Start Up

WEEK 12

Helping small businesses start and thrive is a win-win situation for the government. Local businesses help support the tax base through businesses taxes and through the wages provided to employees. The possibility of workforce expansion and economic growth prompts municipalities, counties, states and the federal government to offer various forms of assistance, such as grants, research opportunities, beneficial legislation and worker training programs.

Reasons why governments should support startups and why that is positive for our economies and societies:

Startups are job creators.

Start-ups are our societies’ innovation labs

Startups are academies of entrepreneurship

Startups are the agents of social mobility

Business does better when it can move raw materials to factories efficiently and get finished goods to plants and markets quickly. Governments help improve the infrastructure needed for businesses to succeed. This includes building and maintaining roads, bridges, rail lines, airports, seaports, energy transmission lines and telecommunications systems. To ensure businesses have access to trained workers, governments provide free schooling for primary and secondary students, grants and loans for higher education and worker training programs. Governments often work with trade schools, community colleges and universities to provide free worker training.

Broadly, governments can support startups by creating legislative environments that are favorable to innovation and new ideas. In turn, startups will provide solutions and continue to produce economic and societal growth.

The economy can stop for a second. Innovation can’t and mustn’t.

Images: CTTO

WEEK 11

The one advantage that every start-up have compared to the bigger companies is that start-ups are small and nimble. This allows start-up to give customers more attention than most big companies can.

Startup Idea = What you Build + Unscalable Things

When you do things that don’t scale it allows you to see your customers use your products in real time, and you will be able to see a lot of things that you didn’t know were problems before. You get to step into your customer’s shoes and see the world through their eyes, see the pain points they were feeling Importantly it helps you validate your product/idea and make sure you deliver values that will satisfy and delight your customers.

How do you do unscalable things?

Go out and manually recruit your early users, even if it seems tedious and inefficient.

Recognize that your start-up is extremely fragile and can break at any point.

Create an "insanely great" experience for early users and cater to their every need.

Keep the fire contained. In other words, focus on a narrow market.

Make your product perfect for a single user.

Don't have a big launch. The idea of creating initial buzz is a lazy way to onboard users, and doesn't guarantee start-up success.

It's not enough just to do something extraordinary initially. You have to make an extraordinary effort initially.

Images: CTTO

WEEK 10

As technology becomes the largest infrastructure investment for enterprises and governmental organizations, the potential to impact lives and do good (as well as harm) becomes a critical new business metric for our industry. Increasingly, employees and investors want to work with companies that align with their own desires to make a positive social impact. This has far-reaching business consequences that impact shareholder decisions, employee recruitment and retention decisions, and investors' portfolios.

The significance of technology on the business:

Technology makes processes efficient.

Technology reaches more communities.

Technology makes services accessible.

Technology connects people.

Technology expands the solution.

Technology gathers and protects information.

Technology strengthens our capacity.

Nowadays, there is a growing desire to seek humanistic and ethical impacts for technology, beyond consumer or enterprise benefit. Researchers and practitioners are finding new and innovative applications in social good, with its complex social and technical challenges. In response to citizen aspirations, governments are turning toward the digitization of entire countries and deploying welfare through technology. Universities are hiring faculty and establishing educational programs to specialize in social good, owing in part to the increased acceptance of such research in the community. Once revenue is established elsewhere, industry finds value in repurposing homegrown technologies toward social benefit or in corporate social responsibility and public relations programs.

Technology for social good projects have remarkable charm, and, in a very human way, help us feel more connected and find more meaning in our work. It is truly commendable that our community aims to create and sustain projects with aspirations to solve some of the world's toughest problems.

Images: CTTO

WEEK 9

When Covid-19 struck, it forced societal changes around the globe. Nearly overnight, governments issued orders that limited large gatherings of people, restricted in-person business operations, and encouraged people to work from home as much as possible. In response, businesses and schools alike began to look for ways to continue their operations remotely, thanks to the internet. They turned to various collaboration platforms and video conferencing capacities to remain engaged with their colleagues, clients, and students while working from home offices.  This setting helped to drive a digital transformation that has impacted businesses across industries.

As the world looks forward hopefully towards an end of the pandemic, many wonder about the future of many of the changes businesses have made in response to the pandemic. It is likely that many of these changes are here to stay. Since the pandemic forced brands to eliminate many of the barriers that once stood in their way of digital adoption, such as network security to allow employees to work remotely, it will be significantly easier for companies to operate on a remote basis. Companies have already made key investments to help them protect their digital security while also building a technology stack that allows employees to work from their home office.

It is likely that many of these changes will last, with capabilities such as flexible scheduling to allow people to work from home when needed. Businesses have also begun to see the power and potential of digital adoption. Particularly as it comes to business innovation, adopting technology is not only about saving money, but also gaining an edge over competitors and seizing new opportunities in the industry. As businesses realize these advantages, they will be positioned to keep employing technology and taking advantage of what it has to offer.

The pandemic helped to accelerate the digital transformation and created a landscape that will continue to encourage innovation and technological adoption moving forward. 

As businesses begin to better understand the capabilities of these types of modern technology, they will also begin to understand the opportunities that lie before them, even after the pandemic is over.

Images: CTTO

WEEK 8

We named our product as U-Crack Detector where “U” means ultrasonic. It is used for easy and accurate detection of cracks developed on the surface of concrete structures, requiring no special knowledge about management and control of structures for the inspector. Therefore, through the use of an advanced crack detector device, monitoring of changes in the condition of concrete structures and detecting faint cracks before they develop into large cracks, and by timely intervention, could lead to a longer life of the structure, saving any building or home owner the extra cost for repairs. Remember, our home stands secure as we secure its wall. The ultrasonic testing segment is expected to emerge as the fastest-growing test method segment in the non-destructive testing market. This growth is ascribed to the increasing adoption of ultrasonic detectors in manufacturing processes. Ultrasonic detectors are portable, easy to use and provide precise results as compared to traditional non-destructive testing techniques. As a result, the adoption of ultrasonic testing is improving at a considerable rate and is expected to improve over the forecast period.

Now, if we sold a total of 1 million devices in the period of 3 years with a minimum charge of 500 pesos per device, by 2024 we would acquire a total revenue of 500 million pesos. And with regards to the rate the construction industry is rapidly increasing, within the 10 year mark, this device would be all over the world.  

Images: CTTO

WEEK 7

Since this is a startup, we created a repeatable and scalable business model for our crack detector device. Repeatable is a system that can be created on a consistent basis and Scalable is a repeatable system that can handle volume for a growing customer base. Using a business model canvas, we can articulate our hypothesis and can keep track of what we have learned on the process. Executing a business model means transitioning from a startup venture to an established organization. A business model canvas contains: value propositions, customer segments, channels, customer relationship, revenue model, key resources, key partnerships, key activities, cost structure. A business model is a framework for how a company will create value. Ultimately, it distills the potential of a business down to its essence. It answers fundamental questions about the problem you are going to solve, how you will solve it, and the growth opportunity within a given market. You need a clear path to build something meaningful. The process of building a business model establishes a plan for how you will realize your vision. It lays out the strategy behind a new undertaking or investment and provides a framework for tracking progress. Creating a business model requires deep thought and analysis. Company and product builders must think from the outside in, focusing on market needs and what matters most to customers. Once built, sharing your business model across the organization encourages alignment. This keeps everyone accountable for what they are working on and why, as well as guiding investments of time and resources.

Images: CTTO

WEEK 6

With over 70% of the world's population living in a structure that contains concrete, the potential of this product reaches great heights. In the Philippines, most structures (residential and commercial) are made of concrete, totaling to approximately 44 million concrete building owners. Our team sees these people as the potential service addressable market, and our goal is to get the figure of 1 million, which is 2.27% of the available service addressable market. In order to materialize these figures, the team has opted to partner with construction establishments throughout the country in a manufacturer-retailer relationship, where they would advertise the product to their clients, to provide the greatest value to customers at the lowest possible cost. In 2018, a total of 2,487 establishments were engaged in construction. This indicated a 42.4% increase from the 1,747 establishments recorded in 2012. With these statistics, it is evident that the construction industry is growing. From this growth, our team inferred a promising potential for our product to penetrate the construction industry in the near future and to reach our goal of influence of 1 million. Our potential product users are building or house owners belonging to an upper class or middle class with a monthly income of P76, 669 to P131, 484. To introduce this product into the market we will be needing physical resources (equipments and materials) human resources (experts or technicians) and financial resources (investment opportunities).

Images: CTTO

WEEK 5

Our team choose the Crack Detector Device as our final idea to pitch since the market has a high demand for a more accurate detection of cracks in concrete in which visual inspection can’t do. Building cracks are the most common problem found in any type of building. We all love to have a house which is structurally safe and beautiful but it is not so easy, one has to overcome natural calamity, soil failure, construction faults, and improper design, causing cracks to develop on the building. While cracking is often not a great cause for alarm, affecting only the appearance, some cracking can also be a sign of a serious problem, such as the stability of the building being under threat. Because of this, all cracking, insignificant or otherwise, should be considered seriously and checked by an expert. Though the cracks in concrete cannot be prevented entirely, they can be controlled by using adequate materials and techniques. An expert may check the building structure using visual means, but this traditional method is not completely reliable. Manual inspection is dependent on the specialist’s knowledge, which is why it lacks objectivity. Many cracks are left unattended because of the shortfalls of traditional methods, and undetected cracks are very dangerous.

In designing the Crack Detector Device, we will use ultrasonic method which uses high frequency sound energy to conduct examinations and make measurements. Driven by the pulser, the transducer generates high frequency ultrasonic energy. The sound energy is introduced and propagates through the materials in the form of waves. When there is discontinuity (such as crack) in the wave path, part of the energy will be reflected back from the flaw surface. The reflected signal is transformed into electrical signal by the transducer and is displayed on a screen. Knowing the velocity of the waves, travel time can be directly related to the distance that the signal traveled. From the signal, information about the reflector location, size orientation and other features can sometimes be gained.

Images: CTTO

WEEK 4

During the consultation, we realized that we didn’t follow the principle of Mom Test and it became the fault of our market validation. Mom Test is an interview process wherein the main goal is to determine the problems and the struggles of finding solutions faced by the target market. Mom Test focuses on the perspective of the target market towards problems to prove or validate that such problems really do exist and it must be solved. If there is indeed a validation from the target market, this will show that an idea, a possible solution to a problem, is relevant and marketable and is capable of generating money. Unfortunately, our interview questions only focuses on our 3 ideas instead of target market’s life. What we did forfeited the validation of our idea on the market since we didn’t follow the correct way of talking to our possible customers. Since our market validation failed, we conducted another interview using the principle of Mom Test as suggested by our instructor.

Images: CTTO

WEEK 3

During the interview phase, the interviewees reveal their disagreement, concerns and even additional information that we didn't think beforehand when choosing these ideas since we are still students and our knowledge and experience are lacking. The opinions from professionals are a great help for us to narrow our options and decide which among the ideas is worth pursuing that is which one in marketable and at the same time, practical.

I think the hardest challenge in this phase is gaining the trust of the potential customers. Since these ideas are fresh and new to the market, they are still doubtful about the success of each idea which is normal on their part. I can see why start up has a lot of revisions before the success of a product/service. I realize that a successful business is not all about the underlying idea of product/service whether it has the best idea or not but the suitability of the product/service to the market.

The market is always the mold when designing new product/service.

Images: CTTO

WEEK 2

In this week, our group collectively come up with three product ideas that relates to civil engineering discipline and these are the Crack Detector Device, Self-healing Concrete and Vibration Demolition Device.

First, the Crack Detector Device is used for easy and accurate detection of cracks developed on the surface of concrete structures due to deterioration. The sensor is bonded onto a concrete structure, and the optical fiber cable is connected to a visible light source. When a crack occurs, the optical fiber is disconnected, and the light leaks from the disconnected part. This light leakage enable you to know the occurrence and position of the crack as a light emission from the sensor. 

Next, the Self-healing Concrete imitates the automatic healing of body wounds by the secretion of some kind of material. To create self-healing concrete, some special materials (such as fibers or capsules), which contain some adhesive liquids, are dispensed into the concrete mix. When cracks happen, the fibers or capsules will break and the liquid contained in them will then heal the crack at once. 

And lastly, Vibration Demolition Device helps the concrete to go beyond its resonance frequency and tears it down in the process.

Images: CTTO

WEEK 1

I’ve always been the type of person that is very distant towards other people even to my own family. I enjoy my own solitude because it gives me so much peace and security. Whenever we have group projects at school, I don’t try and bother to find a group to join. It doesn’t matter to me if someone invited me or no one invited me to be their group member. I always enjoy my own company and I’m not afraid to be left alone. I am confident that I can do well with or without others help. If given a chance to be in a group, I always prefer my group members to be someone who is not a close acquaintance or a friend because I believe that being with friends can be an hindrance to achieving growth and gaining knowledge. A close circle has a tendency to limit the penetration of relevant knowledge and information from the outside to the inside of the circle and vice versa. I wanted to be a free person or learner. I have the desire to learn anything from everything around me and I don’t want to be tied down to the same comfortable place. For me, being uncomfortable to an unfamiliar place is a chance for growth and learning. 

Learning, at least for me, is letting your self to be clouded with unfamiliarities and uncertainties of your chosen path and momentarily, you will find your self lost but you will definitely get back on track if you try your best.

People might see me as a close-minded person because I don’t socialize as much as they do but actually, I am the opposite. My personality is unpredictable and sometimes, contradicting. I maybe aloof but I’m also curious about other person’s ideas, perspectives, beliefs, personalities and etc. I often bring myself to understand things or people even if it is against my ideals and principles. 

I always leave my cup half full to give space for other people to fill it.

I must say that I’m a flexible person and confident independent person.

Berkeley Innovation Index:

https://janmarielduayao.tumblr.com/post/642273866958454784/berkeley-innovation-index

Personality Test:

https://janmarielduayao.tumblr.com/post/642273575250837504/personality-test

Image: CTTO

My Personal Innovation Mindset Level is currently 80.69 OUT OF 100. 

Trust is 46 OUT OF 100. People with similar scores will sometimes struggle to willingly take risks, admit their mistakes, and learn from them.

Resilience is 92.5 OUT OF 100. People with similar scores can consider a solution to a problem without proper or obvious tools, materials, and knowledge. In other words, they can make do with whatever is at hand.

Diversity is 100 OUT OF 100. People with similar scores find that it is often easy to process information in a manner that is not biased in the direction of their own opinions or expectations.

Belief is 87.33 OUT OF 100. People with similar scores find it easy to believe in their ability to influence events displaying a higher work-performance than those with a low belief.

Perfection is 95 OUT OF 100. People with similar scores can successfully stay resilient to shift their resources when necessary.

Collaboration is 100 OUT OF 100. People with similar scores focus their efforts on craving new insights from their collaborators and thus able to persuade others in engaging discussions.

Comfort Zone is 66.67 OUT OF 100. People with similar scores sometimes struggle to work on things they don't already think they are an expert in. They have a hard time trusting their abilities and occasionally hesitate to 'figure it out while doing.'

Innovation Zone is 58 OUT OF 100. People with similar scores sometimes struggle to consider being purposeful, diligent, and creative to generate novel and useful ideas. They have a hard time with autonomy, independence, and self-confidence to develop innovative ideas.

| Jan Mariel Duayao | CE 3B | ES 302 |

I’m an Assertive Advocate i.e. INFj-A. 

Mind: Introverted -  Introverted individuals prefer solitary activities and get exhausted by social interaction. They tend to be quite sensitive to external stimulation (e.g. sound, sight or smell) in general.

Energy: Intuitive -  Intuitive individuals are very imaginative, open-minded and curious. They prefer novelty over stability and focus on hidden meanings and future possibilities.

Nature: Feeling -  Feeling individuals are sensitive and emotionally expressive. They are more empathic and less competitive than Thinking types, and focus on social harmony and cooperation.

Tactics: Judging -  Judging individuals are decisive, thorough and highly organized. They value clarity, predictability and closure, preferring structure and planning to spontaneity.

Identity: Assertive -  Assertive individuals are self-assured, even-tempered and resistant to stress. They refuse to worry too much and do not push themselves too hard when it comes to achieving goals.

Fun Fact: Advocates are the most likely personality type to believe that modern human beauty standards are unrealistic.

Advocates are the rarest personality types of all. Still, Advocates leave their mark on the world. They have a deep sense of idealism and integrity, but they aren’t idle dreamers – they take concrete steps to realize their goals and make a lasting impact.

Advocates’ unique combination of personality traits makes them complex and quite versatile. For example, Advocates can speak with great passion and conviction, especially when standing up for their ideals. At other times, however, they may choose to be soft-spoken and understated, preferring to keep the peace rather than challenge others.

| Jan Mariel Duayao | CE 3B | ES 302 |