Assignment 23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

1.     Volunteering Experience

a.     Valuable – Volunteering with organizations that have to do with the environment help me have a deeper connection with the product and a better understanding on how I could help the environment.

b.     Rare – Usually people volunteer in organizations that have to do with little kids or the elderly, so volunteering with environmental organizations gives me insight on how to take care of the environment

c.     inimitable – a lot of people volunteer for a class grade or to gain volunteering hours so they can graduate so when they volunteer,  they don’t pay 100% attention o what is happening. I volunteered because I really care about the environment so every single thing they taught me was basically engraved in my brain

d.     non-substitutable -  maybe taking environmental courses could help you gain knowledge but volunteering gives you a more hands on experience and helps you remember more stuff

2.     Social Capital

a.     Valuable – Because they already have experience in the different areas that I need, they can help me increase my knowledge on the topic

b.    Rare – it’s not easy to find people who already have years of experience in this business that are willing to help for free

c.     Inimitable – Some people have people that have a vague knowledge on the business but my people have experience in the exact areas that I need

d.    Non-substitutable – People that have some experience in the business can also help but having people that work in the exact areas that someone needs for a business is way more helpful.

3.     Knowledge on the Environment

a.     Valuable – knowledge is power J

b.    Rare – Most people have basic knowledge on the environment but I feel like my knowledge is a little more than average. I went to a school specialized in science and math so we took 3 different sciences every year and most schools don’t have that opportunity.

c.     Inimitable – It is not hard to find someone that has a lot of knowledge in the environment because if someone was really passionate about the environment they would probably educate themselves a lot. But because I had the opportunity of taking so many science classes I think I still have a little bit of an advantage

d.     Non-substitutable – there are not a lot of schools that require 3 science classes every semester

4.     Environmentally-focused friend group

a.     Valuable – many of my friends are really passionate about the environment so them sharing their knowledge with me helps me gain more information about the topic.

b.    Rare – Not everyone at UF is focused on the environment, so they don’t talk about it.

c.     Inimitable – It’s not hard to have a friend group that knows a lot about the environment but it’s definitely not the most common thing.

d.    Non-substitutable – You can learn about the environment by reading and on the web but sharing knowledge with your friends helps you learn fun facts or little details that you might’ve not known

5.     Connections

a.     Valuable – Because my mom’s hotel is very pro sustainability she has a lot of connections to people that are willing to help. It’s valuable because if I ever have a question about something I can just call them.

b.     Rare – Not a lot of people have access to experienced  people

c.     Inimitable – If you work really hard, you can actually get these connections

d.     Non-substitutable – You can get people that have a vague knowledge on the business and they can still help you a lot

6.     Public Speaking Experience

a.     Valuable – It will help me properly deliver a pitch and communicate with potential investors

b.    Rare – A lot of people will be too shy or too nervous to talk in front of a crowd of potential investors

c.     Inimitable – A lot of people in the business industry try very hard to gain the experience before pitching an idea

d.    Non-substitutable – If they really want to be able to pitch an idea, they can just practice a lot before a pitch so they can be very good at it.

7.     Advertising Experience

a.     Valuable – It will help me advertise my product properly  

b.     Rare – many people don’t know what aspect about their product they should focus more on when advertising it and don’t really know how to sell their ideas

c.     Inimitable – Not many people know how to properly organize their advertisements and promotions because they have no experience

d.    Non-substitutable – they could try to learn on the internet and take a few classes but nothing beats having experience

8.     Pitching Experience

a.     Valuable – I’m able to properly organize my ideas and deliver the importance of my product in a limited amount of time to catch my audience’s attention and interest

b.    Rare – Not a lot of people have this experience and just know the basics of public speaking

c.     Inimitable – If they practice a lot they’re probably going to be able to do a good job

d.    Non-substitutable – The best way to gain this is by practicing a lot and trying to pitch ideas and get the feedback.

9.     Human Capital

a.     Valuable – Having people that will help you design and develop your product would be really helpful and will take some weight off your shoulders

b.    Rare – Not many people are willing to help you develop a product for free

c.     Inimitable – If you show your product around you can find people that will want to help you but it’s hard finding people that will do it for free

d.    Non-substitutable – I’m sure that if you ask around you will be able to get some of your friends to help you

10.  Publicity

a.     Valuable – The environment is being talked about lately and climate change too

b.    Rare – There are other topics that are trending but climate change is definitely top 3

c.     Inimitable – there are other products being produced based on other recent issues

d.    Non-substitutable – Even if it wasn’t a trending topic yet, it would be a pretty easy topic to advertise and get people’s attention

I think that my most valuable resource is definitely my connections. I am lucky to have a lot of people that know so much about this topic that will help me increase my knowledge and help me make the right decisions. It is not easy to find experienced people that are willing to help for free. It also really helps to be surrounded by so many people that share a passion for the environment because they are also really happy to help at no cost.