Hi everyone – I’ve now emailed each of you your review assignments for the Venture Forum, so please let me know immediately if you haven’t received it yet. Good luck! David
Continue reading Let the Forum begin! Posted in: Announcements
Welcome to ThinkLand, an in-cloud space for collaborative and creative thinking. This solution is made up of three products: FreeThinker, FreeProject and FreeGroup. It is developed to facilitate quick think, quick work, and quick reflection, by natural input, output, construction and collaboration. We understand that thinking is the original power to push our world forward. […]
Continue reading Welcome to ThinkLand ! Posted in: Venture Forum
Welcome to SAFETY TRAINING FOR YOUTH. As a construction teacher and MET student I am in the right position to help digitalize construction teaching. Watch the elevator pitch and visit my venture pitch and reflection in Google Docs. I think you will see my passion and desire to see safety improved in construction classes. *photos […]
Continue reading Welcome to SAFETY TRAINING FOR YOUTH. As… Posted in: Uncategorized, Venture Forum
HI Dennis. I think you are on to something here. Your idea is a great one and I would hope that it would be developed and implemented immediately. Safety is our number one goal and I think that by putting in a digital form, you could probably catch your audience’s attention even more so. In fact, it might be fun to make safety videos with your students to add to your collection of legit safety videos. The idea seems very solid and could easily be sold or given to other jurisdictions as you have stated, it’s a not for profit idea. I didn’t see or hear anything about your CEO and Team so I couldn’t comment on that. Overall, I think it is a great idea that should be pursued immediately, if not sooner.
Jody
Jody;
I can’t wait to get going on the project and plan to initiate it this year over my last two courses. I had a hard time thinking of myself as a CEO for this venture as I do plan on organizing it but don’t know what kind of money will be involved to get it off the ground or see it through until the end. I tried to just mention my credentials and leave it at that. I think many people find it difficult to talk about themselves or sell themselves to others.
I appreciate the feedback as it is sometimes hard to come by, even amongst your colleagues.
Thanks,
Dennis
Hi Dennis,
Solid elevator pitch and quite relevant. I think it is very ‘à propos’ in current educational circles and the ministry’s push into trades.
I like the mobile accessibility of the product.
I would like to hear more about the competition and the market before investing however. Being somewhat familiar with this area, I think strategic partnerships will be key as well.
Well done.
Yves;
I like your idea of strategic partnerships as the initial networking would be more work but it would pay off quickly. As for the competition, I did not touch on it as much as I could have, mostly because there is not much available for youth specific training. There are a few websites put out by the government but they are mostly text and aimed at older youth. I can see this project aligning with Occupational Health and Safety at the provincial level and maybe even getting some government funding through them to develop quality resources.
Thanks,
Dennis
Good points! Absolutely.
Good luck with the venture friend.
Dennis,
It sounds like a good concept. I can imagine how difficult it is to get all the students on the “same page” when many are absent on days that proper operation of tools, or safety demonstrations are conducted. What I wonder about though is how relevant will the videos/apps be when different shops use different tools, and various brands of tools? Also, is there a convention of set standards across Canada or does it vary province to province? Are the differences slight enough that it wouldn’t matter? I wonder if it might become a bit of a hodge podge with some manufacturers videos, some of your own. Would your identity/branding get lost in the shuffle?
Overall well done.
David McInnes
David;
Thanks for the feedback and I have the same concerns myself. Most of the construction labs have a basic set of tools and that is where I will start with the simulations and videos. After that set is done I would branch off and specialize into tools that are less common. I can see the library growing and evolving with time. I really like what the Khan Academy has done with their library of videos and would try to do something similar over the years that I am teaching. Eventually I would like to get others involved, maybe through a contest so I am not the only one producing professional quality videos and simulations. For the most part there are similarities between most machinery and that is a great starting point.
Thanks,
Dennis
Library of videos eh? Seems you need to talk to the CEO of Eduglogster VUE… there is your first partnership. 😉
p.s. I forgot to add that I think Workers Compensation Board might really get behind a project like this. Maybe some funding would be available.
Hi Dennis,
Nice pitch and a very relevant venture idea. I love the app idea and I think that this could be something other than a “not-for-profit”! Didn’t hear anything about the company or team, but I think you should run with this (hopefully all the way to the bank!) 🙂
Great job – Good Luck!
Smiles, Kim
Hi Dennis,
Great idea for a venture! I also like your elevator pitch. How you personally introduce the idea and follow up with examples is quite effective . As an investor, I would probably want to see more information about your marketing strategy, championship, and the competition. However, I think the venture speaks for itself and certainly has the potential of taking off. Well done!
Danielle
Hi Dennis,
Great idea for a venture concept in the hands on construction learning environment. Safety is always key in these types of environments and by having a mobile app with video data banks to refer back to or engage with prior to using machinery is a great idea. Getting the students involved with the venture would be a great idea as that someone mentioned above!
Thanks for sharing!
Jon
I liked the elevator pitch it showed your problem and your solution. It caused me to look at you venture pitch more thoroughly. I liked the simulation idea but wonder if simulations are the way to go with such a hands on topic. I like the PHET simulations for physics and find them very useful and they save me large amounts of time with lab set up and take down. I would love to actually see one of these simulations since PHET was set up with nobel peach prize money.
Yes, the simulations and videos will be where most of the money goes. I would have a laptop or iPad set up like a kiosk where students can go to reference the machines they are supposed to know before they operate them. They would have to complete the simulations successfully a few times before getting on the actual equipment.
Thanks for the response.
Dennis
Hi Dennis,
Thank you for sharing your pitches and after reviewing your elevator pitch I have the follow comments.
I like the way that you video-taped yourself in front of the tool bench since this immediately gave me an idea of what you would be talking about. I also found the pictures to be effective especially the x-ray.
As a time saver, videos are a great idea and work well within the realm of a flipped-classroom concept but I am not certain that they need to be recreated since a selection of safety videos already exist on the internet. I would have to weigh the value of the time and money spent reproducing these videos. If there is a reason for them to be specific it was not evident in the elevator pitch.
Bridget
Bridget;
I struggled getting everything into the elevator pitch as time seemed to go way to fast. I would have to produce new videos, for the most part, that target youth specifically. The safety videos that are available are mostly created for industry and adults. Youth need more focus and reminders about what the main points are.
The best example I can think of is Bill Nye. He creates amazing video about science that are created specifically for kids. If you have ever seen him speak to adults he is not so animated or exciting as he does not have to be.
Dennis
Hi Dennis,
I think you have a great idea here. There is a huge push in all districts, provinces and many workplaces that deal with the trades to hire people who are well-trained on the safety of working with machinery. I liked the simple and straight-forward nature of your elevator pitch, though it would have been good to see some more aggressive marketing to an investor in there. I think you could effectively pitch this venture to the WHIMS Board or as you mention in your venture pitch, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety because your product could fill in the gaps left by their guidelines.
I especially like the fact that your product will consist of simulations that students go through to learn about the machinery and the safety precautions to take in using it – this is a feature that will give you a competitive edge over other safety resources available online. Launching this product as an app is also a great way to reach youth.
I think that their is viability in this venture and that you should pursue it! I would be interested in investing after seeing a more clearly worked out business plan.
All the best,
Sheza
Hello Dennis
Your project has potential success in it. What makes it so is the fact that you are highlighting an important factor in the field training and education: safety. In spite of the fact that you didn’t refer to the CEO and the team working with him, your project is still outstanding in terms of potential profitability. I think your idea can be a great haven for a lot of vocational institutes and schools due to the practicality of the project.
As for investing in your project, well, I would love to do it of course after considering the rivals of such idea.
You need to keep on to make it a real one and not only a 522 assignment.
Great job
Hussain
Dennis,
I have had many conversations with my school’s shop teacher about many of the same issues that you are highlighting. There is a great need for your project, and I would love to see this available in the future!
Cheers,
Todd
I’m starting to get some A3 submissions so here are detailed instructions and a further chance to ask any questions you might have. A3 Posting: Please post your A3 to this blog before midnight this Sunday (late submissions can’t participate in the Forum). Be sure to select the “Venture Forum” category for this post so […]
Continue reading A3 Postings and the Venture Forum Posted in: Announcements
Good evening Dr. Vogt,
I am a little unsure of how to embed or link a pdf file to the reply. It also doesn’t a spot to select the venture forum. I’m I missing something or should I just be creating a new post? Thanks.
Jon
Hi Jon –
One way for making a PDF available is In the Dashboard area, under “Media”, by selecting”Add New” to upload the document into the blog, including getting a link for it. But you can also link from other document hosting sites or embed using something like Scribd.
And if I understand your question, when you create a new post, the “Categories” selection is on the right side, with “Venture Forum” being among these (the 7th).
Hope this helps,
David
Perfect! Thats what I thought we needed to dow as just create a new post, but the message stated to reply! Thanks
Jon – Each A3 submission should be a new post in the Venture Forum. That enables PulsePress to be activated successfully.
David
Hi David,
You mentioned that we don’t have to post our “reflection”. Is that referring to the self-evaluation mentioned on Evaluation Rubric, or is it something else? Any particular format you are hoping for or is it fairly open-ended?
Thanks,
Janet
Yes, Janet, I’m referring to the self-reflection part of the rubric – this doesn’t need to be posted, simply submitted to me separately with the complete assignment.
Cheers,
David
Hi David, I would rather distribute my Venture Pitch just to those specifically assigned to review it. How ever, should they send me a copy of their review by email or will that be shared with the entire group?
~Shawn
Hi Shawn –
That’s fine if there are elements of your Venture Pitch which you don’t want public disclosure of for intellectual property (IP) reasons. Most reviews don’t delve into IP, but I won’t argue with additional caution. Please ask your reviewers to also copy their reviews to me when they forward them to you.
Cheers,
David
Hi David,
Should I send both the Venture Pitch and Elevator Pitch to the Reviewers? Or the Elevator pitch has to be posted here in the forum?
~Shawn
Hi Shawn –
Post both if that’s convenient. The elevator pitch is a minimum; the venture pitch is something you can control the distribution of .
David
Hi David,
I ran into some major difficulties with my video converter that I use to convert powerpoint into videos. It was working when I did my test slides a week ago, but everything is out of sync now. I don’t know if I would be able to fix the problem before midnight. Is it okay if I send you the PowerPoint Show instead? I am not sure how to post this onto the blog 🙁 Sorry for the inconvenience. Just discovered this when I was reviewing the videos today.
Sherman
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
unclereg 8:59 pm on July 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hey Ping,
Again, I couldn’t access the elevator pitch so I just read your venture pitch. The graphics were amazing and made your presentation look very professional. I wasn’t surprised when you stated that you have experience in graphic design. As for the idea, it would be a great idea for an iPad so the user can use their hands/fingers for input to create a mind map, but I feel there is way too much competition in iPad apps to differentiate this idea enough. On a desktop computer, I’m unsure how this program will actually be faster than using any other mind mapping software. As for suggestions, I would suggest video clips of these 3 programs working unison to truly sell the idea, and forgive me if they are contained within your elevator pitch. Short video clips of these programs working together will sell this product for you. Since this idea is so visually dependent, any type of video visuals will do it a great service.
Good luck, and I look forward to seeing the eventual youtube video.
Thanks Pin.
-Regen
ping 10:10 pm on July 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Regen,
Thank you! I hope I heard your suggestion before I made the pitch. You are right, I should tell the story with a demo on how these 3 programs work together. I should sell the idea first before selling the product or the venture plan. Sorry I didn’t realize this earlier. Your suggestion will be a big help if I really run for this idea someday.
Ping
vawells 1:48 am on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Ping
I really enjoyed viewing your elevator pitch. The idea is original and I love the name of your venture. The images and music were beautiful and well matched to your venture concept. The pitch itself is a little long and perhaps could be shortened, just enough to get the attention of investors. One suggestion that I think would improve your elevator pitch would be delivering your pitch in person on the video. This would, I think lend more credibility to the CEO, and give investors a chance to see firsthand your commitment and passion for your venture.
Good luck with your future ventures
Valerie
ping 4:06 am on August 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Valerie,
Thank you for your comments. I also think my elevator pitch is too long, but I was not familiar with video editing to make it shorter when I realized that. I also hoped to deliver the pitch by myself if I had enough time to improve my oral English 🙂 . I’m grateful for this practice, as well as your appreciation. Thanks again!
Ping
Deborah S 8:38 am on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
HI Ping,
This is an interesting concept. I really enjoyed the graphics in the pitch, but I would have liked to have seen you in the video as well. I think it would have personalized the pitch a bit and secured more buy-in from your potential investors.
Your venture pitch contained great diagrams that helped put the venture in perspective. You mentioned the size of the potential market and then quantified the K-12 market. I wasn’t sure if you were planning to target the K-12 market first? As an EVA, I would have liked more information on how you are planning to market your venture to differentiate yourself from the competition.
Good luck!
Deborah
ping 4:38 am on August 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Deborah,
Thanks for comments! You are right that I was planning to target the K-12 market, but I know it would be difficult to start it at first. The children are not buyers themselves, so I would rather start from their parents and teachers. When they realize that many features of ThinkLand are better designed for natural thinking, they will recommend it to kids. The 3 parts of ThinkLand can be used as virtual learning environment, and also integrated to other learning environment. I should certainly think more about the marketing strategy as you noted. I’m not good at marketing things, but I think it’s a very interesting area to explore further. Thanks for your encouragement.
Ping
karonw 12:56 pm on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Ping,
Good job on the elevator pitch, it was very detailed and the slideshow including diagrams have helped in clarifying your pitch. However, I think as the CEO it would have been great to have you infront of the camera to present this pitch to show us how confident and optimistic you are with this product. As an EVA I have enjoyed your elevator pitch but for most cases elevator pitches normally are 1 minute maximum having that your elevator pitch was 3 minutes and 12 seconds long, in the future you may want to see how you can trim it down in time and yet ensuring that all the full details are there. For myself, I find that this is the greatest challenge for the elevator pitch.
You’re on a great start, keep up the good work!
Karon
ping 4:22 am on August 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Karon,
Thank you for your comments. I definitely should cut the pitch shorter. And if I could do it again, I would change the style of the pitch and make a more appealing story instead of speaking behind the slide. As you point out, it’s a big challenge to trim it down yet ensure all the details lossless. After reviewing many pitches in this forum, I am sure I will do better in the next time. Thanks!
Ping
gillian 8:44 pm on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Ping,
I think your idea is great and very original. I envisioned myself drawing with my finger on a tablet screen and it magically becoming a neatly drawn mind map and then I could follow it up with real time collaboration – what a fantastic thought.
Although your elevator pitch was on the long side, it was very comprehensive and as many others have stated your graphics in both pitches is a great strength for you.
ping 4:57 am on August 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Gillian,
Thanks for envisioning as a ThinkLand user! You share the same feeling as mine. I believe someday we could have such kind of support on a real platform. I now realize the shortage of my elevator pitch. If I could just visualize it from your envisioning point, it would be more engaging and more credible. Thanks for reviewing my both pitches! Thanks for encouragement!
Ping
Danielle 1:36 pm on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Ping,
Wow! This is an excellent venture idea and is certainly one that I’m interested in, especially as a new iPad user and someone who truly appreciates mind mapping. What is especially attractive about your venture is its compatibility with other platforms, and its cloud capabilities. I also think you have done an excellent job of outlining the investment return in a clear way that even those who are not business savvy make sense of the costs and potential growth.
My only suggestion would be to keep the elevator pitch short and simple. You have done your research, and the visuals are fantastic. Well done.
Danielle
ping 5:13 am on August 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Dani,
Thanks for so much encouragement! I hope we could really have such kind of mind mapping tools someday in the future. The elevator pitch is a very big challenge for me, since I never did a pitch, or record a video for myself. It is already a big step for me to record my voice in a ppt slide, and turn it into a video file. I’ll make the elevator short and simple as you suggested. After reviewing pitches of our peers, I am aware that an elevator pitch are not necessary to convey too much details, but to tell a good story. I’m grateful for what I have learnt from this course. Thank you very much!
Ping
troos 1:27 pm on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Ping:
Your elevator pitch, though a little long, clearly presents the pain points in the area of education your are addressing. You have provided some great software solutions that, if packaged, would provide your clients with useful tools. Your visuals are very helpful in understanding your products. A heightened personal presence in your elevator pitch would enhance its authenticity. You mention that you will out-perform the competition but it is not clear to me exactly how that is occuring. It would have been helpful to know a little more specifics regarding your target market to analyze how effective your venture would be in the longer term. Overall, great work and nice presentation.
Tim
ping 5:41 am on August 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Tim,
Thank for suggestions & questions! I believe there are competitive advantages in this venture as it compared with those representative competitors like Inspiration and Cacoo. I should address these differences with more details in my pitch, maybe from the user’s point of view. The long-term aspects is not very clear as you point out, I’ll think it more thoroughly, but I’m confident in myself that this kind of platforms for thinkers will have a future growth space. Thanks for your advices!
Ping
Bridget 5:51 pm on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Ping,
Thank you for sharing your pitches and after reviewing your elevator pitch I have the follow comments.
I like the way that you stated the purpose of your company (InCloud space for creative and collaborative thinking) and the problem, which your company solves
(with mind mapping tools our mind are faster than the tool). You offer a solution to the problem in a very clear manner with concise diagrams. The presentation flowed well and the audio matched the video very well in both timing and feel.
However, the pitch was much longer than required for the elevator pitch allowing deeper explanation of the venture. This made it difficult to compare it fairly with the other elevator pitches requiring me to eliminate it from my final three. I would be interested in viewing a one-minute pitch in order to see if my curiosity is peaked in the short time period.
It sounds like an interesting and possible venture.
Bridget
ping 5:59 am on August 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Bridget,
Thanks for comments. I agree with you that my elevator pitch is too long. I’m lack of experience to make a presentation in audio or video. I’ve learnt a lot in this week from all of you. If I would come to a real circumstance to pitch this idea, I’ll do better as you suggest. Thanks!
Ping
Dennis Pratt 9:24 pm on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Ping;
I like your pain points. If I can make my like more efficient I am better off, right? There is a huge online market for production and efficiency tools, especially as more and more people get online or go mobile. Your pitch reminded me or Evernote and I am just getting familiar with that program. It is supposed to help keep us organized. I do like the collaborative aspect to your venture, as well as the organizational aspects. I am sure that if you keep working on it you could have a real venture on your hands.
Dennis
ping 6:11 am on August 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Dennis,
You encourage me greatly! I do hope I could have this venture at hand someday. The feeling of freely drawing, organizing and collaborating was appealing to me. I like you comments that “there is a huge online market for efficiency tools”. We’ve already been in an era when human-computer-interaction is about to revolute tremendously. Thanks for sharing your vision with me, and thanks for encouragement so much.
Ping
toddpowell 10:38 pm on August 5, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Ping, I don’t want to reiterate what my colleagues have said about the length of the pitch…. 🙂 It was beautifully done but I, too, would have appreciated seeing the face behind the pitch. You have also made a statement about outdoing the competition. How exactly are you going to be doing this? That being said, the world is truly focused on efficiency and productivity, and your ideas have fit right into that motion!
Todd