Interviewing Customers No. 2

1. I decided to think of a different opportunity this week. I wanted to talk to a different demographic, different customers than what I had done last week. So I began to think about social media. I thought about dating apps like Tindr, and how I could make an app similar to Tindr, but unique in its own way. So instead of "dating", I wanted to consider the idea of an app for finding friends, or just connecting to people you've never met. 

2. My who would be anyone who uses social media. I interviewed college students, not all of them had used Tindr before, but half of them had. 

3. I obviously did completely different interview questions than last week since I'm addressing a different opportunity. Here are my interview questions:

1. What do you use social media for?

2. Do you meet new people through social media?

3. Have you ever used a dating app, like Tindr?

4. If yes, have you ever met someone on Tindr?

5. Would you use an app to find (meet) friends?

6. Would you use an app to connect with strangers at specific events, or places?

4. Interviews:

5. I didn't find out much about this opportunity from my interviews. It seemed like people didn't really care for the idea of trying to make friends through an app, but they kinda liked the idea of connecting with strangers at specific event or places. Although, most of them didn't understand that question. It seems that people used social media for staying connected to people they are already friends with.

6. Three tips about interviewing customers:

1. Be confident.

2. Find people that want to be interviewed, or don't mind. 

3. Keep the interview under a minute, or no one will want to do it. 

Week 5 Reading Relfection

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? 

I was very surprised by how much must be considered when starting up a new business. There are so many pitfalls that seem very challenging to try and avoid on your own. Also, the “A New Venture Idea Checklist” is long and extensive. There are so many different perspectives of starting up a business that must be considered, or your business will fail.

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

I was pretty confused with the different roles in the failure prediction model. I didn’t really understand why the author was talking about an entrepreneur and manager relationship. I really didn’t understand what the author was getting at at all.

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

Could an entrepreneur delegate some of these responsibilities, like in the new venture idea checklist? I would want to ask the author this because I am interested in how one person can accomplish all of that on their own and have a successful business. I assume an entrepreneur can delegate, but then that makes me think of them more as a manager than an entrepreneur.

What do you think is a characteristic of an entrepreneur whom is able to successfully accomplish all of the responsibilities? I am curious what the author thinks makes an entrepreneur able to accomplish all of this to avoid a new start up failure.

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

I didn’t think the author was wrong about anything. It’s very hard to disagree with a textbook since everything is backed up with facts and sources. The author doesn’t include opinions and is very thorough in his explanations.

Elevator Pitch no. 1

The opportunity I am addressing is at the grocery store. I'm tackling consumers that don't have enough time to do their grocery shopping, or who simply hate going to the grocery store.
My solution for this is an online website and app where you can order your groceries. For a fee, you will be able to have your groceries delivered to you, or you will be able to pick them up in the store. This company will be called SHOP-EASE, where shopping is easy.