Looking at 2 Pitches by Jen Wong

Pitch 1: Royal Roads University

• CEO Credibility – Does this person exude capability and convey confidence that they will achieve success against all obstacles?
  • Yes the speaker had credibility as she was able to start from the beginning with some history of the castle and then expand from that point on.

• Management Team – Have they assembled a stellar team along with the other human and material resources required for success
  • Yes the speaker indicated that they working with individuals with masters’ degrees and others are professors on campus.

• Business Model – Is this feasible? – have they done their homework? – are their arguments and information accurate and compelling?
  • Yes her (Burgess) team has done their homework by taking a look at another educational institute and studying it (MIT).

• Competitive Products – What is a realistic market size, market share and selling price that these products or services can capture in a very competitive world?
  • Their realistic market size would be .25 of MIT and that is because they are a smaller campus and must still do more advertising to get their name out there.
  • I don’t see why they would be able to charge $1500 per course at the beginning and eventually they may have to raise tuition.  After all, this is an online program which people can take from anywhere in the world.

• Market Readiness – How long and difficult is their critical path to success?
  • I think they can grow to offer the same successes as MIT within a 5-10 year span.  They can probably add 5 courses per year and have new courseware being developed on an ongoing basis.

• Technical Innovation – Do they have an edge, and can they keep it?
  • Yes, their edge is the ability to offer online programs and they are willing to look into global indications.  They have team based learning as well.

• Exit Strategy – Do they really know what success looks like – is their destination clear
  • It would appear that they can see what success looks like as they consider other successful models of an open university that are willing to share their resources.  As they mentioned, it was suggested that the University should be given a Nobel Prize for their ideas and approaches.

• Overall Investment Status – Am I going to risk my investment capital on this proposition?
  • Yes, I am willing to risk my investment capital on this proposition because I  believe that life long learning is becoming more and more popular to meet the needs of people in tiny and secluded locations.  I believe in education for all.  I am willing to risk 1/3 of my entire financial portfolio on this proposition.

Pitch #2 – UBC – Office of Learning Technologies

• CEO Credibility – Does this person exude capability and convey confidence that they will achieve success against all obstacles?
  • Michelle appears to have the capability and background in making this concept fly.  She states that they do have a strategic learning process and can work collaboratively.

• Management Team – Have they assembled a stellar team along with the other human and material resources required for success
  • Michelle states that they can learn how to work with resources between central organizations with efficiency and then with creativity.

• Business Model – Is this feasible? – have they done their homework? – are their arguments and information accurate and compelling?
  • Michelle mentions that they can work in small groups.  Online resources are becoming more common.  Michelle does indicate that PeopleSoft has an inferior interface.

• Competitive Products – What is a realistic market size, market share and selling price that these products or services can capture in a very competitive world?
  • With FATE, UBC can look at technologies (emerging, core) and also look at the community sides, levels of support, how the faculty is to be supported and how to finally help IT to build technologies.

• Market Readiness – How long and difficult is their critical path to success?
  • Michelle indicates that you basically have to be as connected as you can towards your team.  You keep yourself going back and forth.  You don’t deal with one to one but in group situations, with staff, faculty and staff.

• Technical Innovation – Do they have an edge, and can they keep it?
  • Michelle is wise in knowing that there are many technologies but they must know which ones to support with the hardware.  She knows that technologies come and go and therefore great care must be made when it comes to the selection process.

• Exit Strategy – Do they really know what success looks like – is their destination clear
  • Michelle defines success when you are verifying your right to do something in real time.  An example of this was when UBC was letting students put their own grades in.  Students were taking ownership.

• Overall Investment Status – Am I going to risk my investment capital on this proposition?
  • Yes I would risk my investment capital on this proposition because students are the future and are our investments.  Students are getting to be the knowledge builders.  There will be a demonstrated balance and Michelle’s team will show how her team has value.  I would risk 1/4 of my total capital portfolio into this venture.