venture concept number 2

Opportunity: 

            The opportunity that I am seeking to exploit lies with big corporations. They are always looking for new, effective, and efficient ways to advertise and I believe that I have found a spin-off of a method currently in use; one that will allow advertising to the masses but will cost far less than traditional Commercials. Currently, there is nothing in the market of television commercials that allows companies to gather data on viewers and then show them commercials that align with their wants and needs. This model has been proven very effective on the internet. For example, one of Facebooks main revenue drivers, if not the dominant one, is online advertisements. They collect the cookies from the users search history and display ad’s that are somehow related to the to the searches. Another example would be Amazon. The company has been extremely successful at pushing products that relate to what their customer is buying. Through this next generation model of advertising, companies can save costs by showing commercials to only those who show signs of wanting or needing that specific product. The reason that I am especially excited about this opportunity is that this is an untapped market. There are currently no companies offering services similar to mine and I believe that as long as my company can come to market within the next two to three years, we will be successful.

            

Innovation:

          I believe that my product is very innovate. Through a platform, that my company will have intellectual property rights on, let’s call it Money Maker, any company with enough recourses to collect sufficient amounts of data will be able to acquire a viewer’s search history and use that data to decide which commercials to display. In further detail, Money Maker will collect a user’s search history from their computer, laptop, and cell phone and show advertisements that align with the potential customers wants and needs that have been determined through their cookies. In order to create Money Maker, I will need to hire a top-notch team of coders. I plan on selling my platform to cable companies for an undetermined amount and I will also collect a royalty indefinitely that is equal to x% of payments received by the cable company from the advertising company. My proof of concept will be Google, Amazon, and Facebook.

Venture Concept:

            I think that Money Maker will fill the gap in next-gen advertising. By using my platform, companies can save money on advertising because they will not be showing as many commercials as they previously had done. Rather, they will be paying for fewer commercials, but the ads will be placed in front of viewers who are believed to harbor some level of interest for their product of service. I believe that and the fact that no other companies have entered this field will make my product very marketable and, once word gets out, very valuable. Since I am dealing with software, my overhead costs will be very limited. Aside from a few small things, my expenses are only going to be office space, utilities, and payroll. I believe that limited overhead will prove to be an asset because it will lower the price for my product, making it even more appealing. Ideally, I would like to grow my business to be a 20+ person corporation. Eventually I will have to hire a support staff, marketing crew, and back office employee’s. 

1.     I believe that my secret sauce will be a mixture of a few things. The first, and perhaps most important, I will be the first company to venture into this field. Since I will have a head start and have contracts in place, it will be hard for competitors to follow suit. Another unfair advantage is that I will recruit top talent. Being a student at the University of Florida puts me at a unique position to find top talent and recruit them for a start up that is sure to take off.

2.     Currently, I do not have a “next” for my company. As of now, the plan is to sell it to cable companies and collect a royalty from its usage. However, there will be plenty of upgrades and glitches to fix to keep my company busy for a long time.

3.     Well, this product will take a few years to launch. By my estimates, it should be market ready within the next five years. However, after that and after I have achieved the goals talked about in #2, I would like to use my profits to start another company. Possibly in tech or consulting or a mixture, it is years away so I have plenty of time to think about it.

Feedback and what I changed:

Overall, the feedback that I received was positive. One person suggested that I try to target older audiences as many have yet to figure out how to work computers and online videos. Another suggestion is to give audiences the option to opt into this advertising program so as not to violate any ethical codes. Overall, I think I that I still have much room for improvement but, so long as I make the right choices, I will have a successful venture.