29A Venture Concept No.2
1.Opportunity
• The customer segment that I plan to target is comprised of University of Florida students interested in either economics or computer science that are open-minded and value efficiency & decentralization over traditional systems and bureaucracies.
• The specific need that I aim to fulfill is a one-stop & concise onramp into understanding of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency markets. There are a few reasons for why this need exists.
o With blockchain technology only being created as recently as 2009 and not gaining popularity until 2017, the space is very new and underdeveloped. The only people with a strong understanding of the space are programmers who have spent a long time learning the fundamentals of the technology itself. Since gaining a notable presence, markets have developed for trading different cryptocurrencies with the intention that they will increase in value overtime. With explosive returns in early 2017, many people outside of the tech community have gained a desire to enter the marketspace.
o Since this technology is very complex, many people who lack programming experience have hit some sort of informational wall, became too intimidated, and have given up hope in entering the market.
o These are the people that I aim to help. The uninformed who simply need an organized way to learn about the industry without getting stuck behind complicated jargon or conflicting advice. These markets are international, so even though I will initially be focusing on targeting University of Florida students, with success I will expand towards all United States college students and if the service continues to grow, it will be promoted to college aged students (18-22) around the world.
2.Innovation
• Unfair Advantage: The specific resource that gives me the largest comparative advantage over other potential entrepreneurs in this industry is my two years of experience working as a Digital Marketing Analyst. Since first arriving at college, I have not stopped working. Many students have experience with part time jobs in various industries, but few have as much experience as I. This position has given me insider-insight into digital sales, social media analytics, client-relationships, networking, and professional composure; all important components to the success of my service.
• The business that I am describing is called Phoenix Hub. It is a subscription-based information platform that will serve as a one-stop, cohesive hub of blockchain-related information created to help the user along every step of the way in their investment journey. Setting up virtual wallets, guides to sending network transactions, and historical analysis of token price movements are resources that our service will provide after teaching the user a detailed tutorial of the blockchain foundation. We will also provide complete guides for analyzing strong projects and red flags to watch out for in a scam ICO. Through just a $10 monthly fee, the user will have complete access to our resource library as well as continuous updates on the latest news.
• As an entrepreneur, I feel that growing this business will help me break through into the upper-levels of the blockchain-business industry. In ten years, I hope to be the liaison that helps traditional large businesses and corporations break into the blockchain sector or even develop their own token ICO.
3. Venture Concept
• As discussed earlier, the need for my service arises due to the complexity of the subject matter. On top of the technical jargon, it is difficult to receive credible information because many of the larger cryptocurrency news websites tend to be biased towards certain coins and community-based sites (such as reddit) that used to be great sources of information have become flooded with malevolent users attempting to scam the inexperienced investor out of their funds. This brings up another important issue: security. The average person could easily lose their funds through a variety of methods such as sending tokens to an invalid wallet address, creating exchange accounts through insecure emails, or even physically misplacing a hard-storage wallet. Through my service, users will see step by step explanations of how to make sure they are securing their accounts as they are getting set up with wallets and exchanges. By combining security information with the technological tutorials, users are receiving streamlined information through one organized source.
• At initial creation, the organization will be handled by a team of 5 (including myself). Duties for each of the team members will be website design, social media management, content creation, promotion/sales, and research. As the business grows, we will employ a larger team that will first be focused on increasing content creation. Our next step from there will be to try and create partnerships with existing exchanges and news sites to refer users to our site for onramp knowledge.
o After launch, I will focus my team on adapting our service to be mobile-friendly with a dedicated app. Once our mobile app is live, we will begin curating a bi-weekly podcast for our audience to listen to while on their commute, completing work, or wherever they please.
• Despite the standard $10 monthly subscription fee, I have developed a student discount to help me capture more of my target consumer segment. When users sign up for my service with a student email, they will receive a reduced rate of just $7 for the first three months. Services such as Spotify and Amazon Prime have seen great success by offering student discount prices for their subscriptions and since I am primarily targeting college students, I think that it is the perfect way to break through and give them an extra incentive.
Summary of Changes:
The feedback on my posts has been very limited, which tells me that there are likely a lot of students who are even intimidated just by the idea of my service topic. To break through this, I will try to use less-complicated information in my opening pitch. The main addition to my venture concept is the plan to move our service onto a dedicated mobile app as well as providing a scheduled podcast to make our information more accessible to our audience. I received excellent feedback on the student discount so I will place even more emphasis on promoting this to the college market.
• The customer segment that I plan to target is comprised of University of Florida students interested in either economics or computer science that are open-minded and value efficiency & decentralization over traditional systems and bureaucracies.
• The specific need that I aim to fulfill is a one-stop & concise onramp into understanding of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency markets. There are a few reasons for why this need exists.
o With blockchain technology only being created as recently as 2009 and not gaining popularity until 2017, the space is very new and underdeveloped. The only people with a strong understanding of the space are programmers who have spent a long time learning the fundamentals of the technology itself. Since gaining a notable presence, markets have developed for trading different cryptocurrencies with the intention that they will increase in value overtime. With explosive returns in early 2017, many people outside of the tech community have gained a desire to enter the marketspace.
o Since this technology is very complex, many people who lack programming experience have hit some sort of informational wall, became too intimidated, and have given up hope in entering the market.
o These are the people that I aim to help. The uninformed who simply need an organized way to learn about the industry without getting stuck behind complicated jargon or conflicting advice. These markets are international, so even though I will initially be focusing on targeting University of Florida students, with success I will expand towards all United States college students and if the service continues to grow, it will be promoted to college aged students (18-22) around the world.
2.Innovation
• Unfair Advantage: The specific resource that gives me the largest comparative advantage over other potential entrepreneurs in this industry is my two years of experience working as a Digital Marketing Analyst. Since first arriving at college, I have not stopped working. Many students have experience with part time jobs in various industries, but few have as much experience as I. This position has given me insider-insight into digital sales, social media analytics, client-relationships, networking, and professional composure; all important components to the success of my service.
• The business that I am describing is called Phoenix Hub. It is a subscription-based information platform that will serve as a one-stop, cohesive hub of blockchain-related information created to help the user along every step of the way in their investment journey. Setting up virtual wallets, guides to sending network transactions, and historical analysis of token price movements are resources that our service will provide after teaching the user a detailed tutorial of the blockchain foundation. We will also provide complete guides for analyzing strong projects and red flags to watch out for in a scam ICO. Through just a $10 monthly fee, the user will have complete access to our resource library as well as continuous updates on the latest news.
• As an entrepreneur, I feel that growing this business will help me break through into the upper-levels of the blockchain-business industry. In ten years, I hope to be the liaison that helps traditional large businesses and corporations break into the blockchain sector or even develop their own token ICO.
3. Venture Concept
• As discussed earlier, the need for my service arises due to the complexity of the subject matter. On top of the technical jargon, it is difficult to receive credible information because many of the larger cryptocurrency news websites tend to be biased towards certain coins and community-based sites (such as reddit) that used to be great sources of information have become flooded with malevolent users attempting to scam the inexperienced investor out of their funds. This brings up another important issue: security. The average person could easily lose their funds through a variety of methods such as sending tokens to an invalid wallet address, creating exchange accounts through insecure emails, or even physically misplacing a hard-storage wallet. Through my service, users will see step by step explanations of how to make sure they are securing their accounts as they are getting set up with wallets and exchanges. By combining security information with the technological tutorials, users are receiving streamlined information through one organized source.
• At initial creation, the organization will be handled by a team of 5 (including myself). Duties for each of the team members will be website design, social media management, content creation, promotion/sales, and research. As the business grows, we will employ a larger team that will first be focused on increasing content creation. Our next step from there will be to try and create partnerships with existing exchanges and news sites to refer users to our site for onramp knowledge.
o After launch, I will focus my team on adapting our service to be mobile-friendly with a dedicated app. Once our mobile app is live, we will begin curating a bi-weekly podcast for our audience to listen to while on their commute, completing work, or wherever they please.
• Despite the standard $10 monthly subscription fee, I have developed a student discount to help me capture more of my target consumer segment. When users sign up for my service with a student email, they will receive a reduced rate of just $7 for the first three months. Services such as Spotify and Amazon Prime have seen great success by offering student discount prices for their subscriptions and since I am primarily targeting college students, I think that it is the perfect way to break through and give them an extra incentive.
Summary of Changes:
The feedback on my posts has been very limited, which tells me that there are likely a lot of students who are even intimidated just by the idea of my service topic. To break through this, I will try to use less-complicated information in my opening pitch. The main addition to my venture concept is the plan to move our service onto a dedicated mobile app as well as providing a scheduled podcast to make our information more accessible to our audience. I received excellent feedback on the student discount so I will place even more emphasis on promoting this to the college market.
I believe your opportunity is best where you have it, UF students. The small group of people running the business will allow for the plan to be followed well.
ReplyDeleteThe complexity of the cryptocurrency allows for an ever-growing market and educating the young is the best way to go. The addition of mobility to your venture concept will definitely be a way to go. An app for users will make it easier for the to get their questions answered faster.