20A - Growing Your Social Capital

Domain Expert:

1)   Who they are, what their background is: 

a.    Jack, Intern with Orlando Police Department

2)   How this person is a “domain expert”: 

b.    He spent the past summer working as an intern with the Orlando Police Department, giving him knowledge and insight into the prevalence of abduction/sexual assault crimes

3)   How I found and contacted this person: 

c.    I went to high school with him so I gave him a phone call and asked him about his experience working with the OPD as an intern and about any information he learned about sexual assault/abduction crimes.

4)   Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation: 

d.    He provided me with valuable information about the prevalence and frequency of sexual assault/abduction crimes within the Orlando area during this past summer. I discussed with him my product concept and asked for his opinion about the effectiveness of my product. In exchange for helping me out and discussing my product concept, the return expectation is probably that I be available for him if he has any needs/issues that he needs to discuss with someone with a more finance/business background.

5)   How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity: 

e.    He provided me with great information about the frequency of abduction/sexual assault crimes. He confirmed my belief that the most difficult part in handling these crimes is response time, as sometimes it can be difficult to directly locate victims. He enjoyed hearing about my product concept and thinks it can be effective in reducing sexual assault/abduction rates. Including him will enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity by providing me with more background information about the problem and about its prevalence in the United States.

Market Expert:

1)   Who they are, what their background is: 

a.    Linda, Sales Representative for Life Alert

2)   How this person is a “market expert”: 

b.    She is a market expert because the Life Alert is similar to my product in its functionalities and goal, as well as her experience surveying and conducting consumer research within the Orlando area.

3)   How I found and contacted this person: 

c.    My grandma actually just purchased a Life Alert, so while she was there overlooking the installation, I made sure to ask her some questions about her experience selling the Life Alert and identifying consumers through market research.

4)   Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation: 

d.    I asked Linda about the functions of the Life Alert and how the product could potentially be improved. I also asked her about how much the Life Alert was and how the company continues to generate revenue. I gave her a little bit of insight into the product that I am trying to develop and she seemed very interested in the advanced technological capability of the product. I don’t really think there was a return expectation, she was simply being polite and exemplifying customer service as my grandma had just purchased a product from her.

5)   How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity: 

e.    Including them will enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity by providing me with some insight into how a similar product is designed financially. I was able to find out that the Life Alert charges originally for the product and then there is a monthly operating charge as well. This gives me something to think about as I continue to figure out the ideal price for my product concept. Her experience conducting consumer research could also be an asset as I continue to identify market segments to target for my product.

Industry Supplier:

1)    Who they are, what their background is: 

a.    Tanjay, Mobile Developer at Wearsafe

2)    How this person is a “industry supplier”: 

b.    Wearsafe is a company that is focused on creating personal safety products. He has experience in selling Wearsafe products to various organizations worldwide.

3)    How I found and contacted this person: 

c.    I actually found him through LinkedIn and sent him a message asking if I could speak with him to discuss his experience working for Wearsafe. I explained to him my product concept and wanted to know about the challenges that Wearsafe has experienced in operating its business.

4)    Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation: 

d.    He provided me with a lot of useful information surrounding the personal safety technology industry. Some of the key challenges they faced were mainly financial, however they did experience some problems with implementing technology into their products. I told him about my product concept and the functionalities of the product and he agreed that the technological aspect will be very important in distinguishing myself from competitors. The return expectation will likely be that I am available to him if he needs any feedback on one of his projects or assistance in the future.

5)    How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity: 

e.    Including him will enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity as he has experience with operating a business in this particular industry. He has seen how products are sold to various organizations, which can be important in creating a supplier chain in the future. He provided me with information about potential setbacks that I may face, allowing me to better prepare for them and understand the rigors of becoming successful in this industry.

Finally: Reflect. This experience requires you to do a little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How?

a.    This experience differed from the networking that I have done in the past because instead of talking about myself, I was more so talking about my business concept and about the problem that it aims at addressing. This experience will shape in how I participate in future networking events as it provided me with additional networking practice. Talking to experts in these particular areas proved to be less intimidating than originally thought, and I learned that I can still network with people even if I am not directly talking to them face-to-face. Taking advantage of the internet and websites such as LinkedIn and Glassdoor can be important in identifying connections and opening up communication with them. I learned that networking is not that difficult and all it takes is just putting in the effort to contacting someone.