EdTech Services
Here is my venture and elevator pitch:
Personal Reflection:
This was definitely a difficult assignment given the lack of knowledge in pitching ventures I had at the beginning of the semester. What I found most challenging was trying to gather sufficient details to present in what I consider a possible venture that I am considering launching in the near future. Although EdTech Services is merely a thought to this day, I’ve already secured the website domain and a toll free number in case I want to go forward with it in the near future. With all my experience in customer service, the IT field and as an educator, I feel as though this venture fits my personality and strengths perfectly. Now it’s mostly a matter of seeing if it is viable or not and whether the market for this type of service exists. The elevator pitch was definitely challenging as I felt as though I always wanted to say so much more than what our imposed limit would allow. I tried as hard as I could to get all the essential elements that could get me in the door to encourage an EVA to listen to the rest of my venture pitch. Another struggle was with videoing. As much as I tried to video myself, I just couldn’t get anything to look professional so I opted for an audio version instead.
As for the venture pitch, I was somewhat surprised when I saw how much could be said in 6 minutes. 🙂 I was worried about going over the 8 minute mark but was quite happy to see that I had not lapsed this time. It was interesting putting everything together using a combination of Prezi, YouTube, and Camtasia Studio.
Finally, in terms of strengths and limitations, here is what I see:
Strengths:
- Addressed venture pitch requirements for presenting the team, pain points, solution, differentiation, market, competition, growth plan, the pitch, and the return.
- I’ve used captivating media to deliver the venture and elevator pitches.
- I’ve made a compelling proposition that should engage investment interest and demonstrated my ability to lead such a venture.
- I’ve used arguments that are relevant, comprehensive, and incisive to the substance and the proposition.
- I’ve provided a highly engaging elevator pitch that should capture the attention of potential investors. My passion and ability to carry out the venture are easily evident despite a lack of experience in demonstrating enthusiasm when proposing my ideas. 🙂
- I’ve limited information on screen to ensure that the listener focuses on my comments rather than reading the screen (minus the market page).
- My personality type lacks a bit of that enthusiastic ‘hurrah’ that is generally seen by good pitches. Try as I might, I just don’t see to have the ability to show the level of enthusiasm as some do when pitching ideas. 🙂
- As I used some pre-recorded bits in my venture pitch, you can sometimes detect the variations while following the venture pitch.
- I wasn’t able to come up with numbers on the product offering to demonstrate cost and value of the product. I feel as though I still need to research this area prior to announcing details but the lack of time to feel out the market through crowdsourcing methods made this impossible.
- I don’t really provide sufficient details on the ‘how’ the service will be offered or the timeliness of it all. I felt as though this would also be difficult seeing how each case would be rather unique. This is part of the business analysis that I will have to complete when I decide to move forward with this venture.
All in all, I’m very satisfied with the venture pitch and assignment and look forward to hearing comments and feedback that could help me bring this venture to fruition.
Posted in: Venture Forum
rebeccaharrison 1:03 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Patrick,
I’m not sure if I’m just missing it, but is your elevator pitch within the venture video? Was there a particular section of time that was meant to represent it? I didn’t want to watch the whole video out of fairness for my evaluation of the top 3 (30-60 second) pitches.
Cheers,
Rebecca
Patrick Pichette 2:45 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Rebecca,
The elevator pitch is played within the video during the overview section. It is the video that starts playing right after I present the team.
rebeccaharrison 9:54 am on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks Patrick, got it 😉
Doug Connery 11:03 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Patrick:
Great presentation and integration of You-Tube, Prezi and Camtasia. This gives me confidence that Ed Tech Services knows their stuff.
A great concept but I am not sure exactly what Ed Tech does or can offer. In the presentation I think you could spend a bit more time explaining what the services are that are offered, with perhaps some examples.Perhaps pick one or two areas that schools or institutes struggle with that you could help them with, maybe for example migrating from one LMS to another..
Doug.
Patrick Pichette 6:02 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
After re-reading your comment, I think I understand what you mean now. You were hoping to see 2 or 3 very specific examples of each service offered to further demonstrate how EdTech Services can help. So for the ‘help you find the right tool’ I could present a scenario with someone looking for a solution that meets their needs and I provide a potential solution based on the criteria established. For the ‘coaching and mentoring’, I could explain how EdTech Services would sit down with you to learn how to use Moodle efficiently or provide video tutorials describing the very specific tasks you’re hoping to accomplish with your LMS. For the ‘migrate your content’ I could show a scenario where EdTech Services could take those wonderful binders full of exciting activities and convert them into interactive lessons using Smart boards or another popular tool that the teacher had available in their environment.
I can see how that could have solidified the presentation without putting me over the 8 min mark. I would have had 2 minutes to present the scenarios and discuss some potential solutions available through EdTech Services. Thanks for the feedback!
Patrick Pichette 11:12 am on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Ah.. I thought it was clear when I indicated that I would help them find the right tool that suits their needs, coach or mentor them in using the tool they’ve chosen or migrate content towards their tool of choice. I appreciate your feedback though. Perhaps I need to specify that it is an educational tool or give an example of what educational tools are? Or maybe I could have included the same pictures of tools from the elevator pitch to remind users of some of the tools might be targeted?
Thoughts?
Colin 10:33 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Patrick, I think I understand the premise of your business and I can see the value in it. I know many Pro-d seminars where teachers are overwhelmed with new information and get packets that they shove away in their binders never to be looked at again. Having someone to actually help a teacher choose the right technology and then implement it would be very beneficial. However, I also see this as being very expensive because in a Pro-d seminar you might present to 100 teachers but with a mentor session you are working one on one with a teacher. This teacher may not be very computer literate and as a result takes a large amount of time to set things up and additional support. You might also run into problems with what you can access in the district since you don’t have the computer access that some technology would require. Really you would be limited to web based applications only. Overall I see your business as a service business that would be beneficial for teachers but too expensive and difficult to make a return.
jkotler 7:31 am on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Patrick,
I enjoyed watching your presentation and thought it was well organized, you spoke clearly and did a job of integrating technology. I also appreciated that you took the time to conduct research and included those facts and figures to support the marketing goals. Similarly, including a break down of where the finances being asked for are going towards gave it more strength and clarity.
One thing that I would have liked to see a a greater sense of how Ed Tech Services truly offers something different that what other competitors are already offering. Perhaps giving specific examples would have made this point stronger.
Julie
Kent Jamieson 8:57 am on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Ditto Julie,
Great use of technology in your presentation Patrick. It really gives a venture like yours that much more validity when a pitch looks and sounds professional. For me, it is often how an idea is presented, and not even the idea itself that is often the most important aspect.
In terms of you venture pitch, however, I must say I needed to watch it a few times to really grasp the concepts laid out. I also agree with the above comments that some more specifics would have been good, to really see what your service – or similar service – looks like in action.
I appreciated your financial information and the options your presented the investors. I’m not entirely sure I would invest in this venture, as much of what you offer I -as a tech coordinator- do for my school already. However, I realize that not every school has people in place to organize, find, and support tech use in schools.
Good luck with this venture if you take it further!
Kent
teacherben 7:32 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
HI Patrick. I think the pitch was clear and professional. I decided against using background music in mine but after watching yours, I wish I put it in. In your reflection, you comment on a seeming lack of enthusiasm but I didn’t get that and I think the music helped. It looked and sounded slick. I cracked up with you referring to your wife as Chief Relationship Officer.
You value your company at $1,000,000. That seems a bit high for a start-up. I think the idea would work and I think you got your target market spot on. You talk about “using your time for things that matter” which in my 15 years of teaching is probably the complaint that I hear most from teachers. Your little montage of all of the different edtech products out there was just long enough to reflect the sentiments that many educators have–that there’s way too much out there and it’s all very confusing and intimidating. While many schools will go the route of keeping someone in-house that can help them navigate this course, many will find the simplicity of outsourcing more convenient. As an investor though, I would have to compare this venture with other opportunities I see and you have way more overhead than, for example, many of the other pitches coming from this group. It is certainly possible to make money in something like this, but I would be more likely to put my money into something that afforded a simpler exit strategy. I don’t want to own a company and have to deal with the headaches that come with it. I am an investor. I want to make my money and have a way out.
rebeccaharrison 9:59 am on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I like the points you make about the site and I see that it fills a real and big need. My concern with it, is the differentation, how do you ensure that your product remains in the lead? Also, if I understand it right, it woud require a continuous high amount of work and a large team to stay on top of new technologies. I can see some serious benefits (as far as advertising for products), but at this point I would not invest in this venture. Fabulous video though and very compelling.
cunnian 12:08 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Patrick,
I really enjoyed your venture pitch! This is an ambitious venture in that it asks a lot from investors and it seeks to offer services in an area where there are already established services. I think that you know how you would differentiate your services from those of your competitors, but I am not sure that came through clearly in your pitch.
Your use of the various media in your venture helps to add credibility to the services that you offer; clearly you are very proficient with using them. Again, good job and best of luck!
Peggy Lawson 6:35 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Patrick – I enjoyed your pitch. An interesting idea. I know I often tend to focus my reviews on whether the quick elevator pitch presents a pain point and a solution – which yours did quite well – but that’s the world I come from; more of an educational EVA. However I think it might be a tough sell. Teachers needing some educational tech support often don’t even know what to ask, or even that they have a problem, and I’m worried that EdTech Services won’t be able to make that personal connection that a F2F support person could. I don’t doubt that EdTech could provide a valuable service to some, but ‘m worried about the real marketability of the service. I wish EdTech Services well however – best of luck with your venture.
adi 11:38 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Sorry for the late post. I have had sleepless nights completing other assignments. I do apologize and mean no disrespect.
Hi Patrick,
I liked the way you started your pitch getting to the point by saying how much you need and what the investor will get in return, and then proceeded to do an excellent job of explaining what your venture consist of, what the investment will help do and what the investors return will be. I would invest in your venture because there is a need for this product, you have a strong team, and finally, you have a clear idea of the market and your finances. Excellent work!
Adriana