Social Capital

One of the first people I talked to was my friend, Michael Kennedy, who is a computer science major here at UF and knows various coding languages. He also works on dance marathon website and has helped develop apps before. He was especially relevant because he could be of use in knowing how complicated it could to be code and design an app similar to mine, because of this I’m filling him with the domain expert slot. I met him through another mutual friend at UF and we sat down and talked. He gave me a lot of ideas about how to code properly just because he wanted to be friendly, so he did not expect anything in return. By getting this knowledge, it gives me the ability to better understand how much capital I’m going to need to properly start my business and run maintenance on my app.

The second person I found is one of my parent’s friend Beth, who is a personal trainer at a gym back home. She makes all her money off of in person appointments, and I thought it would be important to get her perspective on the matter. I’m filling her with the market expert slot, as she understands and knows the same fitness market that I would be aiming my product at. I found her through my parents and have actually worked out with her before, so I simply called her in order to be in contact with her. I asked about her ideas on the product and how she thought it would perform in the market, and just by simply talking to her she didn’t ask for anything in exchange. I did however, give her new ideas of how younger adults and millenials are thinking of working out. By having this relationship I can get a good idea of how well my product will actually work and if there is a need for it, as well as a potential employee if she wanted to create workouts for consumers.

The last person I found was Jeff, a worker at the GNC store I went to. He said he’s been working there for only a couple years, and had a nutritional science degree from UF. I’m putting him as a supplier, because he sells a lot of protein powder and other stuff for working out in the fitness industry. I found him at the store because I was trying to by something and decided he would be a good candidate for this assignment. By giving me ideas on my training app and helping me to decide if there should be a nutritional section he did me a favor, which I returned by purchasing a product at his store. By getting his perspective about the market and ideas on my app, it gives me a better idea if I should add that section or not.

Reflect: This experience will definitely make me more aware for future events. I plan on talking to more people and keep my perspectives open so I can get more ideas and opportunities. This assignment differed than previous networking events because I was talking for a specific reason rather than generally talking to people. I was more goal-focused, trying to find certain info and gain contacts more than normal.