Good Afternoon! I am here to present to you all Music Without Borders! The primary goal of this enterprise is to make music accessible for all who want to sing or play an instrument, or even for those want to compose music.
Please feel free to check out the elevator pitch and the venture pitch here: https://sites.google.com/view/musicwithoutborders/home
FEEDBACK:
I wonder how much of this idea came out of the experience of teaching music during the pandemic. Did it click for you that online music lessons might not be so bad compared to in-person lessons, that they might actually work well? Perhaps they make music lessons more accessible for people who have commuting challenges or are pressed for time. Spreading the message that music is beneficial to a child’s development through offering affordable music lessons is a noble endeavour, and I appreciate the enthusiasm behind it. However, it would seem to rely on passionate individuals like yourself who may be willing to take compensation below the going rate for professional music instruction. I just wonder if this is financially sustainable. Perhaps it would be better going in the direction of a non-profit?
Hi David,
Teaching music online was definitely helped by the pandemic. It’s definitely a new, different way of reaching out to perspective students. For this venture, I definitely have considered the non-profit route as I want to make this accessible for as many students as possible. Music instruction should be available to anyone who wants it, regardless of income or status.
Thank you for looking over my product and taking an interest.
Hi!I enjoyed your pitch and project. I am concerned about the costs associated with paying the instructors – which can be quite costly if it is one-on-one I think. I also wonder what type of long term commitment instructors need to make to the program. If a student starts the program and the instructor switches out halfway through, what type of issue does that create. However, It does cut down the cost to do it remotely. I am sure there are extra recourses too that would be beneficial. Great idea. Sam
Hi Sam,
Thank you for responding. Yes, the cost is definitely an issue, especially for long term use. And yes, the professionalism of my teachers is something that will keep this enterprise going. It’s definitely something that will be examined as we go further along into the venture. Having the financial assistance (for the beginning at least) of a credit union is going to be very beneficial.
Thank you for viewing my product.
Adam
FEEDBACK
Hi Adam,
Thank you for sharing your venture pitch with us. As a musician myself, I am captivated by the idea of forming a non-profit to spread the love and lifelong benefits of playing music, particularly with your focus on the local community. However, as an investor, I’m curious about how much funding you are seeking and what the value proposition is for an investor. From the perspective of “what’s in it for me?” the benefits are not entirely clear. Additionally, I’m uncertain about what the funds will be used for and how you plan to execute the rollout of your venture. Are the funds intended for website design, marketing materials, purchasing instruments, or something else? Before considering an investment, I believe that further development and more detailed financial estimates would be advantageous in attracting investment. It’s a noble venture, indeed!
Thanks,
Bradley
HI Bradley,
Thank you for taking the time to look over my venture and for your advice. As this is a relatively new venture, there are still certainly aspects I’m trying to work out, especially on the business side. We would start out small, obviously, and with the financial help of a credit union, we would grow, and hopefully, not just make this into a viable source of instruction for our students, but also into a sustainable income for our instructors as well. I’m very glad that you understand, as a musician, the importance of this.
Thank you for looking over my product.
Adam
Hi Adam,
Great job, your message is very inspiring. Really liked the ‘elevator pitch’. I think there are many ways in which your product can be successful and ways in which you could further build out this endeavor. Therefore I think it is very investible for those seeking to back a non-profit. Question (coming from a none musician here), would there be some instruments that lend themselves better to being taught virtually? For example, I am guessing a guitar that is front facing might do well, but perhaps harder to watch your student’s fingers on the piano keys, if that is necessary, or how about the acoustics of voice training? Might those be some obstacles, or are they all achievable? My gut feeling is that your product would be a fantastic add on to in-person lessons, but probably would be lacking compared to the in-person magic of music. Great way to make it more accessible to more people, really neat idea.
Thank you.
Rich
Hi Rich,
Thank you for looking at my product and taking an interest. For sure, there are instruments that lend themselves more to virtual instruction. When it comes to something like voice training, yes acoustics is definitely something to keep in mind. But for this application, for starting out, it can definitely work. It’s a way to make music accessible to all, and to some who may not be able to access lessons easily.
Thank you again for looking at my product.
Adam
Hi Adam
Thank you for your work on this, your background and passion for this project is evident throughout. I think the idea behind this project is important because of the benefits that things like the arts, music, and physical literacy can have on children and your focus on accessibility for all is inspiring. When going through your projects
i had some questions from the lens of investor and some things I would need clarification on would be where is my money being used and what is my return on investment.
Hi Meagan,
Thank you for looking over my product. Some very good questions indeed. First of all, for starters, we would be relying on the assistance from a credit union to get us off on the right footing regarding financing. We would start out as a non-profit organization, hoping to help those who are not able to access musical instruction very easily. There are still some details to flesh out, but our goal is definitely to eventually make this into an investor-worthy venture.
Thank you for your comments.
Adam
Hi Adam,
Your elevator pitch was engaging, and it captured my attention early. Your venture is an engaging project for me, as I have been into music for a long while an online way to allow instruction feels like a great prospective idea. A few weeks ago, I was talking with a friend who has learned the Djembe, but as there are not many teachers around that he could learn it, he was thinking of giving up on practicing it. I can imagine there are many other musicians who would benefit from your idea, as well. One concern, as mentioned, is from the investor’s perspective, we would like to know a bit more about the investment, with a plan of how much you want to raise and what some of the plans are for the future.
Hi Daniel,
Thank you for taking an interest in my enterprise. Learning music through an online platform is something that is definitely on the rise, as it’s got the ability to make the lessons more accessible.
For our start, we will require a major capitol investment that will be coming from a credit union, just to get the project moving. Our hope is that through interest and eventual growth, we can grow our enterprise into a sustainable, reliable company that anyone wishing to learn a musical instrument will eventually come to rely on.
Thank you for your comments.
Adam Turpin
Hi Adam,
As somebody whose children ended up doing their piano lessons virtually for quite a length of time, I value this idea. It was surprising how well virtual lessons worked for our children, not to mention for family scheduling. Through that experience, I know that there is value to this kind of offering. I enjoyed your elevator pitch, and would rate that a 5!
I’ll echo some of the prior posters – I’m a little unclear from an investor standpoint what the value is monetarily. I support the enterprise as a parents, not so sure as an investor. I’m sure you’ll figure it out though.
Steve
FEEDBACK
Hi Adam,
I think this is a valuable resource for students! Your elevator pitch was delivered clearly and convincingly.
As an investor, I would be concerned about the number of competing services. There any many companies that provide online music lessons (as mentioned by numerous other commenters), and Music Without Borders may be lost amongst them. Also, limiting yourself to teachers with a degree may be difficult, since online lesson teaching is inherently a part time position. On the other hand, since you are an online service you could hire people anywhere in the world!