Week 7: Research and Reporting

This week, I learned the unexpected nature of startups! On Thursday, I received a phone call from my on-site advisor to come in early to help at the weekly Bravo booth at ASU. I was about to turn into the I-10 when I received another call notifying me that the booth was cancelled. I later found out that the Bravo team was working with potential investors. Now I know to always be prepared for a little craziness in business and entrepreneurship!

Because I wasn't able to work with the Bravo team directly, I decided to do some soul searching on these past seven weeks, and reflect on my thoughts of Bravo:

What I love about Bravo:

• Classic, adult-friendly surface: I consider an app to be "easy to use" if my mom knows how to use it. And when my mom used Bravo for the first time, she thought it was quick and simple. While Bravo's reach is primarily a younger audience, older generations are capable of utilizing the app - a quality I don't often find in other apps. 
• Grand appeal to college students specifically: Although I have been exposed primarily to Bravo within the collegiate environment, I truly see college students as the ideal market. The majority of these students, unlike me, are not old fashioned, and chiefly use credit cards. Whether students need to pay their peers, pay a service professional, or even have their parents give money to their accounts, Bravo has a multitude of use and convenience at this stage. 

What I think can be improved and where I see Bravo in the future:

• Highlight the perks of Bravo on its website and advertisements: Low convenience fee (2%). Direct transfer of money from accounts (no money ever sits in the app). These are just a few of the benefits that make Bravo stand out from its competitors; but I have noticed that not many people realize unless they are told the facts. If Bravo advertised these qualities in a concise yet effective and engaging way in its advertisements, it could appeal to potential customers who are concerned with personal and monetary security. 
• Working with churches: Although this idea may be tricky with many churches' goal to remain private, Bravo could work with churches and simplify the process of donating and tithing. As someone who attends Cornerstone, a rather large church with multiple campuses in Arizona, I've witnessed firsthand the transition of tithing from cash to online payments. As more and more churches - especially megachurches - adopt this method, Bravo would serve as a secure and reliable donation platform for churches at a low fee. Along with this, Bravo can also create a safer environment for smaller churches by alleviating the process of counting and tracking cash-in-bucket donations.