Growing Your Social Capital

Assignment 20A - Growing your Social Capital

Domain Expert

1)    Who are they:

Luke Torres went to UF and majored in Industrial and systems engineering. He graduated in December. He has interned with Mastercard in their antifraud department and is currently the CEO of Phlex, a start up company.

2)    Which ‘slot’ and how:

Luke is my domain expert. He started Phlex with a couple of other friends and fills this spot for me as he is an expert on the processes of starting a company. They are also in the process of developing an app for Phlex and he gave me insight into how they went about that.

3)    How I found them:

Luke is one of my friends as he used to swim for the UF Swim Team which is how I met him, and I got in touch with him and asked if I could interview him about my business idea.

4)    Nature of the exchange:

Since Luke is a friend of mine, he heard me out and gave me advice, comparing and telling me his experience with and before Phlex. As I have known him for a few years, he was happy to help and give advice. He said that the hardest part for him was finding people to join, he would talk to professors and gather contacts and then sell his idea to them. He also said a difficulty was not being in the field of development so needing to find people to do this. He gave me feedback on my idea and asked questions such as whether the app would be for IOS or for android or both? He also said that the server would need a way to know that people have paid, this might be in the form of a work Ipad, or he suggested doing something with QR codes which are trending lately.

5)    How this enhances my ability to exploit an opportunity:

Luke provided me with detailed information about Phlex, he is a great source of Social Capital as he can provide me with information about the managing side of a business but also the technology part of creating an app and how they found their resources.

Market Expert

1)    Who are they:

Lauren is a Strength and Conditioning Assistant and works with athletes everyday where they talk to her about everything. She was an athlete herself and went to Furman for undergraduate and then came to UF. She has completed her masters.

2)    Which ‘slot’ and how:

Lauren is my market expert. Although my market is huge, and can be students, adults, etc., I chose to focus on athletes as they are a big segment of my market that are pushed for time. Therefore, Lauren is my market expert as she gathers information and takes into account everything about athletes, she is also considering doing a certification in nutrition. This applies to my app as she can communicate the general feelings of athletes to me, as she knows many of them. But she also lives in Gainesville and eats at restaurants a lot so represents a large portion of my market as well, or of general population.

3)    How I found them:

She works in the weight room, I was actually interviewing her for another class when I found out more about her and realized how applicable she was in this dynamic.

4)    Nature of the exchange:

I explained my idea to her and she provided me with feedback such as how I could use it to more benefit athletes. She finds helping and mentoring athletes very rewarding so that for her was the return of the exchange.

5)    How this enhances my ability to exploit an opportunity:

She can feed me information about athletes, and she also continue to give her opinion on my product.

Supplier

1)    Who are they:

Zachary Payne is an employee at GatorTech. He is a recent design Graduate from UF and is currently a customer service specialist.

2)    Which ‘slot’ and how:

Zac is a supplier has he sells products and helps people with technology, I guess this is similar to what I want to be doing. GatorTech supply different devices, do on site repair work, mass sales and server set ups. Therefore, he can supply companies with computers or other technology. They do not focus on apps specifically at GatorTech, but Zac said that they could potentially provide service for restaurants that might have issues with my app. He is a supplier as he also provides me with information about the different devices I could potentially use, and supply these for the future and to create my app.

3)    How I found them:

I went to GatorTech as I knew they sell technology and I wanted to see if I could find someone who I could talk to about my business idea, get their feedback, and see what they could provide for me. That is when I found Zac.

4)    Nature of the exchange:

I just went to GatorTech and asked him questions. Zac listened to my idea and gave me feedback. He said that it is a great idea and that I should think about apple pay or Samsung pay. He said an application that all restaurants are connect allows for easy use. He did have questions about paying and I explained my thoughts to him. He then suggested putting a card on the table with the table number so that you can connect the app with the restaurant.

5)    How this enhances my ability to exploit an opportunity:

Zac provided me with information of where specifically I could find developers. He can provide me with a lot of insight about the technology world and what I would need. Eventually, he can provide me with equipment I would need in my venture.

Reflect:

I have never really reached out to people for networking advantage. I found it interesting sharing my idea with them and getting their opinion on it. The specifics of the parameters for this assignment also meant that I was getting very specific information which was helpful. I was very surprised at how I knew so many people that could help me already. I did not realize how much Luke knew about starting a business and that surprised me but also made me want to know more about how it all worked. Therefore, I would say that this networking experience was beneficial as it showed me how much valuable information you can get from people around you.