13A – Reading Reflection No. 1

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Ashlee Vance

What surprised me the most about Elon is the determination he had to learn about computers and technology since he was very young. Which is also one of the most admiring things about him is that no matter what to him or his family he kept on learning to improve himself mentally. I think that least admirable thing about Elon Musk is that even after he was kicked out of his CEO spot in PayPal he still invested in it afterwards. I would not be able to put money into a company that I knew they pushed me out of my job. Elon Musk fought diversity all through his life from being bullied while a kid, to being fired for using the wrong coffee maker, to being told you are k=no longer the CEO of your company, to having his first son die, to having multiple rockets explode, divorcing his college sweet heart and told his company will never work. He has always just reevaluated the situation and moved forward with new ideas and innovation that will help save the world.

The competencies I noticed was that he left his Stanford PHD after two days to build a company and even after being pushed out of multiple companies and selling them off he still had future ideas and propositions to follow.

The only part of the reading that was a little confusing was the notion of the deflating American soul.

The two questions I would ask Elon Musk are:

Would leaving Earth and going to Mars and eventually off into space actually save everyone in the long run or are people going to be left behind somewhere along the way?

If you could take back one piece of technology that exists right now back in to time to when you were first an entrepreneur what would it be and why?

I would ask these two questions because I am curious about his future idea of space travel for all of humankind and how he would change time with a single technology and why that would be the most important to him.

Elon Musk would probably consider hard work a necessity for entrepreneurship and innovation. I would definitely agree to this idea because without the handwork of mathematicians and scientists we would not have the science and technology that helps keep our society up and running even if it seems to be in the background of your daily life.

12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

My segment is made up of people who are unorganized and forgetful with their belongings but can also understand a tracking app. The age to fit this would be young adults to middle aged people (18-50).

The three people I interviewed: 19-year-old female, 21-year-old male, 35-year-old male

Both the 19-year-old and the 21-year-old say the time they most need this is right before they leave for class which is at different times for different days. While the 35-year-old has a consistent every day before work in the morning. They would need this product before they left to go out to do something that pertained to keys or a wallet / purse. When their need awareness occurs is when they can not find their belongings and are running late in their schedule. The reason they are aware is because they forgot where they placed their belongings the night before or accidentally left them in clothing. Their need awareness occurs usually in their bedroom or around their home when they are looking for their things.

The very first thing they do to try and find a solution is either try and remember, look in every piece of dirty clothing, or check common areas around their home. When they search in google they see gadgets that claim to help or wikiHow articles on how to never lose your objects. They usually don’t talk to family as they would get scolded or the solution given to them wouldn’t be worthwhile.

From these interviews I have found out that they mostly need this product for when they get ready for the day and when they go out to do something. The need awareness and information search that this segment seems to have is to only have problems when they don’t feel like placing their objects in one place everyday when they get home and only finding cheap tricks and crappy online gadgets from articles that say they will help.

10A – Elevator Pitch No. 1

"Have you ever forgot about your keys, or wallet while walking out to your car? Has your kids ever wined that they can’t find their stuffed animal that they take everywhere with them. My name is Zac Hoeper and my idea is a hardware device that will allow you never lose or forget about your keys, wallet, or personal belonging ever again. It works off a Bluetooth signal that identifies exactly where the object last was for you to easily find it. The app that comes with the hardware will give you notifications on your phone when you go too far from it reminding you not to forget about it. It is for those people who always misplace their things. it is easily installable to all objects, it will have a hole for key chains, it is small and thin enough for wallets and lightweight enough to not weigh your personal belongings down. Other competitors have noises that let you know exactly where your hardware devices are but my idea it will just give you simple notification with a location that doesn’t disrupt or make inconvenience. My idea is the best way to bring back the things you love."


Elevator Pitch Video

11A - Idea Napkin No. 1

Me

I am a Geography major with a focus in Geographical Information Systems. I have skills in basic engineering and coding out into experience with a coding internship and building robots. My aspirations are to use GIS in correlation with hardware to make new opportunities in not only geography but in other areas as well. If I started this business, it would make a great introductory for me in the information systems and prepare me for other companies that deal with geographical technologies.

What I am offering to customers

My product is a hardware device that is small enough to be on a key-chain or fit in a wallet that reminds you where they last are and when you are about to forget them. This product will make it so no one will ever lose their keys or wallet again, with just having to look at their phone with the app that comes along with the hardware device. The app will show you the last place your keys or wallet was and send you a notification when leaving without either one.

Who am I offering this product to

The people who I am making this product for are the people who are forgetful or lazy about the management of their keys and wallet. These people don’t feel like keeping track of their things and would want an easier way to know where their belongings are at anytime they need to know.

Why they care

These people care because keys and a wallet are almost as much of a need as a phone is nowadays. People need their keys and wallet to drive somewhere or get a bus ride or buy anything. Most people who need their belongings are in a hurry and after to look for them in a rush before they leave their home and it sometimes causes people to be late.

Who are my core competencies

My main competitor would be the company tile who shares most of my idea; however, theirs does not notify you when you have gone away from your belongings reminding you to not forget them.

These five elements fit together with my background and future in coding hardware with this company that will make geographical readings that then interpreted for the user to know where their keys and wallet were last. People need this kind product because we are selling to humans who are forgetful and not perfect. This device helps in small aspect of finding lost things and notifies the user before they ever lose said items. The only weaker aspect of my company compared to tile is that I did not think of a community to help with lost and found because I was thinking of this as a more personal product.

9A - Testing the Hypothesis Part 2

The unmet need of knowing if they forgot their keys or wallet by using Bluetooth devices on them is the opportunity I am using to interview my five people.

From my interviews I conducted, I have found that certain people who share the need for knowing where their keys and wallet are at certain times have underlying exceptions to this opportunity. They feel like they have a certain spot for their keys and wallet that are easy for them to remember where they are when going out or that they never take their belongings with them every time they go out.

The point that the need differs is when the objects are stolen since it only shows the place it was received by your phone’s Bluetooth signal.

The underlying cause of the outsiders’ need is different than the people on the inside because of them only needing the devices for when they don’t have specific spots for their belongings or at a place where they don’t have specific place to put them like a friend’s house.

Inside the boundary                                                                                  Outside the boundary

People who forget their things                                                                    Organized people

Reminding you / helping find things in an area                                          stolen objects

People forget and misplace things                                                               stolen or dropped

8a - Solving The Problem

My problem is forgetting your keys or wallet before wanting to go out. The solution to this common problem would be to make small Bluetooth capable devices. For your wallet the device would be the shape and size of a credit card and for your keys it would be a simple key chain. The devices would contain small rechargeable batteries to keep the product compact and so the consumer would not have to worry about changing the batteries. The batteries will be wirelessly charged on a charging station pad. How the devices would work would be that they would connect via Bluetooth to the consumers phone and as soon as the consumer walks far enough away from the device that is with their keys or wallet the Blue tooth connection would be lost and they would get a notification on their phone telling them that the connection had been lost. The notification would also tell them the coordinates of the last place the device had been when last connected or how far away they are from it.