20A – Growing Your Social Capital

Domain Expert

1) Who they are and what their background is.

     Ricker is a friend of mine who is studying computer engineering here at the University of Florida. 

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

     Ricker fills the slot of domain expert because he knows a lot about computer engineering, and could potentially help with the building of my product. 

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

     Ricker is brother in the same fraternity as me, and we talked in person in his room.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

     Me and Ricker talked in his room about my idea and what he thought of its potential, as well as logistics. Me and Ricker are good friends and he does not expect anything in return. 

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

    Including Ricker in my network enhances my ability to do more research into ways that my product can be made, produced, and sold.

Market Expert:

1) Who they are and what their background is.

     Sean is a member of preview staff at UF and is an expert in dealing with freshmen and their needs for when they get to college, which is my targeted audience.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

     Sean fills the slot of market expert, as he has a vast knowledge as to how and when to appeal to freshmen and their parents when they first come to UF.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

     Sean is a friend of mine, and has been working at UF all summer doing preview stuff.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

     Sean is an excellent source of information in my potential market, and was more than willing to sit down for 10min and talk about the market surrounding my ideas potential consumers.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

     By including Sean in my network, I have given myself access as to how to maximize my marketing to UF freshmen students. Sean knows all the places and times that these students will be able to make a purchase, and could potentially even push my product or become a sales representative.

Industry Supplier:

1) Who they are and what their background is.

     Daniel is an HP representative at Best Buy, who works with computers. 

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

     Daniel fills the roll of Industry supplier, as he not only works for a large supplier of laptops and chargers, but knows many others in the computer industry who sell to consumers within my demographic.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

     I was put into contact with Daniel through a mutual friend. I had seen Daniel before, but did not know him personally. Me and Daniel talked on the phone for about 10 minutes about the industry around laptops and portable chargers.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

     Daniel did not really expect anything in return for the information, he said he really liked our mutual friend and was willing to help another UF student out. 

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

     Including Daniel in my network opens many doors to potentially take my product to a sponsorship opportunity with HP, or even put my product in Best Buy if I chose.

Finally: Reflect. This experience requires you to do a little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How?

     This experience was very fruitful, as I was forced to reach out to others within my industry and gather information for my product. It was important for me to make these connections, and this assignment made sure that i connected with others who could help me. In the future, I will definitely hope to reach out to people who know about the industry. This experience did not differ from any previous networking I had done.