A3 – Blue

REVIEW: I am interested in your product. While things were sometimes vague, on the whole it sounds a bit like what many community colleges teach (e.g. Executive Assistant Certificate), but presumably less expensive and more focused on a particular employer. I think there is room out there as employers are less and less willing to spend money on training. However, I think there is a lot of competition and you will need to move quickly to grab a market share. There seems to be a good team in place and a plan....let's go make some money!

Again thank you to everyone that as provided feedback. I've found this week an extremely useful experience and it has really made me think of adjustments to how information is presented and becoming more succinct. Some of you were 100% right the point that I could use more clarity. That's why I think exercises like this are useful as sometimes when creating an idea it's easy to get lost in the concept. @meril, Thanks for your imaginary dollars. Moving text in the elevator pitch? I'm not sure what you're talking about with that one. The slides did transition quickly if that's what you meant. In terms of the options for direction, We would start with option 1 but slowly move into option 2 as we worked with larger clients who would likely require customization. @lanehardy They would take this as part of the recruitment process. Think of it as almost a screening process to find individuals who really want to work for a company. @osayma I'm not sure I agree with your comments, but thank you for the feedback it was still a valuable exercise to pause and think about the path laid out. I'm not sure where you got non-profit from as we're definitely looking for investors that want to help us grow and create a profitable company. @silver13 All good points. As I approached this project I made a definite decision to leave those types of questions out of the materials. For this assignment, I envisioned this as being a wider net with conversations taking place afterward. @tslearn Since the idea is pretty reproducible I didn't want to give everything away in the pitch. Glad that I was able to answer you questions, and welcome aboard!

Hi jgourley. Your pitch did not indicate that you were going to license or purchase a platform so I assumed you were going to build the system from scratch. The $2 million I indicated would be for leading a software engineering team in the gathering of requirements, and the development and testing of a new system. The identifying of your specific target users and customers; as well as identifying the risks and barriers that may hinder the ventures chances for success and having some indication of a return on investment are important items to include when pitching or considering an investment opportunity. Thank you for your clarification. I am now ready to invest all of my imaginary money in your venture.

Hi, I think that your company’s solution is relevant across many industries. Some of the employee training at my husband’s sawmill, for example, is now provided by an outside service and people applying for management positions are required to go complete a personality test that is also conducted by an outside company. Although your elevator pitch clearly defines the problem, I would recommend designating more time to the description of the product and speeding up the narrative to make it more engaging. I had a much better understanding of your concept after reading the magazine and I appreciate your unique presentation platform. Your presentation states that you are willing to share financial details, customer pool stats etc. with serious potential investors. I realize that this is an appropriate response for the media you have chosen (magazine); however, as a reviewer, I would like to be able to critique your estimates. Have you considered how many potential customers you may have in BC? What does your revenue model look like? How much do you charge for services? I found this difficult to do for my pitch (without being able to perform my own market research) but I think that it is important to include in a venture pitch.

Review: As an EVA, I find your solution new and has features can improve the current situation and has a place in the market. Your team members covers your product needs and I find the CEO experience good. The venture concept is unique, but my only concern here is the wide range of facilities you offer in your service.As an EVA, I think that focusing on one or two majors gives the product more reliability and professionalize. You offer training content, immigrants support, company employing services and several\options. I suggest to concentrate on one field so it can be more efficient. I understood that it is a not for profit venture, so what the investors will gain from investing? I understood that the product features will greater and you will reach a bigger market,but what would investors get? As an investor, I would think many times and ask for several details before I do. Good Luck!

FEEDBACK: To be honest, I'm not entirely sure that I understand the entire concept, but it's seems like a good idea! I think this may be more out of unintended ignorance to the general practise of hiring out-of-country employees. I really appreciated the elevator video - you had crisp sound and it was easy to hear your pitch. Again, not knowing current practises, why would these people want to take part in corporate training? I did have a lot of questions after your video, so I am forced to delve into your magazine to find out more.

REVIEW: Jason, I’m going to invest, I like the ideas, but I need more clarification. (I’m not 100% sure I understand where you are going, which is part of the problem, so forgive me if I am off base here.)
Let me start with the strengths I see. As a B2B, you are already in a strong position. And the pain point is there. And the target on small and medium-sized businesses. And your idea of a cost-saving, tech-smart solution. So I’m in.
As an investor, who is now in this with you, let me also give you the tough love. The elevator pitch is confusing - both the moving text and the very-low audio. I like the magazine format, but the idea has to be pitched on the first page. And you need to better describe what you are doing. Use a narrative, maybe. But definitely, you need to get the idea across more succinctly.
Are you offering an out-of-the-box solution and going for providing the tools but minimal support and therefore a wider client-base? Or are you helping to develop materials, consulting, and offering tailored solutions, which implies more hands on support and therefore fewer clients? My hunch is to push towards the first option.
There is a huge gulf between the massive automated online job search engines and the boutique headhunting operations. But I feel like there are maybe 3 different, potential mid-levels and we need to focus on one.
Your idea of getting applicants to do trainings before interviews reminds me of the MOOC model that accepts everyone, but only the disciplined stay till the end. There is potential in lots of this. (I want 35%.)

Thanks for the feedback everyone. @tslearn. Good points. There are some training and regulatory bodies for some professions. But there are many unregulated professions, particularly in the service field. That being said there is opportunity in regulated field regarding foriegn credential recognition. That would be more complicated that what I'm currently proposing now though and would involve not only employers, regulatory bodies, possibly unions and government departments at several levels. Not reay to go there yet I don't think. There is a government requirement to pay employees for initial training, however potential candidates aren't employees. This would seem to fall under the same jurisdiction as things like the Public Service Entrance exam, however it is a good point and a legal opinon would have to be sought to be sure. A software engineer would be nice, but using a white label LMS and CRM integration I'm not sure it would be needed. I'm not sure what you're basing your 2 million on, but the $250,000 would only be an inital fundraising round. There would have to be additional rounds if that wasn't sufficient to market the product, however it would definitly be enough to build it. Hope those answer help.

Feedback - Great idea Jason! Using technology to better recruit and retain employees makes sense, especially with shortages being predicted. Because there are geographical and time constraints on holding more than one interview with a potential employee, this type of tool can be used to handle many of the initial first steps of recruiting. It also allows potential employees to get more information on the realities of the job that they are applying to beforehand so they don't apply for a job that is does not fit with their goals. It can save both the employee and employer time and money.

Hi jgourley. Good pitch, but i'm not sure of the viability of the solution. Are there regulations or regulatory bodies that would need to be consulted? For instance, certified training; for workers in industries like telecommunications or manufacturing; or is there a limit to the type of training or industries that this product is designed for? Is there a government requirement to pay employees for initial training? Perhaps the model should be, the hiring company pays us, and we pay the person being recruited (for a profit). I would also like to see a software engineer added to your team to show you have the capability to do what you claim. I don't think $250,000 is enough money to get you started. It is probably more in the $2,000,000 range, and I am not sure how much money I could make. I am on the fence as far as investing now, but if these items are addressed, I would definitely consider investing my imaginary money and consulting services in the future.