10 A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02QC0uE1ZVs

9A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

After having interviewed five people who had the unmet need targeted by my product, I tried to find five people, who, for whatever reason do not have the same unmet need. I found five people: David, Jenny, Laura, Daniel and Benjamin. My conclusion after the interviews I directed with them was very interesting.



Who doesn’t have this unmet need ( cooking takes too much time/ buying food is too expensive) ?

Well, I would say that there is two categories of people who do not have this unmet need. The first one is what I call “the rich/ Upper middle class” categorie. Both David and Daniel identified themselves with this class of people and said that they do not see the food prices or delivery costs as a real problem. The second half of people who do not share this unmet need is what I call the “cooking-loving people”. Jenny Laura and Benjamin all told me that cooking does not take them too much time because they appreciate the time they spend cooking. Laura even confessed to me that cooking is one of the few things that relaxes her.



What? At what point does the need you identified differ from another need?

The need I identified differs from being completely unable to buy extra food in order to make specific dishes or to have literally no time to cook forcing people to order food delivery every day. The average person stands right in between the two situation. Most people do believe that this modern food system is ineffective but not to the point that it is unbearable for them.



Why: Is the underlying cause of the outsiders' need different than people who are inside the boundary?

Because different social classes exist in our society and not everyone find prices expensive since it’s a subjective matter and relative to someone’s wealth. Also, people have different hobbies and centers of interest and for some people spending time cooking can be seen as relatively enjoyable.

Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
Who is In: Most busy people and moderate income households	Who is Not: People who enjoy cooking, rich people.
What the Need Is: Finding cheaper ingredients and spend less time cooking in the kitchen	What the Need Is Not: Find a solution to food prices
Why the Need Exists: People do not always know what they can cook with what they already have in their fridges.	Alternative Explanations: Some people believe that spending a lot of money on extra food is acceptable. Some people already have a good knowledge on what they can cook with what they buy at the supermarket.

8A-Solving The Problem

In the previous exercise, I said that an opportunity exists in the food industry because many people find that cooking takes too much time or that the cost of delivery is too expensive for takeaway meals. My solution is simple, you should create a phone application connected to the refrigerators that allows you to analyze food and make combinations of food-based dishes in this refrigerator. Then once the dish is chosen, all we have to do is click on it and see how long it is supposed to take to cook. This idea reduces both the food cost (because people no longer have to buy food for specific dishes because they did not know they could make meals based on what they already had in their fridges) and it also reduces the time spent in the kitchen because the customers will decide which dishes they want to make based on the cooking time of the dishes proposed by my application.

7A: Testing the Hypothesis

1) After many hours of working on the subject, I finally think I have found the opportunity that could lead me to an idea to develop, and this opportunity is related to the food industry. I went to ask 5 people a very simple question which was: "Do you think there is a dysfunctional system related to food prices and meal preparation times? ». If first most of them found this question very unusual, after discussions and reflections, they all replied that yes, either cooking takes too long or delivery cost is too expensive. 

Among the five people I interviewed was Hannah, a 67-year-old retired woman who lives in Miami. She doesn't cook, but she told me that for her who gets meals delivered to her apartment every day, the cost for meals and transportations is way too high. In summary, out of five interviews: 4 people find that they spend too much time in the kitchen and the last one finds that the delivery system is too expensive for her.


2) In short, the opportunity I have identified is related to the fact that there is inefficiency in time, quality and price in the food sector. 

The who: Basically every human being

The what: Either the food is too expensive or it takes too long to cook

Why: There is not yet an effective system in place to reduce time and price in the food sector (being delivered requires paying an extra charge for delivery costs).



3) My hypothesis is related to this idea is that the general population is willing to invest in a system that either limits the delivery price or reduces the time spent in the kitchen cooking. By testing the "Who, What and Why? “ I have come to the conclusion that this opportunity has a lot of potential but some realistic changes need to be made in order to make this idea more attractive and the dream a reality. 

6A – Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Economic trend



Opportunity 1:

As our world is changing really fast, technology seems to be the future of the american economy. Most economic newspapers like Business Insider or Bloomberg.com emphasize the importance of investing in start-ups high-tech companies. As a matter of facts, we should increase our partnerships with countries like Israel, India or Singapore as they seem to appear as the next big world technology centers outside the United States. The customers who will benefit from these partnerships are the entrepreneurs themselves but also the regular citizen who will see capital revenues entering their countries and add to their country’s wealth. I believe that for a country like the United States, it shouldn’t be too complicated to stay up-to-date with the world economic changes.



The reason I am aware of this opportunity is because I am greatly interested by technology changes and advancement which makes me follow social media pages on the matter.



Opportunity 2:

On a long-term basis, we know that we would have to make some efforts in order to change the terrible climate change trend. One of the big changes that seems to appear as objectively possible is the replacement of fuel cars for electric cars. We can see this phenomenon with the development of Tesla and their ambitious project. In this case the potential typical citizen is both the typical consumer and the one who will benefit from this change because we are all concern by this global warming threat.



I am aware of this opportunity is because I have family members investing in the electric industry. They follow with great interest the development of this industry.



Regulatory trend



Opportunity 3:



Both medical and recreational marijuana seem to gain legal status in the United States. This matter became a real political subject and emerge sometimes during election debates. Many states are decriminalizing marijuana’s uses. If medical marijuana is having a better advancement than recreational marijuana, one can only be aware of this phenomenon and new business opportunities can be created from that. The people who are going to be the future clients and customers will be those who are already using it illegally and those who need it for medical treatments. Both previously judged “criminal” and medical patient will benefit from this opportunity.



I am aware of this opportunity is because I’m originally from Brussels, Belgium which is two hours away from Amsterdam “the Marijuana capital of the world”. It always appeared to me as absurd that someone in Belgium smoking marijuana can be sent to jail while when crossing the inexistent border between Belgium and the Netherlands, it suddenly becomes legal.



Opportunity 4:

Same-sex marriage seems to gain popularity among American public. Every poll show that our generation is more accepting of this trend than our parent and grandparent’s generations. This change is having a strong regulatory impact on the United states law. More and more states are legalizing same-sex marriages and the few states that still haven’t legalized it are expected to change their policies soon. This can be seen as an opportunity for event organizers from these couple states that are still banning same-sex marriage. The typical customer would be the gay or lesbian person who is waiting on the legal status to change in order to get married.





I am aware of this opportunity because I am greatly interested by domestic American politics. Same-sex marriage being a hot topic during election times, I couldn’t be unaware of this regulatory trend.

5A-Indentifying Local Opportunities

1)Advocates work to raise money for doomed Pit Bull in Virginia

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AOEFL%21Orlando%2BExaminer%2B%2528FL%2529&sort=YMD_date%3AD&maxresults=20&f=advanced&val-base-0=&fld-base-0=alltext&docref=news/15DCDFBD575893E8



This article put in the spotlight the mistreatment of Pit Bulls in our society. Many Pit Bulls get killed for no other reasons than having a behavior judged “too aggressive” toward human beings or other animals. The Problem described in this article is that unlike humans, Pit Bulls do not have anyone protecting their rights, freedom and liberty. This problem is exclusive to animals and this is why advocates in Virginia took that opportunity to bring awareness to the matter and try to find a legal way to protect them.


2) Equal rights: Which is more important culture or policy
https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AOEFL%21Orlando%2BExaminer%2B%2528FL%2529&sort=YMD_date%3AD&maxresults=20&f=advanced&val-base-0=&fld-base-0=alltext&docref=news/15DC897513FA0768

This article tells us the story behind the response from Facebook CEO, Sheryl Sandberg. She was asked whether culture or policies were more important in order to achieve equality for women: Equality or Policies. She responded that culture was more important because once you change the culture the policies will follow automatically. The writer of the article responded to Sheryl’s statement by giving the example of segregation of African-american and said that in that particular case, America first pushed the anti-apartheid agenda by changing policies and then it took another 100 years to change the culture. The problem described in this article is that it is complicated for women (and minorities in general) to change a society’s mentality or behavior toward them. It takes many years of protests and psychological battles to arrive to a real change in a society like the United States.

3) Over 150 animals seized from supposed rescue sanctuary in San Bernardino County

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AOEFL%21Orlando%2BExaminer%2B%2528FL%2529&sort=YMD_date%3AD&maxresults=20&f=advanced&val-base-0=&fld-base-0=alltext&docref=news/15DC897523FDDA18



This article tells us about the multiple abuses and acts of cruelty of the owner of a supposed rescue shelter toward his animals. The police arrested individual after many complaints. Many of these animals were losing weights and showing signs of low physical condition. The problem in this story is clearly the lack of actions taken by the police or normal citizens. One can only ask himself how no one realized what was going on. This problem is not only the problem of these dogs but it’s the problem of all of us. No living organism should be treated with such low respect and consideration.


4) Stop believing the hype, 'Texit' is not happening anytime soon

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AOEFL%21Orlando%2BExaminer%2B%2528FL%2529&sort=YMD_date%3AD&page=1&maxresults=20&f=advanced&val-base-0=&fld-base-0=alltext&docref=news/15DBE0A3277DFC40



This article explains the complicated legal situation of the “Texit” movement. This movement comes from the Brexit and the exit of Great Britain from the European Union. Texit means "Texas Exit" as a reference to an independent Texas. In fact, unlike Brexit, Texit can only happen if both the congress and the senate approve this decision and objectively it is most likely never going to happen. The problem highlighted in this article is the complexity of US politics which undermine the will of certain regions and populations to acquire their own independence. This article is particularly fingering out Texas and their own independence aspiration.




5) Hillary Clinton should take advantage of Republican divide over Donald Trump
https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3AOEFL%21Orlando%2BExaminer%2B%2528FL%2529&sort=YMD_date%3AD&page=1&maxresults=20&f=advanced&val-base-0=&fld-base-0=alltext&docref=news/15DA3DB52FC4CE38




This article, which was written a couple months before the final elections for the POTUS suggested that Hillary Clinton could have taken advantage of the divisiveness within the Republican concerning Donald Trump. This article claimed that Donald Trump could not gather most republicans and as an example, the written cited the fact that some key Republican figures did not attend the Republican National Convention due to their disagreement with Trump’s uses of words during his campaign. The problem in this article was directed toward the Republican party and their lack of unity and that it could have cost them the election. Today, we know that Republican Party overcame this problem with Donald Trump winning the election.

Assignment 4: Forming An Opportunity Belief

There's something I strongly believe in. The world is changing and people are less and less leaving home. Internet deliveries such as those of Amazon are becoming more and more numerous and popular. Students barely go to class anymore, they watch their classes online. Everything is done to reduce travel costs and everyone benefits from this extraordinary recent development. But in this enormous and rapid development, there is one area where technology has still not made its best to reduce both pricing and timing. This sector is the food sector. It is true that food deliveries are common, but they are often expensive and require tipping the staff in addition to the delivery cost. What I am proposing is a phone application that would allow us to analyze the foods and its component in our fridges and then give us all the possible combinations of dishes to cook based on the foods we already have in our fridges. This saves time for people who cook, allows them to find alternative cooking dishes instead of having to buy extra food and it saves time because we no longer have to learn recipes by heart.


Everyone could benefit from this invention, from the poorest families who will no longer have to worry about which dishes they can cook with their inexpensive ingredients, to the richest families who could eventually decide to cook themselves instead of buying delivered or takeaway dishes every single day. After a lot of research on the subject, I am almost 100% sure that this project has never been finalized or truly highlighted on the market. As I wrote earlier, anyone can be targeted by this product but there is a specificity, they must be able to cook. This application should therefore be allowed to people over 16 years of age.


So, I went to ask three people of different ages and sexes four very specific questions on the matter. The first question was, does cooking take too much time. They all responded unanimously that yes, cooking does take them too much of their time. Then I asked them when did they start to realize that it was taking them too much time. Danny, a student at UF, replied that when he lived at home it wasn't a problem for him but now it was taking him too much time in addition to his academic and extracurricular activities so he really realized this phenomenon when he was started his studies at the University of Florida. The other two people, being adults, replied that they had this time management problem caused by the amount of time taken to cook for so long that they could not even remember when they started being aware of this phenomenon. Then I asked them a third question, which was whether they had already addressed this need to a person or to an organization, and they all replied that they did not because they do not know who to reach out to. Finally, once I told them about my project idea, they unanimously reacted positively. They replied that it would be of great help to them and that it would save them a lot of time and money.



To sum up, after talking to these three potential future customers, I realized that my idea was quite popular and that it may not be necessary for me to change or adapt my idea because they all seemed satisfied and I didn't receive any negative or positive criticism that could have changed my idea. Of course, if my customers' answers and reactions were different, I would have adapted my product because I think that every entrepreneur must listen to the objective criticisms of their potential clients.

Assignment 3: My Story

For me, entrepreneurship is a family affair. I am originally from Brussels in Belgium. I am the son of parents who have worked in high technology and shared data all their lives. In fact, they were the first to put telephone directories online.

At the time, it was revolutionary because most phone books were made of paper. It was a rather risky challenge but which did not require more than a few thousand euros, computer talents and good networks to be launched.

I was thus born in this environment of Internet innovation and creativity, which since then, hasn't stop renewing and improving itself. The reason I took this course is that among the required courses to finish my major, this one seemed to me to be one of the most interesting classes.

I believe that entrepreneurship is one of the only courses that makes us think further, out of the box, and find alternative solutions. At the end of this course, I hope to reach a sufficient level of understanding of the risks and benefits of this field, so that one day, I too can become an entrepreneur.

Assignment 2: My Bugs List

1)The security line at Miami Airport is so long that I have to arrive at the Airport at least two hours before the departure of my flight.

The reason why this bug exists is that security checks help controlling objects entering and leaving the airport in order to avoid future tragedies. This is all due to the potential terrorist and criminal threats.



2) Starbucks staffs who put the wrong name every time on my drinks orders

The reason this bug exists is that Starbucks staff are overloaded with customers and that drives them to make some occasional mistakes. This is all due to Starbuck’s success and great reputation which brings them many customers.



3) Being unable to find a parking spot in Gainesville

The reason this bug exists is that there are over 50,000 students in Gainesville and a limited number of parking spaces. In fact, this is all due to the location of University of Florida.



4)People talking during movies at the cinema

The reason this bug exists is that it is difficult for some people to sit quietly for hours watching a movie they don't always enjoy. This situation is created by the lack of entertainment of some movies.



5)People who use their feelings instead of facts in debates

The reason this bug exists is that our political world is becoming very polarized and we are becoming more and more intolerant with the opposite viewpoint. This situation is the result of generations of brainwashing from school to social medias.



7)When it rains very heavily for a few minutes in Gainesville and it becomes impossible to walk to class

The reason this bug exists is that we live in a tropical zone and therefore we have a tropical weather.

The campus is mostly an outside campus which means that we have to walk from one building to another and the rain can sometimes stop our trajectory.



8) The queue at Chick Fil A at UF.

The reason this bug exists is that there are not enough competing fast food chains around campus.

Chick Fil A has built a great reputation around campus which is why a lot of people still rather wait an hour there than 10 minutes in another fast food chain.



9) The fact that you have to wait one hour after the end of a class in order to be able to view the lectures online.

The reason this bug exists is that it takes time for the technical staff to publish the class online.

In fact, one hour is often the time needed to correct occasional technical issues that the lecture experienced



10) Receive Spam in my email every day

The reason this bug exists is that my email address is registered in different websites who then use my information for advertising purposes.

All this is due to the fact that there is no system to detect spam from normal emails.



11) The perpetual updates on IPhone

The reason this bug exists is that it encourages people to buy new phones and applications and thus increase Apple's profit.

In fact, the situation is created by the fact that High-Tech companies need to renew their applications in order to be up to date with the market.



12) Slowness of UF WIFI

The reason this bug exists is that many people are connected to the same networks at the same time which makes the WIFI slow.

The reason why too many people are connected to the same WIFI at the same time is that there isn’t enough free WIFI on campus that could potentially split the amount of UF WIFI users



13) Media biased from both sides of the political landscape who try to appear as neutral

The reason why this bug exists is that every newspaper has shareholders writers and journalists (often hired based on their political affiliation) who do have a political view and affiliation and therefore choose their articles accordingly to their own interests and political agenda. We got to this situation because there is no rules or regulation concerning biased news.



14) When I do my laundry and all my T-shirts shrink

The reason this bug exists is that material of the T-shirt is not always resistant to the washing machine and the drying machine. The reason why this occurs is that there are way too many different laundry products to use to prevent that from happening that it is sometimes hard to know which one is really helpful.



15) The advertising calls I receive every day

The reason this bug exists is that some businesses have a large portion of their revenue that comes directly from sales calls. The reason why these companies get their revenues from sales calls is that many companies and firms do not have the means and knowledge to sell their products with more modern platforms.



16) Lack of public transportation other than air travel from one state to another

The reason this bug exists is that the auto lobby has a very big influence on today's politicians, which prevents any progress in this industry. The reason why this lobby is so influential is that there is no real lobbying opposition to the automobile lobbying industry.



17) When some of my classes are at mealtimes which forces me to eat either too early or too late

The reason this bug exists is that university hours are not always adapted to the flexibility of students. The reason why UF are using these hours for class lectures is that they believe that most people watch the lectures online anyway.



18)Lack of buildings in Gainesville

The reason why this bug exists is that very few people are interested in investing to develop new buildings in Gainesville. This is all due to the fact that the population of this city is quite stable and the number of inhabitants depends strongly on the number of students in UF and therefore it is difficult to see what can happen in the long term in this city.



19) The fact that at the age of 18 in the United States, one can fight and give its life to protect the country but drinking a beer is illegal

The reason this bug exists is because the government wants to protect the youth from the dangers of alcohol. This is all due to the fact that alcohol can be destructive.



20) It is always either too hot or too cold when I put the air conditioning.

The reason why this bug exists is that the heat is temporary and depends on the period during which we put the air conditioning, therefore, it is difficult to find the perfect temperature. This is due to the fact that no real alternative system has been created.







In all seriousness, I found this activity quite challenging. It wasn’t that easy to point out the bugs from our everyday lives. Very often these bugs bother us but we do not fully recognize them because they are a part of our daily lives. Finding the reason why these bugs exist is also very interesting because it makes us use our rational logic and help us understand better how entrepreneurs use these fails from the system to make a difference.