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Final Blog: Preparations

Last week we haven’t had a class on Technoprenuership due to granding launching of USTP. Yet, we still have lots of projects and requirements to do before the finals end. So, I with my teammates should comply all of that before the final presentation. The progress of the group is not that much but things can be handle but we need to put extra time to this since this is not the only subject requires project but also to my other subjects. Also, the group rest assured before the pitching day can finished all the requirements and completely prepared.

I think this will be the last blog for this subject and I will surely miss writing even though I’m not that good enough in writing. Additionally, the rejections and interviews I experienced would be memorable for me. And most of all the lessons shared by our instructor Engr. Mabulay will surely treasure and keep it mind.

Thank would be all. Thank you.

#13thblog

Establish Value Proposition and Market Stategies

Last Wednesday, March 15, 2017, Sir Mabulay gave us the outline for our final presentation this coming 1st week of April. The requirements we should prepare and complete includes: Pitch decks, Prototype, Lean Canvass, Empathy Map, and User Persona. For our final pitching the presenter should maximize the presentation with allotted time of 4 minutes. For the pitch decks, the presenter should able to present the Problem, Solution, Value Proposition, How the product works, Market Size, Competition in the Market, Revenue Model, and the Early Adopter of the product. Since our project is a mobile application we should present a working product with high fidelity.

On the other hand, Sir Mabulay discussed about Value Proposition. In which it is the most important why we are doing this all. It’s not about the idea or product. But it’s about solving a need or a problem, and how we satisfy a customer need. Additionally, the goal of value proposition is to find out the Minimum Viable Product. In which MVP test the ability of the product to meet minimal customer needs.

Also, at the time Sir Mabulay discussed about Revenue model. It is how the company generate cash from each customer segment. To generate cash you have to establish pricing, it could be fixed or dynamic. Also, it is important to know what market you would in because it is not only about the revenue you get but also how the users will react to the service they get. All of this elements, would be beneficial to us for the start-up we are doing right now.

We have two weeks to go and we have so many things to comply for the final presentation. Since there will be no class next week we will utilize that vacant time for making our project. That would be all for the moment.

#12thblog MotoGrab

Customer Segments

11th blog

Last week was a tiring one. I was assigned to conduct an interview to the potential users (habal-habal drivers) of our mobile application. During the interview with the first habal-habal driver I was a little bit shy. The questions to be asked to him are jumbled in my mind since interviewing people is not my forte; but as I go along conducting interviews to habal-habal drivers everything goes fine and right. I did enjoy during the interview and eventually got good feedbacks on what I have unveil to them but somehow other habal-habal drivers didn’t like the idea for some reasons.

On the other hand, last Wednesday (March 15, 2017) I thought we will be presenting our updated slide decks but Sir Mabulay did a discussion about Customer Development. In building a company you have to do the process of (Customer Discovery-Customer Validation-Customer Creation). Searching for a repeatable, scalable, and executing a business model could established startup venture into an organization. Also, he added in his discussion the rule of validating an idea during in an interviews/talks.

As instructed by Sir Mabulay next Wednesday we will be presenting the updated slide decks including the empathy map, but before that we have to do consultations to him. That would be all as of now and God bless.

#MotoGrab

Create Something from Observation

10th Blog

Last week we had our presentation again on the first four parts of the Lean Canvass. One of my Teammates was the one who presented our slides. Then, our instructor commented and suggested on the said presentation. I expected errors since we haven’t done an interview at that time. Though we have errors during the presentation I know we can overcome this and fix everything.

Last Thursday (March 9, 2017) we had our make-up class and our instructor discussed the most important part in doing a start-up which is “The Voice of the Users”. From that, we learned about observing with curiosity and empathy that we need to observe what our customers do, listen to the stories they tell us, and look for the gaps between what they say and what they actually do and ask why? And only then, we can create solutions to fit those needs. In doing a start-up observation entails understanding needs at the levels of use, usability, and meaning. Then, this part, wireframing is needed because to imagine an idea is totally different from to experience. Thus, presenting your solution with prototypes or wireframes would help you to validate your product to be made.

On the other hand, our instructor gave us an assignment which we are going to fill-up the Empathy Map. Then, for this activity we will be conducting an interview with our early adopters. We are hoping that we we will gather noteworthy answers from them. As of now, the team is still enhancing our slide deck that we will be presenting by next week. Good luck to us.

#MotoGrab

MotoGrab: Updates

Last week our instructor wasn’t able to handle a class in our schedule. As a student what we did together with my group is, we had our strategic planning on how to conduct an interview to our target customers. Additionally, we will be starting to fill-up our validation board by next week. On the other hand, for the last week’s pitching we finalize it for this coming Wednesday’s presentation. We improved our concept and make it clearer so that it would be understood easily.

I as the designated designer for the group I already studying on how to do wireframing for our mobile application. In addition, we will be consulting with our target customers whatever do we have done in wireframing to meet the desired design for our mobile application. That’s it as of now. More updates will be posted soon.

#9thblog

Getting into the Core

Last Wednesday February 22, 2017, Engr. Mabulay discussed about Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Failure. Our instructor started his discussions by asking a question “Are Entrepreneurs born or made?”. That question sink-in my mind and silently answered, Entrepreneurs are made through to the passion and dedication put in their work. And with this discussion about Entrepreneurship it gets more interesting for me.

I know to be an Entrepreneur is not easy because you have put a lot of time to come up with a good idea, and being an Entrepreneur is just putting yourself into a stressful one. But the exchange would be a long-run success. Based on the presentation of Engr. Mabulay, Entrepreneurs have failed over many times before they become a successful one. Entrepreneurs believe that it is Ok to Fail because smart Entrepreneurs put failure to work through perseverance and learn something from those. Additionally, to be an Entrepreneur you should have the skills and wide-ranging mindset to become one of them.

On the other hand, he discussed about how to validate ideas through validation board. Where you start first at Customer and problem hypothesis - you have to balance the two markets since our project is a two-sided market. Then have a design experiment where you list all your assumptions including the riskiest one. Next, the Methods and the Criterion. In methods and criterion, you have to interact with the potential customers through; reproduce the problem (Exploration), collect currency (Pitch), deliver customer expectation (Concierge) and from that, decide on the weakest outcome you will accept as validation. Then from the results, you will analyze whether it is invalidated or validated. If invalidated, then go to 1st pivot and repeat the process until it gets validated. Lastly, is the Solution hypothesis where you will come up with this part if the results from surveys or interviews gets validated.

Additionally, Engr. Mabulay instructed us to work on our validation board and gave us 2 weeks to comply. As of now, we haven’t started to interview our potential customers since we are having a strategic planning on how we will do that. And we are expecting that this will be hard for us since we will be interviewing random people. By next week we will fill-up with our Lean Canvass and we will pitch again about the first four-parts of the Lean Canvass.

That would be as of the moment. Plans and updates for our group will be posted soon.

#8thblog

Going on the Right Track

Week 7

Last Wednesday, February 15, 2017, we had our presentation on Lean Canvass. Our team presented the first four parts of the Lean Canvass namely; The Problem, The Solution, Unique Value Proposition, and Customer Segment. In each part, Sir Mabulay gave his comments and suggestions to help us do this ongoing start-up systematize. In addition, this is the revision of each part of our lean canvass.

To the problems we presented, Sir Mabulay suggested to go deeper on the main problem which are the traffic and the unavailability of vehicles. These problems should answer the questions of WHY’s. Also, he added to focus on the main problem and try look for the possible solutions of this predicament.

For our solution, since traffic is everywhere nowadays. We formulated a solution that can reduce the time traveled from one place to another. The solution we presented should cater the product that we’re going to make which is a mobile application.

For the mobile application we are going to make, we formulated a unique value proposition which is “Travel around the city with safe rides that saves your money and time”. This part of lean canvass gave us a hard time in formulating this since we are competing with other companies and our product should have an edge with our companies.

The last part we presented is the customer segment and our target market is the college students with smartphones. However, Sir Mabulay reminded us that our going start-up is a two-way market. Moreover, he suggested to at least ride an Uber or Garb to have a glance on how the service is done and used that experience to formulate an idea to be used in making this start-up.

That would be all. Updates for the next plan for our product will be posted soon. God bless and more power to us.

#7thblog

Start-up: MotoGrab

Week 6

Last February 8, 2017, Engr. Mabulay discussed about how to address a major problem in the field of business. Moreover, our instructor discussed the steps on how to identify an opportunity. Firstly is define market focus which mainly focus on the side of the customers and how to develop a business model. Secondly, is segment and select market, it is how you attract your market. Thirdly, define the problem which focus on how to discover customer needs and to get in front of them. Then, determine the timing where you project customer’s future needs and lastly is validate, where you check if the business potential is real. After that, establish customer relationship to get quick feedback.

On the other hand, our instructor discussed The Lean Canvas. It is an adaptation of business model. It focuses on problems, solutions, key metrics, and competitive advantages. For our group our instructor asked to make a Lean Canvas. Here it is.

1. Problem

Heavy traffic.

Unavailability of vehicles.

Existing Alternatives

Grab, Uber

2. Customer Segments

College students and workers who have smartphones.

Early Adopters

Ones that need the product most like students and workers who usually depend on smartphones. Additionally, students and workers who have smartphones that are in hurry especially in getting to school and to their works, respectively.

3. Unique Value Proposition

Be at the place that you want in a safer, a faster, and a cheaper-price service.

High-level Concept

Instead of jeepney, taxi, and etc.,transportation by means of motorycle by contacting or locating motorcycle drivers using smartphones.

4. Solution

Offer ride services by means of motorcycle using smartphones.

Using smartphones contact or locate the motor drivers.

#BusinessModel #6thblog

Startup: Persona

Week 5

Last time we presented our project proposal entitled “Grab Habal-habal” and Engr. Mabulay recommended to research more about Go-Jek which is similar to our project proposal. To have a background about Go-Jek we gathered information on how that mobile application works. The concept of our start-up is just the same with the concepts of those large companies out there, but on our part what we are going to do is just to create a concept that is only a “small scale” of a mobile application for transportation here in the “Cagayan de Oro City”.

Last Tuesday January 31, 2017, I with my groupmates presented the final topic for our project in Technopreneurship class. From “Grab Habal-habal” we change the title into “MotoGrab”. Basically, it is a mobile application which offers transport service that uses motorcycles by using smartphones. From the data we gathered last week we presented in our second pitching. I with my groupmates decided to have the target market within Cagayan de Oro which are students and workers because we see many people not only in late night but also in the morning having a hard time of getting into a transportation.

In the end of our presentation our instructor suggested to get the side of the drivers and the potential customers here in Cagayan de Oro. In addition, our instructor helped us on how we are going to manipulate the concept into “REALITY” and he also suggested some ways to make it reliable to the entrepreneurs in the market. As of now, we are having a random interview with the drivers and customers about this ongoing project. Also, we are having a strategic planning on how this project will be done.

There are many things to capture on this ongoing project. I see many challenges will come as go on but this will make us more mature and more confident even if we are just students. More power to us.

Doing a Start-up: IDEATION

Week 4

Last Wenesday January 25 2017 we had our project proposal for Technopreneurship class. I with my groupmates proposed about an on-demand economy project what we call grab “habal-habal”. This project is similar to Go-Jek of Indonesia which offer services in terms of motorcycle by using of smartphones.

I with my groupmates are planning to pursue this project because we want see the potentials of this start-up in the Philippines. We want to start here in Cagayan de Oro because we see many people not only in late night but also in the morning having a hard time of getting into a transportation. But now, we are having a strategic planning on how this project will be.

Additionally, we have many things to capture in order to have this project successful. Like, we are planning on the design and especially on how to program on this mobile application. We know that there are many challenges to encounter on making this project because they say having a start-up is not easy. Nevertheless, I see it would be fun as we go on to this project.

Top Companies in Southeast Asia in line with Mobile App Development

Week 3

Today, smartphones have changed our lives. It plays a vital role in every individual in this world. We use it in our home, school, and even in different things. As we go back in 1990’s mobile phones that was once used either to make calls or receive calls has been transformed into different dimension. Today’s mobile phones are as sleek and small as we ever could have imagined, and have shifted from personal life essentials to business tools, where we can deal online services.

The development of mobile apps has been rapidly changing. Companies developed and marketed android applications online due to increasing demand of android based tablets and smartphones. People enthrall with these mobile apps because these make our lives simpler. Additionally, they have decreased the complications on dealing services which we exercise before the era of mobile applications. That’s why mobile apps are in so much demand today.

Now every individual in this world might think of doing a start up in lined with mobile application development because they see what’s best as of now. Companies listed below are the top competitors in developing mobile application in Southeast Asian countries that provide best services for almost any service you need and etc.

Affle AppStudioz

According to my research, this is a Singapore-HQ mobile application development company. One of the best companies that works on the development wing of Affle MAAS (Mobile Audience as Service) platform, specializing in UX, design and mobility. Also, Affle AppStudioz has a team of 300+ professionals that specializes in using Agile Scrum methodology for developing mobile apps. The wide range of services provided by Affle AppStudioz are: Mobile Apps Development (iPhone, Android, Windows), Cross Platform App Development (PhoneGap, Sencha, HTML5 etc.), Website Design and Development, CMS Based Open Source Integration, and Responsive Website Design and Theme-ing. Overall, this company is very versatile.

Elinext Group

One of the best companies in Southeast Asian is the Elinext. It is a custom software development and consulting company focusing on web, mobile, desktop and embedded software development, QA and testing. Since 1997, they have been bringing digital transformation to mid-sized and large enterprises in Banking and Finance, Insurance, Telecommunications, Healthcare and Retail. Their key domains include enterprise software, e-commerce, BI and Big Data, e-learning and IoT.

QSoft Vietnam

Another based mobile app company is QSoft Vietnam a professional Offshore Software Outsourcing company with recognized expertise in Mobile Application Development, Responsive Website Design & Development and Custom Business Software development. They are a one-stop destination for their Software and Apps demands. Their high quality, CMMi certified services and strong commitment bring their customers utmost satisfaction and in return rewarded them with rapid and sustainable growths over the past 8 years.

However these companies start from the bottom before they are on the top. In other words if you start now you could be on the top like them, stop wishing only but rather start doing as early as now.

My Own Perspective

According to Albert Hammond Jr, when you get together in a group, it becomes like a family, with the different personalities and the politics that comes with being in a band. It’s different than bringing something in by yourself. These make every individual in this world unique from each other. You would encounter different people with same interests or not. However how unique we are, we have also different strengths and weaknesses as we face different challenges in life. These challenges would determine you in what aspect you are good at.

In 20 years of existence in this world, I have strengths and weaknesses. My adaptability to change is one of my greatest strengths to maintain effectiveness in a group when experiencing major changes in work tasks or work environment. I could adjust effectively with my colleague and focused on the positive aspect of the change.

Another one my strengths is I am a quick learner and a team player. I can establish with my colleague effective teamwork. I can suggest also ideas with them when needed and establish positive working relationship with individuals within the group.

On the other side, one of my weaknesses is I concentrate on one thing at a time. I focused on it because I look forward always with good outcome. According to Staley and Shockley-Zalabak, having good oral communication skills are a critical component of organizational effectiveness and promotability. I have no problems expressing ideas clearly and effectively in writing, but when it comes to presenting that information orally, I freeze up and am at loss for words. For this reason, I fail at clearly conveying information and ideas to individuals or groups in a manner that engages the audience and helps them to understand and retain the message.

Many things interest me most especially in the field of technology. Advanced gadgets, equipment, and the inventions of robots really interests me. From what I have observed in the present, people would be relying mostly on technology in the future and I believe that advanced-technologies would take control over things. Due to interest in technology I want to explore many things to evolve together with technology and so my learning.

When I entered college, I have set goals in life and one of those is to become an engineer. Becoming an entrepreneur is out if my mind but when I heard about technopreneurship it makes me interested. Engineering would be a tool that I would use for it. Technoprenuership encourages me to do startup to know my potentials in entrepreneurship. However, I expect from doing startup it would teach me many lessons despite of some failures. In addition, this could be a building block towards my goals in life. As early as now, start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. No matter how hard it is.

#selfevaluations

Everthing Starts Here

According to Lao Tzu, do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

My journey towards technopreneurship starts now, in which I expect a lot things to learn not only to my instructor but also to my groupmates soon. I am also expecting to our instructor to be kind, understanding, and considerate in every decision we make. Additionally, I expect that he will guide us in everything we do, that would both us engage to do our best in this subject.

After our instructor do the discussions about this subject I realize that it’s time for me to go beyond my limitations, to explore my potentials. Hence, to know if I could be an entrepreneur in the future. Taking up this subject would not be easy and I accept this as a challenge to find the better version of myself. On the other hand, I expect that the work we’ll do would be fruitful and would form camaraderie. Most importantly, I will do my part for this subject without much ado.

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Michael John