19A Idea Napkin No. 2

1) You - I am a junior at the University of Florida majoring in finance. I'm currently on 2 executive boards holding the positions of Vice President and Treasurer. I have a wealth of leadership experience and experience in working with a team. My aspirations are to leave Florida and move to the northeast to work in corporate finance. If I was to start this businesses it would probably be a side project for me where I only work on it when I can.

2) What are you offering to customers? A service that compiles all the different brands and styles of shoes that are offered in sizes not typically carried in store and presents them in one place.

3) Who are you offering it to? Anyone who has trouble purchasing shoes in stores because their sizes aren't typically carried in store. Also of all the styles offered on a brands website not all are offered in the larger sizes so it would cut down on their search time.

4) Why do they care? Like I stated before this would cut down on search time which is crucial as people's attention spans get shorter and online shopping gets more popular.

5) What are your core competencies? My core competencies are not only offering one or a few brands or styles but buy offering as many as possible. Also, as a website there is the ability to sell ad space for additional income. Lastly, people will always need shoes so demand replenishes itself

I think these five elements fit together well but the biggest problem I see with a website like this is going to be promotion. Finding effective ways to show those inside my market segment how this can help them and make them use this service.

Feedback Memo:

The only feedback that was left on my last idea napkin said the experiences I had were a strong foundation so I tried to expand on those more. 

17A Elevator Pitch No. 2

1.

2. I didn't receive any feedback on the last elevator pitch because I didn't submit one.

3. Again, I couldn't change anything because I didn't submit a first one, but I did try and lay out my idea clearly. I introduced myself, explained my idea, and provided info on the size of the market in question to show that this is a viable opportunity.

18A Create a Customer Avatar

My customer segment is pretty diverse as my opportunity is based around an article of clothing. My customer avatar is probably a young to middle age adult who buys their own shoes online. They are most likely taller than average considering the large shoe size. They care about their style enough to shop around and find the right clothes for them. As for hobbies it's hard to place them all in one or a few groups, but I would think that this would be a common issue for athletes. Athletes are bigger than most and the right shoe is pivotal to a player's performance. Other than this is difficult to group my customer segment in things like the car they drive, or the shows they watch as this really has nothing to do with the service I'm providing. Everyone wears shoes so it's difficult to represent that in one avatar that encompasses that. What I have in common with the avatar is that I'm tall and have the same problem of not being able to find the right shoes because they aren't sold in my size in the store.

15A Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

Interview 1:
The first person I interviewed said the most important factor in the decision is style. They want a shoe that they like but that also comes in their size. This customer will almost always buy their shoes online as most stores don't carry the right size. For post-purchase evaluation this person says the most important factors are comfort and style. Since they buy most of their shoes online it's hard to know which shoes run small or large so you don't always get the best fit. Style because they can't try the shoe on in store so it might not look as good as it did in the picture.

Interview 2:
The second person had very similar factors for alternative evaluation with the inclusion of price because of their budget. Again, they always buy online because the only stores that carry their size are big and tall stores and they don't have the best selection. This person also had the same factors for post-purchase evaluation, but said that he doesn't really worry about them because he usually just buys the same shoes every time.

Interview 3:
My third interview is pretty much identical to the first two. They make their decision based on price and style. They buy online because the stores don't carry their size. Then once they receive the shoes they evaluate them based on comfort and how they actually look on their foot and that the profile of the shoe actually fits their personal style.

Conclusion:
It very much seems like this segment just does what works, which is why they all have similar alternative evaluation, purchase decisions, and post-purchase evaluations. I think a service like the one I've described could really open their eyes to a larger selection of shoes. From the answers here i think I would need to have a kind of try before you buy because trying on a shoe is how you evaluate for comfort which was a big factor for these three.

14A Halfway Reflection

1. One important aspect of this course is good time management. College is very busy and this class has assignments due every week and if you don't manage your time well you will miss an assignment or two.

2. I was doing poorly my second and third semester at UF and I thought about switching majors or even taking a year off college to get away from the stress, but instead I stuck with it and put my head down spring last year and fixed my GPA with a 3.77 across 18 credits.

3. tip one: Get homework out of the way early. It's easier to just do it than to keep putting it off.
    tip two: Get involved on campus. The only way to get better at time management is to fill your schedule
    tip three: 4 Years isn't a long time don't waste it.

13A Reading Reflection No. 1

Book: Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson

1. What surprised you the most?

• What surprised me the most was that before Apple Jobs and Wozniak sold illegal boxed that could get you free phone calls.

2. What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

• That even when he was removed from the company he didn't give up on it.

3. What about the entrepreneur did you lease admire?

• He was always a touch narcissistic.

4. Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so what did they do about it?

• Steve Jobs was removed from his own company by the board. He then went and created another startup that was later purchased by Apple after Apple had lost direction without Steve Jobs. From there he went back to being CEO.

5. What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?

• Jobs had vision and Apple has done a great job at making their products integrate together very well. Where if you have and iPhone, Macbook, and Watch they almost feel like one device.

6. Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you?

• How you can be removed as the head of a company you started

7. If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

• Did you always think you would start your own company or was Apple the first time you really thought about being an entrepreneur?
• I'd ask this because I don't think every entrepreneur thinks they'll be one before it happens.
• If you could change one thing during the creation of Apple what would it be and why?
• This is interesting because people are often hypercritical about things they care about so even though Apple is extremely successful Jobs probably would change a few things.

8. For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

• I think Steve Jobs would believe in the statement 'work smarter not harder' and I definitely share that view.

12A Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Segment: People with shoe sized typically not carried in store.

Unmet Need: Finding shoes that fit easily

Findings: After conducting my three interviews, I found out a lot more about how the people inside my boundary deal with the need currently. A lot of times they deal with this problem by finding one or two pairs of shoes and just buying the same ones every time they need new shoes and if the shoe gets discontinued they find a new one and continue to buy that one continuously. However, some of the more motivated will spend hours searching online to find not only a shoe they like but one that is offered in their size. One of the people I interviewed talked about how he would be looking online and get excited about a shoe he liked and then be disappointed when he finds out that it isn't made in his size. The service I proposed for this opportunity would solve these problems and allow people to find all the shoes in their size in one place online. The online platform would be great for this niche market because it has relatively low overhead and I would be producing anything just presenting options.

11A Idea Napkin No. 1

1. Me: My name is Connor Voorhees and I am a third year finance student here at UF. My talents include effective communication, good critical thinking, and a strong work ethic. My skills and experiences include interning with an entrepreneur, serving on multiple executive boards here at UF, including the position of treasurer which ties into my major and my future aspirations to work in corporate finance.

2. What are you offering to customers? A service that compiles all the different brands and styles of shoes that are offered in sizes not typically carried in store and presents them in one place.

3. Who are you offering it to? Anyone who has trouble purchasing shoes in stores because their sized aren't typically carried in store. Also of all the styles offered on a brands website not all are offered in the larger sizes so it would cut down on their search time.

4. Why do they care? Like I stated before this would cut down on search time which is crucial as people's attention spans get shorter and online shopping gets more popular.

5. What are your core competencies? My core competencies are not only offering one or a few brands or styles but buy offering as many as possible. Also, as a website there is the ability to sell ad space for additional income. Lastly, people will always need shoes so demand replenishes itself

I think these five elements fit together well but the biggest problem I see with a website like this is going to be promotion. Finding effective ways to show those inside the boundary how this can help them and make them use this service.