Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity:

                My venture idea is an app that will allow people within a certain distance to be able to connect and meet up to play sports or exercise together. The main idea is that a lot of people in their 20’s and 30’s do not really have time to play a full time competitive sport while working and doing other things. My app would give people a way to not only meet up with other locals and play sports, but it really has the potential to be a great social app for many different people. Some customers will want a more competitive game or sport to meet up and play, and other people will want to play more for just recreation and to have a good time. Often times when I try to play sports with my friends, we do not have enough people to play a full game. This app would help you get enough people together to get a solid game going for practically any sport. The changes in the environment that create this opportunity are the changes to the social and cultural norms. For instance, Pokemon Go is huge right now, and one of the biggest appeals is the idea of going out and walking around and being active, while also meeting strangers playing the same game. My app would also have this idea of being active and meeting strangers so I think that is a good sign. This market is mainly for people in their 20’s and 30’s who want to stay active and also enjoy playing a sport. Customers are currently filling this void by joining rec leagues and going to gyms, but a rec league is a much bigger commitment than this.  I think this is a fairly big opportunity because the U.S. has really entered a period of promoting healthiness and staying active. I think this window of opportunity will open for as long as people feel comfortable meeting up with strangers to play sports.

Innovation:

                I think my product is innovative in a way that involves just moving with the flow of the cultural progression of our society. People, more than ever, want to get out and be active while also staying social. I think my app would really innovate in a similar way to how Pokemon Go did, and I also think Pokemon Go would be beneficial for my app because it already is helping improve the stigma of meeting up with strangers. In a time where meeting up with strangers during the day doesn’t sound that strange, I think my app could really take off. The idea that people can stay in shape, and meet people that enjoy similar sports is innovative in itself. I think another way that it is innovative is that a lot of times it’s hard to find people who enjoy some of the more niche sports such as lacrosse or Frisbee, but my app would also allow for those niche groups to connect and find each other. I think because of how the app business is, my product would have to be free at first to grow a solid customer base. Most of the funding and capital would have to be provided by investors or bank loans, because charging for a social app just would not be a successful route to go down. I think once the app grows in popularity, it could generate revenue through ads, and also through a potential buyout from a major software company such as Apple. It is common for major companies to purchase fairly successful startups, so that could be a potential outcome.

Venture Concept:

                I think customers will switch to my product, because right now there is no common way of finding locals to meet up with and play sports. I think the main competitors are other social apps, and recreational leagues. I think the main obstacle the app will have to get over is the negative stigma of meeting up with strangers. Due to the nature of software development, my business concept isn’t necessarily affected by a lot of logistical constraints. Software development can be fairly freeform and worked on in different ways. I think the best way to organize my business at first would be a small number of software developers, with some of them working part time. The business would realistically only have so much capital, and taking on a bunch of full time employees wouldn’t be smart. I think the business would really come down to the effectiveness of the few developers and finding the right people. I think my most important resource is my connection with my brother, who worked for an app startup that got purchased by Apple. I think my venture would really focus on trying to grow and gain in popularity and then sell for a profit. It isn’t something I would want to maintain forever. I hope this first venture is successful for me, or a learning experience if anything. Next, I will just continue to live my life and try to have a great time and be a good person and see where that takes me.