6A - Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Economic Trend Opportunity 1: Airport Gaming Stations

There has been a trend in video games as of late to have video games accessible as much of possible. This is additionally an economically-based trend as it allows many people who previously were unable to access gaming due to financial restrictions the ability to get involved. This is evident in the popularity of mobile gaming, Nintendo's creation of a truly portable console, and now, with the creation of gaming stations at airports. a)  I found out about this opportunity, oddly enough, through my dad. This past week, he was traveling through the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, when he sent me a picture of this idea, run by a group called "Gameway". b) To me, this honestly seems like a fairly foolproof idea. What leads me to the conclusion that this is an opportunity that exists is simply by seeing how bored people, especially children, get at airports. These stations would provide an escape from the monotony, and in many cases, give parents a good way to distract their kids. c) Parents, through their kids are the prototypical customers in my opinion. The other potential prototypical customers are millennials, who would probably be the other demographic most likely to spend their own money at these stations. d) I think the opportunity is one that is fairly easy to exploit in the short-term but will get much harder as time goes by. Gameway appears to be the first economically feasible testing of this idea, and because it is already out in the public, the components could be scrutinized and improved on. While Gameway is now public and has plans to expand, the fact that they only have active stations in Dallas means that there is still room in the market that has yet to be claimed. However, this opportunity will most likely get much more difficult to exploit as time goes on, as more companies will begin to enter this field.

Why I saw this opportunity: I think that I saw this opportunity more quickly than others as I know what it is like to be that bored, video game loving kid in the airport. I also have seen so many parents at airports be simply exasperated by their kids, who attempt to quench their boredom by causing as much havoc as possible. I saw this idea when my dad sent it, and because of my background, immediately thought about how successful this could be in all airports. My desire to often be playing video games and be immersed in the visually-stunning worlds which the games inhabit is what lead me to seeing this as an untapped opportunity.

Economic Trend Opportunity 2: Grocery Delivery

To be honest, this idea is not a revolutionary one, but it is one that is still based on an economic trend. The trend is toward speed, convenience, and the ability to get "errands" down from the comfort of one's own home. a) This is an opportunity that I first found out about nearly 15 years ago, when, while living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, my family began to get delivered groceries through a website called SimonDelivers, a local service. We moved away three years later, and I did not see the re-emergence of this idea until the popularization of Uber, and the grocery ventures of Amazon. b) Though the market is starting to become more and more crowded, I still feel as if there is not a huge percentage of the population that know about or use this service. The fact that our society is beginning to lean more and more on services such as Uber and amazon leads me to believe that we are very close to a nationwide grocery delivery outbreak. c) I see the most likely prototypical customers being full time employees, whose jobs prevent them from often going grocery shopping. So many working-aged people are working longer hours, and so many simply do not have the time required to grocery shop. If they were capable of grocery shopping via their computer or phone, I am sure that many would do so. d) However, I see this opportunity being a difficult one to properly exploit. As of now, so many stores are working with regional delivery brands. The market is so small due to lack of knowledge about the opportunity that it is oversaturated in many areas of the country. However, the opportunity would be easier to exploit as more of the general public became aware of the service.

Why I saw this opportunity: I formed the opinion that this opportunity exists because, for a while, I grew up with it. When we had access to the service, it was so incredibly helpful that even though I was young at the time, I never forgot of the impact it had. I'm also an avid procrastinator, meaning that a service that gave me the ability to run errands without, well, running errands, is one I instantly am interested in.

Regulatory Change Opportunity 1: EU-Tube

The idea here is to create a new, YouTube-like service, to cater to impending EU regulation changes, which will prohibit any and all copyrighted material from being utilized by anyone apart from the creator. a) I found out about this opportunity through Reddit, a social news aggregator. The changes would greatly affect Reddit, which is why posts about the change have been extremely prevalent across the website the last several weeks. b) The information leads me to believe that an opportunity exists for a few reasons. First off, YouTube has been extremely vocal in their opposition of this regulation. However, this has not deterred the EU from passing the regulation, which will possibly make it impossible for YouTube to be permissible under the new guidelines. c) I think there are a few potential prototypical customers for this service. For one, I think a service which alters its algorithms and abilities for YouTube around the EUs amendments is one that could be either sold to YouTube or partnered with the EU. If the service were to be fully integrated and created, the prototypical customer would probably be both EU-based online creators and their fans. If the regulations do end up directly clashing with YouTube, the new service could fill the void. d) This is a very difficult opportunity to exploit properly for a number of reasons. First off, I see it being fairly likely that YouTube and the EU reach a compromise that allows the website to exist in some form in EU countries. Secondly, this opportunity would require someone who knows how to write and code extremely complicated algorithms to prevent the copyrighted material that breaks the EU regulations from appearing on the site.

Why I saw this opportunity: It is very rare that an opportunity to replace a globally powerful company such as YouTube comes along. Honestly, my realization that an opportunity exists here had very little to do with my own background. Instead, I would say that it has to do more with my knowledge about the power and influence of YouTube and the internet, and the fact that a site with that amount of influence may soon be prohibited in a number of western nations.

Regulatory Change Opportunity 2: Sports Gambling Bars

For those who do not know, Sports Betting is slowly being legalized in many states in the US. To me, this changing regulation could allow the creation of sports gambling hubs. a) I found out about this opportunity after the NBA partnered with MGM. This created a lot of press, and an article that I read, published by ESPN, exposed me to the fact that more and more states are beginning to legalize sports betting after the Supreme Court ruled that the Federal ban on sports betting violated many states' rights. b) The information that I have leads me to believe that more and more states will legalize sports betting, meaning that sports-betting-based locations could be very popular. Additionally, I know many people who enjoy viewing sports in a restaurant or bar setting, so I think that the integration of sports betting and these types of locations could and would be very popular. c) I see the prototypical customer being any sports fan who wants to feel even more involved with sports games by being able to legally bet on the games at locations that offer the amenities of a typical sports bar. d) I see this opportunity as one that would be somewhat difficult to exploit due to legal roadblocks. Though I am not well-versed in the subject, I know that there are many regulations for the operation of any location that allows gambling and betting on-site. Additionally, you would need to wait until the laws of each particular state allows the creation of these sites prior to expansion, which would complicate the entire process.

Why I saw this opportunity: I have always been a big "sports fan" (so much so that I am majoring in Sport Management). My background and fascination with sports is what made me predisposed to notice an opportunity in the sports world.