It's WHO You Know, Not WHAT(?!) You Know

Assignment 20A 

1) Who they are and what their background is.

Josh Java, co-founder of Trendy Entertainment here in Gainesville.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

Java works in the entertainment business so he is the domain expert for the sake of this assignment.

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

I got into contact with Java through my networking class at UF.  We were emailing through the Internet and then got together for a cup of coffee.

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

The nature of the exchange was mostly just to network.  To see what they are doing in their lives and how I can kind of be my own person the way that he did.  He had a lot of great insights and we actually had a really good conversation.  The return was just to get an idea of what drives people to entertainment and how to create for them.

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

Well, having Java in the network opens up a lot of doors.  The biggest I think is maybe just doing some work for him or joining his team was the main idea behind this and then giving him my idea so that he can figure out the logistics of how to make it a reality.

1) Who they are and what their background is.

Benny Torres, professor at UF and advertising veteran.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

Market expert, he has a lot of background in the advertising world.

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

He is one of my professors for advertising and I’ve had him twice before as a professor.

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

He’s basically just a mentor.  He gives really good advice and has a very good understanding about markets and how to target people.

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

Benny has really good insights and creative ideas that I can use to exploit the opportunity and make the most of my product.

1) Who they are and what their background is.

Joshua Ordos

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

Supplier expert, Josh works for EMC, which sells Dell computers and parts, among other things.

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

He’s my brother so I just called him to ask him some questions and told him my idea.

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

He said he would look into what you would need to do to make the time machine VR experience work, as well as take the idea and see how others in his industry and work think of it.

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

Josh has a really good background in business and entrepreneurialism, so having him in my back pocket will make this idea and business able to grow exponentially.

Finally: Reflect. This experience requires you to do a little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How?

I think this will help me in the future to target my network more effectively and talk to people that will help me more rather than just meeting people to meet people.  This experience was a lot different from my past experiences because I just usually see someone not talking to any one else and talk to them because it’s easier than waiting and feeling awkward not talking to someone.