Netflix Education

Smooth, clear and easy to follow pitches. I appreciated how both of your pitches logically followed an explanation for the need for this service. Our school has piles of DVDs that become outdated or damaged quickly. The idea of being able to stream educational videos would be well received as long as school bandwidth could support use. As an EVA, I would invest with the understanding that growth might start slowly, but could ultimately replace school dvd collections. I might include a payement system with school board-wide accounts in addition to individual accounts to encourage bulk sales.

REVIEW: I'm not sure I would invest. In fact, I stream or download most of my content from sites such as Netflix to show my students. What I DO like is the little bells attached to your product, such as the rating, the feedback, the discussion, current topics. I do see this venture working for teachers (saves on time, you know it is safe/clean and works well for using in a pinch). I think your best sell here is the topic based algorithm. Overall, this can work and would do well. The pitch was well articulated and the venture pitch was well researched and presented in a way that is easy to understand.

Hi Gordon, I have to say I am very impressed with your presentation. I think both pitches were very well polished and convincing. The platform connected to the venture very well, and your use of graphics made the data easily relatable. I would have liked to hear more about the features that distinguish it from other streaming platforms specifically for teachers. I suspect your emphasis on the numbers would work well with investors though. I think presenting some out of classroom examples of implementation could also add to your pitch. Can librarians use this? Can parents that are already subscribers access the same educational content or pay the educational price? Overall great pitch and very convincing arguments. Very impressive venture work!

Feedback. I like the idea of leveraging an already existing well know product into a new marketplace like education but I agree that you need to guard against the perception of those outside the classroom that students are “just watching movies” in class. Not to mention that some districts have filtered out teachers access to the Netflix site. There are other services that already exist in Canada that provide a similar service. I am thinking of Learn 360 (http://www.visualed.com/vec/learn360.html ) (http://www.visualed.com/vec/mm/Learn360Brochure.pdf) The NFB and National Geographic also provide access to “Mainstream” content. What they all offer, that your venture doesn’t is supported learning materials to be included with the service, unmistakably branding it as a learning tool. I think features such as this or additional resource material to compliment the market recognition that Netflix has. I like the features described in your pitch for your this service, but I wonder if it is enough. I am undecided as an EVA if this would be a good investment. I like many things about it but I think I would need more.

Hi Gordon, great job with PowToon. I've used this before, but you definitely did a great job within the tool. I thought your idea was well thought out, both in terms of a missing tool for teachers, as well as a way for an existing company to further penetrate a market. Your implementation section was especially well done, it's obvious you put in a lot of time and effort into thinking about the pricing model. I think this is a great fit for today's learning culture as it even promotes a sense of learn anywhere as students could use their own devices in a pseudo-byod style in order to watch and discuss on their own time. Great job!

REVIEW: I like your videos! My students have used PowToon before (we have an education subscription) but I have not seen it used as effectively as you have here. Well done! As for your Netflix Education venture: In my school, we have AppleTVs connected to our digital projectors, and one 'app' that pops up, that students always ask me to open, is Netflix. While I sometimes indulge (such as during advisory periods, or lunch) and put on something that they're interested in watching (within reason!), I think the ability to load up educational content only, would be excellent. I really like the idea that the content will be curated as well (and subdivided into categories). The fact that ratings will come from only other educators as well will help curate the content globally. I have been saying for some time that movies, TV, and music will be increasingly subscription-based (like Spotify and Netflix), and it’s about time that educational content goes the same direction. The market is huge! I do wonder about the teacher-based payment system though: did I read this right? Schools pay based on the number of teachers? This could mean larger schools are shut out due to prohibitive costs...Wouldn’t a per-school account make more sense? I would also like to see the addition of student interactivity - one of my recent MET courses (ETEC 533) incorporated a commenting system into a video (a timeline appeared below the video, with little hashmarks showing where the instructor, in one colour, and students, in another colour, commented and asked questions. For student-created videos there was also a third section, so that the creators could respond). Perhaps Netflix Ed videos could be embedded into course websites (like an LMS) with the added ability for students to add comments or questions (at specific time-stamps in the video) in a separate section below/beside the video. This would add an element of interactivity and engagement and perhaps make lessons using these videos more student-centred.

Great elevator pitch and venture pitch with an interesting idea! Great job, Gordon. There has been much talks about using open video content for education and this Netlfix Education exactly fill the needs. It is definitely innovative at the same time sensible. I also like the idea of not re-inventing the wheel but create a product based on an exiting platform –Netflix. The role play part was done very well. I wonder if this Netflix Education can develop some features for teachers to share their lesson plan, how they use these videos etc. that will make the teacher subscription model more attractive I suppose.

Hello Gordon, Your presentation was fantastic and it made me think that I should have used PowToon instead. I thought from an EVA perspective your research into the market and your emphasis on a "market within a market" is a very powerful message. It is powerful because teachers do groan at the idea of having to learn a yet another new platform but the power of using Netflix, a platform many are familiar with, is a good market focus. I was unaware that Netflix is starting to slow down with the adoption rate, that I didn't know.

Your presentations are fantastic, they are professional, have great detail in research, clarity in teacher functionality, and provides concept innovation.

I particularly like your analysis of a popular product and its need to diversify its revenue stream. I think it is interesting to see how your research in the downward turn in subscriptions provides you with an opportunity gap. I am really impressed with your idea. I wonder if your competition has been exploring alternative ways to leverage their current service. I feel as if you need to send your pitch to Netflix asap, I think this could be an amazing opportunity.

I thought the functionalities for teachers was well thought out, I like the ability teachers have to discuss the movies. I wonder if you could go even further with the community of teachers, and leveraging your content management system as a learning management tool. I am not sure if you are familiar with English Central. They use popular videos and develop language lessons with videos, with quizzes and closed activities. I think maybe a bit simple for other subject matters, but there might be some way to kick up the interaction with videos. Also English Central has class subscriptions, or at least a way for teachers to create a class using their product, so teachers could see how learners were using and engaging with the content. This is a little different, I know you are specifically looking on only at teacher accounts, but it might be an extension on your idea.

One area that you might need to overcome, is teaching with movies. At my previous school there were parent complaints about movies, so much that we needed to fill out forms and submit them to the principal for approval before watching movies in class. So I wonder how you might overcome this idea that children are watching movies at school, or maybe you gotta 'get it to get it' ;) when it comes to classroom integration.

I am also wondering how long and how much money you think these new functionalities would cost? Even though this is an internal solution, there would still, I assume, need to be a business case for costs, development, HR, etc.

Really interesting project.

Briar

“REVIEW” First of all, I will admit that I am a current subscriber and proponent of Netflix. Considering the investment opportunity of Netflix’s new educational sector is an interesting proposition. Firstly, the pitch does a solid job at indicating the pain point, namely the accessibility and digital content available to educators. This is certainly significant and one that Netflix Education looks to solve. Aspects and features (such as discussion areas and teacher rating system) are likely to be a hit for educators and I can see a high adoption rate. However, some of the numbers identified in the pitch should be concerning, including the eroding of market share (from 57% in 2013 to 36% in 2014) and stock price (from $131 down to $88). Some might see this as an opportunity while others view it as a signal that the company may never reach those heights in the near future (with continued competition and other consumer options). From my perspective, I wonder if the price per educator option is the best way to encourage schools to purchase the service for its educators. For most schools this would likely be cost-prohibitive. A school that has 30 educators would cost the school (at $12 per educator) $360 per month (or over $4000 per year). This is a big cost for schools when considering the number of days/months that they are actually in session. From an educator standpoint, Netflix Education is clearly a service that I would utilize in my classroom. One of the major concerns that I would have from an investor perspective relates to the competitive nature. At this point, there are no major competitors in this market segment. However, an important consideration must be made regarding the belief that the educational component of Netflix will increase the market share and stock price of the company. Will that be enough to drive stock price and, with it, a return on my investment? I am not sure that will be the case. Thus, investing in Netflix Education could be a rather risky proposition for this conservative investor. At this point, I will be eagerly subscribing to the service but will continue to carefully watch the early progress (and returns) of this venture before jumping in with both feet as an investor myself.