A venture in global language learning;
[youtube]http://youtu.be/mpCIcy4W0ec[/youtube]17 thoughts on “Myngle”
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A venture in global language learning;
[youtube]http://youtu.be/mpCIcy4W0ec[/youtube]You must be logged in to post a comment.
NO, I would not invest in this venture. My first impression of this elevator pitch that is was not a well-told story – Marina Tognetti, the company founder, exudes a calm demeanor, but in no way does she sound excited, enthusiastic, or passionate about the project. The pitch mentions nothing about the rest of the team, nor does it really mention what the product or service is. The venture concept is vague: “Myngle will bring traditional education to the mass online world. Also, Myngle breaks down the geographical barrier. So students can now take lessons anywhere, any time.” The only compelling component of this pitch is the breif touch of an altruistic good: “[the project]… will bring opportunity of work to countries where work is scarce.” There is, however, no mention of what what this employment opportunity entails, who will be employed, and how this will work on an eCommerce platform. The missing details of this story combined with Ms. Tognetti’s lackluster demeanor does not intrigue me, and she would be invited to provide a venture pitch.
Following is the transcript of the pitch:
Hello, my name is Mariana Tognetti, and I’m the founder of Myngle. I always had a dream and it was to do something that would make a difference in the world. I always loved languages, and I knew enough about eCommerce, and that is how Mingle was born. So why is Myngle different? Because Myngle will change one of the most traditional industries, that of Education. Myngle will bring traditional education to the mass online world. Also, Myngle breaks down the geographical barrier. So students can now take lessons anywhere, any time. So why would Mingle win the Accenture innovation award? Because we believe that Myngle is the next step in eCommerce. Myngle will bring language learning to the whole world. Also, Myngle will brings opportunity of work to countries where work is scarce. And last, I really believe that communication makes facilitation understanding within culture. You learn a language because you want to communicate with someone else. So I believe that anybody can make a difference, and Mingle is my difference.
I had this same impression as I watched her. I was intrigued, but not enough to be convinced to support her venture. Thanks for the transcript as well. I was interesting to read through.
I had a similar impression regarding this speaker. She seemed professional however disengaged. I also found this pitch a little cheesy since it appeared to be filmed in an elevator!
Thank you for providing the transcript of the pitch. I think that be looking at the written word, it definitely helps to provide objectivity. However, the most perfectly written pitch won’t fly if it suffers from a lackluster delivery. Unfortunately in this case, both the written pitch and delivery were lacking.
After watching this and reading the transcript, thank you for that by the way, I am still not quite sure what Myngle really is. Is it an online ESL school? If so, how is it different? I could google it but she didn’t interest me enough to want to know more. Sorry Mariana.
Yes, this pitch needed waaaay more detail, as you’ve all noted. I dug down into http://myngle.com to get a better sense of what it was. That seemed to be the big issue – vagueness of concept and a sense of distance from the viewer by the pitcher.
I actually think this biz has a future, although this is the first I’d heard of Myngle. However, recently I was looking for a course on basic Mongolian language skills on the web and I joined a clone service to Myngle called Glovico.org. Glovico bills itself as a “fair-trade” language school and its website outlines how it pays tutors and how much of what it charges end-users goes to the tutors. I liked the concept and its transparency, so I joined up and bought a few “lesson credits” to get started.
My tutor Zolo was a very gentle and personable young guy who is studying Pharmacy in the UK.
So, while the Myngle venture is not well described in the pitch, the potential for online language schools at low cost using Skype and Google Hangouts as the delivery media seems viable, and an actual opportunity for implementing various business models to match customer styles.
Hi David,
Thank you for the description. I worked at an online language school a few years ago, giving English lessons to Korean teachers. They had a blackboard program that allowed for live, interactive lessons between teachers and students using the web, PowerPoint, videos, etc. that could be marked up in real time. This was back in 2009 and the platform had several glitches but it was an interesting technology. I left because the hours were way too early (4:30 – 6:00am), even if I could wear pajama pants to the lesson.
I agree that there is a lot of potential in this market as it is difficult to find specialized tutors in your area, and it can also be very expensive because of the high demand. If the pitch were better defined I would definitely want to look further into this arena. I have seen people on message boards advertising as online tutors but there is no security for the student into the qualifications of their tutor. I agree that transparency in business is an important trait both for the tutor and the company running the business. If it is a for-profit business, the profit should be minimal for managing tutors.
I have only had experience actually providing the service so it is interesting to hear about your experience as a consumer. I agree that there is potential in this area, now that it has been better defined!
I would not invest in this venture.
As a business person, it’s crucial for the investors to understand what exactly they are going to be investing into. Will the investment lead to return? How likely? And how much risk is associated with such a project? After listening to Marina present about her pitch, I could see the confidence in her demeanor but that was as much positivity I could take out from this venture proposal.
First, the pitch, at least what was presented, did not offer a comprehensive description of what the product is about. We get a brief one liner of the venture concept that Nicola pointed out but that’s as far as it goes. Like David stated, the pitch “needed way more detail” and although he was able to get more information after surfing through their site, as an investor, it’s inexcusable that none of this was mentioned to us in the pitch. In business, it’s not the investor’s obligation to dig for the details. They should be presented in the most appealing way to the investor so that it entices shareholders/investors. The current on-going Blackberry Co. would be a terrific example of this case where the products they offered were of good quality compared to the market but a lackluster delivery of the products in major marketing events by its CEO really contributed to its abysmal sales in the market.
This is a venture I would not invest in.. I wasn’t sure exactly what the pitch was about. There is not enough detail to make a decision on this pitch.
Directed to all respondents in this pitch stream…
A pitch is important to catch our attention as EVAs and give us a reason to take a deeper look at the venture and the company based on the vibe, its champions and financial details, and hopefully compelling us to commit our investment support.
Most of us were unimpressed by this pitch, yet the company *is* operating and has many huge name corporate clients in Europe.
Thoughts?
There is another important factor in this process and that is the background of the EVAs evaluating each pitch. Each EVA can evaluate prospective offerings with the criteria that we’ve discussed and are attempting to apply with this activity however there are additional factors such as each EVA’s particular area(s) of expertise and interest. For example if someone presents a 1 minute or so pitch to me outside of my area of expertise and interest, they will have a much tougher time grabbing my attention and the opportunity to discuss their idea further. I experienced this at an Angel investor event several years ago where precious time was spent on the EVA’s areas of interest and non-related ventures were dismissed.
This pitch is discussing an already established venture – Ms. Tognetti mentions that the product has already won an innovation award. Could it be that there was an original pitch, in the infancy of the product, that portrayed a different vibe that attracted investors – more vigour and excitement, along with more of the financial details? Also, could it be that the Accenture innovation award is well known amongst the group of investors that have bought into this product?
Great job by everybody who has commented on this one. Most of us had visceral reactions, tempered by our EVA instructions, and then concluded that is was an underwhelming pitch on first blush.
But, I think this particular pitch is instructive. A venture concept’s pitch may happen at various stages in its early history, prior to initial funding, or in a follow-up wave to attract additional support. This may be the case with Myngle.
Worthwhile analysis may not be limited to first-order observation, and may need us to be involved in second order investigation, along with further synthesis. Our instructions to EVAs may actually have put some limits on your exploration, which is key takeaway for us as instructors.
dp
Yes, I would invest in this venture. The discussion seems closed…but I’ve been locked out of internet for the past week.
I agree that the pitch leaves much to be desired and does require extra research in order to, most importantly, figure out what she’s selling. The part of her pitch that sells me is the fact that we have a successful English language learner presenting us with a product for learning language. While i don’t know her credentials for ecommerce beyond her own statement, I do believe her to be a successful language learner.
As David says, following the criteria given, this pitch falls flat. The pitch does come from an ancient time where this could have been one of the better, and obviously was as it won an award, pitches available at the time. At the time of this pitch, there was a definite lack of products like this. Little more than her telling me it is a service based on connecting teachers to students anywhere in the world is needed to convince me that it is a solid idea. A further look into her credentials solidified my initial yes vote. Though I was relatively unimpressed by her overall delivery, the concept won me over.
NO, I would not invest in this venture. The speaker was not engaging. I got distracted by the fact she was in a real elevator and then I never got into her idea. If she can’t keep my attention for 1:16 without me tuning her lout and looking at the shiny walls I don’t think she’ll be able to attract much success.
First, I have to apologize for a late post this week. I have had an extra busy week filling out documents for my American Green Card. Looks like all systems go, so fingers are crossed!!
Secondly, I should preface this critique by stating that I have actually joined Myngle. I recently started working as an online tutor (a necessity because I can’t yet work in the U.S.) and came across Myngle during my job hunt. I joined and was prepared to post a tutor profile, until I got a job with another tutoring organization. My gut feeling was that there was nothing particularly special about Myngle. It closely resembled other online tutoring sites that offer teachers a chance to post a profile within a sort of modified social network, whereby the students seek out the tutor directly based on their profile, badges, feedback etc. Some other such examples are Buddy School https://buddyschool.com/ and Edufire http://edufire.com
Based solely on the pitch, I would have issues investing in the website. My big issue, as others have adroitly pointed out, is that we don’t receive any real details about how she plans to take traditional teaching and transport it into an online setting. By the end of the pitch I don’t have a real sense of what Myngle is, and why it can be successful. Instead, what the pitch-woman seems to be pitching is her own core beliefs and reasons for launching the product. In my humble opinion, these details are far less relevant, especially given the time constrictions of the elevator pitch. The lack of any real specifics as to the product may have been overcome if the pitch-woman was a more enthusiastic saleswoman. As others have correctly pointed out, her presentation, though well-spoken, falls flat. Basically, it leaves me unfulfilled and uninspired.
It should be pointed out, if it hasn’t been already, that this elevator pitch is for award recognition. According to their website, the Accenture Innovation award is rewarded to the most innovative Dutch products. With this in mind, it’s possible that her elevator pitch would be different if she were trying to sell the nuts and bolts of the product, rather than the reason it is innovative.
Either way, it’s a pass for me.
No I would not invest in this venture. AS an EAL instructor, I am confused by many things. First she does not identify exactly what Myngle is – a service, a course, a school? Who are her target customers – students, businesses? What language level do they need to work. I currently work with LINC in Canada and several schools are piloting online language learning. While many are beginner learners they must all possess a low intermediate speaking and listening level, as well as familiarity with computers to enroll in the course, as these are minimum skills needed for such a program to work. She also states that she will be providing work for people in poorer economies – how will she do this? There are also no indications of how she is funding this program, clear goals or estimates in value. She also does not give any background on her team – are they qualified EAL instructors for one?
Furthermore as an EAL instructor, I am curious about her pedagogy, will she use TPR, silent method listen and response? How will she encourage language learning and practice? What concepts will she teach and using which cultural context, as much language learning takes place within a theme and is often culturally based and she addresses none of this. In fact aside from saying she will take language learning to the online world, there are absolutely no details. As a pitch it falls very flat, largely due to the lack of information both from an economic and pedagogical perspective.
I agree Nicola, Mariana, did not see me on her product at all. While I was watching her pitch, I kept thinking “but what does your product do?”, “show me how it is different than others”, these things might have been answered in a deeper conversation with Mariana, but I found that she didn’t say enough about what her product actually does.