Social Capital

1) Person one: my supervisor

None of these people may be directly related to my product, however, they have all been in the customer service industry for YEARS and I have learned all I need to know from them! My supervisor is someone who has been doing this since she was 16, which dates back to almost 20 years! Her advice and on directly dealing with consumers and customers is vital.

Person two: As much as I respect my supervisor, my boss is who I have the most respect for. I know his background and his struggle, and he has given me chances no one else has to grow as a top manager and make decisions on my own! He is a top owner/operator in the Florida co-op of McDonald's which is hard to do based on the politics!

Person three: my HR representative which is my boss' wife but also my boss because we all know women run the show! Just kidding, but really she is my boss on the people aspect of things. Her degree is in human relations and I respect her tremendously!


2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

With my supervisor I am filling the domain expert. She works the position on a day to day aspect and knows it like the back of her hand.

With my boss I am filling the market expert. He literally knows the business and numbers of day to day and long term operations like no one I've ever met in my life!

With my HR rep I would say in a way she is a supplier! She provides me the tools I need to staff my restaurant and supply me with the people necessary!


3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

Luckily, I already knew all of these people. However, getting them to answer my questions was quite different. No one has "the time" to answer silly questions from a college student unless you tell them how awesome they are first!


4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? There was no favor done in either way! I work for all of these people and in return they just wanted to help me in my student journey!


5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity? Clearly knowing people in my field will help me in the long run!