Review - SociABILITY sounds like a great tool. I really enjoyed your pitch. It was well done and presented a good amount of information and ideas. You broke down the problem very well and touched upon the market demographics. I think it is a good use of modern communication technology. My only real concerns with the venture would be about privacy for people on the service. I think any time you have a social app, making sure that only an appropriate amount of information about individuals is shared can be tricky. While the app seems like it does a lot of awesome stuff, I wonder if it might be too large in its scope for an initial roll-out. There appears to be a lot of intricate pieces to the app that would be hard to execute perfectly if that was the only feature. No harm in shooting for the stars but introducing more features later is probably a good idea. Excellent job with the pitch.
FEEDBACK: I think this is so awesome ! This is right up my ally as I have experience developing an elearning course for a company which teaches staff sensitivity training towards people with disabilities and compliance with Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). The name of your app is very clever and I love the idea of creating an app that would provide peer support to post secondary school students with disabilities. I had several friends in undergrad with disabilities and they sometimes struggled getting necessary support and understanding from others. I have seen it all, from profs not making appropriate accommodations to students making ignorant accusations of "you use your disability as an excuse to not get work done on time, or not come to class etc". Unfortunately one of my friends even ended up dropping out of undergrad because she felt so alienated. It's absurd the amount of ignorance that exists, this app could really help people with disabilities feel less isolated in the post secondary environment and help them work towards their academic goals. Definitely something I would invest in.
I think your testimonial regarding your own experiences was a great introduction to your venture pitch. With your personal experiences, I can take your word on whether or not this service is needed. At first, I thought that any smartphone could take on the job of calendar and accessibility functions, but your inclusion of campus personalization is the key to your service. My only concern is that an institution could create this app... but just for their own university campus, however, you do mention that higher ed institutions might not consider this service a priority due to time and money. Good job!
FEEDBACK: I am a big fan of the apps aim to help students with disabilities in an educational realm where support often decreases significantly. After watching your pitch I was curious exactly how the app would work. I understood the goal and aim, but the pitch focused on such generalities. Your venture pitch was really able to fill in those gaps for me. I think my favorite component of your app is how it relies on being peer supported. I can imagine the benefit of disabled students having a peer support network is much more successful than having a few school directed initiatives.
Natalie, it is a great name and I love that you have a personal connection to the product. I hadn't heard the term "social capital" before, but it makes a lot of sense that it would be tied to academic success. I liked this: "I asked myself if students (or investors) might misinterpret this app as being contributory to further alienation and stigmatization of post-secondary students with disabilities" in your reflection; I think the fact that you've specifically envisioned it for students without disabilities avoids this issue. As others have mentioned, you didn't give financial information, but in my Venture Pitch too, I found it difficult to just make up numbers (I'm not a software developer so I have no idea what one would charge or how complicated it might be to develop, and I assume that even a software developer would have a hard time giving me a quote with the probability of cost overruns when dipping into such unchartered territory) for a project that I'm actually serious about and is close to my heart. Since this is all hypothetical anyway, I'll invest any amount that you might come up with!
Feedback. Very creative name for the app. You’ve picked a topic that shows there is a need to help someone with a disability. I liked that you used Powtons to demonstrate the elevator pitch. However, a pitch would require a dollar value associated with it. There should have been some information on how this app would be developed-whether hiring a programmer or someone else and should indicate how long it will take to develop this app. For the venture side, there was no financial ASK either. I think a pitch without asking for monies is not a pitch. You were not clear in who was part of the team nor how much the app was going to sell for. You need to rework the pitches to have these issues resolved.
Review of SociABILITY First I would just like to say that you have created a very catchy name for your business venture. I simply cannot get enough of it. So now back to the review of SociABILITY. Great Idea. The pain point and target market is clearly identified and I can see that universities and post-secondary institutions would want to purchase the product and ensure an inclusive environment. You describe the product very well and support its merits with many articles. However, there is no mention of how much the app will cost; there is no revenue model. I can make out that this market will be growing with the increase in applicants, yet the pitch does not clearly make the link. Unfortunately, as an investor, I do not know what is being asked of me. These pitches were excellent sales pitches in convincing post-secondary institutions to purchase the app, yet where do investors fit in? There is a clear description on how the users will access the app yet I do not know how they or the institutions will purchase the app. The idea of the SWOT Analysis was well intended, yet I personally feel that the weaknesses are a little too strong to convince me to invest. Although the team was not introduced, I fully believe in the creator of the app, they come across as knowledgeable, passionate and personable. It was a very professional looking presentation, however as I did not feel these pitches were geared towards me, as an investor,
Hi Natalie - As someone who worked in the area of barrier-free design in my early career, this app really spoke to me! Diversity and inclusion can only make our post-secondary campuses stronger! I think that you did a great job describing the concept, as well as identifying strengths and weaknesses of the app. I'm wondering what your ask/return for this venture might look like. Are you projecting that potential investors might see a high rate of return, and if so, what might the business model look like? Alternately, is this a venture that you hope might draw attention from philanthropic sources? I think that there is potential either way and would love to hear more about your vision on this.
FeedBack: I like the idea of creating an application that supports those in post-secondary with access to resources and social connections. I think it would be beneficial for even those without disabilities.
I think this is a really neat idea because it combines supportive features with a social connection element. I also like how student’s without disabilities can also join because then seems like it would help to keep them in contact with their peers in an environment that can be modified to suit them. Would you have a separate version for different campuses?
