8A – Solving The Problem

1)   My Opportunity

a.    My opportunity is the management of public people’s social media accounts. 

2)   Services

a.    I will provide my clients with multiple services.

                                               i.     I will scrub through the client’s social accounts and get rid of any potentially “problematic” posts.

                                             ii.     I will advise the client on how and how not to interact through each platform.

                                           iii.     I will work with the client to help build their brand through social media

                                            iv.     I will work with potential sponsors to generate revenue for the client through their web presence. 

                                             v.     I will work to better understand the client in an effort to cut down on potentially toxic interactions on social media.

7A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

1)   Pick an opportunity you would like to pursue.

a.    Athlete social media management

2)   Clearly state the opportunity you have identified, including the who, what, why.

a.    Collegiate and professional athletes are having their character dragged through the mud due to shocking or reprehensible social media content, much of which is often very dated.

                                               i.     The who: Collegiate and professional athletes 

                                             ii.     The what: They have their character called into question

                                           iii.     The why: They don’t know how to properly manage their social media presence  

3)   Hypothesis Testing

a.    The who: All athletes share the need of monitoring and managing their social media accounts to try and prevent public backlash. This issue could also be applied to any other people with a significant social media presence. This could also be applied to sports teams as well

b.    The what: Are all forms of social media and communication an issue/hard to manage for athletes? What are the easiest places for athletes to slip up on in social media?

c.    The why: will athletes by themselves learn over time how to avoid social media scandals? Is there a certain level of social media understanding or literacy that makes having an additional social media manager obsolete? Would many athletes only view this service as helpful after they themselves had made a mistake on social media?

4)   Interviews

a.    This opportunity is one where it is very hard for me to talk directly to my target demographic. However, I did interview several people about the opportunity. The groups of people I talked to can be split in to two separate groups, employees inside the sports industry and everyday people outside of it. I talked to Carly and Melissa, two employees of the Houston Astros, as well as Michael, Ben, and Thomas, who are all college students. 

                                               i.     College students interview takeaways

1.    Overall, the consensus amongst the college students that I talked to emphasized that my scope was too narrow. While I keyed in on athletes who have trouble managing their social account, Michael pointed out examples such as director James Gunn, who Disney recently severed ties with due to his past tweets. Michael really showed me that my “who” could potentially be much larger than I initially planned. In terms of managing “the what”, Michael and Thomas both pointed out that most celebrities with social media scandals seem to get in trouble for either simple slip ups or posts from well before the person was famous. Thomas made the point that because of this, viewing the opportunity as more of a social media janitor was limiting. Thomas felt like the opportunity was more of one for people to grow their brand through social media than to prevent scandal. Meanwhile, Ben pointed out a limitation of the “why” that I had manufactured. Ben said that marketing the opportunity statement only focused on social media scandal prevention. He said that he feels most athletes can use social media in this way, but that they often struggle or have more trouble using it to grow their following and image. 

                                             ii.     Houston Astros interview takeaways 

1.    Melissa felt like, in terms of the “who”, that public people besides athletes would have interest in this service, she also thinks that there would be potential to work with teams, as it can be hard to review all minor league players’ social feeds. Carley said that she thinks that there are several groups that would have interest in this idea. She specifically referenced the NCAA, ESports, and Politicians. Melissa stated that these scandals can often change how sports teams operate, and that any social media with a live component are the most potentially dangerous. Melissa also brought up a very interesting point. She thinks that it would be hard to sell this concept directly to players, but if you went through their agencies you would find more success. Overall, Melissa and Carley both believe that the growing live portion of social media is the biggest challenge for this opportunity, but it could also be a competitive advantage is approached correctly. 

5)   Given my interviews, I learned about how much wider of an audience that this service could have, in both clientele and service provided. I also learned that people inside the sport industry are especially concerned about the live aspects of social media that athletes and celebrities can access.  

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.

5A - Identifying Local Opportunities

All of the following articles are pulled from the month of September 2018 from The Houston Chronicle, the primary newspaper of my hometown, Houston, Texas. 

1. "Selling electricity an 'insane game'; Power retailers spend millions on marketing, leading to higher rates"
1. This article discusses how electricity retailers, such as Houston-based Direct Energy, have to push huge marketing campaigns in order to attract customers. The article goes on to state that it can be hard for these retailers to differentiate themselves from the competition, and therefore they have to spend more money to try and do so. Because it is so hard to differentiate the product, companies have to go to extreme lengths, such as having a sales representative try to earn customers by doing grassroots cold-calls at a local Walmart. The article states that a large part of the issue is the fact that the market is matured, meaning that the only meaningful way to gain customers and sales is to take them from other companies. This heightened competition raises the amount that each company spends on marketing in an attempt to stay afloat. Those costs then get passed on to the consumer. The article states near the end that there is a bit of cannibalization of business due to a state-run site that lists several different plans that do not provide commission to sales representatives. Therefore, a sales representative for a company that also lists on the site is then also directly competing against their own company, even going so far as to call the website, PowerToChoose, the enemy.
2. The problem being addressed in this article is the fact that electricity retailers have to spend so much on money and human effort on marketing, which in turn, makes the cost of electricity for the consumer jump drastically.
3. This problem affects all Houstonians who own property. It also affects electric companies and the people/smaller business that they employ. Though unmentioned in the article, this most likely affects many large businesses that are based in Houston (including Phillips 66, Sysco, and ConocoPhillips, as all are Fortune top 100 companies).
2. "Brides-to-be say 'I do' to marital flea market; Couples opt to save wedding money with used décor, gowns"
1. This article showcases a small event in Houston titled the "Bridal Flea Market", where people can buy and sell wedding décor at a discounted price. The article speaks about how the average cost of a wedding in Houston, not including engagement rings or honeymoons, cost an average of just under $34,000. This colossal price tag is causing many people to have more unconventional weddings, which in turn in making many larger wedding retailers lose money or even go bankrupt. Despite this, however, business for wedding rental stores appears to be performing better.
2. The issue here is that the cost of having a traditional wedding is way too high. As of now, it costs an average American citizen around 3/5ths of their yearly household income to throw a traditional wedding.
3. This problem is affecting anyone who is looking to throw a wedding in the near future. This problem is also dramatically affecting bridal stores and boutiques as more and more people turn away from traditional wedding stores in a hope to keep costs down.
3. "The standing dead: 'Zombie trees' line city; After a year that saw dry heat, flooding and ice, landscape may be stressed, arborists say"
1. This article focuses on how many trees in the greater Houston area are beginning to lose their leaves prematurely this year. Experts believe that this is a sign that many of the trees are beginning to die. Weather conditions have been extremely radical over the last 12 months, as mass flooding from Hurricane Harvey, unexpected freezing temperatures in the winter and dry heat in the summer has put large amounts of stress on Houston's trees. The article harkens back to the drought of 2011, which killed thousands of Houston's trees over the course of several years. Experts fear that the conditions from the past years could start to kill trees at an alarming rate well into the next decade. The article closes by stating that trees that are regularly monitored and cared for by experts generally have a better chance of surviving when extreme weather conditions arrive.
2. This issue being addressed here is the expected loss of a large percentage of trees in the Houston area due to the weather conditions of the past year and the stress that it has built up.
3. This problem affects nearly all residents of Houston. Trees line almost all properties and roads throughout the city, so the death of these trees could cause major amounts of damage to property and vehicles if people are not careful. This issue will also greatly affect landscaping businesses and tree removal companies.
4. "Economy; Houston hits gas on used vehicles"
1. This article examines the rising trend of purchasing used vehicles in the city of Houston. It opens with stating that in the month of July, used car sales went up 16%. It states that while new car sales in the area are up as well, it grew at only a 5% pace. The article goes into more statistics that back up the fact that new car prices are rising, which correlates to more people purchasing used cars. The article also cites statistics that shows the average age of a car is 1.5 years older than it was in 2000. The article says that a large reason new car prices have risen is due to tariffs on steel and aluminum. An additional tariff on foreign cars also looms on the horizon. The article closes by stating that the trend towards used cars will be beneficial to dealerships, as the margins there are generally higher than for new car sales.
2. The problem that this article is trying to address is the rising price on new cars, which is being caused, in large part, by new tariffs on materials. 
3. The problem affects any potential car buyers and all car dealerships While there is a chance that in the short term used car prices will increase due to the demand increase, in the long term, I see this change causing more used dealerships to open, creating additional competition, therefore driving price down and slimming the margins.
5. "HISD bus troubles continue despite new system; Families voice anger and frustration over transportation woes"
1. This article exposes the ineffectiveness of the current busing system for the Houston Independent School District. The article first speaks with a mother who, through the use of a GPS tracking device her child has, discovered that the bus was traveling more than 30 miles away to deliver children to the school only a few miles from her home. The busing issue that the mother brought up has been corroborated by hundreds of other angry parents. The issues are, in part, due to a new busing system that the district put in place to try and effectively reach the over 35,000 students who require a school bus to get to school. One parent reported that her child arrived at school over 20 minutes after the school day officially started. This occurred a day after the district head of transportation stated that the district "[felt] pretty good" about the system in place. The article additionally addresses several issues in subsections, whose topics were focused around electronic errors that caused busing issues, and overcrowding that cause some kids to be forced to sit in the aisle. The article closes by stating that many parents are seeking alternative ways for their kids to get to school while the system continues to operate poorly. The example given is a $75 (weekly) shuttle service to get kids to school on time.
2. The issue in this article is that the school district is ineffective with the current busing system.
3. This issue is impacting children attending HISD, the parents, the teachers, and anyone else who works for or is affiliated with the schools operating under the district.

4A - Forming An Opportunity Belief

1)   Yes, I absolutely believe that an opportunity exists. This belief is one I have actually had since I was in high school, and as of now, it is still an unmet need.

2)   I believe that there needs to be a conglomerate collection of used sports jerseys online. Sports gear in general is a multi-billion-dollar industry, and there is a large sect of sports fans who greatly enjoy wearing throwback, old-school sports jerseys. However, new jersey’s cost well over $100. This niche of sport fan would be the one that this new service would be targeting. This is definitely a new and growing need amongst sports fans. Retro looks, especially those from the ‘90s and early aughts, are extremely popular, and sites such as MITCHELL & NESS charge people several hundred dollars for these jerseys that teams no longer produce themselves. At this time, people are utilizing eBay and companies such as “M&N” to meet their need. However, there are definite flaws in these solutions. eBays search function does not allow consumers to view strictly these types of uniforms in an effective manner, and as stated earlier, M&N charges an inordinate amount of money. If I had to put into a percentage how much I believe that this opportunity exists, I would put it at about 65%. 

3-a) Prototypical customer 1: early-to-mid-twenties male sports fan.

4-a) The first person I interviewed was a friend of mine named Cole. Cole is a big sports fan such as me, and often will be caught wearing sports jerseys. Cole stated that he has had an issue finding used, throwback sports uniforms for several years now. However, he says that this is only an issue that he has every so often, as an average sports fan will probably only purchase a few jerseys a year. Cole is actually not currently finding a way to meet this need, as he does not trust sellers on eBay and cannot afford uniforms sold by M&N. Cole is not satisfied with this solution, as he still wants to purchase these jerseys, but cannot currently do so in a manner that would satisfy him. 

           3-b) Prototypical customer 2: mid-thirties to mid-forties sports collector

            

4-b) I spoke to Christian, a former neighbor of mine who has always been a sports collector. I approached him as I felt that he would be interested in my service as he could utilize it to purchase old jerseys to potentially get signed and hung with the rest of his collection. Christian stated that this is a need that he does not have that often. He will, in more cases then not, purchase a jersey that is already signed, and therefore would not have a need for the service that I am looking to offer. Though they have a need for memorabilia, there are stores and other services that offer this service. Plus, as a collector, Christian is willing to spend more money of collectors’ items such as vintage jerseys and would be less likely to purchase these items used and through a third-party seller. 

            

           3-c) Mid-teens to early-twenties fair-weathered sports fan.

            

4-c) I went to high school with a friend of mine named Ryan. Ryan loved sports, but to be perfectly honest, changes his sports allegiances as quick as the seasons. Ryan also wears many jerseys of many, many teams. Ryan stated that this new service is one that he would actually enjoy very much. During his childhood, his parents would buy his sports gear for him, however, now that he has moved out, he has to buy all of his jerseys for himself, which does not fit well in his budget. He has always been aware of his desire to own jerseys, but this need is one that he is just now starting to experience. Ryan is addressing this need by buying expensive, full-priced jerseys, that are eating away his disposable income. They are unsatisfied with this solution, and would love a new, better way to purchase sports uniforms.

5)        I learned that this opportunity is probably one that has an even smaller customer-base than I thought it would. It surprised me that sports collectors seem to have way less interest than I thought they would. 

7)        I would say that while a large amount of the opportunity that I have still exists, it is definitely not as big of an opportunity as I believed it was going in. I also very much believe that my knowledge about the opportunity is more accurate than when I started. When Entrepreneurs create ideas, they need to, in my opinion, heavily adapt their product based on feedback they receive. If an entrepreneur is stubborn and does not adapt their product, it simply will not be a marketable product. While an entrepreneur should not completely change their idea, if they create a product that they will enjoy, the product will most likely be unsuccessful. 

3A - My Entrepreneurial Story

My entrepreneurship story focuses around my senior year of high school. For background, though I am not athletic, I have always been extremely into sports. So much so that many people have referred to me as a “sports encyclopedia” through the years. In college, I am majoring in Sport Management. My high school has a morning television show that focuses on announcements and other information that, honestly looking back, could have been distributed in a less time-consuming manner. I never had an affiliation with the production program, but as an active participant and officer of my high school’s theatre, I knew many people who were involved with the morning television show. 

            Beginning my freshmen year, I noticed that the “sports segment” on the morning show was, to say the least, lacking. It consisted of the anchors simply reading off the scores occasionally accompanied by a ten second summary of the game. It was maybe 3 or 4 times a year that there was ever any footage of the actual games/meets that took place. So, at the start of my senior year, I created a sports segment. I spoke with the director/instructor of the morning television program and came up with a strategy to integrate this totally new segment for the news show. I was given a few other underclassmen to work with, and together we came up with many new segments. We now had videos to accompany most varsity sports, and also did deeper dives for each team prior to the start of the season. Additionally, we collated the highlights from each game and created archives that could be accessed at later dates.

While this photo is not of me, capturing game footage was a large part of what I did  in creating a sports segment

            This was my first time having to create something of that scale completely from scratch. It was a very tough and time-consuming project, and though it was not completely successful, it provided me with many tips and tools on how to act as an entrepreneur. 

            To be honest, I enrolled in ENT3003 because it was recommended to me by my academic advisor. However, now that I am in the class, I can tell just how many life skills this class is going to provide me. I hope to get as many of these as possible out of this class. Though I do not foresee a future in which I create my own company from scratch, learning about entrepreneurial skills will help me all throughout the rest of my life.

2A - Bug List

1)   Internet speeds are often a fraction of what ISP’s advertise that they will reach (specifically Cox and Comcast).

a)    Why it exists: In my opinion, and the opinion of many consumers, ISPs purposefully provide less internet to customers than they are able to in order to maximize profits. Though this “throttling” is unethical, since they advertise that internet speeds will “reach up to” a certain speed, there is less legal precedent for them to be truthful about the average speed that a customer’s internet will reach. 

2)   People who both walk slowly and make it difficult for others to get around them.

a)    Why it exists: This issue is not subject to one specific location, as the issue is caused by people being absorbed by their surroundings and not realizing the needs of other people around them. Often, sidewalks will be only wide enough for one or two people to walk side by side at a given time, so if even two people are walking at a leisurely pace, they can make people in more of a hurry unnecessarily stressed.

3)   Restaurants are often too loud

a)    Why it exists: There are many causes to this issue. It can be due to a lack of sound absorbing material in the restaurant, the proximity of the tables, overly loud background music, and many other culprits. However, this is often an escalating issue, as the louder a room gets, the more people have to compensate in order to hear one another, which only succeeds in making the room louder. For people such as myself who have medical hearing problems, this can cause eating out to be a real issue.

4)   Video games often have many glitches upon release that are only fixed weeks/months after the game’s release.

a)    Why it exists: Game companies now use their launch as their test window for bugs. This allows them to not have to pay people to test the game for them prior to the release date. This also allows companies to move up their release date and make the development time shorter to maximize profits.

5)   Lines for any restaurants on the University of Florida campus are extremely long around lunch.

a)    Why it exists: The number of students on campus that choose to buy lunch is way too large for the restaurants around campus to handle effectively. The employees also do not know how to best maximize their efforts to serve as many people as problem. Additionally, the spaces available in areas such as the Reitz Union mean many restaurants only have a margin of the space that they usually require to run at the greatest level of efficiency.

6)   The existence of hidden fees (taxes, shipping, handling, etc. that are not included in a listed price of an item)

a)    Why it exists: Most businesses state cost of an item prior to tax, shipping and handling in order to make the consumer think that the price of an item is lower than it is and convince them to purchase the product. 

7)   The lack of accessible parking on the University of Florida campus

a)    Why it exists: The campus is fairly cramped as there are so many buildings. This causes there to not be a whole lot of space for parking structures. The number of restrictions on parking locations further decreases accessibility.  

8)   Restaurants often make menus overly complex

a)    Why it exists: Restaurants, especially Italian and Mexican, will often cram their menus full of options in order to provide as much food as possible. Additionally, many restaurants will use terms derived from the food’s origin/language. While this is okay for more common dishes, it can often leave some confusion for more obscure meals.   

9)   Social media sites, such as Facebook and twitter, are increasingly filled with advertisements instead of content from friends of the account.

a)    Why it exists: These sites find profit in promoted and advertised posts. Additionally, a person’s “feed” is often built by the number of interactions that a certain post has, meaning posts from celebrities, websites, and others will be more likely to be on a feed than actual friends.

10)“Shuffle” features, found on music services such as iTunes, seemingly plays the same selection of songs instead of a randomized playlist.

a)    Why it exists: Most services have their shuffle feature with a “few strings attached” that make the same set of songs seem to play all the time, whilst other songs do not get played whatsoever. In theory, these strings help make sure songs that a person appears to listen to a lot/like play more often. Therefore, a shuffle feature becomes seemingly less random as time goes on.

11)It is difficult to plan an effective time to get a car wash due to rain.

a)    Why it exists: Though forecasts help, it can be difficult to figure out when is the right time to get a car wash to avoid as much rain as possible. Additionally, a majority of car wash services due not offer a “rain” coverage plan if it rains in the next given period after a car wash.

12)Devices will often simply stop connecting to the UF Wi-Fi at random, often in the middle of a semester.

a)    Why it exists: Though I don’t know the specifics, this is most likely due to changing policies, terms and the routine updating Wi-Fi systems. However, the fact that these issues are rarely public information makes outages even more of a bug.

13)Social media services often provide “fake” notifications for things such as anniversaries of posts and updating parts of a profile

a)    Why it exists: Social media sites, such as Facebook, must always find new ways to stay in the front of a consumer’s mind. Using notifications for things not directly related to the customer allows the brands to reach people who may be slowing their usage.

14)Textbooks (especially College-level) are extremely expensive

a)    Why it exists: Most classes have texts that are required, which gives the manufacturer’s an apparent monopoly over many student’s buying. This allows them to ramp up costs.

15)It is difficult to get a hold of a human when calling customer service

a)    Why it exists: Customer service companies want to maximize their employees, so they have a lot of machine talk prior to speaking to a human which allows them to funnel certain questions consumers have to certain people with more knowledge. However, this often extends wait times, as there are fewer representatives, and it takes longer to get to the actual line.

16)Many reviews on sites such as Amazon are fatally flawed.

a)    Why it exists: Companies, in the hopes of improving traffic, will pay people on amazon to review their product (which is not always implicitly stated). This adds an amount of bias that effects the overall review score of a product and can cause faultier products made by larger companies to be promoted over better products.

17)Customers are often forced to spend lengthy amounts of time in security, embarkment, and dismemberment while at airports.

a)    Why it exists: This is largely to do with funneled traffic flow. It has been proven that the TSA is not effective, yet it is still utilized to ease the fears of passengers, which makes for a lengthy wait. Additionally, customers are often impatient when boarding and disembarking planes, which causes a traffic jam of people and slows the process down.

18)Concession prices at sporting events is often high

a)    Why it exists: Most teams want to maximize profits in this area, and they generally have a monopoly of food for fans. However, this has started to backfire, as fans are now beginning to eat prior to attending a game.

19)Most hats are either adjustable or one size fits all, meaning they rarely fit properly

a)    Why it exists: The creation of adjustable and one-size fits all hats and caps allows companies to mass produce a single product and minimalize cost of the item, however creating an item that is flawed.

20)There is not enough variety at on-campus dining halls at UF

a)    Why it exists: While there is a good amount of variety in options at the dining hall, these options do not change very much day to day and week to week. This is probably done to prevent ordering too much variety and to keep costs down.

In reviewing this assignment, I overall found it very difficult. While it was easy to come up with the first five or so "bugs", it became more of a challenge after that point. I had to reach in to my subconscious and try to figure out what bugged me that I hadn't yet realized.