BUSINESS FINAL REPORT

OVERVIEW
Startup Name: BetR-blok

What is your short pitch?

BetR-blok is a new, sustainable building material that is made from 100% recycled components
and outperforms traditional options like concrete and lumber.

What are the top three goals that were outlined in your MVP contract?
1. Improve the companys marketing materials in every way possible
2. Find funding opportunities
3. Gain further insight into the market

Clearly explain how your product/service improved.

The actual product is patent-pending, has been through testing for compliance with
building safety standards, and is 100% ready for market so we focused on improving
promotion strategies and other aspects of what the company offers overall.
The new landing page gets all of the same important information across to customers,
but the design has been updated and streamlined for a more polished look, which may
be an important consideration for any potential clients who are involved in design fields
(construction, architecture, sustainable and alternative home building, etc.).
The new logo is also more modern, more streamlined and the expanded color palette
makes it more eye-catching and fun.
New promotional materials that were created throughout this course are suitable for
social media use, and all of them highlight product features in a new way to address our
market research analysis findings and hopefully garner more interest in the product.

MVP ANALYSIS
Who is your direct market and how did you reach out to them for sale?
Our direct market is made up of 3 main groups; individual homebuilders, related industry
professionals such as construction consultants, architects, and even real estate professionals,
and finally, governments and other organizations involved in low-income and sustainable
housing projects. We reached out to them through an online survey, by email and phone, and in
person (Scott works in contracting).

How many customers did you approach to sell your product?

The product is not yet on the market, so we only approached potential customers for feedback
and insight, not sales. We did not get to the point with any of our survey respondents or anyone
we spoke to where we secured any pre-orders. The company doesnt know when they we will
be able to fill pre-orders because of the large investment that they need before they can get
started.

What was the reaction of your customers?

The majority of customer respondents expressed at least some margin of interest in the product
because of (1- most important) its energy saving qualities (2) its sustainability rating and (3) its
performance ratings that are comparable to traditional materials that customers were already
familiar.

Of the customer who like your product, how many purchased/paid for it?
0. The product is not currently for sale, and we did not secure any pre-orders.

Of the customer who did not like your product, why and what did they not like?
Aesthetic limitations of the block
Lack of availability in stores (or online)
Not necessarily something they disliked; but some customers simply did not rate
sustainability as an important consideration when purchasing building materials.

How would you improve your product/service for the next stage?
Build more projects - even if they are small - to be able to show a better variety of
examples of the products aesthetic potential to customers.
Improve promotional materials to bring even more of a focus on the products energy
saving qualities and performance ratings in addition to sustainability, in order to widen
our appeal to a larger portion of the market.
Secure funding to bring the product to market sooner

SALES
What are you selling? How much are you selling it for?

Product: BetR-blok
A high-performing building material
made from 100% recycled materials.
No other product offerings currently.
Price: $3.25 per unit.

Where are you selling your product?

While not currently on the market, consultation requests for pre-orders can be made through the
companys website (betr-blok.com). The Director of Sales (Chris) has several pre-orders already
on file and actively meets with interested parties, generating more pre-orders on a frequent
basis.

How much did the MVP cost you?

We had no expenses. The companys MVP is fully developed, has been tested for safety in
construction at ASU labs, and is ready for market.

How much revenue did the MVP generate?

$0. BetR-blok needs to raise money for the equipment required to fill large orders before they
can realistically make enough blocks for a building project.

What was the net profit/loss of this experiment?

N/A. We knew that we would not be able to generate income, so we focused our efforts on
raising capital. We found many potential opportunities but did not successfully secure any
funding.

OPERATIONS
How many total man hours of labor was clocked in on this project?
In addition to each of our share of work on team assignments and our weekly 1-1 hour group
meetings with the company

Hamed Alsowayigh:
Logo design- 3 hours

Annalie Olson:
Market research & conversations- 2-3 hours
Funding opportunity research- 1 hour
Internship program research and flyer design- 2 hours

Scott Porteous:
Survey creation- 2 hours
Market research- Approx. 4 hours
IP research- 1 hour
Financial Portfolio- Approx 6 hours

Gina Rivera:
Website design
- Initial layout: 3.5 hours
- Picture and content modifications: 2.5 hours
 - Page layout modification: 2 hours

Grant Wilson:
Internship Research- 1 hour
Graphic Design Research/Practice for Video Creation- 4-5 hours
Script drafting and revision- 2 hours

Provide a clear explanation of what each team member was responsible for and how they
helped the team reach their goals?

Hamed Alsowayigh: I was mainly responsible for improving the current logo or creating a new
one for a future spin-off building company which eventually was to deliver one of the requested
deliverables of BetR-blok.

Annalie Olson: I was specifically responsible for some of the groups market research, looking
into developing an internship program, and working with Grant on the 30 second video; the
internship program didnt work out in the end, but I also helped the team reach our goals by
contributing my fair share of work to the group assignments consistently. Finally, I worked with
Chris regularly throughout the course to secure research materials and coordinate the demo
using company materials at our final meeting.

Scott Porteous: I was responsible for an array of tasks, I made the initial contact with Chris and
began to organize group communication. I provided personal insight on issues contractors and
builders might face during a project using information from my background in home construction
and remodeling. I created and analyzed marketing research that I later provided for Chris and
the team. I tracked down patent and trademark information as well as alternative trademarks for
future use. I participated in weekly team meetings to help organize goals and tasks to be
accomplished by weeks end. I helped in the creation of a Financial portfolio that organized and
classified the various expenses and potential revenues associated with the start-up and first
years of the business.

Gina Rivera:

Grant Wilson: A large portion of my workload consisted of content generation for weekly
assignments, research and practice with various graphic design and video editing clients, and
separate research into potential internship programs available to BetR-blok. Beyond this, I was
responsible for script formulation for the 30-second pitch video and a degree of canvassing local
construction firms.

CONCLUSION

Lessons learned
 1. One of our top lessons learned this semester relates to the different experience for a
start-up that offers a tangible product rather than an app or service. Between the
modules and insights from Chris, the co-founder, we learned about approaching
investors with a fully developed product, and chances to appeal to investors despite the
lower profit margins of products in general over most apps and services.

2. Again through both the course modules and talking with Chris every week, we all
learned the importance of persistence as an entrepreneur. Chris became involved with
BetR-blok because as a designer/contractor with a sustainability background, he wanted
to be able to build with the product himself. 11 years later, he is still working with Barry to
continue to develop the product and company and eventually get the blocks to market.
We learned about the greater vision that has motivated him for all these years, which
goes beyond just the block and becomes BetR Building Materials and possibly even
BetR Communities, integrating a huge range of sustainability principles and building
entire sustainable communities, starting with the blocks.

3. We learned that for customers in this industry, cost is the ultimate bottom-line over
other product features. Even with a product that is differentiated by its environmental
sustainability, it is extremely important to keep costs competitive.

Were the goals outlined in the MVP-1 contract reached?

Market research: successful. We surpassed our goal of gaining insight into the market
from at least 20 participants; 49 people responded to the survey made by Scott that we
all distributed. Scott and Annalie also spoke to a handful of potential customers and/or
people in related fields over the phone and in-person (at work).
Grant location: per Chris, we were only expected to locate funding opportunities, not
actually apply for them or secure money so yes, we were successful.
Website improvement: successful. Gina created a modern template for a new website
that still provides all of the important information that is on the current landing page to
customers, but with a newer and more polished look.
Logo improvement: successful. Hamed came up with a modernized design that was
well-received by Chris, and he is interested in using it as the basis for the future logo.
Internship program: unsuccessful. Unfortunately we did not reach our goal of securing
an intern for the company (the goal was to find a capable student who would be able to
work with Chris and Barry on a daily basis rather than just as part of a class). Our main
challenge was gaining accreditation from ASU for the internship, and because we
couldnt work that out and the company doesnt have the budget to pay wages for an
intern we decided to stop our work on this project.

Do you think your product has enough demand and is truly providing a solution that
people want? If so, will you continue with this concept after the semester?
Based on everything we learned about the market, environmental issues, and the companys
existing MVP throughout the semester, we believe that there is enough demand for BetR-blok to
be successful once it is on the market. By offering a building material that performs as well or
better than environmentally-harmful competitor products, BetR-bloks MVP provides a significant
value to both environmentally-conscious and budget-conscious consumers.

Company website
http://betr-blok.weebly.com/
The information that could be viewed as missing is not available for use at the moment for
pending patent purposes.
APPENDIX
Show and tell

The companys prototype block Block at a weekly meeting for demo

The final product (companys MVP-2), ready for market

Feeling the product Above: Paper Palace One, constructed

with Betr-Blok.
Final Video Pitch
https://youtu.be/EA2osbwG9qo
Short Commercial Video
Link to video; http://sho.co/18I9U

Business Pitch Deck

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1N9SuJWNqhSxZNHyT703jLdvL_fRUaXIlgSwciDQfDgI/
edit#slide=id.g1cedc94d36_0_77