AI Venture Adventure Pitch

by dockat

20 comments

1 Ed Stuerle { 11.30.09 at 9:03 am }

I’m looking forward to reviewing your pitch. I guess that I’ll wait to receive a ppt from the instructor.

2 Erica T { 11.30.09 at 9:49 am }

I will also look for that ppt from the David.
Thanks!

3 Lorne Upton { 11.30.09 at 8:01 pm }

Hello dockat,

I will need access to your presentation.

Thanks
Lorne

4 dockat { 12.01.09 at 8:46 am }

Hi Lorne, the instructor can direct you to it, thanks for checking it out.

5 dockat { 12.01.09 at 9:44 am }

Please email me at cavanaghuofg@gmail.com and I will send contact info for those who wish to review the full pitch.

6 Mark Reed { 12.01.09 at 8:02 pm }

Well done your elevator pitch is so secretive it is intriguing and definitely makes me want to know more. You tell just enough about the synthetic intelligence and make it credible with the already in use application examples already in use.

7 Mark Reed { 12.01.09 at 8:05 pm }

Well done your elevator pitch is so secretive it is intriguing and definitely makes me want to know more. You tell just enough about the synthetic intelligence and make it credible with examples of applications already in use.

8 Omar Ramroop { 12.02.09 at 9:40 am }

Despite the short length of your elevator pitch, it is quite intriguing. I am glad that you mentioned that Ansi is used in other fields successfully. However, I would have liked a little more information (perhaps, one more sentence) on why Ansi will be successful in the field of surgery and what exactly is its strength.

Overall, I would have liked just a little bit more information about the revolution (or perhaps evolution) that Ansi is bringing to the table.

Great job!

Omar

9 Erik Van Dusen { 12.02.09 at 3:44 pm }

Very exciting to read that this is a real venture, which needs to be protected. Good luck with everything. Looks promising!

erik

10 dockat { 12.02.09 at 9:20 pm }

Hi Omar, I had crafted a longer presentation of about 11 minutes but found out as I tried to upload it that the limit is only 10 minutes on slideshare so I lost the summary and a few nuggets. I tried Zentation and tried converting the ppt to a vid but got bogged down with the technicalities …so went with the streamlined version. I agree with your assessment–a bit more detail on business numbers and some animation or further audio to explain more details re: applications would help to make persuasive impact. Thanks for your feedback!

11 Erica T { 12.02.09 at 10:21 pm }

This is my formal review of your pitch as an EVA:

I have to admit that your elevator pitch intimidated me. The acronyms and term references were well over my head. As this is a private document, and is a real venture (I think?) I waited for the full pitch to get all the information before I made my decision.

In viewing the full slideshare pitch, it still took me several minutes to truly understand the product. I imagined that if I were the “real” EVA that you were pitching to, I would be in that market and wouldn’t be so uneducated about this offering. I did manage to understand that this is artificial intelligence, telesurgery and robotics. Offering practice surgery simulation. The inventor’s credentials of having both programming and project management experience seemed to be a valuable asset.

I would suspect that this is a viable product, and is highly sought after, so I imagine that it is a matter of time before it is implemented. I think you did not share the financial summary because of the private nature of this information, so I cannot make a comment on my prospective profit as the EVA.

But since I am only able to choose 3 out of 10 pitches to invest in, I would suspect that you would have investors jockeying for position to sign up with your company, as the proven success speaks for itself.

12 dockat { 12.03.09 at 11:57 am }

Hi Erica,
Yes, it is a functioning concept, and very real.
Thanks so much for your thorough EVA analysis. It was a concern when I selected the venture that it was advanced computing. It was for that reason that the pitch focused so much on building the credibility of the developer as he has achieved what others have not, so an investor would want to know him better I think. I hoped to avoid theoretical computing explanations as much as possible but for the benefit of those who understand AI enough to consider investment, simple AI concepts would need to be clarified in a pitch. thanks again for your vote! I will put you down for a mill…and will simplify the elevator terms based on your valuable feedback.

13 James Richardson { 12.03.09 at 6:00 pm }

Hi Kathleen,

As an armchair observer, I am quite interested in HCI, haptic systems and expert systems. The concepts are very intriguing and offer a myriad of applications as you related in your pitch. I respect your confidentiality with respect to your existing pilot projects but I wanted more details. I tried searching for more info on your inventor, Don Newman, in Web of Science, Bing, and Google Scholar in association with computer/AI/IBM/expert systems/decision support systems and came up empty with the exception of mathematics text (Donald J Newman). I also searched IBM Canada as well with no luck. I would have thought that someone who saved the company millions would be noted somewhere but I suppose his retired status dropped him from the history. (and/or millions of $ is chump change to Big Blue) The business plan timeline may be lengthy and given the explosive pace of change may be offputting to investors (anticipating ~20% annual rate of return) waiting to capitalize on their investments . The pitch slides did not advance with the audio on my viewings (maybe I didn’t run it right). Consequently when I viewed the slideware afterwards there was a bit of a disconnect for me. I am not sure what the CRED/black box reference was about-perhaps the avionics black box? Maybe it is because my wife is a BFA photo major but the photo of Don Newman was not well selected as there is a background object sticking out of the top of his head. (yes, I am nitpicking now)

All in all, it is a very interesting concept with massive potential that is just a bit too short on specifics to make me invest. I never buy lottery tickets or play poker either though.

Good luck on your venture.

Jim

14 Ammar Al-Attiyat { 12.04.09 at 2:09 pm }

Hi Dockat,

Despite the challenge I faced in understanding what ANSI is after reviewing the slideshare multiple times, I’m now convinced that you have a valuable “patent” that you’re right to be very secretive about it and can’t reveal much info. I think you would need to draft an NDA (None Disclosure Agreement) that potential investors must sign before you give them more details about ANSI.

I also see ANSI in the future replacing what’s referred to as EPSS (Electronic Performance Support Systems) , mainly this technology is used by customer service agents to attend their inquires rapidly and without any delay.

Good luck with your venture 🙂

15 Barrie Carter { 12.04.09 at 8:29 pm }

Hello Kathleen:

Your venture presentation is compelling and intriguing. Certainly, AI has arrived and is evolving quickly.

Indeed, ANSI sounds futuristic, intuitive and organic, which makes this venture very promising to venture capitalists who (a) understand this type of technological advancement, (b) appreciate the wait on their ROI, and (c) know the investment possibilities.

I am not knowledgeable about AI, except to say that I know it is already here and it is the future. But, to invest in something I know relatively nothing about, I am reluctant and apprehensive.

Nevertheless, it seems as though this venture is already a success story, so this venture would not need my investment dollars.

Lastly, I suspect that real investment capital is already around the corner, which can mean only one thing: ANSI is a winner!

Cheers,

Barrie

16 Annette Smith { 12.05.09 at 12:56 pm }

Hi Kathleen,

I too am a bit lacking in understanding of advanced computing, but from your pitch I was able to understand the concept of ANSI and can see its implications. It seems to be a successful project in its pilot phase, and obviously has a huge market in medicine and military applications.

The pitch outlined a 2-5 year timeline for commercial development, which makes sense to me given the nature of the product. There could have been more information on the financial structure, but I would (as an investor) be willing to sign a NDA to get that information.

My only concern with the venture is the imminent retirement of the inventor. The lack of middle management and description of who will take over the creative aspect of the company when he is gone makes me nervous. So much of the pitch was based on his personal credibility that I wonder how the company will go on being so innovative when he is golfing full time.

I would be willing to investigate this venture further, but I am concerned for the long-term stability of a product based on one person’s abilities.

I also had some problems getting the audio to synch with the slides, but it was not such a big deterrent for me.

Good job!
Annette

17 dockat { 12.06.09 at 6:59 pm }

Hi Barrie,
I think the venture will fly if he can get good marketing people to continue to pitch forward. The concept is so big, that the mentioned capital influx will be an absolute requirement or this venture will die with him, so it would need your investment dollars to move forward. Best, K

18 dockat { 12.06.09 at 7:02 pm }

Hi Annette, yes, the need to move this forward is pressing as he is in late career, and if he does not get this capital influx he will be golfing and thinking this was a good idea but… I think he is well enough established to build a team if and when the investment dollars arrive. He is close to U of Waterloo which has many top young programmers. If he could build a baby blue to 2 billion with 75% profitability in short order, he is probably capable of carrying this concept forward was my pitch–that is why I spent so much time on estabilishing his very high level credibility in the pitch, thanks! K

19 dockat { 12.06.09 at 7:03 pm }

Hi Ammar, the technology has many applications indeed. Thanks for your feedback, K

20 dockat { 12.06.09 at 7:11 pm }

Hi Jim,
I really appreciate your in-depth comments. yes, the photo had a wall thing and I thought about doing an erase in photoshop but with 60 final exams to mark in my own course during the time frame, finishing up later tonight, I am baffed…this is a detail that would be fixed in a final version.
The credibility issue was the key one I identified in the pre pitch research which is why the black box was mentioned–not trying to hide anything but unable to talk about it so the concept could be poached…
Finally, I also did a web search on him as part of my prep and like you found nothing. Of course, a programmer doing exclusive military and industrial classified projects will not spread his identity around, and in the interests of personal security, he makes a point of not being on the web. That does make for a tough sell, I agree.

I teach internet security in my field and many like us in this course make ourselves vulnerable to hackers and identity theives by posting too much about ourselves in public. Believe me, getting his picture for the pitch was done with some reticence.
I think the fact he did not mention this top secret invention to me after knowing him for 7 years until I enquired about telerobotics and how I could move forward speaks volumes to me about him. He is not out boasting, but holding this very key card close to his chest..I hope he gets this out before too much time passes. I have no vested interest in the venture except to hope it could help me and others in the future
.K

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