Assignment 20A

Assignment 20A – Growing social capital

1) One person must be a domain expert in your industry. This would be someone who's engaged in the same type of business activity as you would like to be. They may own the same kind of company that you would like to own, or they may be a technical expert who knows a lot about the kind of product or service that you would like to produce.

2) One person must be an expert on your market. This would be someone who is targeting your market with similar products services -- or knows a lot about conducting customer research in your area -- or represents a major piece of your market (this might be most applicable with B2B markets).

3) One person must be an important supplier to your industry. This would be someone who is selling products and services to other organizations/firms in your industry.

Domain Expert:

1. Who they are, what their background is: 
1. Pierre, a professional musician and band player.

2.               How this person is a “domain expert”: 

1. He is a well-known producer for local bands and musical acts.  He has a lot of knowledge on how to make a song sound good and what exact steps go into it.

3.               How I found and contacted this person: 

1. He is my friend Avery’s dad and I asked to talk to him regarding the business.

4.               Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation: 

1. I explained my idea, and asked about the process of creating a good quality track from scratch.  There are a lot of components to account for, and music must be evaluated as a whole project rather than small parts.

5.               How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity: 

1. Having the expertise of someone like Pierre is incredibly valuable for clients, as they can get access to the professional process and what mindset and tricks are used in the professional industry.

Market Expert:

1. Who they are, what their background is: 
1. Joe, a large time party and event planner and audio engineer.

2.               How this person is a “market expert”: 

1. Joe represents the large market of hosted events.  Events gather people in one place, and they want to hear some good music.  A large event would be the perfect place for clients to showcase their original work.

3.               How I found and contacted this person: 

1. He is my neighbor, saw him hanging out outside one day, and started talking.

4.               Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation: 

1. I asked him about the logistics of party planning and what type of music normally gets played there.  I asked how to have a centerpiece of a party, or something that grabs everyone’s attention easily. 

5.               How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity: 

1. He can provide access to the recreational event scene. He is a great person to get sector-specific knowledge and insight from.

Industry Supplier:

1. Who they are, what their background is: 
1. Robert Esperanza, a music professional at the Sam Ashe music store.
2. How this person is a “industry supplier”: 
1. He works as a manager in the Sam Ashe music store, and often deals with high profile clients and works with them frequently.  He exchanges items with other stores and has many connections to the music industry.

3.               How I found and contacted this person: 

1. He is a cousin of my dad’s and my uncle.  I contacted him through my dad and asked to meet up and chat.

4.               Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation: 

1. I explained the idea behind Hyperspeed and my business model. I asked him about the average price to work with these talented people and how to tackle a mid-tier project successfully with the available resources.

5.               How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity: 

1. Robert has access to a lot of talent in the music industry, and could help me attract talented people on the customer facing side for collaboration. This could be a big opportunity, it’s mutually beneficial for the artists and clients in terms of exposure and overall quality.

Finally: Reflect. This experience requires you to do a little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How?

• I found targeted networking is extremely hard but incredibly valuable to do.  Finding experts in the field and talking to them is a large undertaking, their time is very valuable.  In future networking events, I’m going to work on getting to meet more people in the industry and develop connections with them.  I saw that even one person can help you get access to a large previously untapped market.  The value of personal connection cannot be overstated in the world of business.