Prototype interview 1: Maurice Perez
What is your startup idea? I'm thinking about selling my t-shirts online. That was one of the projects that I had in mind. There are many other possibilities – looking at seeing whether that would be possible to venture in that area.
What are your next steps: I’d like to take a pulse of what’s out there. What’s hot, what moving, what do people look for.
What resources do you need? I’d need to contact wholesalers, look at the price per t-shirt on a wholesale level. Manufacturing. Where it is going to be manufactured. Eventually contracts with companies that would provide the t-shirt.
I also need to think about setting up everything online, all the payment procedures, how would that be done.
Have you used in tech resources in the past? I’ve done a lot of business with Paypal. I assume there are other companies out there.
PayPal I heard about because I’m on amazon and use paypal as the payment method.
What would you like to get from this resource? Different ways and avenues of starting up a business. Different perspectives for beginners.
Seminars or workshops to strategize as to how the business is gonna be structured, what’s going to be needed, the finances.
--> Business planning and networking
--> “How to start a business in New York City.”
*Maurice can't afford the $250 or $50 entrance to some eventbrite trainings for business startup.
--> What kind of mentorship are you interested in specifically?
"Individuals who are successful and are able to relay the information about their success and kind of be a guide. Given that they are successful."
We will email you to set up a call with a tech mentor. Can I have your email address to send a list of events we found?
“It was helpful in a sense that it allows me to peer and get an idea of what is being offered or what the whole concept is about.”
The learning is where I need to start in order to venture out into other areas.
Build was my second interest.
With the business plan, you definitely need a solid business plan which will open doors and allow you to venture into other areas.
"The phone experience was best. I might go on the site and there might be something there that I might need, the person on the phone might be able to expand on it a little more. The website might still provide the information but not be able to answer the question unless there is a search thing where you can type questions."
"With an individual on the phone it is more intimate. You can ask more questions pertaining to the information you’re trying to illicit."
"When you get to talk to individuals over the phone it is better because you get more detail and a better perspective on what you’re trying to find out."
Users don't fit into neat categories. People often want several different types of resources. Learn, Build, and Connect are all interrelated.
Interpersonal is easier to navigate ambiguity and the individual's multiple levels of needs.
Some of the "resource" especially those listed on digital.nyc are not accessible to communities with financial restrictions (ie: events that cost $50 or $250 should be filtered out)
We should make a filter for location, cost, etc. to better adjust to our users.
