Speaker 2 - Robert Coons

I was excited right out of the gate when I heard our second speaker and entrepreneur, Robert Coons, was involved in the creation of a mobile app. There were a number of really great points brought up in the talk, but certainly my most enlightening was the idea of being valued for a database. I understand the concept of accumulated information being worth a pretty penny to a company that needs it, but I had never really even considered the fact that there were still demographics here in the U.S. that are largely untapped. I suppose growing in the world today it's easy to just assume everything that can be known about the modern consumer is largely already studied. You can't throw a ball without hitting an article espousing how closely we are all being monitored, and it's hard to ignore the truth in that. Nonetheless, Robert and the company he is a part of, Scout, tapped into the veteran market in a way that appears to be worth more than I would have imagined. I think it's remarkable when a company is able to create so much value for any group of people, while still generating value for themselves. That harmony just seems so capitalistic and beautiful.

The talk certainly didn't stop there, however, and Robert was really able to drill into the class how important it is to be careful with investors. The way he explained the mistakes he made, the red flags he noticed, etc. was sincerely valuable. The question I asked him in class was what the most memorable negative feedback he had received from consumers, and how he was able to mend it. His answer was that a misunderstanding in the shipping of a product forced him and the company to reevaluate the idea of the company altogether, and take a look at the culture they were propagating. I thought his answer was great, and really highlighted some of the attributes that have brought them this far already.