20A Growing Your Social Capital

Domain Expert

• Razi Ghadia used to run a small-scale meal prep delivery service in which he and a couple of his peers prepped and delivered healthy meals to students who attended Georgia State University in Atlanta for an affordable price. Razi would fall under the domain expert slot because he has experience in the same industry I would be in. I am actually good friends with Razi (we went to the same high school) so I just contacted him through social media. I simply asked him if he would take a look at some of my blog posts, specifically the napkin idea and elevator pitch, and asked for his feedback on my business idea. He thought that my idea was great but he felt that it could be refined. There is no return expectation. Having Razi in my network would be beneficial because he has valuable insights in this particular industry. 

Market Expert 

• First off, here is some context. Coincidentally, in Monday's lecture, Dr. Pryor told another student (they had a similar business) that talking to a restaurant owner would meet this requirement so I decided to do just that. 
• Agostina Panizza is the owner of Panizza Bistro, a small Latin/Spanish/Italian restaurant in Miami. Agostina would be filling the market expert slot because she has experience in the food industry. I have actually eaten at this restaurant and met Agostina before through my older brother, Cesar, who happens to be very good friends with her so I was easily able to contact her. I asked Agostina if she would mind giving me feedback on my idea. She told me that she liked my idea and that if I want to succeed, I need to do the proper research. There is no return expectation. Having Agostina in my network would be beneficial because she has been in the food industry for many years and could potentially offer valuable advice. 

Supplier

• This particular slot was initially tricky to fill. There would be a several suppliers for different aspects of my business so it was difficult to piece all of that information together. Luckily, however, Dr. Pryor mentioned that people who have an app based business would have an app coder/developer as one of their suppliers so I just ran with this.
• Gabriel Mathews is a computer science major at GSU in Atlanta. Gabriel would be filling the supplier slot because he has the proper knowledge and skills necessary for app development. I have known Gabriel for years so I simply just called him. I asked Gabriel for feedback on my app based business. There is no return expectation. Including Gabriel in my network would be beneficial because he has the knowledge and skills that would help me drive my idea further. 

Reflection

• This experience definitely taught me the true importance of networking. Up until now I didn't necessarily have to network for any 'professional' reason so this was a new learning experience for me. To be honest, it was quite interesting and helpful. I was actually dreading this assignment but when I sat down to get it started I slowly started to realize that I already knew people who could fill the market expert, domain expert, and supplier slots.