30A - Final Reflection

1. After reading through all my posts, I truly re-experienced the highs and the lows of this course. I rewatched my elevator pitches and remember how I dreaded making them. I also remembered how I hated writing my venture concepts. To be honest, there really were not many highs in this whole blogging process.
2. I would say the elevator pitches stick out the most because it is something that we will all have to do at some point in our lives. In another class I was told everyone ends up in sales some way or another even without realizing. Elevator pitches would be especially useful for those case where you really need to sell anything, whether it be a product or yourself when you're applying to jobs. I really do not think I will remember any of these posts past the next year. This really is not as magical of a course as this post expects it to be. I really did not have any joy in any of these posts due to the unnecessary repetition. I am most proud about actually completing this course because it was a struggle to get through it.
3. I do not see myself anywhere closer to being an entrepreneur following this course. I never saw myself as an entrepreneur to begin with and never planned on being one. I did the assignments for the sake of the class but I do not actually plan on making the concepts proposed in this class a reality. I might have developed a slightly entrepreneurial mindset, if anything. I think because this was never my destined career choice to begin with I never was able to fully grasp and accept the mindset. 
4. Hopefully for students coming in the system might change. There is a lot of unnecessary repetition of assignments, which really benefit no one. I would say to those students always to do your cupcakes on a Sunday since the actual time is on noon on Mondays and can be really easy to miss. I would say do your assignments as early as possible in order for them not to cram on Friday. I cannot guarantee you will foster the mindset of an entrepreneur but for the sake of this course the best thing to do is literally pretend you want to be an entrepreneur so you are much more invested in your product. I found it was hard to write about my product because I was not that passionate about it. Create something you are very passionate about and the course will be much more easier. 

29A - Venture Concept 2

1.

Muslu Soccer Academy

Opportunity:

We started off this class by trying to identify unmet needs. One of the unmet needs I found was a need for a different system of youth soccer development and system. I found that the United States is severely behind the rest of the world when it comes to soccer development. This is one of the biggest nations in the world and also has people from all over the world living in it. Why is it that we cannot even compete against some of the smallest countries in the world like Morocco or Panama? I am looking to create an academy that is done in a European style and also offers scouting opportunities to send these kids to Europe at an earlier age rather than going in to college to play soccer. The need is for people who want to see their nation succeed in the world's biggest sport and to see that the youth get the proper training to bring them there. The nature of this need comes from the current youth development system and the fact that there is intercollegiate soccer, which hinders the development or players who can become professionals at age 16. The forces that are causing this opportunity to come in to fruition are that more and more American players are leaving the United States to join the youth clubs in Europe and are achieving success. Geographically, this market is for literally for anyone who want to come to Miami to develop there skills. Miami was chosen as a destination because of its international diversity and already established soccer culture. Demographically, this market serves males 8 to 18. By 13 you can have an idea if one has talent or not and by 18 if they are not a professional already they should look elsewhere. This is a huge opportunity that can change the sporting landscape of this nation. My window of opportunity is until 2024. That is when the United States are hosting the World Cup and it is a chance for hopefully my players and the American population to succeed and show that we can be a soccer power as well.

Innovation:

I would argue that my service is quite innovative. I am a person who has played for DC United's academy at a younger age and later on played for Besiktas' academy in Istanbul. I have a feeling for both the European style of soccer development and scouting as well as the American style. I do not think many people in the world have this experience. There are many Europeans who have brought their system here and failed just like the current American system. I am one of the first to have both experiences and as a result I can combine the two to hopefully get the best result. On top of the actual academy I am providing scouting opportunities for European clubs to see this kids due to my network. Because it is a startup, I cannot charge to high right off the bat. I would charge $40 a session to start of with. That will be one resource of income. Should I succeed in sending a kid overseas to a European team then I would charge 4% of the contract. I am not an agent but at the end of the day I did provide them with the scouts and awareness so I should get some money from their first contract. I kept it at 2% because at the end of the day I succeed if they succeed and if they succeed America succeeds.

Venture Concept:

My innovation would serve my opportunity very well. Who is good at soccer? European countries. Who is bad at soccer? The Unites States of America. European countries succeed in soccer because of their strong youth academies. They also have players becoming professionals at the age of 16-17. In the states people do not typically becomes professionals until they are 22-23 unless they move abroad. I will provide a European based system suited for Americans that will improve and develop their soccer skills at a much accelerated pace. I will also provide scouting opportunities so Americans can become professionals at a much younger age. This way Americans will have a chance to play and develop against the best except 5 years earlier than they normally would. So by the time they would have graduated college they will already be close to their peak and have much more experience. I bring a huge network of European and American coaches who are credible and will attract many clients. It is also not at an expensive rate, which widens the audience significantly. Soccer is the biggest sport in the world and it is time the most powerful nation in the world to compete with the rest of the world.

Three Minor Elements:

1. My unfair advantage would be my diverse expertise in the area. I played in both systems at high levels and as a result know what works and what does not. I can find the perfect combination to deliver a great product.
2. My next venture would hopefully to become an actual youth club. Currently it is an academy only. Once I have enough clients and talent I would like to turn it in to an actual competitive youth soccer club.
3. In 5 years I hope to see some of my players wearing the red, white, and blue for the 2024 World Cup. That would be a huge crowning achievement for my business. Hopefully around this time the world would have started taking notice of my development skills and maybe a professional team and national team would want to take me on in some sort of position.

2. Throughout this process I actually did not receive any negative or critical feedback on my venture concept. Only one student posted on my venture concept post and he only wrote about how he agreed with me on certain aspects. In terms of my whats next post, I received two comments which also were just agreeing with my ideas. I really did not have to change anything as a result.

3. I know this assignment wanted me to change something in my venture concept, but there really was no reason to. I did not receive any negative feedback on my ideas and so far have only heard positives. As a result, I did not actually learn anything from my feedback. Why should I change something that apparently has no problems? The only things I did change were some logistics with my concept. I now decided to bring the age down to 8, since that is the age most kids start youth sports. I also decided to take  4% of the youth players contract rather than 2 since it would allow me to become more profitable.

                         

28A - Your Exit Strategy

1. I intend to continue developing and staying with my product until retirement. The only way I would leave it would be if I were offered a professional head coaching position with an actual soccer team. I would never intend to sell it unless I had to and was still guaranteed a position within the company. I would not keep it in the family either and I would just pass it down to whoever is next best qualified to run the job.
2. I chose this exit strategy due to my passion for the company. I would never want to leave it and even if I did I would want to be involved. I want to help others become successful and develop their skills. I said I would only leave if offered a head coaching job with a professional team because then I would be able to continue my passion but on an even more professional level, which indirectly would raise the awareness of my previous service as well.
3. Since my exit strategy is quite vague as it is dependent on me getting offered a job, I would say that the exit strategy really did not influence any part of my decisions during this process. It is not a set in stone exit strategy and relies on outside factors, which is why I cannot really plan for it.

27A - Reading Reflection 3

1. I read How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams for this assignment. I would say the general theme of the book is how win big after failing your goals. The book is a memoir of the author and how he failed multiple times, but in the end would go on to win big. Through anecdotes Adams shares his story on how he stayed motivated and happy despite having a large number of failures during his life.
2. I believe this book connects with our class and entrepreneurship especially this week. This week one of the themes was celebrating failure. Entrepreneurs are also known to not always succeed the first time with their products. Entrepreneurs have to consistent redo and revise their products due to failures they experience. This is why I think this book connects great with the class and entrepreneurship in general.
3. If I were to design an exercise for the class based off the book I read, it would definitely have something to do with failure. The exercise would a simple trial and error exercise. I would create a competition where students would need to sell me on an idea. If I am sold, they win; if not, they have to find out what failed and try to sell me on their idea again.
4. I would say the biggest 'aha' moment I had while reading this book was that goals typically have inherent flaws. Instead you should build a system rather than focusing on achieving your goals. This was interesting to me as I was typically taught that everything starts with a goal and is goal-driven in life.

26A - Celebrating Failure

1. The time I felt like I failed this pass semester was when I was not able nearly go to the gym as much as I liked. I had made it my new years resolution to make an effort to go to the gym more and have a healthier lifestyle, but I really have not satisfied that resolution at all. I have work and class, which keeps me busy until the evening and by that point I just want to go home and do either homework or be lazy.
2. The main thing I learned from this experience is that I need to be more disciplined with my schedule. It is just an extra hour of my time, which I definitely can spare. I learned that I need to stick to my promises and not just say empty words. I also learned that I really need to find the motivation to actually get to me the gym.
3. I would say that I am a guy who really does not take failure well. I have a tendency to be hard on myself and consistently focus on why I failed rather than coming up with solutions and staying positive. I also happen to be someone who learns best from failure as a result. Because I tend to think about and analyze my failure so a longer period of time, I usually end up changing what I failed in and never fail again in the same thing. This class really is not as inspirational as the post instructions suggest. It did not really teach me anything about failure. I just wrote posts.

25A - What's Next?

Existing Market

What is next for my product in the existing market is to expand and evaluate. The main way I will know my product is a success is not  by mere financial numbers but by performance and success of the athletes themselves. After interviewing my three people, I found that they believe I should possibly start a housing option for my academy, which I never planned on doing before.

In terms of growing my existing market, I believe that including a housing option may really help in the growth. People have made suggestions about housing options as comments on my blog before even though I never considered it at the time. However, after hearing about it from my interviews as well I believe I should include this in my future. This would grow my existing market by being a means of housing for locals who have the talent but maybe do not have the best home life.

New Market

A new market I would target would be a sports apparel business. I would target this market as I could use a lot of brand merchandise and soccer equipment to not only sell but use during practices. I have very minimal competition on my concept, which is already an attraction to the sports apparel business. I also can possibly become a power soccer school similar to IMG Academy with football and Montverde with basketball. Sports apparel brand supply these schools an sponsor them and a result lead to better awareness. I can supply brands like Nike and Adidas with the next star for their shoe deal, which will definitely create value for them.

I learned quite a bit about this new market. Nothing really surprised me about this new market. Most of my assumptions were correct, which is why I was not really surprised at all. I would not say this market is any less than my existing market as they are two completely different markets with two functions.

24A - Venture Concept 1

Muslu Soccer Academy

Opportunity:

We started off this class by trying to identify unmet needs. One of the unmet needs I found was a need for a different system of youth soccer development and system. I found that the United States is severely behind the rest of the world when it comes to soccer development. This is one of the biggest nations in the world and also has people from all over the world living in it. Why is it that we cannot even compete against some of the smallest countries in the world like Morocco or Panama? I am looking to create an academy that is done in a European style and also offers scouting opportunities to send these kids to Europe at an earlier age rather than going in to college to play soccer. The need is for people who want to see their nation succeed in the world's biggest sport and to see that the youth get the proper training to bring them there. The nature of this need comes from the current youth development system and the fact that there is intercollegiate soccer, which hinders the development or players who can become professionals at age 16. The forces that are causing this opportunity to come in to fruition are that more and more American players are leaving the United States to join the youth clubs in Europe and are achieving success. Geographically, this market is for literally for anyone who want to come to Miami to develop there skills. Miami was chosen as a destination because of its international diversity and already established soccer culture. Demographically, this market serves males 13 to 18. By 13 you can have an idea if one has talent or not and by 18 if they are not a professional already they should look elsewhere. This is a huge opportunity that can change the sporting landscape of this nation. My window of opportunity is until 2024. That is when the United States are hosting the World Cup and it is a chance for hopefully my players and the American population to succeed and show that we can be a soccer power as well.

Innovation:

I would argue that my service is quite innovative. I am a person who has played for DC United's academy at a younger age and later on played for Besiktas' academy in Istanbul. I have a feeling for both the European style of soccer development and scouting as well as the American style. I do not think many people in the world have this experience. There are many Europeans who have brought their system here and failed just like the current American system. I am one of the first to have both experiences and as a result I can combine the two to hopefully get the best result. On top of the actual academy I am providing scouting opportunities for European clubs to see this kids due to my network. Because it is a startup, I cannot charge to high right off the bat. I would charge $40 a session to start of with. That will be one resource of income. Should I succeed in sending a kid overseas to a European team then I would charge 2% of the contract. I am not an agent but at the end of the day I did provide them with the scouts and awareness so I should get some money from their first contract. I kept it at 2% because at the end of the day I succeed if they succeed and if they succeed America succeeds.

Venture Concept:

My innovation would serve my opportunity very well. Who is good at soccer? European countries. Who is bad at soccer? The Unites States of America. European countries succeed in soccer because of their strong youth academies. They also have players becoming professionals at the age of 16-17. In the states people do not typically becomes professionals until they are 22-23 unless they move abroad. I will provide a European based system suited for Americans that will improve and develop their soccer skills at a much accelerated pace. I will also provide scouting opportunities so Americans can become professionals at a much younger age. This way Americans will have a chance to play and develop against the best except 5 years earlier than they normally would. So by the time they would have graduated college they will already be close to their peak and have much more experience. I bring a huge network of European and American coaches who are credible and will attract many clients. It is also not at an expensive rate, which widens the audience significantly. Soccer is the biggest sport in the world and it is time the most powerful nation in the world to compete with the rest of the world.

Three Minor Elements:

1. My unfair advantage would be my diverse expertise in the area. I played in both systems at high levels and as a result know what works and what does not. I can find the perfect combination to deliver a great product.
2. My next venture would hopefully to become an actual youth club. Currently it is an academy only. Once I have enough clients and talent I would like to turn it in to an actual competitive youth soccer club.
3. In 5 years I hope to see some of my players wearing the red, white, and blue for the 2024 World Cup. That would be a huge crowning achievement for my business. Hopefully around this time the world would have started taking notice of my development skills and maybe a professional team and national team would want to take me on in some sort of position.

23A - Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

1. Network
• Valuable: For a product like mine, a network is what draws in the prospects. Getting future soccer prospects as clients leads to more profit. As a result, a network is arguably the most valuable thing to this service.
• Rare: For my service, having the right network is rare. Not everyone can coach, scout, or develop any prospect.
• Inimitable: It is not if people actually try to expand their network. In this small industry it can be hard.
• Non-substitutable: This network can only be substitutable by other qualified people. However, this network is especially necessary for my service, which is why I cannot substitute them.
2. My Diverse Expertise
• Valuable: I would say so, as I have experienced both sides of a similar product, and as a result have the knowledge to combine each strength from both programs.
• Rare: It is rare to have someone who has played at high levels for both a European soccer system and American soccer system.
• Inimitable: Unless you have the talent or if your family moves abroad then this would be inimitable.
• Non-substitutable: My diverse experience is the driving concept for my service and as a result it is non-substitutable.
3. Public Speaking
• Valuable: It is very valuable as you will need to sell the concept to clients and also actively manage staff.
• Rare: I would not say it is too rare and it depends on the person.
• Inimitable: Many people are good public speakers or can learn to be good public speakers.
• Non-substitutable: It is non-substitutable as everything in service is very verbally and vocally driven.
4. Investors
• Valuable: They are very valuable as they provide strong external support.
• Rare: Investors can be rare especially for startups.
• Inimitable: They are not inimitable as you can look for financial support elsewhere.
• Non-substitutable: It is substitutable as they only provide financial support.
5. Marketing
• Valuable: It is very valuable as it will get the product's name out there.
• Rare: No, marketing is not rare.
• Inimitable: In a technology driven age, marketing is very easy to imitate.
• Non-substitutable: There is no substitution for marketing and it is necessary.
6. Human Capital
• Valuable: A strong human capital is valuable for any sort of business. A company like mine needs devoted workers with strong personalities.
• Rare: It is not rare.
• Inimitable: It is easy to imitate.
• Non-substitutable: It is non-substitutable.
7. Social Capital
• Valuable: It is very valuable as I need strong connections throughout the city of my business. This would help spread my product through word-of-mouth.
• Rare: It is rare to have a strong social capital in startup businesses.
• Inimitable: It is easy to imitate.
• Non-substitutable: It is non-substitutable as my product can keep growing with a strong social capital.
8. Financial Capital
• Valuable: This is very valuable as I would need the right amount of financial assets for my product to grow and succeed.
• Rare: It is rare for startups to have a strong financial capital to begin with.
• Inimitable: It would be hard to consistently imitate.
• Non-substitutable: It is absolutely non-substitutable as financial assets are what will drive this product to reaching new heights.
9. Myself
• Valuable: I am very valuable for this product as it is my vision and mission for this service to succeed. I provide many different capabilities and all the resources listed above, which is why I am valuable.
• Rare: It is rare for other companies to have me since I am with this company.
• Inimitable: There are no other Arman Muslu's in the world that act like me or look like me so it is inimitable.
• Non-substitutable: I am the boss and owner so I am non-substitutable.
10. Market Share
• Valuable: Minimal competition so I would have a large share of the market.
• Rare: It is rare to own a large chunk of the market.
• Inimitable: It is inimitable.
• Non-substitutable: If I am still making a large amount of money and not consistently losing clients to upcoming competition then it can be non-substitutable; otherwise it cannot.

After conducting my VRIN analysis, I found that my network is my strongest resource. It is tremendously valuable for the success and growth of my product. It is also very rare to have a network like mine in the United States for this product. The fact that no one can really imitate it and the fact that it is a huge necessity for the success of my product show that my network is my strongest resource.

21A - Reading Reflection 2

The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, Guy Kawasaki

1. This book's theme is quite literal with its title. It is a book designed to give strategies on one's social media. It guides you with strategies on how to attract more followers, build your foundation, amass digital assets, optimize your profile, and effectively integrate social media and blogging. There are over 100 different tips that can help the reader effectively improve his or her social media strategy.
2. Social media definitely connects with what we are learning in this class. Nowadays social media is part of a products key marketing strategy. Since most people in the world are on social media right now, it is a very effective way to extend your reach and really get your name out there. You almost cannot probably market or advertise a product nowadays without needing to have some sort of presence on social media.
3. One of the strategies in the book was that you treat social media like its a business. One of exercises I would design based off this would be some sort of competition involving followers. Create a page from scratch; you are allowed to follow and friend 10 different people in order to have a base. After that you cannot add anymore people; you just need to post some sort of content in the hope that those 10 people will want to spread your page. By the end of the week, whoever has the most followers will win some sort of prize. If you treat it like a business and not like a hobby you will probably win the competition.
4. One of the aha moments I had while reading this book was that you have to create content about what the fans want and not what you necessarily want. It was a surprise for me because I always thought you would be most successful at doing what you enjoy. If you do something solely for the fans then your content might become weaker because you would be less passionate about it. I do not know if I necessarily agree with this strategy.

22A - Elevator Pitch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=720n8cGaB7E

I did not change my elevator pitch at all for a couple reasons. Most of the feedback I received was generally positive and I felt as if I did not need to change anything. For those few comments that did suggest a change, I disagreed with them. One comment told me to add in housing options to my elevator pitch. Housing, however, was never part of my product and thus I did not feel like I needed to add that. Some people thought it still should have been a little bit longer. I explained though in my previous post that the short length of the pitch was by design. I had no intention of making it longer. I am quite satisfied with the way my pitch turned out.

20A - Growing Your Capital

1. Domain Expert: Hakan Buruk
• Hakan Buruk is my former soccer coach from the Galatasary Academy in Istanbul, Turkey. Coach Buruk has been coaching soccer for the past 15 years and was a professional soccer player before that. He has all the money he needs, but has a passion for developing the youth in to the next soccer stars for Turkey. He would be my head trainer and will have most control over how the system actually is. I had facetimed him earlier this week to ask him about his opinion on this imaginary project and he thought it was quite interesting. He totally see the market and would honestly consider a new opportunity like this had it been real. He has a whole bunch of experience in in the field of player development and would contribute greatly. In addition, he would add to the product with his large network of former players and trainers who can help market and help these young players.
2. Market Expert: Necati Guler
• Necati Guler is the head of Turkish National Basketball Team's youth academies and teams. Although it is a different sport the process Mr. Guler does with scouting youth players and getting the right means of development for them is quite similar to soccer. He would be beneficial in scouting and researching what youth players would need this service. Necati Guler actually was the one who organized my internship at the Turkish Basketball Federation. He is also my uncle's former high school teammate and very close friend. He has a huge network of scouts under his belt and would contribute in research greatly. We discussed this all over WhatsApp.
3. Important Supplier: Zeki Dogan
• Zeki Dogan is the CEO of Nike based in Istanbul, Turkey. Nike is a huge sports supplier and would be able to help me tremendously with soccer equipment and gear. Zeki is my father's good friend and had provided internships for cousins a few years ago. He has a very entrepreneur style view on business and does not hesitate to try something new. I know he would be willing to help me out a little bit as long as the deal is fair. I talked with him over the phone when he was at our house the other day. 
4. Reflection
• This experience would help me a little bit in the future as if I ever do have a future business I will need to create a team. I would do so in a similar approach as this exercise and see what each expert can bring to the table. I would not say that this really was not different to previous networking experiences I have had. One reason is because I never really created a product and never needed to do something like this in my life.

19A - Idea Napkin 2

1. I am currently a senior majoring in Sport Management at the University of Florida. Some of my skills include being easy to work with, being open-minded, the ability to communicate well with others, as well as being able to manage time well. Some past experiences I have include working as an equipment manager for the lacrosse team, as well as working in the marketing and media department of the Turkish Basketball Federation and FIBA, the world governing body of all basketball. I have always wanted to be involved with scouting talent and developing them in soccer or basketball. I see a bigger need for development and scouting talent in soccer more in the United States, however. My concept is an academy where American youth can learn to develop their soccer skills in a European style based system. I would play a huge role in it as I would have to really market it well and I would have to scout all over the nation to see who would play for the academy. My role would also be developing them to a point where they garner European interest at a much younger age. While I do not have much coaching experience, it would be my responsibility to find and hire those that can coach.
2. I am offering a European style based training academy for soccer in the United States. It will be an academy that hopes to accelerate the development of youth here as well as connect them with European clubs at an earlier age. This would not only help the athletes but also the nation as we would become a bigger soccer power as a result.
3. I am offering this to aspiring soccer players of both genders between the ages of 8-21. These youth should have a strong drive to want to become an elite soccer player for their nation and be able to be successful abroad. 
4. Consumers will care as I am offering something very unique that can not give a chance for the youth to develop but also develop soccer in our nation as a whole. Through my connections, I would be able to higher credible trainers as well as connect them to clubs in Europe to get a head start.
5. I would be set apart with the fact I have experienced both systems and as a result can identify the strengths and weaknesses in both to come up with the perfect combination. I also believe that my passion for game and developing talent is quite explicit and should entice adults to send their kids to my academy.
6. I believe that all these elements fit together well and will lead to me delivering a successful product. I have the tools to really help develop the youth soccer here, which can be attractive to the demographic I have selected. You cannot really do this job if you do not have the passion from the beginning. The weakest part of my business concept might be credibility with my name. That is why I need to make sure I can hire the right credible trainers or credible spokespersons to help start up my concept.

Reflection:

I had received only one comment as feedback and it was one that I really did not agree with. As a result, I did not change my idea napkin. The feedback I received was that I should work within the system to improve it rather than bring a completely new system. That goes against my concept completely, however. The point of my service is that it is a completely different system to the current one because the current one has not been working at all. That was the only point that person made and I do not have takeaways from it.

18A - Creating a Customer Avatar

This is my customer avatar Jose. Jose is a huge soccer fan, who lives in Miami. He is 15 and currently plays for the newly developed Inter Miami CF's academy team but is said by many scouts that he has the potential to go abroad. Jose's dream is to be like Cristiano Ronaldo and play for Real Madrid one day. He loves him so much he even styles his hair like him.

Jose wants to be the best soccer player he can be, but his parents want him to get an education. They want him to get a scholarship and attend the University of Virginia, which has one of the best college soccer programs and is known as a great school. Jose believes he is already better than some of these college players however. His life has always been soccer and the only things he watches and plays is soccer. He believes he can already be a pro at this age; he just needs the right connections and proper European training. This is why he is my prototypical customer.

The only real common things I have with Jose is that we are both huge fans of soccer and that I used to also play for a soccer academy except it was DC United when I was 11. I was never good enough to be pro, however, let alone play in college. I do not think it is a coincidence we both love soccer. He is a big time player and I want to be involved in his development. We are also both foreign from countries where soccer is the main sport. I believe Jose is my ideal prototypical customer.

17A - Elevator Pitch 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=720n8cGaB7E&feature=youtu.be

In my second elevator pitch I chose to listen to some feedback I was given from my first one. I had received three comments and all of them had said I had started out great but cut it a bit short. They also said I did not reveal a lot of information that would have been needed. Some people suggested that I include a bit too much information like my target audience and overnight options. In my opinion 90 seconds is honestly long for an elevator pitch. The pitch should be short and reveal just enough that it is going to make your audience ask questions. If I had revealed too much then no one would have been asking my anything about the audience and age groups. My first one was short and got three people to ask these questions showing it was interesting enough for them to want to learn more.

I did extend this pitch a little bit longer than the last one but not by too much. I included information about costs, which in my opinion are a bit cheap for the product but my segment believed that was a good price, and I included one of my services, which is introducing some of these young players to agents around the world.

15A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

1. The three people I chose to interview were three of my fraternity brothers. One is not interested in sports at all; one is is a big sports fan, but not a huge soccer fan, and the last one is just as big of a soccer fan as I am. All three are seniors.
2. All three of these students have different opinions on the youth soccer development in the United States. For the person who was not a fan of any sports, he did not really care for soccer development at all. For him, alternatives were other sports like college football, which is the closest thing to sports he follows. He did not care about prices, he just simply did not have an interest at all. The person who likes sports but not soccer listed a bunch of different sports he does follow as alternatives. He said the marketing of these other sports is probably a reason why he follows them more as soccer is not marketed that heavily here. He does believe that is a market for development of youth players but because of so many different sports already available. My brother who is a huge soccer fan sees huge potential for this idea. He said if America continues bringing in stars than that would attract consumers then the alternatives would lessen and more people would support the idea of better youth soccer development.
3. All of my interviewees said they would prefer handling purchases online. They state that the convenience of not leaving your home trumps having to go to the place and buy. All of them also preferred paying by card rather than cash because they simply always have their cards on them but never have cash.
4. For my interviewees, they thought that if they ended up using the product for a decent amount of time then they would feel right about the about the purchase. They said that even if they did not necessarily love the product if they actually put it to use then they would still feel right about the purchase. On the contrary if they did not use the product at all then they feel it is a waste of money.
5. I would say that this segment generally leans toward marketing as a main way for them to get attracted to the product. They all believe that if they were more aware of soccer in the United States then my prospective product would probably succeed more. 

14A - Halfway Reflection

1.  In this class one of the most important things is being time organized and keeping up with deadlines. On Thursdays I do not have any in person classes so I just use that day to do my work for this class. By keeping this routine I rarely ever miss deadlines and am doing fine in the class.
2. Honestly there have been so many times where I just did not want to do a post. It is only 3 points so I had a lot of points where I did not want to write at all. But, I am grade driven and thus ended up always completing them. I would not say this class helped me gain a tenacious attitude at all. It has not really helped me personally aside from time management.
3. Three Tips for next student:
1. Always keep track of deadlines.
2. Never give up!
3. These are not hard just start them early.

13A - Reading Reflection

One of the entrepreneurs I chose to focus on from my readings Steve Jobs. One of the things that surprised me about Steve Jobs the most was how quickly he was able to rise and make his company profitable. What I most admired about Steve Jobs was his opportunistic nature. He always seemed to capitalize on most opportunities he saw in the market, such as the modern computer, smart phone, and iTunes. One thing I least admired about Steve Jobs was probably his arrogance. He was very reluctant to listen to his employees and would often shut them down. That is not a very good characteristic of a leader in my opinion. Steve has gone through many adversities through his career. One way he faced adversity was when he had to drop out of college and had a couple rough years picking himself up and really making it. He rebounded, however, and founded the legendary company today.

I would say Steve Jobs' biggest competency would be his opportunistic nature. Whenever he was given the chance to succeed he took the opportunity and ran away with it. One example could be Apple's first Super Bowl commercial. Many thought it was a bad commercial and Apple would lose money but Steve Jobs insisted and took the opportunity, which paved way for more successful Super Bowl commercials.

I would say the most confusing thing about this reading was keeping track of Apple's achievements and Steve Jobs'. He was in and out of the company for a while despite finding it, which was a little confusing.

One thing I would ask Steve Jobs is what his regular day routine was. I would want to know how he kept a balanced life and what out of work experiences helped shaped his life.

I think Steve Jobs thought of hard work with the old school mindset of put this many hours in to it if you want to be successful. I do not necessarily believe that. I believe living a balanced and happy lifestyle is more important and will help your hard work be better.

11A - Idea Napkin No. 1

1. I am currently a senior majoring in Sport Management at the University of Florida. Some of my skills include being easy to work with, being open-minded, the ability to communicate well with others, as well as being able to manage time well. Some past experiences I have include working as an equipment manager for the lacrosse team, as well as working in the marketing and media department of the Turkish Basketball Federation and FIBA, the world governing body of all basketball. I have always wanted to be involved with scouting talent and developing them in soccer or basketball. I see a bigger need for development and scouting talent in soccer more in the United States, however. My concept is an academy where American youth can learn to develop their soccer skills in a European style based system. I would play a huge role in it as I would have to really market it well and I would have to scout all over the nation to see who would play for the academy. My role would also be developing them to a point where they garner European interest at a much younger age. While I do not have much coaching experience, it would be my responsibility to find and hire those that can coach.
2. I am offering a European style based training academy for soccer in the United States. It will be an academy that hopes to accelerate the development of youth here as well as connect them with European clubs at an earlier age. This would not only help the athletes but also the nation as we would become a bigger soccer power as a result.
3. I am offering this to aspiring soccer players of both genders between the ages of 8-21. These youth should have a strong drive to want to become an elite soccer player for their nation and be able to be successful abroad. 
4. Consumers will care as I am offering something very unique that can not give a chance for the youth to develop but also develop soccer in our nation as a whole. Through my connections, I would be able to higher credible trainers as well as connect them to clubs in Europe to get a head start.
5. I would be set apart with the fact I have experienced both systems and as a result can identify the strengths and weaknesses in both to come up with the perfect combination. I also believe that my passion for game and developing talent is quite explicit and should entice adults to send their kids to my academy.
6. I believe that all these elements fit together well and will lead to me delivering a successful product. I have the tools to really help develop the youth soccer here, which can be attractive to the demographic I have selected. You cannot really do this job if you do not have the passion from the beginning. The weakest part of my business concept might be credibility with my name. That is why I need to make sure I can hire the right credible trainers or credible spokespersons to help start up my concept.

10A - Elevator Pitch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmbnB-ytAFY&feature=youtu.be

Watch my video in the link above for the Arman Soccer Academy elevator pitch!

9A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Who: In my interviews I found that the main people who would benefit from the need of a new soccer system in the United States are players first and foremost as well as the MLS teams. In the long-run the hope is that it would benefit soccer in the United States as a whole and create a larger fan base due to better developed players. of some of the interviews I conducted I found that the average U.S. sports fan does not really care for a change. Similar to my interviewees in my last post, two of my class mates I interviewed this week believe college sports are integral for tradition and do not really need to be changed. Since they did not really care for soccer in the first place, they did not really care for a change either and would thus fall outside of the boundary. Overall all of my interviewees admitted that even if it is not a total necessity, it really does not create any harm and if anything does benefit.

What: I found through my interviews that soccer as a whole is not big enough in the states for people to care whether there is a change or not. No one said my idea was a bad one; they just did not care for it. It seems this need is not big enough to overtake the tradition of college sports as that, in a way, is a need and something to look forward to for a lot of U.S. college students.

Why: The difference between the outside and inside has simply to do with the fact that the inside are soccer fans and players, while the outside does not care for soccer. Simply enough soccer just has not become that big here and people do not know enough about European soccer to actually realize there is a flaw in the system.

	Inside the Boundary	Outside the Boundary
Who	Aspiring soccer players, soccer fans, the MLS as a whole	College sport traditionalists, non-soccer fans, uninformed soccer fans
What	A better soccer system in the United States for accelerated development	It is not worth breaking the college sport tradition and draft tradition. Soccer is not big enough for a change.
Why	It exists because our nation is lightyears behind other powers despite our resources due to the fact that college athletics prevents them from becoming professionals at a much earlier age and hinders their development. It can also provide an economic opportunity.	We do not really care for soccer and do not need to break tradition. It is fine the way it is. American Football is real football.