PROJECT DESCRIPTION/DESCRIPTION DU PROJET:

Bluethumb Technologies is a socially innovative financial technologies firm that specializes in developing innovative technological solutions for retailers, non profits, smartphone users, governments and financial institutions. The company is currently seeking passionate, innovative and socially consious students to conduct market research for the company's first product "The Blueprint Loyalty Program"(Blueprint Lives Here) which enables retailers to attract and retain new customers while directly targeting poverty within their local communities. Students will also be required to share responsibilities of building our social media accounts on Facebook, twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Students will be required to sign an NDA and We will only accept students who currently reside in Canada for this project. We will provide questions to ask for some of the areas of research and will ask you to possibly add and come up with more questions to ask.

The students will be required to preform market research interviews in the following areas:

1. Retailer sector, particularly Small and medium sized businesses. 25- 50 Retailer Interviews with the business owner(s)

2. Non profits and charities. 25 - 50 Non Profit and charity Interviews

3. Smartphone users, particularly students, but also other users outside of the student market. Looking for between 50-150 interviews)

4. Post Secondary institutions in Canada that have their own student payment networks (IE: enables students to pay with their student card for purchases)

We would like to see between 10-30 interviews done with the managers of these payment systems on campus.

**exclude Dalhousie University, we are already in touch with them.**

5. Financial institutions (particularly credit unions). 10-15 interviews with a person in a management position, preferable the CEO or a person close to them.

HOW MANY STUDENT INTRAPRENEURS WILL THIS PROJECT ACCOMMODATE?

The project will accommodate 5 students

TIME COMMITMENT PER STUDENT

The time commitment per student is 70 hours

KEY PROJECT ACTIVITIES/TÂCHES ASSOCIÉES AU PROJET:

• Choose an area of interest, contact individuals in that industry to set up a video-recorded interview via zoom or another platform.
• Work with your student colleagues to identify product-market fit and identify gaps that need to be filled
• Work with your student colleagues to identify trends in interviews
• Work together to build our social media accounts

IDEAL ROLES/RESPONSIBILITIES/RÔLES/RESPONSABILITÉS:*

• Experience doing market research and customer interviews is an asset but not required.
• Preferred majors would be marketing or entrepreneurship majors, but these are not required to apply.
• Students will be required to meet with the mentor once per week on a day that works for all students.
• Students will be required to report any activities they have done over the week and any setbacks they have encountered.
• Report anything interesting you found while conducting your interviews.

FINAL PROJECT DELIVERABLES/LIVRABLES DU PROJET:

• Recorded Interviews for each sector
• Put findings in a report for each sector and identify trends, product-market fit, and gaps that need to be filled.
• Gain between 500 and 1000 new followers across all social media accounts

PROJECT MENTOR NAME/NOM DU MENTOR DU PROJET:

Fergus Dearden

CEO of Bluethumb Technologies.

Bluethumb's CEO Fergus Dearden will be mentoring the students on the project. He will be available via the Riipen platform as well as via email.

There will be weekly meetings held on a day that students are comfortable with. If a student requires some individual time, it can be arranged via appointment.

The student must be self sufficient and a go getter. Entrepreneurship is about being self motivated and getting things done and be open to feedback from the CEO. The student will be required to submit video interviews to a google drive for review so that we can provide required feedback to help them with their interview skills.

This project is about collaboration and team work. In addition to meeting the CEO once per week, it is advisable the students appoint their own project manager among the group to ensure accountability for the upcoming weekly meeting with the CEO. This can be done via zoom call or have a social media group where the CEO can monitor progress during the week.