30A: Reflection

• During this class, the most formative experience was creating a video pitch in the comfort of my own home. We did not only do it once but three times! Not only was it a new and formative experience for me, it was also empowering. I was able to share my idea with my peers who encouraged me and reminded me why college beneficial and pulls you out of your comfort zone. 
• I am most proud and joyous about coming up with my one main product/service. It's a service that I never even thought I'd be able to develop and now I have the drive to develop it (as long as no one steals it!) I am now more confident.
• I certainly see myself as an entrepreneur at this point because of this class. The assignments allowed me to deliver messages in an authentic way and I was able to shape how I would start my business through the venture concept. It is a starting point to helping me continue developing the entrepreneurial mindset. I also loves how we had guest speakers who are entrepreneurs. Those speakers helped me have an idea of what it's like to be in their shoes. 
• I would reccommend that students write down calendar reminders in their phone so they can keep up with deadlines and schedule time to complete assignments. I would also reccomend them to trust in themselves and understand that this class will help them become more confident. 

29A

• Opportunity:
• On June 26, 2018, Forbes reported that one out of every seven travelers has missed their flights due to long airport security lines. 
• Capital One conducted a survey in June of 2018. The survey shows millennials (ages 20-37) are the age group most affected by backups at security checkpoints.  14 percent of all people surveyed missed their flights and 28 percent of millennials surveyed say they weren't able to board on time and were left behind.
• The forces that allow this to occur are a lack of being notified or dealing with additional distractions that are unpredictable. The window of opportunity is open until these factors are resolved.
• There is a satisfactory resolution to this need. My interviewees mostly stated that they believe notifications throughout the day of their trip and reminders of updates on how security checkpoints are going will benefit them. My interviewees also felt that it is important to have a free system that caters to these needs. Usually, plane tickets themselves are already expensive. My product will help cater to my targeted audience because no one is satisfied just yet.
• Potential customers: millennials who travel often (the majority being men and women aged 20-37) who are concerned about TSA lines
• Innovation:
• For individuals with a limited budget, they would be just in luck. My app will be offered for users at no cost on apple and android app stores. The app would be offered directly after travelers book their flights online. My profit will come from every airline ticket booked.
• For businesses, I will be partnering with airline brands including Ameican Airlines, Delta Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Air Canada, and more. With my partnership, these airlines would send me 25% of each ticket book and linked to my app download. My app will ask passengers for their confirmation codes to track their departure and arrival dates and times.
• Initial profits will come from sponsors and donors that I know personally including Lakesha Brown, CCO for American Airlines, the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications Dean McFarlin, and more. I would need about 15,000 to kickstart the designing and promotion of my app: FlyFrenzy.
• Venture Concept: 
• Individuals will buy my product if they are concerned with missing flights because of backed up and unpredictable TSA lines.
  
  
• Businesses will buy my product to demonstrate corporate social responsibility. 
  Airlines need to be able to cater to the concerns of their stakeholders, and those stakeholders include travelers who book tickets. I share the same target audience of all airlines around the country. Our audience, frequent millennial travelers, typically have the concern of missing flights and not receiving a refund all because they were held up in a TSA line. While TSA deals with governmental entities, there is no way to speed up the security process, but my app will leverage companies and show that they want their consumers to save their money and not miss a flight again.
• Besides time clock manufacturers, there are no major competitors.  I've not seen any advertisement for TSA prevention 
• Price points: I will be mainly charging the airlines 10% for each ticket purchased
  & traveler that downloads my app.
• Distribution: I will begin distributing my app through airlines social media pages. For example, my exclusive partnership will allow FlyFrenzy to be placed on the American Airlines' official Instagram and Twitter pages. This will not only bring exposure to my new brand but show that American, as one of many airlines, cares about their passengers catching flights on time. Promotional material will include download information, a website and a hotline number for customers to call.
• Customer Service: Since the company is built upon care for other travelers, employees will be required to work full time and have access to a hotline number. Travelers who see the promotional material for FlyFrenzy will be able to immediately reach a representative and learn about how the app works and how it will benefit them.
• Location: Online on all app stores.
• Packaging:  In this case, the packaging will be digital. It will show that we are sustainable and want to make it easy for travelers to learn how our app can benefit them.
• Employees:  I’m estimating around 40 employees, to begin with.

• Customer service specialists: Answering phone calls
• IT personnel & Marketing employees: to tract trends and kickstart FlyFrenzy on social media. These employees will shape consumer minds.
• Web Designers & App designers
• Distributers – Airlines ambassadors
• Artists to assist with app launch and design

• Unfair advantage: I not only am a student but I cater to what Millenials are attracted to. I will be able to think like my consumers and understand what they need. I am also a frequent traveler who understands the importance of being on-time for a flight. I have also served as a leader and public speaker so I will be able to serve as a primary spokesperson and plan out which goals I want my team and partnered airlines to accomplish.
• What’s next: I plan on figuring out the logistics of how to design an app and find the right people to be on my team.
• For Me: Within 5 years, I would like to launch this app on all social media platforms. I would also like to pitch this to Shark Tank.
  
  
  FEEDBACK:
  - For the price point, lower the percentage under 25% becuase an airlines would not be willing to give up that amount 
  - Use price point percentage as a 10% charge
  - Differentiate price points with international flights and domestic flights
  
  
  HOW I WILL ADAPT:
  I will bring my price point lower. Instead of keeping it at 25%, I will make it 10% as a flat rate. My partnership with airline companies will allow me to still get a profit from all flights whether they are domestic or international. I changed this price point above.

26A

• Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester and failed each time. 
• Just recently, I felt like I failed as a leader. As the president and co-founder of the nation's second black public relations student society, I first launched my organization earlier this semester. I remember holding my first meeting in August and having an amazing turnout of over 40 people. At the second meeting, I had a turnout of only three people. I felt like I failed immediately.
• Tell us what you learned from it.  
• I learned that failure is needed to light an ignition and create a fire. In other words, I needed to see that we as an organization lacked stable and loyal participants. I learned in general that it is important to come up with new tactics and learn our audience. We are mainly targeting students of color who major in the communications field because we share commonalities. I tabled on campus, posted in group chats and directed my board to promote our meetings everywhere they could. We ended up having a great turnout of students.
  
  
• Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure.
  This experience showed me that failure is only a learning opportunity. It drives me personally to analyze what I did wrong, and what to do better next time. I am truly grateful for failure because I am able to sit down and view exactly what next steps I need to take as a student and future professional. I would tell people around me as advice to never give up. Failure is truly about learning. I can't wait to continue spreading this message.

25A

What I Think Is Next:

I think the next service for my venture should be led by TSA. The Transportation Security Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that has authority over the security of the traveling public in the United States, was created in response to the 9/11 attack in New York City. While it was created for the safety of people, there should be a sperate entity of workers who give time in reporting checkpoint times. Checkpoint times are too unpredictable in the day in age. TSA serves as a govermental entity and should use its resources to fund the creation of time clocks throughout airports. These time clocks should state the estimated time of how long checkpoints will take.   

Existing Market Interviews:

1 – Kim, a 22-year-old student at UF is a frequent traveler. She wins traveling opportunities through scholarships and programs like being a Truth Initiative Ambassador. She believes, up next should be the implementation of buzzers that airline checkpoints should give travelers when they enter the airport that indicates the approximate time of TSA checkpoints. She believes customers would want this as a heads up rather than have an app because some people do not have smartphones. Although we do live in a digital world, it's important to cater to offline publics.  

2 – I interviewed Andy a 23-year-old. As my cousin, he travels often because he owns a trending podcast called: That One Interesting Podcast. He understands the environment of digital platforms and apps as a frequent user and believes I should be starting the app now. He stated that it takes months to fully design and plan out what functions I want the app to do before paying designers to do it. He mentioned it is important to do pre-work.

3 – I interviewed Laylani, a 26-year-old working-class woman who works for IBM, a corporate technology company in New York and worldwide. She mentioned We should be pushing the importance of downloads. She thinks my idea is clear but not as specific. It's important to cater to Millenials like her through mass text and email as well, not just social media. She personally does not use Instagram often. She said customers who are millennials will want e-mails instead.

Reflection:

After listening to what these three individuals had to say, I can grow by listening. They each had a different approach to improving my idea and catering to what I have not already thought about. My first interviewee emphasized the importance of having a buzzer for people who do not have the means to download an app. While it is a great idea, I believe in the world we live in, people should have smartphones. My second interviewee mentioned how important it is to do additional work prior to launching the app and hiring employees. Lastly, my third interviewee made it clear how important it is to use different methods of communication. I could not agree with her more. E-mail is truly a popular means of communication.

New Market: 

I think a new market that I have not previously thought of are Baby Boomers. While many baby boomers are not very digitally versed, they maintain a high presence in the world today. This new market thinks much differently from millennials and gen-zers today because they grew up during a different era. I believe it is important to learn from baby boomers and know how I can reach them more.

New Market Interviews:

1 –Kim Hunter who serves as my mentor, is 60 years old and owns his own public relations agency. As an award winner and father, he emphasized the importance of creating a kid's friendly app and an app for people of his age. He believes that is the aspect that is missing, making sure the app caters to all ages.

2 – Joseph Jones is a public relations professor at the University of Florida and is 69 years old. He mentioned how digital the world is today and how his grandkids have had to teach him how to use apps. It took him a while to learn how to work the app store so he suggested having a tutorial within my app once people download it. He said a video would be perfect and it should show one person downloading the app after booking their flight and using the app on their way to the airport.

Reflection:

Both of my interviewees mentioned amazing ideas. I personally have to do research on baby boomers, but when speaking to them, I get to understand their perspectives a bit more. I learned from both interviewees that it is important to have simple instructions. Since they did not grow in a huge digital age, they like more hand-on resources. They way I can make my app hands-on is by adding a kids feature on my app and by adding instructional videos.

24A

• Opportunity:
• On June 26, 2018, Forbes reported that one out of every seven travelers has missed their flights due to long airport security lines. 
• Capital One conducted a survey in June of 2018. The survey shows millennials (ages 20-37) are the age group most affected by backups at security checkpoints.  14 percent of all people surveyed missed their flights and 28 percent of millennials surveyed say they weren't able to board on time and were left behind.
• The forces that allow this to occur are a lack of being notified or dealing with additional distractions that are unpredictable. The window of opportunity is open until these factors are resolved.
• There is a satisfactory resolution to this need. My interviewees mostly stated that they believe notifications throughout the day of their trip and reminders of updates on how security checkpoints are going will benefit them. My interviewees also felt that it is important to have a free system that caters to these needs. Usually, plane tickets themselves are already expensive. My product will help cater to my targeted audience because no one is satisfied just yet.
• Potential customers: millennials who travel often (the majority being men and women aged 20-37) who are concerned about TSA lines
• Innovation:
• For individuals with a limited budget, they would be just in luck. My app will be offered for users at no cost on apple and android app stores. The app would be offered directly after travelers book their flights online. My profit will come from every airline ticket booked.
• For businesses, I will be partnering with airline brands including Ameican Airlines, Delta Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Air Canada, and more. With my partnership, these airlines would send me 25% of each ticket book and linked to my app download. My app will ask passengers for their confirmation codes to track their departure and arrival dates and times.
• Initial profits will come from sponsors and donors that I know personally including Lakesha Brown, CCO for American Airlines, the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications Dean McFarlin, and more. I would need about 15,000 to kickstart the designing and promotion of my app: FlyFrenzy.
  
  
• Venture Concept: 
• Individuals will buy my product if they are concerned with missing flights because of backed up and unpredictable TSA lines.
  
  
• Businesses will buy my product to demonstrate corporate social responsibility. 
  Airlines need to be able to cater to the concerns of their stakeholders, and those stakeholders include travelers who book tickets. I share the same target audience of all airlines around the country. Our audience, frequent millennial travelers, typically have the concern of missing flights and not receiving a refund all because they were held up in a TSA line. While TSA deals with governmental entities, there is no way to speed up the security process, but my app will leverage companies and show that they want their consumers to save their money and not miss a flight again.
• Besides time clock manufacturers, there are no major competitors.  I've not seen any advertisement for TSA prevention 
• Price points: I will be mainly charging the airlines 25% for each ticket purchased
  & traveler that downloads my app.
• Distribution: I will begin distributing my app through airlines social media pages. For example, my exclusive partnership will allow FlyFrenzy to be placed on the American Airlines' official Instagram and Twitter pages. This will not only bring exposure to my new brand but show that American, as one of many airlines, cares about their passengers catching flights on time. Promotional material will include download information, a website and a hotline number for customers to call.
• Customer Service: Since the company is built upon care for other travelers, employees will be required to work full time and have access to a hotline number. Travelers who see the promotional material for FlyFrenzy will be able to immediately reach a representative and learn about how the app works and how it will benefit them.
• Location: Online on all app stores.
• Packaging:  In this case, the packaging will be digital. It will show that we are sustainable and want to make it easy for travelers to learn how our app can benefit them.
• Employees:  I’m estimating around 40 employees, to begin with.

• Customer service specialists: Answering phone calls
• IT personnel & Marketing employees: to tract trends and kickstart FlyFrenzy on social media. These employees will shape consumer minds.
• Web Designers & App designers
• Distributers – Airlines ambassadors
• Artists to assist with app launch and design
  
  

• Unfair advantage: I not only am a student but I cater to what Millenials are attracted to. I will be able to think like my consumers and understand what they need. I am also a frequent traveler who understands the importance of being on-time for a flight. I have also served as a leader and public speaker so I will be able to serve as a primary spokesperson and plan out which goals I want my team and partnered airlines to accomplish.
• What’s next: I plan on figuring out the logistics of how to design an app and find the right people to be on my team.
• For Me: Within 5 years, I would like to launch this app on all social media platforms. I would also like to pitch this to Shark Tank.

23A

WHAT MAKES ME SPECIAL: MY VENTURE'S UNFAIR ADVANTAGE

10 Resources

1. Leadership Experience: Since middle school, I have served as president of two organizations. I was the president of Palm Beach County's National Achievers Society and now I am the president for the University of Florida's first National Black Public Relations Student Society.
Valuable- This can help me as I am building my own business on campus. I have tested myself and seen that I am capable of leading a team.
Rare- I have both experiences and dealing with high school students and college students.
Inimitable- Building my products gives me an advantage because generation Zers who I am closer too, can understand my perspective through the launch of my product.
Non-substitutable- I can understand how exactly to communicate with this audience.

2. Personal Relationships with frequent travelers: At UF's college of journalism and communications, I am surrounded by frequent travelers including professors who constantly win awards and conduct speaking engagements nationwide, and students who do the same.
Valuable- The people I have relationships with and meet each day can help me as in the pre-stages of figuring out how frequent certain age groups travel and why they travel.
Rare- I can figure out the value through conducting a survey before launching the product.
Inimitable- I can do this right in the heart of my college.
Non-substitutable- Everyone has a different story so all findings will not be the same.

3. Public Speaking Experience: In high school, I was chosen to host my school's communications showcase and multicultural show. I always shined bright when it came to public speaking.
Valuable- I will be able to use this when it comes to pitching my product.
Rare- I consider myself an introvert but when it comes to giving a formal speech I am very extroverted.
Inimitable- I will be able to craft a message like no other about why my FlyFrenzy app is the best resource to use when traveling.
Non-substitutable- I can use public speaking as a means of communication when it comes to speaking with my future team.

4. Creativity Skills: Currently as a side hustle, I use Instagram as a platform to showcase my graphic designing and I recently started a youtube channel called The Thrive Guide! (GO SUBSCRIBE)
Valuable- I know how to record and edit videos and I also know how to design graphics.
Rare- Many business owners have to hire people to use digital platforms.
Inimitable- I am a business owner with many traits. Being creative sets me apart from any possible competitor.
Non-substitutable- My skill differs from any general graphic designer or video editor.

5. Social Contact: Airlines Executive: Just this past week,  I met the American Airlines Communications Officer Ms. Lakesha Brown.
Valuable- Lakesha now serves as a mentor for me.
Rare- People usually do not know or meet executives in the airline industry, an industry that is truly male-dominated.
Inimitable- She has been able to explain to me what it's like dealing with customers worldwide and the importance of understanding cultures worldwide.
Non-substitutable- This drives me to learn about cultures if my product launches globally.

6. Fundraising Experience: As an organization's president, I have fundraised for products like shirts and stickers.
Valuable- Fundraising is needed at the beginning of launching my product. It will not be cheap to launch my app.
Rare- I understand the long process it takes to fundraise or find donors.
Inimitable- This skill can not be learned quickly. It took me years.
Non-substitutable- This can be substituted by a treasurer.

7. Publicity: I have contacts with media personnel.
Valuable- As a major in communications, I love having access to people who thrive in media.
Rare- Many people do not work in the media.
Inimitable- People can have contacts with news channels or media executives.
Non-substitutable- This could be substituted by online sources and compiling a list of media contacts. It takes time to build media relationships.

8. Lack of Competitors: There is currently not a product similar to mine.
Valuable- Many airports do not have time clocks or ways to know about TSA times.
Rare- Usually people do not think about TSA times holding them back from missing flights.
Inimitable- While my product is unique now, there can be future competitors.
Non-substitutable- For now there are no competitors and the app can be put together by AI.

9. Personal Relationships with fellow entrepreneurs: I have several ways I can contact entrepreneurs. I currently live with a hairstylist and I have a friend who runs an online podcast where he interviews people who deal with daily issues.
Valuable- I can ask the entrepreneurs I know to use their resources to promote my service.
Rare- Many entrepreneurs are willing to work with additional entrepreneurs. I am looking to help people I know and vice versa.
Inimitable- This can work if people know others who own businesses.
Non-substitutable- This can be substituted with anyone who owns an app already.

10. Social Capital: Student Travelers: I currently live with roommates who own their own businesses and tend to travel often across the world for fun.
Valuable- I can use the people I know as spokespeople who can advocate for my product.
Rare- The people I know are very private when it comes to traveling but they are willing to speak to me.
Inimitable- I can get to learn about the perspectives of others.
Non-substitutable- I can try coming up with additional ideas of how student travelors can help me get my product out to more customers.

After completing this assignment, I realized that my top resource is leadership experience. With years of experience as a leader, I know the value of being understanding, planning and setting goals. I can use these same practices when it comes to leading a team and building my app with a team. Since I am not skilled in building an entire app, this will help me when it comes to communicating what exactly I want throughout my FlyFrenzy app.