20A: Growing Your Social Capital

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1) This person works for Passport Labs, Inc., who owns the popular Passport parking app students use to easily pay for street parking around the Gainesville area. He is a domain expert because he is familiar with the process of creating an app that extends with parking availability. I found this person after searching through LinkedIn and their website. He explained the simplicity of the structure of the app a little more, but he didn't ask for any favors in return (but I do use the app in Gainesville frequently). This person will help me expand my network for others who are willing to help create and work on this app.

2) This person works at the UF Parking & Transportation Services. She is a marketing expert because she works in the area of parking and is aware of the best way to advertise new products that are used by the department (for ex. the Passport app). I found this person after getting in contact with her thru their website. She explained more about how they use physical advertising and marketing (like signs) to promote the use of some of their products and she did not ask for anything in return. She would be a great addition to my network because she can promote my new product on campus and in the UF Parking & Transportation Services department.

3) This person is someone who also works at Passport Labs, Inc. He is a supply expert because he connected with many universities who use their app. I found this person after searching through LinkedIn and from the first person. He explained how he sells the app to places/city councils/universities to use on their campus, and he didn't ask for any favors in return. He has many contacts and partners that he works with that use the Passport app and are open to trying out other parking services apps.

Reflection: This experience has provided me with the tools needed to research my market and the key players for creating, marketing, and expanding on my service. This will be more viable in the future because I won't be wasting time talking to everyone at networking events and can be more strategic about my target network.

Comments

  1. Sophia MorinJuly 20, 2020 at 12:13 AM

    Hi Anisha!
    I think you did a great job here. I especially appreciated how you used LinkedIn as a resource to find your first person. That was a very smart idea and is something that I will for certain be using in the future. Furthermore, learning about promotional ideas from your second interviewee is very advantageous, and will prove to benefit you in the future of your product's development. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Haven TwyfordJuly 20, 2020 at 10:12 AM

    Hi Anisha,
    You did a great job this exercise! You chose really great people to interview and it seems like you got some useful information. I really admire the way you chose people that you didn't already have a connection with, which expanded your network even further! I chose one person who I didn't know for my exercise, but I was disappointed because she did not return my email. I'm really glad that you had success with reaching out to these people, and I hope the connections you made can be useful indefinitely!

    ReplyDelete

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