Blog Post #16: Assignment 16A - What's Your Secret Sauce?

1. Ways I think I have human capital that is truly unique
1. Hard-working: I believe that I am one of the hardest-working people I know. No matter what the task at hand is, no matter what the circumstances are, I always try to do my best work possible. I've always put everything I have into everything I do because I believe that's the only way things should be done.
2. Approachable: I like to consider myself a very friendly and approachable guy. I always try to treat everyone I know and meet with the upmost respect and kindness because that's how I want to be treated. I always welcome new people into my life and love talking with them about anything, especially things I'm passionate about.
3. Coachable: I'm always looking for ways I can improve myself and the things I dedicate my time towards, so I welcome feedback and constructive criticism. I like knowing what things I'm really good at and where I need improvement because, in my opinion, if you're not actively trying to get better, you're getting worse.
4. Well-rounded: I've always found myself to be exceptional or adequate at a lot of different things. I've never been the absolute best at anything, but I've also never been terrible at anything either. I always seem to be pretty well-rounded and good at most things.
5. Passionate: When I really enjoy doing something or find something I love, I develop a passion for it and really sink my teeth into it. I devote all my time to whatever it is until I make it the best it can be and I do the best job I can possibly do.
2. Interviews of 5 people who know me the best
1. Mom: https://soundcloud.com/jack-hertz-121330406/mom-recording
1. My mom discusses how I've always been someone who takes feedback very well. She talks about how I'm always open to suggestions and never pretend that I know more about something than I actually do.
2. Dad: https://soundcloud.com/jack-hertz-121330406/dad-recording
1. My dad discusses how one of the qualities that makes me different is my perseverance. He goes into further detail how I'm able to accomplish anything I set out to accomplish, even if the task appears daunting or seems difficult to complete.
3. Sister: https://soundcloud.com/jack-hertz-121330406/sister-recording
1. My younger sister discusses how I always appear to be very level-headed. She talks about how she admires how, even in the most stressful situations, no matter how much I have going on in my life, I always seem very relaxed and handle the pressure very well.
4. Brother: https://soundcloud.com/jack-hertz-121330406/older-brother-recording
1. My older brother discusses how I'm very confident. He talks about how the fact that I carry myself and speak with a lot of confidence and don't always care about what other people think of me is a very unique and special quality that I have. 
5. Grandpa: https://soundcloud.com/jack-hertz-121330406/grandpa-recording
1. My grandpa discusses how my presence is what makes me different and unique. He talks about how people notice and are drawn to me when I enter a room, which is a very special characteristic that a lot of people do not have.
3. Reflect on the differences
1. After listening to what my parents, siblings, and grandpa had to say, I think it's clear that they see me in similar way that I see myself. Although I may not have mentioned it in the first part of this assignment, I also consider myself to be a confident person. I think there are so many similarities between how I see myself and how my peers see me because I'm very open and honest with who I am. 

Blog Post #15: Assignment 15A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

For this assignment, I interviewed my 21 year-old neighbor with anxiety issues, a 58 year-old man suffering from severe arthritis, and a 30 year-old woman that deals with depression.

1. In my first interview with my 21 year-old neighbor that deals with anxiety issues, I learned a great deal. I found that the price of the items she purchased typically played a large role in her purchasing decisions because, considering she is a typical, broke, college student, she cannot afford to pay the higher prices of higher quality products. However, she claims that she gets the same benefits from all products, so the quality and style of the products don't matter a lot to her. I also learned that, since she is from the younger generation, she more often than not makes her purchases online and uses her debit card to pay for it. In regards to her post-purchase evaluation, she makes her assessment entirely on how much the product reduces her anxiety. If she feels more relaxed after smoking or ingesting the product than before, then she will think that the purchase was a good idea. Therefore, if the product fails to reduce her anxiety, then she will believe the purchase was a bad idea. 
2. In my second interview with the 58 year-old man suffering from severe arthritis, that resulted in a lot of pain, I also discovered a lot of great information. I learned that the style of the product was the most important aspect in his alternative evaluation. He always preferred to use ingestible products, such as edibles, rather than use products that he would have to smoke and inhale because he coughed a lot when ever he would smoke. Quality was also quite important to him in that he preferred higher quality products rather than the lower quality, cheaper ones because he could afford them. Since he is of the older generation and prefers old-fashioned ways of shopping, he usually makes his purchases in a store and uses cash. However, as he has gotten older and his arthritis has worsened, he has been less able to go to the stores in person. For his post-purchase evaluation, he knows he made good purchase if his pain from the arthritis is decreased and if he enjoys the taste of the product he ingests. If he is still in a great deal of pain after using the product or doesn't enjoy the taste of it, he considers the purchase a bad idea. 
3. For my final interview, I talked to a 30 year-old woman that deals with depression. I learned that when she conducts her alternative evaluation, the most important aspect to her is the quality of the products. Since she can afford higher quality products, she prefers to purchase those instead of the cheaper, lower quality products that do not have as much of a positive effect on her depression. Therefore, price is not a very important aspect to since she can afford to spend more money on expensive products. She also doesn't have a preference on the style of the products, so that aspect is not very important to her either. When she makes her purchases, she prefers to do it online and pay with her debit card as a way of keeping her purchasing habits discrete. In her post-purchase evaluation, she knows she made a good purchase if she feels happier after using her product. 

After conducting my interviews, I learned that the younger generations prefer to make purchases online and use debit or credit cards while older customers prefer using cash and making their purchases in the stores. I also learned that, for the younger customers, price is the most important aspect when making a purchasing while the quality and style of the products aren't as important. However, as the customers get older, price begins to become less important while the quality and style of the products become more important. I will definitely take all of this into account when considering my service. 

Blog Post #14: Assignment 14A - Halfway Reflection

1. To keep up with all of the requirements of this course, I like to mark down all important dates and assignment deadlines for the course in my calendar in my iPhone. This way I'm able to keep track of all of my assignments and get reminded by my phone when certain due dates are approaching. I also like to space out all of my course work and do a little bit each day. Whether I'm watching parts of a lecture every day or completing an assignment over the duration of numerous days, this allows me to not fall behind in the course. 
2. There have been many moments where I felt like "giving up" over the past couple months. One day, after coming home from 14-hour day at my unpaid internship, all I wanted to do was take a shower, eat some food, and go to bed. However, I had a lecture in this class to watch and an assignment in another class that was due that night. Now even though every bone in my body was telling me to just skip all my school work and just go to bed, what pulled me through was imagining what my mom would say to me if she was there next to me. After imagining my mom nagging me to stop feeling sorry for myself and to just power through and get my school work done, I watched the lecture and completed my homework assignment. I would say that this moment and this same strategy that I've used to push myself to finish my school work whenever I don't feel like it has helped me develop a tenacious attitude. 
3. To foster the skills that support tenacity and to develop the "tenacious mindset", I would suggest to next semester's student that he/she think about why they're taking the course, to remember that they'll regret putting an assignment off until tomorrow when they could just get it done today, and that it's better to do a little at a time than to try to cram everything into one sitting. 

Blog Post #13: Assignment 13A - Reading Reflection No. 1

For this assignment, I read Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, which gives the most accurate and detailed account of the life of the man that made Apple what it is today. What surprised me most was that the reason Apple got it's name was because Steve Jobs loved apples and happened to be on an apple farm on the day he had to choose a name for the company for official filing to the government. What I admired the most about Jobs was that he was able to create a company that is so revolutionary that it has continued to be successful, despite the fact that he is no longer alive. What I least admired about Steve Jobs was that he experimented with LSD, a hallucinogenic drug that is now illegal due to how dangerous it is. Jobs encountered adversity and failure when he was fired from Apple by the Board of Directors. However, in response, he became a majority shareholder in Pixar and earned millions of dollars. I noticed that Steve Jobs' attention to even the tiniest details and perfectionism was what set him apart from everyone else. I was a bit confused why Jobs acted so violently and rudely when the quality of the work of his employees did not meet his expectations instead of acting politely. If I could ask Steve Jobs two questions, I would ask: 1) Why did you drop out of college and 2) Do you feel any guilt for taking full credit for many ideas that weren't entirely yours? I believe Steve Jobs' opinion of hard-work was that it was crucial to being successful in anything and that you can achieve anything if you are willing to work hard day-in day-out. I am a huge believer in this same philosophy.

Blog Post #12: Assignment 12A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

Pick a Segment
For this assignment, patients with chronic illnesses and are in search of alternative methods of treatment.

Interviews and Findings
For the next part of this assignment, I interviewed a 60 year old woman with Glaucoma, a 21 year old male suffering from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, and a 26 year old woman with anxiety. After conducting all three of these interviews, I was able to learn and hear some very interesting stories. For example, the male with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma originally started using medical marijuana as a way of treating the side effects of the chemotherapy, such as puking. He told me that once he started using medical marijuana, he would be able to do his rounds of chemotherapy and be able to function with much more ease. I also discovered that medical marijuana was the first form of treatment he used for dealing with the chemotherapy side effects. This was unlike the other two people I interviewed who both used traditional forms of medicine to treat their illnesses but found that they were not useful. As a result, they then scoured the Internet in search of alternative methods of treatment and home remedies. For example, the 26 year old woman with anxiety had tried many different traditional medications and relaxing activities in attempt to reduce her anxiety and make her more relaxed. However, she mentioned that nothing had seemed to work until her friend introduced her to CBD oil, which according to her "worked like a charm". The 60 year old woman with Glaucoma had a similar story, as well.

Conclusions
After conducting my three interviews with typical members of this segment, I believe that this segment is definitely aware of the problem they have in that the traditional methods of treatment they were using were not working the way they wanted them to and needed a change. In regards to their information search, due to their access to the Internet and the numerous states that have legalized marijuana usage, patients have enough resources to discover that medical marijuana is a great option for alternative forms of medicine.

Blog Post #11: Assignment 11A - Idea Napkin No. 1

You
My name is Jack Hertz and I'm a rising senior APK major from Marblehead, MA. Although I would consider myself to be a typical, average, 21-year old man, I believe that I can be quite charming, very hard-working, detail-oriented, friendly, and confident without coming off as cocky. I am also very approachable, driven, and pride myself on doing the best work I can possibly do. I believe that all of these attributes and talents, along with my extensive experience with medical marijuana users, will help me make my medical marijuana delivery service. Since I take pride in doing the best work I can possibly do, I plan on putting everything I have into this service and making it the best it can possibly be. Specifically, I would love to see it become a nation-wide service, helping consumers in need of medical marijuana but are unable to access it.

What are you offering to customers?
My service will deliver medical marijuana to customers and patients who are in need of it for treatment purposes but are unable to physically acquire it due to their critical conditions. This service will allow more patients looking for alternative forms of treatment to use medical marijuana. Customers will be able to order specific amounts and strains of medical marijuana both online and/or over the phone. However, to ensure that this service remains 100% legal, it will be heavily regulated and only people with a medical marijuana card will be able to use it.

Who are you offering it to?
This service will be offered to all patients that own a valid medical marijuana card. Although most patients that will actually use this service will be those that are unable to access medical marijuana for treatment purposes by themselves, this service allows any patient with a valid card to use this service.

Why do they care?
Customers will use this service for a number of reasons. For example, many patients with chronic illnesses do not want or like to use traditional forms of medicine because of the negative side effects that accompany them. Therefore, these patients choose to look for alternative methods of treatment, such as medical marijuana. Another reason customers will choose this service is because it provides a simple, easy to use system that delivers the medical marijuana right to the doorsteps of its customers, making it easily accessible for all customers, not just those that are forced to stay at home.

What are your core competencies?
What separates this service from competing services is that this is the first legal form of marijuana delivery and transportation. Never before has there been a service that delivers medical marijuana, making it a unique service that no other company or organization can offer.

I believe that all of these elements fit together very well. By offering a service that has never been offered before, consumers with the unmet need are forced to use and purchase the service. There are many patients that are unable to access medical marijuana by themselves for numerous reasons. This means that there is a large target market and potential for this service to be successful.

Blog Post #10: Assignment 10A - Elevator Pitch No. 1

Blog Post #9: Assignment 9A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Who: After conducting my second set of interviews, I was able to find a few demographics that, although they should have the unmet need, do not and therefore, fall outside of the boundary. One demographic includes those with very close family members and friends. Even if the patient is unable to purchase the medical marijuana from a dispensary by themselves, they are able to rely on their friends and family, especially those who are above the age of 21 years old and live in an area where marijuana is legal, to pick up the treatment for them. Therefore, these people have no need for a service that delivers medical marijuana to them directly. Another demographic that should have this unmet need but does not are people who know others who sell marijuana illegally, also known as drug dealers. If a patient in need of marijuana for medical usage is friendly with a drug dealer who sells marijuana, the patient can just have the dealer come to their house to deliver the marijuana, and usually sell it for a cheaper price than what the dispensaries are charging.

What: The way the needs differ are due to what the consumer wishes to use the marijuana for. Most people that purchase medical marijuana use it as a form of treatment and a way to relieve pain and improve daily living. However, there are also many people purchase medical marijuana for recreational usage, whether it be their own, their friends, or others.

Why: The underlying cause for those on the outside of the boundary is due to the lack of regulation of illegal marijuana usage. Since nowadays, just about anybody over the age of 21 can purchase marijuana legally in some states, and drug dealers who sell marijuana are still very common, there are many people who do not require a medical marijuana delivery service.

• Inside the Boundary
• Who is In
• Patients with chronic illnesses
• What the Need is
• A way to purchase and receive medical marijuana without having to leave your bed
• Why the Need Exists
• Patients want to use medical marijuana for treatment purposes but are unable/too sick to leave their homes and travel to a dispensary to purchase it.
• Outside the Boundary
• Who is Not
• Patients who can travel despite their illnesses
• People with other forms of access to marijuana
• What the Need is Not
• Natural or alternative forms of treatment and medication
• Alternative Explanation
• Having access to illegal drug dealers that can sell patients marijuana for cheaper prices than dispensaries and deliver directly to the patients at their homes

Blog Post #8: Assignment 8A - Solving the Problem

Millions of people all across the world are suffering from chronic illnesses and other afflictions that force them to live in pain or in a way that is not ideal for them. Although there many medications and forms of treatments used to deal with these problems, a lot of them can be very addictive or even do more harm than good. Medical marijuana has become a new and popular way of treating diseases due to its many benefits that many traditional forms of treatment lack. However, even though it has been legalized in various states and countries and across the globe, many people choose to stay away from medical marijuana due to its perceived negative benefits and the fear of what others will think of them if they find out that they're using it. There are also some patients who are too sick to travel to a medical marijuana dispensary whenever they require the treatment. My solution is to provide a service that educates patients on the benefits of medical marijuana and then delivers it directly to the patients who need it in a discrete manner. This service will spread the word on all of the good that medical marijuana does for patients dealing with chronic illnesses and in pain while also making it easier and more discrete for patients to receive this form of treatment.