control remote again.

Why the need exists: 
It is a common situation that has happened to everyone, and some people may be tired of having to wake back up after almost falling asleep to find a remote, or take time out of their day to find a remote.

Outside the Boundary
Who is not:
People who do not watch TV.
People who do not watch TV as they are falling asleep.
People who have other alternatives while falling asleep such as going on their phone, listening to music or simply just closing their eyes.

What the need is not:
This need will not improve any of the content that you will watch on TV but it is simply an easier and more efficient alternative to losing your control remote every couple of days. The need is also not meant for everyone as there are people who do not watch TV.

Alternative Explanations:
Not everyone likes to watch TV and some people prefer to do other things with their time. Because of this, these people do not really relate to the problem of losing their remote control because they barely use it.

8A - Solving the Problem

Problem/Selected Opportunity: 
     Every person has been a victim and not one single individual enjoys losing their remote between the couch/bed pillows, forcing you to move around and lose the sleep that you were about to get.
      How many times has it happened that you decide to watch TV in order to help you fall asleep, and right before you fall asleep, you decide to turn off the TV in order for you to relax better in your sleep until you realize that the control remote is not where you thought it would be. Due to this, you have to scramble around your sheets or sofa, stick your hand down the sides and try to find the remote. Now you have lost your sleep and have to start all over again.
      There is an opportunity because there is a market of people that will appreciate a product that offers them a way to watch and control the TV without a control remote.

Product:
      Because of this issue, I want to create what would be called a 'SmartSofa.' This sofa will have control of the TV and its "control" would be stuck to the sofa itself, that way no one ever loses the control remote once they are about to fall asleep. The way this could work is through: Bluetooth pairing from the TV to the sofa, then it is a simple touch screen that could be attached or can be detached (with a string) from structure of the sofa itself.
      This product has the possibility of also expanding itself to more features, such as music playing, refrigerators that are connected to the sofa, etc.