While this is not brand new – it is from 2014, I thought it was an interesting edtech elevator pitch video to share as it is for a low tech traditional storytelling edtech venture, which made me smile.
You can find the Kickstarter here, and discover the results of this venture.
YES, I would invest in this venture.
This is a pitch catering towards the Kickstarter market which are usually everyday people (consumers) that choose to invest. For this market it is a great pitch as it requires a low-cost of funding and this pitch acts as a marketing tool since part of the target audience is on Kickstarter.
However, from a purely investing standpoint, this pitch does not answer all of my questions.
Credibility: I really like how the pitch began with an introduction of Linda and the reason why she is pursuing this product. She is charismatic, confident, and tells a good story. (Although she appears to be a good leader, as an investor one must stay critical and see past these traits).
Opportunity: to combine storytelling and software. Linda does not explicitly outline the opportunities but from my background knowledge, that the software/coding industry is booming, there is a significant push to learn software. The combination with storytelling engages younger children and a more diverse audience. I believe that this method can help reach and inspire less represented people in the coding world. As for competition, I would have to do my research as Linda did not outline any.
Marketing: There was no mention of a marketing plan, nor was it outlined as one of the investment areas from this Kickstarter.
Overall, I would like to move to the next step in order to discuss these gaps in Hello Ruby before investing.
Yes – I would be interested in learning more thanks to the pitch. The idea of low tech introducing coding literacy makes it approachable and interesting for someone like myself that knows very little coding. The idea of reading stories of this cute character and working through activities to develop problem solving skills is appealing to me. The owner, Linda, seems approachable and offers the information in a playful storytelling way, which relates well to her product. She seems credible with her background and transparent with what her funds will be used for. One critique, since this pitch was from a few years ago, I can see that it was a success on Kickstarter and can see the array of products and resources available on the website. I would have liked to see more than just the (beautiful) illustrations, a peak or sample of the workbook. I see the workbook as helping the learner consolidate the information but how is the information presented?