Venture Concept No. 1

An opportunity I have identified is the lack of virtual reality applications. Virtual reality headsets are the future and are in ever higher demand. Yet, it seems there are a good many number of possible applications not being addressed such as historical visitations, VR full-length films and exploration games. The one I wished to focus all my attention on was the idea of an exploratory game, as it is the most basic and popular of the three options.

The market is being propelled through the introduction of more powerful computers and smartphones, hence devices like the Samsung Gear VR. Many of the users are millennials, who always look towards the next frontier of technology. Geographically speaking, almost all users are situated in the developed world as they have a higher per capita amount of disposable income needed for these devices. Customers have no loyalty as of yet, since the market is so fresh and applications are constantly being pumped out by the week. Satisfaction comes from substitution with another application that does some other function that passes the time and has a cool landscape. The opportunity itself is large enough for a sizable portion of the VR community that enjoys the illusion of being in a different locale, which I would guess that it is around 70%. This window of opportunity will be open for six months to a year as VR devices have yet to go mainstream and are just now picking up steam.

This entire endeavor will be an innovation onto itself as human experience to such an immersive depth has never been attempted before. An interesting aspect of this is the ability to create panoramas of digitally rendered landscapes, thus being quite easy to create as Unreal Engine 4 (The engine that most VR games are made on) can be used to make a unique landscape of considerable size in five hours’ time. My application will consist of a player walking from a start point in a randomly chosen locale and walking through it using the touchpad. They can interact with certain parts of the environment to better understand it and draw them in closer to the overall story behind it. The app will be available on the Oculus Store and will go for a price of $2.99 as that is the average price for most applications.

Customers will buy my innovation as there is a severe shortage of applications in the Oculus Store.  Switching from nothing to something is a choice most people would gladly take at the cost of three dollars. My innovation would help fill a niche in the otherwise empty void that is the Oculus Store and competitors are non-existent as established apps fill one major role that is it. Most companies barely even have a single application on the store and most are just picture apps. Their weaknesses is a lack of ability to devote resources into a large project as to constantly update their flagship product. Packaging is vital since no-one would buy an application from a page lacking pictures, reviews and a basic description of it. Price points are quite low compared to other products on the same store of less complexity and substance that may go to a price of $10.00. Distribution will be done through an aft-mentioned third party, the Oculus Store. Customer Support will be relegated to reviews and comments and answered through a FAQ and patches. Customer experience will be our number one priority as we do wish to keep these customers to increase our brand. Our business would have a small team of programmers on hand to continue development. I would estimate we would need five programmers throughout the world to function in this role and keep the firm small to reduce overhead costs.

My most important resource will be my timing and position in an unclaimed market. My unfair advantage will be held through my extensive knowledge of Unreal Engine 4 and how to create good lore as well thus, not even giving my competitors a chance to compete. Competitors can’t actually think that far ahead as most will try to copy a success yet, not be able to make it their own since all they want is a quick buck as opposed to enriching the VR experience.

The next step for us would be to create another VR experience potentially creating a more in-depth role playing game from the one that we created using the current innovation that we employed and capital gained from the last project. This new product will help make it a more dynamic experience than just aimlessly walking in a landscape with some landmarks and make it more like an actual videogame.

My next step in five years with this product would be to aim for the domination of the VR sector in terms of games to expand this amazing technology and maybe advance it into a new headset. I would like to be in a position to invest and be a direct force in creating new VR technologies and this first venture will give me the reputation and money to make these further projects possible.

Week 11 Reading Reflection

1)      What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations?  

The biggest surprise from the reading was the fact that a lot of prominent companies like Sun and Nokia have a hard time constantly innovating. Much of these companies were at the top of their fields for a while but, I just assume they fell off the wagon because of poor management and better competitors.

2)      Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

One part of the reading that was confusing to me was the use of the word aping. I had to look it up to actually understand what it meant and even longer to fit this unfamiliar word into the article’s flow to understand the author’s direction.

3)      If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

Two questions I would like to ask the author are: What occurs when someone copies another’s innovation strategy? The author wasn’t all clear with the consequences of taking another’s strategy. Failure might be likely if so, because of incompatibility yet, in the same industry that risk is lessened. Simply put, I want to know what will happen if I copy my more successful rival’s innovative strategy.

How important is market feedback for an innovative strategy?  Novartis’ absolute shutoff of market data is quite alarming since that is the lifeblood of many a company. If such a large and successful company and get away with not consulting it, is it all that important? Does it actually matter what type of industry you are in and the possibility to substitute certain parts of one’s strategy in favor of genuine technological innovation?

4)      Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

In my opinion, I think the author was wrong about the importance of crowdsourcing. He talked about it in grey terms in which it could both be a boon or a harmful endeavor. Many independent firms have actually began using crowdfunding to create products that have since flourished such as the Oculus Rift that I have next to me. Crowdfunding is by far the future of financing for both independent and well-established companies. 

The Amazon Whispherer

Describe the revenue drivers you currently include in your business concept for this class. Revenue drivers are the different ways you make money.

The revenue driver that is currently in my business concept works through data mining. People will add information about themselves in their profile as it will connect with Facebook and allow for them to look at local and state elections. This interest will be on certain issues will be noted and sold to a third-party as a form of product research for their campaigns.

Describe what kind of product offering you believe should be next. What's the next thing your customers want?

The product that should come next is a national electoral version of what we are planning to create with our local version. Everyone wants to see who will be the President of the United States as that is the highest office in the land. If we get to that point, then another leap we could do is international elections like in Canada or the UK.

Describe how this "next" thing will enhance your existing product/service offering. Does it improve the user experience, does it increase customer switching costs, does it foster customer loyalty, etc.?

This next thing will enhance our existing product offering since people will see that we think big in terms of politics and are willing to expand to meet their massive demand to enter a bigger market. This will improve user experience as it can apply to users throughout the United States. Customer loyalty will greatly improve as they know that new products are being constantly produced for their every political need.

Go to Amazon and try to find a product that is similar to the one you want to offer next. Describe the product. Include a picture of the product.

Since my product is an app, I went to the Google Play Store instead. What I found was a product called US Politics News. It is an unbiased political app that allows the person to choose the information they want from Capitol Hill. Also includes a YouTube channel as well as the guarantee that no story will be recycled.

What are the customer reviews for the product? What, exactly, do customers not like about the product? What do they like about it?

The customer reviews for the product are generally positive with some notable exceptions including people upset about advertising being a part of the application itself. Concerns of bias were also brought up as a result of editorial bias. People like how in the stories and data that they do provide is quite unbiased and free of a lot of rhetoric.

Describe what design/usability changes you'd make to the product.

I would change the design to make much more social and easy to use. The overall app looks quite crude since it is only designed to deliver information as opposed to make that information appealing to the populace at large. I would also decide to scale it down so people do not have the same complaints as local elections are nowhere nearly as biased, just lack information.

Describe why you think this product would make a good addition to your current product/service offering.

I think this product would make a good addition to our current lineup as it would introduce us to many politically minded people that don’t have time for minor elections. These people just don’t care about local politics all that much due to the sheer lack of information despite having near the same effect on their lives as state and national elections. It also gives us a good base to build on for an ever-bigger political project. 

Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

My venture is a political application to cancel out bias in the mainstream media.


Resources:

• Youth- It is valuable as it can't be bought or created and allows for a greater amount of energy as well as time to put into a venture. Though it is not rare, it is a resource that everyone has but most don't properly use it. There is no substitute for youth.
• Political Science Training - It is a vital component in this industry as having the understanding and know-how in regards to politics is vital. It is quite a common degree that anyone can take at an accredited institution. It can be substituted with actual political experience.
• Fraternal Ties: As a member of a fraternity, I have access to specialists in many different fields to help make my venture a reality. Fraternal ties are quite common, yet, not everyone has it as well as the ability to access such a high amount of computer science majors. Networking could be just as effective, yet, more tedious.
• Business Plan: My venture has a detailed plan that outlines how we will operate as well as how we will make a profit. The end result of this will be that we will more attractive to investors, though anyone can make a business plan with the proper time, knowledge and feedback. 
• Mass Distribution: An application on Google Play or the App Store can be accessed by anyone around the world. This being said, it is somewhat difficult to actually get an application on the App store making it a bit challenging for a rival to copy us for a couple months time. 
• Easy to Use Interface: An application with an attractively simple setup will appeal to utilitarians. Some political apps are quite complex and hard to use as well as it is an obstacle for a company to easily create such an interface. 
• Non-Biased: All of our competitors have a bias of some sort in their reporting. We will pull all of our information from the public records in order to allow people to make their own decisions. This is extremely rare and hard for others to get rid of their bias as they would lose their entire client base.
• Having a team: My business partners are experts in their distinctive fields of journalism, programming and business allowing for a range of knowledge to be input to a myriad of problems associated with starting a business. It is hard to find experts at such an early stage of a company's creation and they bring a massive amount of value to the company as a whole. An established company can easily procure such a group with ease.
• Dream to Change the World: A cause can help motivate both employees and investors into your idea and help it make a reality. Very few companies have any end goals that aren't just about making money. Trying to end bias is unique in its scope as well as nigh impossible for others to copy as it is so easy to simply be the voice piece of an interest group.
• Time: My venture's idea was created a year and a half of ago and is constantly being improved upon as time goes on. It is not until recently that much of the mechanisms were thought of and described in our business plan. Any company that lasts long enough can use time to their advantage to improve themselves through experience. 

The most important resource that we have is our cause to make information unbiased as that is what our entire operation is based on. Without it, all that we have is a thirst for money and hence, we lose all of our moral high ground cards causing us to just become just another news site. It is also what leads us to do what we do as well. The chance to make history is what attracts extraordinary talent to a company and leads to massive profits and overall success of a dream.

Week 10 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations?  

The biggest surprise in the reading for me came as a result of the relatively easy explanations for many seemingly complicated terms like accounts receivable or the like.  It all was pretty simple to understand why businesses do things in certain ways to balance their balance sheets and how much the government plays a role in a firm surprised me as well.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

One part of the reading that genuinely confused me was the sheer amount of similar functioning sheets such as a balance sheet, profit and loss sheet and the cash-flow statement. Many of these show the various aspects of the corporation in extreme detail up to the point that I can’t easily remember what each of them do apart from broad strokes.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

If I had two questions that I could ask the author, my first would be: What is the extent of government regulation in the private sector? I noticed the amount of wording the in the chapter towards the IRS and other government regulatory entities in the form of financial paper-trails and the like.

My second question would be, how accurate are Pro Forma Statements? Since, I’ve read on market papers that sometimes companies do better or worse than expected. If it is not so accurate then why hasn’t a more accurate method replaced it?

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

I think the author was wrong about using just a sales forecast as the basis for an operating budget. My reasoning is that an unforeseen event can occur such as seen in the oil industry as of late, thus considerations of volatility of the market should be factored in. I don’t discount the use of the sales forecast just the addition of another tool to aid it.

Growing Your Social Capital

Domain Expert:

Roger Austen is a political consultant in the local Gainesville area. He works independently of any and all firms and has a lot of insight into the political climate of North-Central Florida. I found him through some political science major friends as well as through the local Republican Party on campus. Our exchange was mostly us talking about how people were so ecstatic at Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. His answer to this phenomenon was that people were fed up with the mainstream media and their party patrons. With that, I told him about my application and he thought it was a good idea. He definitely wants me to refine it some more to help end bias. A connection like this gives me some important background information to work with to better improve “Power2U.”

Market Expert: 

Jerrit Gorman is affiliated with Young Americans for Liberty and occasionally surveys students throughout campus on their opinion on certain political issues. This is actually how we met each other as he approached me for a survey and while I filled it out, we spoke about politics. I asked him about what he thought about my idea for an application that removes bias from the political equation. He told me that it would be a fanciful application unless public records are used for most of the information. He offered if I ever needed help looking for someone to do a survey, he would be willing to do it. 

Supplier:

Andrew Sexton calls himself a professional politician-in-training since he jets around the country talking with Republican Party officers.  Drew was a connection I made through my friends at the Delta Upsilon fraternity. Drew is never in town except on very special occasions and I ran into him quite accidentally while visiting a friend of mine at the house. We got to speaking about bias in politics and I mentioned “Power2U” to him and he reviewed the idea a bit. He gave me some feedback and told me to work on it and add a feature that allows politicians to input some explanations onto why they voted or acted in a certain way on some bills. This connection will allow for more of an institutional opinion on this to prevent outright conflict with the political parties. 

Conclusion: 

This experience has taught me that when I wish to network with people that I should in general just see where they stand on certain issues and offer to contribute my help to make that issue non-existent. In that way, I can garner support from people that I met to meet both of our ends while ever-expanding my network in support of a solution. This differed from my previous experiences as I always introduced myself instead of what I can offer potential connections.