Assignment 17A - Elevator Pitch No.2

Reflection on the feedback:

I got a few comments on the lighting so I am hoping this pitch was a bit better. My house is pretty dim, so this was the brightest place I could find. I think it turned out a bit better. The angle is still pretty low, but it's the highest place I could find in the room so you win some and you lose some. I also received feedback on not grabbing the audiences attention in the beginning of the pitch, and trying to seem a bit more excited about things.

What I changed:

The lighting improved hopefully, and I tried to add a bit of a hook to the pitch and be a bit more energetic. I've always gotten feedback on smiling a bit more when speaking, but most of the time I am too focused on what I am saying to smile. It's something I am working on, so hopefully it'll come around eventually. I am genuinely excited about the topic, it just might not show.

Assignment 18A - Create a Customer Avatar

Prototypical Customer:

• ~25 years old male, but feels younger and ready for adventure and great outdoor experiences.
• Loves to fish whenever possible, mostly on the weekends due to work.
• Drives a gray truck to haul his boat.
• He loves sports and outdoor shows.
• Grew up hunting and fishing with his family.
• He feels youthful and wants to fish, explore, and enjoy the outside.
• No kids at the moment, but if he did he would take them fishing when they're old enough.

Commonality:

• I am also a male and I love fishing. I also love watching sports and outdoor shows. I do not have any kids either. I do not own a truck, but one day that is the goal and I hope to get a boat. I would love to fish most weekends, but simply do not have the time with school.
• I do not think it is a coincidence we have a lot in common, because I am basing my product off of an issue that I personally have faced. I made this avatar reflect who I feel would be the biggest target audience.  

Assignment #15 - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No.2

Findings:

My first interview was with a male student at UF who goes fishing during most breaks and occasionally on weekends. He was interested in the product, but said that an actual purchase would depend on a few factors. He said the price was very important because of the possibility of losing the device. He was saying it could get snagged or your line can break and the device would be lost. He was saying style isn't a huge deal, but quality is probably the biggest concern. He made it clear that no matter how inexpensive the product was, if it didn't work he wouldn't buy it.

The second interview I conducted was pretty similar. The woman interviewed grew up fishing with her dad. She was saying the style of the device and app truly wouldn't matter. Due to the device being so niche it would be understandable if it had a high price. She made made it clear that quality of the product was the most important thing, because no matter the uniqueness or the price it all depends on if the product works. Both this interview and the first interview made it clear that they would purchase the device in a store instead of online because they would like to see it before making a decision. Also, ensuring the device works is what would decide whether the purchase was good or not.

The last interview conducted was with a male in his early 30's. He goes fishing on most weekends and was interested in the product. He also made clear that the quality of the device was very important. What was different from this interview was that he said that the price isn't a very big deal, but the style could play a big role. He was also saying how it should be easy to distinguish what the device is saying and how it should be easy to read the results. He also said that he would purchase the device online as long as the reviews were of the product were good. To determine if it was a good purchase or not he said if the device can last a year or so then it would be a good purchase.

From all the interviews I understand that the quality of the product is definitely a key factor in buyer behavior. Price and style both matter, but they do not play as big of a role as quality. This leads me to believe that I would need to put extra time in when designing and creating the device/app. Ensuring the product can last and it can function properly is key before releasing the product. Also, it seems that there is a customer base for store and online purchases. Before I worry about that though, making sure the device works and can continue to work for a good amount of time is the biggest priority.

Assignment #13 - Reading Reflection No.1

The Wright Brothers, by David McCullough

1)

• What surprised you the most? - What surprised me the most was that the brothers accomplished something never done before. I believe we take for granted the ability to fly across the world and having the ability to travel nearly anywhere in about a day. They were some of the pioneers of flying and their control inventions helped to make a fixed-wing powered flight possible.

• What about the entrepreneur did you admire the most? - I admired that both brothers were both knowledgeable without going to college. Imagine engineering something that would eventually change the world, and you did it without a college education. Also, I thought it was really cool how they brought what they were passionate about (bicycles) and used their knowledge to help assist them when they were creating flight designs.

• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? - What I admired the least about the brothers is that they did not display a lot of emotion. Maybe it was the way the author portrayed them, but it was just hard to fully understand the brothers reality and how they felt as they went through their failures and successes.

• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? - Yes, the brothers had many designs that failed, but they never gave up. They were very smart and great mechanically, so they would analyze what went wrong on their attempts and they would learn from the mistakes and fix them.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? - I noticed that each brother had their own strengths and weaknesses. They exhibited the ability to lift each other up and rely on one another's strengths to help each other where they showed weakness. I have a brother of my own, so I understand a bit what the brothers went though. Having a family bond and knowing you can rely on each other is essential, and that is a huge reason why I believe they were successful.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. - Most parts about the designs, structure, and engineering were all slightly confusing. I understood them a bit, but there were parts where it got a little nerdy and went over my head. I do not have an engineering background, but I can understand a bit and appreciate what they did.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why? - I would ask them if they believed people would ever get to the moon and to outer space? I would ask this, because they helped to solve something many people believed couldn't be accomplished, such as travelling to the moon. Lastly, I would ask them if they believed they would have the same success if they were working together, but they were not brothers. This is just out of curiosity.

5) For fun: What do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion? - Their opinion of hard work was to just get it done. They traveled far to gather interests in their work, although they didn't have connections in high places when they started. They failed multiple times, but kept grinding and finding solutions. I do share this opinion, and I feel that it is something that should be shared by all people. Putting in a ton of work is most of the time the key to being successful in whatever you do.

Assignment #14 - Halfway Reflection

1) To keep up with the course I have just used my off days to focus on the course. The course is pretty time consuming with the assignments, so you have to dedicate a certain block of time to it. The class really makes you brainstorm to come up with ideas, so you have to be very open minded and always thinking of new ideas. I found myself going throughout my days and thinking about buyer behavior, new products, and markets, etc. To be successful, I used my own experiences and needs and applied that to my assignments which tended to help a lot.

2) A lot of these assignments are long, and most of the time I do not want to do them. To answer the question, yes, there have been plenty of times where I did not want to do an assignment and give up. The class is very time consuming and I could be using my time elsewhere for other classes, but I need an elective so I need to pass this class. What pushes me through is the thought of graduating and getting my Master's degree so I can be done, and start my career. I feel like I have developed a tenacious attitude in the past two months because I haven't missed an assignment.

3) Three tips I would offer about: Fostering the skills that support tenacity, and developing the "tenacious mindset".

• I would say just push through and stick with doing the work, even if you don't feel like it because passing and getting good grades is important.
• Stay ahead of the assignments and have great time management. 
• Use your past experiences and think of your own problems that you face and work to solve them in the course. That can help to keep it interesting and help you to stay focused. 

Assignment 12A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

1) Pick a Segment - For my product, the portable fish/depth finder, the segment I am choosing is younger anglers (ages ~16 - 30) of a all economic standing. I am choosing this segment because I feel that younger anglers spend a lot of time fishing, and although they do not have money necessarily to buy an expensive boat with a nice depth/fisher attachment, the need may still be there to locate fish. The first individual I interviewed was a an early 20's male, who fishes nearly every weekend. The second individual was a young ~18 year old male who fishes often, but mostly on the shore. The last person interviewed was in his late 20's and was a father who goes fishing often with his kids.

2) My Interviews -

• Interview 1: When I was talking to the ~20 year old man, he told me that he loves to fish, but can only really go on the weekends. Due to work it is nearly impossible to find fishing time during the week. The man said he does have a tiny Jon boat that he takes fishing on the weekends. He often visits lakes around the Alachua area, but his preferred locations are a bit further down south. The man expressed his frustrations with slow fishing days and the uncertainty that comes with fishing new large bodies of water. He showed interest in the idea of a depth/fish finder, but has been hesitant in purchasing one because the products for his boat type are "complicated" and seem a bit cheap. The man felt that a device that doesn't have to attach to the boat seems nice, but he also expressed concern with breaking it or losing it when casting. He said his need obviously occurs when he's fishing, but particularly in new bodies of water. If he does't know the area too well, he feels that having a depth/fish finder would be a huge asset. When asked what information he looked up to research, he said he went to a few fishing stores and asked employees and also a few of his fishing friends.

• Interview 2: The next individual I interviewed was a teenage male, who fishes often but does not have a boat. He told me that he has been fishing in the Alachua area for awhile, and he expressed the difficulty that comes with fishing from shorelines. He mentioned how its difficult to see a lot of obstacles in the water and also how it's tough to identify where the fish hang out. He said he realized he had a need for something like a depth/fish finder when he would go hours on end at a spot and not catch anything. He feels that a depth/fish finder would help a lot, but he only thought they could be used on boats. He looked a few up devices online, but did not find a product that could help him. He said he never found anything feasible he could use on the shore, because he didn't know something like the device existed. He said he would definitely be interested in a product like a castable depth/fish finder if it actually worked, if it was priced fairly, and if it wasn't easy to lose in the water. 

• Interview 3: The last individual I interviewed was a male in his late 20's that goes fishing occasionally with his kids. He said occasionally he borrows his friend's boat to fish, and sometimes they will just go and fish the shore of random lakes. When asked if he ever had the need for a depth/fish finder he said yes, but because he doesn't own the boat he feels that he wouldn't spend a ton of money investing in one. There were multiple times where he took the kids out to fish and they would get bored quickly, because they weren't catching anything. I mentioned the idea of a portable fish/depth finder that could be casted and he was very interested in the idea. He felt that it would be a great thing to have when fishing with the kids on the boat and the shore, but he was concerned about losing it in the water. He told me how often the kids lose their baits while fishing, and that it could be a bit concerning. By the end he said it is an interesting product, and felt that it provides good utility for an issue that probably many people face. He talked a bit about pricing and also the use of the app. He was concerned with bringing his phone on a boat and getting it wet, and how the device would connect to the phone.

3) Findings - Talking to the individuals I interviewed I found that there are young anglers who do find themselves with a need for a portable fish/depth finder. I found that most of the young anglers are interested in the product because they are usually shore fishing or they have a boat without a depth/fish finder on it. What I found is that a lot of these people look up some similar products to fill the need, or they talk to people in a store or friends, but they had no idea there was a product like this in the market. There was concerned expressed about the price of the device, and also the functionality with the Bluetooth and the app. All concerns aside, they thought the idea was cool and they were interested in it. 

4) Conclusion - I feel like I picked a good segment, because young anglers spend a good amount of time fishing, yet they do not always super nice boats with fish/depth finder on them. Many of the young anglers fish on the shore, and this product is great for that. As long as the product is fairly priced and it functions well I feel it could be successful if marketed properly, but there's one big question mark on the device if it can actually be created.

Assignment 11A - Idea Napkin No. 1 - Portable Depth/Fish Finder

1) You - My name is Brevyn Foreman, and I am student at the University of Florida currently seeking a Master of Agribusiness degree. Growing up in central Florida, where fishing is huge, I have seen the positive impacts that recreational fishing can have on individuals. I have been fishing since I was a young boy and it has always been a huge passion of mine. My aspirations for this idea of a portable depth finder is that the product will be inexpensive enough so that people of all economic standing can obtain the device and that the product works effectively and there is a large demand for it.

2) What are you offering to customers? - I am offering a product that will allow the user to utilize a castable sonar device which can determine the location of fish and the depth of the body of water that that is being fished. The device will be wireless and it will be able to be tied to any fishing line like an artificial bait is. Once tied to a fishing line, the device can be cast out and it will send the sonar information back to the users phone through Bluetooth. There are currently sonar fishing devices available for boats, but they are very expensive and not castable. With the device being castable, it allows the angler to target specific areas of the body of water without moving the boat and it gives sonar access to anglers who are fishing from the shore.

3) Who are you offering it to? - There are plenty of anglers who fish on boats without fish finders and anglers that fish from the shore that would love to be able to determine where to locate certain fish, and this is who the product is targeting. There is a need while fishing to know the depth of a body of water and where fish are located. Although you can still catch fish without sonar, any experienced angler knows how important this information is and how it can lead to a successful day of fishing. I am hoping to make the device fairly inexpensive so people of all economic standing can have access to the device.

4) Why do they care? - Any experienced angler knows the importance of a fish and depth finder. Fishing is a very complex activity, because fish have very sporadic behavior. They have different movement behavior and feeding behavior based on the time of day, the weather, the temperature, the season, and many more factors. Being able to target fish through sonar and having the ability to identify where ledges or drop-offs are located in a body of water is critical, because these are often areas where large fish hide and wait to ambush prey, making it an ideal spot to fish. Without sonar it is near impossible to locate these areas unless you have prior knowledge about the body of water that you are fishing. Anglers would care about this product because it would offer a fairly inexpensive method to identify important/productive fishing areas, regardless if they have a boat or not. Without sonar anglers are basically fishing in the dark, and if you've fished before you know how frustrating it can be to go hours on end without getting even a single bite. This device will help improve people's fishing experiences by revealing key fishing areas and showing areas where many fish are located.

5) What are your core competencies? - There are a few other products that are considered portable depth/fish finders, but they usually have a wire attached to a device and must be dropped and pulled in manually by an individual. This is not only inconvenient, but it also disallows anglers who are fishing on the shoreline to utilize the device because it cannot be thrown very far by hand. The device I created is castable, and it links to an individuals phone with a very easy to read user friendly app that displays the sonar information. And also because it's castable, it makes the device easy to retrieve because it can be reeled in. The app on the phone would also allow users to save certain locations (longitude and latitude) they find while fishing, so they can save them and come back to fish them later.

Evaluation: I believe most of the elements work well together. I feel that price of the device and the target audience are very key aspects that still need to be a bit more well defined to get a better sense of the idea. As an angler I know the need is there, because growing up I would have loved a product like this, but doing some more research and interviews is definitely important. To really grow the product more, the sonar, Bluetooth, and the app all need to working together in harmony without a hitch, and this will require some very technical and precise work. Also, the marketing and areas where the product will be sold are key because this could make or break any product. This will require gaining some connections with large companies, but I believe they will show positivity when they are introduced to the product.