The Twenty Percent Make up the Eighty Percent

Who do they think their target customers are? 

I have three potential customer groups that we pursue to put our trip planning widget on their site or in a blog

CARE – Hospitals, hospice, nursing home, surgery centers, rehab centers, infertility clinics, prisons

EVENTS – Events (sporting, entertainment, charity, community, celebrity, family), event ticketing and registration companies

TOOLS – Media companies that have online listing services (Yelp, Foursquare, Yellow Pages), Sales Force Automation companies and Contact/Calendar providers (Google, Apple, etc.)

Where do they find their customers? 
I first look at the top 10 in each sector, then generally go after the 2, 3 or 4 (the #1 is generally too arrogant to think they need anything new).
What are their customer's demographics? 
Our B2B clients have at least 100,000 people that they reach each month, of which at least 10% of those need to travel to see them or attend their events.  Preferably we are getting what we call “enterprise” clients that reach thousands of target customers for us.
Customer side

• We put our widget on a hospital site to reach the friends and families of patients that need to come in from out of town.
• We put our widget into a software platform sold by FrontRunner to funeral homes, so that the friends and families of the deceased who come from out of town can find a hotel close by
• We are just contracting with UNATION (here in Tampa) to put our widget on every event on their site, so people attending can book a hotel room
• Any company that has people coming in to visit them (to interview for jobs, to try to sell to them, employees coming from another office/plant)

What kinds of media do their customers consume? 
Our customers are everywhere and consume a wide range of types of media (video, audio, images, narrative) on a wide range of channels.   We rely primarily on reaching them through LInkedIN versus social media.  But by showing our product on various social media channels, we can demonstrate to potential clients how we can help them.
What are their customers' problems? 
B2C – The client provides inefficient tools to the consumer http://saltlakecomiccon.com/hotel-information/  when with our system, the consumer would see this  http://hotelsbyevents.com/events/comicconslcfanxperience.html
How big, on a scale of 1-10, is this problem in their customers' lives? 
It generally only impacts 10% of a business or event’s customers, so it is low on their pain scale 
What are some of the bigger problems their customers are dealing with? 
The lack of resources to get our product implemented.  Our product literally only takes a few hours, but with some of our clients it has been a month since they signed our agreement.
Do their customers have a budget allocated to fix this problem?
No, but with our product, they don’t need a budget.  We actually share our revenues with our clients (10% with our B2B clients and another 10% for our Enterprise clients that power other businesses with their technology).  We also contribute 10% of our revenues to their charity of choice once per year.

3) Reflect. Does the entrepreneur adequately understand their customers' problems? Where are the differences? Why might these differences exist. 
I did one customer and realized that although they have a very slim portion of their business B2C that this part is difficult to quantify if they understand their customers' problems because their revenue comes from B2B.

Week 8 Reading Reflection: I hate 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? 

The funding chart was very interesting and stood out to me because of the description and financing options.

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

The venture capitalist development part was more confusing then it needed to be. The amount of deals and money it raised could have used more explanation.

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

What was the start of crowdsourcing? When was it first used and “invented”?

What way is the most common way to screen for Venture Capitalists?

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

I think that myth 2 is actually true they obviously want a return on their investment. They don’t want insane amounts on everything.

Half-way Reflection: Get Ready to be Destroyed

1) Tenaciousness is a skill. What are the behaviors that you have used to keep up with the requirements of this course? 

I would say the two biggest skills or behaviors I have used in this class thus far is scheduling and being proactive as well as focusing on time management.

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

I really felt like giving up when you have to do the three interviews three weeks in a row. It's a lot to do week after week plus you WILL get denied almost without question and it gets annoying. I think those experiences have helped though at least as far as not being so nervous and just saying hello and being warm to people.

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?

I would start early and stay ahead like try to at least set up most activities early in the week instead of doing it all over the weekend. Second I would just get over any fears you have of talking to others or presenting. Get over it because thats the real world and this class no one cares if you fail its to grow so be bold. Finally just go for it, I did every exercise beside one but try to do it with less fear and more tenacity.