Idea Napkin No. 2

1. I am a 21-year-old college student working hard now so I don't have to later in life. My biggest skill is my outgoing personality. I'll talk to anyone about anything. In life, it is about who you know, not what you know. I have worked hard to make as many connections as I can while in college and plan to continue networking. My great work ethic allows me to complete both my college work and a full-time job at the same time. I aspire to be happy in life. Cliche, yes. But true. As far as this business venture goes, my aspirations are to help get rid of vapes from people who don't need them. Young adults have an addiction to them that needs to be solved. Helping other people has always been something I have cared for, so having that incorporated into my business would make me extra dedicated to it.
2. I am offering the chance for people to get rid of their vape addiction while receiving a benefit in return. Working with insurance companies, I will reach a deal that allows people to turn in their vapes to me, fill out a form, and in return they get a discount on their health insurance. After collecting enough data, I can stay in the market if a competitor comes along that has a solution to the vape epidemic. I will sell my database to them so they can see exactly who to market their product to.
3.The demographic I am offering this service to are the young adults late in high school and in college around the United States. Particularly Caucasian males and females between the years of 18 and 24. What do all my customers have in common? Simple: a vape addiction.
4. Customers will see value in my service for two reasons. The first is that it is free. Nothing sells like free. The second is that it provides a solution to their vape addiction. They get rid of a bad habit and actually receive a benefit in return. On the business to business to side, another business will use my information because it will be a complete analysis of who has a history with vaping and who could use their product, whatever it may be. Another plus is that it will save taxpayers money as less people will need health-related treatment for vape side effects.
5. Our core competencies are helping others and getting rid of a bad addiction in our youth's hands. The simplicity of our business model is what sets us apart from everyone else. It takes less than five minutes for someone to fill our online form and mail in their vape. If they are out and about, they can drop it off at one of our locations. It is quick and efficient. While the repurposing of the vapes is still in the beginning stages, once an idea is provided we can work towards reselling the free inventory we receive. It's a win-win. Also, as more studies come out showing vapes are having a negative impact on the environment, we can also market the fact that we are an environmentally friendly company.

Feedback Memo:
- The first piece of feedback I incorporated is saving taxpayers money. If less people are sick from vapes, less people are going to hospitals with these problems saving taxpayers money.
- The second piece of feedback I incorporated is helping the environment. As studies start to come out showing the negative side effects of vaping on the environment, more people will have a motive to get rid of them. This helps my company in the public eye, as we are seen as "green."

Create a Customer Avatar

My prototypical customer is a young American in college. They are more likely to be a male, however females do make up a good chunk of my target segment as well. It is also worth noting that high schoolers are a good portion of the market as well, but college students are the primary target. Involvement in a fraternity is highly likely for my customer. These 18 to 25 year old males will not have any children. They spend most of their free time doing homework or at the local college town bars. Their hobbies include watching sports, playing video games and socializing at bars/clubs any chance they can get. Some of them might have jobs, but the majority of them will not have a lot of money in their bank accounts. Their families will tend to be richer though. These people will feel as if they are invincible for most of their young years, however they will soon realize that this is not the case around the older age range of 23-25. Alright I’m done being formal here. For lack of a better description, my customer will be your typical Brad, Chad, or Thad. You know, the Caucasian kids wearing throwback basketball jerseys at a bar (not a good look by the way) with some faded jeans and a toss up between ruined Adidas trainers or some used-to-be-white high top Chucks. Their favorite music artists are Travis Scott and DJs producing awful dubstep remixes of perfectly good songs on Soundcloud for their 254 followers. Many of them will claim to be addicted to fitness, but they are really only in the gym because they feel guilty about last nights binge drinking and chain smoking of Juul pods. Disclaimer: that is not how the gym works. If they’re not out on the town or in the gym or skipping class, they’re cooped up in their frat house playing video games with the boys or watching TV shows like Rick and Morty. But they can never just enjoy the TV show, because they’re too busy constantly refreshing their phone to see if the $5 bet that their brother Vlad told them to put on a Division 2 Peruvian soccer team is going to hit. When that team inevitably loses, they’ll call their pledge and yell at them to hurry up with the pods they sent them to purchase 3 minutes ago. Finally, the pledge will return and Chad can escape from reality for a moment with ole reliable: Juulio, Lil Juuli Vert, Buzz Lightyear, Juulius Caeser, Kendrick Juulmar. And that, my friends, is where I come in. 

The commonality between me and my target customer is we are the same age and are college students. I believe this is a coincidence because the lifestyles we live are completely different. While I am a 21 year old Caucasian male (who regrettably did wear a basketball jersey to a bar once), I spend my time a completely different way. I also do not smoke in any form, binge drink regularly, gamble my money, etc. But this commonality is a good thing, as it gives me the chance to be in the same environments as my customer, allowing me to study them further and get a strong sense of who they really are. 

Elevator Pitch 2

2. The best feedback I got from last time was to start my pitch with a hook rather than just jumping into my speech. Implementing a statistic helps grab my listener's attention for the rest of the pitch. I thought the most outrageous comment was the one where someone said banning vaping is not the solution. I am not banning vaping, simply helping people kick their habit to the curb. The most useful feedback I got was when someone said I seemed passionate about my topic and spoke well about it.

3. Based on the feedback, I added a statistic on vaping related illnesses and deaths in the last 6 months to the beginning of my pitch. I also made it more clear as to what my company does and how we will work with both the customer and other businesses to provide services and make money, all while getting rid of young adult's nicotine addictions.

What’s Your Secret Sauce?

1.    I am a great public speaker and can talk to anyone about anything if need be.

I always listen first and talk second in a conversation

I am constantly thinking to myself about ways to improve things that I encounter in everyday life

My work ethic is never a question

When I want something, I go get it. Period. 

2.    1^stInterview – Jonny highlighted my great work ethic. Another key takeaway was him mentioning how level headed I am

2^ndInterview – Danielle made me realize that I am more caring than I thought I showed to be. I guess she’s one of the only people who would be able to see that since she is my sister. 

3^rdInterview – Luke also mentioned my work ethic, furthering my confirmation. He also went more in depth, touching on how I become emotionally attached to my goals, making them even more necessary to achieve.

4^thInterview – John didn’t give the best interview as he is not and never has been a serious person, but he knows me well. The one thing I can take away from his words are that he also sees that I am a hard worker, and will grind and grind until I get what I want.

5^thInterview – Gabby, although I might’ve called her at the wrong time, touched on my work ethic. She also pointed out how I am a “good friend” and take my friend’s feelings into consideration and always stick up for them. 

3.    Overall, I was able to predict that most people saw me as a hard worker. This is something I have always known and stayed true to my entire life. I believe in hard work and the benefits it brings. There were a few differences. My sister saw me as very caring. I did not think this was something that would be brought up. Luke also pointed out that I tend to get emotionally attached to my work and goals. I believe the difference in perception is caused by the scenarios people see us in. Danielle is my sister, so she sees all the times I have been caring with my family. Luke is a high school friend, so he saw me grind away in school to get into UF. I believe the interviewees are correct about me. Going back to part 1, I would add level headed to the list. I think this is what helps me be such a good public speaker as well. 

Interview Links:

https://soundcloud.com/user-203357785/john/s-8hIqn

https://soundcloud.com/user-203357785/gabby/s-Hzryf

https://soundcloud.com/user-203357785/jonny/s-2eUdQ

https://soundcloud.com/user-203357785/danielle/s-iJxWx

https://soundcloud.com/user-203357785/luke/s-ZLB88

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

3. In this case, the benefits received do not cost actual dollars since it’s an item that has already been purchased. I’ve found that the factor that determines how a customer does their picking is based on the size of the discount they will receive from the health insurance company. If this benefit is big enough, the benefits of the discount outweigh the addiction they have to their vape. Also, they were more inclined when reminded that if they turned in their vape, they would not have to spend money on the pods anymore, eliminating one of their weekly expenses entirely. Style, quality and these other factors only come into play when they consider the repurposed product being sold back to them. For now, it appears more beneficial to breakdown the vapes and sell the individual parts as opposed to spending money to repurpose them. Also, all the potential repurposed vape items that I have thought of do not seem to be of any value. 

4. While I originally planned to have an in-person turn in point where people could show their ID, fill out forms and turn in their vapes. However, I believe this idea would be more accepted if it was available online. Customers could enter all their information securely on a website I set up, and then could either mail in their vape or visit one of their local turn-in sites. These turn-in sites could be tents at college campuses with a couple employees, or even unmanned collection bins, almost like a mailbox or repurposed vending machine. The easier I make it for the average vaper to turn in their vape, the more likely I am to have them consider kicking their habit. Questions about how the consumer is going to finance their decision is irrelevant because no cash is being exchanged, only information and a vape. B2B exchanges could come into play later down the line, as I could sell my database of previous vape users to companies who are interested in marketing to these individuals. This would more than likely be an easy transaction, as most businesses interested in looking at such statistics are not light in the wallet. 

5. In my situation, the “rightness” of the purchase, or rather, turn-in, is not of question. Vaping is a bad habit and is linked with disease and death. Getting rid of a vape in most cases is the most correct decision (unless you are a smoker trying alternatives to cigarettes, as mentioned before). People know what the morally correct decision is – quit vaping. However, their addiction and lack of motivation is what holds them back from making it. 

7. This segment is very similar in almost all categories. The problem with my idea is that it applies to such a large number of people and the consideration is simply to turn in their vape or not. There are no price factors, location problems, etc. It is an individual decision to either stop vaping and turn it in for a health insurance discount, or continue vaping. Unfortunately, this is both a curse and a blessing. In terms of post-purchase evaluation, even though there is no purchase occurring, the variable the customer can base their happiness on is the discount they receive. If they believe it to be a large enough discount that it is worth giving up their vape, they will be satisfied. If not, at least they’ve began the process of getting rid of an awful habit. 

Halfway Reflection

1.    A good behavior I’ve developed in order to keep up with this course is time management. Between the assignments and lectures, there is little wiggle room for procrastination. Like most people, I used to procrastinate until the last minute. I learned quickly it was not possible in this class. A behavior I’ve used to keep is my strong work ethic. My full-time job takes up most of my day, and I travel a lot. At the moment, I’m writing this from Mississippi during my break. Focusing on the bigger picture and staying motivated are two things I do really well, and they have helped me complete assignment after assignment in this class.

2.    The moment I felt like giving up was after assignments 6,7, and 8 were almost due. I had a very busy week with work and had a lot of schoolwork to do on top of them. The one thing that pulled me though was reminding myself that graduating is my goal, and in order to get there I have to do my work. I do feel like I’ve developed a tenacious attitude over the past two months, or rather furthered the one I already had coming into this course. The experiences that contributed to this attitude the most are having to turn multiple assignments in per week, all while watching 2 hour lectures every Monday and Wednesday.

3.    The three tips I would offer to next semester’s students are:

a.    Select a topic that is relevant and pursuable, as this will make you more likely to develop tenacity and actually like your assignments.

b.    Always read all the comments on your posts, as they have great ideas and constructive criticism that, if not taken personal, can further your idea.

c.    Set a schedule for when you are going to do your work/watch lectures and hold yourself accountable to it. You will start to feel bad if you miss a deadline you set for yourself and it will keep you motivated.

Reading Reflection No. 1

1.    The most surprising thing to me was that Steve Jobs didn’t make the majority of his fortune off of Apple and its products. In fact, it came from his investment into Pixar, when he became a majority shareholder in 1986. Pixar’s stock skyrocketed in the years to come, and Steve became a billionaire. Granted, he did invest $5 million into the company, so it wasn’t a rags to riches story. Of all the things I learned about Steve Jobs, his tenacity was the one thing I most admired. Even after getting fired from Apple, he never let his mind stop for a second. He easily could’ve sunken down into his own self-pity and never amounted to what he became. Instead, he didn’t miss a beat, and ended up making the Pixar investment that would change his life for good. In everything he did, no matter what company he was working for, he did it 110% and never stopped chasing his dream. While Steve Jobs is one of my idols, he did have a few qualities I disliked. His curiosity with LSD and other drugs is not exactly my cup of tea. Steve encountered a ton of adversity in his life, starting from birth. He was put up for adoption due to a family dispute about one of his parents being Muslim. He was a college dropout, and fired from his job. But he overcame everything thrown his way. 

2.    The biggest competency I noticed that Steve Jobs exhibited is not always thinking he knew everything. He loved to learn, but only about the things that interested him. His boredom in school is what led him to get in trouble in grade school and eventually drop out of college. He was very true to who he was, and he knew exactly what interested him and what he wanted to learn about. The other obvious trait Steve Jobs had was one discussed in this class, tenacity. His ability to always climb out of the hole he found himself in is something we all should be inspired by. He proved that failure is not the end, but merely a new beginning for a more important project in life, 

3.    One part I didn’t quite understand was when the book discussed the “reality distortion field” that Steve Jobs used to motivate his employees. It later mentions how literal Steve Jobs saw the world, so I don’t understand how someone who sees the world for what it is can distort reality to get his employees motivated? Maybe I am just overthinking it, but when I think of distorting reality, I think of Sci-Fi movies and alternate universes. Probably just overthinking it. And the parts that discussed coding and building the Mac were quite confusing at times, as I am not a computer wizard. At times it was also difficult to keep up with all the work Steve Jobs was doing, as he moved from job to job throughout this life. Things like AppleLabs and NeXT were discussed, but it wasn’t always clear to me when he transitioned from position to position, or if he was working on multiple projects with other companies at once. 

4.    My two questions to Steve Jobs would be:

a.    What carried you through the times when you were fired or made a mistake that was costly?

b.    How did you know your idea was good enough to pursue endlessly?

5.    I think Steve Jobs opinion on hard work is that it is necessary to success. He exemplified that in everything he did in life. I share the same outlook in life, as there is no replacement for hard work. It speaks volumes about you as well, louder than anything you can ever say with words.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Segment: The segment I am selecting for this exercise is college kids, ages 18-22. Specifically, the ones who are regulars at the bar and can be seen sucking on a vape on any given ladies night.

Interviews:For these interviews, I have done what I have done previously and gone straight to the source. Midtown is full of drunk college kids almost every night, and it wasn’t hard to find three kids repeatedly lifting a Juul or Stig in their mouths. 

Findings: The consensus that I was led to based on the information that I received was that while some people don’t own a vape, they tend to use them in social situations, like at a bar. This is the time and place where the most amount of people vape at once due to availability. This slightly hurts my idea, since my idea banks on people turning in their own personal vapes to me. Obviously, this is impossible if the person who vapes doesn’t actually own one. Nevertheless, the time that the consumer’s need is most salient is typically when they go out and hit the town for a few drinks with their friends. Some people get their addiction started this way as well, as they wouldn’t normally vape in a sober state. So, I’ve identified one of the sources of where people are first exposed to vapes and potentially become addicted to them as well. When people become aware of their need, the very first thing I found that they do is go take another hit of their vape. Once they get some nicotine in them, they realize they need to be doing the exact opposite of what they just did two seconds ago, hit a vape. Since most of their parents don’t even know they vape, the most likely candidate to receive their “I need to stop vaping” speech is their friends. Most of the subjects I heard from have tried to give up vaping, but whether it is everyone else continuing to vape around them, lack of motivation over a period of time, or not caring enough to quit full-time, they always find their way back to their vape. I am hoping that by giving them a reward or some enticement to quit, they can save themselves from the side effects while being rewarded for making a good life decision. 

Conclusions: I would say that most of the people who vape in this segment are aware of the bad habit they have and the need to get rid of it. However, the motivation that was around briefly due to the ban is now gone, as no real enforcement of the rule has been seen yet. As more fatal cases appear each day, more kids in this segment are becoming scared and wanting to kick their habit to the curb. I believe this segment is very aware of their unmet need, however, in terms of their information search, it is mostly them going on WebMD and googling some of their side effect symptoms. This is rare though because most people don’t have any symptoms yet. Need awareness is good, them searching for information on how to quit/where to go to quit is below what I was hoping for. But this might just be the opportunity I need, as I could be the first popular “vape quitting” site on the internet. 

Idea Napkin No. 1

1.    My biggest talent is that I rarely ever get embarrassed. I love who I am, I am true to who I am, and I never stray from it. This ties into how I enjoy being on camera. Funny enough, my job now actually involves me recording film of other people. My aspirations in life are to be happy. Comparison is the worst thing you can do in today’s society. It is so hard not to compare when all we do all day is scroll through Instagram and Twitter. It’s cliché, but all I want is to truly be happy. Money and fame and all that sounds nice, but at the end of the day as long as I have my health, my loved ones and a job I love to keep me occupied, I’ll be perfect. If I were to start this business, I see it falling into that category of “keeping me occupied.” My brain moves at one hundred miles an hour, so having something to constantly pay attention to and tinker with, like this business, would be great. However, I don’t think it is a job that I would love to handle each and every day. 

2.    I am offering people a chance to get rid of their vape addictions all while saving them money on every insurance payment they make for the rest of their lives. Right now the customers have an unmet need: a way to benefit from getting rid of their, now almost entirely banned, vape addiction. I am giving them that option completely free of charge, and even giving them a discount in the process. Why quit vaping for free when you can quit and receive a benefit?

3.    I am offering my service to vape users who did not previously smoke cigarettes, specifically the young Americans between the ages of 13-25. The one thing all my customers have in common is an addiction. An addiction that is now banned by the US Government. Helping people get recognition for their efforts to quit vaping and giving them a reward will be enticing enough for people to want to use my service. 

4.    While the customers aren’t paying me money to take their vapes away from them, I will be making money on the resale portion of the vape parts/repurposed vape product. Why do customer’s care about my service? As more and more fatal vape related cases pop up in the news each day, more people are abandoning their vapes. Instead of quitting for no compensation, why not turn it in to my company and get a discount on your health insurance? We’re helping people get rid of a bad habit and essentially paying them to do so. 

5.    My core competencies are helping young Americans with addiction and keeping the next generation of Americans healthy and somewhat less poor. My free service is what sets me apart from everyone else. The customer doesn’t have to buy anything. They simply hand in their vape, register their name and give us their insurance information. That’s it. It can even be done through the mail. The customer can save money by doing almost nothing. One thing I have that no one else has (well, besides maybe GoodWill) is free inventory. The more vapes that are turned in, the more free inventory I have to repurpose/break down into parts and sell for 100% profit. 

6.    I believe these elements do fit together. Young Americans in school and college don’t have a lot of money, so giving them a free service is ideal. They have to get rid of their vaping addiction and my service is the only one in the world that will compensate them for doing so. An on top of that, helping get young Americans away from vapes improves the overall health of the nation and keeps us moving forward as a unit as time moves on.