30A – Final Reflection

1. I believe that my most formative experience regarding the assignments in this course was "Growing Your Social Capital". This experience really influenced me because of the multiple networking skills that I feel that I gained upon the completion of this assignment. An experience that I will remember for years later would be any of the Elevator Pitch assignments. I will remember this because of the about I learned to present products as well as how many times it took me to make the perfect pitch. I believe my most joyous experience has to be the "Whats Your Secret Sauce" assignment. This was joyous because I got to learn about what the closest people to me really observe about me. I was happy to hear all the great things said about me. Again, I am most proud of accomplishing my first elevator pitch because it took me so long to get it right and when I did the feeling was great. 
2. I believe that this course assisted me with building an entrepreneurial mindset. I learned many skills that I require in the business world. This includes building on social confidence, which really assisted me throughout many assignments in this course. 
3. My advice to future students would be to dedicate time to these assignments and do not wait to do them last minute because some are actually very time consuming and require a certain level of effort. To perform best in this course a student should watch all the lectures because they provide a lot of useful information regarding how to master the assignments. To foster that mindset, students need to schedule a plan for doing an assigned task.  

28A – Your Exit Strategy

1. My plan for my exit strategy depends on the success of my product. If my product is as successful as I anticipated it to be, I would like to stay with my business for as long as I can until I retire. I want to build my business up until it matures. My goal is to make my business known all around the world. In the other hand, if my business was not functioning as well as i thought, I will seek potential buyers who can increase the value of my business through the use of their business. My ultimate goal is for my son or daughter to run the business after I retire. That means I would make the ultimate effort to keep my business. 
2. My exit strategy is when I hand my company to my child and I just sit and go to retirement. I will be sure that he/she will provide as much value and even more than I do. 
3. My exit strategy relates to the fact that online users will always need cyber protection for many years to come. This influenced how I identified an opportunity because it pertains to my customers always being in safe hands regarding actions they make online. My growth intentions also relate to this because my company needs to grow for it to prosper until I have retired and beyond.  

29A – Venture Concept No. 2

  Technology has been advancing at a very alarming rate which can really help small businesses grow through the use of e-commerce. However, a huge consequence of the use of online selling are the risks of cyber threats hacking transactions and stealing very important assets and information. This type of risk yields a need for protection and an effective plan to stop these things from happening. This is a need for both the small businesses themselves and the consumers that shop with those businesses. These include fairly new businesses who cannot afford the biggest security measures and are constantly threatened by cyber threats. The customers include everyone who shops at these small retailers and wants to keep their money and information safe. Cyber threats are able to monitor screens and actually view information and assets being transacted. This gives basically every online transaction a form of risk no matter how big or small it may be. Large businesses are usually able to afford huge firewalls that don’t allow malware. These can include Best-Buy, Walmart, and even Old Navy. The market that is really directed to is the businesses that are trying to grow but cannot due to poor security measures. Customers think they are currently satisfying the need by downloading protective software to detect threats. However, those software programs downloaded to a computer are only the tip of the iceberg. The threats are more advanced and tend to target the businesses before harming the customers themselves. This makes the opportunity much larger than most basic consumers believe. A lot of them do not care about the risk until they wake up one day and realized they were harmed. The window for this opportunity is actually growing with technology in that it is constantly increasing the threats.

     Addressing the problem really motivated me to create a solution to this opportunity and need. I have decided to innovate an application that will change the safety of online transactions for the better. This innovation will take form of an app that can be downloaded on any mobile device. The app will have two sides to it: 1. The business side 2. The customer side. With the help of an important engineering team, my product will link both businesses and consumers together to provide mutual protection. First, the app will be linked to the cyber security plans that the businesses have as well as to their accounts. Secondly, the consumer choses to link themselves to the accounts that they tend to use when making these transactions. After the accounts are linked, the app will unite both sides together whenever a transaction is made. The consumer can also choose to link to a business beforehand by searching that specific business up in the app. Once a transaction is made and the two sides are connected, the device really starts to work its beauty. The cyber security system that is implemented will detect any potential threats and notify both sides when it happens. In the consumers’ perspective, when someone makes a transaction they will receive a notification on their phones on how safe the transaction is. If something bad happens and the security is breached, the app will automatically notify the customer and he has a chance to take certain steps to prevent losing anything. The small businesses will invest for the protection plan and the customers will need to pay a small one-time fee for the app at around $3.99. If demand is high enough these charges will cover all costs and create profit for my firm.

     With this innovation all planned out and ready to use, it really is ready to fulfill the opportunity that these small businesses and consumers have. I will first like to talk about the benefits to the consumer. This innovation will be beneficial for multiple reasons. Firstly, it will help consumers manage their transactions effectively and efficiently. Secondly, the layer of protection it provides can really help the consumers become more confident with their purchasing decisions. Finally, this application can save customers a lot of money in not dealing with potential losses. For small businesses there are also multiple benefits. Firstly, the app comes with a cyber security plan that is up to date and can create extra layers of protection. Therefore, the business is able to operate safely and can take some important “risks” as needed. Secondly, the business has another way to promote and find new customers through the app, bringing more business. Finally, the business will seem more safe to consumers, which can really help with growth. I believe that a good way for consumers to switch to this product would be a trial of the product itself. I will release the product early and offer trials for businesses and consumers before I launch this product. When the customers figure out how well it works they will be attracted to the product and will want to continue to have it. Competitors include the software programs that both businesses and consumers have to protect themselves from cyber threats. Their weaknesses are that they are not able to connect with each other just like my innovation does. The goal of this venture is to give safety to customers and businesses. That is why there will be a 24-hour customer service line that may be called which will be uses to assist customers and assure them that they will be helped in their best interest. In making this product, I will start with use a cross-functional team of about 25 employees and hoping that number will steadily increase over the years. I will have a marketing team, sales team, engineering team, finance team, and a customer service team that will all work together for this venture.

     This venture’s most important resource are the connections that I am able to maintain from family and friends. Building relationships brings in extra knowledge and experiences that can really assist in the development of a product. I want this venture to grow large enough that even large businesses around the world start using it as a means of cyber protection. In five years I want to be sitting in my office watching my business flourish and expanding into a global marketplace. I want to be known as the guy that developed the most successful cyber security measure in history.

Feedback: I did not receive any feedback regarding potential corrections in my venture concept. The feedback I received regards the perceived benefits that are created through the use of my application. The main think I changed was that I included an actual price for the app. I feel like this was beneficial because it gives my consumer a approximate amount to pay.

26A – Celebrating Failure

1. I have failed in this class during this semester one week with two assignments like this one. I failed because I did the assignment before the due time but I completely forgot to send the URL. The reason why I have done this is because I was in a rush to go somewhere and I decided to leave before I could send it in. I was really disappointed and I realized that there was no exceptions when dealing with this.
2. I have learned to be more organized with my assignments and to plan my due dates more precisely. I have also learned to take these assignments way more seriously after realizing that I lost points in one of the dumbest ways possible. Putting the assignments first really helped me excel in the second half of the course. 
3. I believe that my failure was embarrassing to myself because I dedicated a lot my time and effort on the bulk of it and then to realize that I failed them because I did not simply turn them in. Although being pissed about my results, I took this failure as motivation to do better. Therefore, I believe that this failure really helped my get organized and keep myself on track to do very well in this course afterwards. This class has taught me to take failure positively and use it to work harder. Failure is a learning experience and that can yield many benefits if one choses to correct their errors. 

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

Inbound Marketing, Brian Halligan

1. The general theme of this book is to inform readers of how to market a product by connecting with customers online. The whole point is that the customers try to find you instead of wasting a lot of money and time looking for them. The book also shows a step-by-step way to turn visitors to a site into actual customers using the multiple programs and connectivity that the internet has to offer. 
2. This book connected with this class in terms of the sections of building relationships and increasing social capital. I believe that I enhanced my understanding about the multiple ways that I can effectively market a product online and gain attention of customers by reading this book. Since we have already built our venture and solidified the extent of our product, I believe that this book is the next step to actually attract customers and market the product. 
3. An exercise that I would create that relates to this book would be one which we create a Facebook page that shows our products and the benefits that it provides. By using the steps in the book, the student will create the page that will most likely create the largest form of success. This can generate real life feedback and really enhance that position of the product in consumers' minds. 
4. The biggest aha moment in this book is the way that it emphasized the cost savings of enduring inbound marketing rather than outbound. I believe that the book really provided an incentive to attract customers rather than pushing your message to them. 

25A – What’s Next?

Existing Market

1. The plan for my product here is to enhance my product to the benefit and liking of my customers. My goal is to keep my existing customers and attract new ones in their same market. 
2. Interviews:

-Customer #1: This customer says that a good idea is to extend the product and make it available on computers, televisions, and any other electronic platforms. If we do this then the customer can be alerted whenever he/she does not have their mobile phone or tablet with them at the time. 

-Customer #2: This customer believes that my venture should develop its own transaction system rather than just linking to the accounts. He believes that if the app has its own account system, businesses and their customers can use that very easily and safely. He also says that it can bring my venture a lot more revenue. 

-Customer #3: This customer says that my venture should offer deals to businesses that are struggling to find their way so that they get some help to develop properly. This can help because it can add to the mix of safe businesses. 

     All three customers provided me with some really good feedback. I really enjoyed the first concept of expanding the application. This makes a lot of sense because not everyone has their phones on and available all the time. I believe that a good idea may be also linking the app to an email and/or tv so that customers are able to receive the notification in the quickest way possible. 

     I also thought the second idea was really great bc it really helps my venture build up. If I include a transaction system, my app will actually will develop different uses which can attract more customers and businesses. I believe that something like this can really provide safe measures for transactions which can yield greater benefits to both small businesses and consumers.

New Market

1. I have always targeted small businesses that want to grow and are in need of a good cyber security measure. However, in the future I plan on expanding to larger businesses and becoming their main provider. 
2. I believe that my concept can create value to large businesses and their consumers because it can develop into the sole security measure that all businesses can be linked with. Therefore, the consumer would be able to view the safest businesses and make judgements upon that fact. 
3. Interviews:

-Customer #1: This customer believes that in order to be successful in this market, my venture should really show success it incurred regarding small businesses. He believes that this will attract attention to larger businesses who also feel uneasy about their security plans. 

-Customer #2: This customer says that one major adjustment that should be made to reach this new market is to gain good publicity. He says that having good public relations can really help with making the product more interesting. 

     Both customers had something in common with the feedback that they provided to me. They both concluded that the success in my current market really contributes in getting the recognition in a larger market.  I am surprised by the fact that publicity plays such a major role but it actually makes sense in getting the recognition I need.

     I believe that in order to switch to this market, I really have to take the feedback I received in the existing market to consideration. This is because becoming more successful in the existing market can create a path to extending into a larger market. 

24A – Venture Concept No. 1

     Technology has been advancing at a very alarming rate which can really help small businesses grow through the use of e-commerce. However, a huge consequence of the use of online selling are the risks of cyber threats hacking transactions and stealing very important assets and information. This type of risk yields a need for protection and an effective plan to stop these things from happening. This is a need for both the small businesses themselves and the consumers that shop with those businesses. These include fairly new businesses who cannot afford the biggest security measures and are constantly threatened by cyber threats. The customers include everyone who shops at these small retailers and wants to keep their money and information safe. Cyber threats are able to monitor screens and actually view information and assets being transacted. This gives basically every online transaction a form of risk no matter how big or small it may be. Large businesses are usually able to afford huge firewalls that don’t allow malware. These can include Best-Buy, Walmart, and even Old Navy. The market that is really directed to is the businesses that are trying to grow but cannot due to poor security measures. Customers think they are currently satisfying the need by downloading protective software to detect threats. However, those software programs downloaded to a computer are only the tip of the iceberg. The threats are more advanced and tend to target the businesses before harming the customers themselves. This makes the opportunity much larger than most basic consumers believe. A lot of them do not care about the risk until they wake up one day and realized they were harmed. The window for this opportunity is actually growing with technology in that it is constantly increasing the threats.

     Addressing the problem really motivated me to create a solution to this opportunity and need. I have decided to innovate an application that will change the safety of online transactions for the better. This innovation will take form of an app that can be downloaded on any mobile device. The app will have two sides to it: 1. The business side 2. The customer side. With the help of an important engineering team, my product will link both businesses and consumers together to provide mutual protection. First, the app will be linked to the cyber security plans that the businesses have as well as to their accounts. Secondly, the consumer choses to link themselves to the accounts that they tend to use when making these transactions. After the accounts are linked, the app will unite both sides together whenever a transaction is made. The consumer can also choose to link to a business beforehand by searching that specific business up in the app. Once a transaction is made and the two sides are connected, the device really starts to work its beauty. The cyber security system that is implemented will detect any potential threats and notify both sides when it happens. In the consumers’ perspective, when someone makes a transaction they will receive a notification on their phones on how safe the transaction is. If something bad happens and the security is breached, the app will automatically notify the customer and he has a chance to take certain steps to prevent losing anything. The small businesses will invest for the protection plan and the customers will need to pay a small one-time fee for the app. These charges will cover all costs and create profit.

     With this innovation all planned out and ready to use, it really is ready to fulfill the opportunity that these small businesses and consumers have. I will first like to talk about the benefits to the consumer. This innovation will be beneficial for multiple reasons. Firstly, it will help consumers manage their transactions effectively and efficiently. Secondly, the layer of protection it provides can really help the consumers become more confident with their purchasing decisions. Finally, this application can save customers a lot of money in not dealing with potential losses. For small businesses there are also multiple benefits. Firstly, the app comes with a cyber security plan that is up to date and can create extra layers of protection. Therefore, the business is able to operate safely and can take some important “risks” as needed. Secondly, the business has another way to promote and find new customers through the app, bringing more business. Finally, the business will seem more safe to consumers, which can really help with growth. I believe that a good way for consumers to switch to this product would be a trial of the product itself. I will release the product early and offer trials for businesses and consumers before I launch this product. When the customers figure out how well it works they will be attracted to the product and will want to continue to have it. Competitors include the software programs that both businesses and consumers have to protect themselves from cyber threats. Their weaknesses are that they are not able to connect with each other just like my innovation does. The goal of this venture is to give safety to customers and businesses. That is why there will be a 24-hour customer service line that may be called which will be uses to assist customers and assure them that they will be helped in their best interest. In making this product, I will start with use a cross-functional team of about 25 employees and hoping that number will steadily increase over the years. I will have a marketing team, sales team, engineering team, finance team, and a customer service team that will all work together for this venture.

     This venture’s most important resource are the connections that I am able to maintain from family and friends. Building relationships brings in extra knowledge and experiences that can really assist in the development of a product. I want this venture to grow large enough that even large businesses around the world start using it as a means of cyber protection. In five years I want to be sitting in my office watching my business flourish and expanding into a global marketplace. I want to be known as the guy that developed the most successful cyber security measure in history.