4A: Venture Forum

Venture Forum Instructions

The objective of the Venture Forum is to provide you with an exciting practical opportunity to apply the EVA knowledge and skills you have acquired so far in ETEC 522. The collected Venture Pitches (Assignment #3) submitted by yourself and your peers represent an instant marketplace of learning technologies innovation, entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship. Your role is to provide individual critical analysis input toward a collective understanding of the most exciting and viable ventures in this marketplace.

Students will post their Assignment #3 “Elevator Pitch” into the Venture Forum, together with a link or posting to their full “Venture Pitch”. If you are unclear about the specific details of these pitches, please review the assignment description in the course requirements (section 1.5) as well as the information about pitches in Stage 2. Once the Elevator Pitch posts are in place, the Venture Forum can begin. These student-generated pitches will serve as our shared forum of prospective venture concepts.

Here’s how it will work:

1. You will be assigned a random set of ten (10) ventures to review by your instructor. The random distribution will ensure that each venture is reviewed by many different evaluators and against a variety of comparative backgrounds.
2. Conduct yourself in the role of a professional EVA who will be making recommendations for the funding of several new ventures based on the market studies, analytical strategies and success criteria covered in ETEC 522. For each of the venture pitches in your set, review at least the Elevator Pitch for each venture and select the three (3) ventures that seem most strategic for investment.
3. For the seven (7) ventures you do not select in your set, leave a comment on the Elevator Pitch post to provide a brief, constructively critical response to the venture. This is a professional courtesy and success strategy for all venture analysts: even when you believe a venture is flawed or not market-ready, it is worthwhile to provide a few comments regarding strengths and weaknesses. In short, what needs to change for you to be excited about this venture?
4. For the three (3) selected ventures, review all of the Venture Pitch materials provided and then comment to the Elevator Pitch posting with a more detailed critical analysis (no more than 300 words total). This analysis should conclude with a recommendation (or not) for funding, possibly with qualifications regarding changes that might be required before a full positive recommendation could be made.
5. Complete all of your responses before the final day of class. Your input, together with those of your peers, will provide valuable feedback to all of the prospective ventures.