30A - Final Reflection

1) What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?
Doing the elevator pitches was definitely something that pushed me out of my element. It was an exercise that allowed you to go out of your comfort zone and get comfortable in front of a camera, while practicing being able to sell something in a short amount of time. I really enjoyed the reading reflections, which allowed you to be more knowledgeable all around. I'm proud of myself for immersing myself in an idea and expanding it to a degree I didn't think I'd get to beforehand. I took a small idea that has always been in the back of my head and made it seem real. I'm also proud of myself for talking in front of a camera cause your girl is camera shy.

2) At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?
I've definitely moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset. Along side my other business classes, I'm able to compare and reflect upon different terms and connect the dots between entrepreneurship and marketing or management. I think about risk in a different mindset, admire entrepreneurs for their perseverance, and have realized that truly, anything is possible if you try hard enough.

3) What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?
Take your venture seriously, nurture it like a flower. Take time to do your assignments and learn the most you can along the way. Once you realize you have an idea for the course, it gets exciting. As you go further, it almost feels real. A lot of the assignments didn't feel like real work because I liked what I was working on and writing about so if anything, I recommend you pick a venture that you are passionate about and won't get bored of writing about for a couple months.

29A - Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity: 
The forces and changes that is creating the opportunity for "The Queue" to come to life is the ever-changing world of technology. As we grow and become more engulfed in social media, the internet, and more consumed into the lives of celebrities, people are going to be looking for more ways to find information on them. Specifically to my venture, music artists. We have social media platforms that are wildly successful just like we have music streaming platforms that have come to the front line in these last couple of years as streaming as become the most popular way to consume music. What we don't have is a combination of both that serves as not only a social media and music streaming platform but also an area that allows you to connect to people who are also interested in the same areas of music you are, connects you to local events in your area, specific artist recommendations (some local), ticket selling platforms, chatrooms, etc - all things that will not only benefit the consumer individually but will also boost the streams of people in the music industry, bring exposure to local and upcoming talent, and potentially boost sales of concerts and local events due to this app making these events more known. This market has the potential to be worldwide, just as music calls for. It attracts people of all ages, anyone interested in expanding their horizons in the world of music. They're satisfying this need by expressing themselves on platforms like Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram while using the services of Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora. They're very loyal to these platforms but I believe it's only because they don't know that something better can be done. It can. It's a potentially big opportunity because if executed properly it could be one of the biggest platforms utilized by music fans, which comes in the millions every day.

Innovation: 
What "The Queue" is, is an app that takes the benefits of a social media platform and a music streaming platform, combines them, and essentially has the duality of both. It's innovative because it's taking something that is already in the market and is elevating it to a new level. This app is something that I'm wanting people who are lovers of music to join and find new friends, new adventures, and most importantly - new music! It is needful that "The Queue" would not only have the traits of a normal social media or social media platform but also the added bonuses like chatrooms, ticket selling platforms, a connecting platform that syncs your music to help you reach other people with similar listening patterns as you, a calendar personalized by your location to help you find local music events, and more. How it works is when you sign up, you'll have an option to connect your music streaming platform to the app where it will then process it and automatically show you people who listen to the same music you do. From there, you'll automatically be released into a community where you can follow other people, create groups, talk in the chatroom, browse events, buy concert tickets, listen to music, and more all in the same app. Like most online and application ventures, I'd be making money from ads throughout the app.

Venture Concept: 
 It'd be hard to get people to switch initially, people are pretty loyal to their social media or music streaming platforms, but what I do know is that a lot of people, especially younger people, are always willing to try things. It may be a slow beginning, but Tik Tok also had a slow beginning and it's now, huge. I think people would switch once they realize everything they need is sectioned into one app instead of having to bounce between two, plus the added benefits would be enough to make them want to stay. The competitors are huge ones. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Spotify, Apple Music - But there's always room for more, right? Their vulnerabilities would be a lack of innovation. Besides Instagram, none of these platforms really change or adjust to consumer needs in terms of broadening their walls in the world of social media or music streaming. It's pretty black and white. I haven't thought much of the employee side of my venture. I of course would need someone to design the app, someone to execute the app, someone to handle customer service, someone to set up ads and promotion, and I would manage.


Minor elements: 
My venture's "secret sauce" is the pure innovation that comes from combining what we already have and making it better. I honestly don't think the big dogs in the online industry would be bothered with trying to imitate "The Queue" because it's so different. Next, I would want to make a prototype, or a beta version of the app and test it out on potential costumers, get feed back, and see how it can improve. In five years, I'd love to see it among the stars of Twitter, Facebook, Spotify, etc. A sibling of these platforms would be an awesome goal.


2. No one said that I should change anything, and agreed that it was a thought out idea. Someone did make a comment about the app being similar to Tik Tok which I don't necessarily agree with since Tik Tok is a video streaming app but I do get the similarity when thinking about the combination of music and social media. Moving forward with the Queue, I would love to be able to partner with Tik Tok to get my app out there. Although, in my eyes the Queue wouldn't be for children while Tik Tok may attract a younger crowd. (Along with older crowds, I'm on Tik Tok too!) 

3.) I didn't change anything. I'm pretty confident in how my venture stands. No one provided constructive criticism, only praises - which I'm grateful for their generosity. Everyone in my group was very smart about their ventures and I haven't given them much criticism either. We all seem to know what we're talking about when it comes to our individual ventures!

4.)