Everyone should have their final grades for all assignments in ETEC522 via email by now. Please let me know immediately if you haven’t got yours. Questions welcome. It was a pleasure getting to know you all, and I’ll enjoy even more being kept up to date on all of your ventures going forward. I realize […]
Continue reading Everyone should have their final grades … Posted in: AnnouncementsPage 2 RSS Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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David Vogt
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adi
My last participation :-(
It was interesting to go back and reflect upon my participation. I agree that a platform that helps you keep a better track of your own posts would be useful, and perhaps doing this same participation reflection half way through the course. Regarding the platform we used, I agree it is perhaps not the best […]
Continue reading My last participation :-( Posted in: General -
David Vogt
Something ventured…
Welcome to December everyone, and the conclusion of our learning adventure. As per my earlier message, you have your A1 & A2 grades now, and should have the balance of your grades by the end of the week. I’m thoroughly enjoying the grading process, as I do ETEC522 and MET overall, because all of you […]
Continue reading Something ventured… Posted in: Announcements -
Lisa Nevoral
Participation Portfolio
I think it is good for MET students to try different platforms. We can use that experience to make educated decisions when trying out LMS for our students (if we are educators and we so chose to). What platform did we like? What lay-out or organizational plan would I want for my students? Do I […]
Continue reading Participation Portfolio Posted in: General -
David Vogt
Completion Schedule
Nice action on the Venture Forum! Just to let you know, I’ve done my second review of your A2 assignments and you should expect your grades on these later today. I’ve also done a first review of your A3 assignments, so you should expect these back to you, along with your A4 work, by the […]
Continue reading Completion Schedule Posted in: Announcements-
joeltremblay
Hi there David,
I haven’t received anything via email? Is that where you’re sending the feedback/marks to or?-
David Vogt
I’ve just finished relaying all of the A2 grades – so please let me know if you haven’t received them via email yet. Cheers, David
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Patrick Pichette
I might be blind but I only see an email acknowledging reception of the A4 assignment.
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Patrick Pichette
Quick tutorial for those of you trying to locate your contributions
I went ahead and created a short tutorial in case it might be helpful for a few of you trying to locate your course contributions to submit as part of your A4 assignment. If it helps just one person, it was worth the minute to make it. 🙂 Keep in mind that this tutorial allows […]
Continue reading Quick tutorial for those of you trying to locate your contributions Posted in: General-
Peggy Lawson
Great tip Patrick! I’ve been copying and pasting some of my posts as I’ve gone through the course because I dreaded having to go back at the end and try to hunt them down. Your solution is excellent – thanks for taking the time to create & share the video.
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sophiabb
Thanks Patrick.
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C. Ranson
Thanks Patrick.
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Patrick Pichette
You’re welcome.. looks like it helped a few people so even better.
Cheers 😉
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jameschen
Participation Portfolio – Suggestion for A3
Hi all, I think having people to vote for and give marks to the available pitches for assignment 3 would be improved with more detail that explains the achievement for the number of stars assigned. The written comments are more useful and accurate at getting the points across. Perhaps having an explanation for each set of […]
Continue reading Participation Portfolio – Suggestion for A3 Posted in: General-
jenbarker
I didn’t mind the peer assessment bit, but felt the specific aspects we were asked to rate could have been expanded a bit to reflect the multiple facets of pitches.
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kstackhouse
Great idea, a rubric for each component would help in deciding the scores for the pitches. It would probably make the evaluations more consistent if we were all going on the same criteria.
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adi
I actually found grading and commenting on other people’s work very useful, it helped me reflect on my own work and how I could have improved it. The feedback everyone gave me and others was also very useful to learn from.
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Suhayl Patel
MultiBoard
Hi Everyone, I have no clue as to why the sound cut out after 3 minutes. I checked my original file and the sound on there is perfect. I have uploaded it again and it seems to be working fine. Sorry for the inconvenience. Venure Pitch: http://youtu.be/i_DfAgmW1Jw
Continue reading MultiBoard Posted in: Venture Forum-
adi
Sorry for the late post. I have had sleepless nights completing other assignments. I do apologize and mean no disrespect.
Hi Suhayl,
The problem you address is not very clear. Your product is clearly better than the others out there, but you need to highlight what problem is being solved. That aside, your product does sound interesting and you have clearly though of how to market it. The fact it is portable makes it very attractive. I would just be weary of how certain existing tools are also portable and have the option to be used in a similar way. This is also part of your competition.
Well done,
Adriana
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melissaayers
Participation Portfolio
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my learning experience through this course. The topics were very interesting and relevant and the OERs I found a great way to deliver content and learn at the same time! However, I agree and echo the sentiments others have about using the weblog vs an LMS. I also found it difficult […]
Continue reading Participation Portfolio Posted in: General-
jameschen
Hi Melissa,
I too, agree with the suggestions that you have stated, especially the second one about being able to edit/update comments after pressing the “reply” button. I think not being able to do so is related to the reason why my heartbeat increases every time before I press the “reply” button.
James
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kstackhouse
Great ideas Melissa. I think that being able to provide examples (visuals or video) within the replies would be great. It would be difficult to provide the same response if you had to make a new post and then refer to the original posting that you were commenting on.
Ken
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adi
Totally agree. It’s awful not being able to edit a post you’ve written and later find has a mistake.
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tomwhyte1
Participation Portfolio – Resource Depot
While I see some of the points made by other students regarding the Blog vs traditional LMS to facilitate this course. I myself liked the fact that this information would be live to the Internet. With this knowledge, I had to ensure a more respectful tone (not that we weren’t), but more so, considering at […]
Continue reading Participation Portfolio – Resource Depot Posted in: General-
teacherben
I think the same thing could have been accomplished using a discussion forum that was publicly visible (although I would say that the thought of my colleagues in this class, all professionals and working at a master’s level, seeing my work was more than enough of a motivator to try to write something intelligent. My personal opinion is that a blog is best used when you have one primary author and a multitude of commenters. The discussion is guided by that primary individual. With so many authors, it is difficult to keep track of new, interesting posts, or to se who responded to the question that you asked here or there. I definitely prefer being able to open up a forum and see how many ‘unread’ comments I have. I am sure that I missed all sorts of good stuff in this course because of this. People are more likely to check the ‘recent posts’ or ‘recent comments’ and respond to something that interests them in there. If, for example, you happen to be in the same time zone as the majority of people, then you are more likely to get a response and generate a real discussion since more people will see it while it is up. For those that aren’t, their ideas may be buried quickly and by the time they get back 12 or 24 hours later, the discussion has long since moved on. (Either that or my comments were just boring…) Subscribing to a feed was one way to do it, but it’s not so simple to click from there into the wordpress to respond to a comment. So while I believe that there was no shortage of good discussion in this course, I would not recommend a blog for the next time around. (Incidentally, it seems that this was on a wiki sometime in the past, so it is cool to see the David’s experimenting with formats and technologies.)
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tomwhyte1
I am not disagreeing about the intelligence of the community of learners, that was not my thoughts or intentions. However, in many of closed off courses, sometimes discussions are not course related, and yes I realize there is a section for those in those courses, however it was rarely used. I was just getting at the fact that the completely open environment, ensures that we are not only intelligent in our responses, but our cognitive dissonance, which will and should occur regularly, regarding at times, real life products, not only keeps us disagreeing agreeably, but aware that we are discussing real life products and the time and effort multiple people have put forth. Do I like other LMS’s, yes. I have used Blogs, Connect and Vista – and in my mind Vista provides the most services to assist conversations, in that it shows where new conversations have occurred and if any have been directed at you. Both of which are essential, and have missed dearly in this course.
And I am glad to hear that experimentation on delivery happens. For no matter what system you provide, some people will be happy, while others less so. And you never know, with experimentation may one day come my much wanted Resource Depot.
Thoughts?
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visramn
I think that is a good idea. I think for a course at this level, individuals would use such a tool as a resource to help them to concretize and further their understandings not as means of plagiarism. I am a visual person and find that seeing an artifact teaches me a lot more than reading about that same artifact or the components of that artifact. This type of resource would be helpful to individuals who have no prior background in business and would give them more confidence in their ability to create a potent and plausible venture.
Nureen
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Peggy Lawson
I’ll just add to your comments, Tom, regarding the quality (stay-on-topicness) of discussion threads when open to the public vs in a closed LMS. I’ll respectfully disagree. Now in my 9th MET class, I’ve generally found my classmates to be very focused on the topics, always respectful, and very meaningful and rich. There was the odd brief off-topic comment, but those more often than not added to the spontenaity and group-building of the course. As mentioned several times now, in numerous threads, I think the combination of a large class size and the nature of blogs vs discussion boards (Ben explained it well) made it much more difficult to create rich discussions in this course. Rare were the real conversations between more than 2, occassionally 3, people at a time as a reall back-and-forth discussion. Unfortunately I felt very little of the collegial bonding of classmates in this course that I’ve come to greatly appreciate in MET and perhaps the public blog forum was a major reason for that.
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joeltremblay
Participation Portfolio
I found this course to be extremely difficult. Partly because I wasn’t trained in the lingo and also because of other difficulties that have already been aired by other students. The WordPress site was extremely awkward to navigate at times and incredibly inept when it came to the search function, but it provided up to […]
Continue reading Participation Portfolio Posted in: General -
kstackhouse
Participation Portfolio: Team Pitches suggestion
I was really challenged by this course and I greatly enjoyed the many avenues we were able to explore. Thank you to all of the teams that presented and the high quality of materials that were provided. Two components that would help me, and possibly others participate more would revolve around communication and collaboration. In […]
Continue reading Participation Portfolio: Team Pitches suggestion Posted in: General-
manny
I would agree with the discussion component of the course layout and its limitations. Upon beginning the MET program, vista was the platform for most courses and it worked like a charm. It was easy to log on and easily locate your discussion threads and respond to comments that colleagues have added. This blog roll format does work but makes finding and posting discussions and replies a tedious task. I noticed that complex threads didn’t really evolve within this format as they had in the past with courses offered through vista. The connect platform is not any better either. This is the interesting thing with technology, just because something is newer, doesn’t necessarily make it better. The old saying “If it aint broke, don’t fix it,” is something designers should keep in mind. Then again, if that was the case, they would be out of a job.
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jenbarker
As a note, I know that UBC is moving to a new system called Connect, instead of Vista. Having used both I find Connect much more cumbersome to navigate than Vista. It only shows one post at a time and you have to use arrows to click/scroll through conversations. At least through the blog I don’t have to click on each person’s post to read what they wrote. Just my two cents.
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Peggy Lawson
Thanks for the post Ken. This is the 2nd course that has used a WordPress blog instead of Vista or Connect. I know it can take time to adjust to something new, but I’ve had some experience now and as you said trying to follow threads and new posts is almost impossible and consumes far too much time trying to locate new posts (I didn’t like the RSS method much, either). I’m sure I’ve missed replying to comments on my own posts which I hate to do. As Manny said, the rich and complex discussion threads that, to me, are the real heart of a MET course are very difficult and almost non-existent with WordPress blogs.
Collaboration on the venture project is an interesting idea.
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Doug Connery
I also agree about using the Word Press Blog format, this is my second course as well, and the discussions have not been as rich as it is hard to keep track of them. These courses are all about learning from each other through the postings, so I believe we could have learned a lot more in this course if it was hosted in the normal Vista platform where the discussion threads are better managed.
The other comment that I would like to make which is even riskier as the final grades have not been posted, however it is a specific constructive suggestion, is we have been discouraged from continuing discussions once each group’s emerging market analysis week is complete. In other courses I have been in, continued discussions were allowed throughout the course, and I remember one where they were still going 7 days after the course was completed! I do not see a fault or danger in this, only positives as small groups of students are able to discuss topics to great detail and on a wide array of related topics.
Doug.
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jameschen
Good suggestions, Ken. I would also really like to see future iterations of this course to have the venture pitch assignment structured as a collaborative project because I found it disengaged my learning experience from the collective while I worked through the assignment myself.
James
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rebeccaharrison
My other 3 classes are currently in Connect and I think there are benefits to both. I have one course where our discussions happen on connect and we do assignment posting through wordpress. I dislike going through the extended process of “clicking” and collecting on connect, but it is easier to tell what you have already read.
I think that you are right, Ken, that it would be great to collaborate on an idea, however, I can see that being a bit difficult to coordinate, particularly for those who want to work on a special project/venture that they are actually wanting to launch.
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visramn
Participation Portfolio: Suggestion for potential changes in this course for the future
One suggestion I would make is that maybe A1 or A3 could be shared on the weblog prior to submission. This way, individuals could view each other pitches and provide feedback. Thus, creating a tool that can be learned from and allowing for improvement in the skills being learned during the course. I am currently learning a lot […]
Continue reading Participation Portfolio: Suggestion for potential changes in this course for the future Posted in: General-
kstackhouse
I agree, it was easy to miss parts of conversations due to the blog set-up. It is much easier to follow the threads in a Vista forum posting. This is especially true considering how many groups presented and all of the external sites that were created where we were asked to participate in other locations.
Ken
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tomwhyte1
I really liked the idea of a collective approach to the development of either or both A1 and A3. And for a lot of people, this may have increased value. My only caution, is for those potential students who truly want to use this class to help them develop an actual service/product. For these individuals, that collective environment, would reduce any chance of that product ever coming into existence, or intellectual property battles, if it becomes successful.
For myself, I would like the option of working in groups, or individually.
Thoughts?
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kstackhouse
That is a good point to bring up. As you said, offering the option to work alone or in groups would be a good solution.
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sophiabb
I think sharing our A3 on a weblog prior to submission is a very good suggestion. I have learned a lot for the collective feedback to my A3 as well as to others. I welcome the feedback from peers at this level; that feedback could make the difference between a good pitch and a great one.
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sophiabb
I also think that we could post our A3 ideas in a general pool. This could facilitate a team work approach for students with similar ideas.
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David Vogt
The Home Stretch!!!
Hi everyone – Just to say THANK YOU that the Venture Forum is now live with all of your pitches, and you should feel that you`ve now accomplished the lion`s share of your work for the course, so BRAVO! Via separate email you each should have received your review assignment for this week – the […]
Continue reading The Home Stretch!!! Posted in: Announcements-
Doug Connery
Thanks David for a “random list” of great pitches.The hardest part will be choosing three best to do detailed comments on.
Doug.
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Peggy Lawson
Thanks for the reminder Doug. I do recall reading somewhere our procedure and tasks for reviewing the pitches, but a refresher would be helpful or pointing me in the right direction as to where I saw that information before.
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tomwhyte1
Three? I was under the assumption, that the expectation was all?
Thoughts?
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Doug Connery
Hi:
Under 4 Launch there is a dcoument that states quick comments for 7 and in-depth for 3. I was refereing to choosing 3 for the in-depth review. Hope this did not cause too much confusion!
Doug.
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tomwhyte1
See that now… opps… Oh well, I have done a detailed write-up on 9 of the 10… Yours and Peggy’s are part of that…
At least I got a bit more practice… 🙂
Thanks for showing me that.
Have a great night.
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Peggy Lawson
Thanks Doug. I knew I had seen it somewhere. In hindsight it seems to be the obvious place for instructions for this venture project, but I’ve never fully been comfortable with the blog format as an LMS
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adi
Thank you from the Week 12 OLE team
On behalf of this week’s group, we would like to thank you all for being a part of our OLE. An OLE should promote hands on experiences, self-directed and mediated learning, learner autonomy, personal inquiry and divergent thinking. You all embraced the challenge in different ways and held different opinions regarding the various platforms and […]
Continue reading Thank you from the Week 12 OLE team Posted in: Announcements -
frank
Assignment 3: Venture Pitch DolFin
It’s been interesting and, i have had my share of technical difficulties. I tried about 20 different permutations of technical fixes while recording this pitch, but couldn’t get it to come out both a compressed and, well not an art piece. If anyone has suggestions on tech support, I can repost if it works. […]
Continue reading Assignment 3: Venture Pitch DolFin Posted in: General, Venture Forum-
kstackhouse
Franc,
I tried to view your video but it looks like the link you sent is for the location within your video. You might have to update the link to show the url for the video outside of your video manager. Also, you can embed the video directly into the blog if you wanted to. Just click on the youtube button and paste the video url into place. Hope this helps.
Ken
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lullings
Hey Frank,
The youtube link doesnt work as it is linking to your videos you uploaded page rather than anyone in particular. This just brings me to my video upload page so cant see yours at all.
The Prezi is giving me an error as well.
You said that you were having trouble with the export. Lash me off an email with details of what program you are coming from, what OS you have, and what you recorded it using and hopefully I can help.
Cheers
Stuart -
Ranvir
Frank, the YouTube link does not work..
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Kent Jamieson
Not to sound too redundant, but I can’t view your video or prezi either.
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frank
Hi Guys, I did a complete re-install; try this now:
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Lisa Nevoral
Hi Frank,
I can see your YouTube video, but not your prezi.
Lisa
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jkotler
Hi Frank,
While I too was unable to find your prezi, I did watch your elevator pitch on YouTube. From that I think you have a great concept but it was somewhat unclear to me if the key features or purpose is to teach users about finance, create a budget for them or both? As well, I saw there was mention of users interacting with one another and I would have liked to know more about how that would work.
Julie
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Kent Jamieson
I agree with Julie that your concept seems great, as i think there is a need for this type of learning, but it was a little confusing knowing exactly what ‘Dolfin’ does.
I’m sure your venture pitch will add greater depth, but i’m not sure with the limited information gained from the initial pitch that investors could go any further.Do you explain where the 500K goes as well? I may be off base, but that number just sounds huge for the application you’ve explained.
Thanks,
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frank
Hello,
Thank you for your feedback. The Prezi is embedded in the Youtube video, so I did not post it separately.
DolFin is a LMS/CMS Platform that brings together budgeting tools, financial education content and social applications to make financial learning simple and fun. It can be utilized by teachers and and education providers as an all-in-one reservoir to draw from for tools, content and connectivity, so that they can focus their efforts on facilitating the learning process.
The budget is further laid out in the Venture Pitch; and the $500K covers both the Pilot and Alpha Launch development. Since you have $1 Million to invest on this, Investing in DolFin will allow you to fund something that’ is uniquely different and innovative, while having $500K left to invest in an another venture as well.
Cheers! -
rebeccaharrison
The elevator pitch is intriguing, but I don’t think it provides enough information for who would use it and what they would use it for. People are typically private about finances so I’m not sure whether that social media bit would be a good thing (as it would encourage sharing of ideas, etc.), or whether it would just turn people off. Finances are an area that everyone has interest in, but just based on the elevator pitch I would not invest further.
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Peggy Lawson
Hi Frank – An interesting venture idea. I think there is a market for people who would enjoy online classes in financial education, based on their needs. For evaluating the brief elevator pitch, I like focusing on these guidelines, realizing that the brief elevator pitch likely won’t touch on all aspects:
* Pain Point: the market gap or problem the venture is addressing;
* Solution: the new product or service that resolves the pain;
* Differentiation: the reason someone will buy or use this new product or service, versus the alternatives;
* Marketing: where and how buyers/users will be reached;
* Championship: the competency of the venture’s leaders and advisors;
* Competition: an overview of competitors and partners;
* The Ask: how much money, etc, is required to take the next step; and
* The Return: how much and how soon will an investor be recompensedYou managed to touch on most of these during the brief pitch which I found impossible to do – well done. However, for me I would have liked to have been drawn into your vision a little more deeply; perhaps spending a bit more time highlighting a few of your more essential or engaging aspects, rather than briefly covering many of them, would have attracted me more towards your venture. With my limited ability to fund ventures, I may have to pass on this particular one. But I wish you success, as I do think there is some potential here.
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manny
Hi Frank,
For some odd reason, when I click on your elevator pitch it goes to my videos in my personal video manager for youtube. The prezi also doesn’t seem to work, I get a message of ….
The presentation you wanted to join either did not exist, or it has already ended.
Please check the URL and come back!Thank you for your patience,
The Prezi team -
frank
Hi manny, please see my post: frank 8:48 pm on November 27, 2012
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jhodi
Hi Frank,
I think that you have a very marketable venture here. As a math teacher that teaches finance to high school students, I am always looking for engaging resources such as this that would help students learn in practical situations. I watched your elevator pitch and read what you stated would be in you venture pitch. I would like to invest in this venture, but I would want to know more about it first. I would like to know exactly how it works and what the future plans are for this venture.
Overall, I think that you did a very good job creating your pitch and have caught my attention!
Jhodi
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adi
eLT-PD online professional development
eLT-PD is an online professional development site for English Language Teachers. I wish I could have produced and edited this project with the high quality many of you achieved in this course; unfortunately, I lack the know-how. However, I welcome your honest feedback to help me improve it and to hopefully one day be able to […]
Continue reading eLT-PD online professional development Posted in: Venture Forum-
jenbarker
Hello Adriana,
I appreciate your honesty about your skills. I was also impressed by others tech savvy skills. I wished I knew how to impose graphics alongside the video of me speaking in iMovie. I liked your Elevator Pitch. You address the pain point and the fact that your venture is free makes is more accessible than going back to University for a diploma in supporting English Language Learners. I also thought your Venture plan was really good. My only suggestion would be to make your ask and return more clear. Are you asking investors for money or personnel? Great job, Jen-
adi
Thanks for the tips Jen. I guess because there are so many people that could invest, e.g. government, private educational institutions, language associations, British Council, ELSA NET, etc., I’m not really sure how to pitch to them all. I guess I could perhaps adjust the pitch depending on the possible investor. However, I also felt very ‘green’ when putting this together; I hope to learn from all the tips I’m given, and from everyone else’s work.
Thanks a million.
Adriana 🙂
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avninder
I liked the consistent look and feel of your slides. The images against the white background created a very clean look. Unfortunately I could not hear any audio and the clip on the slide that said “2 billion” did not play, it just said “codecs unavailable”. So I was unable to get the full impact had I known what the numbers were representing. Based on the text I believe that your venture has a lot of potential as ESL may be a very global issue which was captured through your use of graphics.
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adi
Thank you. I’m sorry to hear you could not hear the audio. I really appreciate you taking the time to view it.
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Ranvir
I really liked the venture concept and believe it has lot of potential. It would have been great to know bit more about yourself and your marketing/venture plan…
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adi
Thanks Ranvir. I hope to learn from other people’s projects regarding where and how to insert more information on myself and how to best market the venture. I am still a bit confused as to hoe pitch a non-for profit venture and to investors who gain different things from their investment.
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joeltremblay
Hi Adrianna,
I don’t think that technological savvy played any sort of detrimental role in your pitch. The venture plan was cohesive and made logical sense. Good work.-
adi
Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
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Jonathan
I’m going to have to concur with my colleagues. Wouldn’t even worry about the tech savvy aspect. I thought the Powerpoint did the trick just well. You had simply slides, spoke clearly and your message was delivered very effectively. I actually quite enjoyed it. It’s really the message that is the most important and I got it from watching your powerpoint (audio worked just fine for me!).
I definitely would have liked to have a bit more detail about how you were going to roll out your plan? How you would attempt to attract users to your site. But I loved the delivery of your message for the need of this product!
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adi
Hi Jonathan,
I’m glad you enjoyed it. I felt it was a bit slow, but recording a voice-over using PPT is a bit complicated. I will work on the details regarding the users.
Thanks again 🙂
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tomwhyte1
To facilitate and objectively review the venture pitch you have put forward, I will be utilizing the guidelines provided within our course, Section 2.7 – Deconstructing a Pitch.
CEO & Team:
Throughout this venture pitch, it was clear that the CEO is not only aware of the need for such as service, but is a significant member of the current English Language community. These essential pieces, speaks to the CEO’s confidence in their venture and the passion they have to make it succeed. Furthermore, the venture is further strengthened by the addition of two other members, who also have significant experience within this field. The only concern regarding this team, is the inclusion of individuals who are experienced at taking real world information, and effectively and meaningfully translating it to the online world. A key element, that will not only attract users, but keep them.
Venture Concept:
Online professional development is beginning to be explored in various areas of the educational world, from university courses to webinars. However, at this time, I am unaware of ventures specifically focusing on English Language Learners, therefore, even though the venture may not be original, the concept is. Furthermore, the CEO did provide evidence to create a foundation of knowledge which supports this venture. Even though I have no experience in English Language, I am interested to see if this is a necessary or only perceived service.
Marketability:
The CEO did a good job of providing information regarding the potential market of students who require instructors better trained in this area. However, I am unclear on the actual number of teachers who provide instruction in this area. For without this key piece of information, a determination on market size, share and revenue cannot be made, all of which needs to be within a certain range to make eLT-PD a viable venture. Furthermore, even though the specific idea is relatively unique at this time within the online professional development market, in the long run, if this venture is found successful, any market share will be threatened by competitors do to lack of intellectual or proprietary right.
Venture Plan:
At this time, no specific market readiness timeline has been provided, creating concerns about their ability to enter the market before or after other competitors, especially considering this market is gathering momentum both offline and online. Secondly, seeing that other products are becoming a reality, is it possible for this venture to maintain its viability if it is simply focused on one product, where as larger companies could attract more users by providing multiple opportunities under the same online platform.
At this time, I feel there is a need for better professional development opportunities in English Language, and with more focus, and the inclusion of web training specialists, this venture might prove worthwhile in the near future.
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adi
Thank you very much for your very useful and through feedback. You are right about the number of teachers; unfortunately I only managed to get certain statistics per country and still need to do the math and get figures from other places. Your observations regarding the specific market readiness timeline is also very important.
In terms of competition, our product complements rather than complements with the private market. The private market has well structured courses/books designed to teach very specific elements related to teaching and often designed/written by people with little or no classroom experience. The workshops on the site are from conferences where speakers range from being well-known authors and teachers with years of experience, to everyday teachers who want to share what they do in the classroom. Publishing companies and teacher training schools can complement rather than compete with the site, but I need to get this across in the presentation.Thanks again. All your observations will help me improve the overall project very much. You have pointed out lots of things. Cheers ☺
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tomwhyte1
Thank you for providing more clarity in regards to the overall project, much appreciated. As well, I remember there being mentioned a Journal? Would this be online, offline… follow the peer-editing model. I found this interesting, but forgot to mention it before.
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visramn
Hello,
I do not think the level of tech used to create a pitch or plan impacts the message being sent.. You did a good job of getting your point across. Your slides very aesthetically pleasing and your facts did a good job of addressing the need for this product. I worked in Africa for a year and I saw the need for training and the lack of teacher education. This product would do great globally.
I did find that there were some missing components in your presentation overall. For example, I would suggest maybe appealing to your investor and directly stated what you would like (i.e. an investment).
Thanks for sharing. Your hard work is evident.
Nureen -
sophiabb
Hi Adriana,
I appreciate your honesty and challenges with the technology; for me it did not detract from your pitch. I thought your elevator pitch did a good job at addressing the two of the three key components: problem and solution. Your venture pitch clearly showed the viability of your venture re assessment of your market, your position, your team and business model. I agree with Nureen’s feedback that your pitch could be strengthened by clearly stating your ask. I had no problems with the audio.
Sophia
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Scott
In short Adriana, I found your pitch well articulated and concise. While it may not have featured all the production ‘sizzle’ you wanted, it delivers a substantial helping of EVA ‘steak’! Thank you for your hard work and for sharing such an original idea.
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jameschen
Hi Adi,
I enjoyed your elevator pitch. It is well organized and well pitched. I wish there was more information on the ask and return because that would’ve allowed me as an investor to get a better picture as to what I need to put in and what I can get in return.
Thanks for the well-presented pitch.
James
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melissaayers
Hi Adriana,
I enjoyed both your pitches and found them informative. You identified clearly a market need and the target customers as well as a solution. Also I like your idea for generating revenue via sponsorship and advertising. Before investing as an EVA I would be interested to know more about whether this is feasible as a marketing strategy, i.e. that you can generate enough revenue from these sources to keep up an running.
Thanks,
Melissa -
Pat A Son
Hi Adriana
No matter how I tried I could could not view your elev
With the popularity of the internet and English being its main language you have a feasible venture.-
Pat A Son
Sorry for the previous incomplete pose. It was an accident.
Hi Adriana
No matter how I tried I could could not view your elevator pitch so my opinion is based on your venture pitch. With the popularity of the internet and English being its main language you have a feasible venture that can succeed.
Cheers
Patason
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Lisa Nevoral
Lisa’s Avatar in Second Life
Hey All, Here is my avatar from Second Life. Her name is Larovenas. I found that I didn’t change much when compared to me. I guess I am not quite comfortable with doing something totally different online. I haven’t explored Second Life very much, but I did find it disconcerting walking around and seeing […]
Continue reading Lisa’s Avatar in Second Life Posted in: Week 12:-
Eva Ziemsen
Hi Lisa,
Great avatar. Mine is also close to what I really look like (well, mostly). I agree with you, it is very odd to interact with complete strangers in SL. I found it much better to meet with my actual classmates. In that situation, it was very gratifying. There are definitely privacy settings for creating educational spaces. I encourage you to keep exploring the educational opportunities of SL.
Best,
Eva
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Lisa Nevoral
Wizard Portfolio
Hi All, I am pleased to present my elevator pitch and venture pitch on my fictitious product of Wizard Portfolio. It is a e-portfolio platform that is part of Microsoft Office 265 SharePoint. This is a for-profit venture and I hope you enjoy both the elevator and venture pitch. Thanks for any feedback. I have […]
Continue reading Wizard Portfolio Posted in: Venture Forum-
Kent Jamieson
Hi Lisa,
Great work with your Wizard Portfolio venture. Your pitches were visually easy to follow and your script had all the necessary elements. Personally, I like the comfort of knowing that people still use Powerpoint.
In response to a few statements made about e-portfolios and the proper storage of artefacts: I know of many schools with working portfolio programs, that still rely on paper copy portfolios for student work. Especially in the lower grades when many of the skills students need and the work they do is not necessarily done on a computer.
I realize that taking photographs of student work and storing them in an e-portfolio is the way to start that process (Grades 1-3) but to state that there are no organized portfolio systems available could be misleading. Starting your ‘pain point’ requirement with this point may also need revision.For me, the real pain point with portfolios is the fact that, as an educator, I really don’t know if universities and employers are even looking at these portfolios. In fact, I know many are not. I’m all for storing and organizing a portfolio of work, but i’m just wondering how beneficial a Grade 7 English essay or a piece of artwork from Grade 11 will be in an interview, etc. Perhaps i’m off base with that though.
During the presentation I felt I wanted to see the eportfolio in action. Perhaps a few screen shots or videos of kids actually using the service (or a similar service would add to the presentation as a whole.
As well, while talking about marketing to schools and districts who weren’t using e-portfolio services i was wondering how you would go about doing that? Would it be ‘cold-calling’ individual schools to see if they do in fact need or want an eportfolio service brought in? That had me thinking a bit.
Your ‘weaknesses’ slide was also a little redundant, as you mention that this service would require computers. I would imagine, however, that this is an obvious requirement that could even be left out of the presentation. If a school or company had no access to computers, i’m sure the last thing they would be looking for is an eportfolio service.
Your point about working offline and some other strengths of the service were great. As well, Mr. Great Guy and Ms. Awesome sounded quite generous…can i get their number?
The last little critique i can offer is through your ‘financing’ page, and the point you make about ‘seeking more funding’. It just sounds a little too vague. Is there a number in mind that Wizard would need in order to provide service?
Lisa, you’ve obviously done a great job, and the constructive critiques I have hopefully have been just that, constructive. Your clean, polished presentation offers a great service that definitely fills a need…especially as more and more students begin to go ‘paperless’ in their work at school.
Thanks for your efforts! I enjoyed learning more about Wizard Portfolio.
Kent
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Lisa Nevoral
Hi Kent,
Thank you for your feedback. If you like PowerPoint, check out Slide Rocket – http://www.sliderocket.com/ (free) or Presenter Media – http://www.presentermedia.com/ (has a fee).
In my school district, we are going towards no final exams for middle school students and instead towards “Presentations of Learning”. I wasn’t quite sure how to spin that very well, but I thought that storing the student’s work and having a way to showcase what they did would be the answer. As well, my district is big into the “Attributes of a Learner” (essentially 21st Century skills) and want students to be able to show these skills. What I was trying to get at was that employers and future schools want students with these skills, but I may be promoted too much that they wanted these as portfolios.
Good point about wanting to possibly see the product or what it does. After reviewing other pitches, I realized how I could have made my pitch better. But I guess that’s how you grow. As well, for the “ask” and “return” I felt that I didn’t have enough background knowledge to put anything there, but I understand what you are getting at.
Thanks again for the comments,
Lisa
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Doug Connery
Hi Lisa, great elevator pitch and venture pitch. However I did find the elevator pitch a bit too much focused on the consumer rather than the investor. The venture pitch had a better balance and did focus on the investor.
I am of two minds on the purpose of e-portfolios. I agree with Kent above as to why the majority would want to keep their “early work”. There maybe a bigger market in post-secondary programs for students to build up a portfolio for career hunting. We currently have a few programs with an e-portfolio requirement and when we were hunting around for a system we settled on using Word Press as nothing else seemed suitable. So you could be selling yourself short on the post secondary market as some may have a system, but it probably is not that good. If an organization has D2L for example, don’t assume that they have bought the e-portfolio module or if they have that they happy with it.
Doug.
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Lisa Nevoral
Hi Doug,
Thank you for your comments. Yes, I have to agree that my elevator pitch was geared more towards the consumer than investors. I should have tried to have an “ask” in there somewhere.
Good idea about maybe targeting the post-secondary schools market. In this program, I have only seen portfolios made on WordPress, so there may be a need.
Lisa
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Colin
Hi Lisa, good job on your presentation but I have to agree that I don’t think there is a real market for Wizard portfolios. I needed to do an e-portfolio when I was completing my education degree at UBC but when I went to an information session for a school district their comment to us was they don’t want to see them. They have very limited time to go through applications and come to a decision. I have to agree that no employer really has a time to look at portfolios. Also the use of Sharepoint is problematic as I know my district is using it but they made so many adaptations to the program that a lot of the options you mentioned might not work. The other problem is that a lot of work isn’t done on computers as many students don’t have access to a computer so only limited documents would even be included. Good pitch and use of graphics but I wouldn’t invest in Wizard Portfolio.
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Lisa Nevoral
Hi Colin,
Thank you for your comments. Our district is also using SharePoint (that’s why I decided to use them as my main company) and I saw the potential to possibly have something like Wizard Portfolio being used. But I have to agree, there are many glitches in SharePoint and I hope that they can smooth out some of these problems soon. My vision of storing student work that wasn’t done on computers was to finish a unit or chapter and then have students pick out what they wanted to store and take pictures to store. This may seem a little unrealistic, but it could be a solution.
Lisa
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teacherben
I loved the music. I think the elevator pitch looked clean and professional but I would caution against using clipart and images that people have seen a lot of. I’ve seen those first few images a million times. I agree with Doug that this is too focused on the consumer though. As an investor, I didn’t feel that it spoke to my interests. I also didn’t see anything about how your product is different from the other products on the market. Student websites are nothing new and are available for free from some other pretty heavy-hitters in Google and Weebly and more. What makes your product stand out. (Is your company Microsoft? If so, I agree that they have missed some significant opportunities with the education market and this is a glaring hole in their own portfolio.) If on the other hand, your product is separate, but leveraging Sharepoint, then I would have other concerns. Too many schools are shifting away from this sort of self-hosting model and moving to cloud-based solutions. If your idea is that this eportfolio follows the students everywhere and lasts throughout their academic career, then I would again be concerned about a self-hosted solution. What if the next school doesn’t use Sharepoint? What if it’s a Mac school?
Good luck.
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Lisa Nevoral
Hi Ben,
Thank you for your comments. The song is called “On & On” by Friska Viljor.
Our district is using SharePoint (that’s why I decided to use them as my main company) and I saw the potential for something like Wizard Portfolio to be used. But I have to agree, there are many glitches in SharePoint and I hope that these problems can be smoothed out soon. SharePoint does have the ability for students or teachers to store information using cloud computing; therefor it wouldn’t necessarily be self-hosting for a school district. Students could move school to school within a district and still be able to access their information. If they moved to another district, they would need a Microsoft Office 365 account, but they should still be able to access their information once they had one. One weakness I did miss (as you pointed out) was if a school or district used Mac products.
Lisa
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rebeccaharrison
Lisa,
Although I like the idea and could see how well it could be introduced, I know there are other similar programs out there to create portfolios. I think, for your pitch, it might have helped me if you had stated how exactly this product is different. Why is it better, and how could you ensure that it remains better? It is absolutely an attention grabber, as far as the video, but it is perhaps a better commercial than pitch? As an investor I think that other points of your program might need to be shared. I would be interested to learn more as a teacher, but as an investor, I would say no.
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Lisa Nevoral
Hi Rebecca,
Thank you for your comments. I did try to state how Wizard Portfolio was better than other products on my comparison of companies slide that included the ability of students to work offline, e-portfolio templates, 21st Century skills reflection questions being included with the product led by a school district, archiving student work from grades 1-12, and using familiar tools that are used by a majority of companies in the business world. But I didn’t add how they could have remained better.
My elevator pitch was probably geared too much towards consumers than investors. Reflecting back, I should have probably added an “ask” or what I wanted out of the investors.
Lisa
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jameschen
Hi Lisa,
I enjoyed watching your elevator pitch. From the perspective of an EVA, I think your pitch would improve with information on how your product differentiates itself from its competitors (i.e., blogs, BlackBoard) because potential customers would wonder why they need to pay for something they can get for free. What is proprietary about your product?
I was unable to find information on your credentials in both the elevator and venture pitches. Your venture pitch is thorough and the plan on how to bring your product into the education market seems viable.
Hope that helps, and thanks for a well-presented pitch.
James
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Lisa Nevoral
Hi James,
As I look at other people’s pitches and read the comments made on my own, I see ways I could have made my presentations better. One area I think I could have put more effort into was showing the product and how it worked. How I envisioned Wizard Portfolio differentiating from other companies in its ability to store work from grades 1-12 in pre-made grade folders, where students could store their artifacts. As well, our school district is big into the “Attributes of a Learner”, so I thought I would add that school districts could create reflection questions students could answer for each grade.
I am unsure what you are asking about when you state that you couldn’t find any credentials in my pitches. Do you mean references? Thanks,
Lisa
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jameschen
Hi LIsa,
Maybe I missed it, but I am referring to the information about the Championship of your company.
James
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Lisa Nevoral
Hi James,
I had a slide near the end of my venture pitch stating that Bill Gates and another person were involved with the project, as well as myself as the lead designer and another who was the lead IT personnel. Thanks for asking!
Lisa
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pcollins
Hi Lisa,
That was a very professionally made elevator pitch! I felt intrigued by watching it and was drawn to do a further analysis on the wizard venture. I couldn’t concur more that the wizard combined a repository for students work with an innate ability for students to demonstrate their flexibility and comfort with 21st century technology. It was great how you identified some competitors that employers might be more familiar with, but then you showed how wizard was potentially a stronger venture. The cost point wasn’t clear to me, but your projections were easy to understand and bespoke your well thought out target audience and marketing strategies. I did feel that the overly thorough identification with the problems that wizard might encounter actually worked against me wanting to consider investment. I couldn’t imagine how these would be overcome – and it diminished my interest in the product. At this point, I was really struggling to see how the free offerings (mentioned in your slide… with googledrive etc..) wouldn’t be just the same, as well as being more familiar to industry standards. And I’m sorry; even though I looked twice I couldn’t see it clearly mentioned what exactly you were asking for in the way of financing. Nor what the expected return would be. As much as I was impressed with the quality of your research and the suaveness of your presentation I couldn’t see some of what I was looking for with the wizard venture presentation. I would however (I know it’s fictional) be willing to give it a trial in my personal classroom to see what the affordances could be.-
Lisa Nevoral
Hi PC,
Thank you for your comments. In my school district, we are going towards no final exams for middle school students and instead towards “Presentations of Learning”. I wasn’t quite sure how to spin that very well, but I thought that storing the student’s work and having a way to showcase what they did would be the answer. As well, my district is big into the “Attributes of a Learner” (essentially 21st Century skills) and want students to be able to show these skills. I admit that I may not have added enough to my presentation and that my “ask” and “return” were a little weak. I just felt that I didn’t have enough background information to answer these questions.
Lisa
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cunnian
Hi Lisa,
I’ve found it fascinating to review your elevator and venture pitches as, essentially, you and have proposed the same solution using different software! Needless to say, I think that it’s a great idea and one that is long overdue.
Your venture pitch was very comprehensive. I felt like you had a good understanding of who your market is and how your product will be sold to them .You were honest and forthcoming with the product’s weaknesses, though I wonder to what degree using a Microsoft product will limit what sort of artifacts a student can collect. You comparison of Wizard Portfolio to competitors was very informative and a good selling point. Your plan is detailed and clearly presented. That said, if Bill Gates is part of your team, then you already have the financial backing that you need. You don’t need my help!On the whole, you’ve done a great job!
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Lisa Nevoral
Hi Mr. Cunnian,
Thank you for your feedback. I only choose to use Microsoft because our school district is using them instead of FirstClass now. I saw that several people were also doing pitches for portfolios. I haven’t had a chance to check out your pitches, but I will definitely look at it now.
Lisa
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adi
Hi Lisa,
Sorry for the late post. I have had sleepless nights completing other assignments. I do apologize and mean no disrespect.
I enjoyed viewing both your pitches. Your elevator pitch was very clear, visually attractive and well put together; however, it did not contain all the elements needed to attract investors. Nevertheless, your detailed pitch did go into depth and shows a very clear knowledge of the buyer and end user and why there is a need for the product. A clear problem is addressed and a solution proposed. Perhaps the one thing lacking is information about the competition. Overall, though, you did a great job!
Adriana
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pcollins
I am pleased to share my pitch idea for the Virtual online opened learning platform. A full list of video credits and references are available on my ubc blog. A complete transcript of the pitch is also on the blog. I hope you enjoy, and I certainly appreciate any constructive feedback. Elevator Pitch: Full Venture:
Continue reading I am pleased to share my pitch idea for … Posted in: Venture Forum-
jenbarker
Hello,
I really liked your Elevator Pitch. The music and graphic visuals caught my attention. The text went a bit fast at the beginning and I had to read quite quickly. Generally though you shared enough information that I wanted to know more. Your venture pitch was outstanding. It covered ALL of the critical tenets needed in pitches. I think your venture is original and addresses a pain point. Your venture plan is well thought out and sound. You clearly demonstrated what you were asking for from investors and stated the sequence of your plan clearly. I liked your idea of a free trial too! I thought you did a terrific job. Thanks for sharing, Jen-
pcollins
I appreciate the supportive feedback Jen. Its great to know that the research that I had done actually managed to come through in my presentaton. I tried my best to generate any of the potential negatives and then address them pro-actively. It would be a neat venture to see fully realized.
PC
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avninder
I think the elevator pitch was great. Although you may want to consider changing some of the colors so that the white text against the white moving images in the background doesn’t become difficult to read for some viewers.
I do not know much about home schooling but this seems like a venture that is very worthwhile. Good explanation of what v.ool is and what it is not. It made me think about all of the other online technology that home schooled students could take advantage of.
You discussed how this process will enhance the students’ experience, which was great. To gain more interest you could also touch on how the students’ currently work to emphasize what this new concept means for those who otherwise have limited interaction. Although you did mention the research of online courses having a high attrition rate which was a great tie-in to the venture.
You touched on many success factors for an online learning environment including participation, 21st century learning principles and collaboration. Plus your detailed plan for presentations, researched statistics and financial information contributed to a solid pitch.
A demo although I know would not be easy to create, would have been great to see for potential investors to see. Thanks for sharing.-
pcollins
Oh my goodness having access to someone who knows game programming would be amazing. When I first started the project, I thought that I might actually have to come up with something tangible to demonstrate – which would certainly have helped. Albeit fffffaaarrrr outside of my realm of expertise.
Thanks for the feedback.PC
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joeltremblay
The elevator was great and the venture was informative. I do wish that some of the pizzaz you applied to the elevator would have been applied to the venture although I don’t think that affects the marketability.
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pcollins
I couldn’t agree more Joel,
Actually – I really toned it down for the venture pitch…. as I tend to be quite a twitchy and loud kinda girl. I wanted to play it subdued and well researched – but maybe I erred on the side of being boring!
Not something I am usually accused of in real life but certainly I can see it when I rewatch the presentation.PC
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Mike Rae
Awesome job Patricia. When I was watching your venture pitch, there were a lot of things that I liked. You had good enthusiasm in your voice and you conveyed that this is a good idea that could make money. Your projections seemed reasonable, and you clearly did your homework (or at least sounded like you did) on statistics. If the BC ministry did sign off on it, of course it would be a hit. I guess the I would have liked to hear more about how you were planning to do that part. Overall though, real strong pitch.
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pcollins
Thanks kindly Mike,
I did try my best… even though this was a fictional project…. to include realistic and well researched projections. I’m glad it came through to the objective viewer.PC
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visramn
Hi,
I think you did a great job on your pitch. It was informative and engaging.You did a great job of catching my attention and interesting me in your product with your pitch.
I found that your venture analysis covered all the parameters needed in an analysis. You showed excitement in your product which was evident from your facial expressions and your tone of voice. It was apparent that you are knowledgeable about your product and that you have belief in it, which makes viewers feel more drawn to it. Overall, I think you did a great job. The only thing that I would suggest is maybe making the analysis a little bit more interactive or engaging. Although you did a good job of covering all angles related to your project it was hard to stay focused because there were not many visuals. It is hard to concentrate when someone is talking for a longer period of time without some sort of visual component.
Thank for sharing. This is definitely a very good idea and I personally think there is a market for your product. .
Great work
Nureen-
pcollins
Much appreciated Visramn,
I couldn’t help but notice that myself – that there needed to be something a tad more visually stimulating. Not “glitzy” as Dave had pointed out but eye catching. At first I thought about eliminating myself from the equation all together and having a production that was, well… more polished. And then my concern was it would detract from the product and it’s potential rather then add to it. Perhaps a misjudgement on my part?PC
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visramn
I think your presence was powerful because of your expressions and body language. Hence, you were right in your decision. After veiwing some more pitches I am think maybe I was wrong in my initial opinion. Sometimes it better to keep it simple because then you are not detracting from the essence of what you are trying to say. Sorry, I am new at this and needed seem more exposure.
Nureen
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sophiabb
Hi,
Great elevator pitch. The music and graphic did an excellent job in capturing and holding my attention.
Your venture pitch came across as well researched and this added to the credibility of your venture proposition. You clearly addressed the pain point and your solution in both pitches. The venture pitch did a great job in addressing the marketability and financial feasibility aspects. I would have loved to see more graphical representation of your points but all major points were covered in your presentation. Well done on both pitches.
Sophia-
pcollins
Hi Sophia,
I am really quite aware of the pain point that exists because I work with home schoolers on a regular basis and have seen first hand how they would benefit from something similar to V.ooL. And yes, now that I am looking back on my venture, I can’t help but agree it was a bit dry. I have been told that I tend to be a bit too academic in my productions for the courses, and this would definitely be an area that I should work on.Research I can do! The marketing is an area that needs to be addressed – if this was the real world I’d probably have to invest big bucks to get a company to do the appropriate polish for me. Ha!
PC
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C. Ranson
Hi Patricia,
Well done, the elevator pitch was a little busy but cool and in keeping with your theme of gaming and learning. I agree with above, the white text was difficult to read at times but still intrigued me to continue to watch on. Your venture analysis presentation was very comprehensive identifying your target group, the investment details and return on investment. The 30-day free trial is a great idea and your revenue projections seem reasonable. What is the age of your target group, I know you mentioned that it wasn’t age specific but would the older learner be attracted to this platform? Very interesting idea.
Catherine -
jenniferschubertubc
Nice job on the elevator pitch, PC! 🙂 I know that it can be tough piecing all of that together, especially getting everything you need across in text on a moving video. It was a lot of material for that amount of time (and did go by a bit quickly), but I always say that it’s better to have more info than not enough. After all, that’s what pause is for! You engaged me quickly and left me wanting more, which is the whole point of an elevator, so mission accomplished.
I also agree with Catherine as to the value of a 30 day free trial. It is often hard to get new users on board anything these days without at least some small concession. This is a very fair one which provides just enough of a glimpse into the value of the program to “hook” your users. Great idea.
I would have liked to have seen more graphics in your venture pitch, but I know how hard it can be to incorporate your ideas, yourself and also accommodate for illustrative elements. You presented a wealth of information very well, addressing all of the points of a successful venture pitch. Very well done!
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frank
Patricia,
I think you have a potentially great idea.
Because of its novelty, I see your idea more as a R & D project in education tech, require several experiments/iterations.
As such, what you might want to pitch how this idea can create great value for already existing education tech providers and ministries. And present a 1-year plan on how you would go about developing and testing the effectiveness of your program in the next year.
Ideally, you’d have a big sponsor with already established programs that is willing to take a bet on this project in the hope that it might pay off with some direct/indirect results. The advantage of working with them is you’d have access to greater resources and funding for R&D work. The trade-off is the ownership of your project; though if you were instrumental in developing it, you’ll always have status associated with its outcomes and you could earn a good living off of it as long as it is successful. Something to think about it perhaps.
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visramn
My fictitious venture is for a specially designed educational tablet that is customized for use in schools. This tablet will be geared towards pre-school and elementary school students, as well as for students with special needs. This tablet will have all the capabilities needed to ensure students have access to multiple educational tools that are […]
Continue reading My fictitious venture is for a specially… Posted in: General, Venture Forum-
Paula Poodwan
Hi Nureen, your elevator pitch is private so I can’t watch it. I also tried to click the link above the video, still no luck 🙁
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visramn
Sorry about that. . I am surprised the download didn’t work. That is odd. I have changed the settings. I think it should be ok now.
Nureen
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Paula Poodwan
Hi Nureen,
You did such a wonderful job for both of your pitches. You managed to get a lot of info into the 1 minute pitch, good job! Your voice is enthusiastic and very professional too. The graphic and music are also perfect.
Your venture pitch is thorough. Even though you didn’t give much detail about the CEO and the team, somehow I still feel your venture is credible; it could be because you provided a lot of backup research and statistics. I think you covered many important points investors want to know like marketing, future growth plan, and competitors. Especially the detail in how Nabi 2 differs from other tablets which is one of my biggest concern whether to invest or not. You did answered that question. “Nabi 2 tablet school edition is better than the rest because it has the same capabilities as other and also has the best processing speed”
It is a good venture concept and I am very interested in it but because there are so many tablets out there already so I wouldn’t feel confident to invest at this point, sorry. Otherwise a very well presented pitches and I really enjoy watching and reading it.
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visramn
Thanks Paula. I appreciate the feedback. You are right there are a lot of tablets on the market. That is why I wanted to gear this to the educational market and make this product specifically for educational institutions by equipping it with a build in LMS system and master and slave capabilities.
I was actually drawn to this idea because I see my nephews and other kids around me wanting to play with digital devices and I can’t help but think these kids are going to grow up surrounded by these devices so why not make these devices conducive to their learning. It will be interesting to see what the future has in store for these kids.
Thank you so much for reviewing my work and for your helpful feedback.
Nureen -
lullings
Hey Nureen, after the elevator pitch I was feeling many things. Due to its speed I was a little bamboozled and panicked, but not really in a bad way, more in a way that I wanted to look for you and just find out more and I felt I needed to do it immediately!!! I think your passion came through on the delivery very much.
With the venture pitch I found it difficult as there was so much information. For me I would not invest in your venture as the market is over saturated already with device offerings but also because it represents a massive investment into one device for school districts. So I don’t think the device route is the way to go.
Saying that I think that your concept is excellent and that there is a gap in the market for a classroom based facility such as the one you describe. I would be more inclined to invest if this was the main focus and you concentrated on the delivery of that by providing the software apps for all the other devices. This means that students could bring their own if the app was on them but also the school board could get a cheaper version of the physical device and purchase your software to fill the gap the market. If it was possible to have different brands of devices talking to each other and the teacher through the one app it would, for me, be a winner.
Just my two cents –
Cheers
Stuart -
visramn
Hi Stuart,
Thanks for the feedback. I too think there is a gap in the market for devices/software such as these that can be used in the classroom.
Your idea would be ideal. It would be very beneficial for BYOD supporting school districts.Nureen
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Lisa Nevoral
Hi Nureen,
Good job on your elevator and venture pitch. You are obviously passionate about your idea. During your elevator pitch, I found the speed of your delivery too fast. When I was just grasping one idea, you had already moved three points ahead. I liked the idea that you wanted to make a product that would be interactive and provide individualized instruction for pre-school and elementary school students, as well as for students with cognitive and developmental disabilities. Differentiation is a very important aspect in teaching so you had a good idea and solution for that pain point.
In saying that, I have to agree with Stuart. For schools or school districts to buy these devices would be very costly, but if you could produce the software that could be used on many different types of devices, your product could potentially be a marketable item.
Good job!
Lisa
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visramn
Thanks for your feedback Lisa.
Nureen
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manny
Hi Nureen,
Your venture proposal for a personalized tablet specific for children has good intentions but may be too little too late. Your elevator pitch was very fast and it was difficult to discern what the product you are proposing is. The one-minute time limit was definitely the hardest part of this assignment. It seemed as though you attempted to fit everything in within this time frame but you may have been better off just sticking to a few key points and slowing down your narration. For the elevator pitch, we need to remember that less is more. Although I think your product is something moms would buy for their children, I do not see school districts adopting it and would not invest for the following reasons.
1) Production costs – To produce a whole new tablet specific for child use would require an astronomical amount of money.
2) Competitors – The tablet market is highly competitive and there really isn’t much room for newcomers. If this device offered something different than other products it could have a chance. However, it does not offer anything specific that other tablets can’t do already and also restricts other features that mom or dad may want to use.
3) Users – I understand that this product attempts to fill a specific niche within the tablet market. I feel that this niche is very specific and way too small to justify the huge startup costs it would take to get it to market. I do not see high school or post secondary students using this device so it becomes restricted to early childhood years.
On a positive note, it is durable and half the cost of the competitors ($250 price range). I would purchase it for my 3 year old to play with but can’t see it as an investment that would yield substantial returns.
Thanks,
Manny -
jhodi
Hi Nureen,
I found your elevator pitch to be packed full of information! I did however have a hard time collecting all of the information the first time through. Perhaps limiting the amount of information and focusing on the key points in your elevator pitch would have allowed me to retain more information as I was a little bit overwhelmed. That said, this is a good learning experience for me as I have had similar issues in the past as well and sometimes have a hard time with the less is more approach. Overall, this seems like a very good idea and something that I would want to use in my own classroom. I was just having a discussion with my students today about the tablet that I use to teach with and how I would like to be able to have a tablet for each one of them to use that is linked to mine. WIth that said, the tablet market is saturated with devices. I would not invest in you venture because there are too many large company competitors that could easily (and I think probably will shortly) create education-specific tablets. Additionally, although $250 is mid-range, this is a device that I think a lot of schools would hesitate purchasing due to the high quantity that they would need, which would be very expensive.
Overall, I thought that you did a great job of your pitches and that they were both very informative and hit the major points.
Jhodi
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Patrick Pichette
Hi Nureen,
Although I can tell you are very enthusiastic about your pitch, I found it impossible to understand what you were saying as it is just too fast for my mind to process. I would need to download your pitch, put it in VLC and then slow down the playback speed to a more human speed. 🙂 I understand that you were trying to maximize your elevator pitch but sometimes less is more and that would be my only real recommendation at this point. I have faith in you but I’m just not sure what you’re pitching.
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Suhayl Patel
Hi Nureen,
I thought you did a really good job on your pitches. Especially your elevator pitch. There was a lot of information packed into that minute and although some may find that it is too much to take in a such a great in such in a short time, I thought it was a great idea to make it a fast pitch. People are busy and can’t afford to spend extra time in listening to a pitch that they might not be intersted in, thus wasting a couple of minutes. I think the way you did your quick elevator pitch, really got the information across without wasting time. It was straight business!
Good work
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C. Ranson
Hi Nureen,
You have a good idea but I too think a little late given the market is saturated with tablets and the implementation of BYOD might also impact the success of this venture. I do appreciate how your tablet with be tailored better to the educational environment but I wonder with all the software programs and learning management platforms can this be addressed. Your elevator pitch address all the components of a pitch but was difficult to follow because you spoke so fast, I am confident a slower version would be exceptional. The prezi presentation was also well done but I believe you could have made your pitch with less information.
Catherine
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tomwhyte1
PD Bridge
The following links are to each component of my Venture Pitch. I have included both the video and transcript version, to provide options depending on your personal or learning preference. Elevator Pitch – Video – Transcript Venture Pitch – Video – Transcript Self Evaluation – Document References – Document Thank you for taking the time […]
Continue reading PD Bridge Posted in: Venture Forum-
Mike Rae
Kick a** job Tom!
excellent delivery of both pitches, clarity, hand gestures and inclination all worked really well together. Your idea is a very good one. In my experience professional development has been unfocused and in general, a waste of time. Considering that teachers in BC must meet a PD requirement, it seems inevitable that this time will be better allocated to improving teaching in meaningful ways. Just the idea of changing the current system, which I agree with you, is very outdated, should be enough to get districts listening.
I liked your presentation style with embedded video on the page with buzz words popping up as you say them. Very effective.
Great job!
MIKE
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tomwhyte1
Thanks for the review, it is greatly appreciated.
And like you, I feel that current PD is not as effective as it should be or even could be. I hear many teachers grumble before and after these “events”, not really seeing the worth of these opportunities, not because they are not passionate, but because the opportunities themselves leave something lacking…
Do I think I solved the problem, nope, but took a good swing at it…
Thoughts?
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lullings
You took an excellent swing!!
Great elevator pitch Tom. Really engaging. I did feel that I didn’t quite know anything about what it was that you were really offering but was excited to go to the venture pitch to find out.
Your elevator pitch was incredibility detailed and very much leveraged at the educational profession audience. You certainly covered all the buzz words in completing the delivery.
For me this is an excellent idea. It is delivered well and has a clear gap in the market. I would not invest on the back of this pitch unfortunately. I would imagine that teachers could find themselves accessed/judged on how much they do within the PD Bridge environment – particularly because their account is with them throughout their career. Secondly I would not see districts allowing a fully online system take over from their traditional professional developments (despite them really needing it).
But these reasons didn’t loose me entirely. I would happily discuss further with you your initial strategy for getting the teachers and districts on board. The concept is a necessary development within the teaching environment and I would be interested in not missing the opportunity to get in early with you and your concept.
On a side note – how did you get your elevator pitch to be full HD and then have your elevator in 4:3 360p. Not that it made any difference to your delivery but just curious.
You are a natural at delivering content too so fair play.
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tomwhyte1
First off, thank you for taking the time to review both my Elevator and Venture Pitch, even though they were a lot of fun to complete, it was a challenging and educational experience.
Upon reflection, I see your points regarding potential implications of online professional development. I myself believe, that it would be possible to have both, in the perfect world. Do I think, the world of education is ready, maybe not yet. However, in the next ten years, more of our teachers will be those that are currently and constantly connected to screens. So maybe one day, this format may exist.
Yet, I agree, how to get people on board? See the value? It was my hopes to approach it similar to the Khan Academy, yet added the pay for element to ensure the continued existence of the service. Yet, I am curious to your thoughts, on how to best approach individuals/institutions?
As for the HD issue – both Elevator and Venture were filmed at 60 frames a second. The elevator was edited entirely in iMovie, so no loss in quality. However, I decided for some reason to use Keynote for the Venture Pitch, to do the bullet points, etc… However had a difficult time getting the exported version to work like I wanted it to. So I manually did each slide, while using Camtasia to record the events. Which lowered the overall quality of my project… so was disappointed there…
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Lisa Nevoral
Hi Tom,
You have put a lot of thought into your product. You did a very good job on your elevator and venture pitch. As noted in another post, you certainly used educational buzz words in your elevator pitch. You mentioned in your video that “PD Bridge” was going to capitalize on using Web 2.0 and social media. I wanted to know how “PD Bridge” was going to do this and I thought you might have expanded on this a bit more throughout the venture pitch. Did I miss that?
Here is some constructive feedback on your venture pitch:
• I liked that you had a “PD Bridge” logo.
• You were very relaxed in front of the camera and spoke at a good pace.
• You included the pain point – professional development is time consuming, expensive, and one shot activities which is very true.
• You included the solution – “PD Bridge” – an online professional development site which will also provide resources.
• You did include the competition, or lack of competition, but you could have stated some challenges for you product. What are some of the issues that may arise?
• Marketing – You did state the market size (5.4 million teachers, with an increasing amount of them being younger aged teachers that are more comfortable with web-based technologies), but I would have also liked to know how the buyers were going to be reached. PR, ads, commercials, social media, etc…
o As well, would you target individual teachers or school districts?
• The ask – just in case I got this wrong, you were asking for initial funding for the designing, development, and deployment of “PD Bridge”. Is that correct? What return did you want investors to have?You did a great job on your elevator and venture pitch. Depending on who you were targeting, I could see a need for this product. I don’t think I would personally invest in this company for a couple of reasons. First, although some professional development days can be tedious, there is also some good networking that can occur during these sessions. I have met people that I still keep in contact with. As well, although travel is expensive at times, if you go with other teachers from your school, it can bring staff closer together and allow them to talk and work on goals together. And finally, although I think the professional development aspect of “PD Bridge” has potential, you lost me when you brought in M.O.O.C, accreditation courses, and other training programs. I think your focus should be on the K-12 schools professional development. Those are just a few of my thoughts.
Lisa
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tomwhyte1
First off, thank you for taking the time to review both my Elevator and Venture Pitch, even though they were a lot of fun to complete, it was a challenging and educational experience.
I appreciate and totally agree with the comments/suggestions you made, for many of them ran through my head while reviewing over pitches… Thoughts like… “Should have added that” … “Marketing approach… great idea…”…
But more specifically, the Web 2.0 apps, currently could include YouTube for video delivery, an Edmodo like environment for small group discussions, wiki/blog like formats for content delivery and resource allocations. Things that enhance communication, co-operation, and most importantly collaboration. Again a detail, that could and should have been more flushed out…
Also, I totally agree that I missed adding in Marketing, and what that would look like. A key point to ensure that both teachers and institutions to can access, and would access this venture.
As well, the money, and potential return on investment – which would allow investors to see a potential return, was something I noticed in other pitches I reviewed, and again, wished I had thought to include it as well.
As for the final points you made in regards to traditional PD and all that it provides. I totally agree, my vision was not to replace those activities, but to supplement them. For example, phase one of the project would be entirely free, and expose teachers to new ideas and approaches easily, and effectively, and with enough teachers, a monthly fee of 10 dollars could be applied to access phase two of the program – the professional development focussed on certificates, etc… using Massive Open Online Courses.
Overall, I appreciate the feedback yourself and others have given, for it makes me reflect on the product I put forth, and the changes I would make to enhance the presentation.
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Lisa Nevoral
Hi Tom,
I totally agree with your comment about missing items and wishing I would have added them in also. I found this assignment fairly challenging, and while I tried to hit all the points, ended up falling short in some areas (ie. the ask and return). It was good working with you and good luck next semester.
Lisa
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jenniferschubertubc
Hi Tom,
This venture really spoke to me! I got very frustrated teaching the public school system in the States. 9 times out of 10, our professional development consisted of a talking head (usually administrative with little to no teaching background) coming in to our department and either clicking through endless PowerPoint slides or delivering a non-media enhanced lecture about the newest rules and regulations adopted by the district. It was painful, not exactly helpful, and often a waste of time.
What software did you use to create your venture pitch? It is making me weep for my Mac. Seriously though, both pitches looked fantastic. I was impressed by the integrations of text and graphics in a way that was not overwhelming or daunting in any way. The addition of the graphs specifically outlining the market demographics (age, specific technology use, etc.) was particularly helpful in determining the importance and value of the venture. Great addition.
Overall this was a very well put-together presentation. You hit all the key points, including outlining the competition and the job specifications of the team. It would be interesting to see how willing districts would be to move beyond what they are used to and move into the future.
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tomwhyte1
Thank you for your thoughts on my project, they are greatly appreciated. I believe, just like in many areas of educator, technology will create large disruptions in the consumption and creation of educational opportunities, such as Professional Development.
As for the software – iMovie entirely for the Elevator Pitch. As for the Venture Pitch – iMovie for the video’s, but Keynote for the entire presentation (which was a pain to get into YouTube – so I had to use Camtasia to do a screencast… – next time I will know the solution… instead of banging my head repeatedly against the wall).
Have a great day, and again thanks for taking the time to view my pitches.
Tom
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Patrick Pichette
Hi Tom,
Although your elevator pitch confused me the first time through, your venture pitch definitely helped clarify exactly where it was you were heading with the pitch. My biggest recommendation in terms of the elevator pitch would be to potentially show a group of teachers in a traditional PD environment followed by what they would like in your environment (following PD on a device).
Despite this minor setback, I think your pitch is very engaging and shows great potential. Having experience this point point as recently as yesterday, I know that this approach would be extremely beneficial for me. I would much prefer go through content at my own pace than that of the presenter. I would also appreciate the ability to skip or rewind through content as I attempt to grab every useful bit of information that would help me in my teaching practice. The proposed team appears sound and shows a well thought-out approach to implementing this venture. Although I do feel there is likely a fair bit of competition in the market, I think your determination and passion give you an edge in securing funds for your venture. The only thing really missing in your pitch is the investment amount you’re seeking, what you plan to do with the investment funds as well as the exit strategy for investors. These are definitely major points however, so you are asking EVAs to do a bit of legwork in getting this info rather than providing it right from the start. Still, I would likely take the effort to seek out additional info as you do show a promising venture.
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C. Ranson
Hi Tom,
Sorry, little late here but all the pitches are so interesting and take time to watch and digest.
Your pitch and presentation are excellent, well researched and I think you have a sound venture idea, especially if there is non or little competition. Your delivery is very clear and professional, you have identified a problem and a viable solution to the problem, your team is impressive. The video is a bit choppy, I had this issue as well and couldn’t seem to address it in my pitch. I wasn’t sure how the revenue would be generated but maybe I missed this. Well done.
Catherine
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Mike Rae
Up2date Learning is a high school e-Textbook company that produces customizable resources designed to align with individual course curriculum that receives annual updates every year, and sends email alerts to teachers giving them options for updating their course throughout the year when events and breakthroughs occur. Here is my elevator pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiVXcnQAfn8 Here is my […]
Continue reading Up2date Learning is a high school e-Text… Posted in: Venture Forum-
jkotler
Hi Mike,
After watching your presentation, I think venture concept addresses a real need in education and offers a good and viable solution. In particular, I really liked the updates feature and especially the up to the minute updates as I believe it would be a valuable resource to many educators.
One thing I was curious about (and don’t recall being specified in the presentation) is what subjects the e-textbooks would be designed for?
As well, in terms of the presentation itself I felt that it was somewhat difficult to hear you at times in addition to clearly seeing the power point. Thus, I think had the quality and design been given a little more attention it would have made the overall presentation and sell of the venture that much stronger.
Julie
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Mike Rae
Thanks for the feedback Julie, I agree with you that it didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped, and I definitely could have done a little more with the presentation. My idea was trying to mimic doing a pitch in front of people, and then tape that. But when it gets taped and is viewed electronically, it definitely loses some of the effect. After watching some of the other venture pitches, i found myself saying “damn, I wish I had done that” a bunch of times…you live you learn though right?
I may have had to cut the subjects from the presentation, but my main focus was on Social Studies, Business, and Science. Subjects where breakthroughs and events tend to happen that updates would improve the course.
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Kent Jamieson
Hello Mike,
Great elevator pitch. It made me want to watch your venture presentation. You have a natural ability to sell.
Your information was good, and had many of the aspects that the assignment was looking for. I like that you demonstrated how your etext would work, and the updates idea is great. I also agree with textbooks being outdated and that this idea can satisfy a need and has validity.
In saying that, however, I found that your venture pitch seemed a little stagnant. The motionless camera fixed on a slideshow made me feel like I was back in highschool trying to stay awake during a lesson. I also found myself wondering about the way we teach – or at least the way we ‘should’ be teaching – these days, and worried that your lecturing style of presenting your textbook based venture didn’t seem very ‘up to date’…even though your final message to us all was that you’re behind the times if youre not ‘being up2date’. Just a thought.Finally, I’m a bit worried about competition you mentioned. They are huge companies. It seems as though many of these competitors would offer ‘updates’ that link to curricular needs?
Overall, i like the pitch, but it didn’t quite allow me to open up my cheque book.
Kent
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Mike Rae
Thanks Kent,
Yeah the stand and deliver in hindsight may not have been the best approach. If I could go back, I would have broken that up with graphics, slides from the powerpoint, etc. instead of doing it all at once.
Those big companies are the scary part of the venture idea, might be a better option to patten the update feature and then sell that idea to the big guys.
thanks for your thoughts
MIKE
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Ranvir
Mike, I liked the way you prepared the venture pitch – posing in front of the camera and explaining your venture concept, I wish I could have done that too…
I like your venture concept and agree that e-textbooks have lot of potential in terms of making education more affordable and up-to date as you mentioned. This is the reason Amazon, McGraw Hill and other publishers are offering online versions of their books that can easily be accessed on smartphones and tablets. I myself have stopped buying paper copies since I bought my iPad earlier this year.
I however have some questions for you –
1. As an investor, one would like to know who your competition is in this market? Are you planning to compete with Amazon and the likes?
2. How to you plan to market your product?
3. How and when can an investor expect to get a break even and start making profits on the investment? Typically schools have shallow pockets and have faculty have limited PD budget. Is that a correct assumption?
Ranvir
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Ranvir
On second thoughts, please disregard question 1 and 2 as you have sufficiently answered them in the venture pitch.
I buy supplemental text for my kids from Amazon although I would appreciate if a company could offer variety of content focused on K-12. I think the market is there and I wish you luck with your venture.
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Mike Rae
I agree Ranvir, the shallow pockets is a hurdle to overcome. It is hard to say when investors would start to see a return, because the e-textbook market in high schools is in such a early stage. So it might take a year or two to see some return. The idea is that a start up company like this one builds up and then eventually sells out to one of the bigger dogs in the ring, making profit for the investors.
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Colin
Hi Mike, I agree that having up to date textbooks is a good idea as I still have some textbooks that refer to 2004 as in the future. Though I am trying to understand if you will be writing all the textbooks yourself or whether you will be taking existing textbooks and then just updating the information as needed. I believe right now when you get an e-textbook subscription that you always do get the newest version but a new version could be coming out every few years. My only concern would be having to have textbooks continuously updated and republished could be costly. Also writing a textbook that teachers want to purchase would be an issue as it is a very competitive market. My last issue would have to do with the fact that right now most classrooms don’t have access to laptops or computers to read the e-textbooks. Otherwise good presentation and idea.
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cunnian
Hi Mike,
I quite liked both your elevator and venture pitch. This is a new angle on this emerging market and it addresses a clear need in the educational system. I appreciated the detail with which you explained the product, clearly differentiated it from what is currently out there, identified your market and specifically laid out what you need from your investors and what you plan to do with it.
While this is an innovative product and one that I think warrants further development, my concern as an investor is that you are going against the giants of the publishing industry. If this is an idea that truly revolutionizes this industry, I would be concerned that the ‘big dogs’ will quickly catch up and run you out of the market. While you might have a head start, they have large client bases and very deep pockets for development. As such, you would need to somehow patent this idea.
Another concern is how you will create your ‘base content’ for your e-textbooks. The idea of having up-to-date information that a teacher can customize is awesome, don’t get me wrong, but you still have to provide some sort of ‘base material’. As such, is your team going to write e-texts from scratch? Is that part of the development costs?
Again, I think that you did a great job. Well done! -
manny
Hi Mike,
You have a brilliant idea and I could easily see it being used in education. Your pitch reminds me of textbooks we have in our library, some of these books such as “challenge of the west” are the same books I used back in highschool. There are big competitors in this market (Mcgraw-Hill) and I think your ultimate goal would be a buy out from one of the giants mentioned rather than competing with them. Another competitor is the free RSS feed feature that teachers in courses such as social studies can use to stay up to date on current events by creating their own news feeds. Great wrap up and catchy final logo “If you’re not up2date, you’re behind the times!”
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rebeccaharrison
Hi Mike,
As said by others, I really like the idea, especiallly with respect to the up2date current content. I am also concerned, just by watching the elevator pitch, about the competition, as I have been using online textbooks for course content already. How is this different? That might be the most important point for me because I think the rest of the idea is an easy sell. Good pitch!
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jhodi
Hi Mike,
I think that you have a great idea here and one that does address a common concern in schools. However, my worry with such a technology is how it would compete with major publishing companies that could use already made textbooks, put them in e-text form, and continuously add to them. I also wonder about the practicality of keeping information ‘up-to-date’. I wonder how many people you would need to employ, how much legislation would need to be passed for each piece of information to be added, and how quickly all of this could be done to give the information to students. It seems like a very large task to keep say a Social Studies textbook up-to-date, whereas a Math textbook may be much easier. I also wonder which classes this would be intended for.
All said, I think that you did a great job. I really like how you presented this information and I liked that you made it personal by putting yourself in front of the camera. I did read your reflection as well and it is too bad that you had to cut part of your video out because maybe that would have answered my questions. I think that with a little more work, this would be a venture that I would be very interested in.
Jhodi
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adi
Hi Mike,
Sorry for the late post. I have had sleepless nights completing other assignments. I do apologize and mean no disrespect.
I loved your pitch. You spoke well, with good stress and intonation, and touched upon just enough detail to create curiosity. I also enjoyed your longer pitch, though I would perhaps make the deck (slides) more graphic and with less text.
I think your idea is great and there is a market; however, as a textbook author myself, I know the competition is fierce because there is a lot at stake; the textbook market is huge and profitable. You would also need a large team of editors and writers making these updates, and there would be issues regarding who gets royalties for what. Nevertheless, you raise a valid point and there is a need, what I don’t know if going it alone without the backing of one of the textbook publishing monsters would be feasible.Adriana
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Peggy Lawson
Hi Mike –
Of all of the pitches I’ve viewed, yours is focused on one of the greatest needs I think, and you’re elevator pitch sold that very well. Loved your enthusiasm – you held my attention as you did a great job of covering the pain point. It was unclear to me, however, in the evevator pitch, if the updates were meant for eTextbooks produced by other publishers (and I had no idea how you would manage that) or if your company would create the textbooks. So I followed up with your venture pitch. While this question was answered, and if I needed to be sold any more on eTexts you continued to do a great job, what conerned me was the potential quality of writing for the eTexts – quality curriculum writers come with a cost, which must be passed along to the consumer. This will make it very difficult to compete with the Big Dogs; I’m concerned about your competitive edge. This will be a huge challenge I think. Other than that, I thought the pitch was well done – you’ve thought out the marketing plan. I had faith in your credibility (but may have omitted your mention of your failure in securities sales).
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Eva Ziemsen
I am pitching a new software, Instant One-Sheet, which is a cloud-based software that allows the user (film producer or student) to create a high quality and aesthetically polished one-sheet and extended web-based proposal. To learn more, please see my Elevator Pitch Venture Pitch (password: etec522) Thanks and looking forward to your feedback, Eva
Continue reading I am pitching a new software, Instant On… Posted in: Venture Forum-
Paula Poodwan
Hi Eva,
Both of your pitches are so well done to the point that it felt like I was looking at a real, professional venture pitch instead of a fictional one that was made for an assignment. The CEO is so credible and that definitely helps assure potential investors that there is a real need for this kind of product.
Your venture pitch is very thorough, especially with the details of the Revenue Projections, market strategies and the Ask and Return. It is a good idea that you emphasized these areas because I believe most people — when looking at Instant One Sheet – will be concerned of the narrow market Instant One Sheet has.
Even with your well presented pitches, I’m still not convinced and I still think that the market of Instant One Sheet is quite limited. How often will one user use the product? It takes a while to produce one film so I will say the average client may use Instant One Sheet once or twice a year. In that case, is it worth buying?
I really enjoyed watching and reading your venture! I’m treating it as a real one because it seems extremely realistic and viable.
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jenniferschubertubc
Hi Eva,
Well, you certainly can tell that you are in the industry! What a well-created elevator pitch. It provided just enough information to hook my interest and make me look forward to navigating the venture.
It is highly evident that you have done your research here. Such a thorough breakdown of investment allocation would put any potential investor’s mind at ease. I thought the use of conservative numbers in your projections only worked to your advantage, not diminishing your ask with a smaller market share, but enhancing it by reiterating the confidence that you believe you will reach more. That section was so very well-worded and presented, which spoke again to the confidence and belief in the product and venture.
Thank you so much for providing thorough descriptions at the very beginning of the pitch in terms that anyone, including those outside the industry, could understand. It seems a simple thing, but many people forget that their potential investors may not be knowledgeable in lingo of a particular industry. This can turn potential interest away.
I also applaud your efforts to provide both student and professional pricing! Students have so many fees and expenses to worry about. Affording them a little extra cushioning can really help. (A little goes a long way…) I think this would also perk up interest from institutes of higher education. Kudos.
I would definitely invest in this venture. Fantastic job.
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Patrick Pichette
Hi Eva,
I was truly captivated by your pitch. I honestly feel as though if I had $200,000 sitting around, this would likely be one of the only pitches I would invest in without any hesitation whatsoever. You show a clear path of entry into the market and your plan looks quite sound. There’s a definite potential for entry for a reasonable sized market and your pricing structure shows promise. My only question is in how likely it is that you could secure and keep this market. As has often been the case with online ventures, the first to market is likely not the one to succeed as others will imitate and improve on the existing models. Still, with everything appearing quite ironed out I think it leads to a very plausible venture. Are there any competitive advantages that you can secure to ensure a longer window of opportunity to secure this market segment?
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frank
Hello Eva,
I don’t know enough about your industry yet, but this idea seems pragmatic enough.
A few suggestions:I would not use IOS as an acronym for this venture. Apple will come to your house and they will take everything you have .. they will burn, pillage and destroy all that is precious and meaningful – did you see what they did to the house of the guy who found one of their phones pre-release?
That aside, your main issue is the weaknesses you mentioned: namely, replication is easy, but the price is high.
This is a show stopper. You can have one or the other, but not both.
If you think your product cannot be replicated, then you can charge prices.
My preference would be the other way around, to get this product into people’s hands as much as you (free 3-month trials etc), and explore other ways to make revenues from your software: getting content providers to pay you for advertising them etc.. I would look into different ways software is making money now, most people just don’t like paying for software, and there are different options to explore.
GL! -
Eva Ziemsen
Hi All,
Thank you so very much for your comments and feedback. I truly appreciate your words of encouragement, first and foremost. As I am sure you agree, this assignment was very challenging and since I am not a business type (at least I realized I was not after doing this assignment), I am so very pleased that my idea and pitch came across. I found all of your suggests very valid and interesting. I am going to put these comments into my revision for another version. I will follow up on your comments individually.
Thank you again,
Eva -
Lisa Nevoral
Hi Eva,
Very good job on your elevator pitch. You were very comfortable in front of the camera and you had a good pace when you spoke. As well, your venture pitch was very organized. Your background spoke lots to your interest in “Instant 1 Sheet” and as a competent CEO. Although you seemed very knowledge about your product, I wasn’t quite sure what pitch material was (until I looked at your venture pitch) or why “Instant 1 Sheet” was better (while watching your elevator pitch). Additionally, I don’t know how big the market would be for “Instant 1 Sheet”. For those reasons, I wouldn’t invest in this product.
Lisa
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Lisa Nevoral
Hi Eva,
Sorry for writing Instant 1 Sheet instead of Instant One-Sheet. That was my mistake.
Lisa
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C. Ranson
Hi Eva,
Your elevator pitch was well done and your presentation was exceptional. I don’t have very much knowledge in the film and media industry but your presentation provided an excellent introduction, it was very much real life, well researched and presented. Your have demonstrated your experience in the industry and your venture idea sounds like it would be successful as you presented a very comprehensive revenue plan and marketing strategy. My only thought, not really having a high level of understanding this industry is would this be a sustainable market and will it be limited?
Catherine
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Mike Rae
Fantastic job Eva, I wish I had contracted you out to direct and film my pitches. Great Work!
I thought that instant 1 sheet is a solid idea that many people within the industry would be smart to take advantage of. You had a reasonable pricing structure and well thought out marketing strategy. Also, the confidence you display gives faith for a potential investor. Excellent work
MIKE
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Kent Jamieson
Common Sense – Venture Pitch
CommonSense Media is an online resource teaching the importance of digital citizenship. The market is blossoming and the need is great for trustworthy, relevant and interactive resources that educate students, parents and teachers about digital literacy and citizenship. Please click on the links below to learn more about Common Sense. Elevator Pitch Venture Pitch Thank you, […]
Continue reading Common Sense – Venture Pitch Posted in: Venture Forum-
joeltremblay
Hi there Kent,
This is super slick. Good work with the visuals and marketing. Is it an original idea or are you taking and adapting another venture? Good use of the Ken Burns effect as well.-
Kent Jamieson
CommonSense media has been around for a while now. In fact, I believe Lisa spoke about it during the ‘apps’ OER. I recently found this resource, as my school is undergoing a ‘tech revolution’. Digital literacy and citizenship has been at the forefront of our conversations so I thought I would blend my working world with my student life and learn more about this great company. So NO, not original. I now wish I had implanted my ‘reflection’ page onto this blog page.
Thanks for the comment,
Kent
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joeltremblay
I wonder if the plugged in nature of contemporary students makes them more aware of their online presence as opposed to digital immigrants?
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jenbarker
Hi Kent,
Before I do my rating could answer a question for me. I have used CommonSense videos/lessons in my class. I specifically use their program Passport to the Internet and I was just a bit unclear about what you ‘new’ direction you are taking the company in. The already have extensive resources supporting digital citizenship. I am just unsure what has been “made over” to quote one of David’s posts or what the new venture/idea is. Would you mind clarifying this for me. So far I was highly impressed with your marketing abilities to sell CommonSense. Your combination of visuals, text, and voice over was done so well that it seems professional. Thanks, Jen-
Kent Jamieson
Thanks for that question Jen, without adding my ‘reflection’ that piece of information does tend to get lost, especially with a great resource like Common Sense. When first investigating this resource, however, I quickly realized that offering a monthly fee onto this enterprise would immediately add revenue. As well, with certain aspects like lessons, videos and K-12 units teaching digital citizenship, a fee for each of these resources could also be added on. Furthermore, although Commonsense does have an application for the iPhone, it is quite limited. Adding features like game scenarios for children to navigate through in the app would add value to this resource.
I honestly couldn’t believe I could sign up ‘for free’ and gain acces to all of what CommonSense had to offer. With expectations from parents, and now the government, to protect and educate youth about digital citizenship, attaching a monetary value onto this resource could really be quite lucrative.
So, in answer to your question, I am making the app better and have added a price tag to this service. Nothing monumental, but I hope that answers your question.
Thanks Jen,
Kent-
jenbarker
Thanks Kent,
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tomwhyte1
To facilitate and objectively review the venture pitch you have put forward, I will be utilizing the guidelines provided within our course, Section 2.7 – Deconstructing a Pitch.
CEO & Team:
After having watched the elevator and venture pitch, I feel the CEO of this venture not only appears credible, but through all aspects of the Common Sense presentation, it was apparent that they were not only knowledgeable but passionate as well, a good start for any venture. However, no specific mention was made in regards to the overall team that this venture has assembled to either develop or take this product to the next stage. Therefore, an appropriate determination of this teams abilities to manage and promote this venture cannot be made at this time.
Venture Concept:
Even though there is a continual growing need for effective and quality professional development, this venture does not provide anything unique or innovative to the market at this time. Regardless, of this fact, Common Sense does provide potential clients with multiple and what appears to be, high quality services for parents, students, and even teachers. Furthermore, the foundation of this approach is based upon the Good Play research conducted at Harvard, which further strengthens this opportunity. As well, this venture recognizes that significant funds are spent yearly on technology around the world, yet no specific benefits are usually noticed. It is in this gap between implementation and results, where Common Sense has decided focus, a gap that may prove profitable. Lastly, Common Sense’s ability to allow schools to utilize their Government Funding may be an essential component of this venture, to ensure its initial success.
Marketability:
Common Sense, recognized that this is a growing market, that includes students, parent and teachers, however no specific information was provided on the market size, either within North America, or Globally (which they plan on exploring in the near future). Without this data, it is difficult to determine true market size, the portion of the market they can expect to hold, and any potential revenue to ensure the success of this venture. Furthermore, it is important to point out, that many resources dealing with digital citizenship are found freely around the Internet, making paid services difficult to maintain, and potential investors wary of providing funds.
Venture Plan:
At this time, Common Sense appears to be near, or even ready to enter this market. However, at this time, more investigation into the need of this service, ability to differentiate themselves from existing services, and convince people to use their paid for service instead of free resources would have to be conducted before investing. Lastly, it may benefit this venture to include a marketing specialist on their team, who may easily provide the guidance to overcome some of these issues.
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Jenny Brown
Hi Kent,
I felt that you delivered very professional elevator and venture pitches. In your elevator pitch you were very credible but I felt that you were more selling the pitch to the consumer than to the investor.
There was no face to the longer venture pitch, which I thought would have been a good addition. The only aspect that I personally felt was distracting was the music in the venture pitch as I had to try to hear your voice over it. In this pitch you did venture a bit further into investment opportunities but it still seemed a bit vague to me and the pitch still geared towards the consumer. Saying this though, your comments about the pitch did highlight the investment potential.
I thought both pitches were well developed, you addressed the pain point well and talked of the immense prospect of the venture (that digital citizenship really has no boundaries) and tried to appeal to potential purchasers’ emotions. You addressed how your product was different than the competition’s and how it works smoothly with the systems found within school systems such as Moodle.
As an EVA, I would be interested in knowing the growth of the company, and more about the direction it is going, to have an understanding if the product is and could be enhanced to be much more cash flow positive.
Overall, I thought you did an excellent and very professional job on the pitches.
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Jonathan
Kent —
Energy was really clear in both videos. I think your presence on the camera is very evident and a strength. You have a natural way of communicating with the camera and I think would make an even stronger proposal had you been present in your second video as well (I should clarify, your second video was great — but I think with your presence there it would’ve made it even stronger!)
It’s interesting to see what is out there and sometimes you have wonder how people monetize on it. I think what is amazing is that companies are often pretty clever about monetizing on a seemingly “free” product. A closer look at the original product shows that they are getting a lot of donations. It looks like they have a lot of big name organizations involved and I wonder if they get clever product placement within the resource?
Would you be worried about alienating the current user base that has used this as a free resource for so long? I like the idea of adding an app as a premium service. I think if you did charge it would have to be for additional value added features as opposed to limiting service. Great idea otherwise!
— Jonathan
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teacherben
I am in agreement with a number of comments above. I was initially a bit concerned that your pitch didn’t seem to do much over and above what Common Sense Media already offers. They have a pretty extensive collection of videos and lesson plans already so I didn’t see what you were doing that was new. They are, in fact, a not-for-profit and are not affiliated with any company, organization or political body (according to their FAQ) and rely entirely on donations and sponsorship. So the idea of revamping their app and charging a subscription for some services is not unreasonable and could provide some badly-needed funding. (Again, on their own website, they say, “It takes an enormous amount of money to create and maintain this website.”)
I thought that the elevator pitch was good. It was brief and to the point, but I got a pretty clear idea what the project was about. The venture pitch on the other hand was a little short on a few things. I didn’t know who was behind it. I didn’t get a clear idea how the funding worked within the company. I didn’t see how you might promote this to extend beyond those who already know about it. And, regarding current users (depending on how we role-play this activity, should we assume that this is a new product or a new direction for the current one?) who have had free access to this content up until now?
So there was a lot to like about this, but there remain a number of unanswered questions.
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Doug Connery
Hi Kent:
I am not sure if there is much I can add here. I liked your elevator pitch, it caught my attention wanting to know more and to move to the venture pitch. I also agree with several before me that the pitch seemed to be more for the consumer than the investor. I think it is harder to develop a true venture pitch for the investor when you are working with an existing product as most of the reference material available is focused on the consumer.
Doug.
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Pat A Son
Hi Ken
Your elevator pitch was convincing enough to have me look at Common Sense Media.
That Common Sense Media is based on Howard Gardner’s GoodPlay Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education speaks volumes about its heritage. Also you have a product that occupies a niche does not have much competition as you stated and that makes it a viable product for years to come. As a matter of fact I will be recommending it to our school based on your salesmanship.You are a very good sales man you as and it goes without that you have convinced me that this is an excellent product. As far as am concerned you have covered all the bases that you should in order to sell this product. However you have not made your ‘spin’ on it as to what you are bringing to Common Sense Media that you want me to invest in. As such I am afraid to say I cannot invest in it.
Nevertheless you did such a spectacular job at selling this product that I will gladly employ you at Cognisys to sell our creative product line. ;-).
Cheers
Patason -
Kent Jamieson
I knew I should have gone into Marketing! Thanks for your comments Patason…I will make sure to review Cognisys a little more in depth very soon!
In regards to your comments about not investing, I realize that my ‘ask’ was basically non-existent. It was – and has been throughout this course – my achilles heel. For some reason, I couldn’t put a price tag on this service.
Again, thanks for your comments and i’m glad you liked the pitch. CommonSense is a wonderful resource.
Kent -
visramn
Hi,
I think you did a great job of putting together a very engaging pitch. I believe you have a natural ability to sell a product. Your tone of voice, confined, and general presence was a valuable feature of your videos.
Visually this pith was very compelling. However, I did find the elevator pitch to be more like a commercial than a pitch. Your venture analysis started out well. I was drawn in immediately. You addressed a lot of point but there were some components that you could have expanded on. I think the aesthetics of this presentation would definitely draw in an investor but they may ask for some additional information before investing.
Thank for sharing such an engaging pitch and analysis. I wish I had such great skill.Nureen
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jameschen
Hi Kent,
Your elevator pitch is well presented. As an EVA, I am definitely hooked and my interests would be furthered with information on the differentiation, ask and return.
Upon reviewing the Common Sense website, I do wonder how your pitch is stirring the venture in a different direction?
As a fellow classmate, I am, however, not sure if it is a good idea for us to use images from the original venture website because of copyright concerns outlined in section 4.1 of our course blog.
Thanks,
James
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melissaayers
Hi Kent
Great work and as others have pointed out – very slick and professional presentations, I am sure you must have some marketing experience behind you!
Good identification of a pain point that presents itself clearly as a venture opportunity. However, from the elevator pitch I am not sure if or what CommonSense really is as a solution. I was not convinced from the video that the venture was either a good or bad investment but it had a great hook that make me dive further an look at your venture pitch.
From the venture pitch personally I not able understand clearly how this is proprietary, or how you can stop other competitors from easily offering similar products (this could be just a reflection of my ignorance in this domain however sorry).
My gut feeling as an EVA is that I am not sure if this is going to be a financially viable venture and I would not invest. In saying that, I am not sure from you presentation if you need financial backing? or how it will be used or how it will make money? or if this is in fact a goal or not (perhaps it is not)?
Thanks
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sophiabb
Hi Kent,
Great use of video making technology. Your elevator pitch was an excellent teaser and made me want to learn more from the venture pitch. I agree with the others – a very professional presentation that seems geared more to consumers than investors.
Sophia
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C. Ranson 6:10 pm on December 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Adriana,
Congratulations to you and cheers for your completion of MET!.
What a great idea being able to go back and make some final revisions to Assignment 3 after all the peer feedback. The other suggestion would be to make the font larger and a different text style in the reply section so those of use that can’t see as well as we use to could actually see when we have made a typo, once you hit reply there is no turning back or method to make any corrections. But I do agree with your comment about how brilliant this course is.
This course provided a significant amount of new knowledge construction and created some very interesting and meaningful discussion.
Catherine 🙂
adi 4:50 pm on December 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thank you Catherine. Good luck with the rest of your courses. 🙂
Peggy Lawson 5:33 am on December 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Congratulations Adriana on completing your MET program! I’m sorry we didn’t cross paths earlier. I’ve enjoyed your posts and your work in this course. All the best!
Peggy
adi 4:51 pm on December 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thank you Peggy. I enjoyed your posts and venture pitch. Good luck with the rest of your courses 🙂