Friday, September 28, 2018

My first interview was with a parent who said that she wishes she had an easy way of getting their kids attention when they are on their phones or listening to loud music. She said that it's annoying having to go all the way to their rooms and yell so that they listen.

My second interview was with a teacher that wishes he had a way of getting her students attention in class. She says that the students get on their phones or are browsing Pinterest or Facebook instead of watching and participating in the lecture.

My third interview was with a dog walker that said her dog barely listens to her when it starts barking at random birds and animals. She explained that the dog won't stop getting distracted by things no matter how much she tries to pull at the leash or tell him "stop it!"

The fourth interview was with a student that said her boyfriend doesn't listen to her when he's playing video games. She explained to me that he gets so invested and zoned in that he won't hear when she is talking to her. She says that she wants an easy way of getting his attention easily.

The fifth interview was with a nurse that said she notices some of her co-workers were distracted doing various things and were missing the calls from their patients. She said that she wanted a way that was easy for the nurses to be alerted without being disruptive.

What: Nurses, teachers, couples, dog owners. They fall outside of the boundary because they are not doing an athletic activity that merits the opportunity.

What: People that just want to get someone's attention are not in the boundary of this opportunity. This opportunity is about helping athletic activities be safe and uninterrupted.

Why: The outsiders' need is about getting the attention of people that don't need to be alerted urgently. Also, they already have another means of getting their attention.

Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
Who is in: Bikers, Runners	Who is not: Nurses, Teachers, couples, dog owners.
What the Need is: Pedestrians don’t pay attention and can’t hear biker’s warnings.	What the Need is not: getting the attention of people that are not in harm's way or causing harm.
Why the Need exists: The pedestrians are on their phones and oblivious to their surroundings	Alternative Explanations: These people are distracting themselves in a manner that does not affect those around them negatively.

Friday, September 21, 2018

Solving the Problem

The opportunity that I am addressing is the problem of pedestrians being oblivious and not paying attention to bikers or runners.

I am going to solve the problem with a small device that emits a highly directional “chirp” at a high frequency. The high frequency would be similar to a dog whistle but just low enough for humans to hear. When I say directional, I mean that the device only shoots the chirp in a cone about 45 degrees wide in whichever direction the device is pointed. The device can be handheld for runners or it can be clipped to a bike handle. It would be small, light, and made of plastic. The price target would be about $20.

Testing the Hypothesis Part 1

Problem: When Bikers are biking and there are pedestrians in the way that are so into their phones that they don’t hear the biker’s warnings.
Who has the problem: Bikers
What is the problem: Pedestrians don’t pay attention and can’t hear biker’s warnings.
Why is there a problem: Because they are on their phones and oblivious to their surroundings.

My first interview was with a biker that felt he had the same problem with pedestrians not listening to him. He said that that it was because people have headphones on are listening to music. He also told me that it wasn’t only people but cars as well which are difficult to signal.

My second interview was with another biker. She said that she would get very frustrated especially during the class change at her inability to bike because no one pays attention to her. She believed people would not move or listen to her because people hate to be bothered. That they would rather the biker get off and walk before they for him/her.

My third interview was with a non-biker pedestrian. She told me that she was guilty of using her phone all the time she is walking between classes. She says that she does it to check up on her social media and to try to look busy so that the ‘survey’ people don’t talk to her. She said that she doesn’t mean to be in the way of bikers and will be more attentive next time.

My fourth interview was with another non-biker pedestrian. He is a runner and told me that he has the same problem with people in his way in sidewalks. He said that he has to stop running and lose his tempo to tell the people in front of him to move or try to squeeze in between them.

My fifth interview was with a non-biker. She said that she has this problem whenever she is in a place like a big city with many people walking and barely any room on the sidewalks. She says that some people just start to talk on the sidewalk and essentially form a wall. They are so involved in their conversations that they don’t realize other pedestrians are trying to get through them.

Thanks to the interviews I now know that my opportunity expands beyond just bikers. It expands to runners and other pedestrians as well. The problem also does not just lie with pedestrians being on their phones. They can also be listening to music or be conversing with other pedestrians.

Friday, September 14, 2018

Identifying Opportunities in Economic and Regulatory Trends

Regulatory Trends:

In Miami Beach, they are now criminalizing operating Airbnb-like rentals without a license. I found this opportunity on The Miami Herald. This means that there will be a lot of new on how many Airbnb's will now be illegal. This could open up the ability for a local service that pools together all of the people in Miami Beach that operate with a license. The prototypical customer would be tourists looking for a Hotel alternative that is properly licensed and don't need to worry about legal issues. This opportunity might be somewhat difficult to exploit. If the current owners of these small businesses already have their own form of exposure that works well for them, it will be difficult to sway them to use my service. I believe there is an opportunity here because I have lived in Miami my entire life and now there are many people with condo's on the beach that go unused for extended periods of time and would like to be able to make money on them. Once they get the license the service would allow them to rent out their home without worrying about legal issues.

FRA proposes to eliminate the certification badge that verifies that a train complies with noise emission standards. I found it on regulatoins.gov and using prior knowledge. I believe that an opportunity will arise in soundproofing houses/buildings near railroads. The deregulation of noise pollution will mean that these buildings will have to deal with much more noise. The prototypical customer is anyone that lives near a railroad and hates the noise. This opportunity would be relatively easy to exploit with customers that have trains going by their area very often and they would have a much higher need than others. I saw this opportunity because my house in Miami is near a railroad track and I have to hear the noise of trains going by often, especially at night. I would definitely be interested in soundproofing.

Economic Trends:

Previously Intel pretty much had a monopoly on the CPU market. However, last year Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) launched a new line of processors named Ryzen. These new processors are on par or at times surpassing Intel's offering. AMD's stock has soared 200% since the launch. They forced Intel to release a line of products early to meet the new competition. This has now caused Intel to have a shortage of current and future processors. This means that companies like Dell, HP, and Lenovo will have to begin building their products around AMD's Ryzen. This applies to consumer and enterprise products. Because AMD is uncharted territory for most of these companies, there will be a need for people with knowledge of AMD for repairs and maintenance. I found this opportunity on Google trends. The prototypical customer is consumers and businesses with no knowledge of AMD. This opportunity might be rather difficult to exploit on a B2B level because of how difficult it can be to show value over bigger tech support companies. I saw the opportunity because I love technology and have been building computers as a hobby for some years now and they have all been built with AMD.

I found this opportunity on Google finance and based on past knowledge. Tesla as a company has been trending down as people lose faith in the car manufacturer and question its ability to support itself. This will mean many teslas owners might sell their cars and then be stuck with a Tesla supercharging station that they installed in their garage which has become utterly useless. This means that if someone can create an attachment/converter for the Tesla supercharger that allows for it to be used with everyday objects, a new use case will emerge for a previously single-use item. The prototypical customer is any current or former Tesla owners. The main hurdle is actually designing and creating the product that works. Once the product is created, it will be rather simple to exploit. I saw this opportunity because I know of people that own Tesla's and have told me they wish they could use something else with the charger.

5A Identifying Local Opportunities

The bike in the middle of Biscayne Bay: Why we can't have nice things in Miami.

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=WORLDNEWS&req_dat=0D0CB57BE7FF6D8A&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F16E6F70D89CC6858

Miami is a very unbikable city. It has the highest rates of bike related accidents in the US. Many bike sharing companies have to tried to operate in Miami but have had a very hard time doing so. Residents want to use the bikes but find it difficult to bike anywhere safely. There are very few bike lanes or bike roads. Even still some drivers go out of their way to inconveniece bikers. Some people strip the bikes for parts and bring the frame far from Miami. One frame was even found at the bottom of Biscayne bay.

The problem is that people in Miami want to use bikes but do not do so because it is unsafe to bike in Miami.

The people with the problem are bikers in Miami.

Alan Jackson's son-in-law dies in slip and fall accident in Florida

A man dies when he slips and falls on a dock while helping a woman onto a boat.

The problem is that docks can be slippery and can cause injury when falling on them or between a dock and boat.

The people with the problem are boaters and anyone that walks on a marina dock.

As a young voter, I request early polling sites at Miami-Dade college campuses

Early voting is not allowed on college campuses in Miami Dade County. Many students have very busy schedules and many times just traversing traffic in Miami is a struggle on its own. The author of the article wants to spur a movement for lawmakers to allow college campuses in Miami Dade County to host early voting. It would help increase the turnout rate for students tremendously.

The problem is that students in Miami cannot do early voting on their college campus.

The people affected by the problem are students in Miami.

Fire drills and false alarms are re-traumatizing Stoneman Douglas students, teachers

False Fire alarms are going off at Marjory Stoneman Douglas HighSchool. These firealarms are giving the students and teachers PTSD from shooting that transpired some months back. The school is expected to conduct 10 routine code red alarms, and 10 routine fire alarms during this school year. The teachers and students believe it is an unecessary amount and will only worsen the conditon of the students that have struggled to move past the dreadful day.

The problem is that the students and teachers are getting PTSD from the fire and code red alarms.

The people affected by the problem are the students and teachers that were at the school earlier this year.

New music fest could be coming to South Beach. Is the city ready for its own Coachella?

South Beach is going to be the home to a brand new music festival starting on November 2019. Locals are worried about how it will impact the traffic and general livelyhood during those days. They compared it to spring break earlier this year and how the Miami Beach Police Dep. had to close a highway to restrict incoming traffic.

The problem is that locals are worried about their home island being too crowded from the three day event.

The people affected are the resident of Miami Beach.

Friday, September 7, 2018

2A Bug List

When I am biking to class and the campus is so crowded during class switch that I need to get off my bike and just walk.

Why: People are changing classes and need to be out on the sidewalk to walk to their next class.

People being unattentive on their phone and headphones and won't listen when I tell them to get out of the way while I am biking.

Why: People like listening to music and look at their phones to make their walks less boring.

When I am going to put my bike at bike rack but it is full and I need to lock my bike to the bike rack at another building.

Why: There are only so many spots available on one bike rack and many students bike to class.

When my laptop's battery is dying in class and there aren't any electricity plugs nearby.

Why: Laptop batteries can only hold so much charge and not every building is outfitted with tons of power outlets.

When my roommate leaves the dirty dishes stacked in the sink.
Why: He is either late for class and in a rush or just being lazy.

When I have to wait an hour or more in line to get into any club or bar in Gainesville.
Why: The Bar/Club is probably full and can only let people trickle in to maintain a certain capacity of customers.

When I have to make dinner and then open the refrigerator to find out my roommate has eaten all the food.
Why: He was probably very hungry and needed to eat.

When my roommate lets the garbage fill up and doesn't bother to throw it out when he adds more to it and it starts overflowing.
Why: He is lazy or it is raining outside.

When I am walking to class and I get soaked when it starts raining randomly because there are no covered pathways on campus.
Why: Rain is a common occurrence in Gainesville and the school does not believe it is worth it to build covered pathways.

When I am walking to the bus stop and miss the bus.
Why: I did not leave my apartment on time or the bus got to the stop earlier than expected.

When I have to call customer service for any company and they route me to seven different operators and spend an hour on hold.
Why: Most of those call centers have a bureaucracy that forces them to spread out different jobs unnecessarily. Also, there are many callers.

When a package that I ordered on Amazon is delayed and arrives a couple days after the scheduled time.
Why: It is probably a high demand time and Amazon cannot keep up with the number of orders.

When my flight gets delayed for whatever reason and then I need to spend several hours waiting for the plane or a replacement.
Why: The plane encountered bad weather or there was a mechanical issue that caused the delay.

When I am on the bus going between Gainesville and Miami and the seat is uncomfortable and I have to suffer through it for 6 hours.
Why: The cheaper bus routes don't have enough funds to allocate towards upgrading the seats.

When I am taking a proctor U exam and my internet cuts out for a couple of seconds and I have an anxiety attack.
Why: There was probably an issue with Cox Communication or my modem had an error.

When my Uber driver only talks about problems he has had with other passengers.
Why: The driver is probably very frustrated with his day and needs to vent.

When I go to a Department store and the staff keeps pestering to help me and sell some clothes to me that I don't want.
Why: They are working on commision and need to push sales in order to earn more money.

When my favorite artist is having a concert in my hometown but I have an exam that day and I can't go.
Why: The two events unfortunately lined up on the same day.

When I am doing a group project and no one when I ask for help or a question in the group chat no one responds for several hours.
Why: They are probably busy with something else or just don't care about the class.

When I call for an uber and they do circles around me but for some reason can't seem to find the right street to turn into to get to me even though they have a GPS.
Why: Some drivers chose to not use a GPS because they don't trust it (This was an actual excuse a driver gave me once). Other drivers are just incompetent.

Reflection: The list was difficult at first. However, once I started thinking of a couple, my mind just started snowballing and was overflowing with bugs. I think when reading my list it's fairly easy to see my train of thought spiraling and going every which way.

3B Entrepreneurship Story

I come from a family of Cuban immigrants. When both of my grandfathers came to the U.S. they had to struggle and find a way to provide for their families. My paternal grandfather, Rogelio, immigrated with the Peter Pan initiative. This was a started in Miami to bring children from Cuba to the U.S. My grandfather came alone at the age of 17. He was never able to finish high school. When he arrived in Miami, he worked in a camp for several years picking tomatoes, until his father joined him. Years later, in 1971, they started a boat upholstery business in a tiny warehouse in Hialeah. Since then they have expanded their client base and the once small business has gained a reputation in South Florida for making the best boat upholstery available. Naturally, because it is a family business, my grandparents had me working there from an early age. Every summer while I was in middle school my grandfather would have me there with him learning and working by his side. I was able to meet many of his clients and learned how to form prosperous relations with customers. The most important thing I learned from Rogelio is the value of hard work and what is possible through entrepreneurship. I enrolled in this class because I want to learn more about entrepreneurship, the single most important thing that has shaped my family's life. I hope to walk out of this class a further educated individual and attain the skills required to launch a business of my own.

Danny's Two Cents