Week 8 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?

What surprised me the most was social lending.  I'm aware of sites like Kickstarter, which are less about lending, and more about funding a product, in the hope that it gets made.  Supporters may get a specialized version of the product or get it early, but the idea is to get the product made.  Social lending is in the same vein, except with a cash return, as opposed to just seeing a product you support getting made.

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

Factoring was somewhat confusing to me because I can't see how that would be a good deal in most situations.

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

I would ask why a business would use factoring in any non-emergency situation.  It seems like it's sacrificing longer term earnings for short term cash.  It almost sound like a payday loan for businesses.

Also on the question of factoring, what kind of discounts are given on the sold receivables?  Would this be the equivalent to the 2-6% over bank interest rate of equity financing or more since it's a one time payment?

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

I couldn't find anything in the chapter that I disagreed with as it was very straight forward in its communication of information.

Half-way Reflection

This is not a course about test taking, this is course about gathering and interpreting information.  Whether that information is from interviews with people in public, or feedback from other students, it is your job to figure out how you will get that information and how to use it once you have it.

Since The class is more than just testing, the work must be planned ahead of time. Personally I have a habit of procrastination, which does not work with this class, especially with the interviews needed for some of the assignments.  This has forced me to check ahead of time what is required each week, as opposed to waiting until the day a assignment is due to sit down and do it. In that respect I have learned to better schedule when I will do my course work, as my old way of doing it is not conducive to the requirements of this class.

I am a somewhat introverted person, so assignments that require talking to strangers in public have been a sticking point with me.  The hardest part is just getting started, once you can get a rhythm to the interactions it becomes much easier. In those instances, having a schedule and sticking to it has been the best thing for me. If a part of the assignment is scheduled for a certain time, than it make procrastination much harder.  I don't know if I would say I've become tenacious in this class, but I am working my way to being there.

The tenacious mindset for this class is most dependent on how you view the class.  For anyone taking it, I suggest that they look their Elevator Pitch and subsequent assignments as working through the planning of an actual product and not just an assignment.  Money is a great motivator, and if you look at you product as if it will make you money, then you will be much more motivated to make it workable.  You'll be much more attentive to any issues it may have, which may help you see issues in other students products, which you can help them address.

The next tip would be to critique your own work.  Some feedback you receive will be helpful, some might not be.  If the feedback you get does not help you improve, you may have to find improvement avenues on your own.  In that vein, take a break in between assignments and then look at them again. When you return to a previous assignment you may find issues or gaps that you did not recognize before.  This will allow you to refine your work over the course of the class.

Finally, I will return to the schedule.  In a class where much of the work cannot be done alone, being able to schedule the work is tantamount.  The schedule, along with the drive of an idea that you would want to bring to market can give you the tenaciousness that this class requires.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

All of the feedback from my last video was positive, so I didn't change much for this one.  I tried to give a little more information on my business model and the capabilities of the app.  One commenter mentioned that there might be a car that sends alerts when you car need maintenance.  OnStar does this, but it is a subscription service, so the user would have to pay monthly for this. My app would do the same thing, but without any cost to the end user. OnStar mainly markets itself as a car safety/security company which may give my app an way into the market.  No other car maintenance app connects directly to the car, they are simply trackers for user input information.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1: I am a business major, who has basic knowledge of programming and an interest in technology and how it affects the world.  One thing that I think technology should do is allow people to access to more accurate information.  For a few years I was a projectionist at a movie theater and one of the things I needed to be capable of doing is identifying problems and judging whether I could fix them and how long it would take.  For me, it is a point of pride to be able to fix things and the lack of transparency in my car bothers me.  I think that a business based on working around those limitations would be a good fit because it is something that I would be very motivated to constantly improve, because I would use it.

2: I am offering customer more complete information about their cars.  My idea, a phone app, that connects to a car through bluetooth, to read error codes and give engine status'.  This would give detailed information to the end user that they would otherwise only be able to get from a mechanic. This can help guard against unnecessary repairs or from a a serious problem going unattended due to the driver assuming it is something less serious.  I'm offering to save customers money, and give them a better idea of their car's health.

3: I've said what I'm offering to the end user of this app, but it would actually have to marketed to car manufacturers.  For the app to work there must an addition to the cars on-board computer to function, so marketing to them would be the easiest way to implement this. As businesses, car manufacturers are always looking for a leg up on their competition, and that's what I'm offering them, a feature that can then be marketed to their customers.  They are the ones I would would be selling to, but to the end user this is a free feature that comes with the car.  Just like the bluetooth, that I would use to connect to the car, or keyless entry, once it starts being offered, other companies will have to adopt it as well, or be  left behind.  For the manufacturers that adopt early, I'm offering a potential sales boost.  For the later adopters I'm offering the competitiveness that they need to survive.

4: As I've said above, I would actually organize my business to sell to manufacturers, and not to the end user.  Manufacturers would pay, because they believe it is something that their customers would want.  I believe that drivers will want this.  People are busy, and their cars are a big part of their day to day lives.  An app that lets a person know what kind of gas mileage they are getting, gives them a reminder when they need an oil change, or tells them there is a problem with their car and how serious it may be, will help them.

5: I am not a mechanic, and I am not software or hardware engineer. I have a basic understanding of all of these things, along with experience in managing people though.  That, I believe, would allow me to work with people who do have those abilities, and understand what the limits of what can be done and any issues that present themselves.  As I mentioned about, it was very important as a projectionist that I be able to identify and evaluate problems, and which is also a major component is managing a business.  If you cannot correctly evaluate an issue, then you will have a hard time correcting it.  I think that I am someone who has the ability to do that, which not everyone does.  That ability combined with a product that people want can go a long way towards a successful business.

In my opinion the biggest hurdle this business would have to face is getting the product into a major car brand. I think the concept is solid, but it's not something that many people who don't work on cars would put in the effort to buy and install on their own.  If they did want to install it on their own, bluetooth transmitters are generally part of a cars stereo system, so extra connections would have to be made with that system.  That extra complexity makes it harder to sell the system as a stand alone system very difficult, and is why I believe sales have to be directed toward automakers as opposed to the actual end users.

Elevator Pitch No. 1

The Check Engine light on your car doesn't give you much information.  It may be a major issue, or it maybe that it's time for a a tune up.  It could be a recurring problem, or something that happened once and will never happen again.  The only ways to find out which of these it is, is to go to a mechanic, which is time consuming, or to buy a code reader, which can cost anywhere from $90-400.

The solution, is an app, call AutoStat, that can connect to your car through the Blu-tooth, that most new cars already come with.  It could tell you not only why the light is on, but keep track of other statistics on the engine such as gas mileage.  It could be free to the public, but the companion software for the car itself would be licensed to automakers, who could then market it as a feature.