Assignment 3 Venture Pitch: Knewton
Hi all,
I chose an existing venture, Knewton, to build my role-playing elevator and venture pitches on. Please have a look and let me know what you think!
ETEC 522 Assignment 3 Venture Pitch: Knewton
Thanks!
James
Update:
Sorry for not including my elevator pitch here on my initial posting. Here is my elevator pitch about Knewton’s Adaptive Learning Platform.
I was unable to figure out how to turn up the recording volume during my many attempts. Please accept my apologies for the quiet audio, and turn up the volume to your speakers if you can. If not, I have provided closed captioning for your reference.
Posted in: Venture Forum
jenbarker 10:45 am on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi James,
Although I think you have a great marketing idea here, suggesting you bring Knewton to BC schools, I don’t see a new venture idea. In my opinion, you are using Knewton’s pre-existing venture but haven’t done a “makeover” to take it in a completely new direction. Perhaps I am missing something but when I went to the Knewton site I couldn’t see any difference between your product and theirs. Your website was well designed and easy to follow. I liked how you set up the sub-headings, addressing the many facets necessary in a pitch. Given that this was a fictional assignment, I might have added some fictional names and beefed up backgrounds to your management team. This would have given your venture more credibility.
Thanks for sharing, Jen
jameschen 10:41 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jen,
Thank you for your evaluation of my pitches. I felt that Knewton was already a well-established company going in the right direction (i.e. partnering with major publishers and doing trials with large universities), so my take on this assignment was to try to help potential investors see that there is a need in the public sector for Knewton’s Adaptive Learning technology and that such an investment will provide investors with a lucrative return.
Thank you for pointing out what I need to be aware of from the pitches I have made. I will keep your suggestions in mind when future pitching opportunities arise.
James
avninder 1:40 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I watched your elevator pitch and think that the “two minutes” comment was a good way to hook the viewer. For me to be excited about the venture, I think it would be helpful if there was more enthusiasm portrayed. I am guilty of not seeming very passionate in my own pitch, but I can see how it would make a big difference to a potential investor.
jameschen 10:41 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Avinder,
Thanks for your feedback! I too feel that my lack of enthusiasm would deter potential investors from investing. Perhaps having a red-bull before doing an elevator pitch late at night wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all…
🙂
James
joeltremblay 3:53 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi there James,
I agree with Jen in that it’s not clear as to what the new direction is that you’re taking the software in? Also, with regards to return, it’s a little unclear as to how they will see a return on their investment beyond the philanthropic route. Otherwise very thorough and polished.
jameschen 10:42 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Joel,
Actually, when I started this assignment I found it a bit of a challenge to think of something that would steer Knewton in a new direction because I felt that they were already doing very well. But then I thought that if Knewton can establish itself in the public sector early as THE platform for personalized online learning then there could be potential to make good profit because currently no other companies can offer what Knewton has to public school students. Public schools need to rely on teachers/IEPs to provide personalized learning content for students, and most teachers are overstressed with the workload they already have.
Regarding the return, I did not write how investors will get their money back in the venture pitch because I do not know the routes that are available for investors to take. I also have no idea about the numbers needed to calculate how long it would take for investors to get their money back. Perhaps another look at how to devise exit strategies would shed some light. From this perspective, “success” for implementing Knewton’s technology in public schools would mean having established Knewton infrastructures for personalized online learning across major cities in Canada. When this happens, Knewton can sell their Canadian public school infrastructure to companies such as BlackBoard or SMART Technology (ones that are already established in the public sector). Hope that makes sense 🙂
And thank you, Joel, for pointing out the points my pitch did not address satisfactorily. I will keep them in mind for future references.
James
Jonathan 4:27 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi James —
Good presentation. You got right to the point. It seems like a solid proposition although as an investor I’m curious as to how your company will differ from the competition. I think it might be beneficial to highlight one or two of the big differences that your take on Knewton would be different. Nice site to complement a good video pitch otherwise!
jameschen 10:42 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jonathan,
The differentiation of my pitch is that Knewton’s technology is the only one I know of on the market that can help teachers in their teaching by recommending content for remediation AND be incorporated into 3rd party learning platforms if one already exists. BlackBoard Analytics for Learn, for example, only analyzes user information. It does not let students know the fundamental concepts they are having trouble with and recommend the content that would address these challenges. I am, however, not sure if BB’s analytic technology can be incorporated into 3rd party platforms and so have assumed that it cannot, so in a real pitch this would need to be addressed by contacting BB directly.
In any case, thanks for letting me know of your concern, Jonathan. Much appreciated!
James
Paula Poodwan 9:08 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi James,
You pain point is outstanding in that it showed that you did your research; you pointed out the relevant percentages of the current learning and teaching situation in BC, so investors can see quite clear why Knewton is needed. However, I agree with the comments above that the return is not clear, (I think this is the most important part that investors want to know) and the credibility of your team is not that convincing.
Too bad that we can’t hear you well in the elevator pitch, However I think I can hear the passion you have for Knewton in your voice 🙂
jameschen 10:42 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Paula,
Thanks for your comments! I think you made a very good point about the return being the most important part that investors would want to know before making an investment decision. As I’ve mentioned in my above response to Joel, there is some information I need to gather before I can come up with an acceptable plan regarding the return.
Regarding the credibility of my team, yes, what I have on my venture pitch is not enough to exude credibility of carrying out the plan. My notion is that since my pitch has been based on a role-playing approach, in a real venture pitch the people suitable for those positions will be identified before pitching my idea to investors.
Thanks for letting me know your thoughts!
James
Mike Rae 5:04 am on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hey James,
My laptop has bad audio and with the elevator pitch it wasnt a great combo. thanks for the subtitles though. I agree with your pain point and it is one that needs to be addressed, perhaps knewton would be a good alternative to the status quo, but I don’t see the new idea. As a potential venture capitalist, I want something that jumps out from your product that maybe knewton doesn’t do or is lacking in.
thanks for the pitch!
MIKE
jameschen 10:43 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for your comments, Mike!
C. Ranson 5:56 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi James,
Your website is very attractive, and very easy to navigate. You have identified the problem and how Knewton could be a viable solution to better teaching and learning in BC schools. I agree you have identified the competition but why is Knewton a better product. You have taken this existing enterprise can you share how you are launching it differently as the new CEO? I am thinking you are improving the marketing and selling of the learning Platform!.
Catherine
jameschen 10:43 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Catherine,
I tried to create a situation where the people with a limited budget can save money in the long run by investing in Knewton’s technology. My take is that by using what Knewton (the real company) already has and pitching for investment in the Canadian public school sector, the establishment of the company’s presence there will allow investors to make money from government funding.
If I were to launch the product from scratch, I would not do it differently from what Knewton has already done – by offering free trials of its technology to large universities and then using the user feedback to promote its product to large publishers, because publishers need schools to buy their product in order to make money.
Hope that answers your questions, and thank you for your input!
James
frank 2:57 am on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi James,
I like how you laid out your site; it’s beautiful 🙂
As others have mentioned, you’ve done a good job talking about the pain point, marketability and the solution.
And, I think for investors to get excited about giving you money, they will want to have a better handle on venture plan and the returns/exist strategy associated with it. Regarding the latter, I’d be careful about pitching your idea as a means to make money from government funding. Any government rep will immediately shut you down if they see that they could be implicated in a scandal in which public money was seen to be funneled into the hands of private investors. In this case, greed is not good.
jameschen 2:40 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Frank,
I hadn’t thought about how pitching an idea to make money from government funding would have such negative effects. Thanks for letting me know this important point! I will be sure to frame my pitches so that potential investors know exactly how the money will be used by the company.
Thanks,
James
jenniferschubertubc 10:56 am on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi James,
First off, what a lovely site. It was extremely clean, uncomplicated, and easy to navigate, which for some strange reason is often hard to find nowadays! I applaud your design.
I found two subpages of your site particularly interesting: Pain Point and Competition. It was very clear that you did your research to come up with the numbers and narrative explaining the importance of a product such as Knewton. The Competition page was an EXCELLENT resource that I very well may bookmark for future reference. You can see the effort you put in to express the knowledge you have of the market here.
I understand that Knewton is not a new venture, nor are you taking it in any particularly “new” direction. It is hard to reinvent a well working wheel, isn’t it?! I do applaud your effort to explain the importance and value of the program as it currently exists however. I would have liked to have seen a more well-developed Championship page (even if it meant creating something just for the sake of the project). Championship is often very key to investors; a more well developed page would make the proposal much more effective.
Overall, I think you did a good idea showing us the benefit of Knewton; it would have been interesting to see it taken to a new level, though even I have no idea where to go from here! Good work.
jameschen 2:48 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks for your feedback! I think my pitches did not do a good job of explaining the differences between what Knewton already has and what I will do differently if I were the CEO of the company. Perhaps this explains why I am not the CEO of Knewton… 🙂 In any case, I agree with your point about further developing the Championship page because why would investors invest in a company run by people TBD? I will keep these in mind for future reference.
Thanks again,
James