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David Vogt 1:26 pm on September 3, 2012
9 votes
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Tags: 21st Century Skills, Emerging Markets ( 26 ), poll ( 23 )

21st Century Skills

Recognition of the importance of 21st Century Skills continues to grow, particularly in the area of competencies across digitally-rich domains involving communications, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. Higher education and employers are seeking systematic ways to support and evaluate the acquisition of these skills. Opportunity Statement A set of 21st Century Skills venture opportunities exists for formal, informal and […]
Continue reading 21st Century Skills Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll

Lisa Nevoral, tomwhyte1, Peggy Lawson and 3 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- kstackhouse 7:36 am on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  This is a topic where I think I could have great opportunity in my region. Our province has been pushing the ideals of 21st C but no real guidance on how to get there.
- Peggy Lawson 5:41 pm on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I’m with you there Ken. Lots of talk about 21st Century learning, but how do we move our students, and our teachers, in that direction. While not my 1st choice (I may not have even had it in my Top 3), this is certainly one that interests me.
- tomwhyte1 8:09 pm on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Of all of the choices given, I found this one the most essential yet, truly not technological. Yes, 21st century does have elements of technology integration, but at its core is the 4 C’s, Creativity, Collaboration, Communication, and Critical Thinking. It is because of those, that I would chose this topic as my number one choice every time. For it is the transferable skills that are important, not a form of technology that may become dated shortly.
  
  Thoughts?
  - Jonathan 12:27 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Definitely needs some work in defining what it means. It is too vague at this point and allow for many variations, perhaps that is one of the benefits (allowing for multiple approaches). It’s important we give it a strong definition and what it means to deploy it in the field.
    - tomwhyte1 8:49 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
      
      I am curious as to why this needs a specific/strong definition? The necessary skills are present, Creativity, Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking. When one goes further into 21st century, there are other divisions, and groupings to create a basic structure to guide one. However, for myself a specific or strong definition creates limitations on what one thinks can be done, or what should be done. For myself, 21st century and a program known as Destination Imagination go hand-in-hand, which would be severely hampered by what you suggest.
      
      Thoughts?
      - Jonathan 10:57 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
        
        I’m definitely torn as to whether it needs a stronger definition or not. I should say that, the freedom to go about 4 Core C’s as we see fit is a beautiful part of our profession. It’s always that dilemma between being too specific or too general. Perhaps you are right and that the flexibility is more of what we need.
        
        Thanks for mentioning Destination Imagination. It’s neat to see programs like this.
        
        tomwhyte1 8:03 pm on September 8, 2012 Permalink
        
        I have done a Pilot Project with Pearson on Destination Imagination. I found it very constricting, and anti-intuitive considering the 4 C’s. I guess that is where my concern regarding any form of rigidity comes from.
- bryan 10:17 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  This is an area that is of great interest to me, but from a career ed standpoint and the emphasis that the Ministry of Ed in BC is currently putting on it.
- Peggy Lawson 6:41 pm on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  As much as anything, 21st century represents a pedagogical shift, from a lecture-driven, teacher-centered classroom to one in which students realize they are part of an interconnected, global community; where instruction is not limited to a single person hired by the school division to stand in front of the classroom but to nearly endless possibilities that require attendance to emerging and every-changing technologies.
  - tomwhyte1 8:04 pm on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    IMHO, such a shift should be encouraged at all times. For is it our job to lecture, or provide our students with the necessary skills they will need for the rest of their lives?
    
    Thoughts?
- Lisa Nevoral 7:28 pm on September 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  My school district has really been pushing 21st Century Skills and for me this would be a good opportunity to see how I can support and evaluate the acquisition of these skills. This would be my 2nd personal choice.
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David Vogt 1:16 pm on September 3, 2012
24 votes
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Tags: digital textbooks ( 5 ), Emerging Markets ( 26 ), poll ( 23 )

Digital Textbooks

Tablets and related devices have redefined publishing, including textbooks. No longer is textbook content necessarily closed, static and non-interactive. The growing expectation of both teachers and students is that Digital Textbooks must deliver a rich, engaging, responsive journey – a thrilling new kind of learning experience. Opportunity Statement Digital Textbooks offer a range of highly-creative and significantly disruptive […]
Continue reading Digital Textbooks Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll

melissaayers, cunnian, adi and 8 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- Peggy Lawson 8:09 pm on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  The days of purchasing classroom sets of expensive textbooks that are expected to last for 5-10 years are long past; information changes too rapidly, and ebooks in various forms are becoming well entrenched to make ebooks a realistic alternative to hard copies.
- Doug Connery 8:25 pm on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  E-textbooks are at the point now where customization is cost effective and a reality. Publishers can create e-textbooks with chapters from different books and even from different publishers along with the supplemental e-activities that come with each chapter.
- Mike Rae 2:08 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Customizing digital textbooks could be very useful to teachers to provide sources from multiple places in one accessible location. On a side note, I just got an email from The Environment and it asked me to proxy vote for this one on its behalf.
- pcollins 4:23 pm on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  That’s great Mike!
  I really wanted to vote positive for this one for all sorts of reasons but I had used up my eight votes. Let’s put control in the development of relevant resources to the educators – not the publishers. I am still shocked at the audacity big publishing companies have to charge equivalent prices for their digital text copies. And the districts sign publisher specific agreements that curtail an educators ability to bring in the competitions product. It doesn’t compute in cash strapped districts.
  
  PC
- Paula Poodwan 8:11 pm on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  The digital textbook is definitely a future of our learning and teaching. I am looking forward to seeing the Digital textbook that is fully equipped with multimedia and interactive functions like hypertext and hyperlink where students can click from one page to another. I’m sure students will be very engaged with the content more than reading the traditional textbook. My nephew who is in his first year at a College in Kelowna just spent $550 on his 4 used textbooks which he will eventually sell back later. I wonder if we will be able to sell or return with the digital ones.
- rebecca42 12:01 am on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  For the past two years I have been using websites linked to my textbook to beef up my Science instruction and it would be very helpful to have the entire textbooks (with up-to-date information) containing hyperlinks to useful websites all in one spot.
- coralk 5:28 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I have worked in higher-ed publishing for about 9 years, and we have offered digital textbooks that whole time however the demand for them has grown exponentially in the past 1.5-2 yrs. This is almost completely due to the increase of mobile devices and tablets and particularly the release of the iPad. Etexts allow the option to provide lower cost options that provide greater interactivity and integration of learning objects right into the textbook to provide a better learning experience for students. And I have to also agree with Mike – the environmental impact of the move to digital delivery is massively positive. Not just due to textbook printing but also in their physical delivery which always makes me cringe at this time of year especially.
- stammik 6:55 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  While textbooks are not commonly used in my own classes, I had a chance to study this topic in depth for ETEC500 and I feel in particular that the content creation side of this technology has great venture potential.
- adi 8:33 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  My third Personal Opportunity Poll.
  There are many countries like Mexico where textbooks are the main learning tool; however, constant changes in who is in power result in never ending educational reforms and new editions of textbooks costing thousands. As Dog rightly points out, digital textbooks would be much easier to customize, not to mention the many interactive, visual and aural elements they could have.
- cunnian 9:27 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  This is a great idea, and fits well with BYOT. Digital textbooks can be interactive, constantly updated and customized to suit the needs of the purchaser. The environmental savings are considerable as well!
- melissaayers 8:45 am on September 12, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I do believe this is very important in both todays and future educational contexts. Furthermore, I also believe in terms of software to support this there is lots of room for improvement on the current digital offerings. With the right combination of network infrastructure and software tools delivering up-to-date, relevant and multimedia content are all easily possible.
David Vogt 1:32 pm on September 3, 2012
21 votes
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Tags: Emerging Markets ( 26 ), poll ( 23 ), VIL

Visual-Intensive Learning

The Visual-Intensive Learning (VIL) marketplace recognizes the rapid trend away from text-intensive information environments to visually-dominated web experiences that is apparent on most web sites but is championed most specifically by sites such as YouTube and Pinterest, as well as immersive collaborative environments and games. The concept of a “visual learner” is not new, but the streaming, […]
Continue reading Visual-Intensive Learning Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll

Lisa Nevoral, visramn, manny and 6 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- avninder 10:05 am on September 5, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Visual-Intensive Learning is becoming more common as it is more user friendly, engaging and interesting than traditional text based learning.
- grzesko 9:39 pm on September 5, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Visual-Intensive learning is becoming more noticeable as you can almost find a video on any topic and if done right they can be engaging while providing you with the information that you need.
- jkotler 3:13 am on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Visual-intensive learning allows for more variety in learning styles as well as a higher level of engagement in regards to increased use of multimedia.
- jhodi 4:33 pm on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Visual-Intensive learning can provide powerful and engaging learning opportunities while appealing to a wide array of learning styles.
- Kent Jamieson 11:14 am on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Youtube, Khan Academy, just two examples of being able to stop, rewind, replay, and re-learn anything you want. Who’s ever said to their teacher, “hey, can you repeat exactly what you just said 3 or 4 times more please?”
- jbrown5 2:49 pm on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I get a lot more excited to watch a demo, go through a “try me” scenario or play an interactive game than to read through text-intensive PowerPoint slides that have been uploaded as a “course” and I think my students would agree.
- manny 9:07 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I think Visual Intensive Learning is a no-brainer. The definition of literacy traditionally encompassed text based materials but now encompasses multimodal forms of communication such as video production. A great constructivist example of allowing students to become producers of their own works.
- visramn 12:07 am on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I think the key factor is that Visual Intensive Leaning is a means of encouraging engagement of students. This allows for students to be exposed to content in more than one format. These days you can find videos for anything and everything. Hence, why not use a resource that is already present and that gets a positive response from students.
- Lisa Nevoral 7:32 pm on September 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Visual-Intensive Learning would be my 3rd personal choice. After being in courses with a lot of reading, I can appreciate the fact that some students or learners may learn better with a visually-dominated experience.
David Vogt 1:40 pm on September 3, 2012
20 votes
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Tags: Emerging Markets ( 26 ), OLE ( 2 ), poll ( 23 )

Open Learning Environments

Education is breaking free of the confines of the LMS (Learning Management System). Abundant online (mostly free!) tools and services allow both students and teachers to take advantage of broader resources and potentials within self-managed Open Learning Environments (OLEs). The inherent flexibility and autonomy encourages learners and educators to ‘own’ the learning experience in authentic, […]
Continue reading Open Learning Environments Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll

melissaayers, longworth, cunnian and 10 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- jkotler 3:08 am on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I think open learning environments are important because they gives both learners and educators greater access to valuable resources.
- kstackhouse 6:03 pm on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I began using Edmodo two years ago (after trying Twiducate). I was cautioned though by our IT services team to check into where the information was being stored. Since then I make sure that we all use Avatar names and images (not our own) and all work and references use these names to avoid having student data on servers outside of Canada. Is this enough?
- sonofpat 4:41 am on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  As we continue to lament the fact that education has not leveraged the current technology examples such as this shows that in some areas at least there is some evolution taking place. What is even more fascinating for me is the trend towards constructivism with empowering of students to determine their learning. I believe that we are living in the middle of a storm of change and when it is over education will never be the same again.
  - Kent Jamieson 10:52 am on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    I don’t know if the ‘storm’ will ever be ‘over’. The swirling mix of new technologies and media are almost dizzying. I’m all for Open learning, simply for the fact of what it stands for. Breaking free of the older paradigms, creating a more empowered, connected, and accountable generation of learners.
- jbrown5 2:53 pm on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  FREEDOM! Our work environment as part of the government is so restrictive and wait times to have any projects completed through the proper channels are so long that we are left wondering what open learning environment could suit our needs.
- sophiabb 7:42 pm on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Open learning environment presents many possibilities for collaborative learning communities and opportunities that might be more meaningful, engaging and responsive to the teaching/learning experience. I am more excited about the possibilities than the challenges!
- Eva Ziemsen 8:45 pm on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Open Learning Environments can open doors that would otherwise not be possible. Coming at the topic from the perspective of a media/film educator, I believe virtual worlds, such as Second Life, can provide students the opportunity to learn all aspects of film production, virtually and online. Without going into too much detail, a process called, “Machinima” essentially allows you to capture anything that happens in a virtual world. Therefore, if you can make films virtually and online, film production education could be revolutionized by being taught online.
- visramn 11:51 pm on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Open learning can allow for all type of learners to learn in a manner that is best suited to them. Traditional means of learning have been very rigid and this has resulted in many students feeling disengaged from their learning. Open learning allows for students to be active participants in their learning. They are linked to their learning because they are in the drivers seat. open learning opens doors for all learners.
- Shaun Pepper 5:11 am on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I think Open Learning Environments are an obvious learning environment moving forward. I think it is important to create classrooms that mirror the way students learn and interact outside of learning objectives and provincial learning outcomes. This is becoming apparent with TED Ed. and Khan Academy.
- adi 7:58 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  OLE’s provide options for countries with fewer educational resources. Instead of spending a fortune on an LMS, they can use ‘WordPress’ and an array of other OLE’s. Granted, there is the problem of privacy, but some solutions were mentioned above.
  - adi 8:24 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    The above was the first of three of my Personal Opportunity Polls.
- cunnian 9:12 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  OLE’s allow almost anyone to engage in lifelong learning in almost any subject. The wealth of resources out there allow for multiple points of entry and can cater to a range of learning styles. As such, this is a very worthwhile endeavour!
- longworth 10:43 am on September 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I believe Open Learning Environments are a wonderful way for educators to take advantage of what’s already out there and build on it. At this point in time I only see the benefits of learning more about different environments and how to use them in teaching / learning. Especially with budget always being on the forefront of concerns for both public and private educators one must start with what already has a foundation and build on that.
- melissaayers 8:35 am on September 12, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  This is interesting topic, while on initial thought I was a bit against using a public blog for 522 for mainly reasons of privacy, control and ability to provide a safe and comfortable environment for students. However after just a couple of days of 522 I found myself challenging this initial opinion to see what benefits it may offer and it they outweigh what I saw as disadvantages.
David Vogt 1:22 pm on September 3, 2012
20 votes
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Tags: Apps ( 13 ), Emerging Markets ( 26 ), poll ( 23 )

Apps

While tablet and smart phone manufacturers are churning forward at a breakneck pace, making a fortune on humanity’s device-lust, the compelling back-story is what these devices can do – the proliferation of Apps. And while addiction and burn-out on the distracting nature of most apps is already big news, there is also a rapid emergence […]
Continue reading Apps Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll

jenbarker, manny, Mike Rae and 7 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- avninder 10:11 am on September 5, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  A well designed app can provide easy to find up-to-date information on the go.
- grzesko 9:42 pm on September 5, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Apps have a lot of potential but I believe they are still in the growth stage with future apps being less of a gimmick and providing more useful learning functions.
- jhodi 4:27 pm on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Apps allow students anytime, anywhere learning experiences that can be engaging, yet extremely informative.
- kstackhouse 7:38 am on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  This is an area with unlimited potential. Well designed Apps in education (games, reference, course material) have a huge market. Since they are at times hard to come by it would be interesting to try to develop one.
- sonofpat 8:18 am on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Apps are a part of what I consider to be the most significant technology today that is mobile technology. Even as the field is evolving much can still be done in terms of everyday activities.Apps for basic communication such as chatting,e-mail, youtube and social networking are already mature enough to be used in the educational field. This means we do not need to wait for the next big educational app before we start to exploit the power of apps in our teaching. As a matter of fact no is the best time to jump into the apps world follow Jen’s example (https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec522sept12/2012/09/05/nice-to-meet-you/). Get a mobile device and make yourself comfortable…….
- Eva Ziemsen 8:57 pm on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I am a big fan of apps and believe they have great potential in education, especially media education. I believe there is room for many more useful apps in the context of media education. I am constantly searching for apps that can fulfill niche needs in film production, for example. I am interested in what it takes to design and develop an app, as well as, how to pitch and market an app.
- Jonathan 12:37 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I love apps. But I find it’s too difficult to find the good ones. Even when they are reviewed there needs to be something to help great apps rise to the top. If I was a developer that created a great app, getting traction for it would be difficult. The App Store is cluttered with a lot of useless apps. But with that being said, there is a lot of potential — and finding them needs to be easier for teachers.
- Mike Rae 2:01 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Apps could allow learners to access knowledge when the moment strikes them; best time to learn anything is when you want to.
- manny 9:14 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  The phenomenon of Apps has taken the mobile marketplace by storm. I believe earlier this year the 25 billionth App was downloaded. Unfortunately, it seems as this marketplace is so saturated that it is tough to find a good educational App. There should be a free trial period for a certain amount of time as of right now you must purchase the App to experiment with it. Great marketing from a venture standpoint.
- jenbarker 11:39 pm on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Apps used to create, collaborate and communicate are great. But apps (and there are a ton of the out there) that are simply skill and drill have no place in today’s classroom. Many teachers are proud of using these apps in their classrooms and tote that they are 21st Century teachers. I would argue that they have simply taken the old, spruced it up and made it new. Using these types of apps does not even come close to what I define as 21st Century Learning.
David Vogt 1:37 pm on September 3, 2012
20 votes
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Tags: Emerging Markets ( 26 ), Personalized Learning ( 6 ), poll ( 23 )

Personalized Learning

A dream of educators forever, Personalized Learning is reaching a tipping point in terms of the technologies available for realistic implementations. This marketplace opens to data-driven evaluation enabling learning experiences that cater to individual students learning styles and needs. Opportunity Statement While the venture prospects for Personalized Learning are awesome in the long term, short- and medium-term […]
Continue reading Personalized Learning Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll

coralk, Paula Poodwan, rebecca42 and 6 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- jkotler 3:11 am on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  While I understand the design challenges personalized learning may bring, I believe that adhering to different learning styles is important, especially in an online environment because it better allows the learner to move through the content at their own pace and to successfully gain the intended knowledge and/or skills.
- Patrick Pichette 9:08 am on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I have mixed feelings about personalized learning. On the one hand, we are catering to students’ needs in order to better prepare them in the construction of their knowledge. On the other hand, we are encouraging one-dimensional learning as some students become dependent on a learning style and cease to develop some skills that would allow them to learn using different approaches. Is it best to develop finely tuned skills using one particular approach or is it better to have many lower-level skills that can be used to propel students further on their learning path? Or is there some magic mid-level point that maximizes knowledge construction while employing a variety of learning techniques?
- sophiabb 7:52 pm on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Yes, there may be design challenges; however, I support personalized learning technologies for the opportunity they present to motivate, challenge, engage and empower learners with learning disabilities/challenges. I believe that they can also be designed to exploit the affordances of web/learn 2.0 technologies so that learners can engage with others, as needed.
- jameschen 12:48 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I think this is an interesting venture in educational technology because students will be able to pinpoint the challenges in their learning and have personalized instruction to overcome such challenges. This would be an interesting topic for further investigation, and it ranks as number three on my personal opportunity poll.
- bryan 10:19 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  This is extremely relevant to me as this is a very hot topic within all public schools in British Columbia right now.
  - visramn 11:59 pm on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    This is also something that is encourages by the Calgary Public Board.
- rebecca42 12:13 am on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I agree for the same reasons Bryan, this is very much an “imminent” issue
- Paula Poodwan 2:22 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I will always be in favor of Personalized Learning as it gives the opportunity for all styles of learners to be able to achieve their best potential at their own pace . However it will need strong commitment on parental involvement, smaller class sizes, more one-on-one teacher and student interaction, and attention to differences in learning styles. It must be difficult to implement this type of learning in a public school with a large class size.
- coralk 5:33 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  The ability to analyze individual student performance data to present the most relevant activities and optimize learning represents the biggest and most exciting shift we will see in education in my opinion. This is number one on my personal opportunity poll.
David Vogt 1:35 pm on September 3, 2012
2 votes
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Tags: BYOT, Emerging Markets ( 26 ), poll ( 23 )

BYOT

In the corporate sector IT managers are trying to cope with the ‘impossible’ situation that workers are insisting on coming to work, and doing their work, with their own mobile and work devices and preferred software (Bring Your Own Device or Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT), creating (for the managers, they say) a tsunami of […]
Continue reading BYOT Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll

supatel, melissaayers, Lisa Nevoral and 10 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- Kent Jamieson 11:06 am on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Our school is going completely BYOD next year, with Grades 3-6 having iPads this year, as well as Grade 7 being fully BYOD. I’m all for it, as it further blurs the lines between school and ‘real’ life. Although logistically a nightmare for ICT, the fact remains that eventually nightmares end, we wake up and the sun inevitably rises. Who says it’s just the students that have to learn/adapt/evolve at a school anyway?
- tomwhyte1 8:06 pm on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I went with this one being in my top three for the simple reason of economics. The pace at which technology moves forward is larger than the size of school districts total operating budget, let along the technology portion of it. Therefore, it makes sense (from a school organization sense) that some of this burden is downloaded onto the teaches and students. Yes, the issue of haves and have nots consistently comes into play, yet this argument can be made for many common items in a traditional classroom, pencils, pens, paper, etc… and the school is aware, and does their best (at least in my case) to provide these necessary resources for those students, therefore should technology be any different?
  
  Thoughts?
- jameschen 12:50 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I think having the students bring their own technology into education is the next logical step in education because with the world economy moving on a slippery slope educators and decision makers need to make use of all available resources. I vote this as number two on personal opportunity poll.
- manny 9:18 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Many districts/businesses are employing this initiative for simple economical reasons. However, before it can be successfully implemented, there are a lot of issues that need to be ironed out. In a classroom setting, it can become a logistical nightmare contending with so many types of different technologies. One could easily spend more time troubleshooting than actually teaching.
  - tomwhyte1 8:01 pm on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    I can understand how it might become a logistical nightmare. However, in my school, which is slowly adopting a BYOT approach. We as educators are not responsible for the technology working, for it is not our property nor the districts. However, it is our responsibility to create activities that can be completed with or without technology.
    
    Thoughts?
    - teacherben 10:40 pm on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
      
      I think that a BYOT program would dovetail nicely with a badge initiative. It is tricky to run a lesson on image editing when some kids are using Photoshop, some are using Pages or Keynote, some using Paint.NET and still others using some online tool. But if we design a coherent, student-centered, system based around, in this case, image editing concepts rather than specific skills, then it has a chance to take off. The goal then becomes to support the development of a ‘digital intuition’, where students are able to work their way through unfamiliar software on their own, using concepts that they have learned from other, similar programs.
      - tomwhyte1 7:14 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
        
        Which I think would parley nicely into 21st century learning skills.
  - supatel 8:48 am on September 12, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    I totally agree with the logistical and technical issues that exit in a BYOD setting. Not all students have or can afford the same software suites. For example, MS Office or Autocad is just too expensive. As educators, its important to adapt to the needs that arise and as a staff we all decided that it would be wise to have student complete all their work in Google Docs, or complete blueprints using Google Sketchup….essentially using free software and cloud technology where available.
    
    Initially it was sort of a night mare, but we decided as a staff that it was a good idea
- Shaun Pepper 5:14 am on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I believe that students should be familiar and choose the technology that best suites them in their learning. These BYOT technologies are simply a tool and some people operate better with different tools. I know I like writing with pencil, but some like writing with pen. Should we force everyone to choose pen?
- stammik 7:28 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  As a number of my colleagues have stated, this is a necessary progression, as most schools including my own, simply can not meet students increasing demand and need for current technology.
- adi 8:03 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  BYOT would not work in a country like Mexico; it would only expose those who have less. There are still many countries where not all kids have a lap top, IPad, Blackberry or Iphone, and even less so access to the Internet on their mobile device.
- cunnian 9:21 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I like this idea where it is possible for it to happen. Funding and socio-economics aside, having students use technology regularly affords many possibilities but also moves them from seeing tech as an event (“We get to use the computers today!”) to being a tool (“We get to create a movie today!”).
- longworth 10:44 am on September 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I like the idea but I don’t like the idea of so called public education being so costly to the individual families. So if there’s a BYOD policy in the schools there needs to be a tax incentive and some kind of system in place to support families that can’t afford to manage this. To me it is good in theory but I can see if furthering the divide between have and have nots and the pressure on the parents to provide the better devices (because we all know it’s easier when your device is faster, which means newer). I can’t imagine having to provide and maintain the newest technology for all three of my children.
- supatel 10:47 am on September 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Our school board has installed WAPs in every school with hopes that students bring their own learning devices. As long as students can remember their email username and password, they can log into the LAWN (Learner Accessable Wireless Network), and use the internet as a resource for learning anywhere in the school. Students can use the various apps available on their mobile devices to connect with other learners, or simply use it to access course content housed online.
- Lisa Nevoral 7:26 pm on September 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I would have to say that this is my number one personal choice. My district is going towards BYOT and I would like to see how it could be managed and used within schools.
- melissaayers 8:39 am on September 12, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  This is an interesting topic, I have seen it in the corporate world but did not realise that it was starting to be addressed in educational institutions as well. While it’s definitely not a field I have too much knowledge (ICT) in I realise the huge potential for an opportunity (and challenge) for entrepreneur if they can embrace this and come up with innovative solutions and support.
Paula Poodwan 11:51 am on November 25, 2012
2 votes
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REDUCTO (Instant accent reduction device)

My elevator and venture pitches outline an innovative device that help ESL speakers all over the world reduce their accents without years of practice and training. Although the pitches make it out to be a real enterprise, it is fictional. Before watching my elevator pitch, I would like to make it clear that I’m not […]
Continue reading REDUCTO (Instant accent reduction device) Posted in: Venture Forum

rebeccaharrison, adi, jhodi and 6 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- Peggy Lawson 4:05 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Paula –
  
  I thought you did an excellent job with both the elevator and venture pitch. I thought your production values were very good for both, very professional and polished which are important for making that subliminal message of competence. The venture pitch did a very good job I felt of laying out all key points – pain points and the solution, competition, market, future direction, and you did a good job of focusing on the high points (pain point & solution) with your elevator pitch. I can see how, in todays increasingly global market, that there were be plenty of buyers for such a simple solution, but was interested in your growth plans as well. I’d have to say that as an EVA, I would invest!
  
  Peggy
- jkotler 8:03 am on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  HI Paula,
  
  I have to say I really enjoyed watching your elevator pitch because it not only addressed a real problem (one that I have encountered myself on the phone with others) but it was clear, professional and entertaining.
  
  As for the venture pitch, I felt that you did a great job in illustrating the problem and demonstrating how it will help provide a solution. I think that the market and usability for such a product is high and I would definitely invest in it.
  
  Julie
- teacherben 8:38 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I laughed out loud. It’s a hilarious idea but it does in fact address a need. It seems to me though that the target is the companies that employ people with strong accents and not the people themselves. The pitch could have been a bit clearer with its intent. But it was a slick and well-produced little piece. Well done.
  - Kent Jamieson 10:40 am on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    I can’t add too much to Ben’s comments, as I share his opinions. Targeting companies like telemarketers or any phone based public relations business would really be beneficial in terms of revenue. Granted, your software (as Colin States) would need to be flawless and, like any voice application, would need to work out mis-pronouncing vital words and phrases.
    
    A wonderful idea, and a really professional polished pitch. I’m in, but would need assurances of the software.
    
    Well done!
    Kent
- Colin 10:52 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I really liked the humor that you put into the elevator pitch and I think a product like this would be very marketable. I am not sure how the software would work as there are so many different kinds of accents and some of them are so strong. Overall though I liked your pitch and product idea and I think it would be worthwhile to invest in as long as the software worked really well.
- cunnian 12:01 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Very professional looking elevator pitch! You clearly demonstrate how your product works and the advantages that it affords. The humorous clip that you use to introduce the pain point was creative and hooks in potential investors.
  
  You have written a solid venture pitch and make a strong case for this product, which is strengthened by the research that you include. I was impressed by the screenshots of how the program works – very creative! You also clearly articulate your own credibility in this area. One question that I had was whether your target market would want to purchase this product being that they would have to invest in a headset and the software for each operator. This represents a huge overhead and may, at least in part, negate the ‘advantage’ that you refer to of using call centres in India. Some market research would need to be done in order to determine if the call centers would bear the cost of this product in order to refine the language skills of their employees.
  
  On the whole, very well done. It was a pleasure evaluating your venture proposal!
- jhodi 7:27 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  You have done an excellent job with both the elevator pitch and the venture pitch. I found myself highly engaged by the elevator pitch and wanting to learn more about the product. I thought that your elevator pitch was very professional, included enough of the key information, but did not overwhelm me with too much information so I was able to retain and process what I needed to.
  Your venture pitch hit all of the key points. This addresses a legitimate issue for many ESL speakers. This device is clearly differentiated from others on the market and provides an appropriate solution to the problem. You have clearly indicated why your company provides a solid backing for the technology and how you intend to move forward as an innovative technology. As an ‘investor’ I appreciated that you specified how much you would like to have invested, what you were going to do with my investment, and how I would get a return on my investment. Overall, I think that your venture plan and marketability is great! Your product could be launched immediately with high demand and great success. Therefore, I would invest in your venture!
- adi 11:45 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Paula,
  
  Sorry for the late post. I have had sleepless nights completing other assignments. I do apologize and mean no disrespect.
  
  I really enjoyed watching your elevator pitch and feel it was very well made and presented, as was your PDF document. You have a clear idea of your market and were clear with investors. I also feel the interested buyers would invest in something like this because they are losing sales by not doing so.
  
  Great job!
  Adriana
- rebeccaharrison 7:55 pm on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Paula,
  
  Your presentation is great, although I think that less time could have been spent on the reasons behind your product, as I feel that these are fairly clear. One area that I would be interested in knowing more about would be how will you advertise your product and get it out to the large market that is available. The ask, reasons for the money and return are all clearly laid out which investors would appreciate and I think that you are correct, that there would be a huge market for this. With the money that companies save with outsourcing they could easily purchase this product, particularly as it addresses one of the major complaints that customers using phone services identify. You have clearly done your research and are competent and passionate about the product. This is a great product and I would be willing to invest in it.
teacherben 5:49 am on November 24, 2012
2 votes
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Edutech/HK

For my A3 project, I created a not-for-profit professional organization called ‘Edutech/HK’ to support collaboration and sharing between technology educators in Hong Kong. The elevator pitch is a video embedded into the larger venture presentation that I created using Prezi. I hope you enjoy it: http://prezi.com/ctydqmqhlmvw/edutechhk/ As always, any suggestions or feedback are appreciated. If you […]
Continue reading Edutech/HK Posted in: Venture Forum

Eva Ziemsen, Scott, melissaayers and 12 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- jenniferschubertubc 8:55 am on November 24, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Ben! I tried to take a look at your prezi, but when I click on the link above, it returns with a window stating “Something seems to be broken here, and tells us IO_ERROR. prezi.com/support might help.” (I know that last time I tried to access your prezi (A1), I seemed to be the only one getting an error message then, so maybe it’s just me or the prezi servers again, but I thought I’d let you know just in case.)
  
  I look forward to viewing your presentation! -Jen
  - jenniferschubertubc 8:55 am on November 24, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Nevermind… it seems to be working now. *sigh*
    - jenniferschubertubc 9:46 am on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
      
      I agree that fundamental trade skills are being pushed into the background of education in this digital age. I have also had many parents and caregivers express the same complaint when praising our engineering programs for children. “Who will be the carpenters, plumbers, and electricians of tomorrow?” It may sound like a silly question until you really start thinking about it. We will always need hands on skillful workers and engineers in order to successfully live within our created “creature comforts.” Students best learn those type of skills through hands on experience.
      
      One thing that really stuck out to me in the pitch was the active database of willing professionals. We can learn so much from those who have gone before us. Having professionals with experience at the ready to offer workshops, talks, or conferences is an extremely valuable tool.
      
      I also enjoyed learning of the professional affiliations of the group. It always paints such a broader picture than just learning where someone has gotten their degree from or where they have worked.
      
      Excellent pitch.
- C. Ranson 9:43 am on November 24, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Ben, Great venture and pitch, thanks for sharing!
  Catherine
- jenbarker 11:15 am on November 24, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Ben ~ Great job. I am curious how long is your elevator pitch? You were able to pack a ton of information in. I had a difficult time keeping mine to under a minute. Also, I think you are missing a word under the section where you talk about where you drew your inspirations from. Currently it reads “We drawing our”. Is this a real or fictional idea? It appears like it a great venture. Best, Jen
  - teacherben 12:57 am on November 25, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thanks for the correction, Jen. It’s fixed now:)
    
    The is not entirely fictional. The website is fake, sort of. I built it but it isn’t online.. The people are real. Alan Yuen is a friend and is the tech coordinator at another school and we have, in fact, been planning to put together a series of workshops aimed at more ‘expert’ tech educators. William Liang is a prof at Hong Kong Polytechnic and is a friend. We do some stuff together through the lcoal Hackerspace. He runs workshops from time to time about Arduinos and other electronics stuff. Some of the video clips from the various workshops are from workshops that we did organize or participate in. Some of you may have caught a clip of Sugata Mitra in there. This is from a conference in Hong Kong last year where he was the final keynote. I had nothing to do with organizing that conference though. I just attended. There is also a shot of a Canadian guy named Carl Callenwaert that ran a workshop for us about 3D game development with Unity and integrating it into your classroom. Very cool.
    
    I am currently looking for a new job for next year and if I end up in Hong Kong, I think we will probably go ahead and try to organize something like this. It has been a bit of a frustration, the lack of any teaching and sharing opportunities for the people doing more advanced stuff. The conferences that exist already seem to exist for the sole purpose of getting bigger and bigger. So they tend to attract a lot of people who are just getting started with integrating technology in their programs. Edtech leaders tend to use these as a leadership opportunity and a chance to pad their CV’s. Aside from that, there is little for us to learn at these events. It’s all blogging 101 and getting started with games in the classroom. That’s great, but there is clearly a missed opportunity for those people who are designing and creating their own virtual worlds to share what they are doing with people who can understand what they are talking about. And the focus always seems to be on communication tools. Twitter in the classroom and so on. Sharing sharing sharing. Just because my kids can talk to kids at a school on the other side of the world doesn’t always mean that we have a good reason to do so. Sharing their ignorance about something may not get them any further along and just obscures the point of the unit. I want to see kids making stuff. But the educational technology community, at least over here, seems to have been appropriated/commandeered by humanities people who don’t seem to see the point of learning anything technical and who want their technology to ‘just work’ every time–people who will never bother to open the hood of their car to see what that knocking sound is and have no real curiosity about how things work. But for me, that’s the joy of technology and why I see integration as possibly a dangerous course.
    
    Sorry, I started ranting a bit there, but in a room full of ‘elite’ educational technologists, I often find that not a single one could set up a server or create a macro for a spreadsheet. There are a lot of missed opportunities when we stop being interested in looking under the hood once in a while.
    - Jonathan 5:01 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
      
      These are valid points that you bring up I don’t mind the venting at all. It makes me think that conferences like Educon (http://educon24.org) are valuable. I’m also thinking of the conferences that centre themselves around discussions as opposed to presentations. This is where the neat ideas get started because people are involved in great discussions.
      
      Fortunately they are out there — unfortunately they get lost in the type of conferences that you speak of here. These do serve a purpose to some extent because many teachers don’t know how to use these tools, but there should be more like you said.
    - Jonathan 5:04 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
      
      I’ll throw in my response to your proposal as well here!
      
      First I wanted to say — Yeah way to give me a reason to head back to Hong Kong. I’ve always thought it would be interesting to teach there, learn a bit more about my culture (since I grew up in Canada) and reconnect with my roots! Let me know if something interesting pops up!.
      
      Really great proposal and interesting. You have my thumbs up all the way. I wasn’t able to get the video working right away. I ended up taking myself out of the Prezi, scrolling around and manually clicking on it to work. It might (probably) is on my end, but I thought i’d throw it in there just in case.
      
      Your short video was well presented and the longer Prezi had plenty of information to make me feel confident as an investor.
      
      Great work!
      - teacherben 8:07 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
        
        Thanks for the feedback. My job is about to be posted by the way, if you are interested in getting overseas.
- tomwhyte1 10:31 am on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Thank you for providing such an interesting, and relevant venture. I agree that it is essential for the world of education to more effectively share what we know, and how we do it, so educators around the world can benefit from pockets of expertise and experiences. Furthermore, like you, I believe it is essential to incorporate and build off of real world practices and applications, for I fear as a society we have simply become consumers not producers.
  
  Furthermore, I found the inclusion of the database of experts willing to offer the various services a strong part of this venture, for it shows the dedication the professionals and the venture has for improving the current look of education.
  
  Lastly, I appreciated seeing the strength and skills the team brings to the plate to help this venture succeed.
  
  Thanks for sharing.
  
  Tom
- jenbarker 12:49 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Ben,
  People like you amaze me. I am still in the beginning stages of learning about educational technology but I can see how it would be frustrating to feel that there is no arena for you and your colleagues to further your skills. Therefore I feel that your Venture does indeed provide a solution for a pain point. I agree that your venture is different than others out there and your pitch confirmed this. I liked that you have chosen a specific market to start in (“Hong Kong”) but could see this growing and expanding to other markets. You provide adequate information to demonstrate that you as CEO and your team could champion this venture. My only suggestion would be to provide more clarity about what those who may volunteer to ask your venture would get in return. I know it wouldn’t be money but a simple statement such as “Your assistance will benefit….” might encourage more donations. You conveyed a great deal of passion and knowledge in the area and I liked how you spoke loudly and at a good pace. I agree with you that it would appear that many educational contexts are leaning more towards consumption over creation. At my school, they are aiming to purchase more and more iPads. When I suggested they may instead wish to think about purchase laptops, they looked at me like I had three heads. If we continue down this route, I hope I will be able to find more app that are creative in nature and less skill and drill. Anyway, thanks for sharing! Best, Jen
- joeltremblay 4:11 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Great elevator and venture pitch Ben! Very impressive!
- joeltremblay 4:14 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I really liked how seamless and professional it felt. Couldn’t find any faults in it.
- tomwhyte1 10:08 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  To facilitate and objectively review the venture pitch you have put forward, I will be utilizing the guidelines provided within our course, Section 2.7 – Deconstructing a Pitch.
  
  CEO & Team:
  
  After having watched the elevator pitch and read the not-for profit venture proposal, I feel the CEO of this venture not only appears credible, but through all aspects of the Edutech/HK presentation, it was apparent that they were not only knowledgeable but passionate as well, a good start for any venture. Furthermore, the team assembled for Edutech/HK has knowledgeable, and educated members not only in various disciplines, but also in the geographical area they are focussing on, again a good start for any venture.
  
  Venture Concept:
  
  Overall, Edutech/HK is mashing together various strategies that have been implemented in both online and offline environments over the years. However, to this ventures credit, even though the elements are similar, they appear streamlined, allowing for the company to provide quality support and resources, instead of trying to be a jack of all trades. To determine the feasibility of this venture would be to understand the needs and market in Hong Kong, an area this venture might have provided more specific information on. Overall though, the issues presented within this pitch, is relevant not only to Hong Kong, but the global education community as well, therefore, I would further investigate the information presented within this venture.
  
  Marketability:
  
  The actual marketability of this venture was not provided, leaving potential investors wondering about this ventures true market size, potential share, and overall need within the Hong Kong educational system, making this not-for profit venture a more than moderate risk. Secondly, the only significant market edge provided by Edutech, is their ability to provide guest speakers and potential internships from field experts. However, this edge is mostly founded on the ability to form and maintain relationships with this individuals/groups over long periods of time. Furthermore, if this venture is successful, competitors will enter the market, and actively work to erode and take over these relationships for their own companies success. All of which, reduce Edutech’s market share.
  
  Venture Plan:
  
  At this time, no specific guidelines were provided to demonstrate the time necessary for this venture to be truly operational, more information would need to be provided on this. Overall, this venture has possibilities, but I would like to see it eventually expand to a more global market, for the skills and abilities they are focusing on, would benefit students the world over.
- avninder 12:33 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi teacherben,
  This seems like a very worthwhile venture. Your pitch, which seems to be aimed at potential sponsors was very professional and informative. I like that your site would be a central location which would provide a ton of resources for teachers. But because of the wide range of services it would provide, you would need dedicated support staff in place for upkeep, which you did address in your pitch. I have just seen a lot of sites which are a get resource initially become obsolete and unused because there is no maintainence. All the best if you choose to pursue this endeavor.
  
  PS: Maybe I missed it, but why is the “A” is STEAM sometimes in brackets?
  - teacherben 8:52 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    The ‘A’ is in parentheses because it was a later addition. People have been talking about STEM education for a while, but only recently have a few organizations recognized the opportunity to add ‘Art’ to the list. You will see the STE(A)M, acronym used by Adobe Education, Autodesk, Unity and a few others while most school board and government initiatives use STEM.
    
    The big product for Edutech/HK is actually the workshops and conferences. The Face 2 Face stuff is where my real interest lies. The website is where people can stay in touch and share what they are doing after they met at a workshop. The idea is to keep the organization small–likely under a hundred members. Most people would either know each other, have heard of one another or at least know people in common. If I am a pretty swift tech teacher that is pretty good at a lot of stuff, but maybe have little experience with 3D modelling and would like to introduce a 3D modelling and 3D printing program in my school, I contact Edutech/HK and ask around to see if there is someone out there that has something going. Perhaps I can arrange to go to their school and visit. I can get advice on a good 3D printer to buy. As it turns out, there are a few more people who want to get a 3D printing program going in their school. So we all go to that school together to see how it is being used. We might be able to watch a lesson. The teacher gives us a short workshop to get us started. Then, we create a discussion group on the website where we might keep in touch with one another and see what challenges others are having. In the meantime, I didn’t know much about 3D printing, but am an expert in app development. Others have dabbled a little, have maybe downloaded a couple programs and played around. I can offer workshops, school visits etc… to help people get an app development program going.
    
    There are certainly a lot of online groups for this sort of stuff, but few that are very local, very specific and are meant to support face to face interaction, rather than the other way around. The website may not need a whole lot of maintenance. With that number of people, I would set up something like Elgg or Buddypress and it could easily be maintained by one person in their spare time. My brother and I set up a social network using Elgg on our own server to support university-aged ESOL students and it was pretty active, with a couple hundred members and he was able to keep it running smoothly on his own in his spare time, while still holding down a full-time university teaching load and a family.
- sophiabb 1:02 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Ben,
  
  Excellent use of Prezi to present your elevator and venture pitches. I thought your pitch was clear, clean and professional. Your elevator pitch did a great job in presenting you the problem and your solution. I would have liked more specifics on your ask and the potential benefits for investors.
  Sophia
- visramn 4:12 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hello Ben,
  
  I think both your Prezi and your video did a great job of describing your idea and outlining all parameters needed to make a strong and successful venture.
  This is a great idea and there is definitely a market for it. You are obviously knowledgeable in this area and this came across very clearly in your presentation. You did a good job of sharing visuals and data to back your venture and make it stronger. You explained who your company comprised of and did a good job of outlining the roles everyone plays. You also did a great job of outlining aspects such as market, financial components, etc.
  Overall, I think you did excellent. This was definitely a well thought out pitch and the time and effort you put into it is evident. Thank you for sharing.
  
  Nureen
- frank 9:11 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Ben,
  
  Your Passion and Expertise always resonate through you comments and work.
  
  Your analysis of promoting substance over style and creation or consumption are well taken.
  
  Coming from the West where perhaps Art and Design are more privileged than Engineering, Math and Tech; I wonder if focusing on the former could be your true niche.
  
  I’m curious what the advantage of a not-for-profit is over a social venture in this regard. For the former – as there is no exit (sale) value – you will likely need considerable momentum/critical mass, before big sponsors jump on board (i’m thinking how Sal Khan (Khan Academy) spent considerable time building his tutorials online before Sponsors took notice.
  
  I recommend you avatar yourself – figuratively – and walk through what your success journey might look like and what obstacles you may have to overcome; if you can see those and lay out your milestones, I think this venture could be a GO – I wish you luck!
- kstackhouse 9:47 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I have selected your pitch from the group that I am reviewing to comment on in more detail. I was very impressed with the quality of your presentation. I feel that the venture idea that you have presented here is one that has a real market (in any region). You explained your venture in a way that was engaging and easy to follow. I was interested to see this as a not-for-profit venture pitch. As I initially thought of how to make money with my idea, you have turned it around to provide quality experiences for those that participate. Your invitation to sponsor or find out more was handled tactfully. It would be interesting to see how much would be required to reach the goals of your venture in a given month or year. I don’t know if that would cause more donors or not, but it would be good information for an EVA to have. I think I would consider another meeting to go over the complete business plan with you, if I was an actual EVA. I think there is great potential here.
- melissaayers 3:15 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Ben,
  
  Great work.
  
  My evaluation of the elevator pitch is that it’s a very polished video, with a clear description of the venture and what it does. I.e. what pain point it addresses and the solution it provides as well as clearly stating what it would like from investors (expert time and hardware or software donations).
  
  For the venture pitch the team seems very credible and with enough combined experience and expertise to make this happen. The venture concept is clear and meets a viable identified market need. I am pretty sure these conferences, events and services are marketable going by the popularity and increasing use of technology in education and the workplace. The venture plan seems sound. It details how the events could feasibly be funded through subscription and corporate sponsorship.
  
  All in all a well thought out venture. And YES, I would invest in/support this venture if I was based in Hong Kong. Furthermore if I was working in HK, given I normally work for tech companies, I would encourage any company I worked for to donate either the time of their employees (as experts), or hardware and software. I believe they should be investing in their future employees with ventures such as this one.
  
  Thanks,
  Melissa
- Scott 2:09 pm on December 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Ben your pitches were very informative and it’s seems you have been able to find a helpful solution to the challenging pain point of how to keep learning professionals interacting and developing as a community. As I have state on numerous occasions already, I maintain that Prezi is fine choice for “gluing” pitches together and presenting them to investors. Which brings me to my primary criticism – as an education venture investor, what do you need me or my money for? It seems the venture is already well on its way. Beyond donations of time, or used resources I’m not sure you need any of my 1 million dollars! In the end, I feel the market for Edutech/HK is quite narrow and it seems more like a government initiative in many respects rather an a venture concept. In true Canadian fashion, I’ll apologize now if I have been overly critical in my assessment, but within the context of our purely academic assignment, I’m not sure how I fit into your concept as an EVA.
- Eva Ziemsen 3:59 pm on December 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Ben,
  
  I found your elevator pitch to be very polished. Great job editing and scripting it. I also enjoyed the prezi presentation format, as it allowed for a clear and concise exposition of the pain point and the solutions you are providing. Your venture actually strikes me as one that has already been going on for a long time, and almost seems as though it is running on its own (and does not need support). However, this is all to say that, I would definitely respond to this and encourage sponsors to support this venture. While your venture is very much niche, I think the format could be adapted in other places with great ease. It would be great to know more about the potential branding of this venture.
  
  Great work,
  Eva
rebeccaharrison 12:23 am on November 26, 2012
2 votes
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Mentoring Me

Hi all, Here is my first attempt at creating my own online hypothetical venture. It was quite the process, but it was well worth the journey. Basically my venture, Mentoring Me, is an online mentorship program that follows the structure of an online dating site. Please have a look and tell me what you think. […]
Continue reading Mentoring Me Posted in: Venture Forum

sophiabb, Pat A Son, melissaayers and 10 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- jenbarker 10:55 am on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Rebecca,
  I really like your Venture idea. I think you have clearly addressed the pain point and solution. The fact that you present mentees with a real life mentor and do this through a “dating” like format gives you differentiation, or a cutting edge. I felt your marketing ideas were solid. As someone who has been directly involved in setting up mentoring at the district level, I know it can be very costly. When our district releases many beginning teachers for a morning mentoring session, the amount that they pay out to TOC’s to cover is high. I think your idea could save districts a lot of money. On a side note, how might you choose your mentors? Would there be an application process? How would you guarantee quality mentors? Would they be paid or volunteers? Overall, I think both your pitches met the necessary facets required. Great work, Jen
  - rebeccaharrison 9:13 am on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Good questions. I’m not so sure about choice of mentors, but was thinking that those who are active participants (based on data), may be provided with a day in lieu, or some other form of recognition.
- joeltremblay 4:37 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Rebecca,
  Being a teacher in B.C. and being able to relate directly to your project idea I was quite taken with it. The concept and elevator are logical and comprehensive. I wonder how marketable it would be to either the government or different districts?
- Jonathan 9:27 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Big thumbs up for the idea Rebecca,
  
  Felt like you were speaking to real needs of a new teacher. I’ve always liked the idea of a mentorship program and have felt the need for a service like this. I know that my district offers it on a one year basis to new teachers but it takes many years of mentorship, practice and training for a teacher to be able. To add to Jen’s points about finding qualified and quality mentors how would this company retain a subscription service of a user?
  
  I’m imagining that a match has been made for the user ($50 charged in the first year). Once that connection has been made there is no more use for the site? Does the site get discarded?
  
  Love the idea though.. a lot!
  
  Great work,
  Jonathan
- Doug Connery 10:33 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Great concept Rebecca. This venture provides opportunities for teachers from K-post secondary to have mentors inside or outside their school or institute. I also see the market beyond education for anyone in any sector needing a mentor.
  
  Doug.
- tomwhyte1 10:52 am on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  To facilitate and objectively review the venture pitch you have put forward, I will be utilizing the guidelines provided within our course, Section 2.7 – Deconstructing a Pitch.
  
  CEO & Team:
  
  The CEO of Mentoring Me, recognizes their limited experience as a classroom teacher, which in most cases might be a determinant to any venture, actually is a strength. For their experiences as a new teacher, requiring effective mentoring in many aspects of teaching shows the potential for such a service in the field of education. Furthermore, the team is strengthened by the partnership, with an individual who has a Computer Science background, a necessary element to design, and deploy the required infrastructure to make this venture successful. One key member of the team, which was mentioned by the CEO as currently absent, is the involvement of a marketing specialist, which would be able to effectively position this venture for success.
  
  Venture Concept:
  
  Education long ago, discovered the importance of mentoring, not only for new teachers but for the more experienced ones as well, for the sharing of ideas and energy strengthens everyone throughout the process. What Mentoring Me does different, is takes this relationship online, through a dating service like platform, to provide meaningful mentorship opportunities, regardless of time or space. On the surface, this approach does appear to be feasible, and demonstrates an answer to a potential issue. However, further research would need to be conducted, to demonstrate that this platform would enhance current mentorship programs.
  
  Marketability:
  
  Even though the market size for this service is not provided, and right now, are only focusing on new/younger teachers, it is clear that this service can be used by all teachers to enhance their skills and understanding of various topics, thereby creating an effective professional development resource, based upon small groups, and common interests. Furthermore, this venture recognizes that teachers in remote locations, or within small buildings have limited opportunities to receive mentoring, and that this service would alleviate this concerns. At this time, Mentoring Me is an innovative approach on mentoring, as it has taken a dating style format and applied it to matching people for mentor relationships. As well, they hope to enhance this service through communication tools, reduced costs, and training videos. Unfortunately, this service could be easily duplicated, especially by existing dating sites, wishing to expand their into new untapped markets. Therefore, it may be essential to create partnerships with an already existing venture, to ensure continued success.
  
  Venture Plan:
  
  Mentoring Me, has developed a specific plan of rolling out their services, which include periods of reassessment to ensure their approach is meeting the goals they have set forward, clearly demonstrating a strong vision for their product.
  
  At this time though, I am concerned that districts or even individual teachers would “buy” into this service, as many educational institutions have developed their own mentorship programs, which focus on what the district feels is essential. However, by potentially partnering up with an existing dating service (to gain access to their back end software, to create effective matches), and refocus this service to all teachers for potential PLC’s, I feel there is an opportunity here.
  - rebeccaharrison 9:15 am on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Great points Tom and some stuff to consider. A partnership might be a great way to ensure viability and sustainability.
    - tomwhyte1 10:25 am on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
      
      Furthermore, I have been discussing around my school the possibilities of this venture, it has received positive comments from each.
      
      I think yours was an innovative approach at a relevant issue, using already established technology in a new way.
      
      Thanks for sharing your great idea.
- visramn 3:55 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi,
  
  I think you did a great job of conveying the need of this product. You covered all components of what is needed in a successful market plan and addressed any concerns a potential investor may have. You were confident and clear when you spoke and your enthusiasm made your message stronger.
  I think this is a great idea and after watching your pitches I would definitely invest in this product.
  I really liked how you started off by pointing out that you are new teacher who struggled because this shows that you based this product on a need that you yourself have felt. I felt this made your argument more compelling.
  Great job. Thank you so much for sharing.
  
  Nureen
- jameschen 6:34 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Rebecca,
  
  Your elevator pitch has a good flow, and I think your pain point would need more emphasis on the hook to really grab my attention as an investor. A provision of tangible figures for the ask and return here would also increase credibility. I really like the idea of an online mentoring program compared to what the districts currently have for beginning teachers.
  
  Here is my analysis on your venture pitch using the guidelines found in section 2.7 of our course blog – Deconstructing a pitch:
  
  Mentoring Me: The Content
  
  Pain Point: I am unsure if the problem portrayed in the pitch is a problem big enough to yield profitable returns, because my assumption is that these uncertainties would eventually be clarified as the new teacher gets to know more of the fellow staff members and becomes integrated into the existing community at the school where she teaches. Nevertheless, from the perspective of a TOC high anxiety levels are hard to avoid and would therefore create a need for such online mentoring programs.
  
  Solution: The solution you presented will improve with more concrete examples. How will the teachers be paired with more experienced teachers? Exactly what will the mentoring program help new teachers overcome? Addressing these questions would paint a better picture of your product for the investors.
  
  You do provide information about how the solution will be implemented later on in the pitch at the part about teacher training under Marketing as well as the beginning part of Differentiation. Moving those parts here would be more fitting.
  
  Differentiation: In the video, your differentiation explains what is proprietary about your product. Your pitch would improve if it explains how the product differs from the competition. What does your product offer that current mentorship programs do not? To answer this, you would need to explain what is currently available, what your product offers that is unavailable under the current programs, and why customers would choose to pay for your service over the free ones offered by school districts.
  
  Marketing: At the beginning of your venture pitch, you paint a very clear picture about how your product will be marketed. The provision of price tags for the service also adds to this. Later on in the video under Differentiation when you elaborate about marketing, a technical side note here is that the fading in feature of the volume at 4:28 made the topic “Marketing” hard to hear. This caused me to be unsure of what your following explanation is about, because you have combined the marketing aspect of your pitch into differentiation. As an EVA, I would suggest separating these parts so that investors can be clear about how your product is different from its online competitors and the marketing strategy you’ll be using.
  
  Championship: Credentials of the venture’s leader is established, but a provision of positions that are necessary to bring the product into the market is not found.
  
  Competition: This section is combined with Marketing under Differentiation in the pitch.
  
  The Ask: Your ask of $100,000 is realistic, and you also provide information on how your investors can help improve the venture as well as the risks that are involved.
  
  The Return: The return is 2-3 years. Additional information on your exit strategy would add to the credibility of your pitch.
  
  In all, I think your venture pitch was well presented. You put in a lot of thought on how you would market the product which helps make the venture pitch into a viable investment.
  
  Thanks,
  
  James
- pcollins 10:01 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Great idea piggy backing on the success of the online dating websites! I’m chuckling at how savvy that was. That’s a fantastic proposal! Your presentation was very natural – it didn’t appear overly rehearsed at all. And your personal belief in this idea came through in your vocalizations. I appreciate that your venture contains a balance of gains for everybody involved learning and mentoring… the older teachers with new ideas/ a refresher in research and the youngsters with well established/seasoned professionals. I was instantly attracted to choose your venture for a more detailed analysis because I can relate so well to the pain point. But I am involved in education and in our district’s mentoring programs. I couldn’t help but wonder if other’s outside of our professional body really see the problems? Your venture was well researched but specific numbers would have gone a long way to support some of your details. I loved how you used a pre-existing concept, with massive technical parallels to your venture. And bringing in the usage of pro-d funds to pay for the 60 dollar yearly fee is reasonable. I’m not sure what you think, but maybe there should be a cost differential to attract more mentors. It was also great that you identified the professionals that you would target – those in isolation. And it struck me, that even in large schools a lot of new educators still work in isolation because of the workload they have to shoulder. The market analysis was well done and I would undoubtedly support this venture.
  
  Job well done Rebecca.
  PC
- Scott 1:07 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Rebecca, in my opinion, this is a solid venture idea and pair of pitches – you had me at ‘dating website’!
  
  Beyond the wealth of suggestions already written here, I might simply add that you should consider expanding on the dating concept of the venture just a bit more in your elevator pitch. With 60sec. of available time, why not spend another 15sec adding in a sentence or two from your venture pitch, to really sell this very original and key feature of your service.
  
  Bravo,
  
  Scott.
- melissaayers 3:58 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Rebecca,
  
  Great elevator pitch. You identify a real pain point and a real solution as well as manage to identify how it differentiates itself from other current offerings. Overall it makes me what to find out more and go listen to your venture pitch.
  
  The venture pitch is also very well though out and researched. You seem an enthusiastic founder and team member who clearly believes in the service/product. A great start for any venture. You use a successful business model already proven in one context in a new and different context as the base of the venture concept. This is interesting and I believe adds to the likelihood of its success and uptake – users can quickly and easily understand what you are trying to do (as can potential investors).
  
  Seeing the responses from others already to your venture proposals this is potentially a highly marketable product at a fair and affordable price. There is a clear market plan and road map and the investment required and expected returns are also clearly stated and seem reasonable.
  
  Overall great work and this is definitely something I would consider investigating further to invest in as an EVA.
  
  Thanks,
  Melissa
- Pat A Son 4:09 am on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Rebecca,
  
  Great venture. You were very thorough and convincing.
  
  Cheers
  Patason
- sophiabb 11:32 am on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Rebecca,
  
  Love the idea of piggy backing on the dating site concept. Your pitches clearly outlined the pain points, solution and the ask and return. I believe that this is a worthwhile and viable concept. Well done.
  
  Sophia
cunnian 5:34 pm on November 25, 2012
2 votes
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forEvernote perpetual portfolios

Here is my elevator pitch describing forEvernote (please click beside the yellow arrows for audio!) and my forEvernote venture pitch. forEvernote is a new vision for and extension of the popular Evernote program to allow teachers to create portfolios that follow students though their education from kindergarten to grade 12. I hope that you enjoy! […]
Continue reading forEvernote perpetual portfolios Posted in: Venture Forum

Scott, frank, melissaayers and 10 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- jenbarker 8:20 pm on November 25, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  John ~ Not sure if you saw my fictional venture but it is very similar. Maybe this speaks to the market need, eh?
  - cunnian 8:55 pm on November 25, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Hi Jen,
    I just saw yours and, yes, I do think that the market is speaking! There are a few others who are also pitching portfolio-related ventures as well. Funny how that happened!
    
    John
- jenbarker 11:14 am on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi John,
  I liked your Elevator Pitch. I felt it caught my attention and I was interested to hear more. I might suggest taking out the statement “Who cares?’ and instead write something more positive like “the key to best assessment”. You Venture pitch covered most of the crucial tenets of a pitch. I felt you could have expanded on the credibility and championship of the CEO and team. In terms of Marketing I don’t think you would need “buy-in” from every teacher. I think each teacher, school or district could choose to use the program and then their thoughts would spread whether or not it was worthy to use. I was unsure of your plan. What were you specifically asking of the investors? Money or ? I liked how you said why they should invest but what would they get in return. Overall, a great venture concept. Thanks for sharing, Jen
- avninder 2:36 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  cunnian,
  Your elevator pitch did a great job of suggesting that we leverage existing technology for an educationally sound reason. I think there is a lot of potential in your proposal.
- joeltremblay 4:06 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I really like the presentation that you used in Prezi. In fact, some of my students use it for their portfolio’s because of the unique way the visuals are presented.
- joeltremblay 4:08 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  The venture was complete and informative as well. It felt well thought out. Good work.
- Jonathan 9:05 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  John –
  
  Love the idea of extending an existing idea and turning it into something more. You hit the nail on the head in your “Why Invest In Us” section by mentioning that Evernote already has a large user base and could benefit from this idea moving forward. Great venture concept — and well presented in both your Prezi and your webpage. You should bring this one forward. I’m starting to like the idea of portfolios more and more…
  
  — Jonathan
- tomwhyte1 9:25 am on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  To facilitate and objectively review the venture pitch you have put forward, I will be utilizing the guidelines provided within our course, Section 2.7 – Deconstructing a Pitch.
  
  CEO & Team:
  
  After having gone through the elevator pitch, including the formal venture pitch used to introduce forEvernote, I am confident of the CEO, based upon his ability to effectively and efficiently convey the overall and specific ideas of this venture. As for the rest of the management team, there is not specific information regarding individuals or positions tied to this venture. Without this information, it is hard to determine, beyond the CEO, if this product will be successfully launched, or if key elements/positions have been overlooked, dooming this interesting product to failure.
  
  Venture Concept:
  
  The overall concept of forEvernote is not an original idea, but a natural extension of educational theories and Internet applications, a product that attempts to positively merge each to create a meaningful assessment tool for todays modern classroom. Furthermore, it is clear that the CEO for this venture, clearly researched and understands the need of this product. Especially considering the fact that this tool, like all other tools, are only as effective as the person who wields it. As evidenced in recent research focusing on ePortfolios:
  
  If students do not accept the e-portfolio as a holistic means with which to document their learning in different contexts and more importantly, agree or wish to use the e-portfolio as an integral part of their educational experience, then the potential impact the e-portfolio will have on learning will not be realised. (http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt/article/view/97)
  
  An issue that forEvernote overcomes with the recognition that professional development is necessary for this tool to become successful. Overall, I find this venture interesting and would pursue further research into this area.
  
  Marketability:
  
  The actual marketability of this venture was not provided, leaving potential investors wondering about this ventures true market size, potential share, and overall need within the K-12 educational system. Secondly, from the information provided, forEvernote will be applying an innovative approach to the market, which if found successful, they will have a momentary lead on their competitors, however over the long run, these innovations will be easily duplicated, reducing their market share and revenue. Especially considering the fact that Evernote themselves are exploring this reality themselves, as evidenced here: http://evernotefolios.wordpress.com/
  
  Venture Plan:
  
  At this time, no specific market readiness timeline has been provided, creating concerns about their ability to enter the market before or after other competitors, which will influence greatly their overall market share. Secondly, it is important to note that Evernote follows a freemium model to generate revenue to keep the company running, however, at this time, forEvernote has not provided any information regarding their companies economic model, a key piece of information that would need to be looked into at a later date.
  
  Overall though, this venture shows promise, and should be further reviewed.
- visramn 12:23 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hello,
  
  Great idea. There is definitely a Market for this product. I think you made good use of the means you used for presenting your ideas. They were both visually and aesthetic. I also really like the titles you used in your Prezi. this product is to be used with kids. Hence, the terminology you used was reflective of your market.. Good strategy.
  I have used Evernote and am a fan. I felt that your extension to this product was portrayed well and that it is a good idea. I thought you could have expanded a but on the actual market and how you envision this product being introduced into the marker. Other than that, you did well.
  Thank you for sharing.
  
  Nureen
- sophiabb 11:37 am on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi John,
  
  Great idea to expand on a current product. Your problem and solution were clearly outlined. I would have liked to see more/some information on marketing, the specific ask in monetary terms and investor returns. Overall a good presentation of your idea.
  
  Sophia
- Pat A Son 4:55 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Your pitches were quite an eye opener for me. I wish I had an extended portfolio of my years at school from k-12 to the tertiary level.
  
  Great idea.
  Patason
- kstackhouse 10:06 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Interesting idea. I feel that there is a market for this in some format. I have found that the e-portfolios that many MET courses have been much more meaningful for me than the boring hard version I have on my shelf. I am interested to know how teachers would respond to this format. I know that at the high school level we groan when the middle school portfolios make their way to our school. As you mentioned, this is not necessarily the best method to monitor growth and view the collection of work a student has accomplished.
  
  Your prezis was well laid out. You moved the viewer along nicely. The audio was a little low, but was a good addition over the basic text. The website, was informative and easy to navigate. I might not be ready to invest, but know Evernote and the need for a portfolio solution I would want to sit and have another meeting with you.
- melissaayers 2:14 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi John,
  
  Overall I think it’s a great idea, professional presentation and I love evernote as a tool. I agree and echo like many others in the courses that student portfolio’s can easily add authenticity to education for students.
  
  However as an EVA I am not sure I would invest in this venture for the following reasons. I do not get an idea of how this is different to other products on the market (if they exist?). Nor do I understand who or how this solution is going to be implemented/created. And finally as an investor I am not sure what you are not asking for nor what returns I might expect to receive for it.
  
  Thanks
  Melissa
- frank 12:18 am on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi John,
  
  I liked your Prezi, ominous clouds notwithstanding
  I think where as Jen’s presentation focused on Evernote’s competitive needs, yours did a good job at showing how a portfolio would be a good and natural need of students in today and in the future. Good paper link by TomWhyte1 about the perception and network externality dimensions of this venture idea. I think you have a good target market with students and if they become too difficult to reach (school /provincial resistance etc), you can market it to other groups still and be successful. I think you have something good here, merge with Jen et al. and more importantly, go for it!
- Scott 1:35 pm on December 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  John your pitch is fine work. As I reviewed your website, which is among the preferred mediums I find for venture pitches, each of the questions I had in mind, such as the all important issue of privacy, were all answered. I even found myself filling in other concerns you noted, for example in many cases the camera phones most students have in their pocket would lessen the need for in school scanners.
  
  Your choice of Prezi for the elevator was sound in my opinion, though from a purely design point of view, I found some of the colored type challenging to read and I felt the background did not serve the topic well – in the end these are minor tweaks which could be accomplished in minutes.
  
  As we move to ever technology infused classrooms and schools with BYOD programs, I think you have a very valid concept here which is certainly worth perusing.
David Vogt 1:20 pm on September 3, 2012
17 votes
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Tags: Cloud Learning ( 3 ), Emerging Markets ( 26 ), poll ( 23 )

Cloud Learning

Cloud Learning is about employing essentially limitless web-based storage and services (the “cloud”) to enhance the learning experience with unprecedented accessibility, continuity, extensibility and integration. Most analysts believe that humanity’s move from computers to the cloud will be more transformational than our recent move from paper to computers.
Continue reading Cloud Learning Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll

adi, jenbarker, Kent Jamieson and 2 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- avninder 10:14 am on September 5, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  From CDs to floppies to USBs, the cloud is the next big thing.
- grzesko 9:36 pm on September 5, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Cloud learning provides a lot of benefits, as it allows greater control on the part of the company using it and in turn giving the user powerful features and flexibility that is accessible through any device.
- Kent Jamieson 11:30 am on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I know in our school there is a lot of scepticism in terms of ‘where does the information go?’, or ‘who has access to a report card i write?’. Normally, i simply say…’who would want a random Grade 5’s report card anyway?. Cloud…good.
- jenbarker 11:44 pm on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  If this type of cloud learning would be able to assist Canada educators wishing to use US based programs and platforms, I am all for it. Currently my school is having major challenges understanding what we can and cannot do based on FIOPPA. We are unable to use many outstanding resources because the information is housed in the USA.
- adi 8:28 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  My second Personal Opportunity Poll.
  Cloud learning as I mentioned in another post could be a great for educational settings where there are less resources. For example, in countries where kids don’t have lap tops, they can use Internet Cafés and continue their work or course in the cloud.
David Vogt 1:29 pm on September 3, 2012
16 votes
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Tags: Emerging Markets ( 26 ), poll ( 23 ), Touch ( 2 )

Touch, Gesture & Voice

Tablets, game systems, smart phones and application like Siri all suggest a trend away from the inefficiencies of the keyboard for virtual interactions. Touch, Gesture & Voice are some of the more “natural” ways learners will access and immerse themselves in learning experiences. Opportunity Statement Learning technologies venture opportunities in Touch, Gesture & Voice are bountiful in that the introduction […]
Continue reading Touch, Gesture & Voice Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll

melissaayers, adi, visramn and 5 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- jhodi 4:13 pm on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  These learning technologies allow students to intuitively interact with their learning devices to facilitate learning. My personal use of a tablet to teach math has allowed me to incorporate technology into my classroom in a wide variety of ways and has allowed me to supply my students with fantastic opportunities online.
- Doug Connery 8:18 pm on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I never learned to type properly so being a “two finger pecker” on the keyboard is slow and inefficient for me. Other methods such as touch, gesture and voice will help me and others to get the message across.
- jbrown5 2:57 pm on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I just can’t see going back from the trend of iPads/iPhones/etc – I only see touch, gesture and voice becoming more and more integrated in learning as the technologies to create these learning tools become easier to use.
- sophiabb 8:21 pm on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I love these technologies and my family does too. From my husband, a high teacher, who is a one finger typist who can now develop his lesson plans/activities quicker; to my daughter who is dyslexic and this lessens some of her anxiety re spelling; and my science nerd son, who is in his comfort zone.
- jenbarker 11:30 pm on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  When I think of young children who are no longer learning how to type properly, I see these forms of technology as necessary. As well, many children with written output delays use Dragon Dictation to aid in assisting them to get their ideas down. Unfortunately, the most useful version (with the best voice recognition) of this product is very costly.
- visramn 12:11 am on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  These types of resources open up many doors for students with special needs who may struggle with keyboards. It makes the process of using devices easier for some and can be visual based for those who struggle with vision, reading, etc. It is definitely a more interactive means of using a device.
- adi 8:12 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Touch, gesture and voice is also linked to the idea of learning through the senses and brain plasticity. It touches upon Dale’s cone of experience http://teacherworld.com/dalescone.gif
- melissaayers 8:40 am on September 12, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I think like others have already stated these technologies really help further open up the world of learning for those with special needs or learning disabilities. They can aid learning by providing multiple options for all students on how they interact with content and each other, something that I think is only likely to enhance their learning experiences.
David Vogt 1:18 pm on September 3, 2012
12 votes
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Tags: Emerging Markets ( 26 ), MOOC ( 2 ), poll ( 23 )

Massively Open Online Courses

A Massively Open Online Course (MOOC) is an emerging model for interactive online learning experiences designed to accommodate possibly unlimited numbers of learners who potentially arrive, attend, participate, and leave on their own terms. MOOCs can take advantage of existing social media and gaming environments as platforms to host both formal and informal learning experiences. Opportunity Statement MOOCs are primarily […]
Continue reading Massively Open Online Courses Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll

melissaayers, Ranvir, coralk and 3 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- Doug Connery 8:21 pm on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Post secondary institutes spend too much money developing courses that already exist with other institutes and as MOOC’s. This is a way to reduce duplication and costs and be more efficient taxpayer dollars.
- pcollins 4:18 pm on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  My concern would be how realistic is this? The people who have the ability to design the tools for such a venture are not necessarily the people who actually have the knowledge that needs to be learned. I read an article last semester that brought up this very point. There was no easy way to get the designers and the field experts to collaborate. It seems great in theory
- Paula Poodwan 8:10 pm on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  MOOC is an excellent idea for eager students who want to learn and don’t care about receiving credits or diplomas. I like the idea that the students who enrolled at the institution and the “open” students who pay nothing and who will receive no credit can interact and of course that will add variety and different points of view to the class. However too much information (posts) and interaction can be overwhelming for everyone too , and not to mention the workload for the instructor.
- coralk 5:30 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I’m very interested to see how MOOCs will progress and what the future will be for these courses, especially now that some institutions are starting to offer credit for certain MOOCs as early as this fall (probably for a fee and some additional assignments so then does that still even qualify as a MOOC?)
- Ranvir 3:45 pm on September 11, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  MOOC’s are an excellent way to learn from some of the industry’s sought after brains and interested individual across the globe. I am currently taking a MOOC course in Gamification at Coursera and really like the learning experience…
- melissaayers 8:44 am on September 12, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I really like the idea of massively open online courses. Coming from working with underprivileged youths initially I thought this type of course is ideal especially as it can economise on the costs and can be delivered anywhere at anytime. However, now I realise in general in their current this type of course is not for people who do not already have a reasonable educational background and are very self motivated/organised. Furthermore, they need to also have access to the relevant hardware, software and network infrastructure to participate – something usually not available to the target audience whom I used to think this type of initiative would be most beneficial for. That said for the right audience I feel there is huge potential in this domain and the offering available in iTuneU, Khan Academy etc are just in their infancy.
  
  As Doug mentioned I also believe there is room to economise (and improve quality at the same time) on course creation and delivery via this type of initiative.
David Vogt 1:19 pm on September 3, 2012
12 votes
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Tags: Emerging Markets ( 26 ), Game-Based Learning ( 4 ), poll ( 23 )

Game Based Learning

Game-Based Learning seeks to apply the technologies and engagement factors of the hyper-successful electronic games sector, and of games more generally, to create effective learning experiences. This includes everything from the creation of original games with learning outcomes embedded in the gameplay (“serious games”) to the game-like animation (“gamification”) of more traditional learning approaches . Opportunity Statement […]
Continue reading Game Based Learning Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll

stammik, Ranvir, visramn and 6 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- Peggy Lawson 8:12 pm on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Not long ago most so-called educational games were better at selling software than at providing true learning experiences. No more. Well designed educational games can provide engaging and often very authenitic educational opportunities for students.
  - kstackhouse 7:40 am on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    This is one topic that could be tied in with the Apps topic. Rather than having an online game one could develop an App that could be updated or upgraded once the user reaches various levels.
- sonofpat 10:45 am on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  From where I sit I am convinced that the approach of traditional video gaming was never suited for mainstream education ie large budget, large development teams with no experience or qualification in education and long complicated game play that is aimed at entertainment.
  What is needed are more simple yet enjoyable interactive experiences that challenges as it is played. Scoring, winning or loosing will play second fiddle too learning. Whats more is that you do even have to call these video games but the current students will prefer a simple interactive experience to reading a text book and yes they would mostly be authored by teachers.
  
  Patason
- Eva Ziemsen 8:51 pm on September 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I am interested in the virtual worlds that exist within games, for example, World of Warcraft is a game that has been used to create Machinima (films recorded in a game/virtual world). Games have existing landscapes and complex avatar physical capabilities, which can be recorded. If there was a way to enable educators to use existing games to teach Machinima, it could present very elaborate and interesting learning opportunities. The issue of copyright of games will come into play, and the focus would become negotiating educational agreements with game companies.
- Mike Rae 1:55 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  In general, video games are something kids do for fun, so using them as a medium for education could potentially ‘trick’ kids into learning while enjoying themselves.
- rebecca42 12:09 am on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  We are a culture with a big focus on entertainment, so I believe that this area is one that will expand and become more important in education.
- visramn 12:41 am on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  The net generation of learners thrives on technology. It is a part of every aspect of their life. Gaming is huge in these individuals lives because they have been exposed to it in some shape or form from a very young age. They respond to digital material in a different way. Since they are drawn to and respond to digital tools such as games it makes sense to use these tools as a means of sharing and building on knowledge.
- stammik 7:36 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  As a secondary school teacher, I feel this form of motiviation could be very effective for engaging teenage learners, though like many of the technologies listed here, it will require computer based classrooms or BYOT to be implemented effectively,
- Ranvir 3:39 pm on September 11, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  From an instructional design perspective, gamification provides lot of opportunities for motivating learners, engaging them to learn and have ‘fun’ simultaneously and collaborate with like minded peers to form learning communities. I strongly feel that if done right, this can become one of the hottest learning technologies in future!
- stammik 12:43 pm on September 12, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  As a follow up to this topic, here is an interesting new venture, that is in now in beta testing, for teaching photography. I plan on checking it out for my own students.
  
  http://www.petapixel.com/2012/09/12/lunchbox-combines-online-photography-learning-with-game-mechanics/
Pat A Son 2:39 am on November 26, 2012
1 votes
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The Pitches Patason’s_Elevator_Pitch.wmv http://youtu.be/y0h7UmugwjM Patason’sVenture_pitch.mp4 http://youtu.be/xbwpeNLPC5E Reflection My idea for the product designed for this course began some years ago with the release of the ipad. It started when my colleague and good friend that sits next to me- a Macappresiendo complained about the new device that Steve Jobs was making and his dissatisfaction with […]
Continue reading The Pitches Patason’s_Elevator_Pitch.wm… Posted in: General, Venture Forum

Pat A Son, Patrick Pichette, Scott and 7 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- avninder 1:34 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Patason,
  I choose to view your entire pitch because I was intrigued by the tablet notebook folding motion in your elevator pitch. I think you totally hit the mark in terms of using the media to portray your message in the pitches and the images you used were interesting and relevant. I also liked that you used reviews from various sources to increase your credibility.
  You mentioned that there are who competitors have the ability to use the portal ability but only for certain types of phones. Is your competition also able to use the notepad/keyboard function? Even though it is patented, does something similar exist?
  I am currently not an avid tablet user, although I use my smartphone all the time. To be able seamlessly move all of your information to a bigger screen with more flexibility is a huge advantage.
  There was also a lot of information in your pitch regarding the growth of cell phone use. But since your venture is the tablet and its patented features, you may want to consider keeping the focus on how a tablet could be marketed to current smart phone users in the education field.
  The only other suggestion I would have is giving more information about yourself and the development team. Your pitch was convincing and knowledgeable but if there were more details regarding your educational background and relevant work experience, you would gain credibility.
  If I had a million dollars lying around, I would consider investing. Good job!
  - Pat A Son 11:06 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thank you avninder.
    Your Comments are valid and would certainly help my venture
    Patason
- Ranvir 4:23 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  An excellent venture concept considering the mLearning market is booming. I also like the ability of smartphone plugging into a tablet device – very novel ideal indeed.
  
  As an investor, I would like to know more about you, your experience in this market and proposed marketing plan to recoup the investment of $1million.
  - Pat A Son 11:13 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thanks Ranvir,
    I was going to do some financial projection but left them out when I discovered we did not have to do any ‘money’ since my video was getting big and unwieldy.
    
    Patason
- Mike Rae 4:48 am on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Patason,
  
  I love the idea of being able to turn a smart phone into a tablet. This device could be especially useful for schools wanting to employ a BYOD program, considering that a lot more students have smart phones on them than tablets, the school could purchase something like your product in bulk and have the kids use their smart phones in them.
  
  part of my problem with doing work on my tablet is that I miss my keyboard, and this product would be a solution for me.
  
  I would have liked to hear more about your marketing plan and where you would sell your product, and of course a little more about you and your background.
  
  I felt a little hypnotized by the repetition of the animation of the product, but in a good way. It may have brain washed me into thinking that people would use it! good work,
  
  MIKE
  - Pat A Son 6:34 am on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thank you Mike,
    Your point are all valid but rendering took longer than I planned and I had issues that I do not care to mention here that got in the way so I did not do as good a job as I had planned.
    My target is education, business and emerging markets that will be serviced by our distributors as I imagined the company to be an O.E.M. Customers can still purchase directly via our website however. We will pay special attention to schools as we want our customers to be ‘hooked for life. So to this end we will have special deals with volume discounts for academic institutions.’
    Within the next five years we expect that 40% of tablet owners and 30% of smart phone users will be using our product.
    
    ME:- An educator with 25 years experience, For the last ten I was director of the educational technology unit of the ministry of education.
    
    Tooooo Late
- frank 10:06 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Pat,
  You have a great Idea here!
  I think you have good know-how related to the business elements of this venture: the pain point: marketing, the Ask, the Return etc.
  If you want to people to invest real money into this idea of yours, I suggest you do 2-things:
  1) I would go and study successful spin-off products from popular technologies and study how they worked with OEM’s to develop their Spin-offs. If you can get the even 1 of the Tablet providers on board, this will go a long way for you in getting their support: they will share their design specs with you and you can potentially get exclusive rights to being their supplier if you can earn their trust – if they compete with you like Microsoft did with Netscape, you’ll be dead in the water before you start.
  I would not spread myself too thin here; you’re better off creating a solid product for 1-technology platform, then something mediocre that suits several different ones. Even if you work with India’s $20 project, I think this venture will eventually pay off.
  The key thing is to build a relationship with the OEM you want to support.
  2) If you want to be the next Steve Jobs with this product, you’re going to have to find a couple of Wozniak’s who can design and deliver a solid product for you. I would search high and low for those guys and get them rolling ASAP. If you have a solid product, everything else will follow. To do that, you’ll need some Angel money from family and friends, line of credit etc ($100k) to fund the prototype in the first year. If you have the right guys, I think it’s a risk worth taking.
  
  Great idea and Good Luck!
  - Pat A Son 4:39 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thanks for your suggestions Frank.
    You make me feel as if am ready for the big times.
    
    Patason
- kstackhouse 10:51 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Great presentation and very thorough. I loved the animation with your presentation. There is a children’s toy that let’s you connect a smart phone (I think iPhone) to it to access more information. I thought of it when I saw your presentation. It is similar to your idea, where the resources of the phone are being drawn-upon to make the original device more powerful and provide more features. You can take a look here: http://itikes.com/. It would make sense that this is something that would be useful for adults too. Nice work.
  - Pat A Son 4:39 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thank you Ken
- C. Ranson 9:05 am on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Pat,
  
  I agree, great idea! I think your product would be very marketable and you have identified the student target group that would be a very interested in this product. Your elevator pitch and presentation are very impressive. I would invest in your product! BRAVO.
  
  Catherine
  - Pat A Son 4:40 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thank you Catherine
- jenniferschubertubc 9:13 am on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  You had me at adapter, Patason! I do think that mobile computing is certainly the wave of the future, especially having gone through my own hardware woes during my travels. I have had to learn about many different ways to communicate, collaborate and work, through necessity over interest. You product has me extremely excited about the future of this technolgy.
  
  Your elevator pitch was very thorough, containing lots of valuable information, including research backup, flaws in currently available devices, and description of your new product. (I think the biggest thing for me was unlimited power supply! Well done there!!) Your venture pitch naturally brought in more specific information, including relevant facts and figures outlining the market share, which I found helpful in evaluating the importance of such a product.
  
  My only question relates to the adapters. Will they indeed be able to accommodate every type of mobile phone, or those that are touch screen technology only. (Only touch screens are shown in the animation, but “all phones” is mentioned several times in the pitch.) Will even the old flip phone work here? I suspect that most mobile owners will have the latest, but undoubtedly there will still be students who cannot afford that level of technology. That is not a primary concern for your product however, but may be a question asked by an administration who is determining whether or not to integrate it into the educational system.
  
  Overall, I was very impressed with the product! It reminds me of the Microsoft Surface they keep advertising here in the UK, but your adapter technology (and unlimited power supply) are what make it unique and pioneering. If I had the money, I would back you tomorrow!
  - Pat A Son 5:03 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thank you Jennifer,
    
    The technology is for smartphone because they share the same technology with tablets so it easy to make a portal to convert a smartphone to a tablet. To do this with a feature phone would be a more expensive and less profitable affair.
    
    Cheers
    Patason
- Scott 2:01 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Indeed, at its core this is an original idea which shows potential.
  
  As a CEO Patason, you seem very knowledgeable and passionate about your product, which is a critical strength. I am also quite impressed by your team as presented in your written reflection – thank you by the way, for sharing a well written summary of your venture.
  
  Where I begin to have reservations about the idea is with its concept and marketability. The concept of a folding ‘dock’ is novel and addresses many of the pain points of mobile technology as you note, however at least two concerns immediately come to my mind:
  
  Firstly, your case, takes away to a certain degree, from the ultra portability and desecrate size of tablets and smartphones. I love my phone because I can take it anywhere and use it with one hand. I love my tablet because I can cozy up with it in my lap to read and type. After Jon Ive struggles with the form factor for a device for years and sources durable materials to construct it with, I’m just not inclined to add an extra case to it.
  
  Secondly, how does the hardware you add, particularly the stylus integrate with existing apps? Can I still use Evernote, GoodReader and the other apps I enjoy, as I always have?
  
  In terms of marketability, you have some solid references to support your products need, however some of the charts in your venture pitch were a bit dated – one from 2010 which notes that RIM’s market share is near what Apple’s is, which of course is no longer the case.
  
  Finally, I am left feeling somewhat uncertain of what I am getting for my 1 million dollar investment – how will the money be used (though numbers were not an explicit component of our projects).
  
  I hope I am not being overly critical here, but in my mind, the concept and plan need some clarification and review before I could consider investing.
  - Pat A Son 5:22 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Hi Scott,
    
    I love your thoroughness because this approach will bring the best out of any product you look at. As for the case it is valid concern but the main idea here is that you have to weigh the protection factor, creative affordances and unlimited battery life against form factor. Students will overlook the latter because the others will make the difference in their education. Considering that this is all you would need for school it is not an unreasonable assumption. The stylus is compatible with the current crop of drawing software.
    
    Cheers
    Patason
- Patrick Pichette 7:20 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Patason,
  
  I appreciated the enthusiasm you showed in your venture and although you attack a pain point regarding the limitations of a smartphone by adding additional affordances, I just felt as though you were adding bulk to a perfectly working device for its function. If I want a tablet, I’ll buy a tablet while as if I want a smartphone, I’ll buy a smartphone. I don’t see much reason for buying a smartphone and then having to carry around the additional bulk that will likely not see much use. I’d rather carry around a VGA adapter, HDMI adapter or make use of an Apple TV along with a bluetooth keyboard when the need for projecting my screen’s content to a larger screen arises. The built-in Airplay functionality of an iPhone tackles much of what you propose and with a charger cable, there is unlimited battery power for using your device in this way. Still, your passion and motivation were evident and although it is an interesting proposition, I would likely look to invest elsewhere as I’m not convinced that it’s a feasible product.
  - Pat A Son 10:27 am on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Hi Patrick,
    
    Thank you for your suggestions. It is clear that the creative product line is not for you. However you must remember that students are one of the main target groups of my products and they will have to weigh the tradeoff between added bulk and creative tools with unlimited battery life. From your scenario we have to remember that there will be times in the field when a plug is not available and the creative package is less bulky than an apple TV plus a keyboard. Finally not everyone lives by the all things apple mantra.
    
    Cheers
    Patason
manny 11:15 pm on November 25, 2012
1 votes
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Display Recording App

I have provided the links below to my elevator pitch and venture pitch for a proposed display recording app. I have a few things to tweak but hope you enjoy it….. Elevator Pitch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqvr7BLGSjI Venture Pitch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMSNz9c5YzE Looking forward to feedback, Manny
Continue reading Display Recording App Posted in: Venture Forum

rebeccaharrison, adi, manny and 7 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- Lisa Nevoral 1:21 am on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hey Manny,
  
  Your elevator and venture pitch state that “this video is private”. Just thought I’d let you know.
  
  Lisa
- manny 11:25 am on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Thanks Lisa,
  
  I will change the settings right away.
- Doug Connery 10:46 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Manny:
  
  Great project, you have identified a gap in the market based on the costing structure alone. This type of venture is not in my interest area, however if it was then I would look closer at it.
  
  Good luck.
  
  Doug.
- Colin 10:20 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Manny, good job on the presentation and I do agree that the price they are presently charging is too high to be considered by an educational institution. Especially if they have to spend this for every single Ipad that they have. I also agree that the number of downloads would go up as a result of making it free. However, I don’t know if the app would make enough money by just using advertising as this often doesn’t produce much money. I have ran some websites based on advertising revenue but the statistic is one click for 0.09 for every 100 people. I am not familiar with the app advertising market but I don’t think it is that much better. Also you are faced with the problem of making your app annoying to people by placing large ads everywhere or reduce your revenue by only having smaller ads. The idea of a lite and deluxe version is more of a possibility with advertising on the lite version and limited features. I like the idea of the app but I don’t see it as a money maker. In addition I just went on Google and 33% of developers use the advertising model and their average revenue is $1498.00. You would really have to look at selling many different kinds of apps to create a good monthly return.
  http://www.fiercedeveloper.com/story/vision-mobile-average-mobile-app-revenue-under-4k/2012-06-25
  
  Cheers, Colin
  - manny 1:45 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Hi Colin,
    I clearly need to conduct more research within the revenue capabilities of in app advertising. Ultimately, simple supply/demand economics would indicate that revenues are directly proportional to the popularity of an app. If I was to make this app a paid app, the pricing would be tricky to determine because if its too high, then no one will purchase it. Thanks for your feedback, it opened my eyes to both revenue options.
- teacherben 7:11 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Manny. I enjoyed watching both videos. I applaud you for being ambitious and using the green screen. You showcased your technical skills. The CEO comes off as likeable which should not be underestimated. If you are a fun and friendly guy, put yourself front and center. If I have to work with you and trust you with my money, it’s easier if I can get along with you.
  
  I am always cautious of products that target the education industry but rely on advertising to generate revenue. Many educators are uncomfortable with this and I think in general, would prefer paying for a useful app to ensure that students are not exposed to advertising in the classroom.
  
  While I think it’s important to let people know upfront about the competition, you may have gone over the top a bit. The elevator pitch dedicates almost a third of it’s one minute to discussing the competition. You could have used some of that time to give us a little more. Also, in your venture pitch, you point out that Apple missed an opportunity to include this useful feature into iOS 6. This is dangerous ground for you to tread. For example, with the release of iOS 6, Apple introduced emoticons into the system. Then, they booted all the 3rd party emoticon apps out of the app store. If Apple chooses to include this feature in their next update, they could do the same to you.
  
  You did a lot of useful research about the app markets in general and I enjoyed watching that and learned quite a bit about app development. But I think you needed to be a bit more focused on your specific product, what will differentiate it, the market need, the target user etc…
  
  So, while I would agree that this is a good idea and that there is good reason to consider taking it further, I don’t think I would invest in this venture at the present time.
  
  Incidentally, if you do believe in this idea and want to get it off the ground, you could get it done for you fairly cheaply by checking on odesk and contracting out the job. There are lots of great programmers in less affluent parts of the world that will do your programming for you for under 5 bucks an hour. I bet you could get this to market for a few hundred bucks. Hire one person to do the programming and hire someone else to do the artwork and you are good to go. Apple provides a lot of resources to get your app into the app store and make it very easy to enable in-app advertisements.
  
  Good luck!
- manny 1:39 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Ben,
  Thank you for the recommendations that you have made, it is difficult to argue against them. The hardest part of this assignment was the elevator pitch and I was worried that I may have spent too much time on competitors. Your comments have validated that and in retrospect, I should have focused more specifically on my product. The 1 minute limit made this part of the assignment very difficult to portray the main ideas clearly and concisely.
  Manny
- jameschen 3:58 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Manny,
  
  I enjoyed watching your elevator pitch. Your explanation of the differences between paid and ad-based apps is very informative. I had not realized that Jing was not available on the iPad, so there is definitely a need for free screen capturing apps on the iPad. Then I wondered how advertisements would pan out when the images/videos are captured. Would there be ads on the captured images/videos? As an investor, I would be interested to find out more about the product through your venture pitch if there was a product that has already been built (fictional or not), because from an investor’s perspective to invest in something that is still in the development stage is risky since the market has not yet been tested.
  
  Thanks for a good presentation.
  
  James
- cunnian 12:08 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Manny,
  Good job on the elevator pitch. Much of your time was spent explaining how your product is different from others. I think that this was time well spent as it is critical to the success of this pitch. The venture pitch itself elaborated on these differences and nicely informed potential investors of how the different revenue streams work in the app world.
  While you’ve made a convincing argument about how in-app advertising would provide revenue, as an investor I am wondering where this advertising would be found. If you are doing screen capturing, clearly the ads will not be on the screen while you are recording. Being that users will be spending most of their time in the app recording, they won’t see the ads.
  
  You speak very confidently and you’ve done your homework on how to make your money, but I think that there’s still work to be done on the product itself.
  
  Thanks for the great pitches!
  - manny 5:51 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    I was thinking that the ads would be in the actual app when you open it. The way display recording works is that it doesn’t record the actual app but rather what you do on your display. Therefore there would be no ads in your final recording, they would only be seen in the background when editing the video. Now that I think about it, advertising is perhaps a bad way to go about this when pitching to investors because it really depends on the popularity of the app. It is a big risk to take but also can yield big rewards.
- melissaayers 1:36 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  You really aimed these pitches at EVAs great work Manny.
  
  Great idea and identification of a market opportunity. You identified the pain point (price) and gave detailed coverage of other apps currently on the market. You clearly describe how you are going to provide a product that has a value proposition (free vs 9.95) and how you are going to achieve this. Definitely an example elevator pitch which made me continue to your venture pitch to learn more.
  
  However, after the research I did for my own venture pitch I discovered how hard it is to market an app in the current online marketplaces. How difficultl it is to get an app featured and the generally huge cost in marketing required to get apps in the top listed. For this reason I probably would not invest in your venture despite your excellent pitches sorry (neither would I invest in my own for similar reasons in the end I think).
  
  Thanks
  Melissa
- manny 7:04 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Considering my projects/papers thus far in the MET program, this venture assignment was the most challenging and yet fun activity I have completed. Upon reflecting on both my elevator and pitch proposals, it was evident that they contained many strengths and weaknesses. Upon completing the two pitches, I did have a few reservations in mind; these were then validated through the feedback that was provided by my peers.
  
  Elevator Pitch
  The elevator pitch production by far was the most difficult section of this assignment. The one-minute time limit became the enemy and really made me think about what it is that I want to convey. Given the circumstances, one needs to sift out specific details and get to the point in a clear and concise manner. I think a strength within my pitch is that I identified a void within the current marketplace. Unfortunately, I may have spent too much of the allocated time discussing the competitors when I should have regained the focus back to the product. I also had lighting issues when using the green screen function that took up valuable time and numerous takes. Overall, I am happy with the content of my elevator pitch as I felt that I left it all out there and in this scenario, it is the most important thing you can do.
  
  Venture Pitch
  This production also required critical thinking in how to best tell a story about your product that makes sense and would convince an investor to part with their money. I think the visuals that I provided throughout the pitch helped in keeping the potential investors engaged with the idea. I tried to come off as confident as possible as I really do believe that such a product could really take off. Upon submission, I was a little skeptical of whether I had explained the revenue structure thoroughly enough. My main focus was on introducing an ad-supported app that would raise revenue through advertising versus one-time user pay apps. I think I should have done more research in this area and presented actual figures rather than trends.
  
  In conclusion, if I were to go back and do it again, I would tweak the weaknesses mentioned above. What I have realized is that regardless of the pitch that is proposed, one will always have regrets. There really is no such thing as the perfect pitch and it is a phenomenon that is dynamic and can easily change with the audience. It was exciting to step into a venture capitalists shoes and this assignment allowed me to gain an appreciation of a world I am not too familiar with.
- adi 10:41 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.
  
  I am going to base my feedback on what we saw in week 3 regarding the content of a venture pitch(Perfecting Your Pitch).
  
  1. Pain Point: the market gap or problem the venture is addressing
  – There is a market and not many options out there.
  
  2. Solution: the new product or service that resolves the pain
  – Offers a free APP and 2 versions (light or Pro), depending on whether the buyer wants advertising or not.
  
  3. Differentiation: the reason someone will buy or use this new product or service, versus the alternatives
  – Yes, a difference in price and what the APP can do.
  
  3. Marketing: where and how buyers/users will be reached
  – Has very good knowledge of both the Android and IPad market, and how it is changing.
  
  4. Championship: the competency of the venture’s leaders and advisors
  Does not mention them, but he comes across as knowing his market and product well
  
  5. Competition: an overview of competitors and partners
  – Good overview
  
  6. The Ask: how much money, etc, is required to take the next step
  Yes, it’s clear; through advertising
  
  7. The Return: how much and how soon will an investor be recompensed
  – Not in detail
  
  8. The Message
  – Well presented, with confidence and showing thorough knowledge of the market and product.
  
  This was a very well researched and presented venture that I would invest in. My only worry is the fact that the next generation of phones will no doubt soon offer this as a feature. However, you appear to be ahead of the market, so should that happen, I am sure you will find a new App to offer. Well done Manny! Great work!
- rebeccaharrison 6:02 pm on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Manny,
  I apologize for the late post as well.
  I agree that this is an awesome idea, and I am very interested in it, but was on the fence about whether or not I would invest. I appreciate that you clearly laid out your position in the elevator pitch, and were explicitly gearing your information towards investors. I decided against investing, purely based on the fact that it seems difficult to create the revenue. I believe that the app would be widely used, however, I’m not sure that there would be much return. Great work on both videos!
sophiabb 12:08 am on November 26, 2012
1 votes
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Tags: Adoption, AEP-Online

AEP-Online

The social services is rich and rewarding environment to work in but one that is often slow to adopt technology. The adoption community of families, social workers, and other professionals is no different. Yet, this is a sector that provides a lot of education for its constituents. Adoption education is mandated by law for families […]
Continue reading AEP-Online Posted in: Venture Forum

sophiabb, frank, Patrick Pichette and 5 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- avninder 1:45 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I am unable to view your pitches as there are “private” in YouTube. thx
  - sophiabb 2:21 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Avninder, my apologies. They are now public.
- avninder 2:26 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi sophiabb,
  I viewed your elevator pitch and I think your concept is great. I never knew that there was a educational component to adoption. Potential parents not completing the requirements in a timely manner can have many negative consequences as you pointed out. Good luck if this is something that you will pursue.
  - sophiabb 3:09 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thanks Avninder.
- Paula Poodwan 5:00 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Sophia
  
  I believe your venture is very unique, interesting, and viable. It will help save time and cost for your organization, you will not have to spend money for organizing the workshops. Your buyers will also save time from attending the face to face workshops, just attend it online. Very good idea!
  
  I clicked your venture pitch to find out more details because I am interested in your venture. Basically I got the info I wanted like the marketing, the team, the competitors etc. But I’m wondering how come your venture pitch is only 59 secs long. Did you provide the wrong one? Is it supposed to be 7-8 mins long?
  - sophiabb 2:09 am on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Hi Paula, I did provide the wrong one – without audio. I have provided the link to the correct one but have left the other link up, because that was posted by the due date. Thanks for the interest in my venture and your feedback.
- Mike Rae 5:58 am on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Sophia, I thought your elevator pitch was great and it sounds like there is a real pain point there. Too bad I couldn’t see your full venture pitch though (no audio and only 59 seconds)
  MIKE
  looking forward to seeing it though
  - sophiabb 2:10 am on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Hi Mike the correct link is now up. Thanks for your feedback.
- C. Ranson 12:53 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Sophia,
  Your venture pitch is very interesting. I didn’t realize there was such a problem in the adoption process and that there was a mandatory educational component. I was under the impression that adoptive parents were waiting patiently for adoptions to come up but your information is telling us otherwise. Your solution to this problem sounds very viable, your team is credible and your marketing strategy is strong. Being the first online program will give you a competitive edge and create better access for the consumer. Will your revenue be generated through families paying for the course or through companies that will use your services, or both?
  
  Well done.
  Catherine
  - sophiabb 7:36 pm on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Hi Catherine,
    
    Thanks for your feedback. At this time we are thinking of both. Families paying – cost will match the face-to-face at launch as well as partners paying for our service.
- jenniferschubertubc 4:53 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Sophia!
  
  What a unique find in the venture presentations! I think when most people think education, typical classroom lessons come to mind, whether they be K-12 or adult education. To see a project in action which placed it in broader terms of requirements for something so unique and special as adoption was quite refreshing!
  
  The elevator pitch really brought the pain point across about affording more access to the educational piece required for these families to adopt. It is painful to see children waiting for families, especially when something as trivial as access to the education stands in a potential family’s way. I do believe that your product would serve to remedy that issue and bring many more children home to families who desperately want them.
  
  The team all seem to be quite qualified with experience in both the educational and social services fields. I was very impressed and touched that a member of the team is an adoptive parent. There is nothing like first hand knowledge of these situations. I also felt, as a potential investor, somewhat secure knowing that the government guarantees a rate of return if social outcomes are met.
  
  I would also like to know how the revenue would work going forward. Would your service be something included in the general adoption fees? (Would your course be compensated as the face to face courses are now?)
  
  Well done!
  - sophiabb 7:34 pm on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Hi Jennifer,
    
    At this time are not thinking of including the price in the general adoption fee – which can range from a few hundred dollars for local adoptions and as much as $60,000 for international. We are seeing this as at the price for the face-to-face is at about $750 per person.
- Patrick Pichette 7:29 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Sophia,
  
  I appreciated the research and presentation of the pain point. I can see how this venture would be beneficial for adopting parents but in terms of an investment, I don’t see how I could get my money back through the limited market that would benefit from its implementation. I get the feeling that this would need to be pitched more towards a government grant than a typical investment venture. Still, I was very captivated by the efforts you are making to attack a very essential pain point felt by people in this situation. Thank you for sharing!!
  - sophiabb 7:30 pm on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thanks for your feedback Patrick.
- frank 11:40 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Sophia,
  
  This is a great niche market opportunity.
  You build your pain point out of a legislative demand and a market need that is currently frustrated and not adequately met via traditional methods.
  I can see how the accessibility and scalability of your business will give it a competitive advantage over the current alternatives.
  I think your venture concept is original and feasible and has credibility to help it gain leverage and support over time.
  You have potential partners and sponsors ready to go, great!
  I don’t think marketing will be an issue, as long as the users are happy with your product.
  In that regard, I recommend you conduct talks with stakeholders and hold focus groups with past participants to really understand their needs pain points.
  In terms of the business model and venture plan, I recommend you do not do the NPO thing, and instead vie for a standard business model or a social venture. As far as the impact of the business itself is concerned, I think any model you use will have both an economic and a social impact. This idea saves clients money, while making adoption easier and it can still make money as a business and with its exit strategy, should you ever choose to use that. An NPO will wash out the latter two benefits for you.
  I’m ready to Invest.
  In fact, I’m ready to work with you if you need an intrepid business analyst/developer.
  GL!
  - sophiabb 7:29 pm on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thanks Frank. I will give some thought to your suggestions.
Colin 2:15 am on November 25, 2012
1 votes
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Tags: v-project, venture pitch

V-Project

For my A3 project I created a company called V-Projects. The V stands for Virtual 3-D Worlds and the projects refers to its emphasis on project based learning with our course material. I have both pitches as a video with my self reflection included at the end of the venture pitch. Elevator Pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCq06ncMi70 Venture […]
Continue reading V-Project Posted in: Venture Forum

sophiabb, melissaayers, Scott and 8 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- jenbarker 12:31 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Colin,
  I really enjoyed your pitches. Which program did you use? I use iMovie and would love to know how to impose graphics alongside my image. Your elevator pitch was great and included enough key information to catch my attention. Your Venture Pitch demonstrated the pain point, solution, and differentiation of your idea. You provided examples of your competition and reasons why your product is better. Your ask and return were clear too. I liked how you mixed graphics with the video of you speaking. You conveyed enthusiasm and knowledge of your topic. The only weakness I saw was similar to what you pointed out, I am not sure that the CEO’s background experience is enough to champion this venture. Here I might have added some fictional information to your CEO and additional executive team member to garner more credibility. Overall, I thought you venture was great. Thanks for sharing, Jen
  - Colin 7:17 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thank-you Jen, the elevator pitch was my experiment with PowerPoint and the venture pitch was all done Adobe Premiere Pro. I agree that I could have made a fictional executive team to make it more believable as my experience wouldn’t be enough to make it successful.
- joeltremblay 4:21 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hey Colin,
  Great presentation values. The talking heads feel suitably hi tech and I thought that the elevator and concepts were really well thought out. Good job.
- Jonathan 9:16 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Colin —
  
  Awesome. Adobe Premiere Pro? Were the background images already given as samples or did you need to recreate them? Did you have to green screen it to make it work? With respect to your virtual world idea — i’d say that the way you did the video matched it very well.
  
  So back to the video! — Experiment with powerpoint? How was it done?
  
  My favourite part of it was the connection with your virtual world to an LMS — that to me makes this an important feature that we (as teachers don’t currently have). I’m curious as to how these assignments will tie into the LMS though. Other than that — I’d say you have my money!
  - Colin 9:07 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Hi Jonathan, no I used free video backgrounds and then just removed the blue screen and replaced it with this video. The Elevator pitch was done in PowerPoint where I had only one slide with animations all timed out. Then exported to video in PowerPoint. It worked okay but I do like Adobe Premiere Pro better.
- tomwhyte1 10:10 am on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  To facilitate and objectively review the venture pitch you have put forward, I will be utilizing the guidelines provided within our course, Section 2.7 – Deconstructing a Pitch.
  
  CEO & Team:
  
  The CEO of V-Project appears credible, convey’s confidence in this venture, and has experienced the development and implementation of this project into a traditional classroom environment, and witnessed the potential of this approach in other educational settings. Unfortunately, no information was provided regarding the rest of V-Projects team, therefore a firm assessment of their ability to manage a start-up to a successful venture cannot be provided at this time.
  
  Venture Concept:
  
  Even though the concept of virtual worlds is now commonplace within the world of educational technology, thanks to such ventures as Second Life, the specific focus of this venture for distance learning, when combined with the ability for institutions or individuals to rent spaces, provide historical recreations, purchase individual courses, and even offer online tutoring services, sets this venture apart. From the information provided, it appears that this company has done the pre-requisite research to determine its potential viability, however before investing a review of this literature would need to occur. Overall though, V-Projects is an interesting concept, that deserves further review.
  
  Marketability:
  
  V-Projects discusses the potential of going global with this service, however specific information regarding potential customer base is lacking, making guesses on market size, share and potential revenue difficult to complete at this. Further information is needed in this area to determine if there is enough need for this market to ensure its success. As for this companies competitive edge, they have provided intriguing features that most schools and teachers would like, such as the ability to control elements such as language and clothing, as well as bullying safety features, all of which are necessary in an online learning environment. A potential concern for investors is the use of the Open Source software as the foundation for this online learning environment. While, this company has made enhancements and additions, further research into the legal requirements of sharing these (due to the open source movement), puts into question the innovative advantages they currently possess.
  
  Venture Plan:
  
  V-Projects is currently in Beta Testing, and feels with a small investment will be able to enter the market, and within 5 years return this investment. This will be accomplished through what appears to be a freemium model, with additions of course purchasing, space rental, and tutoring services, each of which provides good revenue sources to make this venture a success. Overall, before investing I would like to experience proof of concept, and investigate the infrastructure V-Projects has set-up to ensure a consistent and effective online presence.
- Pat A Son 11:32 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Colin
  You are certainly a confident and credible CEO and your venture has a certain appeal to me. However you did not provide any information about your team but I am willing to overlook this omission and rate this venture on the impression you have made via your pitches.
  
  As for your venture it is certainly viable and you have assembled a credible set of tools that makes for a believable platform for learning in a 3D environment. However I have are some major concerns about your venture.
  
  The first is I believe that the open source license requires that all modified source code be made available in the spirit of openness to facilitate further development of the software. Yet you speak of a proprietary design for your product. The second is that I do not see virtual worlds as a replacement for current LMS but extension to them. I make this claim against the theory of multiple intelligences from which we can predict that all students would not prefer virtual worlds. As for control I believe that simply recording all activities and letting this be agreed to upon signup will be a more efficient way of managing deviant behavior.
  On the issue of competition I would have liked to get more detail on what gives your product the competitive edge over other similar products.
  
  Education has been slow in adopting IT technology and I am not sure that it will readily accept something as sophisticated as 3d technology at the moment.
  You have a very good venture that needs to be tweaked as I have suggested but I am afraid that it is ahead of its time and as such I would not invest in it right now. Nevertheless you did a great job and I am truly impressed.
  
  Cheers
  Patason
- visramn 3:33 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Collin,
  
  I think this is a great idea but I think most educational systems are still too far behind in term of their current technological use to be able to take on such a brilliant learning approach. I do however feel that a tool like this would definitely be very successful in the future. Your pitch and venture analysis were extremely engaging. I was drawn in and wanted to learn more. You did a phenomenal job with the technical components of this assignment. You were very confident as the CEO of the company and your mannerisms, tone of voice and body language were a plus point. This confidence made me have belief in your product. You used the term ‘we’ throughout your presentation. Hence, you were referring to your team but your team was not mentioned. Other than that, I thought you did a great job.
  Thanks for sharing this excellent work. It is inspiring to see how a project such as this can be made engaging through aesthetics. .Your effort is evident. You are a talented guy.
  Nureen
- jameschen 2:06 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Colin,
  
  I enjoyed watching your elevator pitch. You provided information on most of the important points in an elevator pitch, and if your pain point was followed by the product differentiation my interests would be stirred even more. The 100% return on investment in 5 years sounds good if there are figures in the venture pitch to back it up.
  
  Thanks for a solid presentation.
  
  James
- Scott 12:13 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Colin, the careful preparation and professional delivery of your pitch make it quite credible and convincing.
  
  Many of my colleagues have already touched on the strengths and weaknesses of the pitch in terms of the criteria presented in this course. As Tom also mentioned, I particularly appreciated your attention to the subject of accountability for students actions in the virtual environment you outlined – the concern for cyberbullying would be foremost in the minds of my schools administrators with such a product. I also concur, that further details regarding your management team would add to the strength of the pitch.
  
  In my naïve knowledge of virtual environments, the concept as presented seems sound, though I remain somewhat perplexed by the benefit of its open source SIM foundation which is then combined with other propriety features. In the end, is it open source?
  
  While the exact size of the market remains a bit vague, in general I can foresee a potential market for this venture in the future. With the venture plan proposed and the financial details provided, the success of the venture appears fairly high. In the end however, due to my own lack of understanding of the technology in general, I would not invest in the venture.
  
  As a final comment and one which could apply easily to other pitches and how the assignment instructions in general are being interpreted – I’m not certain an 8min video pitch is the best ‘medium for this message’. The production value was high in this video and the lower 3rd graphics helped, but in the end, I feel lengthy video pitches of this nature, are at risk of becoming too densely packed with information – I might prefer reading and lingering over the details of this and others pitches instead.
- melissaayers 2:41 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Colin,
  
  Great pitches and use of video! I am impressed you were able to do this with the tools you listed you used.
  
  In your elevator pitch you clearly identify a pain point (high costs and not appealing alternatives) and what the proposed product you pitch will do to minimize this. The product/service you want to provide is succinctly describe and you ask clearly for an investment and identify how it will be used and when it will be paid back. Based on the elevator pitch, its content and professional feel I definitely was drawn to go learn more and review the venture pitch.
  
  Despite the fact I think you have a great idea and concept as an EVA I am not sure I would invest in this venture. This is purely for the reason that I think currently the cost of developing this venture’s product/services (with current development technologies) will be quite high and I am not sure investors would be able to get a decent return on investment.
  
  Thanks,
  Melissa
- sophiabb 10:59 am on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Colin,
  
  Great use of PowePoint and Adobe Premiere. I found your elevator pitch very credible. It addressed your product, problem, solution, target market and ask.
  
  I concur with another colleague that an 8 min video is not necessarily the best medium for the venture pitch, but you did an excellent job with it.
  
  Your presentation of your product demonstrated your research into how to leverage the affordances of virtual worlds for project=based learning, attention to potential risks such as cyber bullying and plans to mitigate.
  
  Your ask and return were clearly stated. Your market was identified but I could have liked more information on the size of the market to be better able to ascertain financial feasibility. However, your marketing/revenue plans were of different revenue options to investors are attractive and are options that I would be open to learning more about.
  
  While you came across as a confident and credible CEO I would need more information on your team’s relevant skill sets and abilities to design, plan and implement a business of this nature to inform my decision to invest or not.
  
  Overall, an intriguing venture proposition. One that I would invite a submission of a business plan.
  
  Sophia
jenbarker 7:48 pm on November 25, 2012
1 votes
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Tags: Evernote Folio, Jennifer Barker

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 […]
Continue reading Evernote FOLIO Posted in: Venture Forum

C. Ranson, Patrick Pichette, jenniferschubertubc and 4 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- 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
Doug Connery 9:49 am on November 25, 2012
1 votes
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Tags: Business Solutions Technology, Elevator Pitch

Hey There Business Pro

Rather than being a Venture Capitalist, I need you to imagine being a member of Deans’ Council of a Post-secondary institute. The two are really much the same as Dean’s, along with Vice Presidents are accountable for spending Tax Payers’ dollars wisely. The friend with $1 million to invest in this scenario therefore is Deans’ […]
Continue reading Hey There Business Pro Posted in: Venture Forum

Scott, Pat A Son, frank and 10 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- kstackhouse 1:43 pm on November 25, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Doug. I tried to watch your Venture Pitch video but the youtube video is private. You will need to adjust the privacy settings.
  
  Ken
- Doug Connery 3:32 pm on November 25, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Thanks Ken. Should be go to go now.
  
  Doug.
- avninder 3:29 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I enjoyed watching your elevator pitch. If I were an executive I would support this proposal as the more an administrative assistant can do the better. It seems like this program will ensure the development of skills that are necessary to keep up with the ever changing work environment and be attractive to recruiters in the industry. Coming from a union environment though, I am curious if higher level tasks may affect the job descriptions of the employees. Thanks for sharing.
- jenbarker 3:54 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Doug,
  I found both your elevator and venture pitch caught my attention. I think you have proven a pain point and solution for the market. Overall I felt your Venture Pitch was well research and thoughtful. You passion for the venture was evident. My only suggestion might be to further detail the background of the CEO (which I assume is you) and your executive team so that we can feel confident that you have what it takes to make this program successful. Overall, excellent pitches. Thanks for sharing!
  Best, Jen
- joeltremblay 4:00 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Doug,
  I enjoyed your elevator pitch as well and share the concerns of above with regards to outsourcing existing jobs by allowing the admin assistants to multitask. Good work.
- Jonathan 4:47 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hey Doug —
  
  That was an exciting pitch to watch. You have clearly highlighted an area of concern that is unique to the market (at least you convinced me of that!). This looks like a very sound proposal that you are submitting. I’d definitely be interested in the idea if I were part of the Dean Council.
  
  Thanks for this one!
- tomwhyte1 9:31 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  To facilitate and objectively review the venture pitch you have put forward, I will be utilizing the guidelines provided within our course, Section 2.7 – Deconstructing a Pitch.
  
  CEO & Team:
  
  After having watched the elevator pitch and read the venture proposal, I feel the CEO of this venture does appear credible, in that he is able to confidently discuss the issue and the approach in which they will take to solve the concern. As for the team provided to accomplish this task, I am less clear, as the proposal states the School of Business will be responsible for the development of the required elements to make this venture a success. I assume, that members of this faculty are credible, but would want to view credentials before moving forward.
  
  Venture Concept:
  
  Based upon the information provided, this venture does appear to be innovating while other similar institutions are cutting back, which may either mean this is a highly innovative approach, or else in the long run there are limiting factors which will reduce the effectiveness or viability of this venture, that at this time we are unaware of. Regardless, the “story” was very effective, which left me wanting to know more about the company and their approach.
  
  Marketability:
  
  The actual marketability of this venture was not provided, yet it was eluded to that enrollment for initial years would be lower, as requirements would be higher, but over time, more qualified graduates would emerge, leveling out this implementation dip. Regardless, not knowing this ventures true market size, potential share, and revenue makes this a risky proposition, therefore more specific research into this area is required. Secondly, from the information provided, the venture will be applying an innovative approach, if this is found successful, they will have a momentary lead on their competitors, however over the long run, these innovations will be easily duplicated, reducing their market share and revenue.
  
  Venture Plan:
  
  From the information provided, this venture feels that they would be operational within 2-3 years, which after that time, a full 2 year degree program (with practicum) would be made available for potential clients. As with any new program, there most likely will be tinkering after those three years to deal with unexpected issues, or advances in methodology or technology to enhance the delivery of the venture.
  
  Overall though, this venture plane knows what success looks like, and what overall steps need to be completed. As well, before investing, specific information on the type of venture, not-for-profit, for-profit, or social enterprise would need to be provided to ensure the right type of investor is exploring this venture.
- Doug Connery 10:44 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Great comments and points from everyone so far, thank you. The fact that interest was generated and more information is needed indicates several Deans would be interested in moving forward with this proposal. As this would be presented live at Deans’ Council then the questions could be answered on the spot.
  
  There is one assumption that I forgot to mention around the credibility of the CEO and the team. As this is a small to medium post-secondary institution, and everyone knows each other on a first name basis, I felt there was no need to expand on introducing myself in the video and the Dean of Business in the preamble. However point well taken as it would have been easy to quickly provide some info on the team for credibility sake.
  
  Doug.
- sophiabb 12:27 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Doug,
  
  I really enjoyed your elevator pitch. You came across as passionate and credible. Your pain point is very real – I would love to have an Administrative Assistant who could “to drive the work and provide solutions to your business problems.” I agree with the other post that more information on the CEO and team would improve the credibility factor. As an investor I would want to learn more
  Sophia
- visramn 12:41 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Excellent work. Your passion is evident and makes this a strong pitch. I was definitely drawn to this product and would be very interested as a venture. As others have highlighted, more information on the CEO would strengthen your venture.
  Thank you for sharing. You did an excellent job.
  Nureen
- jenniferschubertubc 10:05 am on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  As a former clinic business manager who was not trained in basic administrative skills but luckily got by on ingenuity, I would have loved to have attended such a program! I feel that all too often, administrative assistants are expected to have general office knowledge but are not pushed to do more. In many cases, those who work in the field may have ideas of their own to bring to the table (without training) but feel it is out of the scope of their position to present such ideas to those in higher ranking positions. Navigating those waters would be a great integral piece to your proposed program.
  
  I like that you have taken what seems to be an ordinary position and developed it further, redefining positions and titles. I do feel that people function much better in their profession when given respect, authority and drive to do more and to BE more. I think it is definitely a worthwhile venture and as a Dean (in any one of the departments you listed above), would surely give my stamp of approval.
- frank 2:44 am on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  What do we have here.. a private Joker
  
  Doug, I liked how you played with this, and yet, brought it back to something you have much exposure with from an academic and professional setting.
  Certainly, I think most business leaders would want to have assistants with better critical thinking and business technology skills – we don’t have to pay them more do we? No? Okay, great!
  My main recommendation is that you not entirely focus this program on the established needs of big organizations and corporations. If I am right – economists are NOT usually right – then the world of the future will be more bottom up driven, with smaller units that connect together in networks that allow them to remain innovative and nimble, instead of the safety and stability centered leviathan institutions of the past.
  These units will need their business solutions technologists to be exactly that; to provide real support to business and technology issues of the future, and I’m guessing here, but those challenges may not center primarily of another aging dinosaur platform, that of of Microsoft Office.
  Just a thought.
  Good luck with the Deans!
- Pat A Son 9:29 am on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Doug,
  
  You have a great elevator pitch and I think I got spoiled to it so I had a hard time switching from it to read the venture pitch. I never would have thought of an academic program as venture and this makes your venture special for me. Ideas like this would certainly keep education up to date with the times.
  
  Cheers
  Patason
- Scott 4:49 pm on December 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Kudos to you Doug, for taking such a creative interpretation of the assignment to best fit the challenges and opportunities present in your field of work. Though I have no background in business training or post secondary educational programming, in general the premise of your concept makes good sense to me, thanks to your clear pitch and presentation of the idea.
Peggy Lawson 3:01 pm on November 25, 2012
1 votes
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Early Learning Portfolios

My fictitious venture is for an integrated system to easily capture & manage portfolio evidence for early learning classrooms and generate portfolios of student development. As I’ve described in my relections section, I’d love to see this actual product. The elevator pitch is below, and you can find both it and my website venture […]
Continue reading Early Learning Portfolios Posted in: General, Venture Forum

Peggy Lawson, sophiabb, Pat A Son and 10 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- jenbarker 8:23 pm on November 25, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Peggy ~ I have a genuine interest in this area as well – as evidenced by my venture pitches. Your elevator pitch was great and has me hooked. I am going to follow the link now to your venture pitch. Best, Jen
- Ranvir 12:07 am on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Peggy, I really liked the elevator pitch and supplemental information on your website. Like Jen, I would be interested in knowing more about this initiative if this were to be pursued seriously. Fictitiously, I would be interested to invest although I wonder how much investment is required… Did you come up with any investment figures and how could investors re-coup their investment?
  - Peggy Lawson 10:42 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thanks Ranvir. I am definitely not a money person, and was very happy when David posted his comment that we could forgo concerns about the $$ aspect. Completely mandatory for a real venture pitch I know, but for me I simply would not have have the tme, or knowledge, to do anything better than make up numbers. But for the sake of making this more of a real simulation, I can see how even pretend numbers would have been a good addition. Thanks for the suggestion!
- adi 12:34 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I am going to base my feedback on what we saw in week 3 regarding the content of a venture pitch(Perfecting Your Pitch).
  
  1. Pain Point: the market gap or problem the venture is addressing.
  I think the problem your venture solves gets a bit lost. It’s a valid and real problem, which if emphasized, I’m sure would capture investors attention.
  
  2. Solution: the new product or service that resolves the pain. Excellent and well presented
  
  3. Differentiation: the reason someone will buy or use this new product or service, versus the alternatives.
  It is very clear why people would buy it, but not so much how it is different from what is out there; probably because there isn’t anything else out there like this, but then this is worth mentioning.
  
  4. Marketing: where and how buyers/users will be reached.
  This is not as clear. An important thing to keep in mind here is that the person who perhaps needs this product the most and will be the end user, the teacher, won’t be the buyer; the buyers are the school boards and its they who have to be convinced that there’s a need for this product.
  
  5. Championship: the competency of the venture’s leaders and advisors.
  Excellent
  
  6. Competition: an overview of competitors and partners;
  Not mentioned
  
  7. The Ask: how much money, etc, is required to take the next step
  Not asked
  
  8. The Return: how much and how soon will an investor be recompensed.
  Not mentioned
  
  9. The Message – clear and to the point
  
  Overall a very well presented venture and one I feel could interest investors. Excellent work. Well done Peggy.
  - Peggy Lawson 10:09 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thanks for the feedback adelpaso. You’re right about the missing points. Some of these I touched on in my reflections of strengths and weaknesses, found by following the link to the subpage found at the bottom of the website home page. I think the absense of marketing is a real weakness here. I had some marketing plans in my head, but didn’t get them down into the plan.
    
    I appreciate the time you took to go through the venture. I found it a tough project – a way of thinking quite different from what I’m used to!
- tomwhyte1 2:23 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  CEO & Team:
  
  To facilitate and objectively review the venture pitch you have put forward, I will be utilizing the guidelines provided within our course, Section 2.7 – Deconstructing a Pitch.
  
  After viewing the Elevator Pitch, and reading through the venture pitch for EL Portfolios, it is clear that the CEO is not only confident in their product, understands the market and the role this product will play within it, but appears to be high capable and passionate to take this project from start-up to essential classroom resource. As a potential investor, I would want more information focussing on the overall team, to ensure my money was going to be properly used. Regardless of this slight concern, I believe this CEO would only surround themselves with the best.
  
  Venture Concept:
  
  Even though the idea of portfolios, and even electronic portfolios is not a new idea, that is beyond the point, as EL Portfolio’s has not only taken an existing idea and made it feasible for today’s classrooms and technology, but has made an easy to use assessment tool, that enhances learning for students, teachers and even parents. This venture is further strengthened by the solid research that has been completed to not only understand the market, but capitalize on the areas of weakness currently recognized within the educational system. Overall, this venture pitch not only does a good job of telling a story, but does a great job of wanting this product to exist… now!
  
  Marketability:
  
  The actual marketability of this venture was not provided at this time, leaving potential investors wondering about this ventures true market size, potential share, and overall need within the current educational system, making this venture a more than moderate risk. As for innovative advantages, EL Portfolio’s does a great job of maximizing the current capabilities of technology to provide video/picture/audio artifacts for a students assessment, which is combined with rubrics to utilize and potentially linked to specific learner outcomes. While no information is provided about intellectual property rights or copyrights, this would need to explored to ensure that market share this company gathers would not be eroded by copycat competitors.
  
  Venture Plan:
  
  At this time, no specific information has been provided about potential timelines, or product readiness, information that is essential to ensure that this market can be capitalized on quickly and efficiently. Furthermore, EL Portfolios, have done a more than professional job at examining and understanding the potential legal issues with this approach, and have created solutions for each, a situation that allows investors to focus on the product, not the potential lawsuits.
  - Peggy Lawson 10:18 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thanks for the thorough analysis Tom. You’re right about those missing pieces. Were I to move forward, those would definitely have to get put into place. As a new experience – preparing pitches – there really is a learning curve. Even when you know in advance what all should be present, it seemed all to easy for me to miss assembling everything together. I appreciate your well-written analysis and suggestions.
- teacherben 9:31 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I think your idea is absolutely sound. There are a lot of similar products out there for purely social media purposes but I haven’t seen anything quite like this. As someone who is pretty familiar with the technologies involved, I can easily imagine how it would work and what would be required to get it off the ground. I’m afraid though that I may be filling in a lot of the blanks on my own. The way that I am imagining it is something like a Facebook or Instagram or even Delicious app. You take a picture or record a bit of video or audio, then as you tag it, it gets added to that student’s blog automatically. Allowing us to see what the portfolio (probably like a timeline) would look like would have been a powerful addition.
  
  But as an early childhood educator, I would want to know more about this product and if what I am picturing in my head is right, I would be very likely buy into it if the price was right.
  - teacherben 9:34 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    I want to add that doing this as a website was a good match for the product. For every potential buyer or investor, there may be just as many different reasons to be attracted to the product or the company. It’s good that we can come back to it and work through the material as we like.
- visramn 12:34 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi,
  I think you did a great job on both your pitch an analysis. I found it a little hard to hear what your were saying in the pitch because the music was slightly distracting. I would suggest reducing the volume of the music slightly. I found that your enthusiasm, knowledge about the product and belief in the product was an asset to your project. I was drawn in just by watching the pitch and was interest in going on to read more about it. I think you could have addressed the market a little bit more but other than that this is a very sound venture.
  Thanks for all your hard work and work sharing you idea. There is definitely a need for this is the in market.
  Nureen
- Doug Connery 8:12 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Peggy:
  
  I loved your elevator pitch with your enthusiasm, facts and background music. This got me excited and interested in the product as a buyer, however maybe not so interested as an investor…. But it did catch my interest to look further.
  
  The venture pitch concept is brilliant; structured like an e-portfolio, the product of interest. I like the tabs set up relating to the product and investment. I wonder with this structure if it could be reorganized by the four areas that EVA’s care about: CEO and Team, Venture Concept, Marketability and venture plan.
  
  As you mentioned the $ side is hard to create without a background in this area. If you had created some numbers and used them without meaning then this might generate questions that you really could not answer.
  
  As an investor, I am interested as e-portfolios are an interest of mine and I see great potential here. So if we were going to take this further then I would say – lets talk!
  
  Doug.
- jameschen 11:29 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Peggy,
  
  Your elevator pitch has a good hook.
  
  Here is my analysis on your venture pitch using the guidelines found in section 2.7 of our course blog – Deconstructing a pitch:
  
  Early Learning Portfolios: The Content
  
  Pain Point:
  
  Good research information here. I would suggest including Piaget’s Cognitive Development theory in this section to explain why the “early” aspect of your product is important, and use this information to differentiate your product from its competitors.
  
  Solution:
  
  Questions: What would the implementation of the product look like? What is the role of the teacher? Would the teacher be spending most of her time documenting student progress with a mobile device while students do their work as opposed to providing support to help students overcome their challenges? Can the product allow students to document their own progress using their own devices as opposed to the teacher being the one doing the documentation? Where would the documented information be stored? How would student privacy be addressed? How will you be partnering with NAEYC to provide you with the rubric for your product?
  
  The addition of learning analytics technology such as Knewton’s Adaptive Learning Platform would enhance your product’s applicability in education.
  
  Differentiation: I was unable to locate information on your website about how your product differs from its competitors such as WordPress, Moodle, etc.
  
  Marketing: I was unable to find the information which identifies the target market. Will your customers be the teachers or school districts? What will you do so that your product reaches the customers? The inclusion of these information would redirect your pitch to the investors as opposed to the customers.
  
  Championship: The “About us” page is well-written. The provision of positions that need to be filled to satisfactorily put your product on the market would enhance the viability of your pitch.
  
  Competition: I was unable to locate information about the competition and the necessary partners (other than NAEYC) on your website.
  
  The Ask & Return: These are not identified in the pitch.
  
  Thanks for a well-presented pitch!
  
  James
- cunnian 12:04 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Peggy,
  Well done on both the elevator and venture pitch. Funny that we both were thinking portfolios for this assignment! Your pitch was engaging and I could envision how I would use your product in the classroom, which as a potential investor I feel is important. You did well to speak to the need of having a system which is easy for teachers to use and portfolios can be fairly burdensome. Content tagging and automatic cataloging are great features to build in! You also did a good job of explaining your background and credibility.
  
  As others have mentioned, you have not fully addressed who your market is (neither did I ;)), which investors would want to know about. Aside from this, it appears to me to be a very solid venture and I would be interested in investing.
- melissaayers 4:20 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Peggy,
  
  I love you elevator pitch! It is great, totally engaging and identifies a pain point and solution and made me curious to go learn some more about your venture via the venture pitch. In fact to be honest I think I was even sold on the product without having to go to the second pitch (website).
  
  I think I too (like Ben mentions above) understand a bit how this could be created and have skipped ahead and filled in some of the missing gaps other have already pointed out you have for marketing and investments etc.
  
  You are a credible, knowledgeable and passionate founder and president who seems to have a great grasp of the product you want to create and have done the research to back it up. I believe you present a very marketable product (especially going by class feedback on the idea of ePortfolios in general over the course of ETEC522). As an EVA investor I would want to do some basic market research and competitor analysis before making an investment decision. However, I am sure this is on the right track and that this venture would be a great potential investment opportunity.
  
  Thanks
  Melissa
- Pat A Son 3:59 am on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Peggy,
  
  You have a great elevator pitch and a professional looking website. Some more information on the marketing would have made this complete.
  
  Cheers
  Patason
- sophiabb 7:27 pm on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Peggy,
  
  Great elevator pitch. Your presentation came across as professional and you came across as a passionate champion that identified your product, problem and solution. Your website was very clean. I found that it appealed to me more as a user – teacher – than as an investor. I found that:
  
  Pain Point and Solution: These was real, clearly stated and one with which many educators relate.
  
  Differentiation/Competition: The venture proposition was weakened by a lack of information on the market in terms of competition, positioning, barriers/ease of entry.
  
  Market/marketing: The target was clearly identified but there was an absence of a marketing plan/strategies.
  
  Ask and Return: These were not clearly stated.
  
  The Team: Investors are interested in the skill set and abilities of the CEO and team to drive a start-up business to success. The information on the CEO revealed a very qualified visionary and champion. I would have loved to see information on other members of the team.
  
  Overall a good presentation.
  
  Sophia
- Peggy Lawson 8:53 am on December 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Thank you all for your excellent suggestions. I’ve gone back to drawing board and made some changes to the venture pitch, based on your suggestions, most importantly adding information on my marketing strategy and a smaller section on “The Ask” (on the “Why Invest” page). I believe I did read in some course instructions somewhere that we were encouraged to take your suggestions into consideration for our final version?
coralk 3:19 pm on November 25, 2012
1 votes
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ExamScan

My fictional venture is ExamScan, a security system for online assessment that incorporates Iris Scanning technology. In some ways I feel that this type of venture is ahead of its time, however as biometric security systems become more commonplace, it could have a significant use for education provided proper security assurances for students […]
Continue reading ExamScan Posted in: Venture Forum

sophiabb, melissaayers, cunnian and 10 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- jenbarker 12:16 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Coral,
  I liked your Elevator Pitch. Your venture is Interesting and original and I believe there is a market. Your Venture Pitch was excellent. You included all of the necessary facets and your use of text and visual graphics such as graphs were attractive, easy to read and understanding. My only suggestion would be to add a bit more information about you CEO teams background which would give more credibility to them being able to champion such a venture. Thanks for sharing your pitches. Best, Jen
- joeltremblay 4:43 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Coral,
  This is a brilliant, if big brotherly, idea. Great venture and elevator!
- Paula Poodwan 5:20 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Coral,
  
  I’m not one of your reviewers but curious to see what your venture is all about. I absolutly agree with Joel ‘s comment above that your venture is briilaint, and it is quite innovative. As online learning is becoming more and more accepted these days and everywhere too, not just North America , I’m very sure that there will be a market for your venture. Good thinking, well done!
- Jenny Brown 10:22 pm on November 26, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I felt your elevator pitch was very concise and covered all of the important aspects of a successful pitch – well done!
  
  I also really enjoyed your prezi presentation and I am not a huge fan of prezi but yours was clear, concise and well laid out. I really don’t have any suggestions for improving your venture pitch except maybe showing pictures of the team?
  
  As an EVA currently enrolled in an online Masters program, one of my concerns was the fact that I live in Calgary and would have to fly to Vancouver to have an Iris Scan done, this would be a deterrent for me especially if this would be the case for all online courses that I take through different institutions. I would consider investing in this venture after a careful read through a detailed business plan.
- tomwhyte1 1:43 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  To facilitate and objectively review the venture pitch you have put forward, I will be utilizing the guidelines provided within our course, Section 2.7 – Deconstructing a Pitch.
  
  CEO & Team:
  
  From the provided elevator pitch, the CEO for ExamScan exudes confidence in their venture. However, specific information regarding the overall teams abilities to manage a start-up company and deal with obstacles that will occur, especially considering privacy and legal rights, is hard to determine at this time. Therefore, before pursuing formal investment, further investigation in this area would need to occur.
  
  Venture Concept:
  
  Based upon a quick search, it appears that this is a unique and innovative approach for the use of biometrics, and that institutions and agencies are currently using various devices, including handheld technology to do iris scans (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/20/us-crime-identification-iris-idUSTRE76J4A120110720), making this venture not only possible but feasible. Furthermore, significant research has been conducted, which not only demonstrates the possibility of this product working, but the potential need for it within distance education courses. Lastly, the recognition of cheating in various educational environments has been on the rise recently, and it is possible that ExamScan could deter this from occurring.
  
  Marketability:
  
  ExamScan did a good job providing information regarding the potential market that could access this service. However more information regarding the number of schools that still utilize traditional assessment (multiple choice, T/F/, etc), instead of constructivist exercises would also be needed, as other forms of assessment would also greatly reduce potential cheating, as these other assessment strategies are very time consuming and require a strong knowledge of the material to develop any meaningful artifact. Regardless, if ExamScan can show proof of concept, those schools still utilizing traditional approaches could still represent a significant share of the market making this service potential viable. In terms of innovative advantage, ExamScan is on the cutting edge of biometric utilization within a distance education environment. It is important that one realize though, being the leader in this market may ensure increased market share and potential revenue, it means more risks in an unproven market place, an issue that may scare away potential investors.
  
  Venture Plan:
  
  Based upon the provided information, ExamScan has been in operation since 2011, however no specific implementation of services was provided. Therefore, it would be essential to know where in the process ExamScan is? Is the biometric software still in beta testing, or have they begun developing partnerships with industry distance education leaders? Information that would need to be provided, before investing occured.
  
  Lastly, as was mentioned in the presentation, the legal issues surrounding the collection, storage, and use of Iris prints is a major hurdle to overcome. ExamScan has done a decent job, providing information as to where and how this data will be stored, which does alleviate some of the concerns. However, if this venture is successful, more data centers will exist, and potentially cross international borders, where data comes under different laws, and then different problems. Lastly, some students partake in online courses who are under the age of 18, would the inclusion of this technology limit them from partaking in these courses, and therefore limit the potential market for ExamScan?
- teacherben 9:12 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I guess you would need an initial, in-person scan when registering in the program in order for this to work. Or, you could have authorized, scanning centers where a person could have their iris scan registered with their identity. This is a little creepy, but I can see the potential marketability. The idea sells itself. This is one of those things that the fear of people cheating is all that it takes. You don’t even need the statistics, (although they were a nice addition) because many people will assume that if it is possible to cheat, people will.
  
  (Incidentally, Google introduced a facial recognition feature that could be used to unlock your cell phone and it was very easy to hack because people could use a picture of you in place of the real you. They improved that recently. Now, it looks to see that your eyes are blinking in a way that is hard to replicate. i don’t know if a video of your face would work, but Google is pretty confident…)
  
  I would have liked to know a little more about the people behind the venture. And it was cute that you included the number of active users and 3-year return on your money but before I would give you a million dollars, I would want to see evidence. If you are going to include numbers at all, I would think you would need to back them up a bit. It’s tough in this role-play situation to know how much to include in this regard.
  
  I also think it would have benefited from a few more visuals. For example, in your elevator pitch, you could have been sitting next to a computer and turned, looked into the webcam for a moment, then turned back and said, “The scanning process only takes seconds…” which would have been much more powerful. Similarly, the Prezi had a lot of words. A few more pictures would have made it more convincing.
- visramn 3:13 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi,
  Brilliant idea and very well posed. I think this is a great venture and I think you did a great job of portraying the need for it. You used pertinent data and graphs to show that education is definitely moving more and more towards online delivery and that there is a need for this type of tool. I think you covered all parameters needed and did a very good job of drawing in your audience and convincing them that your product is a necessity. You were confident, knowledgeable and had confidence in your voice. This had a great impact. Both your pitch and your Prezi were set up with good information.
  Excellent job. Thanks for sharing.
  Nureen
- Doug Connery 8:36 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Coral:
  
  Great presentation in the elevator pitch and the venture pitch. I agree with Ben, a quick turn to a web cam to get scanned to show how easy it is would have capped it off.
  
  You have also nailed a wonderful opportunity that is needed and for all the reasons you identified. This gives me confidence that the CEO knows what she is talking about! I have very little else to offer for a critique because you have caught my attention as an investor. If we were going to take this to the next step I would say – lets talk!
  
  Doug.
- Pat A Son 4:56 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Coral,
  
  Your idea is very practical and timely with the growth of online learning. You venture pitch showed that you did your homework but am of the opinion that it will be applicable to institutions that do traditional testing as the name suggests. I also suspect the temptation to cheat will be higher for exams such as SAT. For programs that do project based assessment the likelihood of cheating will be lower. Since most Schools still do exams you have a large possible market. At the end of the day it will boil down to how far these schools are willing to go to t curtail cheating. Right now I have not heard of any institutions such as Sylvan taking this kind of measures for this kind of cheating. Most institutions seem to be preoccupied with plagiarism instead.
  Despite my concerns you did a good.
  
  Cheers
  Patason
- jameschen 9:12 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Coral,
  
  Thanks for an interesting elevator pitch. It grabbed my attention as an investor.
  
  Here is my analysis on your venture pitch using the guidelines found in section 2.7 of our course blog – Deconstructing a pitch:
  
  ExamScan: The Content
  
  Pain Point: Your pain point is supported by research. The numbers would be more relevant if they specified how many ‘online’ students cheat.
  
  Solution:
  
  Questions:
  
  What would happen if the actual test-taking student scans his/her iris, and then as soon as the exam begins a more capable other takes over and completes the exam; or if a student does not have the required hardware; or that the camera has a very low resolution; or if technical difficulties arise and the iris cannot be scanned? The plan would be viable if it addresses these potential challenges.
  
  To me, the only possible way for this product to work is for the technology to continue recording the student while s/he takes the test from beginning to end. This leads me to think of the money that needs to go into perfecting the security around the software, which might cause potential investors to walk away from the investment.
  
  Differentiation: From your venture pitch, I was unable to locate information on how your product differs from existing security features implemented during online testing situations.
  
  Marketing: I was unable to locate information about what your venture will be doing to establish itself on the market other than information on what the investment money will be used for. The target market is not identified.
  
  Championship: I did not find information on the competency of the venture’s leaders and advisers (you) in your pitch.
  
  Competition: Information about the venture’s competitors and partners could not be located in the venture pitch.
  
  The Ask & Return: A provision of how these numbers came about would increase the credibility of your pitch. If you do not know the numbers, perhaps a formula about how the return on investment is calculated will suffice. An exit strategy would also increase the viability of the investment.
  
  Hope that helps! And thanks for a well-presented pitch.
  
  James
- cunnian 12:05 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Cora,
  Funny, I was just watching the CBC documentary that you cited last week as I had some plagiarism issues in my class to deal with. It made a compelling argument for the need for strict security measures as the cheating schemes are getting more and more sophisticated.
  Your elevator pitch was excellent as you speak with confidence and passion about this product. I liked the Prezi format for the venture and you walk potential investors through your pitch in a clear and logical manner. As far as I can tell, you’ve identified all of the requisite information for a good pitch, including details on the investment that you need and what your potential market is.
  One question that I have is how you obtain the initial iris scan. It seems that this could be faked as well. Yes, your product will keep a user from creating multiple accounts, but will it prevent a user from using someone else to do the actual work of the course?
  Regardless, this product has the potential to greatly improve the security of online courses. Well done!
- melissaayers 2:29 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Coral,
  
  Congrats on 2 great pitches – both were very clear and informative and contained ample information.
  
  Interesting venture idea and great way to introduce a new(ish) technology into the classroom. You have clearly identification a pain point and a solution, as well as growing market trends and what you need as an investment.
  
  Many thanks
  Melissa
- sophiabb 6:45 pm on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Coral,
  
  Great job on your elevator pitch. You clearly described your product, problem and your solution.
  
  I love your use of Prezi to present your venture pitch. I actually like that it was text heavy as I was able to go back and peruse at my leisure. The following is my feedback:
  
  Product: interesting use of current technology as a solution to a problem within the education industry.
  Pain Point and Solution: was real, clearly stated and one with which many educators relate.
  Differentiation/Competition: the pitch was weakened by a lack of information on the market in terms of competition, positioning, barriers/ease of entry.
  Market/marketing: the target was clearly identified and the opportunity seems possible. Statistics and facts helped in increase the credibility of the proposition. However, the absence of a marketing strategy is noted.
  Ask and Return: were clearly stated.
  The Team: Investors are interested in the skill set and abilities of the CEO and team to drive a start-up business to success. Insufficient information was presented to aid in my decision.
  
  I think your proposition is full of possibilities. I would be interested in your proposal once your pitch is strengthened.
  
  Sophia
Scott 6:00 pm on November 25, 2012
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Photo App Elevator and Venture Pitch

I have an assignment three venture pitch for a new photo app that I’m rather excited about, but I’m not quite interested in sharing a public link to my pitch at the moment! If you are seriously interested in hearing about my idea, please send an email message to scott underscore tammik at mac dot […]
Continue reading Photo App Elevator and Venture Pitch Posted in: Venture Forum

manny, Scott, Peggy Lawson and 3 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- Lisa Nevoral 9:32 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Scott,
  
  Your elevator and venture pitch and product were awesome!!! You looked very comfortable in front of a camera and you did a good job with the background setting (including pictures as your backdrop – very strategic). Your presentation was very polished and I think you hit most or all the criteria for a venture pitch. You included a pain point and solution, you did a great job differentiating between your product and the others you compared it to, and you included the challenges for your product. You even stated how your app was going to make money. It was a nice touch to add quotes to the presentation.
  
  One area that you could have touched upon a little more was what you wanted from the investors. I know in your elevator pitch you stated that you were looking for investors to fund your initial development of your photo app and to market it worldwide, but then never mentioned it again. As well, what was the return the investors would receive? You did a good job stating how much you could sell this product as an app or per/month, but what would the investors get out of this?
  
  All in all, great job! I would invest in the venture.
  
  Lisa
  - Scott 1:13 pm on December 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thanks for your positive feedback Lisa.
    
    Indeed, beyond speculating on the cost of the app and service, I don’t have much expertise on the finance side of app development, so I steered clear of the numbers aspect to my pitch and just concentrated on the concept – which I’m glad you enjoyed!
- lullings 5:05 am on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Scott,
  
  Loved the comprehensive delivery method of your venture. I definitely enjoy your passion and enthusiasm for the idea.
  
  As an idea itself I think you are onto something that is great and would be loved by the niche market that you are going after.
  
  Would I invest – unfortunately not.
  
  But this is not because of the concept but I see the biggest flaw is that it is only using the phones camera and the screen. I dont think this will satisfy the market that you are going after. I think that for them having increased on screen functionality is not enough, they want to go back to the tradition of having something physical to adjust to have some control and to give them options.
  
  If you were to include something like http://digitalmarketinginstitute.ie/blog/iphone/photojojo-produce-specialised-camera-lenses-for-iphone#.ULief-OTsVg or http://www.olloclip.com/ in the offering I would have no problem investing in you and your venture as I feel this would satisfy your potential clients rather than just the app itself.
  
  But nicely put together and extremely well delivered – very impressed overall.
  
  Thanks
  Stuart
  - Scott 8:15 am on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Hi Stuart,
    
    Thank you for all your well informed comments.
    
    I quite agree with you, that what I and many others are really after, is really something like the new Fuji X-E1 or as you suggest, physical manual controls including those iPhone extensions you noted.
    
    However, these cost more money and in some ways take away from the pocket-ability of smartphone cameras. In my school for example, we never seem to have enough money for more cameras, or darkroom supplies, but I think we could scrap together $100 per class each semester, to provide an app for the smartphones the kids already have. Phone accessories also need to be designed to fit to each phone design, which could be an issue.
    
    In any event, thanks again for making me stop to reconsider a very important aspect of my pitch.
    
    Cheers,
    
    Scott.
- manny 5:46 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Scott,
  Your Slowography venture proposal is very well done and sounds like something that is ready for design. Your elevator pitch was excellent in communicating the void in the market place when comparing point and shoot digital photography to traditional manual methods. You have clearly conducted a lot of research in this area and presented statistics on app purchases relevant to your pitch. The website is very nicely laid out and you come through as an honest, reputable, entrepreneur who knows what he’s talking about. I would give you an A+ on your presentation and my concerns as an investor are listed below.
  
  1) Name – Slowography comes off as something that consumers may not want to look into in further detail.
  2) Competitors – There are a lot of them! You have done a good job of dissecting the differences between them and the features that your app will integrate. However, this is a market that is saturated with photography apps and a simple update to one of the more popular apps could easily put you out of business.
  3) Users – This app is great for the typical point and shoot users who have limited experience with photography. The true enthusiasts will probably still be skeptical and stick to traditional methods of photography.
  
  These reservations are very minor and do not take away from what a great idea this is. I am currently teaching a visual and media arts class and try to teach students the practical skills that they can do on their own after graduation. Not all of them can afford an SLR camera and this app is definitely something I would not invest in, but also use in my classroom. Great work Scott!
  - Scott 1:27 pm on December 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Hi Manny,
    
    I’ve always respected and appreciated your thoughts in our discussions.
    
    The name is not something I’m 100% on either, it just seemed like a novel take on ‘photography’ and the .com domain was available, so I took it. You are quite right, that an update could threaten the apps relevance, which is why I thought about creating a whole ‘ecosystem’ and community around the idea, to give it value beyond the app – especially for classroom teachers and students. As I mentioned to Stuart, true enthusiasts will likely still opt for expensive cameras from Leica or a Fuji, but what about those times when all you have is your camera or you can’t afford a Leica. I think the old saying goes something like, “the best camera to have, is the one you’ve got”!
    
    Thanks for your comments and nod of support.
    
    Scott.
    - manny 8:21 pm on December 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
      
      I made a typo in my last line, I meant to say this app is something I would not only invest in, but also use in my classroom.
- Patrick Pichette 5:56 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Scott,
  I found your elevator pitch and venture pitch to be very informative and professionally driven. In terms of the team’s qualifications, there is no doubt in my mind that you demonstrate passion and commitment to drive this venture forward. It is unclear in your pitch whether there are other members to your team so I’ll assume it is just you. As for the venture concept, I consider it quite original and you do appear to have done a fair bit of research in the area to demonstrate some feasibility. I’m unclear as to what portion of the market would be looking for apps that slow them down when tackling photography but there does appear to be growth in the market segment. My only real qualm with the proposal is with regards to the investment dollars. There isn’t really any indication as to what you’ll do with the investment nor is there any indication on how I could make money or get my money back. All in all, I would like some of these questions answered before I chose to invest but your credibility and professionalism does lend itself to a positive experience and hope for a successful venture. I wish you best of luck in launching this venture if you do go forward with it!
  - Scott 1:31 pm on December 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    I’m pleased to know my enthusiasm for the idea came through clearly – thanks for that positive feedback Patrick.
    
    Indeed as I mentioned to Lisa as well, beyond speculating on the cost of the app and service, I don’t have much expertise on the finance side of app development, so I steered clear of the numbers aspect to my pitch and just concentrated on the concept.
- Peggy Lawson 8:48 am on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Scott –
  
  Great work! As soon as I started watching the elevator pitch I was hooked. You exuded credibility by your passion and quality of work and that drew me in, despite my initial reluctance as to why anyone would want to go back to the pre-instant-results days of photography. So the venture concept was foreign to me, but was further addressed in your venture concept. For me there is also a disconnect between what I think of as a traditional SLR camera – simply the heft & feel & shape of the camera vs a slim smartphone. But that’s maybe just me.
  
  The opportunity space – competition – may be a problem in this market. You’ve given some good though to your marketing plan as well as to additional revenue sources.If you can assemble the team you’re looking for – I think you’ve got a shot.
  - Scott 1:37 pm on December 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    All great points for me to consider Peggy, thank you.
    
    I am realizing now, from your feedback and from others, that I need to make clearer the idea that I don’t intend for the app to replace traditional cameras, but rather to provide an alternative to the way we use camera phones, for both photographers and students/educators alike.
    
    The entire experience of this assignment and the feedback its generated, have been very helpful to me
kstackhouse 12:01 am on November 26, 2012
1 votes
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Ken Write is a fictitious bluetooth device that allows multiple users to collaborate in real time with a SMART Board from their desk. It offers Multi-touch and multi-user collaboration which promotes inclusion and engagement. Here you will find my Venture Pitch: Reflection: I must admit that this is one of the assignments that I have […]
Continue reading Ken Write Posted in: Venture Forum

jhodi, manny, Lisa Nevoral and 4 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- jkotler 7:18 am on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Ken,
  
  I really like your Ken Write venture and thought that you did a great job in putting together a professional elevator pitch. As well, I think the concept behind such a product could have a lot of potential and wonder if this is something you are actually going to (or already are) pursuing?
  
  Julie
  - kstackhouse 8:07 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thank you Julie. I think it is a great concept. I am not sure about the technical aspects of it though. I know that there are bluetooth dongles that can support 7 devices, I am not sure if the technology for more users and multi-touch is actually available at this time or not. I could see issues with lag if there were too many people at one time trying to use the problem. I guess that is where someone that is capable of building the product would have to answer.
    
    Ken
- Lisa Nevoral 8:17 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Ken,
  
  Great job on your elevator and venture pitch! In your elevator pitch, I got a sense of who you were and what you were pitching. As well, you had an “Ask”. I think that there is a need for this product because of the reasons you have stated. Too many times I have seen only one or two students come to a SMART board to work on a problem or answer a question while the rest of the class sit there watching, not engaged. Good idea to use Bluetooth to connect SMART boards to individual devices. I am assuming that “Ken Write” can be used on other interactive whiteboards as well. Or is this just a SMART board product?
  
  Here is some constructive feedback on your venture pitch:
  
  • I liked that you had a “Ken Write” logo and website (that’s something that I did not do myself).
  • The Prezi was easy to follow and included videos.
  o Instead of the links to the Inclusion report by McKay or the SMART board information, I think you should have maybe done a summary of these facts.
  • You included the pain point – 2 million SMART boards in use with limited abilities for multiple users and network issues (WiFi or restricted WiFi).
  • You included the solution – “Ken Write” a Bluetooth device which allows for multi-use, multi-touch, and collaboration.
  • You did include the competition, but I think you could have stated why your product was better than these other products. You may have wanted to do a little blurb at the end of your “What are Some Other Options” section to state this.
  • Marketing – You did state the market size for SMART boards (2 million boards with 6 million users in 175 countries), but I would have also liked to know how the buyers were going to be reached. PR, ads, commercials, social media, etc…
  o As well, who will your major market push be towards?
  o Will you target schools or school districts that have established BYOD programs? I know that in my school district we have SMART boards, but I don’t think any of the schools are utilizing mobile devices; therefore, I’m not sure my district would invest in “Ken Write”.
  • Will students be able to project any of the work they do on their mobile devices onto the SMART board screen using “Ken Write” or is it just to get whatever is on the SMART board onto their devices?
  • I’m not sure if I got a strong sense of the strengths and weaknesses of “Ken Write”. What are some of the issues that may arise?
  
  You did a great job on your elevator and venture pitch. Depending on who you were targeting, I could see a need for this product.
  
  Lisa
  - kstackhouse 8:43 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thank you for your feedback. You are right, providing a summary of the reports might have been beneficial for an EVA. I was worried that an EVA might not be in Education but rather an investor and they might not want to hear about the reports but know that they the push was there. As I admit in my reflection, I am not a business person, so when you mention some points and even after I started looking at other venture pitches I do see areas where I could have made my case stronger. Thank you for the feedback. I appreciate the constructive criticism.
    
    Ken
    - Lisa Nevoral 11:28 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
      
      Hi Ken,
      
      After watching other people’s pitches, I also saw where I could have done better. I didn’t do a very good job at the ask and return. Also, like you, many people added a logo or showed their product which I didn’t do. I also found this assignment quite challenging, but after reviewing everyone’s work this week, feel I actually have learned from this experience. Good luck next semester.
      
      Lisa
- lullings 3:49 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Love it – great idea, I would definitely engage with you to discuss funding.
  One of the best prezis I have seen. I have more questions but all are a positive and exciting reflection of your idea and a want to explore more.
  
  A major question I would ask would be how do you limit the confusion on the smart board if everyone was engaging with it, all at the same time. Also the health implications of having so many bluetooth connections in one room. But these are further exploring questions – you have already gotten my attention for investment.
  
  Nicely done –
  Stuart
  - kstackhouse 9:56 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
    
    Thank you Stuart. I am not sure what the health implications would be. I think that the Bluetooth signals being sent are all around us most of the time anyway. In a regular school, mall, or home there is Wi-Fi and bluetooth being used all the time. Maybe it would be an issue in a such a confined space. Great question, because I hadn’t even considered that. Your point about confusion at the board is also valid. One way to do this would be to have a user tag hover above the cursor, such as is done in a Google Doc. At least this way it could be seen by all who has making changes or accessing the screen.
    
    I think having a team working on this would help raise questions such as these before trying to take the idea to investors. I appreciate the feedback.
    
    Ken
- Peggy Lawson 9:56 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Thanks for the interesting pitches Ken. I was quite intrigued and your passion for your product came through – good points for CO credibility. Very nice production values, especially with your venture pitch. It’s clear you’ve worked through the key details of your venture. I liked that your elevator pitch focused on a few key aspects, notably identifying the pain point and the solution. I have some questions about the viability of parts of the solution – how would it work to have a classroom full of children simultaneously collaborating via their personal device on one smart board and the technical realities of that. However I’m willing, during only 12 weeks of development time, to give some leeway to some specifics and actual viability.
  
  I liked your information on marketing and your advantage and distinctions from the competition. You provided the ask but not the return, but David had mentioned some forebearance with money aspects.
  
  So despite some minor reservations about the product, I liked your pitches. I’ve some other pitches to ponder, but I did enjoy your venture.
- manny 5:29 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  Hi Ken,
  Your pitches were very clear and concise. The Ken write is a product that seem viable in the educational market. My only concern as an investor was the reliance on bluetooth versus Wifi. It seems as though your venture emphasized the advantages of having global collaboration via smart boards but didn’t quite explain what this feature that already exists ties in with your product. I like the fact that all the students are engaged with your device as a student is working on the whiteboard. If students are connected to the whiteboard via bluetooth, can you have multiple users on at the same time? There are a few things that need to be ironed out but overall, I enjoyed the pitch and would consider investing.
- jhodi 1:36 am on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
  
  I think that this is a great idea and a great product! Both of your pitches are highly engaging and informative. You were able to gain my attention initially through the elevator pitch, which made me want to read the venture pitch.
  
  Your venture pitch does a good job of stating the pain point of inclusive education and how your device will help provide a solution. With current trends in education pushing inclusive education, I think that your device is very marketable. I think that I would have liked to know more about how your device compares with others in the market and what makes yours superior to the others. I also do wonder which part of your CEO team would take care of the marketing aspect of the company. It seems as though you have plenty of experience to cover the educational aspect and the applicability, but the marketing and selling may be a little more difficult. I also appreciated that you provided an ‘ask’ and informed me what you would do with that investment and what your future plans are for the company.
  Overall, I really liked the concept and the pitches. I would invest in this device because I think that there is a definite market and demand for such a technology.
  
  Jhodi

	joeltremblay on Week 11: Voice
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