Evernote FOLIO
Elevator Pitch 
Venture Pitch 
Personal Reflections:
I was surprised by how much fun I had thinking creatively as an entrepreneur. Initially I had a lot of ideas and then I narrowed them done by products I would like to see in the market. E-Portfolio programs are something I believe we need more of and as a fan and user of Evernote I decided to combine the two ideas.
Overall, I found the Elevator Pitch more challenging than the Venture Pitch. I must have revised what I wanted to say at least one hundred times and mostly I had to keep cutting to make it more concise. I struggled with which information I should take out of the elevator pitch. When it came to videoing the pitch, I gained respect for news reporters. I tried to memorize my one-minute pitch but each time my husband would film me, I would forget or stumble on a word… not to mention how embarassing I found it. I could barely handle watching myself. I eventually gave up on speaking without reading, and taped what I had written to my iPhone. We cut a little hole in the centre of the page so that the camera could see me and the text was surrounding it so that it wouldn’t look like I was reading, as my hope was I would still be looking at the camera.
As for my Venture Pitch I was so worried about going over time like I had in my Elevator Pitch that I tried to keep everything very succinct. When I finished and realized that it was only 6 and half minutes I realized that perhaps I was too concise. In summary below are my thoughts on the strengths and limitations of my pitches.
Limitations:
- my Elevator pitch is 10 seconds over a minute. I know it reads 1 minute 17 seconds but 7 seconds are just on the title and ending frame.
- I appear to reading from my script at some points in my Elevator pitch.
- Unaware of the specific dollars and cents needed to fund a venture such as Evernote folio my request was a bit vague.
- I believe I covered all the critical facets in my Venture pitch but it is only 6 minutes and 30 seconds. Given that I had time left over, perhaps I could have further explained some areas.
- the idea of portfolios is not new
- I do not show specific examples of what the folio templates could look like ~ although I am asking for funding to develop these so?
Strengths:
- The content of my Venture Pitch addresses the pain point, solution, differentiation, marketing, championship, competition, the ask, and the return of the venture.
- The Message speaks to the CEO & Management teams credibility, the credibility and feasibility of the concept, and the marketability include the specific market and competitive edge. Furthermore it demonstrates the venture plan.
- The speaker conveys enthusiasm, passion, sincerity, and a succinct message.
- Based on recommendations regarding pitches, I do not think the pitches have too many bells and whistles. The black and white backgrounds with little amounts of text are meant to capture attention and inform.
avninder 4:01 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I enjoyed watching your elevator pitch. It reminded me of the pitches that we watched at the beginning of the course. Sometimes a face talking into the camera can have the most impact. Very interesting that you had the same concept as another student. You guys must be on to something.
Mike Rae 5:37 am on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Great work Jen!
I thought your elevator pitch was great, you were enthusiastic and camera friendly. I liked the idea you had of launching off an existing company, I felt lame in that respect when I was pitching me, myself and I…gives your idea more credibility. I think maybe a little more explanation in the venture pitch of what an e-portfolio is could have been helpful to someone who is hearing that word for the first time. I loved the upbeat music and images you used to compliment the presentation. good work!
Paula Poodwan 9:35 am on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jen,
A very well presented pitches (both), it is natural and very professionally done. I didn’t realize that you went through so much problems filming your elevator pitch until I read your behind the scene. I enjoy reading you reflection and it made me want to go back and revise mine a bit.
I think you pitches covered all of the important points that investors want to know and I found that by emphasizing the team early on, it highlight the expertise and knowledge of the product. Well done.
However, as an investor I don’t think I will invest in your venture 🙁 It is a good idea that Evernote’s clients will not have to pay more to have this add on folio feature. But I also think that there’re probably not many new clients who want to pay for Evernote just to get the folio feature since there are many websites with excellent folio platforms available for free of charge. So I think the folio feature won’t attract more clients to Evernote.
Otherwise, this is a very strong presentation, congratulations 🙂
frank 2:30 am on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jen,
Beautiful presentations.
The material was well laid out and well organized. I could see how your team and Evernote could champion the product.
I was not sure exactly what amount of investment you wanted and what the percentage return might be.
It seems to me that the Pain Point is more of an internal one in your case: Folio could make Evernote a more complete and comprehensive product that is less likely to be dropped by its customers as a result.
Also, the competitive economic forces that you talked about seem to apply more to Evernote’s long-term sustainability than the client’s need to be competitive per se.
I would suggest that you further discuss the competitive market Evernote finds itself in, who its key competitors are and how Folio would allow Evernote to expand its suite and maintain its competitive advantage in that regard – that competitive advantage being the network externality gains clients make by being able to rely on Evernote on a set of related needs (note taking, store documents, record a document, capture a photograph etc.) and bring these all together, while being able to connect and share them with others on a common platform.
PS. Most investors would be fine to see their money also go into marketing that gets their investment increased sales/profits. And there are many target markets in which I could see Evernote expanding and solidifying its hold. In this case, first mover advantage is an important one, and I would not overlook this.
Just sayin. Good Luck 🙂
jenniferschubertubc 10:40 am on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Beautifully done Jen! You are a very confident and informative presenter. Your clean graphics and smooth transitions make me cry for my Mac! You created a visually pleasing (never jarring) and excellently produced and edited final product for both your elevator and venture pitches. They could both be rolled out tomorrow, they appear so professional.
One thing that stuck out to me in your presentation was the importance of retaining existing clients. I think a lot of companies/products forget that in the initial excitement of starting a new venture. Pitches often become very new user driver. The fact that you have considered existing users and their importance in the venture speaks volumes to your pitch.
I also found it impressive that you covered such a breadth of user. You moved beyond the educational field into the professional world, broadening your scope ten fold. By adding a personal element to it, such as the digital scrapbook lure, you have hit almost every target market out there.
By adding info graphics such as registered users, both though graph and photo analogies, you have placed a better visualization into the audience’s head. Specifics on the team behind the project as well as a projected launch date really took this to a new level. Well done.
Patrick Pichette 8:14 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jen,
This is another great venture pitch that I had the pleasure to view. Your presentation was captivating and oozed confidence and passion lending credibility to the venture. The venture concept is interesting and appears feasible and in line with a product feature I would expect from Evernote. It would even likely increase their number of premium users are more users would have the potential to reach the quota limit encouraging them to upgrade to premium status. My only qualms with the pitch are with regards to the competitive edge as well as the exit strategy. Although with the pre-established user base from Evernote, this alone may be sufficient to counter any comparable product that could launch to market. So realistically, there’s just a question of how and when do I make my money back? Perhaps I missed this point?
C. Ranson 6:57 am on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jen,
Well done, an excellent elevator pitch and the venture presentation was clear, concise, interesting, high quality and very comprehensive. Your audio, graphics and theme was very professional. I think you have a very viable venture, you have identified the current users, growth, marketing strategy, revenue capabilities and your company has a proven track record. E-portfolios are up and coming in both education and industry as you have mentioned, we already know that the mobile device market is exploding and that millions are downloading apps hourly.
I would invest in your venture. 🙂
Catherine