14A

I used my ambition,dreams, and resourced to think outside the box. The course so far has brought to me so many ideas and concepts I haven't really thought about so far. Now im asking myself with every situation what can I solve, How can I make it better, will this develop in to a bigger issue down the road. The class has taught me how to critically problem solve for a group rather than myself.

The worst assignment so far was the bug assignment since it was just the beginning of the course. I had no idea what the class was remotely about. What helped me pull through is that I took the assignment slowly. I did it over the course of a few days and each day I just though of things that bugged me in my daily life. I looked at everything differently after that assignment. I was asking how many of these problems can I actually fix. Then looked at how my list would be drastically different if I did it today because I am now always seeking to fix a problem.

Three tips I would give are do not wait until the day of to do the assignments, do not be afraid to come back to the assignment with a fresh mind. It makes coming up with ideas easier. Another tip would be think of ideas that apply to more than just yourself . Try to improve other lives rather than just yours.

13A

 Elon Musk has accomplished many things in his life time and while reading the I learned more about the projects he took on and has taken on. I knew he had something to do with Spacex but never knew he was directly responsible for founding it.  His story to come from such a broken and poor family to become a powerful entrepreneur. He never took no for an answer and I find that particularly inspiring. He accomplishes ideas that people never think are possible. Such as with pay pal and electricity. What I least admire about him is how he can really put a burden on himself if none of his companies turn profitable after a certain amount of time. He spends all of his money accomplishing the next innovation but you will never know if his next investment is his first failure as an innovator . Elon has experienced this failure but like his childhood he never let that stop him  and will keep chasing his goals. I noticed that Elon exhibited competencies like determination, motivation, and innovation. He always saw there was a way some how to do whatever he wanted to accomplish. He accomplished most of the goals he set his mind too. I was confused also if he was setting these companies up to make profits for him or for him just to invite new things. He always wanted to improve56 the life of others as it seems first never his. His aspirations were based off of how can I make others life more efficient and change the world while i'm doing it.If I could ask him two questions, I would ask how he was able to dream so big? If you could do it over again what would you change? I think his opinion of hard work was just to never quit pursuing your dreams. Even when they seem to not be able to happen keep chasing them and they will.

11A

Hello my name is Ted Fernandez. I am a 22 years old student at the University of Florida. I am a SPM major. My talents include golfing and playing basketball. I have experience in the industry of sports. I have worked at a marketing group based in miami ,fl. So I have some knowledge in the industry of spreading new products. I hope to one day become a entrepreneur. I see this business playing a big role in my life if I were to start it. I have a lot of interest in the making the lives of people easier.

 I am offering the idea to replace paper straws with an eco-friendly material such as avocado seeds. This is solving customers unmet needs because they will be able to conveniently have the experience of drinking coffee or a drink they used to have with plastic straws instead of sogg paper straws.

My demographic customers are people who have there daily coffee or drink with paper straws. The psychographic is people who have an interest in drinking anytype of drink with a straw. People who love they're drinks and have a preference for what type of straw they use. All my customers have in common an interest is drinking coffee with a good experience.

Customers will use my service because it offers convenience to customers to have their coffee. They will be able to find new experience with thee avocado seed straw that they may not have known existed. It takes the worries away from them having to drive to the store to buy a drink and it to be ruined by the time it gets back.

What sets this business apart from everyone else is that no one offers a solution to paper straws. This provides convenience to customers to help them make there drink taste better and last longer. It will add pleasure to there life knowing they dont have to stress how fast they drink their drink. They will not have to worry which straws will be available when they order there drink and would not have to worry about cleaning a straw every morning.

I believe these five elements all fit together well. I think the elements of customers blends with why they care. My typical customer has a interest in there drinking experience so they care about this since it will help them make enjoying drinks easier. Some aspects that I see are weak is I do not know if customers will want a have drinks daily .They may only need a straw when they are drinking something. I also do not know if people have a need for this straws. The idea is flexible no matter how many drinkers may use straws in the morning.

12A

The segment I have chosen is people in there 18-30s. I chose this group because I believe this is who would be the average user of my straw. I interviewed a 18 year old women, 23 year old women and a 28 year old man. All the people I interviewed goes to some type of shop saily to drink coffee. Everyone I interviewed all felt they had struggle with the new paper straws being implemented across town. They said as soon as they started using the straws they noticed how bad they were in quality and how there drinking experience as a whole faltered. Two of the interviews found that even with the different alternative of avocado seed straw they weren't interested in anything that was not plastic. Therefore there drinking experience would never be the same.All the interviewees wish they knew more about the avocado seed straw when I mentioned it as a solution to soggy paper straws.  In my interviews I learned a lot of this groups' needs. I found they wish they knew more about straws and how it is not an easy thing to produce new straws since plastic has been around forever. With innovation and time they will have there drinking experience back.

10A

9A

Who: 

After my interviews, I discovered some more information on the opportunity that I did not think of before. The five people I interviewed ranged from 18-25 years old. In my interviews I found out that a lot of people are interested in a eco-friendly alternative to paper straws.  However some people do not know what type of straws would be available and better for the environment . So these people would maybe fall outside the target market to fix the problem. The solution to this is just to allows customers to use avocado seed straws in alternative to the paper straws. This way they have an alternative to the paper straws that get soggy after sitting in a drink for a while. Also not everyone is interested in using a different alternative straw to paper in general so they would be out of the boundary. The who is anyone who is interested in getting using an alternative to paper straws..

What: This opportunity is banking on the concept that people want the alternative to the paper straw. So if people do not care about their drinking experience using paper straws then they will not want a new straw. Unless they would like to have a new alternative. With this opportunity they can have different types of straw to use in alternative to paper. So they can use a straw that is not soggy . 

Why: The cause of this issue comes at the ban of plastic straws around the country. The outside the boundary comes for the people that like the paper but the inside which is most of the people Interviewed do not do it due to its poor structure and drinking experience it gives them while drinking. Also some people do not care what type of straw they use which can put them on the inside or outside it is unclear. I do not think tis alternative will be for everyone . I do believe it will be for people who enjoyed they're coffee with plastic straws and do not have the same experience as with paper straws.

Inside the Boundary

Who is In - People who are unable to have the same experience using paper straws. Also anyone who would like a new alternative to plastic straws other than paper. People who use straws on a daily basis.

What the Need is - The need is people want new plants delivered to there house. If they just want new plants for their yard, porch, or kitchen. They want to try out new varieties of plants they may not have known existed.

Why the Need Exists - The need exists because not everyone has the access to an easy alternative to plastic straws.  Many people do not know why there is not an easy access alternative or where you go to find alternatives other than paper. The paper straw once it becomes country wide will cause problems and create the need to find a way to mass produce new straws .

Outside the Boundary

Who is Not - People who enjoy plastic straws or are indifferent to what type of straw they use when drinking they're drink. If you have your own container and straw you would not be interested in this. 

What the Need is Not - There is not a need for a new alternative or there is not an interest in a different product. People may be happy with paper straws. There is no alternative

Alternative Explanations - People may not care, want, or need this alternative. Paper straws could already be seen as eco-friendly enough to some.They could enjoy the paper straw experience and see if better than plastic

6A

Opportunity 1

I believe there is an opportunity in creating a nutritional bar that does not contain a ton of sugar that someone can eat at any time of the day. This issue comes for me everyday when I try to find a snack bar at the local grocery store or marketplace everytime I browse the snack bar section I find that there is no option that suits my needs. I'm looking for a bar that contains many nutritional benefits without the sugar. The benefits of a bar that isn't sugar based is that it will not cause people to crash after  a few hours after eating it and being productive throughout the entire day. The opportunity to create such a bar is there and with the current trends in today's health society I think it will definitely be a hit for anyone looking for a good snack before a long 

Opportunity 2

I believe there is an opportunity to provide people with a straw that do not contain paper or plastic. With plastic straw bans now being put into effect across the nation , The use of paper straws has become relevant as you cannot use plastic straws to drink your simple drinks like iced coffee.Paper straws are unusable after about 10 minutes as they crumble in your drink after the paper soaks and crumbles. The need for a straw that is environmentally friendly such as the ones that use avocado shells to create a plastic like straw. Not only are they environmentally friendly but they are also a lot cleaner and do not hold germs like paper straws. The market for these straws will become prevalent as paper straws become ridiculed as more people use them. I figured there would be a market for a different straw as I couldn't enjoy my morning coffee anymore .

Opportunity 3

I believe there is an opportunity to create  a device that entertains cats without people having to be present to play with them. Many people are at work or school all day. Many people would love to give they're cats the attention they need instead of letting it sleep alone all day. The need to entertain your cat so its owners feel like its not alone  is there . The device would be able to make the cat chase something around the house until it tires and it doesn't get the attention it needs.I believe that the ideal customer would be anyone who feels that there cat needs more attention. I believe with the use of technology cats can exhaust its energy without its owners having to be there. The opportunity is relatively easy to produce but the problem with products like this is the quality and functionality of the product. This opportunity exists for many people like myself that want their animal to be happy and pleasured all day.

Opportunity 4

I believe a opportunity exist for a app that connects you with people that want to play basketball in the near by area. This is not your common dating  dating app. This app is to connect you to people that want to play basketball in the surrounding area.. I believe an opportunity exists because in order to play big games of basketball you need enough people to participate. This allows you to find people are just like you and want to find one other person to play basketball with. I believe the likely customer for this app is anyone who wants to play basketball and maybe the app can be expanded for other sports later. I belive marketing this on college campuses or anywhere there could be a market for such an app would be a great idea. I run into this problem all the time where I cannot just find one more person to play basketball with. My friends maybe busy or out of town and I don't feel like playing alone . This is a very prevalent issue in a society thats based of its phones.

8A

My solution to giving the mass public a cheap and ecological beneficial straws than the paper straws that are now provided are to mass produce avocado seed straws. With the mass production of those straws we can have the same benefits of a paper straw while having the same functionality plastic straws had. I think the opportunity is there to have the enjoyment we used to have of drinking our morning coffee or soda while saving the environment.

7A

Making the next innovation for environmentally friendly straws

Hypothesis: People want a better alternative to plastic straws than paper straws.

Testing The Who

I believe there are a large number of people who have this need to have a straw that is better than a paper straw. Everyone in my current situation feels the need for a new starw. However maybe they would rather use the paper straw because it is proven to be the best option at the moment and don't care about the experience they may have when drinking there drink. 

Testing the What

Do people want a better alternative to paper straws  ? Will people only want an alternative while drinking a different drink? How many people want a better alternative? Do they want more than one alterntive?

Testing the Why

The why I identified does not apply to everyone. It differs on who the people are. Some care more than other about they're drinking experience. 

Interview questions

Would you be interested in a better, more ecological friendly straw?

How many drinks daily do you drink using a straw?

What type of straws have you used 

Have you faced issues using paper straws?

What straw would you recommend to a friend looking for an alternative to plastic straws?

Interview 1

( Male 25)

I do not care about the environment as I think there are more problems affecting it other than straws. No

None

2 Paper and plastic

The Paper straws get soggy in my drink and are worthless in my opinion

I would tell them to drink there drink without a straw

Interview 2

(Female 43)

Yes, I would but have not found an alternative as much as I like plastic straws

3 or 4 depending on my day and what time I get up.

I've primarily only used plastic and now paper straws.I've had friends recommend metal staws but they seem they may get dirty and gross

They get soggy and gross. I hope they come out with a different alternative soon

Most likely metal but that's only because I dont know of any alternatives.

Interview 3

(Female 22)

Yes, I want to find any alternatives to anything that may create waste.

At least 1 throughout the day.

Ive used metal straws once I found how much wast plastic straws caused. 

Ive never used more than a handful of times and found them really cool. I have also heard complaint from friends that they rather enjoy their drink with plastic straws than make the effort to use paper straws to save the environment.

I would recommend a metal straw to anyone looking for an alternative.

Interview 4

(Female 31)

Sure but it's not a priority to use a different straw to save the environment

Maybe one but not more than that

Just plastic and the paper ones i've been given recently.

I use primarily plastic whenever I need to use one . Ive only used the paper ones a couple of times but ive had to throw away my drink or through the straw and lid away if I drink it for more than 15 or so minutes.

As I said primarily become soggy very quickly when I have used them

I would recommend we try and stick to plastic straws until there is a good alternative.

Interview 5

(Male 24)

Would you be interested in a better, more ecological friendly straw?

No I would not be

How many drinks daily do you drink using a straw?

Three 

What type of straws have you used 

Plastic

Have you faced issues using paper straws? What?

I haven’t used them 

What straw would you recommend to a friend looking for an alternative to plastic straws?

None if its not plastic.

I found that many people would be interested in an alternative to paper straws. Some people said they wouldn't be interested because they did really care about the environment but there are many that had the same issues about paper straws. People want to save the environment but it vastly depends on the person and not at the expense of they're morning drink.Most people I interviewed were not very informed on alternatives, especially the one that would fix everyone's issues with paper straws. I know most people want good straws and to save the environment but not lose they're enjoyment of their morning coffee to save the world.