-List five compelling takeaways from the Art of the Start.

• Remove barriers to adoption (flatten the learning curve, make it easy for people to use it especially because this is generally the largest obstacle for adoption of new technology); don’t ask people to do something you wouldn’t do yourself #PlayLikeUmeanIT
• Make meaning, not money (the nature of our project focuses on preserving cultural heritage about the local history and geographical feature of the LV watershed which in essence is about local significance, not profit); also, this technology which we are working on may better the lives of people who cannot go out to see these environmental features themselves which increases quality of life. #CulturalHeritage
• Don’t limit yourself to a target projected audience (enable test drives to see if your product would make sales and be successful, don’t focus your sights on who you’re “supposed” to be selling too because the important point is that your product is selling)
• Always run your ideas through women! As Guy playfully said on the video: “men have the ‘killer gene’ — a fundamental genetic flaw”, they will always try to put new ideas or long standing ones down.
• Don’t be afraid to polarize people; “if your product doesn’t polarize people, it probably isn’t a very good product (ex. Apple)”. Be authentic, think differently.

-Articulate your value propositions for your diverse customer segments.

Our product has a niche and segmented customer segment because it is limited to people who go to local public libraries and nature centers. Therefore, we are addressing groups who are very specific and specialized in a small niche. The market we are addressing which may be segmented is a future consideration when our technology may be scaled to other local communities with their own slightly different needs and problems. They may adapt the software concept to their local watershed or form of environmental education.

Current (and Future) Market Segments

Niche – Since we are using one of the most recent entertainment technology devices — VR headsets — and the development work for this product is very scarce and non-centralized. 

Multi-sided platform – At the same time we are targeting the Lehigh Valley inhabitants that would likely visit our informal education partners (e.g., local public libraries, STEM educational centers), there is also high interest and demand from the research and development team at Lehigh University regarding the initial reaction and subsequential data collected about our innovative educational intervention using immersive VR. 

Segmented – In the long term, after our product has been implemented, tested, and validated, a following action would be scaling it up to be used by other educational entities located in watersheds located in other states or even in other countries.

For English language learners + students who might not function well with traditional educational styles who need an alternative way to learn subject material, our iVR technology is a consumable technology that can help them learn better through active engagement and high levels of immersion. 

-Discuss your Total Available Market and Total Addressable Market. List all your assumptions and hypothesis.

Total Available Market: Lehigh Valley population at ~800,000 people who are either residents or visiting the area.

Total Addressable Market: With our current number of headsets/equipment and the limits of the nature center/public libraries, we expect over 4,000 participants across several local public libraries and STEM centers over the entire grant period of 5 years (if our submitted proposal is accepted).