20A Growing Your Social Capital

Domain Expert:

1.     Who they are, what their background is:

a.      Sean Zhang is an app developer. He worked as a software developer for Ericsson cellular technologies. He has led a team of developers to create apps for mobile devices from scratch.

2.     How they fill the slot of “Domain Expert”

a.      He has expertise in the app development industry and has developed apps with his team that have gained hundreds of users. He has a lot of knowledge of what will be involved in developing an app like my product.

3.     How I found and contacted him:

a.      I have family friends who are in the software development business. They have worked with Sean in the past and on some current projects today. I reached out to them and they gave me Sean’s email address as a way to contact him.

4.     Nature of the Exchange:

a.      Since Sean is currently working on projects in China, I reached to him via email. I explained to him my idea concept and asked him to look over my idea napkin. I asked him to provide me feedback and information on the technical side of things. For example, I asked about the process involved with developing an app like the one I want to develop and how long it would take. The return expectation was that he gave me information and feedback in hopes that I can use his expertise in the near future should I decide to pursue this venture.

5.     Why including them in Social Capital is important:

a.      It was really nice being able to reach out to an expert on app development. By including them in my network, I now have someone I can communicate with on what the process will be like and how to approach this product correctly. It also creates the opportunity of using his services to create the app in the future.

Market Expert:

1.     Who they are, what their background is:

a.      John Desylvester has a lot of experience and knowledge about my market. He owned nutrition supplement business and has worked with high schools across the country to promote healthy living via fitness, diet, and good mental well-being.

2.     How they fill the slot of “Market Expert”

a.      John fills the slot of market expert in a couple of ways. He has experience with targeting my market with similar products. He used his business to sell nutrition supplements to young adults in order to help people achieve a healthy balance of nutrition. More importantly, he has worked with high schools to teach high school students the importance of healthy living and how to achieve a healthy balance. It is his expertise that can help with research and understanding my market.

3.     How I found and contacted him:

a.      John is one of my dad’s clients and he gave me John’s email so that I could reach out to him.

4.     Nature of the Exchange

a.      I asked John to look over my idea napkin and asked for feedback. I asked if he could provide me feedback in how I should be targeting this market and how I can improve my business concept to better serve the needs of my market. John gave me a response as to the current state of the idea napkin and has promised to help me improve my concept into the future.

5.     Why including them in Social Capital is important:

a.      By having John as part of my social capital, it enhances my ability to exploit my opportunity. He has a lot of knowledge about my market and has provided services to my market before. He knows a lot about how to better understand my market which will be beneficial in improving my venture concept to better suit my market.

Supplier:

1.     Who they are, what their background is:

a.      Lauren Sonnen is a supplier in my market. She runs a fitness training program and works as a personal trainer with young adults.

2.     How they fill the slot of “Supplier”

a.      Lauren works as a personal trainer and coordinates a fitness training program in Sarasota. She promotes the importance of having a balance of fitness and diet among young adults. Her business is currently one of the types of services that college age students are using to achieve a healthy amount of fitness which is crucial to a healthy balanced lifestyle.

3.     How I found and contacted her

a.      I received her contact information from a family member who used to train with Lauren. I used the contact information to reach out to her.

4.     Nature of the Exchange:

a.      Like with my other two experts, I asked Lauren to look over my idea napkin and asked for any recommendations on how to improve it. I also asked her how she provides services to young adults and explained I will need services like hers in order to give users resources on how to achieve a healthy lifestyle.

5.     Why including them in Social Capital is important

a.      Before this exchange, I had not talked to any suppliers of services that young adults can use. By having this exchange with her, I now have developed a contact with a third party resource that I can include with my app that students can use in order to achieve their goals. She can also supply goals that young adults can use to makes sure they are achieving a healthy level of fitness.

Reflection:

After completing this assignment, I have realized that “targeted networking” is a very difficult thing to do. I was very fortunate to have prior contacts that I was able to use to reach out to each of the three of people. It also presents a difficulty because there are not any substitute products that I have found on the market that are providing a product that focuses on all aspects of a balanced lifestyle and forces users to be accountable to achieving their goals. After having some practice reaching out to people about my business concept, I am starting to feel a little more comfortable for future networking events. This is really the first time I have done targeted networking on my own. Overall, I feel like this was a very rewarding experience and I happy with including these three in my social network.