20A- Growing Your Social Capital


Domain Expert
My father’s college roommate is the former vice president of NBC Universal’s Financial Operations. He knows so much about high-density markets, which my target segment is one of. Sage advice from him would be so valuable in tackling any industry from a financial viewpoint. After showing him my elevator pitch, he really liked the idea. Knowing this was all theoretical, but for a class, he advised me to not say “my team and I” already have a product when I truly do not. He also recommended thinking of new ways to market the product/service to my primary customers. Why would a company want to buy something that makes what they currently have obsolete? The topics we discussed gave me a great new perspective on my opportunity and how to present it. He was happy to help me on this project; having him as a contact will hopefully make finding a desirable job out of college more fluid.

Market Expert
My uncle is a vending machine stocking manager. He oversees the distribution channels of hundreds of machines in every variation of building in the Northeast. Hospitals, business offices, apartment complexes, sports stadiums. The capital that he possesses, whether it is the people he knows or his knowledge of consumer behavior in these high-density areas, apply to my target market of people that use residential or business elevators. Having mutual contacts with big name real estate companies (which deal with him to get their vending machines stocked) can lend me some great networking opportunities. Talking about my idea for elevator programming, he recommended that I work in the industry that I will be selling to for a while before or during my development of the programming. Getting a feel for the customer and establishing a network within the industry would make getting off the ground a million times easier. If I were to establish an industry network, this would help my product and my own social capital immensely.

Important Supplier
My cousin is an engineer working as at a large research and programming firm. They work on government and private contracts, so he has a lot of experience across important organizations that I would be selling to. He recommended, after watching my elevator pitch, to decide sooner rather than later who I would be selling the product to primarily. For the past few assignments of the class, I have been in the middle of selling to the elevator companies and industry itself or the real estate companies that develop properties and choose which elevator company they are going to install at the location. These two options offer me different outcomes. Selling to the industry would probably get me a massive lump sum payment, while continually selling to real estate developers would keep me in business for longer, but with smaller amounts of sales. While he was happy to help me with this assignment, establishing contact with him might not prove fruitful in the real world as that his company and industry are very hard to become a part of without the right credentials and experience.

Reflection
Talking to people that I have known of for a long time or are related to is very easy. Approaching a stranger in the business world without any contacts is harder. Having been given the opportunity to talk to people for this assignment that I already knew but hadn’t used in past assignments. I might not be able to afford this in the real business world.

Comments

  1. Melissa DavisJuly 15, 2019 at 12:44 PM

    Jacob
    Great job on your social capital interviews. Your insights are thorough and detailed which tells how you utilized your sources to get valid information on your topic. You appropriately designated each person in their respective categories and listened to their feedback. I agree it is difficult to seek out people in industries you might not be involved in and much easier to approach those you already know or whom you have an acquaintance with. When you get confident in your product and what you are pitching, it would probably be easier to relay your passion and talk to people about it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kimberly PaloJuly 15, 2019 at 1:48 PM

    Hey Jacob.
    I think you picked the best pics for a domain expert, market expert and an important supplier. I’ve never thought about using family members for these categories but it seems like you have the most fitting family according to your needs! I wish my family was as multitalented as yours. You are one blessed person. Good luck, Mr. Jacob!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Connor BrennanJuly 15, 2019 at 2:43 PM

    Hey Jacob, I can tell you put a lot of effort into this post due to the sheer amount of effort. Each section is detailed thoroughly and explained In great detail. I also think each person that you chose would be perfect due to their connection with you. I also thought the audience can relate to you in your reflection as well. Overall great post and keep up the great work!

    ReplyDelete

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