Future Learning Finland
A national-scaled intrapreneurial venture:
Posted in: Pitch Pool
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David Vogt
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ETEC 522 – September 2012
Ventures in Learning Technology
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stammik 12:50 pm on September 21, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Future Learning Finland
NO, I would not invest in this venture, for the following reasons.
The CEO is not identified (perhaps it’s the presenter?) and the Team is very vaguely described as “the cream of the crop”, with no indication of where the 72 member public/private team has been drawn from, what expertise they bring to the organization or their roles.
The Venture Concept is essentially unclear to me. The presenter states that Future Learning Finland is exporting “world class Finish educational solutions” but no indication is given as to exactly what solutions they will provide, beyond a mere mention of the five very broad service sectors they intend to target.
The Market appears limited to India, which albeit is a very big market, but no actual indication of the size of the market within in India is provided. What they are selling, who they are selling it to and how I could make any money; I’m not sure.
No Venture Plan is mentioned. The presenter states its a three year program, leaving little time to recoup any initial investment or better yet, make any profit.
Finally, the presenter lacks enthusiasm and authority, which has resulted in a lack lustre pitch. I also find the slide deck too text heavy and the pacing too fast for the audience to read, if they could.
If this is indeed the future of learning in Finland, based on this pitch, I’m concerned for them.
lullings 5:04 am on September 23, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Stammik I completely agree.
I have spent some time in Finland and yes the people can be a little flat but this is no excuse for very poor presentation slides (they were text heavy with little or no value to the presentation) and the presenter (whoever she is and what her role is) ticked boxes of points she had to make but failed to give any validity to them.
Sounded like this was a government initiative and she was just a drone from sector 7G drafted in to ‘deal’ with the presentation.
Zero investment potential for me on this one.
stammik 10:32 am on September 23, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Your observation about how people in FInland can be a little flat at times is interesting.
My father was born in Estonia and I feel I share his somewhat “stoic” personality, as I am sure other eastern European people might.
In short, I’ll need to be quicker to remind myself in future, that the differences in terms of how cultures communicate and inherently present themsleves during pitches, should be taken into consideration.
Patrick Pichette 11:05 am on September 23, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I have a hard time judging someone’s presentation skills when dealing with someone who is not speaking in their first language. In most cases, people using 2nd or 3rd languages for communication tend to be flatter by nature because it’s difficult to know which inflection is correct in that language so they play it a little safer by trying to be a bit flatter to avoid unnecessary attention to incorrect speech patterns. So, as much as I agree that her presentation was “flat”, I wouldn’t use that as a criteria for eliminating a potential candidate in that situation. If she was “flat” in her first language, then that definitely is a criteria to weigh on as it makes you wonder if there is any passion in the product or service they are trying to build.
jameschen 10:00 pm on September 23, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
It would be interesting to hear her present in her native tongue, but I doubt there would be a difference. I would not invest in this company simply because I felt no excitement from the presenter whatsoever about the service/product that her company has to offer. This made me feel that she may not be too fond of the company herself, and brought doubt to the championship of the company’s leaders. The slides were packed with information in a font size too small for people to see other than those sitting in the first row. Sadly, this presentation brought attention to the company’s pitfalls rather than its investment opportunities.
kstackhouse 12:21 pm on September 23, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
No I would not invest. As others have mentioned I was very surprised by the lack of engagement between the presenter and the audience. She could have been just as easily have been reading the phone book. I am still unclear as to exactly what it was she was trying to promote as a Venture. The learning opportunities that they planned to share weer listed but how this takes place was not clearly defined for me. I am not sure about marketability. What competition exists already? As an EVA I don’t know if there would be anything other than money that I could contribute and what my actual return would be and when I would receive it. To me there is not enough information to get an EVA excited about joining this venture.