Team Dynamics

We've been through some hard time contacting the professor. We've set up meetings with inventors of two patents we decided to cross out. The first one is Robotic Exoskeleton, which is licensed and not available unfortunately, another one is myshake which we found hard to commercialized.  The patent we're finalizing is ORAM technology.

We still haven't heard back from the inventors though we've tried to contacted them several times. So far, we have good collaboration within the team, we distribute tasks to every team member, communicate and share information on Facebook messenger and work remotely on slides together. We meet physically when needed. 

A brief of ORAM and its market

One major problem in the industry now is that organizations and individuals simply encrypt data that they upload to the cloud which is not enough to ensure confidentiality. Without decrypting the data, attackers can recover the information on the cloud storage services. Short for Oblivious RAM, ORAM conceals an individual's access patterns to cloud data, thereby adding an additional layer of security. ORAM can be positioned as a security feature to enhance existing cloud storage services such as the ones by Amazon,  Microsoft, IBM and Google.

While software like ORAM already exist, they are inefficient and require individuals to transfer gigabytes of information in order to upload a few megabytes of data. Some of our competitors in the market secure the data across the entire lifecycle of the cloud, starting with securing the data centers in preparation for migration. As such, solutions to the ORAM problem have not been commercialized, and ORAM technology would be introduced to an entirely fresh market. 

ORAM software can be also offered as a third party service, or can be provided as a service out of the cloud. Companies are currently spending an upward of $5000 per application per year on cloud security features, not even including the cost of human labor.ORAM could potentially reduce the amount of engineers needed, thereby reducing costs. As more companies move into the cloud, the need to secure privacy becomes greater. Hence, ORAM is positioned to step into what could amount to a billion dollar marketplace.

Rejection Challenge

The Rejection Challenge is a team building activity in which teams compete to trade for increasingly valuable items. The activity involves strategy and interaction with complete strangers.

Each team was given a clear, plastic box, and an hour to trade it to something better. My team, the Big Six immediately took off, and upon seeing all the other teams walk downhill, proceeded to climb uphill for better pickings.  We chose to expand our resources at a career fair first. The career fair required a $15 entrance fee for each person. Janette negotiated with the people at the entrance, allowing our group to slip in for free. 

We made it clear to the first person we met at career fair that we were not there for the purpose of networking. When we explained the rules of the game to him, he accepted our box and gave us a company bag with a handful of 8GB USB and some other swags. We left the career fair with water bottles and Swiss Army flashlights and notebooks.

We then decided to target thrifty stores on Telegraph Ave. We experienced several rejections--Party City, Amoeba, Sheng Kee, but also gathered with over $60's worth of physical items without sacrificing too many of our resources. Our new acquisitions included a $35 blanket, a $15 wooden snake, a $10 ring, white-out, gently used moisturizer and several other trinkets. 

Takeaways:

1.Target the right group. People who have the resources and authorities are more likely to make a good deal especially if you also have the things they want .    

2. Be clear and straightforward. It's important to establish a certain degree of trust by being honest. After we explained our mission, some storekeepers even took the extra time to find items that they could offer us.

3. Offer value when possible. Water bottles were very popular among storekeepers, as were sports-related goods like Frisbees and footballs for entertainment usage. 

4. Got no? Try again. A no is not the end of the world. This is also the right attitude when pitching ideas to VC. 

Value Proposition and Market Needs

To analyze market needs, answer the following questions:

1.who your solution is intended for?

2. how customer will benefit
3.why this is a priority for potential customers?

4. If having more than one customers, For whom will you optimize? 

5. why this is a priority for your company?6.Is solving this problem sizable and interesting enough?7.what risks, if true, would derail your initiative? 

Value propositions articulate precisely the beneficial user-centric outcomes you are promising to deliver a specific target customer, for the problem you claim to solve.

To figure out a good value proposition, we can follow the following steps:

1.Start with a problem statement

Set context for what the problem you aim to solve is and why it matters.A short Problem Statement explains precisely the pain-point or unrealized opportunity the target customer experiences today.

2.Make sure you’re addressing a meaningful need

Are you Solving a Real Problem? Challenge yourself

3. Define about three propositions per target customer

A customer can easily comprehend a few value proposition statements. The fewer and the less you're convincing 

4.Value propositions are the reasons people buy

Step back from the specific features or details of the solution at the moment and focus on the "why" not "what" or "how".

For the patent we chose ORAM:
Value Proposition:ORAM enhances the security of cloud storage data and reduces extra human labor for cyber security.
Market Needs:Organizations and individuals encrypt data that they upload to the cloud, but encryption is not enough to ensure confidentiality. Cyber attacks are still major pain points for lots of companies and countries.
Competitor: current solution providers either scan and strengthen application security from the development stage or enhance the security by encryption, tokenization and auditing.

My Top 6 Patents

1.A Network-Connected, Low-Power Early Warning Device For Natural And Man-Made Disasters

If this warning system will be widely used and can effectively predict disasters, tons of accidents will be effectively avoided.

2.Wearable Sensor Arrays for Detailed Sweat Profiles

As wearables become more important in workout, a sweat profiles would offer more valuable insights for professional athletes and sports lovers.

3.Robotic Exoskeleton For Enhanced Human Carrying Strength And Endurance

Not only will this help people who need to carry heavy loads and people with walking defects, it will also be another selling point for backpack manufacturer. 

4.Compounds That Promote And Rejuvenate Adult Tissue Regeneration

This could effectively boost tissue regeneration for people with diseases, patients after surgeries and elder people.

5.Eyeglasses-Free Display Towards Correcting Visual Aberrations With Computational Light Field Displays

This can be widely applied to all digital devices for visual correctness and information privacy.

6.Image-based Object Recognition System

Can be used in immersive language learning app and tourist translation apps.