When you were an undergraduate student, what were some of the things you were thinking when choosing a university to attend and area of study to focus on?
Like the image on the right, there were probably so many things on your mind. I am sure this did not end even when you were choosing which school to pursue your graduate studies.
This is where my app, Fulcrum, takes its cue. Fulcrum is an app for institutions to house comprehensive information about admissions and student experience. Check out my website to view the Elevator Pitch and the Venture Pitch.
Google Site Link: https://sites.google.com/view/venture-pitch-fulcrum/elevator-pitch
Feel free to leave a comment below. I’m curious as to what you think of the app and some feedback you may have to improve the project further.
FEEDBACK:
Go straight to the source and connect prospective students to current students for Q&A. I think it’s a great idea. As an investor, I would probably like to know how Fulcrum is going to incentivize current students participating in the Q&A. Once you’re in an institution, there can be a lot of ways you can find out more about the program or the university, such as through message boards and cloud cafes, but outsiders might not have the same access, and so an app like this could be really useful. The idea of having a one-stop app that consolidates information for all universities within a country or region is very appealing. This seems like a scalable solution that could have a broad user base.
Hi David,
Thank you for your feedback. I’m glad to see that you find the app to have a scalable solution. That’s definitely one goal I had in mind. While I was making my project, I did think of the existing students participating in the Q and A but I didn’t have time to include that in my Venture Pitch. I was playing with the idea of the educational institutions to use this platform as part of the co-op curriculum for students. That part would be more of a school lead decision and would definitely one of the logistical considerations to keep in mind with this app.
REVIEW
Wow! I think this app idea is fantastic and I certainly would have loved to have something like this as a tool when I was searching for my undergraduate program and university.
Pros: This app has massive potential and it is something that universities would benefit from getting involved with. It is a tool that fills a gap in the industry and would be extremely beneficial, but also serves a purpose that investors should find intriguing. This is also a platform where schools can promote themselves and some of the funding could come from that.
Cons: I am not sure how all of the information will be collected unless you are incentivising the institutions. Student volunteers to answer questions are ideal but not guaranteed. I think if you maybe pivot at the beginning and create an AI tool that collects information already available about programs and universities to get it started, and then open the platform to comments and user testimonials that could create a basis for the information and give you a head start.
Overall I find this tool very interesting and if I were looking to invest I would be looking in this direction. Thank you!
Hi Nathalie,
Thank you for reviewing my app. Like David’s previous comment, you also talked about incentivization. I like your idea with the AI tool. It makes sense to integrate AI as it currently is pretty good at harnessing huge amounts of data. You also raised a good point about the replies of the student volunteers. Students as it is have lots of things on their plate so maintaining conversations on an app can be challenging.
I think this is a very interesting app. Truthfully (I hate saying this – I would not find this personally useful) For something like research on schools, I like the idea of flat websites, as you mentioned. However, I fully recognize how appealing this app would be for many. I think it would be useful for a student to interact and compare many post secondary institutions. I do see this as a tool that institutions may want to use to reach and attract more students. But I am wondering if institutions will want to either pay to be part of this app? They will also then have to appoint somebody to run the app. Great presentation. Sam
Hi Sam,
I appreciate the feedback. After finishing my project, I definitely thought of the upkeep of operation of the app and is one of the questions partner schools will be asking. I definitely predicted that some people would not find the app useful. That’s part of the development process of any idea.
Hello Bianca,
I enjoyed reading your A3 venture pitch. I think there are some really good ideas in there that could be fleshed out into a potentially successful product.
I may be able to provide you with some insider expertise in this specific field as I have been managing student recruitment over the last 12 years.
Getting straight to the viability of the buy in (and therefore potential profit) of the product, I think you are going to run into a chicken and egg problem.
You wouldn’t get institutional buy-in (your revenue source) unless you first have a critical mass of users that would justify the ROI. And visa versa, you are not going to get a critical mass of users until you have a variety of attractive institutional users for the applicants. Most institutions have the capabilities of your app through either CRM, LMS, website etc (likely a combination of). What you potentially could offer, that makes your product valuable is if you capture at scale the prospective applicant user. That is the captive audience that the institutions are seeking and willing to pay for. If you can solve that problem, I think then you have an extremely valuable product.
The thing I found unique (to my knowledge) about your product was the psychometric test. Perhaps that could even be a stand alone product in itself you could develop to sell to an institution as a website plugin (like a chatbot). It could be customized to the backend data on the institutional website, so, like you said, it gives the user suggestions of which courses are right for them personally…. That may hook them into applying. Speaking of hooks, I like the way your elevator pitch was a hook, it didn’t give away everything, it just makes the audience curious to come check it out further.
Overall, I think you did a great job of putting together an idea of how to tackle a very difficult problem (finding the market, engagement and conversion). I think your product would become more defined as you tested it and found what is catching demand and what is not.
Thank you,
Rich
Hi Rich,
Thank you for your feedback. I really appreciate the insider expertise you bring. That’s definitely something I had problems with when researching the financials for my project. I agree that for a project this scale I will need institutional backing to attract users. I initially was hesitant to launch this project because I had a feeling institutional backing would be tough.
I’m glad you liked my elevator pitch. I wasn’t sure if I was giving too little information at the beginning or would it be effective enough to encourage the reader to check out the rest of my Venture Pitch.
You provided great feedback with using the psychometric tests I included. That’s definitely something that I didn’t think of. Thank you for acknowledging the parts of my project that have potential. As you’ve said I would have to test the product to see what catches demand. This venture pitch is a great exercise for that!
Hi Bianca, what a fantastic app. As an academic advisor, this is a real issue for students and counsellors. Even if they know what to study, students don’t really know when and how to apply to colleges, the application process is long, material required are complicated, and students need to keep track of hard deadlines for different institutions. For those that don’t know what to study, it makes things way worse, and furthermore, they often don’t really seek out help or ask questions until it is too late. Your app could be very helpful for students in this situation, and it could be recommended to parents to use as well to support their kids.
The problem Rich described above is very real, I can confirm that. It will be very difficult for you to have institutional buy-in as a start-up without large userbase. However, you absolutely require institutional buy-in in order to have functionalities such as connecting current students in the program to your users, the ability to speak with college advisors directly from your app, and receiving communication from these colleges’ admissions offices. However, what if you crowdsource your app in a similar way as Reddit? In addition to all the information you already provide in the app, what if you have students from high schools and universities all register as users and volunteer to help each other? This might help gain more investment potential as it is relatively low costly, and does not require institutional partnerships in the beginning?
Hi Jennie,
Thank you for leaving a feedback on my app! I also appreciate confirming Rich’s feedback.
You definitely offered an interesting alternative to my app. I like how you spun my Q and A idea into something else. Students from high schools and universities volunteering to help each other is great because it will definitely create a community. This is a great alternative to start without requiring institutional partnerships.
Speaking of partnerships, I’m not sure if you’ve read Andrew’s comment below but he sees a possibility of us connecting in terms of providing education choices and career pathways for students. It’s definitely great that one of our peers see a possibility to connect our projects to create something better, but also it’s a bit funny because we worked together on a project last semester.
FEEDBACK
Hi Bianca,
Not going to lie, this is another problem in my Career Classes! When I go through the post-secondary unit, I too find websites to be disorganized and very hard to navigate. I think with this venture, you’re hitting all the targets, but I have two wonderings with this app. Is this app going to be free for prospective students? I am a bit confused as to who you are directing this app to for investment. Forgive me if I missed it but if I am a prospective student applying to UBC, do I have to pay to see all the features to make my journey easier? I feel you might be losing money here. My second wondering is in addition to my first and that maybe having two price points. For example, having a free version of this app gives you “x” amount of information for prospective students. Once students are enrolled into a post-secondary institution, then everything is unlocked especially the connection to potential employers? I see a lot of value in this as a Careers teacher! Thanks for putting this together Bianca.
Jeremiah
Hi Jeremiah,
Thank you for leaving a feedback on my post. To clarify your question about the payment scheme, the prospective students would definitely don’t need to pay for the app. As you’ve pointed out, that business model would definitely not work. As much as possible, I’d like to keep this open to prospective students as the goal of the app is to help them make more informed decisions. Coming from a Careers teacher, I’m glad that you find value in the idea I’m proposing though it’s truly developed.
REVIEW
Hi Bianca,
This presentation really got to me. Too often is it too hard for students to obtain resources or to find information about their intended area of study, or even simply where they wish to study. I know I have run into this myself. At times, it just seems like there is both too much AND not enough information out there. By that, what I mean is that there is not enough of the right information for students. This seems like just a wonderful idea to start students off on the right foot in trying to find information about their chosen area of study. It does seem to me that you’ve closely examined this, and have a very good grasp on what direction you would like to proceed in for it. I’m extremely impressed with the detailing you put into it, and the care you put into researching such a product.
This is an app that will definitely lighten the stress level of perspective students of any program and/or institution, and it’s definitely something that I would invest in.
Thank you for sharing!
Adam Turpin
Hi Adam,
Thank you for providing a review of my app. It’s definitely far from perfect but I’m glad you find value in what I’m presenting. In terms of details, it’s my first time I tried wireframing. If I had more time, I would have built more wireframes from scratch.
FEEEDBACK:
Your pitch is very well done and this idea clearly targets a common pain-point. I am not going to fully revisit what others have said. While Fulcrum faces challenges in a competitive market and with user adoption, its comprehensive solution, personalization features, and clear pricing model are strong points that can attract investors (like myself) and hopefully users.
I do see a unique opportunity to connect with Jennie’s CareerVantage venture. Connecting Fulcrum with CareerVantage could create a powerful synergy between higher education choices and career pathways, providing students with a comprehensive platform to explore and navigate their academic and professional journeys.
Hi Andrew,
Thank you for leaving your feedback. I really like the connection you proposed with Jennie’s CareerVantage venture. As I talked about in my venture, there is still value in pursuing a university level education, but the changing work landscape offers students more career pathways than before. Students definitely some guidance to navigate the working world and Jennie’s CareerVantage offers that window view.
Hi Bianca,
First, as somebody who works in the guidance field in a high school, this catches my attention as a potentially helpful tool. In my Venture Pitch, I focused on a way to address a shortcoming in guidance through schools, and so tools like this are definitely worth looking at.
I think Rich hit the nail on the head. (He also gave ME some great feedback) Institutional buy-in will be a big challenge. Development may lead you into a different area of focus as you encounter barriers. I know that some of the frustrations identified, such as admission rates, are actually not published with intention, and it may be a challenge to get differing institutions to come together when they actually compete for the big business that students represent.
I’ve toyed around with ideas that also involve the collection of student data, and I believe (as some who’ve already posted do) that an incentive program would be required to bring in the feedback and data required.
Keep working on this – I’m really interested in great new ideas for high school guidance. If you actually pitch this, I’d suggest an elevator pitch that is produced to flow and engage the viewer. Your voice is pleasant and easily trusted.
Hi Steve,
Thank you for your feedback. I agree! Rich provided great feedback. Experience within the sector can’t be beat. Although my project has a lot to work in terms of reimagining it without the initial institution partnerships and incentivization of users, I’m glad that you find value in this tool because you’re a professional who works in the field. Thank you for also commenting on my voice. I take that as a very nice compliment. An elevator pitch that involves a video with proper graphics and my voice would be definitely a step to improve the overall production of the pitch.
FEEEDBACK:
Hi Bianca,
I really like the idea of this product and I sincerely hope that a product such as yours makes it to market successfully so that students can make more informed decisions.
One small area I have concern about is connecting with current students in university programs. I hate to look on the negative side but without oversight, this could go poorly due to unprofessional behaviour of either student. For example, the university student could be in a bad mindset and tell the potential student “don’t go into engineering it’s awful and I hate it”. I don’t think poor behaviour would happen frequently, but sadly I do think it’s a possibility unless measures are taken to prevent it.