Scienmalab, Social Network/Virtual lab
Hi Everyone,
You can find my short, media-rich “elevator pitch” on Scienmalab, a social network at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRuW8TFunF8 and a longer “venture pitch” at https://blogs.ubc.ca/scienmalab/scienmalab-venture-pitch/ . I hope you will enjoy both.
Posted in: Week 13: Venture Forum
Kristopher 11:56 am on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello,
I reviewed your venture pitch and very much appreciated that you began with the solution (Scienmalab); the venture has an obvious need, which became much more apparent as you worked through the pitch. I also liked that you had sample screens that helped me to see how the product would be used. To improve on this pitch, you could include specific reference as to how you plan to integrate this venture into school (although your market was quite clear).
Kristopher
hall 5:15 pm on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Kristopher,
Your critique is fear and I kindly note of your suggestion. Thank you for your feedback..
Jim 5:40 pm on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi,
I took a look at your pitch. I had a few suggestions for some ways to improve your elevator pitch. First, I think you idea is excellent but it is not distinct enough. There are already free web sites that provide science labs, virtual libraries and math manipulatives (e.g., http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html) There also also free educational social networks (e.g., http://www.edmodo.com/). I think you need to focus your idea on a core value that does not currently exist. If schools are going to pay for the use of your site, make sure you indicate what it is that is so valuable and that is not available elsewhere. Once you accomplish that, I think you will be set and ready to market your product!
Everton Walker 8:17 pm on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Conroy,
Great concept! I am happy you actually took on a problem that needs immediate attention now. Our students are really having serious problems grasping science and math concepts and this is evident at all levels. Whenever, the results from our regional examinations are released, I am sad as I know our students can do better. I think we will have to be the element of change and come up with more ideas to reduce these problems. I am ready to invest bro.
Everton
Allie 5:41 pm on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Conroy,
I think that you really make a compelling case for why Scienmalab is needed to improve student learning in Math and Science in the Caribbean. I’m just wondering what platform learners will access Scienmalab over? Given that there are issues with insufficient resources and space, I’m wondering whether schools purchasing the product will need to make a capital investment – such as more computers? I realize that this question may be answered in your VP, which I haven’t yet read.
You may be interested in the virtual frog dissection app by Emantras; back when we did our founders parade a couple of months ago, I chose them and was really impressed by their virtual learning applications. http://frogvirtualdissection.com/
best, Allie
Doug Smith 7:13 pm on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Conroy,
I really liked your pitch. You made the venture seem important and almost indispensable. This is very important for investors. Investors can make all sorts of decisions based on data and numbers, but there are times when the investor simply has to rely on a gut feeling, and your pitch speaks to this part. I think I would have liked to hear a bit about the people behind the project, in order to give the venture more legitimacy, but overall I would say that it was a very good job done.
cheers
Doug
Tamara Wong 8:15 pm on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Conroy,
Great pitch. You really emphasize the need for this technology and I found myself wishing I’d had something like this while I was in school learning science and mathematics. You state that it is a social network similar to something like facebook but from your explanation it seems that something like blackboard might be your closest competitor? Also, like Allie I feel that you could address the problem about your implementation of this program as you state there is a problem with a lack of resources and space and will schools be able to obtain the resources to implement your ideas?
I think your idea is great and you really demonstrate it’s need, the only thing I feel you need to address is the implementation.
Tamara
Juliana 7:19 pm on December 1, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Conroy,
I thought I had posted this previously, but it seems to have gotten lost (today was a crazy day of too many interruptions):
Pain Point/Solution: You describe the pain point and solution very well. You describe the gap that your product is directly addressing.
Differentiation: You also describe how your product is different from the existing competition and why it is better. You also state that there is a big collaboration and interaction component to this product making it even more attractive. In addition, you also state how your product is different from existing social networks. I also like the fact that you were taking in the Non-English speaking countries too.
Marketing: This was not clearly laid out in your analysis and I did want to find out more on how this was going to be marketed in the schools. For instance, if this is going to be targeted as school administrators how were you going to get the word out to them and all the other teachers about your product.
Championship: I was curious about who were going to champion this venture. Even if you were not the CEO, but you were going to propose this product to your administrator, I wanted to know who was involved with creating it and running it. Also I wanted to know how they were making sure that the private conversations were being kept private.
Competition: You did a good job about talking about the different social networks that do exist out there. I was also thinking you could also include competing school sites, databases and other educational products that were out there. Most of these products require some sort of licensing or yearly fees and you could have further used that as your competitive edge.
The Ask/Return: I know that we are not required to discuss figures in this particular projects, but I was curious about how much it would cost to develop such a venture.
If you have any questions or comments about what was written, please let me know.
Juliana.
Juliana 8:44 pm on December 1, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Conroy,
I also wanted to let you know that I am going to be voting for your venture, but the pulse voting does not seem to be working for your post right now. I have forwarded the issue to our instructor who has forwarded to UBC IT. Hopefully they will have it fixed before the end of the class, but I just wanted to let you know that you will be getting a vote from me.
Juliana.
hall 7:13 pm on December 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Juliana,
Thank you. I am happy that you find my venture interesting.
carmen 10:51 am on December 2, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Conroy,
Your pitch made it clear the pain points that you are addressing. Sometimes the resources and time required to prepare lab materials cause a teacher to hesitate about doing labs. Sometimes virtual labs are even better than real ones not only because it lowers the cost and saves teacher’s prep time, but also allows students to repeat experiments as many times as they like to test their theories. I believe that having these virtual labs/ simulations are great tools to help student learn math and science.
I wonder how this is related to the library that you mentioned in your pitch. Sharing resources between teacher is great, but it seems to me that you could’ve separated the two into two different ventures.
carmen
hall 7:12 pm on December 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Carmen,
Thank you for your suggestions, they were fair. However, in my view I think a comprehensive system would add market value to my product.
themusicwoman 7:40 pm on December 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Dear Conroy,
I really enjoyed the layout of your venture pitch: clear, concise, to the point with pertinent information. There is something to be said for a clean presentation – whether it be a multimedia or the old fashioned paper one. Thank you.
Michelle