9A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Opportunity: Help people become financially independent so that they can do what they love and find meaning in their lives. 

Who: Throughout my interviews, I found that there are people who fall outside my market. These individuals seem to have found a sense of contentment with the smaller things in life. For example, interviewee number one is a 22-year-old college student (a college millennial who should fall within my market) said all she wants in life is a good salary, benefits, and a family to raise. She has made me realize that my opportunity represents what I want most in life and I made the assumption that everyone else would want the same. Also interviewee number three, a 31-year-old graphic designer seems to fall out of my market as he is already doing what he loves and has found meaning. This shows that there are Millenials who have already found ways to be financially independent while doing what they love. He says he likes the opportunity but it would be a waste of time for him as he would prefer to focus all of his energy working on his current hobby.

What: The third person I interviewed (My mother who is in her 40s and has two kids) mentioned that what she needs isn’t just the financial freedom but also a steady philosophical mindset. Furthermore, finances aren’t the only factors towards meaningfulness but also a change of mindset. The fourth person I interviewed, (My 23-year-old coworker) mentioned that she suffered from depression and that as much as she would like to be interested in getting up and setting up her life how she wants she just can’t do it. She made me realize a need that would have to be resolved before someone would be interested in my opportunity. 

Why: The needs of the people who lie outside the boundaries of my opportunity don’t have different needs than those who do lie inside of my opportunity, it’s just that they perceive their needs differently and give more importance to the other needs that they have that influence their ability to work towards financial freedom and meaningfulness or they have already found what I am trying to offer. To explain, their needs at the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs have to be met before they can focus on self-actualization. The fifth interviewee, a 27-year-old woman working at a rehab facility,  also confirmed this point. She deals with people in a crisis everyday and she sees first hand how Millenials self-sabotage their future selves due to mental illnesses. 

	Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
Who	Millennials who are able to meet their most basic needs and want more out of life than just comfort.	People who don’t have their basic needs met and are suffering from mental illnesses.
What	To help millennials with their issues with finding meaning by giving them financial freedom.	Changing someone's core values.
Why	The older generation is not retiring making them get into the way of Millenials causing them to be more interested in finding meaning and not climbing up the corporate ladder.