Assignment 18: Create a Customer Avatar

What kind of hobbies does your customer have? They love to spend time outdoors, either going on walks or bike rides. They love to read a mix of fiction and non-fiction novels. They listen to podcasts, usually ones that have to do with science or personal opinion. They frequently visit websites like Reddit, Imgur, and YouTube. They use Twitter and Instagram daily, but they aren't on Facebook very often.
What kind of car do they tend to drive? (What color is it?) They either drive a Honda Civic or a Toyota Corolla, but they dream of owning a Tesla. They prefer to own white cars because they look modern and hide scratches. The interior is black or dark grey so as to hide any paw prints their dogs leave behind. The seats are cloth, not leather.
What TV shows do they watch? They love to binge shows on Netflix and watch documentaries. Some of their favorite shows include: The Office, Parks and Rec, and Friends.
Do they have children? They do not have any children yet.
What are their favorite books, and who are their favorite politicians? For fiction, they love a good dark mystery novel. They enjoy books from Stephen King. For non-fiction, they enjoy books about nutrition and health like, How Not to Die. They tend to have more liberal or socialist views and prefer a politician like Bernie Sanders.
How old are they? How old do they feel? They are in their mid-to-late 20s, probably 25. How old they feel depends on the day. They recently graduated with their bachelor's degree and are relatively new to their career field. Some weekends they feel more like a 21 year old and want to go out to a bar. Other weekends, they feel more like they're a 50 year old and want to relax at home.

After you have created this customer avatar, I'd like you to answer this final set of questions: What do you have in common with the customer avatar? If you have anything in common with the avatar, do you think that is a coincidence? Why? Honestly, I think I pretty much just described myself and my closest friends. I feel like I am the prototypical consumer because I live this lifestyle and I know this app would be hugely beneficial to my life. My closest friends also happen to be vegan and fall in line with most of these answers. I used a blend of all of us to create the customer avatar because others like us are who I envision to use this app the most. I designed the customer avatar to have more ambiguous physical traits because my close friend group is multi-cultural and I foresee this app being useful around the world. 

Assignment 17: Elevator Pitch No. 2

1) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch. Describe what stood out to you as important, what feedback surprised you the most, what feedback you think was outright wrong or silly, what feedback you thought was most useful and insightful. Based off of the feedback from my peers, my first elevator pitch was well-received. The comments that stood out to me as the most important were the ones that referenced my personal connection to my pitch and my use of statistics to back my claim that there is a need for this app's existence. Those were the two focal points of my pitch and it was nice to see that was noticed. I was surprised most by the comment that said I appeared confident while presenting. I think I filmed my elevator pitch about ten times to get one take where I didn't fumble over my words. I also thought that comment was most useful because it reminded me of the importance of practicing. It's okay to reference your notes or script, but the more you go over it beforehand, the easier it is to recall the words without assistance and that can help create the air of confidence.  

2) What did you change, based on the feedback? To keep my pitch within the general time frame, I edited out a few statistics about the growing rate of veganism in the United States. I also threw out some overly descriptive sentences to focus on the core message. To wrap up my elevator pitch, I made sure to include the possible price of the app, I asked for a specific amount of money to be invested, I put a time frame on the investment return, and I mentioned how the investment would be repaid. I made these adjustments after watching the lecture that provided feedback on the pitches of the brave students that submitted theirs for the class to review.

Assignment 16: What’s Your Secret Sauce?

1) Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique. What is it about you, exactly, that makes you different? Write this up in a detailed list. 

1. Becoming a vegetarian at 12 years old introduced me to the world of ethics and environmental issues at a young age.
2. I am mindful of being morally consistent. We have to have trust in one another and in order to do that, we have to know what we can expect from each other and ourselves.
3. Moving across the country, from a super small town to a huge city, at 11 years old has given me a unique mix of experiences from two totally different environments. 
4. Making YouTube videos over the last 4 years has exposed me to the world of new media as a user and a content creator. Seeing the behind-the-scenes of multi-channel networks and brand deals have given me a unique blend of industry knowledge.
5. I know what it's like to flub up an opportunity and I'm not ashamed to talk about it. A lot can be learned from failing and if you pair that knowledge with ambition, you can get further in life than you once thought. 

2) Interview the five people who know you the best. Ask them what they think makes you different -- remember, focus on your knowledge, skills, abilities, emotions -- in other words, your human capital. Try to stay away from discussing your other types of capital (such as who you know). Record each interview. In your post, please post each interview, as well as a two-three sentence summary of each interview, explaining what your key takeaways are. There is no time limit on these recordings. As long as you cover the information asked for above, that's all you need to do. 

1. He thinks my communication skills from a life long love of talking makes me unique and I found that to be very interesting. He says while I'm an emotional person, I'm also rational and that is a unique mix.
2. Hearing that he describes my main characteristic as reliable was very interesting. I try to be there for my loved ones and it's nice to know that is a trait that they recognize.
3. He thinks my optimism sets me apart. The fact that I haven't given up on my goals even when faced with failure adds to my uniqueness. 
4. She described me as considerate and creative. I never really saw myself as persistent until these interviews.
5. I was surprised to hear the first thing he thought of me is creative. He mentions my changing interests is guided by my creativity and that's not something I had thought of before.

I grouped all the interviews together so that it was easier to upload them on YouTube. It is an audio only video.

3) Reflect on the differences. How do you see yourself, and how do others see you? Are there differences in how you assess yourself compared to others? What do you think causes these differences? Do you think your interviewees are correct about you? Finally, going back to your list from part 1, would you make any corrections to the list? How? I'm so surprised to learn that those closest to me see me in a way that I would not necessarily think others see me. The fact that so many of them thought the same things was also interesting and makes me think they are correct. I noticed they tended to keep their responses more generalized, while mine were more specific. I think that's because I watched the lecture where what we commonly think makes us unique actually doesn't. Also, I am me, so I am able to be unrestrained when analyzing myself whereas others might not want to go that deep or would feel weird saying those things aloud.  From this, I learned that my unique qualities are rooted in my emotional intelligence more than mental skill and that I really need to work on my time management/ organizational skills. Well, to be fair, I knew that last part, but I was in denial. Going back to part 1, my personal experience with being vegetarian from a young age is a direct correlation to this assignment. It helped shape my product and me as a person, which adds to my human capital.

Assignment 15: Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

1) Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them. For the interviews, I sat down with a 27 year old woman who has been vegan for 10 months, an 18 year old woman who has been vegan for 4 months, and a 21 year old man who has been vegan for 1 month.

2) Begin with alternative evaluation. In the last case exercise, you determined how customers sought information related to solving their need. The outcome of this step is to produce a set of alternatives. Customers pick from among this set of alternatives. In this step, your job is to figure out how they do their picking. Does price matter the most? Does quality? Does style? Is there more than one factor that is important to your customer segment? The set of alternatives include a mobile app called Is It Vegan?, a vegan blog by Peta called Accidentally Vegan Snack List, and Google search results. All options are free, with the exception of the app offering a premium version. The 27 year old woman frequently uses the app. While there is a premium version listed for $4.99, she thinks that is too expensive and uses the free version, but complains it is glitchy and has too many adds. Both price and quality matter to her. The 18 year old woman uses a combination of Peta's blog and Google search. She says price is the most important thing for her. The 21 year old man uses Google search to find out if a product is vegan. He says the most important thing for him is speed and accuracy. He's tried the other alternatives, but he thinks the app is too unreliable and the Peta blog isn't updated enough.

3) How/where do they buy? Elements of the actual transaction can help characterize your segment. Is your segment more likely to buy online or in a store? Are they more likely to use cash or will they finance the purchase? This segment is most likely to buy in a store, but with a recent increase in grocery delivery services and online markets, more may be inclined to buy online. As food is a daily necessity, it typically falls under routine problem solving and does not require much evaluation for each purchase. They are most likely to use cash or a credit card to make the purchase. My mobile app would be used during the actual grocery shopping, but may be used before entering the store if they want knowledge of a product or promotion beforehand. For the alternative options, the same can be said, though they might be more likely to use Peta's blog before the actual shopping so that they can plan their meals ahead of time. When using the alternative options, all 3 people reported using their mobile phones most of the time, even when at home where a computer is available.

4) Post-purchase evaluation. What matters most to your customers when they think back on the 'rightness' of the purchase? What helps them determine the purchase was a good idea? What sorts of things make them think a purchase was a bad idea? For the 27 year old woman, what matters most to her is that she is able to get what she sets out for. In this specific case, she wants a clear answer to if a product is vegan. If a product does what is says it will do, that's when she determines the purchase was good. If the product does not live up to its expectations, then it was a bad purchase. For the 18 year old woman, what matters most is that a purchase fulfills a need. If after the purchase she feels her life has been made easier or a need is currently satisfied, then the purchase was good. If after the purchase the product has not aided in her life or is not as beneficial as she expected, then it was a bad purchase. For the 21 year old man, what matters most is ease of use and efficiency. If a product does not require much thought or adjustment to integrate into his life, the purchase was good. If he spends too much time trying to figure out how to use it or if the process takes longer than without it, it is a bad purchase.

5) Report the findings. Simply summarize your interviews. In the interview with the 27 year old woman, I learned the importance of offering a free or low cost product. The fact that she is willing to tolerate a subpar version of a product just because it is free is very telling and can help me determine the pricing of my app. In the interview with the 18 year old woman, I was reminded of the importance of fulfilling a need and not overselling my app. I will have to be sure that this app is actually assisting in making a better grocery shopping experience if I want it to be successful. In the interview with the 21 year old man, I learned how truly valuable time is to these costumers. My app needs to produce a clear answer to if a product is vegan faster than if they were to use Google to search for the answer themselves.

6) Draw conclusions. Based on what you know about this segment and what you learned in your interviews, how would you succinctly describe this segment in terms of alternative evaluation, purchase decision, and post-purchase evaluation? In terms of alternative evaluation, this segment cares more for a product/ service that is efficient and free. When making the purchasing decision, this segment wants something that is compatible with their mobile phones and assists in the actual grocery shopping experience. If a product lives up to expectations, is easy to use, and actually improves their life in some way, they will be happy with their purchase.

Assignment 13: Reading Reflection No. 1

For this assignment, I chose to read Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance.

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most? I am in awe of Elon Musk, as is most of the world. What shocked me most was his upbringing. It's nothing to hear a successful person comes from a successful family. I've heard it so frequently that I've sometimes felt that to become a powerful person, you have to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth. That's an erroneous way to look at the world and Musk is a prime example of why. It's shocking to read about his upbringing, how he faced abuse as a child and had to work to keep himself fed as a teenager. He knew what it meant to persevere at such a young age. He beat the odds and continues to do so.
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? I admire his juggling capabilities. He didn't just launch a successful company, he's built multiple and is actively involved with running several of them. You hear Tesla and SpaceX attached to his name on almost a daily basis, but Zip2, Bank X, and SolarCity are also included in his resume.  
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? While dedication and confidence are integral parts of being a successful entrepreneur, at times the book had Musk coming off as demanding and cocky.
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? Like any risk taker, Musk has encountered failure. He just doesn't let that stop him. Even to this day, Tesla is still struggling with becoming profitable because of production issues. He faced set backs with SolarCity when government regulations in Florida stalled its availability. He talked about his abusive father and childhood trauma. To overcome all the obstacles he faced, Musk's entrepreneur competencies were vital.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? Musk is the definition of tenacious. He faced adversities that would normally hold someone back, but he kept moving along. He was fiercely  determined to turn his ideas into reality. Musk also demonstrated that he takes the initiative, he's creative, and he's persistent. Whenever he sees a solution to a problem, he works like a maniac to prove it's what the world needs.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. Honestly, I think the in-depth details of how SpaceX and Tesla operate were confusing. To an outsider, it was a bit hard to comprehend.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why? Are you happy? If you could do it all over again, go back to being a teenager before you were known to the world, what would you change? Two generic questions, but in a conversation they would produce two non-generic responses that could be very telling of his personal mindset.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion? I think Musk's opinion is that hard work is necessary for advancement and a better future. SolarCIty, SpaceX, and Tesla support the idea that Musk is always thinking about what the world will look like tomorrow and how we can shape it today. We can not settle for what's fine right now. I completely agree that to make improvements, dedication is a requirement for any entrepreneur because that's what drives innovation. Complacency kills creativity.

Assignment 14: Halfway Reflection

For this exercise, I'd like you reflect on the past two months. In your post for this exercise, pretend that you're talking to a student from next semester's course. What would you tell them? The first thing I'd tell a prospective student is to chill out. It may seem like an odd suggestion, but speaking as someone that tends to get too wrapped up in school work and grades, I think it's a sentiment that should be emphasized. Chill out. Take it easy. Don't stress. This class can be incredibly useful and mind-opening, but to fully soak up its benefits, you need to approach the information with a calm mind. There are plenty of courses you're taking that you need to worry about exam grades, this is not one of them. So relish in that freedom. This class works with your own imagination, so make it as personal and fun as you can.    

1) Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? I think the most important behavior that I've used is independence. I love working at my own pace and on my own time. This class is set up in a moderately free form way so that you can choose when to complete the assignments. This is reflective of what you can expect if you enter the business world. Yes, you'll have deadlines, but a lot of the in between relies on you and your time management. Another behavior I frequently utilized was analyzing my own actions. Many of the assignments had me applying the concepts learned in the lectures to my daily life.

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this? Honestly, the reading reflection was my moment of temporarily wanting to "give up." While I love to read, it was the one assignment that felt the most traditional and boring. I also had a lot going on this week in my life, so I didn't exactly use my time wisely, leading to the time crunch panic. What pulled me through was the advice I previously listed; just chill out. I did the reading, now I just had to sit down and reflect on that. I could further the panic by scolding myself for letting the assignment slip my mind to the last minute or I could accept my mess up and focus on getting the work done. I think what inspired this mentality was learning about all the impressive entrepreneurs who faced multiple failures only to keep on trying until they succeeded. By keeping this in mind, I think I'm on my way to developing a tenacious attitude. 

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ? 

1. Worry about achieving your own goals first, before you worry about impressing others. You are your own worst critic, but you can also be your own best supporter if you allow yourself. 

2. Analyze yourself before analyzing others. If you can get a better understanding on what makes you tick, you stand a better chance of figuring someone else out. 

3. When in doubt, fake it. Now, I don't mean lie or cheat, but sometimes it's fine to pretend. If you lack confidence in your elevator pitch, don't be afraid to put on a front. Almost everyone else is nervous or filled with self-doubt. If you want other people to believe in you, you have to believe in yourself first (or at least look like you do).

If you're ever approaching a breaking point, try to find the humor in life. If you don't know where to look, here's the most unflattering picture that exists of my cat, Sea Otter (he loved to lay on his back like one). His silly sleeping face will hopefully bring you a moment of joy.

Assignment 12: Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

1) Pick a segment. The segment I chose are new vegans (have been vegan for less than a year) between the ages 18-29. I chose this segment as most people following a vegan diet report going vegan in their 20s.

2) Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them. For the interviews, I sat down with a 23 year old man who has been vegan for 3 months, a 29 year old woman who has been vegan for 7 months, and a 19 year old woman for has been vegan for 2 weeks.

3) Begin with need awareness. The 23 year old man is most aware of this need when he is hungry and doesn't have any food at home. This puts a pressure on his grocery trips as he wants to be in and out of the store as quickly as possible. When he shops hungry, he finds it more irritating reading over product ingredient lists and usually gives in to repurchasing the same products repeatedly. The 29 year old woman becomes most aware of this need when she conducts her weekly meal planning. She doesn't like to eat the same meals very often and likes to incorporate new dishes each week. When she is researching recipes online to use for that week's meal plan, she has to make adjustments for which products are suitable and obtainable and that can cause some frustration when she can't find what she needs. The 19 year old woman is aware of her need whenever she has to think about food. She typically sticks to certified vegan food or foods that have very simplistic ingredients to save time, but wants to try making more complex dishes with other products.

4) Move to information search. For the 23 year old man, the first thing he does is think about what he can eat. He goes over a mental list in his head of products that he's recently eaten and if he'll want to eat them again. When he is at the grocery store, he first goes to the products he is familiar with. When he thinks about trying a different product, he instantly goes to the ingredient list on the label and scans it for a "contains milk and/or eggs" label. For the 29 year old woman, the first thing she does is turn to Google and searches the product's name followed by "is it vegan?" She looks for search results on recently updated vegan blogs or lists. Date is very important so that it's most likely accurate information. For the 19 year old woman, she uses her phone to Google if her local grocery store carries a certain certified vegan product. As she typically buys the same products, but wants to break out of this habit, she's been turning to Peta's list of "accidentally vegan foods" to look for common staples in many easy meals.

5) Report the findings of your research. In these 3 interviews, I've learned that these new vegans are all facing issues dealing with obtaining quick, reliable information about which food products they can eat that don't carry the certified vegan label. 2 out of the 3 turn to Google to search for vegan blogs that discuss products they can use and find in their local grocery stores, a process they say is helpful, but can be a bit time consuming if they wish to follow a more challenging recipe. All 3 people expressed a frustration with long, complicated ingredient lists as they aren't yet familiar with many non-safe ingredients.

6) Draw conclusions. This segment is very aware of their need, especially when faced with choosing which products to purchase at the grocery store. This segment has adopted habits to help answer this need, but they are not the most efficient solutions and still result in some frustration at times. As they are still new in their transition to a vegan diet, their lack of knowledge about ambiguous ingredients in staple food products leads them to spending more time searching on Google for answers.

Assignment 11: Idea Napkin No. 1

1. You. I first began following a vegetarian diet in 2006 and went vegan in January of this year. Having dealt with the difficulties of trying to find animal-free products at the grocery store for nearly half my life, I know the potential of this app and I know how to cater to the target market it will serve. I have a knack for understanding people. Maybe it's from studying psychology or maybe it's because I just love to conversate, but I'm good at getting people to open up to me. Because of this, I've become a great listener. Pairing these skills with my personal experience, I know this app is needed and its demand will keep growing as does the amount of people that forgo animal products.
   
2. What are you offering to customers? The animal-free food market has exploded in the past decade. 10 year ago, you were lucky to find a small selection of Morning Star products in the frozen food aisle at Walmart. Now, it seems a new product is being introduced every week at Publix. This is wonderful progress, but it's not happening fast enough. At least, not evenly throughout the country, so you're left to check the ingredients of each product as you go. Because of this, grocery shopping trips take longer, especially when you're a new vegetarian or vegan. This mobile app will streamline your grocery shopping experience and cut down the time it takes to get in and out of the store while also exposing you to a great variety of products you never knew were accidentally vegan. The app works by using your camera to scan the product's bar code and comparing it to the continuously updated database of products and their ingredients to quickly tell you if the product is safe to consume. The app will also feature a listacle section that will share vegan related news, like new product announcements and product sales.
   
3. Who are you offering it to? This product is for people that follow a vegan or vegetarian diet and are finding it either difficult to shop for suitable food products or are wanting to expand their food options outside of what they are used to purchasing. As young adults only make up about half of the vegan population (but most people report going vegan in their 20s), the target market will be people following a meat-free diet between the ages of 18-50. This age group was also chosen because the likelihood of this portion of the population owning a smartphone is incredibly high.
   
4. Why do they care? Being vegan doesn't mean you give up your taste buds. These people care because food is an integral part of American society. Almost everyone wants to eat food they enjoy and they want a variety to choose from. Being stuck to the still-too-small section of vegan foods at your local grocery store gets old fast. This app will allow them to go beyond the certified vegan label to try other foods, possibly old favorites, that they never knew they could have because the ingredient list is too complicated. The listacle aspect of this mobile app will also bring awareness to new brands and products that they can try. They'll also save time and almost everyone is down for that.
   
5. What are your core competencies? The biggest thing the competition lacks is ease of access. Other websites or apps that offer this service are glitchy, too complicated for the average person to comfortably use, and are outdated. This app will be the opposite. First and foremost, we will be focused on making our interface as user friendly as possible. We will also focus on keeping our app continuously updated so that new products are being added every day to make our database extensive. The integrated listacle feature will also set this app apart from the rest because it will be a unique hub for vegan news and product information. 

I think all of these elements work together to create a focused plan that has the prototypical consumer in mind during every step. My personal experience is what sparked this idea and fuels my desire to make a product that is unlike any currently on the market. I want to create a mobile app that will have people excited about trying a vegan diet and will rid them of feeling overwhelmed at the grocery store. I believe in this app's potential. I want it to happen someday.