A3 – By Danielle

REVIEW: I felt that this is a great idea! You have very accurately summarized the current limitation that boards have with hiring. I know that in our board, we have a very limited electronic system of applying for jobs that is hard to navigate and does not sort or assist with streamlining applicants. I think that your EVA was well done and gave a high level of information about the product. Some more information about the company and what investment is needed would enhance the pitch.

REVIEW: I found the idea of the venture refreshingly new. TheVenture pitch is very creative and engaging with great cartoons. I also appreciated the fact that the use of cartoons was not simply to visualize what was said, but included an element of fun in them. The pace is just right for people to process the information. You also seem to have a very clear design of what the product would do, what features it would have. This is something rare as a lot of pitches I saw were a little vague when it came to how the product works. A lot of thought has also gone into the technical details of the product like requirements, preferred language, what platforms are supported etc. It is surprising to see how so much information could be summed up so clearly and engagingly in th given time. On the flip side however, I feel that the pitch is targetted more at customers than investors. It does not define the ask or the return on investment. Also there are no numbers on the market size or competitors. I would have also liked to see a human face to add to the believability of the venture. The elevator pitch could do better with a voice over / music. It feels a little blank. Overall, I really think that the idea has great potential, just a few grounded statistics would take it there.

Feedback: Your elevator pitch is visually appealing! And you demonstrate the pain point very well in your presentation. Although, I don't have experience in recruiting, I could see the need for a your solution. However, I think your pitch can be more effective if it provided more specifics on the features of your new online application tool (for example, the different types of media that it would support). It would give a potential investor a better idea of what this product offers.

REVIEW: I think that this is more than a media rich resume platform like Aaron has suggested, it is an application which allows the pre-screening process to happen in layers saving time for both the district and the applicant. Although specific costs were not in the scope of this assignment, it would have been good to know who pays for the service (or perhaps it was mentioned and I missed it). Is it just the school boards or applicants as well? The pain point was very well described and application was well suited to the needs. We did not hear much about you in the presentation. Your qualifications make you very well suited as a CEO for this company, as an investor, I would have liked to see you 'toot your own horn' a little. The idea is very well developed, the video is very well done. In order for me to invest, I would need a little more information about how the application itself will make me money. It could also be marketed to a market outside of education. You did an excellent job showing how this process is currently done, are there other HR solutions out there that are used in education or other sectors for narrowing down the applicant pool? Great job, I did have a few questions, but would consider investing in your company.

Feedback: A media rich resume is a great idea! You see a lot of media-rich, web-based, and interactive resumes in creative fields, but not so in education, which is a shame. A solution that allows principals and schools to accept such media-rich applications is certainly a great way for great teachers to set themselves apart from the rest. But I wonder how much of a market there really is for such a product. Principals hiring within the district pool in BC don’t actually have to sift through many applications, as they are bound by seniority, and districts where this would really be useful, aren’t doing a lot of hiring as of late either. However, I think there’s lots of potential for such a product in other fields!

Feedback: Great idea for your elevator pitch! I am not a principal, so I don't know the struggle it is for them (or HR staff of school districts) to sift through resumes, but I bet it would be very time consuming. One suggestion I have is that perhaps your product could also extend to market places outside of education? I realize you probably narrowed the marketplace since this is an education course, but my wife who works in HR in another industry is always complaining to me about how resumes hardly ever give clear indications of who the candidates are. Either way, I think the idea is great, and the pitch was clear. I personally didn't mind that the elevator pitch didn't include audio, as it allowed me to go through it at my own pace.

Feedback: I really love the idea of a media rich resume that helps save time when looking through applicants. i can really see that there would be a market for this in the corporate world, however, in education (in our Board anyway) many of the applicants are restricted by things like seniority, and experience. Principals are only allowed to interview the top 5 candidates in seniority that apply for the position. Your product would help someone in that position stand out. I liked the content of your elevator pitch but found that it moved a bit quickly and it needed something like music behind it to add zest. Emaze was new to me also, and it looks interesting enough for me to try it out. Good job overall.

Feedback:. Emaze is new to me. I can appreciate the use of new technology to experiment with but your elevator pitch had no audio, not even music, which made it feel lack luster. I am not sure if Emaze supports audio or not but really felt that the pitch needed something more to make it stand out. PowToon venture presentation was dynamic and interesting. Your voice was clear and layered. I enjoyed listening to your presentation. I think you identified an interesting gap in the market. You didn’t over text your viewers but balanced text and audio nicely. You really thought out your technology but I found myself wondering when we were going to get to the ‘Ask’ portion of the pitch which unfortunately never came. I really like your idea and your presentation but I don’t think you met all the criteria as you never appealed to an investor and asked them for their support.

Hi everyone, thank you very much for your suggestions! I agree an audio track would enhance my elevator pitch, I had tried to make them different (the elevator pitch and venture pitch), but I definitely see the value in adding audio to the elevator pitch since it is the first impression! Right now there is a system in place for school boards but it only allows document scans, and it doesn't appear they have any plans to change that, so it is competition, but perhaps a multimedia software version would be more desirable. After reading the reviews here, it made me think that it would have perhaps been helpful if I could have had some framework for revenue in place. I think if I was doing this again, I would include a plan at the end and discuss the team involved. Sometimes it is difficult to see the holes in the plan you make, so thank you for your great suggestions!

Feedback: Interesting product Danielle! As already mentioned, an audio track would enhance your elevator pitch. You have done a wonderful job of describing the many capabilities of your pitch and the value of accessing multimedia resumes. You have mentioned the type of other products that exist but it might be worthwhile mentioning a couple by name. Overall, great pitch! Monique