1. List the top 20 questions your team needs to answer to advance the venture forward. Categorize the questions if necessary.

Currently, PlasTech Ventures is switching their product line from artisan products to either structural design materials or water management products. We are in the process of asking important stakeholders questions about our venture to be sure there is a real need/usage for these products in the Philippines. Some important questions we need to figure out are: 

1. Do poor neighborhoods (slums) have problems with water availability? / Where do they get their water?
2. Are there a lot of gutters/rain barrels in the Philippines?
3. Do poor neighborhoods have problems finding building materials? / Where do they get their building materials?
4. How commonly are buildings built from bricks or blocks?
5. Are there problems with storage?
6. How motivated are people here to solve the issues of poor water quality and plastic recycling? / If there was a better solution to either of these problems, how would it affect/benefit them?
7. Do they see themselves using rain barrels if they are used to traditional methods of finding/using water?
8. What features do they think the traditional methods are lacking? 
9. What is currently being done about water scarcity/poor water quality?
10. Who builds houses? / Are there standards for building design? / How long do the building processes take?
11. What are typical housing types? / What is the housing situation in the underprivileged areas?
12. Is there money in looking to solve housing issues in these areas? / Does the government do anything for people with poor housing options?
13. What are current traditional/standardized ways of constructing houses?
14. Would people find housing materials made of plastic useful/willing to try them?
15. Is there a cement/cinder block alternative to these products we can replicate with using recycled plastics?
16. What current existing market are there for decorative building materials?
17. What priorities are there when considering decorative building material? Are they more concerned about looks/cost?
18. Would people be interested in a water management system?
19. What are the problems with traditional structures in terms of weather resistance, cost, availability of materials, etc.?
20. Who is going to buy what we eventually will end up building? / What’s the market? / Would wealthy people want to build a plastic nipa hut on their property?

   2. Develop and Visualize the Theory of Change (Logic Model) for your venture. 

• Stakeholders: citizens/entrepreneurs in the Philippines willing to repurpose plastics into reusable materials, nonprofits and various NGOs, the GSIF Team (Ellie Falk, Andy Fugh, Laura Marsiglio, Susan Cheng, Brian Slocum, Khanjan Mehta, Don Morris, Ganesh Balasubramanian, myself, and even members from other teams we may communicate with for purposes related to the project).
• Inputs: Time, research, fieldwork, skills, experience, machinery, knowledge.
• Outputs: Pounds of solid plastic waste diverted, number of products made from recycled plastics, decrease female unemployment rates in the Philippines, decrease the number of people living in low income areas.
• Outcomes: Eliminate plastic pollution from the oceans and landfills, generate reliable and self-sustaining incomes for entrepreneurs that repurpose plastics.
• Impacts: Higher standards of living in the Philippines, stimulate economic growth, reduce environmental damage.

3. Develop a M&E plan for your venture.

1. 1. Clearly list all assumptions:

• • We will be breaking up our team into specific areas in which each person takes the lead on an aspect of our project. (Ellie- processing/UPD communications, Andy- machine design, Laura- materials and their properties, Susan- product design, Myself- supply chain)
  • Our plans include researching the speed, safety, and training involved in the demolding process, the finishing process (e.g. trimming edges, plastic welding, etc) of the products that will be manufactured, researching viable washing processes for the plastics that are obtained, designing and prototyping the machine, understanding sources/distribution channels of plastics, creating five products to be sold in the Philippines before fieldwork and researching the potential products’ roles in the Philippines.

                 2. Identify short-term and long-term success metrics.

• • Short-term, we will continue to talk to stakeholders to identify the needs of potential customers.  After determining which products people we interview are satisfied with, we will begin the design phase. The design phase will be measured based on how well the machine will work/its capabilities. 
  • In the long-term, as a team we would want to be co-authors of publications regarding plastic as a structural building material and/or the cleaning and sorting of plastics to encourage others to explore this realm of research. The publications will create a body of knowledge that other people can educate themselves about and possibly expand upon.    
  • Specific methods to measure the metrics would be to calculate how many stakeholders we interview, how many products we create, and how efficient the machine is.