6A

Economic: The current, world shortage of masks

1. Basically, I just studied abroad in Hong Kong (yay) and I visited a bunch of family from my mom's side. I left 2 months before the coronavirus became an issue, but now I keep in touch with my family and they are asking me and my mom and my grandparents (we all live in Florida) to order masks in bulk and ship it to them in Hong Kong because there is a country-wide shortage of them.
2. I believe an opportunity exists to send masks to countries affected by the Coronavirus because there the world demand for them just shot up by a lot
3. Chinese (mostly mainland China), but clearly other countries like Hong Kong and Japan need them too because they are in close quarters with China. Also, all airline passengers
4. I think its relatively easy to exploit: buy and resell masks to other countries where there is a shortage

Why did I see the opportunity? I think most people my age don’t really keep up with global issues, but because I have family on the other side of the world + the fact that I just got back from living there, I am very aware of economic trends and issues.

Economic: Podcasts and Audiobooks

1. I keep up with technological trends and have seen the popularity of podcasts and audiobooks is taking over the world. 5 years ago, these forms of entertainment were non-existent. And now with half of the world listening to them, naturally, job opportunities and new forms of advertising have risen.
2. I believe an opportunity exists to create a platform of podcasts and audiobook collections, because right now there are basically only 2 large competitors, Apple and Spotify. I believe there are some apps, but they have nowhere near the market share of podcasts and audiobooks like these 2 powerhouse companies.
3. Baby Boomers, Millennials, Gen X, and Gen Z seem to be into the trend of podcasts. People who commute to work especially use this as a form of entertainment
4. I think the concept of making an app for a collection of audio is easy, however, I imagine its hard to get people to put their podcasts on your platform.

Why did I see this opportunity? My parents talk non-stop about audiobooks. In addition to this, I have loved YouTube since the beginning of the YouTube era, and now all these YouTubers I've been following for years are starting to make podcasts

Regulatory: Recreational Use of Marijuana (along with the popularity of organic/sustainable products)

1. I go to California a lot, and recently Colorado and Montreal, where weed is very popular for medical treatments and recreational use. Also, I've seen the rise in popularity of sustainability and organic products.
2. As more and more states continue to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, I see an opportunity for a company to produce reliable weed and market it as "organic" without pesticides and with sustainable wrappers
3. Millennials and Gen Z would be the target audience
4. I think this concept could be easy if I lived in a state where weed is legal

Why did I see this opportunity? Perhaps some people have identified this opportunity, but its non-existent because it's still illegal in most states. But if Florida ever legalizes recreational use, then I could be the first to jump on this opportunity :)

As you can see below, if you search "organic weed", there are no pictures of packaging that advertise this!!

Regulatory: The Political Divide in America

1. As politics become more and more divided in America, I've observed people becoming more radically different. Even certain news-reporting channels have designated outlooks
2. The whole country seems to be divided into Republican vs. Democrats, where people choose a side and stick to beliefs of one or the other, with little deviance. The opposite sides seem to cancel each other out because they are so heavily weighted and don’t want to see the other side succeed. I see an opportunity for a new political party to arise and become successful
3. Anyone who could vote could be affected by this, but I see Gen Z being the target audience since they are probably not yet affiliated with a certain party, so they can be easily persuaded to join the new one.
4. This opportunity would be so difficult to put in place, but there's room for it.

Why did I see this opportunity? Growing up in a house with parents who are on opposing sides, I don’t really identify as either Republican or Democrat. I feel like I am looking at politics with an outside view and just observing because there's no party that I think aligns with my beliefs. I feel like there are many people who feel the same way, especially people my age or younger.