14A - Halfway Reflection

1. I learned early in the semester that it is easy to get overwhelmed with all of the different assignments. I started writing everything I need to do for the entire week and dividing them by urgency and importance and that helped me keep track of all the different assignments.
2. One week I had 2 exams and a lot of assignments due at the same time, it was really hard and I felt like giving up as I was stressed out and could not get anything done. However, I started focusing on one thing at a time until I finished it and I found myself finishing all my assignments in less time than I thought which gave me more time to study for my exams which was encouraging.
3. My three tips are:  
1. Manage your time well.
2. give yourself time to relax and destress so you do not burn out.
3. do not procrastinate. 

13A - Reading Reflection No.1

The book I read was The Wright Brother by David McCullough.
1. What surprised me the most was the fact that neither one of the brothers had more of high school education. Although they were both very intelligent, they probably had to learn a lot about psychics and aeromechanics by trying a failing. I admired that they never gave up and were always trying to improve their flyer and fix any mistakes that came up. They put all their time and money in this dream that they believed in even when a lot of people did not see the point for what they were doing. The wright brothers definitely faced a lot of diversity and failures while they are trying to build their flyers. Even after they were able to get it to take off and stay in the air for a few minutes, the U.S.  government would not acknowledge their achievement and would not buy or invest in their invention; however, they that did not discourage them and they kept trying and they even went to France after to keep their invention growing.
2. The Wright brothers were very intelligent and curious. They also had great work ethics and never gave up. They put everything they had into what they believed in. They were very persistent and used everything they have to make their dream a reality.
3. I was really confused about how the Department of Defense, could not see the implications of being able to fly. They said that men were not supposed to fly instead of recognizing the opportunity put in front of them. That made me think of what other new ideas that are being developed now that people cannot see the benefits and implication for a better future.
4. I would ask them why they kept trying to do something that no one thought was possible? I would want to know if at any point they thought that a man flying is actually unattainable and that it cannot be done? and if they did think that what made them put their doubts to the side and keep trying?
5. I think they thought hard work is very important. It is very evident in their life that they were extremely hard workers and that they never stopped trying unless they achieved their goals. They did many experiments that took so much of their time just so they can have a better understanding of how they will be eventually able to fly.

12A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No.1

1) The segment that I picked is UF students who are trying to buy textbooks.

2) Need Awareness: In all of my interviews, I found that students agreed that they normally have this problem at the beginning of the semester when they are trying to buy textbooks for their classes. One student talked about how it is always a problem when the professors want them to buy the textbooks right away and she is not even sure if she'll keep the class as it was still add/drop. She said she did not want to spend a lot of money on a book that she might never need. Another student told me that he wanted to see his old textbooks at the end of the semester and found that that it was really hard because people are never sure of their schedules so he found that it is better to wait until the beginning of the following semester.

3) Move to information source: The students that I interviewed differed on what they did when they were faced with the problem. One student said he always tries to find pdf versions of the textbooks. Another student said that she goes on Facebook pages to try to find students selling their old textbooks and if she cannot find it she normally just gets the textbooks from the bookstore. The third student said that she normally looks at online websites like Amazon and eBay.

Overall the information I got from the students was what I expected as I go through the same thing every semester. I think this app could really help this market segment with their unmet need.

11A - Idea Napkin No.1

1)You: I am a psychology student which means I know a lot about human behaviors and that could help me find the best ways to advertise my product. I am also very organized and hard-working. I was the business manager for a school newspaper for two years which gave me a lot of experience n trying to sell ads to different businesses and companies which could help my app.

2) What are you offering to customers: I am offering an app that would help students find the best-priced textbooks. It would also be a platform for students to buy and sell their old textbooks.

3) Who are you offering it to: all my customers are college students who are trying to save money on textbooks.

4) Why do they care: My customers will pay for my product not only because it will save them more money in the long run, but also it will make buying textbooks a lot easier.

5) What are your core competencies: This app will have every opportunity to buy textbooks in one place so it is easier for students to find what they need instead of looking through many different groups. It would also show students the best places to buy each textbook for the cheapest price.

I do think that all of these elements go together as I am tailoring this app to a very specific need and to a specific customer population. I also believe that students could benefit a lot from this idea. My past experiences are also going to be very helpful in launching my app.

10A - Elevator Pitch No. 1

9A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

who: I was able to find some people who did not share the same problem of finding cheap textbooks. The people that I interviewed who did not have the problem had different reasons why this was not a problem for them. Some said that it was not a problem because they had older siblings who had the same classes so they just used their old textbooks. Others said that they did not see this as a big problem as they just see it as part of their tuition money that they have to pay anyways. One person said that most of their classes do not actually require textbooks so it has not been a problem for him.

What:  The need I identified is finding affordable textbooks. A need that is different than this one but might have the same underlying problem is being able to afford tuition in general and whether colleges should be free.

Why:  I do not believe that the underlying cause is different as in all cases it would be about money. However, what is different is how much of a problem it is for different people and the fact that some people are not put in a situation where they have to buy expensive textbooks so they are not aware of the problem.


Inside The Boundary
Students
The problem is finding affordable textbooks.
The need exists because textbooks are expensive and it is sometimes hard finding the best-priced ones.


Outside The Boundary
Professors, students who do not need textbooks.
The need is not financial help with tuition or other college expenses.
Professors sometimes ask for too many textbooks that require access codes.

8A Solving The Problem

1) The opportunity is students not being able to find affordable textbooks.
2) My solution to this problem is to have an app that students can use to find the cheapest textbooks. It could show the best offers online and the best places to find each textbook. Students could only post places they know that sell cheap textbooks. There should also be the option for students to sell their own old textbooks to other students safely. It will be used for a specific school. We could start with just UF and you would have to log in using your GatorLink so that it is safe. Later we could generalize it and use it for other schools as well.

7A Testing the Hypothesis Part 1

The opportunity that I identified is the need for students to have a place to go to find the best-priced textbooks and even sell their old textbooks.
The Who: UF Students
The What: They are unable to find the most affordable textbooks that they need
The Why: There are so many different websites that sell books and different Facebook pages, it is hard to check all of them

I think this could potentially be used for other schools as well as all college students have this problem so maybe later there would be an option to enter your college so the app could show you only the opportunities at your school.
I do know that some textbooks have to be purchased through the school so we could get specific codes for assignment. So this idea would not work for every single class
I am sure that all of the students might think this problem is because the publishers simply use access codes to make students buy the newest version of the textbooks.

I found that most of the answers I got from the interviews were very similar. They all seemed to like the idea of the app and agreed that finding affordable textbooks is a real problem that they have. Some brought up a good point of students finding free pdfs of the textbooks online. Some thought that another solution might be to reach out to publishers and try to convince them to sell access codes separately so that students can just buy them without the textbook and then they can find cheaper versions of the textbook.

6 Identifying Opportunities in economic and regulatory trends

1. Economic: "Coronavirus May Delay Hard-Fought U.S. Trade Wins in China"
       a. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/03/business/economy/coronavirus-china-trade-economy.html
       b. The opportunity is that there are a lot of "goods" in the U.S. now with no buyers.
       c. Businesses that export their products o potentially the U.S. gov't
       d. This opportunity is really difficult to exploit as it is a really big problem and one person alone cannot solve it.

I looked at this opportunity as I keep reading about this virus and how it is affecting many lives so I wanted to see how it could affect countries


2. Economic: "Bank of Canada Might Need to Look Beyond Two-Year Horizon in Setting Rates"
       a. https://www.wsj.com/articles/bank-of-canada-might-need-to-look-beyond-two-year-horizon-in-setting-rates-11580418156?ns=prod/accounts-wsj
        b. If the banks cut interest rates, people will stop putting their money in banks which will hurt the economy.
        c. banks in Canada, or businessmen
        d. this idea is not very easy to exploit as finding a solution that will be beneficial to the gov't and the people at the same time is not easy.

I looked at this opportunity because I have a lot of friends in Canada and I was interested to see what was going on with their economy.


3. Regulatory changes: "Traveling by Air with Service Animals"
         a. https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOT-OST-2018-0068-12959
         b. More people will be able to take their service pets on planes which comes with a lot of business opportunities like travel bags for the pets.
         c. customers could be pet owners that travel
         d. This idea is not that hard to exploit as it will affect a lot of people who will need simple solutions to make their travel plans easier.

I looked at this opportunity because I have friends that have had terrible experiences on flights with their service animals and I thought there are a lot of opportunities to exploit.


4. Regulatory Changes: "National Primary Drinking Water Regulations: Lead and Copper Rule Revisions:
      a. https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OW-2017-0300-0001
      b. There might be a greater need for water filters or water bottles
      c. Big companies, potentially the state gov'ts
      d. On a big scale this would be a very hard opportunity to exploit but on a smaller scale it might be feasible.

I looked at this opportunity because my friend was just in another country where she could not use the tap water for anything and I think we sometimes take the available drinking water that we have for granted and if the regulations are going to be even stricter here then it presents a lot of unmet needs.