Invest in Float Taipei

Was just talking with someone this weekend about "floating" taking off in Vancouver, so I think you're on to something big for sure. Your venture pitch is well laid out and very well researched, I was especially impressed with the financial side of the pitch, you really did your homework. Love that you had the dog in your elevator pitch, as a dog owner myself, that added a nice personal touch. Furthermore, you exude confidence in your elevator pitch. To be honest, I'm a little skeptical about "floating" taking off as an educational venture, but there are lots business that have done well despite skeptics.

Excellent pitch, you had the confidence and draw needed to attract a suitable investor. I enjoyed seeing the enthusiasm you carried for your venture which is such an important aspect to the pitch. After reviewing your venture presentation, you seem well researched in this business and have a clear picture of this market. I feel that an investment might not be the most suitable for this venture, but a simple business loan without investors would help a startup of this size move forward on its own terms. I think once you've established one location, had the experience of operating, and have seen what works and what doesn't, you can then move on to open more locations. At what rate you open more locations depends on your revenue, and the areas you are looking to expand into. An interesting idea that has a nice operating overhead.

Thanks everyone for your insightful reviews!

Your confidence in your presentation was shown and your idea is unique but many aspects should be taken into consideration. Safety and ethical issues should be addressed. Plus, I don't really see the purpose or outcome of this procedure. As in investor, I don't find it ideal or applicable.

Good idea. You did an excellent job of hooking the viewer through your elevator pitch. In your venture pitch, I like how you go into discussing "why this is a good investment" early. You go into great detail in this section providing the audience with the appropriate background knowledge. This conveys a sense that you have done your research beyond the product itself and would provide a sense of reassurance for a potential investor. It might have been beneficial to add images to your venture pitch to enhance the written content and provide visuals to the concepts you are discussing. Overall, you are convincing and the fact that I now want to try one of these things proves to me that your pitch was effective.

I might be a little biased, because I too went for the video, but I’m a true believer that people are the best sellers, and I think your presence did a great job helping you pitch your product. The elevator pitch came across as genuine, and confident, so you had the fish on once it was finished. I liked how you went for a low cost, small business venture. Your numbers looked real, and so did your profit margins, However, I think if some investors were going for big bucks, they might not be convinced they could make it work for a sizable profit. However, I don’t think you were really going for that route anyway, so, overall, I think you presented a realistic, solid pitch for a promising small company, with the potential to grow.

John, your elevator pitch was terrific. It was well organized and well informed. Your enthusiasm and promise for the float as a product and a business was captured here. As a hydrotherapy user, I found myself particularly interested in learning more... you hooked me. )Also, I really loved Bruce but may have been a bit distracted by him—what a beautiful boy!) I recognized the utility of floating either post-study, (a time to absorb and reflect) or pre-examination (a time to relax and refocus) so I think the best niche would be wellness, meditation and rehabilitation. I'm in ;) Overall, you clearly addressed each of the key considerations for a successful venture: Problem, Solution, Market/ Market plan, Value Prop, Proposed deal, Info/ Summary. Good luck with your venture!

Float Taipei Feedback The audio and video quality of this elevator pitch was excellent and I thought it took the right tone. I thought the clean no nonsense approach was the right one for the elevator pitch. I liked that I got to see the person making the pitch face to face. I thought the inclusion of the dog was gimmicky and unnecessary if not a bit unsanitary related to the sparse spa feel invoked in the further presentation and that was probably the point at which I decided I was less interested but perhaps if your investors were dog people it may not be so bad. I wonder if the idea of floating translates well to a Canadian investor audience? I was an elite athlete at one point in my career and I have known many college athletes and although I’ve heard of sensory deprivation tanks, I’ve never heard or anyone who has actually used one so I am having a hard time imagining the market for this type of spa. Perhaps it is one of those things where availability would encourage use and that the reason I have not heard of people using them is simply a problem of access but because there is some doubt in my mind it would be helpful if you would provide some evidence for the market need. You briefly mentioned your competitors, but I wonder if they are not already maximizing what market there might be. I think you might have to make the cultural link for your investor a bit stronger unless you can assume they are coming from the same cultural context. That being said, I thought that you did make it sound appealing to consider and I thought you seemed credible and interesting. I think I would have more interest if I were an investor in the region you’re proposing for your service. In the expanded pitch I was concerned about the finances. In your operating expenditures you didn’t include any figures for overhead (eg. Internet and web hosting, transaction fees and payment tech equipment, electricity, water, heat, taxes, décor, maintenance, accounting services or other management once you leave the business, laundry, towels etc.) nor did you include the cost to purchase your start up learning materials or the cost of developing further ones that you mention. I was also concerned that compromising on location may result in lower profits. I was not sure how much I, as an investor, was being asked to put up, what shares I would have in the company and what profit margins I could expect from the overall profits of the company. For me, I don’t see a big enough profit margin here once you pay out the overhead and you and your partner to make my investment pay off, although the turnaround time seems quick which is nice. I wish there had been more images in the expanded pitch to give me the feeling of this type of atmosphere. My biggest concern is that all of the research espousing benefits of the floating technique is related to the sensory deprivation involved. Altering that deprivation to introduce stress through learning materials seems to me that it would actually have a negative impact on the health benefits that floating encourages. I would need to see some evidence that this technique is both effective for producing the same health benefits as non-learning floats and that educational outcomes are improved through this type of learning before I would be willing to invest. I might be willing to invest in one unit within an existing shop as a research initiative in order to conduct testing to see if the benefits pan out.

FEEDBACK: Your idea is unique and refreshing. Education can be an archaic sector at times and your venture pushes education into the twenty-first century and beyond. I am not investing in your venture because education lacks the great funding your project needs. In schools learning spaces is always lacking and your project would have no physical room in our already crowed schools. I am also unclear of how your venture fits into the already full curriculum. I feel as if your venture would be better suited for spas, membership clubs and airports.

Hi John, Your pitch is conveyed in a direct and persuasive way. I've never floated, but I was sure that I wanted to try it out after finishing the ETEC 522 course this week! Your calculations of profitability yield some impressive numbers, and you provide some anecdotal support for there being a market demand for floating in Taipei. However, I did find that a couple of critical elements were missing that would have left an investor scratching their head a little. For instance, where is the pain point? I see this only as a luxury add-on to a student's routine, but not addressing an immediate problem in the educational market place. Is there market potential beyond Taipei? If we haven't heard of floating in Canada, maybe you could be the first into the market. Your thoughts on market expansion would have helped to increase the scope of your venture's potential value. Is there a cost associated with the initial purchase of the float tanks, heaters, and audio/video setup, or is this part of the rental of the space? Some additional disclosure of the costs such as these would have provided additional rigour to your profit calculations. This may well be a great business venture, but I'd need more detail before considering investing.