Venture Concept No. 1

Venture Concept Description

Opportunity. The opportunity my venture seeks to capture is a very unfortunate opportunity that has arisen out of the influence of the internet on society. The interconnectivity of the web is good for sharing valuable information across geographical boundaries but, on the flipside, it is very harmful when someone uses that interconnectivity to try and ruin someone's life. The opportunity I want to help solve is the issue of people having content on the internet that they don’t want out there. Specifically, when someone posts nude pictures or videos of someone in an effort to publically humiliate them.

 This opportunity is, unfortunately, huge. There are hundreds, upon thousands of victims of revenge porn out there with very little options or legal protection. Only 26 states in the US have laws criminalizing revenge porn. My market isn’t really defined geographically since anyone can post revenge porn from anywhere but this tends to happen in more developed countries, such as the US, Canada, and Western Europe. Demographically, the victims of revenge porn are overwhelming women, ranging from 14 years old to women in their 50s, though men can certainly be victims as well.

There are only a few options out there for survivors of revenge porn: ask the website owners to take down the content, report it as inappropriate to google, or get your nude photos or videos trademarked and issue the sites a DMCA takedown notice. (Or, if you live in one of those 26 states, take the person who posted the picture to court. Though that doesn't guarantee they will be taken off the web.) 
Since revenge porn can be on thousands of sites in the worst case scenario, the first option isn’t really an option. Reporting it to Google is a necessary step in trying to solve this issue, but Google can’t force sites to take down the content and there are many other search engines where the photos could still be lurking. Google can only make sure it doesn’t pop up on a search. Lastly, getting your pictures trademarked is an option, except that it costs 300-400 dollars a year to maintain that trademark and still some sites can host the photos without facing repercussions because of the anonymous nature of the web.

As of right now, I have found only one other company that is trying to solve this issue. More may arise so this window could be closing.

Innovation. My innovation is a service for victims of revenge porn whereby my company wages an online campaign on behalf of the victim to get their revenge porn taken down. At the same time, my company will be doing online reputation management by using search engine optimization to create a positive online presence on our client’s behalf. My company’s site will also host an online forum for survivors of revenge porn and will provide free legal information about victim's legal options.

The service works by using advanced technology that combs the web for the revenge porn’s unique address. Once found, Post Back’s employees contact the website owner and request it to be taken down or, with the client’s permission, issue a DMCA takedown notice on their behalf after the process for getting their photos trademarked is started. The service costs $150 and there is a crowdfunding option on the site so that other victims can help people who struggle to pay the cost. Post Back will also offer payment plans to help with the cost.

Venture Concept. My innovation attempts to solve this opportunity by providing a service to people who critically need it and are often times taken advantage of by scam sites that ask for money and never even try to get the photos taken down. My venture will actually help these people who have been violated for the world to see. There is only one other company trying to do what I’ve specified so there isn't a lot of competition but there is a lot of demand, from what my research has shown. The other options out there for survivors are very expensive or are downright scams. The competitor I mentioned does have a similar service but is not marketing as well as they could be and hasn’t sought the backing of organizations that are trying to end revenge porn. That is my only advantage over them.

My venture will be backed by 10-15 employees. Some of which will manage the technology and maintain the website and others will be people who wage the campaign. The customer experience is very important because I think that will also be a part of the value proposition that will give Post Back an edge over its competitors. The goal of Post Back is to give our clients peace of mind and to show them that someone cares about what happened to them and is doing something, anything, to make it better. 

Since the company will be entirely online, the location of it is entirely flexible. The roles in the company will include a CEO, a CFO, a VP of Marketing, and a COO who will also double as the VP of Technology. In 5 years, I don’t see myself still running this business. I think this is a limited time opportunity that will wane in the coming years. On the flipside, I could see this business transitioning into other services for women or anyone who has been harassed on the internet. Don’t know how to do this exactly, but that’s where I could see this going. As an entrepreneur, but really just as a person, I want to enact positive social change in the world. I see this venture as a start to this.

Amazon Whisperer

Hi folks,

So this assignment is all about coming up with a new product that would provide value to my existing customers. Aka, finding my next "opportunity."

For the commenters, my current business idea is to provide a support service to survivors of revenge porn that includes an online website with free information on legal options, a community forum, and the paid service that finds the revenge porn online and tries to take it down or attempts to bury it under other layers of info using search engine optimization.

Revenue Drivers for my current business:

• Paying for my takedown service
• Ads on my site
• Crowdfunding for people who can't directly pay for the takedown service

Next product or service:

• A magical taser that only shocks those who post revenge from afar

How does this enhance my existing offering?

• Gives people what they want: revenge for revenge

Similar product?

• An actual taser: http://www.amazon.com/Blackhawk-44H015-Taser-Holster-Handed/dp/B00H0DBTP0/ref=sr_1_1?s=hunting-fishing&ie=UTF8&qid=1459117538&sr=1-1&keywords=taser+gun
• 

What do customers like or do not like about the product?

• They wish it was more durable
• They liked how cheap it was

What changes would I make to it?

• I would make it come in any color you desire and probably change that clip. Doesn't look like it would stay too well on your hip. Also give it a better handle with more grip.

Why is it a good addition to my current product line?

• Because who doesn't want to electrocute the person who tried to ruin your life?

Week 11 Reading

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations?

• This article in general was really surprising because you hear of companies using "innovation techniques" described in the article and you assume they must be an innovative company. This article changed my perspective of what it means to be truly innovative.

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

• The creating value in your innovation strategy was a little confusing to me. It makes sense that your innovation strategy should inherently create value but what exactly is different from saying "our company strives to innovate for the consumer of our products" and whatever else they are trying to advocate? I could use an example.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

• How is a startup suppose to develop an effective r&d team? Aren't there a lot of risks in doing that? Curious because the business plan I am currently working on involves an R&D team.
• At what point, if not from birth, should a startup adopt an innovative strategy? Isn't the idea to get your product or service out there, make sales, and focus on perfecting everything later? Once again, this has to do with my business plan and how we right our executive summary.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

• I don't necessarily disagree with this but I think that the author did not cover this part really well: the cost of innovating. Sure, you could always say that innovation will pay for itself but there also has to be some balance where innovating or spending too much on r&d isn't helpful. Especially in a startup.

My Unfair Advantage

So for this exercise I get to generate a list of resources for my venture that make me "special." These resources will be what keeps my competitors off my tail. So here it goes:

1. My experience acting as a leader within the LGBTQQ+ community in my high school has given me the ability to make people around me comfortable and to have them open up (human capital)
• Valuable? Very much so
• Rare? Not really...
• Imitable? Yeah...
• Non-substitutable? Not really. There isn't a substitute for active listening.
2. My connection with the End Revenge Porn campaign and their tentative commitment to promote my service when it is up and running (social capital)
• Valuable? DEFINITELY
• Rare? Yes
• Imitable? Only if someone else gets in contact with the campaign before I can have my services up and running
• Non-substitutable? Yes, because another website's endorsement would also be valuable but not as valuable as this one.
3. My connection with Leakserv, another startup providing a takedown service for revenge porn, and their offer to advise me as I set up this business
• Valuable? Very much so
• Rare? Yes! I haven't found another site doing this and no one has offered to advise me yet
• Imitable? Probably, yeah. Anyone can connect with this company. 
• Non-substitutable? No, I can have a connection with another person in this industry but probably not someone with this kind of experience.
4. My experience working at/with multiple startups
• Valuable? Yes! I know some of the troubles that startups experience.
• Rare? No...
• Imitable? Yes
• Non-substitutable? No and yes. Working at a corporation could give you a similar experience but it wouldn't teach you the crazy shit that happens during the first stages of a business.
5. My training in search engine optimization
• Valuable? Yes! Every business needs to do this if they want to be at the top of search results.
• Rare? Not as much anymore but I haven't met too many people who know how to do SEO.
• Imitable? Yes. SEO is very imitable. Good SEO is not.
• Non-substitutable? No, not in this case. There is no substitute for SEO if you want to show up high on a search.
6. My ability to recruit and maintain people in an organization as a result of working as the Membership Director for the Entrepreneurship Club at UF
• Valuable? Yes! Finding the right people is valuable in any organization, business, or institution.
• Rare? No...
• Imitable? Yes...
• Non-substitutable? No. There is no substitute for finding good people. Unless you find one good person to find other good people for you, but that's not feasible in the first days of a startup.
7. My experience finding, renting, setting up, and managing an office space as one of my duties as a Field Organizer on the Charlie Crist campaign
• Valuable? Some what. Most businesses need office space.
• Rare? Not at all.
• Imitable? Yup.
• Non-substitutable? Like a realtor? Yeah.
8. The experience I am currently gaining from writing a business plan since it is really helpful in getting investors when you have a business plan
• Valuable? Yes.
• Rare? Not at all.
• Imitable? Yup.
• Non-substitutable? I guess a business model? Or maybe a personal connection with an investor that doesn't require a business plan? So no is the answer.
9. My passion for helping women
• Valuable? Yes.
• Rare? Yeah, actually. There are definitely lots of people who want to help people but there aren't a lot of them who are starting a business based on this idea.
• Imitable? Actually this might be kind of hard to imitate.
• Non-substitutable? Not for this business. You need to care to do this.
10. My connections within the startup community in Gainesville
• Valuable? Yes. There are a lot of startups in Gainesville and the people I know would be psyched to hear that I was starting a business.
• Rare? No.
• Imitable? Yes.
• Non-substitutable? No. Connections elsewhere could suffice.

So which one is my most valuable? Probably my connection with the End Revenge Porn campaign. As for right now, they haven't endorsed any service for survivors of revenge porn so to have that endorsement would really help for marketing and for building trust with our clients. A close second would be my passion for helping women. This is a surprisingly rare passion that is absolutely necessary for my business.

Week 10 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations?

• Funny enough, this entire section is exactly what I'm learning in the Business Plan lab at UF. Like exactly the same material. The reinforcing coincidence of that is what stood out to me the most. Also, this section was presented in a way more complicated manner than I think it needs to be. Just reading this was really overwhelming and I think if it were to be explained in simpler terms it wouldn't have been as bad.

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

• I don't think the author did a great job at explaining credits and debits and how one goes on the left and the other goes on the right. When I took financial accounting this was a really confusing issue to me that I think is still confusing. And I'm doing a business minor so this has to be really confusing for non-business students.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

• Are operating expenses the same as fixed costs? The example financial sheets are confusing me because I thought accounting was suppose to look the same regardless of the class teaching it...
• For an entrepreneur, what is the most important financial tools or formulas an entrepreneur should use? And does pricing factor in to how you label certain costs? I'm confused about that too.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

• I think the author could have done a better job at explaining how the financials of a business all tie in together and give investors a concrete view of how the business is going to make money. Also I don't think capacity was mentioned, which is what needs to be calculated for understanding a business's sale goal. (Unless I missed that?)

Growing My Social Capital

Hi Folks,

This was a very useful assignment because it forced me to actually contact people who could give me really useful insight into my business.

For the commenters, my business idea is to provide a support service to survivors of revenge porn that includes an online website with free information on legal options, a community forum, and the paid service that finds the revenge porn online and tries to take it down or attempts to bury it under other layers of info using search engine optimization.

So for the domain expert (1) I contacted Leakserv B.V., a company that is using highly advanced technology to track down revenge porn and issue DMCA takedown notices to owners of the sites where the revenge porn is listed. They also work with law enforcement to provide evidence of the revenge porn so as to prosecute the initial person who posted it. The person I got in contact with is Bart von Leewen, the co-founder of Leakserv and the owner of an Anti-Privacy company called Onsist. I started emailing him and just recently sent him an invite to connect on Linkedin.

The interaction I had with him was really insightful for my business idea. He told me how there is definitely a need for helping survivors of revenge porn and that people are even getting creative by using photoshop to create revenge porn when no content has ever been sent. The "favor" I asked of him was basically if his tactics to take down the revenge porn differed in the US since he's located in the Netherlands. Also if he knew of any other sites doing what I hope to do. Bart said he was glad to advise me so I will hopefully incorporate him into my currently nonexistent board of advisors. He even said that we could work together in the future!

Okay, so next is the expert on the market (2). For this I contacted endrevengeporn.org and was able to talk to Anisha Vora, Victim Outreach Coordinator for the campaign and victim of revenge porn herself. At first I contacted her via her email on the site but later we talked on the phone. Now I follow her on Twitter.

The "favor" I asked of her was basically if there is demand for my business' services out there and what are the current options for survivors of revenge porn. To the first thing she said hell yes and to the second she said that there are very few options, one of which is getting the photos trademarked and paying a yearly fee of 300-400 dollars to keep the trademark. Which is insane! She mentioned that most victims don't want to go through the legal options, they just want the photos taken down.

Lastly, she mentioned that there are a lot of scams out there targeting victims and that a big issue for my business will be building credibility. She said whenever I have my site going that she could possibly recommend my services on her site! So that's cool. I plan to incorporate her into my network by continuing to talk with her as the business progresses and eventually partnering with her campaign.

God this is long. Lastly is the supplier. So I tried to contact Google 3 different ways and am currently still trying to find who I need to talk to. I tried emailing google's customer service. No response. I tried emailing their press email but they said they weren't going to respond... I messaged a friend who interned at Google and they said to use Linkedin to contact someone on the relevant team. So that's where I'm at. I haven't been able to make contact with anyone yet :(

The favor I want to ask google is how their rule for doing search engine optimization will effect the service I want to provide and what are the existing options for taking down revenge porn. I'm going to keep working on this.

Reflection: THIS POST IS SO LONG IM SORRY. I've never networked like this before and while the first two were relatively easy to contact a real person, Google is super hard to talk to. Everything is forms and "if you're not press we aren't going to respond to you." I will definitely incorporate online networking into my networking skills in the future.

Elevator Pitch No. 3

Hello Loyal Followers!

Today I will make my third attempt at my elevator pitch. I got some really good feedback last time so I've tweaked my pitch to include what I thought would be really useful. Here is the most important and influential feedback I got:

• "Maybe you could go into the cost for someone to hire this company, maybe even a promotion for college students." - Taylor Brenenstuhl

• "I'd like to hear a mention of them [competitors] and why your product stands out from theirs." - Carolina Lafuente

• "This could easily come across as an internet scam if not marketed correctly." - Alexander Gubernikoff

The last comment from Alex was the most suprising. I really hadn't thought that my service could come off as spammy. Now that I think of it, though, if I don't design my website correctly and provide that legitimate human component survivors could think that I'm trying to take advantage of them. Which is certainly not the case.

None of the feedback I got was silly or mean, thankfully. I think the first time I did my pitch I didn't do as good of a job as explaining how crazy it is that there isn't more resources for survivors out in the world and more people responded with shaming comments about the survivors. Hopefully, I have been able to alleviate some of that shame.

Anywho, here's attempt number three! Let me know what I can do better :)

What's your Secret Sauce?

Hello,

So for this exercise, I'll be tackling the topic of human capital. Specifically, my human capital. Thus the title "what's [my] secret sauce?" For the first part of this exercise, I'm going to list 5 ways in which I have human capital that is truly unique. My efforts are recorded below:

What makes me different?

1. I doubt my interactions with people and constantly (for the most part) try to make them better so that the people around me feel loved and welcomed.
2. I strive to listen more than to be heard so that I can understand how the people around me think and feel.
3. Even though I'm afraid to stand up to people and to speak my opinion sometimes, I always try to step in when conversation is becoming uncomfortable and my friends or someone I've just met is being sexually harassed.
4. Even though I don't always follow my own advice, I have a developed, internalized sense of right and wrong that I try to hold myself to as much as possible.
5. I'm an incredibly stubborn person. Which is good for getting jobs done when people tell you that you can't succeed but bad for when I can know I'm wrong but my pride and stubbornness stop me from admitting that.

Part two of this exercise involves me filming my closest friends and asking them what makes me different. The results are below:

Key take away: My boyfriend is cute and thinks I'm smart. He also knows firsthand what it's like to get in an "argument" aka a discussion with me about politics. So a takeaway from that is that I am very determined in getting my point across and when I know I'm right, I'm belligerent about how right I am.

Takeaway: Marvis' comments made me feel really good about myself because I haven't really applied the skills that I've though of to a job or career that I could pursue. Nonprofit work is actually really appealing and it was very interesting to hear her say that.

Takeaway: After the other interviews, Preston made me really realized how nice I come off to people. Most of the time I feel like I come off really awkward for some reason but this was really empowering to hear.

Takeaway: Since Cora is my best friend, this is all stuff I've heard before but hearing it from her is always more impactful than thinking about it by myself. Cora makes me realize that I do want to save the world, in any way I can.

Takeaway: Bre and I need to hang out more. I could only record an audio call we did but at least there are some funny cat photos to pass the time. Almost all of my interviewees have mentioned my passion for politics and social issues and hearing that from Bre really drove that point home because I don't really think of myself as super educated on these issues.

Reflection: There are definitely some big differences on how I see myself and how others see me. I really don't think I am as educated as I claim to be or act like. That might be because I surround myself with smart people who challenge my own intelligence. Either way, these interviews made me feel proud of my smarts and like I somewhat know what I'm talking about when it comes to politics and social issues. These interviews make me feel like my lack of self-confidence due to low self-esteem is unfounded. Which is a really nice feeling.

Most of my friends thought of me as a people's person who was really friendly and can talk to anyone. That's so surprising because I always feel like my interactions don't come off as I want them to. So do I think my interviewees are right? Yeah, I do. I also think that the discrepancy in how they view me and how I view myself comes from my lack of self-confidence which I've been trying to work on.

If I were to go back and change anything from the first part of that post, it would be the unconfident, self-deprecating language that preceded my statements. The "trying" rather than doing. I do listen to people more than I talk. I do make people feel welcomed and heard. Damn. This is a good assignment. This has made me feel really good.

Week 9 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations?

• The biggest surprise I had from the reading definitely came from the consumer characteristics charts that represented segmentation. I've heard segmentation talked about a lot in business classes but I've never seen it graphically laid out by adopter stage as it is in the book. Since I'm writing a business plan right now, this is something that I can use in my plan.

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

• One part that was confusing was the identifying the difference between marketing objectives and goals in designing the marketing plan. I wish the text had gone further in describing the difference.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

• Why exactly do customers not buy goods that don't have prices on them? 
• Mainly because I'm curious and also because I feel like understanding the psychology behind why pricing is necessary would help better price goods.
• Are there ways to make doing primary market research more affordable? And how much primary research does an entrepreneur really need? 
• I've heard a lot of entrepreneurs say that you just need to get out and sell your product or service if you want to make it work. I'm curious about how people who have degrees in entrepreneurship would react to this lack of market planning in the production of a product or service.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

• There was nothing I really disagreed with in this chapter but I did have an addition to a particular section. In the factors affecting the value of a marketing system, the issue of data relevancy is mentioned but I don't think the book goes in depth enough to describe the enormity of the evolving issue in data collection whereby huge amounts of data are being produced each year and it is becoming harder and harder to sift through the crap to find the value. This issue is relevant to entrepreneurs who have very little money to spend on marketing and may find themselves spending money for useless information if they aren't careful.

Idea Napkin No. 2

Hiya,

So here's my second attempt at the idea napkin. I didn't receive a lot of negative feedback or constructive criticism from the first attempt so my feedback points won't be super interesting but take a look! Please comment with what you think I can do better!

So as for the paragraph on whether or not I think some areas of my idea are out of wack with others, I would say that my idea falls in line pretty well with the other areas of the idea napkin. I have a pretty good understanding of who my customers are, what skills I need to make this successful, and who I am. I can definitly see that my technological skills are not up to the task of this business but my experience in business and leading people in politics could make up for this. Most business owners don't know how to do all of the aspects of their business anyways.

Feedback points:

1. A lot people really like my idea and say that I should pursue it
2. Only one person has brought up any mention of competitors (and that person sent me an awesome article that actually helped define my competition and how I can compete with them)
3. No one seems to be aware that online reputation management sites already exist but that's okay since I'm targeting a unique market segment
4. People seem to think that this idea is both beneficial and profitable
5. My idea napkin seemed to go over swell! I think the visual representation really helped people understand my idea and myself.

This feedback led me to create an idea napkin that looked similar to my first one. The difference is that I took a more objective view of the competencies I have and found that I had a lot of the skills necessary to run a business. Technology acumen is still where I am lacking.