Reflection on the Quarter
I thought that my teammates were really bright and interesting after our heated but fun debate about Facebook, and was energized and excited by the prospect of developing a startup idea together. However, I knew nothing about the blockchain and didn’t really care about loyalty programs, so I was unsure of how well I would be able to contribute to the project.
During the quarter, I did my best to help make business-smart decisions and contribute to our team’s discussions. I participated in debates about what our vision for the product should be, what our market should be, and how we should go about creating our business plan. I also collaborated with my team members on prototypes and the final pitch deck. We also drank a lot of coffee…
I learned a lot from working on this project. I learned the subtle intricacies of dealing with a team that actually works and has functioning norms (a rarity at Stanford!), and I gained a better understanding of how the blockchain works. I also learned about the challenges and rewards of starting a startup and gained a better appreciation for the role of a product manager.
If we had more time, I would have liked to actually help build the app and get started with launching our business idea. I believe that our idea is viable, and I would have liked to spend more time debating and refining the specific features that Pool would offer. In particular, I would have continued advocating for a trade-everything-for-everything marketplace, as I think that this could be “the unicorn”. Overall, I am so grateful for the opportunity to work on this project!
