23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

My List:
1. Financial capital- I have like $25 dollars.
Valuable: it is worth approximately $25 US dollars.
Rare: not very rare
Inimitable: it can be easily copied, but counterfeit money is hard to do well.
Non-substitutable: you can substitute it whenever you want.

2. Previous sales experience
Valuable: helps in a job like this
Rare: not totally rare, but a bit uncommon
Inimitable: can't be copied, only experienced
Non-substitutable: probably could substitute with other stuff

3. Being in touch with the UF student body
Valuable: very valuable for my business
Rare: not really rare in Gainesville, around 50000 of us
Inimitable: can't be copied from students at different schools
Non-substitutable: can't be substituted

4. Social capital- I know a scooter shop owners
Valuable: very valuable for getting my business out there
Rare: having in roads to a shop is pretty rare
Inimitable: can't be copied
Non-substitutable: can't be substituted easily

5. Previous marketing experience
Valuable: very valuable in getting my product out there
Rare: uncommon
Inimitable: can't just make stuff up on the fly
Non-substitutable: could pay someone else to do it for you

6. My Chinese speaking ability
Valuable: very valuable in speaking to international students
Rare: outside of China it is very rare
Inimitable: I mean you have to learn the language to imitate
Non-substitutable: can use google translate or pay someone I guess

7. My social capital- being friends with UF athletes
Valuable: very valuable, they are popular on campus
Rare: probably not too rare, they have a lot of friends
Inimitable: can copy it if you are super cool
Non-substitutable: probably could substitute athletes with President Fuchs and be fine

8. I know a lot of scooter owners
Valuable: valuable to know how they feel
Rare: not really rare there are a lot of them
Inimitable: can't be copied
Non-substitutable: not able to substitute

9. I talked to a helmet manufacturer for a previous assignment
Valuable: very valuable to get in the business
Rare: relatively rare
Inimitable: can't copy it at all
Non-substitutable: could find different manufacturers

10. I have Professor Pryor in my corner
Valuable: he has a billion IQ
Rare: not rare, there are a bunch of people in this class
Inimitable: there is only one Professor Pryor
Non-substitutable: it can't be substituted


My top resource:
My top resource has got to be knowing scooter shop owners. I think that by meeting these people, I have a place to sell my helmets and get my name out there. If they give out these helmets free for people who buy scooters from them or something, this is great advertising for me.

Comments

  1. Darren LiebegottApril 9, 2020 at 11:47 AM

    Hi Michael,
    Having previous sales experience will be quite helpful for you when working towards building your brand. As Professor Pryor mentioned in class, many entrepreneurs struggle with the sales aspect of their business, and they waste key resources and time trying to hire professional sales support when they could do this themselves in the beginning. Also, knowing people that are already in the markets that you are going into will be a great resource for you. Good job, Darren.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Robert BaumanApril 13, 2020 at 12:27 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Robert BaumanApril 13, 2020 at 12:29 AM

    Hello Michael James Swenson (or whatever your true government name is, I don't know).

    Sir, I like your blog post. My favorite part would have to be your first advantage. $25 is a lot of money. I once had $25 and I spent it on Fanta and tomato soup. It was quite the meal to say the least. I also liked that you mentioned Professor Pryor as a resource, almost as if you have a good relationship with him. If I were to guess, you either have watched every lecture in person or online. I am sure Professor Pryor could pick you out of a crowd. Good work. Also, I misspelled something so I posted it again.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Will SandsApril 13, 2020 at 9:51 AM

    Michael, after reading your post I am thoroughly concerned by the fact that you would even think about using counterfeit money to fund your company. I feel as though my personal morals are steering me towards reporting you to the UF IFC as well as the FBI - I am not sure which one would be worse. Any who, knowing Professor Pryor on such a close level will be sure to get you the contacts you need within Gainesville. Good luck to you, sir.

    ReplyDelete

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