If Microsoft were to redesign the original iPod packaging, which would you buy? This classic marketing video still makes a great point about simplicity.
Friday, December 4, 2009
I'm currently reading Viktor Frankl's Man's Search For Meaning, and it's changing my life. Or at least I hope it is. Frankl survived the Nazi concentration camps, and he wrote this book to explore the psychological motivations for the horrible actions he witnessed.
To this point (I'm approximately halfway through the book), Frankl has primarily provided details of life in a concentration camp and personal anecdotes that would make one shudder. But his overarching theme is starting to emerge. Frankl suffered more than almost any of us will ever have to suffer, and yet, thankfully, he survived long enough to grasp an eternal truth in a way many of us will never experience. This quote is long, but I'm including it below. I hope you can benefit from it as much as I have.
In attempting this psychological presentation and a psychopathological explanation of the typical characteristics of a concentration camp inmate, I may give the impression that the human being is completely and unavoidably influenced by his surroundings. (In this case the surroundings being the unique structure of camp life, which forced the prisoner to conform his conduct to a certain set pattern.) But what about human liberty? Is there no spiritual freedom in regard to behavior and reaction to any given surroundings? Is that theory true which would have us believe that man is no more than a product of many conditional and environmental factors--be they of a biological, psychological or sociological nature? Is man but an accidental product of these? Most important, do the prisoners' reactions to the singular world of the concentration camp prove that man cannot escape the influences of his surroundings? Does man have no choice of action in the face of such circumstances?
We can answer these questions from experience as well as on principle. The experiences of camp life show that man does have a choice of action. There were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress.
We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.
...It is this spiritual freedom--which cannot be taken away--that makes life meaningful and purposeful.
We do not have to endure what Frankl endured. And yet we are granted the same spiritual freedom. How are we using it?
To this point (I'm approximately halfway through the book), Frankl has primarily provided details of life in a concentration camp and personal anecdotes that would make one shudder. But his overarching theme is starting to emerge. Frankl suffered more than almost any of us will ever have to suffer, and yet, thankfully, he survived long enough to grasp an eternal truth in a way many of us will never experience. This quote is long, but I'm including it below. I hope you can benefit from it as much as I have.
In attempting this psychological presentation and a psychopathological explanation of the typical characteristics of a concentration camp inmate, I may give the impression that the human being is completely and unavoidably influenced by his surroundings. (In this case the surroundings being the unique structure of camp life, which forced the prisoner to conform his conduct to a certain set pattern.) But what about human liberty? Is there no spiritual freedom in regard to behavior and reaction to any given surroundings? Is that theory true which would have us believe that man is no more than a product of many conditional and environmental factors--be they of a biological, psychological or sociological nature? Is man but an accidental product of these? Most important, do the prisoners' reactions to the singular world of the concentration camp prove that man cannot escape the influences of his surroundings? Does man have no choice of action in the face of such circumstances?
We can answer these questions from experience as well as on principle. The experiences of camp life show that man does have a choice of action. There were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress.
We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.
...It is this spiritual freedom--which cannot be taken away--that makes life meaningful and purposeful.
We do not have to endure what Frankl endured. And yet we are granted the same spiritual freedom. How are we using it?
Thursday, December 3, 2009
If any of you weren't able to watch the game on Saturday, I'd just like to offer my condolences. I was lucky enough to be at the stadium and witness the most exciting BYU game I've seen in years (I was gone for the 2006 BYU-Utah game, so that doesn't count). It was a welcome contrast to the humiliating defeat in last year's rivalry game where Max Hall threw 5 interceptions--more than Utah had had the entire season. Max apparently didn't forget that, and he came ready to play this year. He remained cool under intense overtime pressure and delivered a smooth 25-yard touchdown pass to Andrew George, giving BYU more than enough reason to celebrate. It was safe to say he had reclaimed his reputation and respect.
That is, until his now-infamous post-game interview.
If you missed his comments, here's a direct quote: "I don't like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, their fans. I hate everything. It felt really good to send those guys home. I think the whole university and their fans and the organization is classless. They threw beer on my family and stuff last year and did a whole bunch of nasty things. I don't respect them and they deserved to lose."
That would hardly be out of line in a locker room discussion, and part of what he said is understandable (especially considering the personal nature of the attacks on both him and his family). However, not only are those comments completely inappropriate for a public interview, they cast a shadow on an otherwise clean and definitive victory. Most of what everyone has heard since the game hasn't been about football--it's centered around Max Hall and his hatred of "everything."
Fortunately, Max did issue an apology in which he clarified his feelings and stated his respect for Utah's coach and players. But the initial impact of his interview was big enough to attract thousands of Max Hall-haters to join Facebook pages such as "Max Hall hates me and thinks I'm classless" and to deepen the rivalry to an unhealthy, hateful level.
Moral of the story? Don't always say what you really think. Especially if you're on camera.
That is, until his now-infamous post-game interview.
If you missed his comments, here's a direct quote: "I don't like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, their fans. I hate everything. It felt really good to send those guys home. I think the whole university and their fans and the organization is classless. They threw beer on my family and stuff last year and did a whole bunch of nasty things. I don't respect them and they deserved to lose."
That would hardly be out of line in a locker room discussion, and part of what he said is understandable (especially considering the personal nature of the attacks on both him and his family). However, not only are those comments completely inappropriate for a public interview, they cast a shadow on an otherwise clean and definitive victory. Most of what everyone has heard since the game hasn't been about football--it's centered around Max Hall and his hatred of "everything."
Fortunately, Max did issue an apology in which he clarified his feelings and stated his respect for Utah's coach and players. But the initial impact of his interview was big enough to attract thousands of Max Hall-haters to join Facebook pages such as "Max Hall hates me and thinks I'm classless" and to deepen the rivalry to an unhealthy, hateful level.
Moral of the story? Don't always say what you really think. Especially if you're on camera.
Monday, November 30, 2009
I've had the entrepreneurial drive since I was a kid, so it's fun to finally be starting a "real" company. Although I'm still in the early stages, things are definitely looking promising.
My business idea has evolved to focus on the English tutoring niche. There are currently 1.1 billion people learning English, and that number is expected to be 2 billion in the next 10 to 15 years. Each year, people spend $50 billion to learn English. Simply put, the market is huge.
Most of the competition in this market offers tutoring by licensed tutors at an average rate of $20 to $40 per hour. I believe a ton of money is left on the table by neglecting those who are willing to pay for English help but cannot afford a professional tutor. In addition, most of the competition's offerings consist of lesson packages of 30-60 minutes at a time. What if a student or an individual wants only 10 minutes of on-demand English assistance on a particular topic?
Oovoh (pronounced EW-vo) will fill that need. Tutors will be ordinary individuals who will be briefly trained, tested and then selected (very similar to ChaCha's method of training, testing and selecting their guides). The tutors will then be required to complete three ten-minute tutoring sessions at no pay. If their ratings are positive, they will then be eligible to offer paid tutoring. As tutors complete certain "milestones" (based on ratings), they will be eligible for pay raises.
Because the tutors are not professional or licensed, the cost for students will be dramatically lower. Prices are anticipated to start at the per-minute equivalent of $10 per hour and will range up to $18 for more experienced (and highly-ranked) tutors. Additionally, students will be granted 15 free minutes at signup.
I believe Oovoh's concept is sound and the potential is huge. The road ahead is long and uncertain, but I believe there is a road.
My business idea has evolved to focus on the English tutoring niche. There are currently 1.1 billion people learning English, and that number is expected to be 2 billion in the next 10 to 15 years. Each year, people spend $50 billion to learn English. Simply put, the market is huge.
Most of the competition in this market offers tutoring by licensed tutors at an average rate of $20 to $40 per hour. I believe a ton of money is left on the table by neglecting those who are willing to pay for English help but cannot afford a professional tutor. In addition, most of the competition's offerings consist of lesson packages of 30-60 minutes at a time. What if a student or an individual wants only 10 minutes of on-demand English assistance on a particular topic?
Oovoh (pronounced EW-vo) will fill that need. Tutors will be ordinary individuals who will be briefly trained, tested and then selected (very similar to ChaCha's method of training, testing and selecting their guides). The tutors will then be required to complete three ten-minute tutoring sessions at no pay. If their ratings are positive, they will then be eligible to offer paid tutoring. As tutors complete certain "milestones" (based on ratings), they will be eligible for pay raises.
Because the tutors are not professional or licensed, the cost for students will be dramatically lower. Prices are anticipated to start at the per-minute equivalent of $10 per hour and will range up to $18 for more experienced (and highly-ranked) tutors. Additionally, students will be granted 15 free minutes at signup.
I believe Oovoh's concept is sound and the potential is huge. The road ahead is long and uncertain, but I believe there is a road.
Rough homepage mockup #1
Rough homepage mockup #2
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Team
Primary Contact: Ryan Van Wagoner
Other Team Members: John Cottam (non-student)
[other]
Company Name
[undecided]
Summary
Using Skype-style video chat technology, students learning English in foreign countries will be able to have a live tutoring session with Americans for a fraction of the cost of hiring a professional tutor. Tutors will be average Americans (targeted to college-age students) who receive a brief training and whose pay increases as their positive rankings from those they tutor increase. With a small team of business and technology specialists, this idea will eventually be expanded to include other subjects, such as math and science.
Business Concept and Model
This company will create value by providing live video chat English tutoring to foreign students in the comfort of their own homes. Students will be allowed 10 free minutes at sign-up, whereupon they will be prompted to “fill up” their account. Different tutors will charge different amounts, depending on their level of experience and the number of positive ratings they have received, but the price for any tutor will lie roughly between $12 and $18 per hour (adjusted to a per-minute rate). The students will be able to search for tutors based on age, location, experience, price, or number of positive ratings received. Tutoring sessions will be automatically timed, and the student’s account balance will automatically decline until a refill is required.
Revenue will be generated by taking a percentage of the amount charged (approximately 50%). Thus, if the student is paying the equivalent of $12 per hour, the tutor will receive the equivalent of $8 per hour. In addition, tutors will have the option to advertise themselves on the site to generate more traffic, for which they will be charged a small amount.
A key aspect to this business is the tutor selection process. Because the price will be so much lower than other services, these tutors will not be professional or licensed tutors; instead, they will be average individuals who are briefly trained and tested in a similar manner to ChaCha’s guide recruitment process. Upon passing the short qualification test, they must complete a certain amount of free tutoring (i.e., 3 positive rankings) before they are eligible to be paid. They are then paid the minimum rate ($8 per hour) and are eligible for automatic pay raises when they hit certain milestones (i.e., number of positive ratings). Tutors will be able to work at their own schedule and in the comfort of their own home. In addition, the tutoring session will come on an as-needed basis; in other words, the tutors will log in to the site and can then do other tasks until a popup window informs them that a student wants to speak with them.
This business will be tested in the English tutoring market, targeting primarily English learners in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (due to Ryan’s personal familiarity with the language and culture) and American tutors. As the process becomes stable, additional languages and other subjects will be added. In other words, an experienced student who understands calculus will be able to tutor a less experienced student who is struggling in his lower-level calculus class (this will be more complicated and will most likely involve the use of tablet PCs so the student and tutor can work out problems together; however, with the rising popularity of tablet PCs, this could be a definite possibility in the near future). Although market research still needs to be performed to more accurately determine market demand and appropriate price points, the market is extremely large and potential for expansion is huge.
Market/Customers
The initial customers will be individuals ages 18-30 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland who are looking for English tutoring but don’t want to pay the high rates that most tutors charge. The market pain they are experiencing is the inability to receive English tutoring from an American at a price they can afford. They will buy because they are getting a better deal than if they were to pay for a professional tutor, yet they are getting more consistent language help than if it were a free “social network”-style model. Because this idea is taking an existing idea and modifying it to better fit a certain portion of the market, it can be considered an evolutionary idea. As mentioned, the concept will eventually be expanded to include other nations and other subject material.
Competitive Advantage/Differentiation
The competition in this area consists primarily of paid services (myngle.com and learnissimo.com) and free services (myhappyplanet.com and xlingo.com). The paid services offer access to professional tutors who normally charge a high price, and the free services normally have a “give and take” expectation; i.e., each novice typically spends an equal amount of time tutoring the other in his or her language.
This idea will fill a market need that is currently unfilled. First, the model’s attractiveness to potential tutors (earn easy money while working from home in your pajamas) will, in time, provide a much larger selection of tutors from which the students can choose and will increase the likelihood that more of these tutors will be online and available immediately for a chat. Second, the lower price will entice those students who are looking for help with their English (and eventually other subjects) but who are not willing to spend a large amount of money for that help. Third, because both the students and the tutors will typically be non-professionals, they will generally feel more comfortable with each other and will form a connection in a way that simply can’t be realized in a strictly professional setting. In other words, this system will more closely resemble “peer to peer” tutoring than “tutor to student” tutoring.
Team Overview
The company’s management team is still incomplete. Ideally, we would have three key players:
· Ryan Van Wagoner, CEO
o Responsibilities
§ Direction of company, penetration of new markets, recruitment of personnel, marketing, finance, etc.
o Qualifications
§ BS in Business Finance, BYU (2010)
§ Personal language tutoring experience, passion for entrepreneurship, internet marketing experience
· John Cottam, CTO
o Responsibilities
§ All aspects of web development and design, in coordination with the CEO
o Qualifications
§ BS in Computer Science, BYU (2004); MBA in Business Administration, U of U (2009)
§ Extensive experience in systems administration, web and software development, IT management, and IT analysis
· [Name], President? Other?
o Responsibilities
§ Smooth operation of site, public relations, customer service, anything else the CEO needs
o Qualifications
§ Must be an optimistic and exciting individual with excellent people skills
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Each year BYU holds one of the biggest college business plan competitions in the nation. And each year I attend the competition...as a spectator.
My major is business finance, but I've always had an interest in entrepreneurship (even if just meant starting a lawn care company as a teenager--complete with business cards and a solicitor's license). This year, however, I'm committing myself to start a company (or at least be involved in one) that makes a strong performance in the competition.
A total of $100,000 in cash is given away in the competition to the top three companies, along with national recognition and leads to other venture capitalists. But honestly, the money has little to do with my being involved. I've wanted to be involved in a promising new venture for a long time, and this is the year.
Moral of the story: get excited. And give me an idea.
My major is business finance, but I've always had an interest in entrepreneurship (even if just meant starting a lawn care company as a teenager--complete with business cards and a solicitor's license). This year, however, I'm committing myself to start a company (or at least be involved in one) that makes a strong performance in the competition.
A total of $100,000 in cash is given away in the competition to the top three companies, along with national recognition and leads to other venture capitalists. But honestly, the money has little to do with my being involved. I've wanted to be involved in a promising new venture for a long time, and this is the year.
Moral of the story: get excited. And give me an idea.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Wow, it's been a while since I last posted. I guess I've been having way too much fun this summer.
First of all, on the last day of finals my sister Jennica and I flew out for a two-week trip to Germany. Being back where I served my mission and meeting up with people I knew and loved was an incredible experience for me. It was also amazing to see the beautiful landscape again and to visit some places I never made it to during my two-year stay. Jennica and I both had a great time and came home with a few too many crazy inside jokes. For a small sampling of pictures from the trip, click here.
Also while in Germany, I got an email that is making my summer a little more painful. My friends David, Austin, and Chris, as well as my brother-in-law Brian, had all applied for a slot in this year's LOTOJA road bike race (a 206 mile race from Logan to Jackson Hole with 10,000 feet of vertical climbing). We knew it wasn't easy to get in, and secretly most of us were hoping we would strike out so we wouldn't have to spend all summer training. But sure enough, the email came confirming our success in drawing out for the race. My first reaction was "oh crap."
Needless to say, I've been on my bike even more since I got home from Germany—and not just to work off the German chocolate. Yesterday, Austin and I had the crazy idea to ride 60-70% of LOTOJA's 10,000 feet of climbing in about 20% of the mileage. Starting at Mutual Dell, we rode up AF canyon to the top of the loop, then down to Sundance, back up, down to Cascade Springs, back up, and back down to Mutual Dell. Walking up the stairs was a chore for the rest of the day, but the pain was worth it.
Speaking of biking, I had a more-than-interesting mountain bike race on Memorial Day. It started in Draper and was supposed to meander up to the overlook for a good 16-mile race. Because the course was still wet from the rain on the previous days, however, the start times were postponed for two and half long and frustrating hours and the course was changed. By the time my category finally started, I hadn't eaten in about four and a half hours, so I just about hit the wall at the start of the second lap. I also crashed twice, all but ruining my rear brake. To finish off a frustrating morning, I threw up as I crossed the finish line in 7th place out of 10 in my category. I figured it was a sign that I should start focusing more on road biking and give the mountain bike racing some time…
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Last weekend, it was time again for another Moab excursion (it had been a whole two weeks). My dad, Danny, Brian and I all headed down for grand old time. We rode two major rides, soaked in a 300-degree hot tub, filled a plate a foot high with pizza crust at Zak's Pizza Buffet (I think I was still full the next day), and enjoyed breathtaking views. Savor the pics.
At the top of Hurrah Pass
Jackson Hole Portage. What's Moab without hiking up a 500-foot cliff with a mountain bike on your back?
This part wasn't quite as fun as it looks...
We had to take our front tires off to fit through this random slot canyon.
Finally on top.
It was a lot bigger in real life...
You know you love it.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Well, the past month has been quite the ride. The new semester has proven to be a bit interesting--the same 55 people are in all 5 of my classes, and in a way it seems like we're reverting to elementary school. We have the class clowns, the know-it-alls, and the people who don't at all mind sharing their life story during class. At least I enjoy two of the classes--Economics of Strategy and Marketing. I'm not sure how much more of Organizational Behavior I can take...especially with the professor's creepy eyes.
The Utah Boat Show was last week and it pretty much rocked! The only downside of having a boat expo in February is that I have another four months to salivate before I can quench my thirst. Jessi might disagree, but the Mastercrafts were AWESOME! I was even able to get a picture of the both of us in front of a Mastercraft...not sure how I pulled that off. But to be fair, the Malibus weren't too bad either. I was actually quite impressed with both their boats and their booth.
My family went to Tepanyaki last night to celebrate my Mom's birthday. It's been a while since I've been there, so it was awesome to see the incredible food made right in front of us. Michael was a bit apprehensive, and he pretty much freaked out when the chef started up the fire. Good times!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
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