A3 Venture Pitch
My venture is a resource for adult ESL teachers or tutors. It makes use of learning analytics and intuitive design.
You can find my elevator pitch here:
http://thetutorhelper.wordpress.com/2011/11/26/elevator-pitch/
And my venture pitch here:
http://thetutorhelper.wordpress.com/
Posted in: Week 13: Venture Forum
jarvise 10:21 am on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
the tutor helper is a great idea. I like how you have laid out your venture pitch. The sections make it easy to understand the different components, and your sales strategy is simple, but makes sense. I know that the ESL market is big – I wonder how you will actively sell your product and make sure that it gets noticed. I also wonder how difficult it is to attract qualified teachers to work as tutors for you. You may hit a snag on that one. In my own research on tutoring, it seems that many of the online companies are looking – I wonder what the availability of teachers is like. Maybe target hiring to the East coast… There are a few ventures here looking to design one-stop-shopping for online ed – there is obviously something lacking in the current availability; based on what my research says, this is the most important determinant for success.
Emily
Tamara Wong 6:30 pm on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for the feedback! I hadn’t thought too much about hiring the teachers before but it seems to me that there is an overabundance of ESL teachers lately, at least in Toronto. I’ve worked at both private schools and colleges and many of my colleagues get laid off during the slow times. I also had the idea of putting my name on craigslist for tutoring and found that there are MANY teachers on craigslist looking for students to tutor. In Toronto I wasn’t too worried about getting tutors but I suppose elsewhere it might be a different story. Something that I’d have to look into. I was wondering if merely posting a job online would be sufficient. I know for myself I always am a little leery about applying to an online school -some of them don’t look legit. I think actually speaking with the teachers/tutors face-to-face might be a better option. Once I’ve head hunted a few teachers the word may spread? That was my plan to hire teachers.
Tamara
mcquaid 2:42 am on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi, Tamara.
Your idea looks pretty good, and I appreciate the mock-ups of what it may look like – visuals for something new are a great help. The EAL market is pretty huge and should continue to grow – your useful-looking program may work nicely.
Your pitch had a few things I struggled with, though:
– much longer than the maximum time given – I wondered how strict I “should” be… if I should stop watching at 1:00
– errors in the words (one misspelling / typo and one or two words I thought should have been capitalized)
– audio was a bit hollow – could have a bit more energy
Angela Novoa 9:55 am on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Tamara,
You provide an innovative concept and it has a huge market. As Emily has mentioned, I wonder how will you attract qualified tutors to work as tutors for you. I also would like to know more information about money required and returns (how much and how long will an investor receive returns). this information would make easier to an EVA to assess if investing or not in the venture.
Cheers,
Angela
David William Price 10:54 am on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Elevator pitch assessment
Wongte – tutorhelper
First Impression: no face, voiceover slides, slides too fast to read and quite busy in places, voice lacks passion, many slides emphasize boredom
CEO Credibility: The CEO does not appear as an image or video although there is a voiceover all the way through. I have the voiceover to judge CEO credibility. The voice has no passion. I might take a negative inference based on the fact the CEO is unwilling to appear.
Management Team: No team is mentioned, so I have no way to judge. I might take a negative inference based on the fact the CEO is unwilling to talk about the team.
Venture Concept: Mentions “teachers” but not what type. Apparently something about a web resource for activities for teachers teaching English but also mentions tutors. Mentions learning analytics but doesn’t explain how they are used. Mentions learning management system but appears more like a database of resources.
Opportunity Space: Apparently aimed at English teachers or tutors? Does not describe the market, proposed market share or revenue.
Market Readiness: No description of how this will be marketed or distributed, how to enter the market or how to grow presence.
Competitive Edge: Does not explain how this is better than existing web-based resources or how it will compete with LMSs. Not sure if this is a real LMS or not.
Exit Strategy: No indication of their target market, its size, or how they will capture it. No indication of what investment is wanted or how it will be repaid.
Overall Investment Status: I don’t see the CEO or the team, I don’t know who the targeted market is. I don’t know how my investment will be repaid. I don’t know how this will be marketed. I consider this high risk and would not pursue.
Jay 9:49 pm on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Tamara,
Your pitch resonated with me as I was an EFL teacher for four years in Canada and Japan. It is very time consuming trolling through websites to find resources and I think you target a pain point for teachers and students. I also like that you advocate for a learner-centered allowing learners to choose what they feel is relevant for them.
Your screen shots are a nice addition to your picth and are helpful in visualizing what the Tutor Helper would look like.
The market is big but there would also be a lot of competition with regards to tutoring and other sites that provide resources for fees although you set yourself apart from others by personalizing lessons and allowing for quick selection of specific lessons through analytics.
Interesting pitch.
Jay
andrea 7:12 pm on December 1, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Tamara,
You’re so right when you say there are lots of resources out there but none that consistently deliver. I was also an ESL teacher for a few years, and would spend hours trying to find the perfect news articles to use, or a game that practiced something specific. I would have loved a tool like this!
One question I have is about how students use the LMS. You mentioned that the students will interact with it, but is this still within the context of one-on-one tutoring or something included in their hourly fee? I really like your idea and would like to know more about how students would interact with the system.
Andrea
Deb Kim 11:10 pm on December 1, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Tamara,
What a great idea!
Your venture is very similar to mine, though mine is for Math.
My venture idea also came from my experience. I had difficult time finding RIGHT resources and questions for my lessons and for students. Although there are resources available at school, many of them are outdated and there are not enough resources to support teaching. I didn’t even have a textbook last year when I worked at a different school from this year!
Your venture will support teachers and create a better work condition for teachers who are struggling to find English resources.
Great work!
Deb
khenry 6:59 am on December 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Tamara,
Your idea is a good one. I can imagine that other ESL teachers would welcome it. Is this your primary market? How expansive do you think it would be?
I imagine you could also target English teachers as well and promote authentic learning opportunities.
See below for my extended EVA.
Elevator Pitch: Your voice was pleasant and I liked the use of the graphics. Some of the text was hard to see. But the availability of voice and the timing of the voice and text addressed this. Interestingly, I do not have a problem not seeing the faces of CEOs. However, your pitch did not give an idea of your management team, even though you provided a further link, I think a mention of this is essential in your elevator pitch. I read somewhere that you should try to put your essential elements first because persons get switched off. At about 52 seconds in I felt myself switching off. By then you had gotten through many of your essentials but perhaps you could revisit to end with a bang within your 1 minute. I sat through the rest but I imagine that as an investor I would have probably been done at 1 minute, given that they get so many pitches.
Team: CEO and Management Team are mentioned on the site. Pictures would add to presenting faces to names. Strenghts for content and learning technology development are displayed. However, the financial and business aspects need strengthening. If Robert Wong is busy, would he be too busy to feed into the business? This is a potential red flag for investors. Also, there are no mentions of track record or ability or credibility of financial and business administration strength and capability.
Venture: Problem and product/service solution are clearly delineated and involves the use of a website hosting learning resources for ESL and tutors with offers for subscription, licenses, opportunities for private online tutoring and the use of learning analytics to identify and recommend resources. I like the focus on learning theories, particularly authentic learning. But I have questions on if one can access these services already (see further under competitive advantage).
Market: Target market, pricing and revenue are discussed. $80 per year for tutors and $10 per student are reasonable prices and worth taking away the stress of searching for a wide variety of new and fresh resources that are varied according to such diverse user needs. Expanding information on this process/activity would give investors valuable information on the ventures approach and viability. However, how confident are you of attracting your target market? Would users be willing to pay for such services? (see further under exit strategy)
Market Readiness: LMS mention. Which will you use? How will it work? Also which learning analytic tools and how will they work?
Competitive Advantage: This needs to be zeroed on some more. I read it as using learning analytics to find resources to personalize learning. But can’t a tutor do this for themselves? What are you offering that is different?
Exit Strategy: Needs further information on the size of your target market and how you will access it.
Kerry-Ann
murray12 8:57 am on December 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Tamara,
I like the way your elevator pitch used the same image/symbol when discussing investors, etc., which helped to spell out how I could be involved. I also liked the your site with page tabs that can direct you to exactly the areas you want to learn about. What I felt was missing was a personal touch, ie photos or videos, of the people behind the product. In addition, as someone commented on my web based ET product, it’s hard to convince people to embrace your product for a fee when they can also get similar for free. Many people are willing to run around if they get to save a buck.