Marie-France Hétu’s Elevator and Venture Pitch
Hello,
My elevator and venture pitches outline a learning venture that offers conversational sessions for ESL and FLS learners. Please keep in mind that although the pitches make it out to be a ‘real’ enterprise, and the idea is more than viable – it is fictional in nature . . . (for the moment!)
I really look forward to your feedback . . . and viewing your own presentations.
Please click the following links to access the presentations:
Elevator Pitch
Venture Pitch
Should you have any problems viewing these presentations, please let me know so I can rectify the situation promptly.
Cheers!
Marie-France
Posted in: Venture Forum
jtpatry 4:16 pm on July 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Good Day Marie-France,
Thank you for sharing your elevator and venture pitches. You can tell that you have a passion for second language development, education and the workplace environments. Your presentation was clear and well laid out and the “live” video footage of workers in action was great to see! With this type of business venture, one would think the government would be interested candidates, especially to help support individuals who may have the basics of FSL, but still need require assistance to become more confident communicators. Would Converse-A-Long have a database of past conversations or mock conversations that users could download and practice? I may have missed that in your presentation. All in all, bravo!
Thanks for sharing
Jon
mariefrancehetu 3:54 am on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Jon,
Thank you for your encouragement on my learning venture pitch. There are many governmental programs within the ministries to help employees become bilingual, particularly if a job requires you to oupdate your language profile. This being said, taking group courses is often not enough to provide adequate second-language practice for students, this is how an enterprise such as Converse-a-long would fill a gap.
Conversations take place between a client and a teacher ‘live’ over Skype or on the phone according to the client’s availability. Conversations would be based on client need, this means simply conversing on specific topics, or practising for an exam.
Cheers!
Marie-France
Donna Forward 5:05 pm on July 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Bonjour Marie-France.
I’ve tried to view your videos but I always receive the notice saying “sorry there was an error encountered while loading this video”. Do I need to download a special program to help view these? I see that Jon was able to view them so please let me know if there is something I need to do.
Merci,
Donna
mariefrancehetu 3:57 am on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Donna,
You should just need to click on the play button to view these videos. Perhaps it has something to do with some type of software you need to play the videos, such as mediaplayer or the like. If so you will just need to download this from the Internet – It is free I believe. Vimeo is just a place where I ‘store’ my videos. Have you tried to view HD videos on your computer before . . . has it worked?
Hope that helps – let me know if it doesn’t.
Marie-France
Meggan Crawford 5:53 pm on July 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Marie-France,
I really like the idea of a venture that helps people to find others with whom they can get oral practice in a second language as learning a new language without such conversation is very difficult! I think that the ways in which you explain all of the possible reasons for someone to want such a service is very beneficial for your venture. I was, however, left uncertain about a few things, the first of which was exactly what form this venture takes – is it a website? It seems somewhat like a language tutoring system so I wasn’t entirely sure whether it was a technology based venture, apart from the use of skype. As well, in your elevator pitch you did not explicitly state which languages Converse-a-long currently supports, though I assume it is French from the titles you used! I would be curious to know which languages are the most sought out – would you also offer English oral practice, for example?
Overall, a very interesting plan!
Thanks,
-Meggan
mariefrancehetu 4:02 am on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Meggan,
Converse-A-Long is a service that is offered to clients who wish to practice their second-language with professional teachers either through Skype or phone or in person. It is a learning venture that uses technology, both for advertising and for the actual ‘conversing’. In the Elevator pitch I mention ESL and FLS, this means English Second-language and Français langue seconde. In the Venture pitch I do mention that contrary to our rival we offer our service in both official languages. So yes we do offer English oral practice.
Please keep in mind of course that this business if fictional – all the characters in the venture pitch are playing along if you would. It is easier to discuss the venture as if it were real however.
Thank you so much for your feedback, I will look at yours this evening.
Marie-France
Donna Forward 12:25 am on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Bonjour Marie-France,
At last I was able to view your 2 videos, Well done. It’s amazing but your Venture Pitch is very similar to mine. If you have a chance to listen to my idea, let me know what you think.
Your Converse-a-long Elevator pitch was visually appealing and you covered many important points, especially the importance of being bilingual in order to be competitive in the job market.
The idea of “tailored conversational sessions” is catchy and your choice of communicating through Skype shows that you are looking at inexpensive solutions for students and adults who are wanting oral practice for the second language that they are learning.
You mention “oral pocket books”. These are obviously handheld devices and you have chosen a good choice of words to visually describe your product.
I would have like to have seen more numbers and target goals so that I, as a possible investor, could have a better idea of what profits there are to be made in your company. A more detailed future plan of your next few years might offer more information on where you would like to go with Converse-a-long.
A very, well presented Venture Pitch.
Donna
Allan 5:09 pm on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Marie-France,
Wonderful presentation. I enjoyed your elevator and venture pitches. I especially found your promotion of the Converse-a-Long team to be very effective. I found that by emphasizing the team early on, it highlights the expertise and knowledge of the product. Very good thinking!
I found that the fact that Converse-a-long is conducted mainly via Skype to offer lower overhead costs. It’s excellent you brought that into the discussion. It’s also effective that you point out that Converse-a-long does not offer direct competition with ESL institutions.
However, I thought that your pitches could’ve been stronger had there been some financial analyses. As an investor, I am somewhat wary about investing my money without some breakdown of how I could benefit in the upcoming years.
Otherwise, this is a very strong presentation. Congratulations!
Allan
mariefrancehetu 3:30 pm on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Allan,
Thanks for you feedback! You are right, my presentation would have been stronger had I provided more of a financial analysis, something I found difficult to do seeing converse-a-long is merely a figment of my imagination. Finance is also not my strong point and I’m afraid it shows.
Thanks for your honest opinion of my presentation.
Marie-France
Claire Burgoyne 5:56 pm on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Marie France,
Your venture addresses a common challenge of pairing native speakers with French language learners to facilitate practice conversing. You did a thorough job of describing Converse-A-Long. Nice touch to include photos of the team; including spoken introductions would make this section even stronger. Offering the flexibility of conversing online, by phone, or in person is likely to attract a wide range of users. It’s not clear whether you provide anytime, anywhere service for face-to-face sessions outside the Ottawa area. With your plan to expand into Spanish language options it would be helpful to include information about who will offer expertise in that area. Overall a well thought out venture. Well done.
Claire
mariefrancehetu 3:33 pm on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Claire,
Thank you for your feedback! I agree that a short video presentation from the teachers would have been great, but my daughters and husband were not willing to go that far in playing along. I mention Converse-A-Long is based and offers services in the National Capital area, which includes Ottawa and Gatineau and that I wish to expand to Toronto by 2016 – but perhaps that is not clear enough in the presentation.
Thanks for your encouragement!
Marie-France
gregcamp 8:16 pm on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Great job Marie France, your background as a french teacher brings credibility to your venture and you did a great ob describing how the venture would work. I like that you are planning to expand into Spanish as it shows investors that there is upside to this venture.
Greg
mariefrancehetu 3:35 pm on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Greg,
Thanks for your encouragement! In hindsight, reflecting on my colleagues’ comments and after viewing many other venture pitches I realize I should have further expanded on my expertise, and that of the fellow teachers, to really bring more credibility to the project.
Cheers!
Marie-France
Danielle Dubien 4:35 pm on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Marie-France,
I really enjoyed learning about your venture! I’m treating it as a real one because it seems extremely realistic and viable, coming from someone who has taught ESL and FLS. Please don’t feel like you have to answer all my questions, though.
Teaching a second language face-to-face allows for a much richer learning experience than training over the phone. For example, in F2F sessions, the confidence level is much easier to assess and allows you to use tools like flash cards, recording devices, visual aids, supporting reading and writing materials and much more. How do you compensate for the difference in service quality? Different price ranges, perhaps? How do you assess whether phone training is good enough to meet a student’s needs? What with the huge financial value of contracts, and having a federal employee’s career on the line, are you prepared to guarantee excellent results with the over-the-phone and sometimes-glitchy Skype services?
If you offer anytime, anywhere services, I understand the need to increase your staff. Many 2nd language schools have a reputation for treating their teacher-employees poorly, giving them inconsistent schedules. How can you prove that this is not the case in your venture, with anytime, anywhere scheduling? I know that’s not directly related to your venture, but it would certainly have an impact on it if turnover were high, and the quality of your services would suffer. The service you offer of meeting people face-to-face may be a challenge too, especially with the NCR being sometimes difficult to travel through. How can you minimize the cost of travel if you have students located anywhere from Gatineau to Kanata?
Your competition is potentially high, what with the NCR being populated with loads of bilingual people able to offer a similar service over Skype. Are you aware that Skype offers programs that make it easy for clients and teachers to connect and that it facilitates payment methods?
How is it that you are not in competition with companies that offer courses based on progressive lesson plans?
I think both of your videos are very well constructed, with great use of audio/visual content and music that doesn’t over-power your voice.
I agree with you that knowing more than one language has a very positive impact on individuals’ lives and on society! If you do go forward with this venture, I wish you a lot of luck!
Cheers,
Dan
mariefrancehetu 6:17 pm on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Dan,
Thank your for your feedback and questions. I have answered them as if my venture were real.
I absolutely agree that f-2-f or blended environments are best for learning languages, that is why Converse-A-Long does not compete with language schools or programs that offer these types of courses. Rather we offer complimentary conversational practices, because in my experience as a FLS teacher students in group classes don’t get enough oral practice.
Converse-A-Long does not offer support with reading or writing skills, all we offer based on our expertise and student need is conversational sessions.
Not even the most professional schools (the military one I work for included) can guarantee a student will pass an exam, so Converse-A-Long would not be able to offer that guarantee. However, because of our expertise in preparing students for the exam, we could certainly offer simulations of the exam to better prepare students.
Because Skype is not always reliable, we could certainly offer to phone a client (our cost if any is incurred) if the conversation through Skype does not work, and we are already part of the special Skype plan for businesses and clients. It would be more expensive for us to come to an individual’s workplace if a client wants that type of service, but some clients might choose that option, especially if practising for an oral government test.
Strangely enough there is no other company offering this type of targeted conversational service in the Ottawa\Gatineau area. We believe interested candidates will take advantage of the anywhere\anytime service offered, which means that most of them are looking for convenience and want to converse from home or work using the easiest method possible – probably Skype or phone. For those who want in person service, it costs more, so there would be a tendency to have less clients willing to pay the price.
I have travelled a great deal across Ottawa and Gatineau and apart from peak hours, travel time is quite reasonable from one end of the city to the other – unless it is rush hour, and likely we would not make appointments during that time if possible. The increase in demand means we need to grow, which means we have had to refuse or postpone some sessions until we increase our staff. This is why we need the funding to help us handle the hiring and training period of more staff and then time to expand our venture.
Thanks for your honest feedback and asking all these questions, it really sounds as if you were a real investor.
Marie-France
Danielle Dubien 4:29 pm on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Marie-France,
I’m glad that you say you’re not able to guarantee results. Some schools are over-optimistic with the claims that they make.
Now I understand why you say you are not in direct competition with second language schools; your services are compliemnetary to theirs. Still, while these schools offer training in writing, comprehension and conversation, nothing stops them from offering their own conversation-based training. Individual students will request these services and pay out of pocket if they have to because their career is on the line. I’ve seen schools offer this service and wouldn’t underestimate its value as competition to you.
As for travelling through the city, sure it’s quick enough in a car, but a company like yours, that is situated in a city is likely to hire a significant amount people who travel by bus. A lot of 2nd language teachers I know rely on public transportation. For them to travel from one client to another takes a lot of time, wears on the body and is often a reason to quit for a more stable work environment.
Overall, I still think your venture is strong and has a lot of potential in the real world. Whether or not you go forward with this project, I wish you the best!
Dan
HJDeW 5:13 pm on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Marie-France, as a current visitor to your area of the country, can I take a short course with your product? Is there accommodation made for the many visitors who come to the Ottawa/Gatineau region and stay for up to 2 weeks? Being immersed in the language of the area would certainly add value to my trip as I could holiday and learn.
I’m not sure I fully understand who the clients are for your venture as you described it. Who is actually handing you money for this service? Are there corporate or individual clients, or both? Is the market in Ottawa ready for skype conversations, particularly with privacy issues (not knowing who else may be in the room at the other end!)?
You mentioned that Toronto may be the next move for your venture. Are you prepared for a very different learning culture in the Big Smoke? What marketing strategy will you use to gain client base in a tough second language market? Just a few questions before I consider investing.
Helen
mariefrancehetu 6:40 pm on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Helen,
What excellent questions!
First a few precisions:
– We offer our second-language conversational sessions to anyone in the NCR who wishes to practice their second language.
– Our clientele mainly comes from students already taking second-language courses or following language programs, since we are a complimentary service that fills in the need for extra conversational practices.
– We would not be able to provide clients coming in from out of town with accomodation, but certainly our web site could have links to things to do in the Ottawa region, perhaps even paid advertising to help us cover the cost of our web site.
– Skype is already used extensively in the Ottawa region, and at our end, Converse-A-Long staff can guarantee privacy, at their end it is the responsibility of the client. Since our conversations are based on practising the language, there is nothing really ‘private’ in the conversations to the point where we need ultra secure lines.
– Prior to expanding to the Toronto area, our company would do a thorough market analysis to see how it could establish its roots. We would investigate possible challenges and differences in marketing strategies, as well as what languages, beyond French and English, Converse-A-Long could expand upon. Targeting a ‘niche’ market in Toronto would be essential, and would likely take time.
Thanks for asking me to elaborate further on my project, it makes the ‘creating a venture’ exercise even more realistic.
Marie-France
Denise 8:31 am on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Marie-france,
I found both pitches well presented and engaging. The elevator pitch definitely made me want to learn more and move on to the venture pitch. While the music in both pitches was lovely I think it detracted from listening soley to you as CEO (and was what Clark and Mayer (2005) woudl call extraneous sounds.)
I thought you outlined the pain point and solution and how you differentiate from other ventures – to the point when it is actually unique. It was great to meet the team, but as you commented earlier offering more background on their skills would have strengthened the pitch.
The $300,000 grossed figure didn’t give me an indication of loss/profit in the last year. I saw it as less risky to be investing in a venture that was already established, but wasn’t clear what was involved in the expansion of the company. More teachers means more clients but also more wages and taxes – so will increasing staff and business give a logarithmic rise in profits, only a relative rise or no rise at all? Dis it self limiting? Explaining how you have expanded your business to date and been clearer about the low overheads may have helped put my mind at rest about return.
i did wonder if there was a way to tap into the language schools to which you value add rather than compete, and have them market Converse-a-long?
Having focused on the finance I was however enticed by the social implications of this venture. too.
I liked the idea – simple and effective – but I wasn’t completely convinced to invest because I wasn’t sure about the return on investment going forward.
denise
mariefrancehetu 2:53 pm on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Denise,
Thank you for your excellent feedback on both my pitches. In my self-evaluation I did notice the same strengths and weaknesses you mention.
I wish we could have posted our pitches a couple of weeks ag so that we would have had time to tweak our presentations before submitting them to David.
I really value feedback from my peers, for it is important to know how others view your presentation. It is a hard thing to do to judge how presentations will be perceived on your own. In the real world I would surely have sent my pitch to colleague to get an honest opinion before actually launching it out publicly.
Thank you again for your honest opinion – I appreciate it.
Marie-France
Denise 12:42 am on August 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Marie-france,
I agree. It has been good to review people’s pitches. I have learnt a great deal from how you and everyone else approached their pitch, and that was just as important as the direct feedback from everyone. I have loved the innovative ventures everyoen has had!
Sounds like you might consider making your venture a reality – so good luck if you do.
denise
danishaw 6:38 am on August 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thank you for sharing your ideas for advancing and improving upon french language skills! I think you have the basis for a potentially profitable venture, however there are a couple of items that should be included within your venture analysis or your pitch. First a foremost, it would be beneficial to include what language Converse-a-Long supports within the opening of your pitch so that viewers are able to identify if it suits their desires for investment. Secondly, I do believe that you could support the business and product using more technology than solely Skype and a website. With audio, video, and mobile technologies advancing and being common tools used within learning, I believe it is pertinent that you implement such within your business to keep current. Without the incorporation of such, I am afraid that many investors might shy away from putting a great deal of money into a venture that could potentially be updated by a more trendy application in the near future. Overall, I appreciate your expertise and time spent on developing a product that obviously meets an educational need. Well done!
Danielle