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. It would also be important to market and promote the app through some outside services, possibly involving Apple's promotional services.
2. Most of the feedback I received was fairly positive, with people mentioning that the idea is very innovative and has a lot of potential. The main criticism or critical feedback I received was in regards to how I would market the app and actually make money off it. I think those are fair points of criticism and marketing would definitely be an area that I need to work on when it comes to my product idea.
3. The way I would change my venture concept is possibly coming up with a good way to advertise my product so people can hear about it. I know one great way apps can be advertised is through Apple's promotion in the app store. So that could be a solid route to correct some of the criticism I received.
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