20A – Growing Your Social Capital

Domain Expert:

1. Who they are and what their background is.

- Jason McNamera, Manager at Black Rose Irish Pub in Boca Raton

2. Which 'slot' you are filling with each person and how the person fills the spot.

- He has to promote and put on events, and manage the bar. He assists in who the bar partners with.

3. A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

- I first tried sending an email to their general account, but didn’t hear back soon enough. So I decided to walk in before their peek business hours.

4. The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

- Our conversation was very brief, I explained who I was and my product idea. He gave me a few pointers on my business venture. Then we ended up connecting on Linkedin.

5. How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

-  Once my app comes to fruition and I want to start selling it to bars, having connections to bars and clubs will be vital to my business. The more connections I can acquire, will make it easier to have my app explode. Especially if I can build relationships with bars that are chains, that would allow me to spread out much quicker.

Market Expert:

1. Who they are and what their background is.

- Jaqueline Kohn, is an entrepreneur who was selling beer mugs at Octoberfest

2. Which 'slot' you are filling with each person and how the person fills the spot.

- She also goes to bars trying to sell her beer mugs and shot glasses.

3. A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

- When I went to Octoberfest, I struck up a conversation with her when I walked by her tent.

4. The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

- When I went up to her tent I asked if she made these, and she explained her story. On the weekends she goes to events and tries to market her mugs and glasses. She explained her strategy when going into a bar and promoting her product. Nothing has come out, since meeting with her.

5. How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

-  She provided me with great insight and experience in how to market or how not to market to a bar. Even though she is not a hugely successful entrepreneur, and is not nearly as helpful of a connection to have as Jason is, it’s always positive to learn more about the industry.

Industry Supplier:

1. Who they are and what their background is.

- Karen Tontodanato, manager at Gold Coast Beverage

2. Which 'slot' you are filling with each person and how the person fills the spot.

- She is a manager at the largest beer wholesaler in Florida. She deals with POs and makes sure all bar owners are happy with their deliveries.

3. A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

- My friend’s father is a bar owner and was able to connect me to her through email.

4. The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

- We only had a few exchanges through email, I explained who I was and my app idea. She explained how she was not a marketing genius but thought it would be smart to utilize social media. Have like raffles and deals if they follow your profile.

5. How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

-  If I can establish a relationship with Florida largest wholesaler, maybe I can work out a deal with them, i.e. they lower their margin to bars if the bar owner partners with me. In exchange I provide a royalty to the wholesaler.   

Finally Reflect:

Trying to find an industry supplier was more difficult to find than I first assumed. Finding a friend who knew how to get in touch with someone important, was a daunting task. For the future I will definitely try much harder to get contact information from people who I believe could enhance my ability. Also going up to vendors asking them a bunch of questions was frustrating and forced me to go outside my comfort zone.