Have you ever printed more than 10 papers just to realize that you printed them by mistake or you don’t need them any more? Does it make you feel bad that you can only recycle them now? Don’t you wish to have a machine that reverse the printing where you can get your paper and ink back separately? I have always wanted that!
Therefore, as a biochemistry graduate from UBC, I have thought what if! What if we have a printer that separate ink from papers, what if we can print infinitely without running short in printing supplies, and what if we don’t cut more trees or use harmful chemicals in the recycling process.
I am a math teacher now and I have discussed this idea with my students. They told me it is a billion dollar idea- Go For It! Sorry, but it is actually a 100 billion dollar idea 🙂
Elevator Pitch:
Venture Pitch:
Please note that the original printer’s video was obtained from this link. I don’t have the software or the design skills to do that. Therefore, I used some clips from the above video.
Reflection
At the beginning of the course, as I was reading the outline and going over the assignments, I was very nervous regarding the third assignment. I know that I have to think of a venture that is related to technology and education. During week 2 and 3, I learned a lot about how to act as an Educational Venture Analyst (EVA) and the idea of elevator and venture pitch. I was overwhelmed with all the information and I didn’t know if I will submit anything. Eventually, this idea came to me one day in the school when students didn’t use their handouts and I had to recycle them. I felt bad that papers and ink at that time were considered waste without being used. I wanted to discuss this idea with the class instructor, but I was worried that he may not accept it or he may suggest another pathway to do this assignment. I knew that I would follow his suggestion and give up my idea. So, I did some research and I was impressed with all the information that supported my idea.
Strengths:
The strength of my venture is that it is new and many have thought about it but never applied it. I know, it could be a crazy idea but any new idea was considered crazy. Not only new, but this venture is needed whenever there is a printer. We make typing mistakes all the time and we always want to reverse our work. I think if I have time, I would seriously present my idea to Dr. Ali Khademhosseini, CEO and Founding Director at Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation. I knew him when I was doing my honours in bioengineering.
Challenges:
I was hoping more students would give me feedback. I knew I have received three stars in average but I don’t know the reason. It was easier just to point out the limitations of the venture so that I can modify it later. In addition, for me thinking about an idea that is new and NOT an app or a website was a challenge. I knew other students will focus on service; whereas, I was thinking about a product that has no completion and is needed everywhere.
[Review]
Raafa, thank you for your pitch. Your thorough understanding of the science, the issues and your passion for working towards a solution are apparent in your elevator pitch. Your description of your solution to this environmental dilemma pulled me to your venture pitch. I was also drawn in by your venture’s promises, and I was not disappointed with the level of detail you provided. I feel this pitch would be very persuasive to investors looking for sustainability ventures, but I was left wondering how it would appeal to edTech investors. In reviewing your venture pitch, I was hoping to see more about how this would change learning worldwide. Reusing paper and ink products would, without a doubt, have significant economic benefits, but to what scale and for how long? When does the reused paper need to be replaced? How would this stack up to a “paperless school?” Paper can be eliminated in schools by replacing the paper trails with with online systems. For example, about ten years ago my faculty replaced the mountains paper we produced in the admission process with a student management system. My intuition tells me that environmental protection would try to reduce paper and ink consumption worldwide drastically. I respectfully suggest looking at companies marketing paperless classroom products, such as Classter and Kami, as possible market rivals. Perhaps there are cost savings in energy and hardware that Prinf would afford better.
I do really like the science behind the idea of removing ink from paper and reducing the cost of recycling. This is a very admirable goal. I appreciate your overall venture pitch and the opportunity to review it. Thanks again.
Thank you very much Jamie for your feedback. I have expected that everyone will think about an app or a website but not a product; I wanted to offer a product not a service. I wanted to use technology to improve the education system by saving on papers printing. I agree with you that we are not printing papers as much as before, but I was surprised that paper production (especially the printing papers) hasn’t changed. So, our consumption still relatively the same. I would say the revenue will be generated from the maintenance fees and producing other products that can separate ink from any surface. I don’t like the idea of removing and washing out ink, instead, I want to separate ink from any surface and then reuse it again.
Again thank you very much for your feedback 🙂
Excellent idea! I may be a bit biased as I am a physics/math teacher. I love the link to the environment. Your video is easy to follow and the topic is well researched. I really really enjoyed your whole presentation.
Thank you very much Sarka, I really appreciate your feedback 🙂 Enjoy your weekend!
Hello Raafa,
Thanks for sharing your A3 with us, I like the idea as well as your overall presentation.
Elevator pitch – I really appreciate that your pitch effectively explains your product, is succinct, and has some really great visuals! I don’t know too much about all of this venture/entrepreneur stuff, but I wonder if the ‘marketing’ and ‘the ask’ could have been left out and just put in the Venture Pitch instead?
Venture Pitch – I like that you have included a lot of data in your approach, but I wonder about some things. For instance, one of the first things you mention is that we use 10,000 sheets of paper per year and that we recycle 334 pounds of paper per person in their lives…. but I am left wondering how many of those 10,000 papers are not recycled? How much does 10,000 papers per year weigh? What I mean to say is that though you have some interesting numbers, they are somewhat abstract. I really do like how you position your product at a better alternative to other competitors, including recycling! Overall I think you did a good job of explaining how your product works, how you intend to market, and who is involved. Most impressive is your videos themselves – I have used powtoon, but never created anything close to what you did! It must have taken a large amount of time to put these together and I commend you for that!