29A- Speak to Heal (Venture Concept No. 2)

Opportunity: 

• Sexual violence occurs every 92 seconds in the US. 1 in 6 women, 1 in 5 UF students. Additionally, from those 94% of the survivors experience PTSD. 
• Other countries have even higher and worse statistics, especially in India
• Many do not seek out therapist mainly due to the fact of guilt and self-blame. Example of this include being blamed for “sexy” clothes, being under the influence of alcohol, and walking alone at night. Additionally, there is also a misconception that those in a relationship like boyfriends/girlfriends and spouses cannot commit sexual violent acts.
• There is a need for a community where survivors can openly discuss their feelings and their healings. Currently there is no social media platform on the market like mine. This app is purely for survivors who seek a community. 
• Currently who has this need are college students. This would be my initial market before expanding to the whole US. Since sexual violence can occur to anyone, any race, any gender, and any religion, I do not want to segment my market too much. The need is within university students aged 18-23. 
• This forces in nature that are helping with this issue is the #MeToo movement in my opinion. People feel they can speak out more about their attack. Attacks are now being held more accountable for their actions. To not have your attacker not face any type of punishment is incredibly emotional and scarring. 
• For the first market, I plan to focus on universities in the US. 
• Currently customers will either post on FaceBook, Instagram, or Tumblr. However, these are multi-use platforms. There is no single social media platform that only focuses on sexual violence. Also, some may attend therapy. Overall, I think they are loyal to these social media platforms. However, since these platforms are multi purpose, some people are not comfortable opening about their emotions. 
• This opportunity is very big. Since this is a global issue, this platform could easily spread to be as large as FaceBook. 
• The window to act on it is now. The #MeToo movement really sparked with many people across the nation and the world. Currently is no platform on the market like this, it is best to act on it now before there is. 

Innovation: 

• This is a non-profit app. The funding will come from private donations or grants. Therefore, I do not have a pricing market for individuals or businesses. There are multiple reasons for deciding to make this app non-profit. First, everyone deserves a chance to heal, speak about their experiences, and have this community without having to pay for it. Second, it shows the company’s dedication to create a goodwill app. It is easy for social media platforms like FaceBook to become corrupt. We purely just want to help people. Honestly, it just comes down to company values on why we decided to make this app non-profit. 
• As mentioned in my previous blog post about human capital, I contain skills in coding and fundraising for non-profit organizations. I believe there will be minimal costs, just more time towards developing the app. 

Venture Concept: 

• Individuals will use this product because it will provide them a sense of community. Often times, many survivors feel alone, guilty, and shamed for what happened. They will use this app if they want to be able to connect with people like them
• This is not really a company businesses will buy. The only possible reason a company may use it is for HR when there are sexual allegations within the company and is seen as a way to heal. Still, this app is made more for individuals rather than businesses. 
• Advocacy programs and student organizations would promote this app. This app could be similar to a hotline.
• Switch- I think people would switch to my social media platform to share their experiences because it is a more open environment. This is the only social media platform dedicated to survivors with its only focus being on sexual assault topics. 
• There really are not many competitors. There are other social media platforms like FaceBook, but they do not purely focus on sexual assault. If anything, therapist could be seen as competition. As a company though, we do support seeing therapists. However, our app provides something a therapist cannot- a community. 
• Price Points- This app is purely not for profit. We are not charging individuals to use it nor will we run advertisements to fund the app. We will offer an option for private donations or apply to grants. I will not accept loans since this platform is non-profit, I do not have a way to repay these loaners without using the money from donations, which is not in my plan. 
• Distribution- I first plan to bring my app with information to sexual assault centers on the UF campus. For example, the UFPD Advocacy Program and CWC. Additionally, I would attend my social capitals’ organization. For example, this includes the Planned Parenthood club. From there, I would spread it through word of mouth and social media. I want to start off at UF then slowly expand to other colleges, then to the national level, and one day on a global.
• Customer Service- I would have links or phone numbers to hotline workers who are there for my customers when they need help in their sexual violence struggles. If there is an issue with the app, I can set up an email which customers can send any issues they are experiencing which I can later change the code. 
• Location- Starting in colleges, specifically the University of Florida, then spreading to the national level and then the global scale. However, initial focus on university students.  
• Packaging- There is not much to package. The only version of packaging I can imagine is the app design itself. 
• Employees- A small team (7-10). If the app hit a national level I would hire more. Ideally the staff would include a coder, hotline people, social media team, a finance fundraiser, and myself. 
• Unfair advantage- The #MeToo movement in my opinion is my biggest resource. I went into detail with my analysis in the previous blog post. No other movement besides potentially the climate change movement has gained such global traction. This movement had big stars fired. Additionally, is even impacting the US’ government. There is finally a visibly community on a topic not spoken about much. 
• What’s Next- This app can become a platform for other taboo, social topics. For example, an app for those struggling with depression or eating disorders. 
• For Me- I hope to expand into different markets with the same basic app platform. At the end of the day, I truly just want to help people. In 5 years, I hope to see this app hitting the national level. In 10 years, I hope to have at least 2 other social issue platforms up as well.

Reflection (Question 3/4): 

Everyone was super supportive of my topic. They all loved that fact I am starting in the college campus as my first location. Gg asked if I would take loans in her comment. I updated my price points relating to this topic. I do not plan on taking loans. This is mainly because I do not want to take money donated to the platform to pay off the loans. Again, this app is non-profit so I am not concerned about this app generating revenue to stay afloat. If this platform went to a national or global scale then that is something I would have to look into if I had employees. At this moment though it is not. There were not too many critical points in my comments that made me alter too many aspects of my original concept. Overall, all the comments mentioned the need for this app and how innovative it is where there is no platform like Speak to Heal. 

For my image, I decided to create an official logo for my company! I feel this logo captures the essence of what we stand for and gives a general idea of what the app is focused on- mental health.