Reading Reflection

Book: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

You read about an entrepreneur:

What surprised you the most?

What surprised me the most was how much impact his early life had on his personality and way of thinking as a whole. Steve Jobs was the biological son of John Jandali and Joanne Schieble but the disapproval of the relationship caused the couple to put Steve up for adoption and he was then adopted by Paul Jobs and his wife Clara. Paul was a mechanic and this had a profound influence on Steve pursuing engineering and design. Steve felt a mix of emotions growing up since a part of him felt like he had been abandoned by his biological parents but then chosen by his adopted parents because they saw something special in him. This affected Steve and the way he would do business as an adult and how he would interact with others.

What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

I admire Steve's courage to break away from the flow of the stream and forge his own path through life rather than just flow along with everyone else. Steve often found himself bored and always searched for ways to add some kind of excitement into his life which unfortunately led to drugs but he was the type of person willing to experiment just to have the experience under his belt. He was also brave enough to drop out of Reed College and instead pursue his own career path. About a year and a half after dropping out of college he went to Atari and demanded he get a job which he did end up receiving. He also left this job to pursue his interests of eastern culture when he went away to India. Steve was unafraid to enter uncharted territories and use his connections to his advantage as when he got Mark Markkula, a retired millionaire, on-board to help with the sales and advertisement of the Apple II. His bravery to enter into uncharted waters not knowing what is on the other side is something I can really admire about the man.

What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

The thing that I did not like at all about Steve was the way he would treat and act towards other people around him. Of course as a successful entrepreneur Steve had to have some out of the box thinking and quirky traits but the way he would treat people around him and even fellow employees was quite frankly unacceptable. He would attack his employees when they would present an idea to him that he found inadequate and was not afraid to tell them how stupid and idiotic the sheer idea that the employee came up with was. Then as if in spite of the employee he would present their idea as his own and take credit for the idea showing a much darker side to the entrepreneur and why many people who knew him showed no animosity towards him.

Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

The entrepreneur often countered most of his adversity from a personality clash between himself and another person. Perhaps the biggest clash came about between Jobs and Scully and the way that Apple should be run and the price points that should be set on the products. Jobs blamed Scully for Microsoft winning control of the personal computer market when Scully insisted on setting the price of the Macintosh at $2,495 instead of Steve's suggested price of 1,995. After this fiasco Steve left Apple and started NeXT which didn't perform to well but he also started Pixar which he found a lot of success with. Apple purchased NeXT later on and this put Jobs back into Apple where he served as an adviser to the CEO and helped to make Apple's stock prices skyrocket. 

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

Steve Job's main talent was his pursuit for perfection in technology to show through in an artistic kind of way. His ideals helped shape the way that many products strive to reach perfection while also having the elements of beauty in their design and layout. Another boon to his success was his great amount of connections that he made throughout the years which helped him to increase the success of his business. Steve's eye for talent allowed him to select very strong employees which helped with the success of the design and overall idea of his products

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

I couldn't really relate to Steve's anger at Gates' when Microsoft came out with Windows. Steve was furious at Gates because he felt as though Gates used his friendship with Steve to gain inside knowledge on Apple's technology and used that to create Windows. But Bill Gates clearly explained that both Windows and Apple were a clear ripoff of Xerox which I really have to agree with. Both companies clearly ripped off Xerox so I could not really agree with Job's sheer rage at Bill Gates who simply performed the same thing that Steve Jobs did.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

The two questions I would ask to Steve Jobs are what qualities do you look for when hiring your employees and what do you look for when starting a new venture. I would ask about the qualities in employees because this could help me see what really makes an outstanding employee really show that he is leagues above others with the same experience and I could use this not only as a basis when looking for employees in the future but also as self guidelines to help myself grow in the business world. Next I would ask about the opportunity ventures because I would like to know what makes one venture stand out as a success and another a failure. This would help me when pursuing my goals in entrepreneurship.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

The entrepreneur's opinion of hard work was that a product was not finished being designed until it was absolutely perfect. He would not allow a product to be released unless he himself thought that nothing else could improve upon the product at the current point in time and this infuriated some of his employees since they could see no reason for the insides of a computer being organized in a neat way. I agree with Jobs' sentiment towards perfection to an extent but not to the level that a product cannot be released until I personally can see nothing else to add to it. I would take my employees opinions on when they thought perfection was reached and if I had hired the correct employees I would have a very good product.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Pick a Segment:
For the segment, I chose parents of any age with children still living at home within the house.

Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them:
The three people used for interviews
- A 30 year old father with three daughters
- A 38 year old mother with two sons and a daughter
- A 50 year old mother with a son and a daughter

Report the findings of your research:
Need Awareness:
I proceeded to ask the three people being interviewed about the timeliness of their need in regards to the situation. They explained the biggest need for the new hanger product would be when one of their old shorts hangers broke and they had to go out to buy new hangers. The father was more relaxed about the whole broken hanger situations but the mothers expressed anxiety when thinking about having to replace a broken shorts hanger. The mothers explained how the hangers could break at anytime without any warning and that it would be a real thorn in their side when they had clothes but nowhere to put them causing them to have to drop what they are doing and go out to the store to buy new hangers. The dad was more relaxed on the whole situation and said if he heard they needed hangers he would just pick some up next time that he went out to the store and was in no rush to replace any of the broken hangers.

Information Search:
The very first thing that all the people I interviewed did was google online for places that sell hangers near them so they know where they can pick up some replacements. When they search up their need in google they explained how they usually type in "shorts hangers near me" or something along similar lines to that phrase. They explained how if something about a new type of hanger that could save money popped up while they were searching on google they would probably click the link just to see what the commotion was all about. When I asked them about family and friends they said that if anyone had learned about the hangers and tried them out to find them a success than the whole family would know since all of their families are very close together and have a tight knit relationship sharing almost everything. So spreading information by word of mouth through friends and family would be a strong way to promote the new product.

Draw Conclusions:
Based on all of the interviews I can conclude that the parent segment of the marketplace has no real seasonal time that they would need the product but more on a per old hangers breaking and having to buy new hangers type of buying style. As for information search it is very clear that they would become informed of the product if the product pops up as a top search when searching for new hangers. Also if the product works as intended then word of mouth would also be a very viable way of spreading the news about the new hanger in the marketplace to others.

Elevator Pitch No. 1

Elevator Pitch for New Hanger Design Product
https://youtu.be/-HK0cXXfA-U
Link just in case video does not work.

Idea Napkin No. 1

You
My name is Andrew Szatkowski and I am a 21 year old from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. I will be a Finance major and plan to graduate from the University of Florida in spring of 2019. I consider myself very good with the majority of computer software including Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, all of the Microsoft Office programs, and some video editing software. I have also built two separate computers which has given me knowledge about the way computers work and how they are put together giving me a better understand of some of the more basic aspects of computer engineering. My only current work history is my seasonal Lifeguard and Swim Instructor job down at the Aquatic Complex in Coral Springs which is an Olympic level training facility where a lot of colleges and some Olympic teams come to practice. I am not quite sure what I want to do in the future after I graduate but I selected Finance since it will give me a lot of options to explore and find something that I really enjoy. If I did start a business it would originally be a secondary kind of thing for me with my current job being top priority since it provides a safe and steady cash flow for myself. If the business suddenly took off I would probably resign from my current job and put all my efforts into the blossoming business.

What Are You Offering to Customers?
The product that I am trying to offer to my customers is a new type of hangar with the goal of replacing the current shorts hangers in the marketplace. The design of the product does not seem too difficult and the design is aimed to remove the issue of shorts hangers snapping when shorts are pulled or ripped straight off of their respective hangers. The new hanger design will have an adjustable clip with rubber attached to both sides allowing the shorts to be held up but also having a weak enough hold on the shorts to not snap when the shorts are yanked off. This will save customers the hassle of buying new hangers.

Who Are You Offering it To?
The thing that all the customers that will be shopping for this product have in common is personal experience with shorts hangers snapping when the shorts are pulled off without pressing down on the clips. From past interviews with potential customers I have been able to narrow down the demographics on who I personally believe will be the target market for this product. The initial targeted market for advertisements would be teens and college students along with families with children. I have found that mostly the younger generations have more familiarity with the problem that this new product is attempting to solve and so they would be the best market to target towards. Of course, if I found out that other demographics were purchasing the product I could always change the advertisement strategy to also target those segments of the marketplace.

Why Do They Care?
The customers will care about this new type of hanger because it will not only save them money but also the hassle of having to go out to the store to buy new hangers and having to put the shorts in drawers because there are not enough hangers. People generally get frustrated when a product that they go out and buy breaks doing exactly what is meant to happen to it. Shorts hangers are there to hold shorts and also the shorts need to be removed from the hangers preferably without them snapping in half. Plus people are always concerned about how they can save more money or make better purchasing decisions for themselves.

What Are Your Core Competencies?
Although there are a ton of clothing hangers out there for cheap, this products goal is to overshadow the competition by offering a cheaper solution in the long run with more money savings coming from the increased longevity of the product. The innovative design will make it stand out from the rest of the competition and give it a chance to succeed in the marketplace.

I think the five elements all work fairly well with my product and seem to harmonize well with each other. The unique design really makes the product stand out from the rest of the competition and the benefits of money and time saving really appeal to the general public. Another positive is that with its wide market it is very easy to achieve a large customer base whereas products with smaller segments of the market struggle to make a comparable profit. The major weakness with this product is that it will be hard to distinguish from regular clothing hangers and people need to be willing to pay more money in order to save money in the long run.

Continuing Your Opportunity Research

Who

Through the new couple of interviews I got a much clearer understanding of who needs and who really sees no need for the new kind of pants hanger. I spoke with a mother of two about the product and she was all for the idea. She explained how both of her sons constantly broke the current shorts hangers because they would be in a rush to get rushed or just too lazy to press down on the clamps and she said this would be a great help. This shows that the mothers' of sons are a viable market for the new type of hanger as was previously thought to be so. A market I was not completely sure of was with the older people and so I decided to interview an elderly man in his 80s about the possibility of buying the product. To my dismay he made it very clear that he saw absolutely no purpose for the update clothing hanger. He said he has never had an issue of the short hangers breaking when he is taking the shorts off of the rack and therefore has no need of having a hanger that helps to prevent breakage when pulling the shorts down. This helped confirm to myself that the elderly are not a viable source of customers for the new product and should not be a main target when creating the advertising for the new product. Another target group that I was not completely sure about was college students and their need of this new product. I interviewed a male college student about the idea and he seemed to have the same problems as me with his shorts hangers breaking occasionally when he would go to yank the pants off the hangers. This helped to solidify to me that college students were a prime target for advertisement. With both families and college students finding some use of the product it helped to confirm that this product definitely has some possible potential in the hanger market.

What

One of the problems is that it will be hard to distinguish between regular hangers and these new kinds of hangers at the store. This lack of diversity from normal hangers will not help the cause and will result in a loss of sales. Another possible issue that may arise is getting these products into stores and into the minds of the customers. It will be hard to make people want our type of hangers rather than normal store brand hangers such as Target or Walmart. Another problem will be the justification of the price change in the hangers.

Why

The outsiders in this situation do not necessarily have a different need rather they lack the need that the current target consumers have. People either see a use for hangers that don't break when pulled down upon or they don't and it will be hard to change their perspective on the situation.

Inside the Boundary	Outside the Boundary
Who: ·       Families with children ·       Teenagers ·       College Students	Who: ·       The elderly ·       Older single adults
What: ·       People who have to go out and buy new hangers because their old hangers break when they pull their shorts off of the rack	What: ·       People don’t have an issue of hangers breaking since they take the time to properly take the pants off of the hanger and therefore do not have to go out to the store to buy new hangers
Why: ·       People are in a hurry or are too lazy to properly take the shorts off of the hangers	Why: ·       People take their time to take the shorts off of the hanger properly

Solving the Problem

The opportunity that I have selected is the problem that pants hangers easily snap when the pants are just pulled off rather than having their clamps pressed down upon.

The solution this problem is a hanger that does not break when the pants are pulled off but is also strong enough to keep a hold of the pants. My idea involves using a stronger form of plastic and removing the clamping down part of the hanger altogether. Instead of clamps it would instead have two pieces of plastic on either side that are adjustable almost like a wrench and can be tightened enough to hold onto the pants while also being far enough apart to be able to pull the pants off without causing any significant damage to the hangar. This will save people who often break their hangars time and money from going to the store. Since people will have to buy new hangers less the newer designed hangars could be charged for more money in order to generate a larger profit. The product will obviously appeal to those who often break their pants hangers and get annoyed by having to press the clamp down or risk breaking the hangar. The suggested solution I provided will not cause a major price increase in the product and will greatly increase customer satisfaction with the product.

Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Opportunity

League of Legends is currently only streamed on Twitch.tv and not on any actual television stations.

• The who: TV Stations
• The what: Streaming League of Legends on live television
• The why: No station has negotiated a deal with Riot Games yet

Hypothesis

League of Legends is the fastest growing "e-sport" to date and has brought in millions of viewers over the years through its broadcast. These millions of viewers are extremely valuable to television stations as it will add more publicity to the station along with more opportunities for advertisement agencies. Of course not everyone will want to tune in to watch League but the thousands or even millions that do will reward the station that makes a deal with Riot Games and begins to broadcast League of Legends.

• Testing the who: A station needs to pick up League for a major money opportunity but they have to understand that this will not appeal to every single person and only to those who play and like to watch the game.
• Testing the what: The game is extremely popular already on Twitch.TV so it would become an instant positive for the station that adopts it but they have to be aware that they would probably still be competing with Twitch.TV for viewership numbers.
• Testing the why: A lot of people enjoy watching the game and many would find it enjoyable to watch on a network such as ESPN.

Interviews

Interview 1

• For the first interview I spoke with a man in his mid to late 50s about this possibility. He explained to me that he had no idea what League of Legends even was and that if he ever saw it come onto ESPN he would switch the channel and watch another sport on a different channel since he had no idea about the game.

Interview 2

• This interview I spoke with a 21 year old male who has some experience playing League and said that he would find it enjoyable to watch League on ESPN or some other sports channel. He explained how he enjoyed the game and would like more people to become aware and involved with it. His only concern was that people already enjoyed watching League on Twitch.TV and that this could hurt viewer counts.

Interview 3

• This interview I spoke with a 18 year old male who explained how he likes to play games on the computer but that League was not one of his absolute favorites. He said he might tune in occasionally to watch some games being played but he would much rather watch other games be broadcasted such as CSGO. He said he really liked the idea of an esports channel being created where League and other games would all be broadcasted in the same space so you could get all the information from the same channel.

Interview 4

• This time I spoke with a 20 year old girl who is a big fan of League and really enjoys a lot about the game. She explained how she loved all of the characters and the designs and that she would love to be able to watch it on a sports network such as ESPN. She thinks its a great idea although she too had concerns about not being able to watch it on Twitch because of the live chat that goes on in Twitch's stream.

Interview 5

• I finally interviewed a woman who was in her mid 30s about the idea and while she did not know about League she said it wouldn't be a bad idea after I explained how many people tuned in weekly to the game. She thinks its a good opportunity for a station to seize upon and that its a good way to get ahead of the other competition. She also expressed some concern about some people complaining about a game such as League being on a true sports network and that some people would protest the broadcast but that it shouldn't be too much of a concern.

Summary

Most of the interviews went as expected since gaming as a whole is more popular in the younger generations and people in the older generations may not have even heard of the game before. There were some good points brought up about true sport fans complaining about League being shown on a station such as ESPN and I also quite liked the idea of a true esports network being created and can definitely see a profit to be made from such an adventure. The other thing that was confirmed from these interviews was that there was some serious concerns about Twitch combating viewership numbers with the broadcasting station. Maybe some kind of deal could be made where Twitch would advertise the broadcaster and keep up a logo of the broadcaster on the bottom right of the stream.