My Elevator and Venture pitch are based on interactive technology that enable student/teacher manipulation on any surface. Unlike the traditional smartboard and white board that server pretty much one purpose, a glorified mouse and projector that a teacher uses from the front of the baord, my idea revolved it around multiple purposes in education and […]
Continue reading My Elevator and Venture pitch are based … Posted in: Venture ForumVenture Forum Page 2RSS Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Suhayl Patel
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melissaayers
Need2Read – Enhanced Digital Books
Please find below my elevator pitch and attached supporting venture pitch document for my fictional new business venture – Learn2Read that proposes to develop a range of digital books with voice recognition support for early readers. Elevator Pitch Venture Pitch Venture Pitch – Learn2Read
Continue reading Need2Read – Enhanced Digital Books Posted in: Venture Forum -
Ranvir
ePortfolios for Health Professions
My goal is to develop a professional ePortfolio application by the end of 2013 that can suitably address the competency assessment and professional development needs of medical schools. Please review my elevator pitch and venture pitch and I look forward to your feedback.
Continue reading ePortfolios for Health Professions Posted in: Venture Forum -
Jonathan
Skoolbo is an interactive game that is targeted at K-7 students to improve their core literacy and mathematical skills. Skoolbo has been built for student use with its easy to navigate menus and enjoyable plot. With the use of exciting mini games, Skoolbo is sure to be a hit in a classroom, at home or […]
Continue reading Skoolbo is an interactive game that is t… Posted in: General, Venture Forum-
Paula Poodwan
Hi Jonathan,
Your elevator pitch video is still private and also I can’t open your longer version neither. Looking forward to view them 🙂
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Peggy Lawson
Same here. I’m quite looking forward to learning about Skoolbo!
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lullings
I was dying to hear more about the enjoyable plot of this venture Jonathan.
I am having the same problems as Paula and Peggy.Skool booo to it not working as I enjoy a good interactive game!!!!
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Jonathan
Oh no. My apologies. I will make sure it is opened up. I think I have been pretty confused with all of the settings. It should be up now. Sorry it took so long!
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Peggy Lawson
Elevator pitch looks great Jonathan – you had me looking forward to the venture pitch, but I’m afraid the link to that isn’t working.
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manny
Hi Jonathan,
The idea of video gaming in education is an exciting phenomenon that I am sure will spark some interesting debates as its implementation progresses. I was unable to open your venture pitch but your elevator pitch was really well done and provided a great overview. My only concern is that you offer 20 free hours of game play to new members as a way to entice them into signing up. I thought that this may have been too much time and would turn an investor off as revenues would take a hit with that model.-
Jonathan
Hi Manny —
Upon further thought, I think I would have to agree with you. Skoolbo itself is already in existence and I have a feeling that their current model of providing the game for free is probably the way to go. I was looking for an active way to interest investors (but I may have done the opposite).
If I were to revise the project, I may keep the game free and look to the value added projects (ie. digital books, teacher resources) for more revenue.
Thanks for the feedback Manny.
My apologies for not having the extended version working (I’ve been playing with the links endlessly..)
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Suhayl Patel
Hi Jonathan,
I really like your idea. I think the gamification of education is a great tool to leverage to increase engagement. I’ve only viewed your elevator pitch and am not able to access your venture pitch.
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Patrick Pichette
Hi Jonathan,
I also agree with many of the others in terms of the excitement generated by using games to teach. The concept is interesting but I wasn’t quite sure that giving 20 hours was quite right. I know quite a few games that I barely make to 20 so you’re pretty giving users all the usage they want out of it and then they may just opt to put it aside feeling as though they barely have anything left to gain out of it. I’d likely say that 5-10 hours is more than sufficient to determine the viability of a product and whether it deserves my hard earned dollars. Anything more is just a bonus in my end. As such, I likely would shy away from investing but would likely follow the venture to see where it leads.
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Jonathan
Thanks for your feedback Patrick.
I was trying to figure out how I could increase revenue, but as I think about it more — developing the core product is really important. As I was mentioning to Manny, I think the way to go is to leave the game free. I hear what you say about 5-10 hours and shortening the game — but with the 20 hours I wanted to give enough opportunity for both teachers and students to try it out. Either way, upon some reflection, I feel that a hard cut off would be a turn off to educators and students. As I mentioned in a response to Manny — I think building upon the core product would be important to ensure that students continue to return.
Thank you for your feedback!
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Jonathan
I’ve had a lot of difficulties posting up both my Youtube and my documents. I hope it works now, although I’m thinking that it is too late. Thank you all for trying to view my submission.
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jhodi
Hi,
I think that you have done a great job creating an elevator pitch that is simple and provides key points of interest for me to want to further explore your venture. I, like others, was a little surprised by the 20 hours of free gaming to start as I feel like that is a lot and students may lose interest after that or if a school uses it, 20 hours may be enough time to use it without actually paying for it. I would probably shorten it to 5 so that they can get a feeling for it, but not get to use it for the completion of a task.
Jhodi
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Jonathan
20 hours is quite generous amount. The creators of Skoolbo actually have allowed this game to go for free. To me it isn’t clear how they are funded currently, but I do believe the way to go with content now is to provide a solid experience and monetize on products afterwards.
Build a product people can’t live without and then they will be happy to pay for it. Try before you buy, I feel is extremely important.
Thanks for your feedback!
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Peggy Lawson
Hi Jonathan –
Glad the tech issues were worked out with posting. I didn’t mind the wait and was happy to see your final product. I liked the quality and general content of the elevator pitch, but with so much competition in the educational gaming market today I didn’t really get enough in the brief pitch to sell me I’m afraid. I caught the pain point, but felt the solution could have been expanded upon. I’d like to know more, right up front, about what you mean by intricate story lines – some quick examples perhaps, that are intended to keep the students engaged. So I would have some concerns regarding how you would stand apart from the competition. As a potential EVA, I would be interested in seeing what you’ve got for me once you’ve got some samples to show me.
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Jonathan
Hi Peggy !
It’s interesting that you say you didn’t get a good sense of what the product was about. I remember right at the beginning of the course we were tasked with watching a lot of pitches and thinking the exact same thing.
As we headed into doing our own project, I remembered trying to balance out how much about the game I should talk about and how much about the general direction of the venture. It feels like a fine balance because we were definitely suppose to keep it towards the investors. But one could argue that the investors need to have a good idea of what is going on in the product. I have quite a few ideas about how to redo the pitch and I think it would have to include some gameplay. I may be crossing over into copyright issues though if I do this as it is a real product.
Thanks for your feedback, Peggy!
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lullings
Micro One – Engage with your passion
The one size fits all approach of online videos is redundant and stagnating the growth of this powerful medium for communication and education.
Continue reading Micro One – Engage with your passion Posted in: Venture Forum-
Kent Jamieson
Stuart, just a wonderful job here. I was waiting for someone to show me both a great idea and production value. You obviously are quite skilled at presenting information, and the points you make – along with your easy pace and volume of voice – make for an informational and entertaining pitch.
In terms of content creation, would I need to create 3 copies of a video? Or would I need to create a ‘Ground’ copy and then the program itself sifts through the content to create lesser detailed overviews?
I love this idea, and would be interested in installing this type of service onto other aspects of educational media. Ebooks is one off the top of my head that would greatly benefit from this technology. Instead of overviews to ground level, you could have Grade level books, and the student could choose a harder level. ESL students could benefit, struggling readers, etc.
You have a solid, polished pitch and I would be interested in hearing more.
Thank you,
Kent -
lullings
Thanks for the kind words Kent.
On the question of the delivery of videos there would be three options as I see it. First of all there would be just the ‘ground’ version and the software would extrapolate the other versions from that. The video and subject would have to be suitable which it would be able to decide automatically.
The second option would be to deliver 3 copies and the software would match the timings itself.
The final option would be to deliver the ‘Ground’ level and we would extrapolate it manually. This would be particularly useful for things like you mention – grade books, ebooks, and tutorials.
Naturally each would come in at a different price point – with the second option (3 copies delivered) being free to upload and then charging the end user to view OR the provider paying to use the delivery mechanism and it being free to the end user.
Stuart
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Doug Connery
Hey Stuart:
Great presentations and product. I like the way you demonstrated the Mirco One concept with the elevator and venture pitches – you are a pro.
I really can’t see anything wrong with what you have done perhaps because both presentations peaked my interest. That is the idea of pitches, if you catch an investors interest, then any flaws are not important. If we were to take this further, then as an investor I would say – lets talk.
Doug.
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Colin
Hi Stuart, your presentation is a great example of how a quality presentation can really sell a product. I really like your presentation everything from the background music, sound quality and animations were all professionally done. You obviously have some experience in these areas. As for your product it does sound interesting but as you mentioned you would need to decide whether you have 3 videos or if you have the software able to manage the timings. I thought the presentation was excellent and well thought out and for that reason as an investor I would listen and view a demo to really evaluate if I would invest.
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jameschen
Hi Stuart,
Your elevator pitch is well-presented. From the perspective of an EVA, I think the pitch would improve with the support of a description of the pain point in an actual learning setting. Also, information on what the proprietary technology is, how the technology fosters learning and growth of the user base, and who the content contributors will be (i.e., who will be making & uploading the videos?) would also bring marketability to your product.
Thanks,
James
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cunnian
Stuart, I was very impressed with the overall presentation of both the elevator and the venture pitch. It was a very natural move to use you pitches to demonstrate how your product essentially works. As a potential investor, this gave me a much better understanding of the product and the problem that it addresses. Your credentials and experience speak to your credibility and the clear nature of your pitches speak to your ability in content production.
As I watched, I started to wonder how you would go about separating out content into the three levels that you propose. Is that determined on a client-by-client basis? As this is the crux of what your product is about, I think that it’s an important question to address in more depth. Apart from that, I was very impressed and as an investor would be interested in supporting this product. -
adi
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
Having to view whole videos when perhaps one could go direct to the part needed, is a time consuming problem.
2. Solution: the new product or service that resolves the pain
If it works, it would be great. Using key word searches is a great idea. My only question is who decided the key words?
3.Differentiation: the reason someone will buy or use this new product or service, versus the alternatives
– There does not appear to be anything similar out there
4. Marketing: where and how buyers/users will be reached
– I only watched it once, and cannot remember seeing this.
5. Championship: the competency of the venture’s leaders and advisors
– He knows what he’s doing.
6. Competition: an overview of competitors and partners
-Could have gone into more detail
7. The Ask: how much money, etc, is required to take the next step
– I can’t remember seeing this
8. The Return: how much and how soon will an investor be recompensed.
Can’t remember seeing this
9. The Message
Excellent work. Very professionally made and presented. Your message is concise and to the point, and you make excellent use of graphics. You also use a clear tone of voice and good stress and intonation to carry your message. Though I have some doubts as to how your product would work, you have me hooked on wanting to know more about it, and convinced there is a need for it. Well done! -
rebeccaharrison
This product addresses a gap in the market, as it changes the way that video education is accessed. I like the idea of streamlining content based on the level of knowledge that individuals need. It makes sense to have it all in one place. Who exactly would your market be? Would you start in one specific market and then expand?
I think that the idea is fabulous as online education through videos is a big market. As far as marketing goes: how do you aim to get your product out? This could be a stumbling block as there are many video sites out there already, as you indicate. How can you let people know about your service and how it is different? I think your video and eloquence make it clear that you are confident and competent in your product. This is a slick, clear presentation without a lot of extras which goes far in enticing me as an investor. It is clear what you are using your money for, and that was a major factor in my choice to invest, but the return isn’t as clear, nor is your timeline, which might be something to include to interest investors. Overall, a great presentation!
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jkotler
KidConnect
Welcome to KidConnect, an online learning program for young hospitalized patients in Canada. The goal of this venture is to bring learning, communication and entertainment to those in need. For a better look at what KidConnect offers, watch the elevator pitch below. As well, please keep in mind that although the pitch is delivered as […]
Continue reading KidConnect Posted in: General, Venture Forum-
Peggy Lawson
Nicely done Julie!
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joeltremblay
A3 Elevator and Venture
Here is the A3 Elevator and Venture pitch: My venture focuses on a new kind of software that attempts to blend the lines between educational and entertainment software in an attempt to make the new hybrid genre more marketable to the regular gaming community. It’s focus is contextual relevance and it’s explained more in the […]
Continue reading A3 Elevator and Venture Posted in: General, Venture Forum-
Doug Connery
Hey Joel:
Both of these links take me to your school district access portal, what is the log in and password?
Doug.
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jenbarker
Hi Joel,
The same thing happened to me when I tried.
Jen 🙂 -
joeltremblay
Weird. Ok fixed now. Apologies
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lullings
Joel, fair play it works now for me anyway.
Well done – Sound argument, well presented with a good idea.
I would definitely want to chat to you more about the background you and your team have and what other projects you have done to make sure that you have the ability to develop the ‘Context’ project. Also I would be interesting in learning about the revenue model for the product, would you be pitching it at an educational market or take on the games industry in the ‘real’ world?It is an engaging and fascinating product you are pitching. I would be interested in being involved early once the development and revenue questions were as good as the concept.
Well done
Stuart -
joeltremblay
Thank you for the kind words Stu. It’s going to be pitched to both the gaming and educational industries actually because of the nature of software. Remember that what we are trying to accomplish hasn’t actually been done before and recently the gaming industry, like the movie business has become a little shy about producing anything that’s a possible risk. This is one reason that we have been recently inundated with sequels and horrible reboots in both genre’s. One of the inspirations for this software was Lumosity but after working with it I believed that the idea could be expanded and marketed in a different direction. Once I started looking into it, I realized that the product pitch had grown beyond the constraints of Lumosity and that we could really revolutionize the concept and subsequent genres.
As far as the revenue model is concerned, Kickstarter is a model that allows for small donations, usually enough to cover one instance of the software and if the company reaches a certain goal, they can then continue with production based on the promise of customer delivery once the software is finished. It has revolutionized multiple industries because it allows startups to engage the public with products that are deemed too risky for regular production.
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Patrick Pichette
Hi Joel,
I see tremendous potential in your venture in terms of education but I’m not 100% sure on the viability of producing an endless continuum of content without a strong user base. If you are tempted to pursue this venture, I might look at crowdsourcing content to establish a larger content repository for use with your platform. Ideally, you would want to create the tools and provide them to others to generate the content for you. I think something like Minecraft comes to mind. Still, I see a great idea, the right person to lead it with passion and drive and those are elements that would encourage me to ask additional questions to determine the viability of the venture. Good work!
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jhodi
Hi,
I think that you have an interesting concept here. I think that if you are able to do it, you could have a very high demand product. However, developing the content for such a project seems like a very large undertaking. I think that you seem like a very confident leader and have made very persuasive pitches.
Jhodi
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joeltremblay
@ Patrick,
I think that to garner interest in the product/project, we have to showcase the capability of the software first. In order to do that we need to create the three modules first and then approach the crowd sourcing with a later release after we have enough funding to develop user friendly development tools for user created content and modules.
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jhodi
Assignment #3: Educational Application of Penveu
Hi, Sorry for being a bit late, I submitted this to David on Saturday, but had problems uploading it to the blog. Hopefully this link works! https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8nu030x2g60lzr7/AhgxDlPBaH Let me know if there are any problems finding my assignment! I have done an educational market venture pitch on Penveu, a new technology similar to that of an […]
Continue reading Assignment #3: Educational Application of Penveu Posted in: General, Venture Forum-
Jenny Brown
Hi Jhodi,
I enjoyed both your short elevator pitch and venture pitch. I really liked the design of your venture pitch – very professional and well laid out. I think you described the pain point, investment potential, current investors, team, and differentiation of the product all very well. As it is not your own original venture, I understand why you didn’t show a “face of the product” in the video, but I do find that I am more drawn to a pitch if there is a face behind the voice. To enhance your pitch, I would also recommend letting potential investors know what to do next – visit the website, contact our team for investment opportunities, etc.
As an EVA I expected to get a good understanding of what the product actually was in your venture pitch. I did reread what you wrote, and understand that it has something to do with pixels on the screen but a demo would have been a selling point for me, although I would agree there is a market for this product, I would not invest without seeing a demo of how well it works.
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jhodi
Thanks Jenny!
I agree that it would have been nice to have my face in the video, but as it is not my own product, I thought that I would assume the position of one of the CEO’s and keep it as if it was coming from one of them. I also wanted to feature the product, and since I do not actually have one, I thought that photos would be better. I do also like seeing a face in the video though.
Jhodi
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tomwhyte1
Hi Jhodi,
Thank you for providing information regarding Penveu, never heard of it before, looks intereting. However, before I complete my rating could answer a question for me. I am just unsure what has been “made over” to quote one of David’s posts or what the new venture/idea is. Would you mind clarifying this for me?
Regardless, I like Jenny enjoyed the presentation, as it was engaging and highly information regarding this product.
Thanks, Tom
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jhodi
Hi Tom,
I wanted to market Penveu to the educational market in a way that would focus on the use by a teacher and students in an interactive, engaging way. I have tried to focus the pitch on marketing Penveu to instructors and schools for the purpose of engaging students and creating efficient hand-on learning in the classroom. By highlighting the educational aspects and benefits of Penveu, I hope to intrigue potential educational investors. I felt as though the original marketing of Penveu was not focused on the education market enough in terms of benefits in the classroom.
Jhodi
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Doug Connery
Well done Jhodi. I enjoyed your elevator pitch and like Jenny, it would have been more convincing to see your face. This would have given some visual cues and body language indicating your excitement towards the product.
Both your elevator pitch and venture pitch certainly convinced me on the more affordable price and flexibility of use in the classroom as big features of the product. Your venture pitch is very convincing and realistic to the point that at first I was wondering why you were just re-publishing or plagiarizing their marketing material. Once I was part way through, I then realized it was your own material thus I believe you did a fine job of role playing and creating new and unique marketing material.
Doug.
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jhodi
Thanks for the input, I agree that having me in the video would have allowed my body language to show more. If I actually had a Penveu, I would have definitely gone that route.
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Colin
Jhodi, I like the idea behind Penveu and the approach of positioning it against whiteboards with the idea of cost savings and portability. Though the price is a bit misleading as a whiteboard already includes the projector where this product needs a laptop, projector and pen. Depending on what resources the school already has this might not be that much cheaper. Since it is portability that might be appealing as well to a school over a Whiteboard. As for the product I would really need to use it to determine its effectiveness before I would decide if it is worthwhile. Since it has to go through wireless to a laptop there might be a lag involved that could be annoying to teachers. Overall a good job I would definitely look further into investing into this kind of company.
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Pat A Son
Hi Jhodi,
I can see that your venture has a solid team from the biographical sketches you have provided and they have put together a solid product.
With the current thrust to get schools up to scratch with information technology you have convinced me that you have a possible game changer for those teachers who are intimidated by the hardware side of some of the products that are available today. As matter of fact our school was provided with two of a similar product but no one uses them because they have to be calibrated and you are ‘pinned’ to the front of the class when using them. I am just stating the fact because you did a great job of identifying the competitive edge of penveu and as such did not need any help from me. So the penveu team certainly did their homework and got their act right in this respect.
There is certainly a lot of room in the education market for penveu but you did not say how potential customers are exposed to the product. Also I would have liked to know the market size in terms of how much money it is estimated to have and how this market is projected to grow in the future. In addition penveu’s parent Interphase Corporation seem to be a solid company with a deep pocket so I do not think they need my money anyway. As long as you can provide me with the answers to these questions I will invest in penveu.
After all is said and done you did a great job.
Cheers
Patason-
jhodi
Hi,
Given that this is such a new technology, it has been grouped with the IWB market. As such, I explored the potential market growth for this market, but I was unable to determine what portion of the market would move to Penveu. This is an area that I would have liked to have found more information about (but with all of my searching, I was unable to). I agree that for a potential investor, this would be very valuable information.
Jhodi
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teacherben
I think the product is sound. I just went to a learning technologies expo last week and the one thing that I saw over and over was interactive whiteboards. Probably a third of the companies that were there were showing something like a Smartboard or something like a Mimeo. And, coincidentally, my wife is helping prepare a bid to a Central American government for the purchase of thousands of these things for schools. And I didn’t see anything like the penveu so I thought it was your own invention until I looked it up. I think you know your stuff. You present a myriad of facts and include a few figures that shows that you did your research.
I watched your elevator pitch a couple of times though and I spaced out each time. I think that the elevator pitch needs a bit more style and a bit less substance. I guess I am being a little picky about technical and performance issues, but I could hear you gasping for breath as you were trying to get everything out. There was a lot of information in there that would have been better in the venture pitch. The elevator pitch just needs to get my attention so that I listen to the venture pitch. It is not about making the sale. It is just about getting in the door. I watched the video that they had on their site (Dr. Yoram Solomin, Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Business Development) here:
http://www.penveu.com/products.html?video
and he was able to sell the idea without nearly so much information.On the other hand, your venture pitch was beautifully presented and the little touches made it look very professional. You may have wanted to slide yourself in there as a senior level administrator though. It was not clear who you are in the company, unless I missed something.
I was also not clear on what you are asking. It seems that the project already has sound financial backing from Interphase. And from my experience, there is no guarantee that you will make any money investing based on a product that is produced by a huge company. If this is their only product, and it takes off, you can make money. If they are part of a huge conglomerate, then success of one product has little impact on the balance sheet.
So, before investing, I would want to know more.
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jhodi
Thanks for your input! It is funny that you mention too much information in the elevator pitch because I have a tendency to want to put as much as I can into things like this and I know that sometimes less is more. I think that overall, investors with some sort of tie to the education market would be the target market for this product as they would be able to invest capital and help make connections at the same time, which is what I think this device may need.
Jhodi
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jameschen
Hi Jhodi,
Your elevator pitch has a lot of information, so a provision of closed captioning would paint a clearer picture for me as an investor. As an EVA, your pitch would hook my interest more if you provided a description of what the students can do with the product (i.e., write on any surface?) in addition to information about how it is better than the IWB.
Upon reviewing Penveu’s website, I do wonder how your pitch is steering the company from its original direction?
Thanks,
James
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jhodi
Hi,
The only thing that I found when I explored their marketing was that it somewhat lacked emphasis on the impact that it would have on teaching style and student engagement. This is in line with the company’s vision, but my goal was to emphasize how this could make a bigger, stronger impact.
Jhodi
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jameschen
Hi Johdi,
It appears that most of us who were re-pitching for existing companies had the same problem. I wanted the company to focus more on the education market instead of the commercial one, but did not specifically emphasize how in my pitches. There should have been an extra section on both my elevator and venture pitches comparing which direction Knewton is currently going, how it differs from the direction I want the company to move towards and the results this new direction will have in comparison to the results they have now.
In any case, this assignment was a great learning experience for me, and I hope it was the same for you too.
Have a good break!
James
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pcollins
I appreciated the cleanness and succinct message from your elevator pitch. I did find it contained a lot of information to digest in a short period of time. Almost like a very short venture pitch – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing? Just something that I noted personally. Your recording was also very clear and overlaid well with the visuals that you provided. It was quite interesting to see that penvue compared to the smart board technology which many are now questioning the validity of. I hope that wouldn’t detract from the marketability of this neat little device.
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cunnian
Hi Jhodi,
Great job on the elevator and venture pitch. I found that they were both very professional and informative. Like others, my concern is that this is already a well-established company that is not really hurting for money. As such, being an investor, I am having a hard time finding a way that my investment is needed.It was a good idea, however, to take this product in a new direction in order to fully move into the educational market. You would think that the parent company would have considered this!
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melissaayers
Hi Jhodi,
Great work both you pitches were very professional!
From the elevator pitch I was not able to workout exactly what this product does unfortunately (I am a newbie when it comes to white/smart board technologies sorry) and for this reason I needed to look further into it. The pitch clearly states a pain point but I am not sure how this device actually works to meet this pain point from the video. Although the pitch does clearly identify how this provides value by means of a cost reduction compared to other products. My confusion for understanding the product lead me to view the venture pitch, which was professionally presented with most of the investment information I wanted to see as an EVA.
However unfortunately I do not think I would invest in this venture. While not because of anything related to the ventures pitches themselves or their contend purely as I think its something the competitors can reproduce and integrate into their own products or even buy the company if the product is something they find great.
Thanks
Melissa -
adi
Hi jhodi,
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
– Though this is an interesting product, I don’t think it is necessarily a very much needed one. Some people say the IWB is on its way out, and there are only 600,000 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_whiteboard ) out there, so it would appear to be a limited market.(http://eddigitaltribe.blogspot.mx/2012/01/are-interactive-white-boards-dead.html )
2. Solution: the new product or service that resolves the pain
– Yes, the gadget solves the problem3. Differentiation: the reason someone will buy or use this new product or service, versus the alternatives
– The report does not state if here is anything else similar in the market4. Marketing: where and how buyers/users will be reached
-It is not clear. Also, though the report states this gadget will enhance the IWB market, I read pages that suggest it may replace this market, so I got a bit confused http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/thinking-tech/penveu-electronic-pen-could-replace-whiteboards/112705. Championship: the competency of the venture’s leaders and advisors
– Good6. Competition: an overview of competitors and partners
-Not mentioned.7. The Ask: how much money, etc, is required to take the next step
– Not mentioned8. The Return: how much and how soon will an investor be recompensed
– Not mentioned9. The Message
-Overall the presentation, especially the PDF, was well presented. Some things to keep in mind: speak more slowly and have less text so investors actually read your proposal. This aside, however, I feel the look was good and if tweaked could work.Good luck,
Adriana
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jameschen
Assignment 3 Venture Pitch: Knewton
Hi all, I chose an existing venture, Knewton, to build my role-playing elevator and venture pitches on. Please have a look and let me know what you think! ETEC 522 Assignment 3 Venture Pitch: Knewton Thanks! James Update: Sorry for not including my elevator pitch here on my initial posting. Here is my elevator […]
Continue reading Assignment 3 Venture Pitch: Knewton Posted in: Venture Forum-
jenbarker
Hi James,
Although I think you have a great marketing idea here, suggesting you bring Knewton to BC schools, I don’t see a new venture idea. In my opinion, you are using Knewton’s pre-existing venture but haven’t done a “makeover” to take it in a completely new direction. Perhaps I am missing something but when I went to the Knewton site I couldn’t see any difference between your product and theirs. Your website was well designed and easy to follow. I liked how you set up the sub-headings, addressing the many facets necessary in a pitch. Given that this was a fictional assignment, I might have added some fictional names and beefed up backgrounds to your management team. This would have given your venture more credibility.
Thanks for sharing, Jen-
jameschen
Hi Jen,
Thank you for your evaluation of my pitches. I felt that Knewton was already a well-established company going in the right direction (i.e. partnering with major publishers and doing trials with large universities), so my take on this assignment was to try to help potential investors see that there is a need in the public sector for Knewton’s Adaptive Learning technology and that such an investment will provide investors with a lucrative return.
Thank you for pointing out what I need to be aware of from the pitches I have made. I will keep your suggestions in mind when future pitching opportunities arise.
James
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avninder
I watched your elevator pitch and think that the “two minutes” comment was a good way to hook the viewer. For me to be excited about the venture, I think it would be helpful if there was more enthusiasm portrayed. I am guilty of not seeming very passionate in my own pitch, but I can see how it would make a big difference to a potential investor.
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jameschen
Hi Avinder,
Thanks for your feedback! I too feel that my lack of enthusiasm would deter potential investors from investing. Perhaps having a red-bull before doing an elevator pitch late at night wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all…
🙂
James
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joeltremblay
Hi there James,
I agree with Jen in that it’s not clear as to what the new direction is that you’re taking the software in? Also, with regards to return, it’s a little unclear as to how they will see a return on their investment beyond the philanthropic route. Otherwise very thorough and polished.-
jameschen
Hi Joel,
Actually, when I started this assignment I found it a bit of a challenge to think of something that would steer Knewton in a new direction because I felt that they were already doing very well. But then I thought that if Knewton can establish itself in the public sector early as THE platform for personalized online learning then there could be potential to make good profit because currently no other companies can offer what Knewton has to public school students. Public schools need to rely on teachers/IEPs to provide personalized learning content for students, and most teachers are overstressed with the workload they already have.
Regarding the return, I did not write how investors will get their money back in the venture pitch because I do not know the routes that are available for investors to take. I also have no idea about the numbers needed to calculate how long it would take for investors to get their money back. Perhaps another look at how to devise exit strategies would shed some light. From this perspective, “success” for implementing Knewton’s technology in public schools would mean having established Knewton infrastructures for personalized online learning across major cities in Canada. When this happens, Knewton can sell their Canadian public school infrastructure to companies such as BlackBoard or SMART Technology (ones that are already established in the public sector). Hope that makes sense 🙂
And thank you, Joel, for pointing out the points my pitch did not address satisfactorily. I will keep them in mind for future references.
James
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Jonathan
Hi James —
Good presentation. You got right to the point. It seems like a solid proposition although as an investor I’m curious as to how your company will differ from the competition. I think it might be beneficial to highlight one or two of the big differences that your take on Knewton would be different. Nice site to complement a good video pitch otherwise!
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jameschen
Hi Jonathan,
The differentiation of my pitch is that Knewton’s technology is the only one I know of on the market that can help teachers in their teaching by recommending content for remediation AND be incorporated into 3rd party learning platforms if one already exists. BlackBoard Analytics for Learn, for example, only analyzes user information. It does not let students know the fundamental concepts they are having trouble with and recommend the content that would address these challenges. I am, however, not sure if BB’s analytic technology can be incorporated into 3rd party platforms and so have assumed that it cannot, so in a real pitch this would need to be addressed by contacting BB directly.
In any case, thanks for letting me know of your concern, Jonathan. Much appreciated!
James
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Paula Poodwan
Hi James,
You pain point is outstanding in that it showed that you did your research; you pointed out the relevant percentages of the current learning and teaching situation in BC, so investors can see quite clear why Knewton is needed. However, I agree with the comments above that the return is not clear, (I think this is the most important part that investors want to know) and the credibility of your team is not that convincing.
Too bad that we can’t hear you well in the elevator pitch, However I think I can hear the passion you have for Knewton in your voice 🙂
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jameschen
Hi Paula,
Thanks for your comments! I think you made a very good point about the return being the most important part that investors would want to know before making an investment decision. As I’ve mentioned in my above response to Joel, there is some information I need to gather before I can come up with an acceptable plan regarding the return.
Regarding the credibility of my team, yes, what I have on my venture pitch is not enough to exude credibility of carrying out the plan. My notion is that since my pitch has been based on a role-playing approach, in a real venture pitch the people suitable for those positions will be identified before pitching my idea to investors.
Thanks for letting me know your thoughts!
James
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Mike Rae
Hey James,
My laptop has bad audio and with the elevator pitch it wasnt a great combo. thanks for the subtitles though. I agree with your pain point and it is one that needs to be addressed, perhaps knewton would be a good alternative to the status quo, but I don’t see the new idea. As a potential venture capitalist, I want something that jumps out from your product that maybe knewton doesn’t do or is lacking in.
thanks for the pitch!
MIKE-
jameschen
Thanks for your comments, Mike!
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C. Ranson
Hi James,
Your website is very attractive, and very easy to navigate. You have identified the problem and how Knewton could be a viable solution to better teaching and learning in BC schools. I agree you have identified the competition but why is Knewton a better product. You have taken this existing enterprise can you share how you are launching it differently as the new CEO? I am thinking you are improving the marketing and selling of the learning Platform!.
Catherine
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jameschen
Hi Catherine,
I tried to create a situation where the people with a limited budget can save money in the long run by investing in Knewton’s technology. My take is that by using what Knewton (the real company) already has and pitching for investment in the Canadian public school sector, the establishment of the company’s presence there will allow investors to make money from government funding.
If I were to launch the product from scratch, I would not do it differently from what Knewton has already done – by offering free trials of its technology to large universities and then using the user feedback to promote its product to large publishers, because publishers need schools to buy their product in order to make money.
Hope that answers your questions, and thank you for your input!
James
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frank
Hi James,
I like how you laid out your site; it’s beautiful 🙂
As others have mentioned, you’ve done a good job talking about the pain point, marketability and the solution.
And, I think for investors to get excited about giving you money, they will want to have a better handle on venture plan and the returns/exist strategy associated with it. Regarding the latter, I’d be careful about pitching your idea as a means to make money from government funding. Any government rep will immediately shut you down if they see that they could be implicated in a scandal in which public money was seen to be funneled into the hands of private investors. In this case, greed is not good.-
jameschen
Hi Frank,
I hadn’t thought about how pitching an idea to make money from government funding would have such negative effects. Thanks for letting me know this important point! I will be sure to frame my pitches so that potential investors know exactly how the money will be used by the company.
Thanks,
James
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jenniferschubertubc
Hi James,
First off, what a lovely site. It was extremely clean, uncomplicated, and easy to navigate, which for some strange reason is often hard to find nowadays! I applaud your design.
I found two subpages of your site particularly interesting: Pain Point and Competition. It was very clear that you did your research to come up with the numbers and narrative explaining the importance of a product such as Knewton. The Competition page was an EXCELLENT resource that I very well may bookmark for future reference. You can see the effort you put in to express the knowledge you have of the market here.
I understand that Knewton is not a new venture, nor are you taking it in any particularly “new” direction. It is hard to reinvent a well working wheel, isn’t it?! I do applaud your effort to explain the importance and value of the program as it currently exists however. I would have liked to have seen a more well-developed Championship page (even if it meant creating something just for the sake of the project). Championship is often very key to investors; a more well developed page would make the proposal much more effective.
Overall, I think you did a good idea showing us the benefit of Knewton; it would have been interesting to see it taken to a new level, though even I have no idea where to go from here! Good work.
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jameschen
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks for your feedback! I think my pitches did not do a good job of explaining the differences between what Knewton already has and what I will do differently if I were the CEO of the company. Perhaps this explains why I am not the CEO of Knewton… 🙂 In any case, I agree with your point about further developing the Championship page because why would investors invest in a company run by people TBD? I will keep these in mind for future reference.
Thanks again,
James
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Patrick Pichette
EdTech Services
Here is my venture and elevator pitch: Personal Reflection: This was definitely a difficult assignment given the lack of knowledge in pitching ventures I had at the beginning of the semester. What I found most challenging was trying to gather sufficient details to present in what I consider a possible venture that I am […]
Continue reading EdTech Services Posted in: Venture Forum-
rebeccaharrison
Hi Patrick,
I’m not sure if I’m just missing it, but is your elevator pitch within the venture video? Was there a particular section of time that was meant to represent it? I didn’t want to watch the whole video out of fairness for my evaluation of the top 3 (30-60 second) pitches.
Cheers,
Rebecca -
Patrick Pichette
Hi Rebecca,
The elevator pitch is played within the video during the overview section. It is the video that starts playing right after I present the team.
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rebeccaharrison
Thanks Patrick, got it 😉
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Doug Connery
Hi Patrick:
Great presentation and integration of You-Tube, Prezi and Camtasia. This gives me confidence that Ed Tech Services knows their stuff.
A great concept but I am not sure exactly what Ed Tech does or can offer. In the presentation I think you could spend a bit more time explaining what the services are that are offered, with perhaps some examples.Perhaps pick one or two areas that schools or institutes struggle with that you could help them with, maybe for example migrating from one LMS to another..
Doug.
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Patrick Pichette
After re-reading your comment, I think I understand what you mean now. You were hoping to see 2 or 3 very specific examples of each service offered to further demonstrate how EdTech Services can help. So for the ‘help you find the right tool’ I could present a scenario with someone looking for a solution that meets their needs and I provide a potential solution based on the criteria established. For the ‘coaching and mentoring’, I could explain how EdTech Services would sit down with you to learn how to use Moodle efficiently or provide video tutorials describing the very specific tasks you’re hoping to accomplish with your LMS. For the ‘migrate your content’ I could show a scenario where EdTech Services could take those wonderful binders full of exciting activities and convert them into interactive lessons using Smart boards or another popular tool that the teacher had available in their environment.
I can see how that could have solidified the presentation without putting me over the 8 min mark. I would have had 2 minutes to present the scenarios and discuss some potential solutions available through EdTech Services. Thanks for the feedback!
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Patrick Pichette
Ah.. I thought it was clear when I indicated that I would help them find the right tool that suits their needs, coach or mentor them in using the tool they’ve chosen or migrate content towards their tool of choice. I appreciate your feedback though. Perhaps I need to specify that it is an educational tool or give an example of what educational tools are? Or maybe I could have included the same pictures of tools from the elevator pitch to remind users of some of the tools might be targeted?
Thoughts?
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Colin
Hi Patrick, I think I understand the premise of your business and I can see the value in it. I know many Pro-d seminars where teachers are overwhelmed with new information and get packets that they shove away in their binders never to be looked at again. Having someone to actually help a teacher choose the right technology and then implement it would be very beneficial. However, I also see this as being very expensive because in a Pro-d seminar you might present to 100 teachers but with a mentor session you are working one on one with a teacher. This teacher may not be very computer literate and as a result takes a large amount of time to set things up and additional support. You might also run into problems with what you can access in the district since you don’t have the computer access that some technology would require. Really you would be limited to web based applications only. Overall I see your business as a service business that would be beneficial for teachers but too expensive and difficult to make a return.
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jkotler
Hi Patrick,
I enjoyed watching your presentation and thought it was well organized, you spoke clearly and did a job of integrating technology. I also appreciated that you took the time to conduct research and included those facts and figures to support the marketing goals. Similarly, including a break down of where the finances being asked for are going towards gave it more strength and clarity.
One thing that I would have liked to see a a greater sense of how Ed Tech Services truly offers something different that what other competitors are already offering. Perhaps giving specific examples would have made this point stronger.
Julie
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Kent Jamieson
Ditto Julie,
Great use of technology in your presentation Patrick. It really gives a venture like yours that much more validity when a pitch looks and sounds professional. For me, it is often how an idea is presented, and not even the idea itself that is often the most important aspect.
In terms of you venture pitch, however, I must say I needed to watch it a few times to really grasp the concepts laid out. I also agree with the above comments that some more specifics would have been good, to really see what your service – or similar service – looks like in action.
I appreciated your financial information and the options your presented the investors. I’m not entirely sure I would invest in this venture, as much of what you offer I -as a tech coordinator- do for my school already. However, I realize that not every school has people in place to organize, find, and support tech use in schools.
Good luck with this venture if you take it further!Kent
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teacherben
HI Patrick. I think the pitch was clear and professional. I decided against using background music in mine but after watching yours, I wish I put it in. In your reflection, you comment on a seeming lack of enthusiasm but I didn’t get that and I think the music helped. It looked and sounded slick. I cracked up with you referring to your wife as Chief Relationship Officer.
You value your company at $1,000,000. That seems a bit high for a start-up. I think the idea would work and I think you got your target market spot on. You talk about “using your time for things that matter” which in my 15 years of teaching is probably the complaint that I hear most from teachers. Your little montage of all of the different edtech products out there was just long enough to reflect the sentiments that many educators have–that there’s way too much out there and it’s all very confusing and intimidating. While many schools will go the route of keeping someone in-house that can help them navigate this course, many will find the simplicity of outsourcing more convenient. As an investor though, I would have to compare this venture with other opportunities I see and you have way more overhead than, for example, many of the other pitches coming from this group. It is certainly possible to make money in something like this, but I would be more likely to put my money into something that afforded a simpler exit strategy. I don’t want to own a company and have to deal with the headaches that come with it. I am an investor. I want to make my money and have a way out.
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rebeccaharrison
I like the points you make about the site and I see that it fills a real and big need. My concern with it, is the differentation, how do you ensure that your product remains in the lead? Also, if I understand it right, it woud require a continuous high amount of work and a large team to stay on top of new technologies. I can see some serious benefits (as far as advertising for products), but at this point I would not invest in this venture. Fabulous video though and very compelling.
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cunnian
Hi Patrick,
I really enjoyed your venture pitch! This is an ambitious venture in that it asks a lot from investors and it seeks to offer services in an area where there are already established services. I think that you know how you would differentiate your services from those of your competitors, but I am not sure that came through clearly in your pitch.
Your use of the various media in your venture helps to add credibility to the services that you offer; clearly you are very proficient with using them. Again, good job and best of luck! -
Peggy Lawson
Hi Patrick – I enjoyed your pitch. An interesting idea. I know I often tend to focus my reviews on whether the quick elevator pitch presents a pain point and a solution – which yours did quite well – but that’s the world I come from; more of an educational EVA. However I think it might be a tough sell. Teachers needing some educational tech support often don’t even know what to ask, or even that they have a problem, and I’m worried that EdTech Services won’t be able to make that personal connection that a F2F support person could. I don’t doubt that EdTech could provide a valuable service to some, but ‘m worried about the real marketability of the service. I wish EdTech Services well however – best of luck with your venture.
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adi
Sorry for the late post. I have had sleepless nights completing other assignments. I do apologize and mean no disrespect.
Hi Patrick,
I liked the way you started your pitch getting to the point by saying how much you need and what the investor will get in return, and then proceeded to do an excellent job of explaining what your venture consist of, what the investment will help do and what the investors return will be. I would invest in your venture because there is a need for this product, you have a strong team, and finally, you have a clear idea of the market and your finances. Excellent work!
Adriana
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C. Ranson
Elevator Pitch & Persausive Presentation for Mobile Apps
I have created a venture pitch as an fictitious initiative for developing mobile apps for oral health care screening and prevention, the idea was to investigate a topic that would be meaningful to my profession and identifying an area that is under developed. Venture pitch and presentation 2 f nov 2012 from cranson16 Reflection Creating […]
Continue reading Elevator Pitch & Persausive Presentation for Mobile Apps Posted in: Venture Forum-
lullings
Hi Catherine,
Nice idea and you definitely have a strong team to lead the idea. I did wonder when you said that there are many apps out there already, but then you went ahead and explained the unique selling point of your app so that was excellent.
I was not exactly clear how the app revenue would be structured – would it be a paid for app or a free download and pay for some of the content? and what price point would it come in at?
Marketing through the Primary Health Care Providers is a great idea and if successful would be a powerful advertising medium, but thought that the social media strategy was very vague.
Your video was great to see and as a result it added validity to your delivery. The sound quality was not great and there were edit jumps but the information being delivered was excellent.
It was a great idea to use slide share as it could bring in some different media types. There was some clipping of content on the slides and one was blocked by the picture but the overall experience was positive.
I would not invest in this app as I believe I would not download it and dont think that enough people would for it to be successful. I would however invest in you and your team as it was a genuine and positive delivery.
Stuart
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C. Ranson
Hi Stuart,
Thank you for the kind and gentle review. I had some technical difficulty with Slideshare and importing my presentation. In the past it has been a great tool and very user friendly. I have re-posted my presentation and hopefully addressed some of your feedback.
Generating revenue, yes very important for a new venture. I was thinking that a partnership with an existing company that develops and sells apps might be interested in our oral health and health promotion ideas (an area of the market that had not been developed) – the apps would actually promote health and address a societal needs, not just track what I eat or track how often I go to the gym, something more meaningful. The apps would cost money to download, private healthcare industry could buy at a discounted rate as an educational tool they give to clients, or a way for private healthcare to attract and keep customers. There would be some creative selling and billing involved. The idea behind the apps are to promote self screening, early detection of disease and improved prognosis. Oral cancer and oral disease, skin cancer, breast cancer can all be self detected. The apps could educate the person on how to, detect possible abnormal tissue, in turn prompting a visit to a healthcare specialists for a diagnosis.
In terms of social media marketing I was thinking sending it viral, tweeting about the product, Facebook groups.
Catherine
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rebeccaharrison
I, also, am impressed by the team, but would not invest in this particular venture. I don’t think that there is enough of a market for this, as I think most people who would be concerned enough with oral health to purchase an app would be getting regular dental/doctor check-ups and may not see the need for this particular service. I also wasn’t sure if the new app quarterly was meant to be an oral health app or just a health and wellness app. I would certainly be interested in hearing more about the other services/apps that your company may provide.
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C. Ranson
Hi Rebecca, you would be surprised how many Canadians have no or limited access to dental care. Dentistry is private industry and the consumer has to pay for this service, unlike our publicly funded healthcare. The idea is to develop and create apps that will actually help people and promote health and oral health. Every family has some member that has been touched by some type of cancer, they all have a story and in many cases the prognosis would be better if early detection occurred. There are so many health conditions that can be detected by the individual and be prevented if society was aware and educated, such as skin cancer, breast cancer, oral cancer, periodontal disease & HBP. Mobile apps could screen for the symptoms and identify risk factors for these conditions.
Thanks
Catherine
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Colin
Hi Catherine, I think you might scare some people into downloading the app but I am not sure how many would be willing to put their Iphone in their mouth to scan for this. I don’t assume that it can take an accurate reading of all the areas from outside. I can also see inexperience on the part of the consumer on how to use the app properly which could mean that certain cancers are not detected. I would hate to think of the lawsuit that would happen if someone using it has oral cancer and the app didn’t pick it up. You would need a very tight terms and conditions to avoid litigation. I believe you would be making money on this app by selling a subscription. If this was the case I don’t see many people signing up unless they really don’t have any access to dental services in which case they would have real problems with their teeth. Overall I see this as a worthwhile cause trying to create awareness about the issue and I have learned more about it from your presentation but as a venture I don’t believe it would provide much of a return.
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C. Ranson
Hi Colin,
The idea is not to put your iPhone in your mouth, it is just to open your mouth or stick out your tongue, the scanner will then scan your oral tissues. The apps is not intended to detect or diagnose cancer, this can only be achieved by a surgical biopsy, There are current tools on the market to scan the oral environment for the presence of abnormal tissue, used in a clinical setting, these are screening tools to alert the person to seek medical attention for early detection. The app would provide the user with instructions on use and an educational component. The best diagnostic testing is not full proof, there are thousand of women who have had mammograms and ultrasounds and their breast cancer was not detected. This is only a preventive screening tool for possible early detection to perhaps save lives. An additional option to generate revenue could be to sell the app to Health Canada and the Cancer Society. I think you will see such apps in the future, not created by me of course but I do think we will see it, think of the innovative glucose measuring devices that are used by individuals with diabetes. Thanks for your feedback.
Catherine 🙂
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jkotler
Hi Catherine,
Unfortunately I had a hard time loading and playing the YouTube videos embedded in Slideshare. From what I was able to see though, I think that you are very knowledgeable on the subject and have a strong team, which gave a lot of confidence in the individuals behind the app. As for the app itself, I too am unsure that I would invest in such a venture because I don’t know how well people would respond to its use and how widespread the interest in downloading it would be.
With that said, like others have mentioned i do appreciate and support the cause you are trying to promote.
Julie
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C. Ranson
Hi Julie,
Sorry you could not open my links. Thank you for the feedback and confidence in what you did review. I agree the venture idea needs some further work, but I think that was the focus of this learning activity. I do think there is a market out there for healthcare apps. 🙂
Catherine
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Kent Jamieson
Thank you Catherine for reminding me to book my next dental appointment.
Your information and expertise were quite apparent, yet your delivery seemed a little choppy and somewhat vague in parts. As a potential investor my focus is on the idea – which seems quite original and in most cases needed by the populous – but also how the idea is presented, which didn’t really hit the mark for me.
I, like some others who have commented, was wondering what the new apps coming out every quarter would look like? What would they do? I must admit I found myself wondering what the original app would do as well. Your information seemed to mainly focus on oral cancer, and not on how your product would actually detect it. Your explanation of the apps features were helpful, but I couldn’t understand your ‘scanning’ technology embedded into the video camera. Perhaps explaining how the ‘science’ behind the app would work could have helped solidify my investment.Your team seems quite knowledgeable and poised to achieve success, but my recommendation is to demonstrate more clearly the science behind your app, and perhaps provide a few examples/videos/pictures of your service in action.
Kent
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C. Ranson
Hi Kent,
LOL – glad you will schedule your dental appointment. Thanks for the feedback, explaining the science behind the scanner would be a good idea. The additional apps would also focus on health prevention and have a screening tool component for conditions such as gum disease, bleeding rates, recession detection and monitoring of the condition, self-screening of skin conditions, a very diverse app capturing health risk factors to alert individuals and then education to reduce those who have risk factors, creating a healthier being. There is a large population that is very much into health and disease prevention. Think about the thousands of consumers that visit health food stores, shop on line for health products, use the internet to self diagnose, these apps would provide more reliable health information. Just the beginning of an idea. 🙂
Catherine
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manny
Hi Catherine,
I like the fact that you took a different route in your presentation and applied your venture not to a learning technology, but rather the medical sciences. I feel that this sector has a lot of growth potential and similar to education, apps have yet to unleash their full potential. You did an excellent job of displaying other health science apps and relaying their success. Although this venture is undertaking an important issue, I would not invest in it for the following reasons.
1) Very specialized – This is a highly specialized app for oral health care. Most citizens understand that they need to brush their teeth, floss, and mouthwash to promote good oral hygiene. These are preventative methods that people fail to always comply to and I doubt they would add another application to what most already feel takes time out of their day.
2) Lack of awareness – There is simply not enough awareness about this type of cancer and as such, its number of downloads and usage will be limited. In order to get the word out there, you would have to invest a substantial amount in marketing which is difficult as other cancers (breast/lung, etc.) are usually at the forefront of this campaign.
3) Frequency of cases – I have not done my research on this but I would think that the number of deaths related to oral cancer worldwide would be higher in developing nations. The citizens of these countries usually do not or have limited access to mobile devices and the Internet and therefore this product would be of no use where it is needed the most.I do still like the idea and I think if the technology was available to change it into a breast cancer screening device, it would not only reap amazing revenues, but further our fight with cancer.
Manny
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C. Ranson
Hi Manny,
Thanks for the feedback, sorry you won’t invest :(.
Oral cancer is raising in prevalence in developed countries and the prognosis is less than that of breast cancer. There is just less awareness but with gaining rates people will begin to see/hear about this type of cancer.
Catherine
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Peggy Lawson
Hi Catherine –
It was nice to see a very different use of technology than the other pitches. I think there is a real need for such self-diagnostic tools, and I loved how your idea was very distinct than anything else I’ve ever heard of. I can actually see, with the proper promotion, how this could be a big opportunity. If major dental organizations were to get on board and give a recommendation, I think your product could do very well. Your credibility as a CEO is high – you clearly believe in your product. Technical and production issues aside, one suggestion I’d offer regarding the pitch itself would be to offer your solution much earlier in the pitch – you didn’t really do that, I felt, until very close to the 1 minute mark, near the very end of the pitch. Like you, I didn’t provide enough information about market readiness and marketing, or money aspects – lessons we would have to learn. So thanks for an interesting venture idea. I can’t say as I’d be ready to jump into investing in it, but it did have me intrigued about its possibilities.
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C. Ranson
Hi Peggy,
Thanks for reviewing my pitch. Yes, I agree it is a unique idea that maybe someone will develop in the future. It needs work I do agree but I think there is a market for as you said self-screening tools, just have to capture it. 🙂
Catherine
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adi
Hi Catherine,
Sorry for the late post. I have had sleepless nights completing other assignments. I do apologize and mean no disrespect.
Your venture certainly addresses a real problem and need, but I wonder how many people would buy it. I do, however, feel health authorities would and should be interested, as this is preventive medicine. I would wish your average person were interested and took an APP like this seriously; it’s a shame they don’t. Oral cancer is indeed a problem and a very aggressive form of cancer.
I felt your pitch was somewhat fragmented, but feel you do have a strong team and thorough knowledge of what’s needed. I would probably invest if you could polish this up a bit and consider defining your buyer more, e.g. the health services.
It was interesting to watch and informative.
Adriana
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C. Ranson
Hi Adriana,
Thank you for reviewing my pitch. I agree it needs some work, especially after reviewing many others but have some good ideas. I am pleased you understand the need and market for preventive awareness and health. I was also thinking that Health Canada and the Cancer Society would be prospective buyers of this venture. 🙂
Catherine
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jhodi
Hi,
I think that you have an interesting idea here. You have done a very good job with your pitches and have included several important details. One of your strongest points is the strong team that you have created to help form and run the app. You appear very professional in your video and come across as very passionate and confident.
However, I do not think that I would invest in this venture simply because I am not convinced that there is a moarket for it. I feel as though anyone that is concerned enough about oral hygiene to purchase this app already sees a dentist regularly and would rather have the opinion and advice of a professional than an app.
Jhodi
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Jenny Brown
Doorpodz is a venture proposition for an online community connecting people looking at changing career paths (known as career movers) to industry advisors using online profiles, instant messaging and live chat. I am really excited about my venture proposition and would like to take the opportunity to share it with you. Only have a minute? […]
Continue reading Doorpodz Posted in: Venture Forum-
avninder
I liked how your elevator pitch was geared towards investors and not necessarily end users of the product. You seemed very engaged in the pitch as well.
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Paula Poodwan
Hi Jenny,
Your elevator pitch is professionally done. The video is of good quality with the logo and perfect lighting. Your tone, pitch and excitement in your voice make it all very interesting to watch! Your elevator pitch is clear in which you started with the pain point and then you moved on to the solution.
The idea of Doorpods is innovative and I feel excited to listen to you. You are also very clear on how Doorpodz will make the money. However, I think since there are already some free social networking sites out there that provide similar concepts: people can blog, post questions, chats , and many times they can get advice online for free, so I don’t think most people would want to pay to use Doorpodz, unless they are very serious or desperate, then they may sign up and pay for chat and advice from the professional.
Overall both of your pitches are very engaging. Even though you didn’t have much visual in your venture pitch, your passion, your excitement, and the words you chose kept me engaged the whole 7:17 minutes. Well done!
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Mike Rae
Hey Jenny, great job on your pitches. I thought the most intriguing part of how doorpodz would make money was the idea that industry advisors could have the option of answering to create their own supply and demand within your site. A good advisor could charge more based on his or her chats (after they are rated)…if you want 5 star quality, maybe they choose to charge more per minute. It could create a space for people looking to move career paths a new outlook.
One of the drawbacks of the idea is that I don’t think the numbers of people out there looking to change career paths are that high, so it is a relatively small market, but if you did corner that niche, with the right marketing perhaps it could be profitable.thanks
MIKE -
Jenny Brown
Thanks everyone. I would agree that I am a bit concerned as to if people would pay to chat or not but there are some models out there that are working. Mike, I wondered about the need as well, how often do people fully change careers? I did mean to find some stats about this, but time ran out, I just knew it was something I was going through and have a few friends going through as well. I thought that it could also be a starting point for people to have some inside info on a company they are interested in so maybe not a total career shift but inside scoop on a different position. Thanks for the feedback.
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Jonathan
Jenny —
Really interesting idea! I like it. I enjoyed both the short and the longer versions of your presentations. As an EVA, I would probably like the shift to change to more of a marketing site for jobs (I think..). Like Mike, I am worried bout the market for people wanting to change jobs and how you would be able to maintain users. I see it as a great recruiting tool, but then the question for the industry leaders or managers with jobs is how could they sift through the piles of applicants. It seems like a good extension to something like Linked In possibly?
I am interested in the pay to chat to an executive feature though for sure. Thanks for the pitch!
— Jonathan
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Jenny Brown
I totally agree Jonathan,
It would be perfect to pitch as an extension to LinkedIn. Not sure if anyone else has thought about it yet. -
kstackhouse
Hi Jenny,
After watching your videos and reading your disclaimers it seems as though you have thought of just about everything. Both the elevator pitch and the venture pitch were easy to view and your message was clear. You did a nice job in the elevator pitch piquing the viewer’s interest to watch the second video. In the venture pitch you progressed your ideas nicely and moved a good pace. Your confidence and enthusiasm for the venture showed through out. Nicely done. I think the venture idea is a good one. I think there are a lot of people that do actually change jobs/career paths now compared to just one generation back. I can tell you that 3 people in my immediate family have done this. I don’t know if they would have tried a service like this or not. I think with how comfortable people have become with social networks that it is a real possibility. Great job.
Ken
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jenniferschubertubc
Hi Jenny!
First off, KUDOS for getting through a whole venture pitch in one go! (You didn’t even edit, did you?!) Outstanding.
I worked in the software field for a company called Cluen that created contact database management systems for executive recruiters. Doorpods would have been an extremely natural add-on to our program! I am intrigued by the concept of being able to chat with Industry Advisors, and do believe that there are good people out there that would be more than willing to take part.
While watching both the elevator pitch and the longer venture pitch, I did have some questions arise… but as soon as I was writing them down, you answered them! I think that is definitely a sign of a good pitch. Get the audience thinking and engaging just enough to ask questions which you end up answering before the pitch is over. Excellent work there.
I am not sure if I would invest in Doorpods only for the fact that I’m not sure there is currently a market of users willing to pay for such a service. The idea is stellar, but unfortunately, the economy is still not. That said, you provided a sound presentation of a good idea. Well done.
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Jenny Brown
Thanks Jennifer. I took a lot of takes (at least ten – it was a long Friday night) and was reading off the computer screen using a PowerPoint presentation and clicking through as I went. I did mess up three words so I did very slight editing. I am glad to see that there might be interest for the product, but yes I think how to make the product make money needs to be re-evaluated.
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Patrick Pichette
Hi Jenny,
I enjoyed watching your elevator pitch and thought long and hard in terms of its feasibility. I think this is the point that I struggle with most as I’m not sure if a need exists for this service or whether it would be viable. If anything, I could see this type of service tied in with LinkedIn rather than a standalone product. With the established user base of LinkedIn, there would likely be a greater incentive for recruiters to pursue this type of recruiting approach. Still, you propose an interesting venture and although I wouldn’t invest in it personally, there might be some hope for it if your market research showed promise.
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frank
Nice work.
I’m on a similar page as Patrick on this.
Certainly, there is a need for services that cater to people who are going through a career transition. Whether Doorpodz has identified the specific painpoint most people are willing to pay for to overcome, I’m not sure.
There is already ample information about various careers online and if you’re interested, it’s not that difficult to get an information interview with people in areas you’re interested in exploring. Networking is not that hard in the age of social media.
As far as helping employers/recruiters, most people hire people whom they know, because we make people decisions based on how we feel about them, not data on page. I say this having been one of the few who got a job in the government, without having had a connection. I was the exception.
The rule was and still is that someone has to know you and vouch for you, and this is truer the higher up the proverbial ladder you go.
Perhaps something to think about going forward with your venture. GL! -
Scott
Jenny, I found both your pitches well constructed and executed, resulting in a high likely hood that I might invest in your venture. Your relaxed and sincere delivery backed by in depth knowledge of your venture concept, make you a natural choice for CEO of DoorPodz. As noted by several of my colleagues, the venture concept has a great deal of strength and I particularly appreciate the details you were able to provide concerning the marketability and multiple revenue structures you outlined.
I small part of me is left wondering however, the degree to which your concept aligns specifically the with education market? This is an entirely irrelevant concern for your idea general, however considering we were to have our “EVA hats on” during this evaluation process, were I true to this criteria, I feel that your concept might fit better in the context of an employment business venture.
A second minor critique, relates to your ability to connect to the viewer, with respect to eye contact. I’m being nit-picky here, but since your pitches are already at such a high level and improving upon them is challenging, it’s worth mentioning that any future versions of your video pitches would benefit from the addition of an improved form of tele-prompting to aid in maintaining eye contact with the camera lens. Nearly everyone in our course faced this same challenge when recording their video pictures and your approach of reading from PowerPoint slides was was likely the most common solution. Simply finding a way to move your computer screen even closer to the camera lens, might help to solve this issue.
In the end, I am left feeling most impressed with your venture concept and your ability to communicate your ideas.
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Doug Connery 8:24 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Suhayl:
Unfortunately your Venture pitch looses sound at 3:14 and it does not seem to recover so I can’t really do an evaluation unless it is complete. Your delivery is great in the first three minutes of the venture pitch, however you talk very fast in the elevator pitch, I think trying to get too much in, so it is hard to follow.
Doug.
jkotler 6:56 am on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Suhayl,
From what I was able to learn from the elevator pitch and first few minutes of the venture pitch (as the sound cut off for me as well), I think you have a really great idea; one that I would very much like to learn more about. In particular, I like that it is pre-set for you with all the programs, doesn’t require wall mounting and is made more portable. However, besides those features, I wonder how it really differs from the SMART Board because in my experience with SMART Board, it already offers a wide range of interactive and engaging lessons and can automatically link to the internet. As well, I would like to know more about the financial plan that enables the MultiBoard to be sold at a lower cost.
Finally, one other tip is that I found you spoke way to fast in the elevator pitch and I had to listen to it a few times just to catch what was said. I think the ideas are there and the product is great but would have been better sold in that pitch if the script was kept more brief.
Julie
Kent Jamieson 1:25 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I concur with Doug and Julie, in that your elevator pitch was quite fast and didn’t really seem to offer a clear message. Upon reviewing your venture pitch I was intrigued with quite a few facets of your presentation. It was too bad the sound went out when it did, as your pitch was really gaining momentum.
I also wanted to know more about ‘Multi-learn’. what is that?
I will say that i disagreed with your critique of Smartboard technology. I use mine almost daily and have never even used the programs installed therein and still find it quite engaging because of it’s connectivity to the internet. You really are only limited by your own imagination.
Because your presentation cut out I don’t think I can go any further with comments or a possible investment.
If you do fix the bug I would be interested in seeing the rest!
Kent
teacherben 8:06 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I like the elevator. Nice touch.
Like the others, I think it went too fast. And the elevator pitch should really be a slick product in itself. This wasn’t particularly slick. For example, you stumbled on a few lines in there and probably should have cleaned that up. So while I am always attracted to ideas that involve combining cool gadgets, you didn’t sell me on this one. Good luck.
Colin 10:13 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I liked the idea of your product and it definitely would be something I would be interested in seeing and assessing whether to use it in the classroom. Though you had enthusiasm in your presentation you stumbled a few times and made mistakes like forgetting the “e” in Venture. These mistakes can hurt a presentation even if the product is good. As for the rest the sound cut out so I wouldn’t be able to evaluate. Overall I liked the product idea.
rebeccaharrison 9:24 am on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I like the idea as a teacher, but your pitch, although interesting, was difficult to understand. Additionally I have seen some similar technologies, so perhaps including some information on how exactly this product is different would have bolstered it for me, and perhaps changed my opinion. Despite the great idea, I would not invest in this venture.
pcollins 10:55 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Job well done in the beginning Suhayl.
I could here the belief and support for your product coming through with your voice annotations in the elevator pitch. The multiboard is an interesting idea and worth of investment investigation. I did my best to piece together what the offerings/askings were for this product but the sound cuts and doesn’t return.
PC
cunnian 12:05 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Suhayl,
I liked your elevator pitch as it did a good job of explaining your product. As others have identified, it wasn’t terribly polished, but it did do the job. I think that the product is innovative and does address a relevant problem. It is unfortunate that the audio cuts out in your venture pitch as I would have liked to have known what the expected retail price would be so that I could determine if such a product could compare with others, like SMART boards.
I do have to pass on this one mainly because too much is unknown. However, if you are able to post a transcript of what you would have said in the rest of your venture pitch, I would be interested to read it.