NYX Resistance

This is all of the prototype describing information that I have provided throughout the year. I have added the information requested upon our prototype meeting. Any missing information (costs and cost breakdown) will be presented in our final assignment.

NYX is asking for the full 10% bonus with our information provided and the three prototypes as seen in the above photos and at the final pitch.

Dear Evan,

Please review the following for the NYX Resistance Prototype proposal.

Prototype Description:

As our prototype strategy is that of a ghetto mash up we have been and will continue to build the prototype in stages:

a. NYX met with Erin (a UofC Kinesiology Student) to compete our first prototype – this was a basic long sleeve cotton t-shirt that has written on it a mapping of muscle groups (please see blog for visual)

b. NYX advisor Barb and NYX teammate Casey met on a weekend to complete the first working prototype. This took over 5 hours to complete and can also be found on the blog. It has resistance properties and materials as well as moisture wicking and compression features.

c. The final prototype will be created within the next couple weeks. A due date will have to be discussed reviewed and communicated between NYX, Barb and yourself. This prototype will address issues from the last prototype. The prototype will be the last and the highest functioning prototype given the finances, tools and time available.

In my humble opinion I feel that working prototype 1 (bullet point 2) is worth at least 5%. The 5 hours to complete did not include designing the shirt, gathering the materials or the 3 hrs total travel time to Barb’s office location. NYX feels that a third and final prototype (bullet point 3) should easily give NYX a 10% bonus as a great deal of effort, money and time will be put into the prototype, especially considering that both NYX teammates and advisors have other priorities besides the creation of prototypes at this time.

All three prototypes can be brought in for examination at anytime and will be produced in time to meet the deadline. If a meeting is required to discuss this information further please provide NYX with times that will fit your schedule.

Sincerely,

Casey Stitt on behalf of NYX Resistance

Hi Evan,

Sorry for the delay in my response, I have been swamped with life lately.

The descriptions of the current prototype features are as follows:

1. Moisture wicking fabric

2. Compression fabric

3. High resistance fabrics targeting specific muscle groups

What I have learnt from designing and building this prototype:

a. What we used to create resistance was several layers of spandex. Although this created high resistance it turned out to be very heavy. It also decreased the moisture wicking functions of the shirt.

b. Cutting, measuring and sewing several layers of fabric is very time intensive. Realistically we could not mass produce this as effectively as another design.

c. The shirt we used as a base layer was not tight enough to offer the support required to target the muscles.

I will be altering the design of the shirt as well as the inputs for the final prototype. First of all, the shirt will be much tighter than the last. It will fit skin tight to our model and rep Ian. I will not be using spandex as resistance materials for the final model. I will instead be using elastic fabrics that offer high resistance without layering. I will also be adding a mesh fabric to the shirt to ensure that the shirt will be moisture wicking through the elastic fabric. Lastly, I will alter the visuals of the shirt. The last prototype was done to show the isolation of muscle groups. The final shirt will be an athletic shirt that will be visually pleasing.

I hope this clears things up. I will include another explanation of the features for the final prototype on the blog once I have created the shirt. This will be created to explain the prototype for the final 5% bonus.

On an unrelated topic, I was wondering if we are inviting the advisors to the finals on December 8^th. In my opinion the advisors may like to see the final works of students that they have supported this semester.

Thanks,

Casey and NYX Resistance

Dear Evan,

The final prototype has been created and the images have been posted on the blog. This is NYX’s final proposal for the remaining 5% bonus for this prototype.

Prototype number three is the last stage of ghetto mash up and makes the connection between experiment and the sales ready prototype. The features of this prototype are as follows:

The Hades Model:

· The base layer fits next to skin to ensure compressive and moisture wicking properties

· Mesh venting to ensure that moisture wicking is still possible through thicker layers of fabrics, especially around the resistance zones

· New elasto-resistant fabric (elastane) to ensure a lighter shirt, higher resistance, fewer layers and a more focused/targeted muscle working surface

· Sticky lining along the bottom of shirt to ensure that there is no slip so that the shirt is continually working the body

· Visually appealing design, NYX branding, logo branding and focus has shifted slightly away from technical to visual

· Elaboration of previous point: much of the resistance materials have been hidden and/or placed within the shirt to add to visual appeal

Inputs:

Shirt, thread, elastic, needles, sticky lining, mesh fabrics, labour, transportation, design hours

Justification:

This final prototype is worth the final 5% because it takes into account the issues of the previous working prototype. This shirt is lighter, tighter, more moisture wicking and it is a simpler design. The issues addressed for the first 5% have been solved and fixed for this prototype.

This prototype is more prepared for sale aesthetically speaking since care and time has been put into the visual components of the shirt. There is a large change in the physical features of the shirt. Much of the resistance material has been placed on the inside of the shirt to hide the functional design and aid in the aesthetics. The use of color and design has added a finished quality to the final design. Additionally, a logo has been designed and created can be seen on the shirt. Our brand name, NYX is also visible and ready to advertise for us.

The venting and different use of materials has created a lighter, sturdier shirt that is just as functional. Another feature that has been added is the stick grip elastic on the bottom of the shirt to keep it in place. It is a tighter fit to make sure we are meeting the bare minimum requirement for the market (compression and moisture wicking).

The inputs of this shirt have been more costly. Gathering inputs, the creation and building of the shirt has taken more time and resources. Visually, financially and physically this shirt has been more challenging than the last by a large shot. The improvements are measurable by the written information above as well as a physical examination of the shirt itself. This shirt took 11.5 hours to build as opposed to 5. The costs of the inputs more than tripled and this does not include the hypothetical cost of labour involved (the first shirt cost just over 20 dollars). The three hour trip to Barb Stitt’s location we still made (aka: transportation). Lastly, the difficulty of this design and build has more than doubled. This effort deserves the additional 5% bonus grade. As always, the shirts can be seen for examination at any point, so let’s set up a meeting!

Thanks Evan! Enjoy your weekend.

Casey and the NYX Team

Competitive Advantages:

Several patents covering several designs will ensure that the competition will have to work to copy our product. The first model, The Hades, is one of several that will be created and sold.

Endorsements will also play a role in keeping NYX competitive. Professional athletes will use NYX products because they will see improvements in their game. Paid endorsements along with word of mouth communication filtering down from the pros will keep gossip focused on NYX.

In the first year we will be manufacturing in house. As we will be Canadian born and manufactured this will encourage clientele to purchase local goods. When it comes down for Canadians to choose what product to purchase this may be a deciding factor.

In the second year we will be moving our manufacturing overseas to reduce costs. If competition breaks out into a price war NYX may be able to keep costs low due to this change. This will ensure that NYX will be able to still compete for a piece of the market.

Risk Management:

Risk management will be handled through extensive testing. The human performance lab will test out all of the functions that each design will have. Any mistakes or possible injuries will be identified before sales.

Business and liability insurance will be purchased to protect NYX against any claims or lawsuits that may arise above and beyond testing.

This particular topic is a rather hot and debated issue on the internet right now. The large Swedish fashion chain H&M has recently admitted to using computer-generated models to showcase a range of collections on its website. These virtual models look completely human; however, many consumers when were noticing that all of the models had the same body shape and pose. Essentially H&M would take the real model’s head and then superimpose it on the body. Finally they would adjust the skin tone of the digitally altered body to match the complexion of the face.

H&M's recent method has created some controversy among consumers who have criticized them for creating a false reality for its customers by creating an unrealistic body image for women to live up to. Additionally, consumers argue that the clothing doesn't fit or look the same on real people as they do on the models.

Now I don't really have an opinion on the matter; however, what I have learned through reading this article is that in the clothing and apparel industry, being upfront and ethical is something that is obviously very important to consumers.

This particular issue in my mind is rather insignificant; however, to many consumers they are extremely upset about it (I read a number of the comments on the article) and it has definitely given H&M some negative publicity. I think the real lesson to be learned for NYX is that we need to be authentic about our product and stand behind what it can do without any fluff. Word spreads quick these days through the internet and social media that companies can no longer afford to make costly mistakes. Overall this article really opened my eyes to the fact that companies in the spot light walk on a very tight rope and even small choices that are usually implemented to cut costs can damage your reputation and in the long run cost you more in handling the negative publicity.

Link

I was reading Seth Godin's blog the other day and he posted an interesting quote that we can all relate to in our personal lives as well as in our businesses. The post was titled Insulate yourself...

I discovered an interesting article on Mashable that discusses 7 different tips for bootstrapping your own business and I figured many of you might be interested in reading. I think most of our ventures in the initial stages would be planning on bootstrapping so I felt it was pretty relevant for the whole class.

Tip #1: Test the market - Before you spend any money on pursuing your venture go out and ask potential consumers how much they would pay for your product/service. This will help validate your model and justify spending the time and money to build your company. Additionally it will help determine which functionality you need immediately, versus what can wait.

Tip #2: Efficiency - To bootstrap, you need to be as efficient as possible. Do small and  inexpensive marketing tests until you find the medium that produces the best results. When designing your website,  add the most important functionality in order to get a product to the market.


Tip #3: Keep the team small - Large team's drain cash flow quicker than any other expense in your budget. Until you have a positive cash flow, only hire people you absolutely need.  Give current team members multiple job functions, and offer stock option incentives instead of cash.

Tip #4: Interns - For your startup, interns provide free or inexpensive labor that leads to quicker profitability.

Tip #5: Marketing - Try outsourcing your press releases, this can be done by contacting reporters on your own. Do an internal audit and think of stories and outlets that are related to your project and come up with a simple pitch for a story idea. The article recommends the use of  MediaSync to get a reporter’s email address and contact information. Reporters are always interested in hearing from the CEO of a company.

Tip #6: Outsourcing -  Web design and programming can easily be outsourced and can be much cheaper and save you time. Elance and Freelancer are two good sites to outsource work to. On these sites you can either post your project and have people bid on it, or you can search through the talent and contact potential candidates directly.

Tip #7: Social Networks - Using Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets are a great to connect and interact with your customers. Both are free networks that you can use to promote your business to a broad audience. Additionally, become an expert in your field of business and blog on your own website or on others, this will build a community around your brand and keep customers coming back.

Link

In reflection of my entire experience and what I took away from this course overall it was an interesting journey. The whole blogging concept took me a little bit to get used to, but after a while I got the hang of it and I actually rather enjoy it. There were definitely times throughout the semester that I felt a little stretched or I was a little uncertain what to do; however, I learned that pretty much all of the information we need is already at our fingertips we just need to go out there and look at what others have done (the internet is a great tool for this).

As for our final pitch, I felt it went pretty good, being the competitive person I am, it's never fun to come in second place, but at the end of the day Mido did a great job and thus I recognize it is important to give credit where credit is due. In hindsight, I think the area that we probably could further develop in our pitch is making the problem a little bit more convincing (it was somewhat compelling). The great thing about pitching in front of judges in this particular environment is that it provides a safe environment where we can all learn from our mistakes and improve.

Lastly, I would like to say thanks to Evan for giving his time to teach and mentor this class, it is great to learn from an individual with so much experience and knowledge. I found every class I took away a piece of knowledge that I didn't know before and for that I am very grateful. Also on behalf of the entire class thanks for providing a relaxed and fun learning environment.

Last of all, I would like to say thank you to all of my teammates, you guys are amazing and I look forward to working with you in the next class. Until next semester, thank you all for providing your input on our venture and for making this class such an enjoyable experience.

Cheers

This week has been a busy one with respect to getting our final pitch ready, building our venture package, and working through our supply chain. We decided to make two different supply chain charts with different strategies.

In order to keep our manufacturing costs manageable in our first year while we create demand, we felt that it would be best to manufacture locally here in Calgary. This will enable us to work and fulfill orders on a JIT basis and cut holding costs. Additionally, we discovered that if we were to manufacture across seas, usually they require large orders of which in our initial faze we would like to keep overhead costs as low as possible.

Upon discussion with our board of advisers, we chose to move our manufacturing overseas in our second year. Once our demand creation plan has run its course in the first year, we will expect greater demand for our product and for this reason, it wouldn't make any sense to continue manufacturing locally when we can save substantially on the cost for each shirt by producing overseas.

I actually rather enjoyed working on the supply chain for this particular venture. I've taken a class in supply chain prior to the class; however, I found that working out the logistics and whatnot for your own business is much more interesting than being taught from a text book. After we looked at our financials again through a supply chain lens, it was rather interesting to see the impact that this process had on our business and the cost structure.

The pitch workshop conducted in class I believe was probably one of the best if not the best I've heard. The framework that was presented was very simple yet effective. When writing a pitch, I've always found the introduction to be the hardest part because if you are unable to capture the audience in the first minute of your presentation, you've lost them for the entire pitch. The "ah ha!" introduction is a great way to provide the audience with a background as to how you came up with the idea and can really sell the investor on your dedication to pursue and persist with the venture given difficult times.

Additionally, the exercise of putting your business concept into a twitter summery was challenging; however, it made it easier to communicate when pitching. The format "We created ______that does _______ which solves ______ for _______." Is a simplistic way for any business to describe what they do, who it's for, and the problem it is solving.

Another interesting piece of information that I took away from the workshop was the concept of knowing and researching your audience. The topic of pitching to Canadians differently than Americans I found to be rather interesting and something I will keep in mind for the future.

Overall, the 10 step process that was shared really simplified pitching for me. I often would make writing a pitch a really big deal and it was definitely not one of my favorite things to do. With this framework, it is easy to write a great pitch and have the confidence that it will generate a positive response.