Electronic Classroom Solutions Welcome to ECS, a startup that provides retrofitting software and services to existing student management systems. We have a successful beta version of our platform that bypasses BCesis’s interface and that of other SMS’s. We pride ourselves on bringing aesthetics, usability and efficiency to existing platforms– all while saving education systems millions. Elevator Pitch […]
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Brian H
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ddubien
Trends Shaping Education 2010 is available online at the UBC library. It indicates how trends in different sectors (globalisation, social challenges, the world of work, children and families and technology) have an impact on education. The countries which are sources of data are mainly members of the OECD, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. […]
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Denise
HI Dan,
You have enthused me to have a good read – thanks -
lisamallen
Well put,
It looks like a lot of these reports are very appropriate for educational administrators (perhaps more so than for teachers)? As an educational administrator, I wonder why these types of reports don’t cross my desk more often!
Cheers,
Lisa
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Meggan Crawford 6:32 pm on July 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Brian,
As a potential investor I am very interested in your venture. There are often platforms that need adjustments made, rather than replacement, and I am curious to see how ECS would manage those daunting tasks.
I think that the key to your venture is keeping the retrofits of the platforms simple – if these new tools require a great deal of training or cause a lot of frustration ECS is not likely to thrive. If, however, these retrofits improve access to and use of existing tools they are worthwhile. At the same time, there is likely to be some negative reaction to these retrofits, as some teachers will likely balk at the idea of having to learn a new interface. My key question about your venture is how a new ‘face’ for a program can make it into something that meets the needs of schools, governments, etc. For example, you give the example of BCesis and how it has not met the needs/goals of any party, but how will a retrofit make it suddenly work? This may be my lack of programming knowledge, but I am curious nonetheless!
Other than that, it was great to see your short and long term goals as it clearly laid out the direction that ECS hopes to take. It might help to give a bit more context for how these goals will be met (i.e. how do you overcome competition to become the leader!).
Great work – thanks for sharing the ideas!
-Meggan
p.s. You probably want to check the spelling of opportunity at the 15second mark of your venture pitch 🙂 (Now Fixed–Brian)
Donna Forward 11:04 pm on July 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Brian,
You really have a great idea here. I know that BCesis is not well liked by many teachers and you offer a good money saving venture that is very convincing. I believe that you could actually make a go at this. You have really done your homework and researched this topic well. Your argument for the company is truly credible.
If I had to be picky, there was one point during your presentation where the music was louder than your voice and I had to strain to follow but otherwise, a very professional presentation.
I would invest in Electronic Classroom Solutions!
Donna
(Typo fixed in Video)
gregcamp 8:33 pm on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Brian, as an investor and teacher I am interested in learning more about your product as it sounds like you have a great idea that has real merit. The difficulty I see if having the ministry or school boards by into your idea. Great job
Greg
Allan 11:50 pm on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Brian,
As an investor, this is a very impressive presentation, and I am interested in investing in your product!
I like the concept and business plan of ECS as a startup that provides retrofitting software and services to existing student management systems. Your elevator and venture pitches is really convincing in showing ECS as a successful platform that bypasses BCesis’s interface and that of other SMS’s.
The presentations were very energetic presentation – music is important – and you brought out the best of your slides and statistics. Your argument is also convincing — the fact that you did some really hard good research on the BC Government is fantastic – I’m glad you touched on its need for an alternative – the government is a good buyer.
Your technology is also a great validation — open source. It’s a low-cost effective technology, and efficient with low overhead costs. I especially am impressed by your 3-5 year picture. As an investor, knowing that ECS has a chance to prosper in a $7.5 million dollar market, as you pointed out, assures some of my hesitations and piques my curiosity as an investor.
Well done!
Allan
Denise 10:25 am on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
HI Brian,
I too was impressed with your elevator and venture pitch. Both were punchy and the music really did generate a passion for the venture. I enjoyed “meeting” you in the elevator pitch and so felt really comforatable watching the venture pitch without seeing you again.
I thought you answered painpoint, solution, differentiation and really provided a clear idea of ask and return as well as convincing about the team.
I am not from Canada and so don’t know a lot about BCesis, but your pitches made me very keen to learn more and considering investing. You emphasised partnerships and opportunities that made the venure seem less risky too.
Denise
Kenton Hemsing 12:30 pm on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Brian,
You have put together a fantastic, effective and well researched pitch for your company. I am interested in learning more about how you are going to retrofit and make the student information systems more user friendly and intuitive for the end users. I thought that you did a great job in creating a rock solid reason, solution and expansion opportunity for your company. Well done.
However, as this topic is a bit out of my expertise, I feel that I could not invest without doing a lot more research myself and totally understanding the market you are venturing into, nothing to do with any weaknesses in your pitches.
Thanks,
Kenton
Danielle Dubien 6:51 pm on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Brian,
The quality of your pitches is amazing! Great use of music, pictures and narration!
You’ve convinced me that there is a financial need for your service.
You differentiated your own venture well from the others. How do you manage to keep your costs so much lower than those of Pearson? Is it all because of your use of open source products?
Once your services are used by different clients, what ensures ongoing viability of the venture?
I wish I knew more about your topic to be able to make more comments. All in all, I think your pitches are extremely done and definitely worth an investment! I would have little, if anything to contribute to your company because I know nothing about the topic, so the only contribution I could make would be financial. It would better serve you to have someone else invest.
Cheers,
Dan
Brian H 8:00 am on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Danielle wrote “How do you manage to keep your costs so much lower than those of Pearson? Is it all because of your use of open source products?”
Thank you for your questions. We can keep our costs low as our interface is open source and the retrofit software is a simple program that logs the new interface into school’s existing management system. Schools really only pay for a small adapter between the old and new systems rather than a complete overhaul. Training costs are less as the new system is based on web 2.0 standards with the usability consistent to social networking sites.
Great question!
Brian
mariefrancehetu 3:54 pm on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Brian,
Well done! I think your elevator pitch was well done, you chose your words carefully and rendered your message clearly. Your use of images, video and screen captures was very well-balanced and well-suited to your subject matter.
Your venture pitch was equally well done, it looked quite professional. The only improvement I could note was the soiund quality, sometimes it sounded as if your recordings were of lower quality, thus providing a less homogenous presentation.
Your message was clear, your subject well researched. If I were an administrator within a school board I would certainly consider investing in your venture. You cleverly outlined the need and solution and convincingly outlined the gap left by competition.
I would definetely be interested in meeting with you for further discussions and possible partnerships.
Cheers!
Marie-France
HJDeW 8:16 am on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
David, this venture has merit and potential within a BC educational environment, with growth into other SMS locations (eg. Ontario). The look and feel of the product appeared user friendly and intuitive, but I wondered if market research or beta-testing on the ECS environment was conducted?
Within the elevator pitch, your passion and commitment to the product was evident and compelling. It was good to have your visible presence as a lead-in to the venture information. Nicely done.
Helen