The Free Reading Program

REVIEW: Hello Heather. I really like your concept. I worked in South Africa and Fiji where I volunteered with orphans who can not read, write or do math and it totally broke my heart. I love your idea and I can see you have done the research to find out the numbers and how it can work in communities. I think it's so important for global education and having children everywhere learning how to read and equipping them for their future. I would like to invest in your venture because I feel a strong connection with your idea and it speaks to me with my core. It's interesting, as I watch the elevator pitches, I'm choosing the ones with non-profit or goodwill in the root of the pitches. I am so drawn to improving the world for the better and I think your venture would do that. I would feel confident and happy to associate my money and myself with you. It reminds me a little of TOMS shoes concept. I like your layout of your A3 and it was easy to read along. I like the visuals and written part because it was simple enough to get, but also shows you were very well researched and you put your heart into it. Thank you for sharing your idea.

Feedback This is a really well designed venture pitch. The website lays out what sponsors can expect from your service and it clearly addresses a pitch point. Some suggestions I would like to make would be 1) For this activity, I would have loved the opportunity to have seen a short example of one of the lessons in action or a walkthrough of how to use it. 2) This was stated in another comment but is there a pricing structure for sponsorship? Does paying more get you more leverage as a sponsor? 3) It might be beneficial for you to list the sponsors who have committed to this program. I know you mentioned the Rotary Club, but if there are others it may lend weight to your endeavor to provide their names/logos to your pitch as a way for other potential sponsors to want to get involved. A very noble concept.

REVIEW: Hello Heather. What an excellent initiative and great venture idea. Your appeal to organizations that are already focussed on literacy is a smart strategy as the return on investment may not be obvious to all investors. As an EVA I would consider investing in your venture. I would have some questions/comments about the company before investing: 1) Does that content of the activities meet an expectations set out by Ministries of Education? Would schools be able to integrate the software into the curriculum? 2) Is the program offered in different languages? 3) How is the content edited and the progress monitored? 4) Is there a plan to add new content to the existing database? Excellent work.

REVIEW: Hi Heather, I really liked your venture idea. And I would invest in it. But there are few observations/suggestions/comments I have made: 1. I think you can state a bit more about the program itself. What is it? A website, an installable software? A mobile app? Or available in all formats. 2. You have many numeric data supporting your venture, great! Why not create an infographic, to make it easier for sponsors? I think your elevator pitch should contain a glimpse of that 3. What kind of sponsors are you targeting? Individual sponsors, community-based organizations or local businesses? I think local businesses will benefit most from this venture. In that case, you would need a localized approach about the families you are targeting and such. Overall I think this is a great venture, and I wish you all the best! Regards, Moumita

Heather, your elevator pitch paints a picture of a well developed program that is already being widely deployed. My initial concern is that it sounds like it is very focussed on advertising through the app. It adds a lot of weight that you included a document with so much information and real world statistics. My only suggesting there is converting the document to PDF so that is can be more widely accessed and less easily modified. I really appreciate that it is open to anyone, and so easy to become a donor. Once I visited the main website I saw how the promotion aspects work, it started to make a lot of sense. It has some really impressive features such as geo-targeted ad campaigns. For your assignment, I am curious about the type of investor this is aimed at. Mostly smaller community business? Or has this program been used on a larger scale as well? Looks like a great program!

Hi Heather, I liked your elevator pitch and the idea is great! It seems the product you are pitching has had great success with the Rotary Club in Ontario. I loved the elevator pitch as it gave me a great overview of the product you were pitching. The venture pitch was difficult to follow for me until I visited the website and because more familiar with the product. It seems that the target market for your product is specifically organizations that are geared towards helping children learn to read and further those that are not comfortable or familiar with Facebook marketing (please correct me if I am wrong or misunderstood this)? You have obviously impacted many learners through this model and that is commendable. I was left with a similar question that a few others have already mentioned. What is the actual cost (is it $2000?) to the organization that is sponsoring?

Hi Heather, Great job with this pitch. It appears that your venture is quite mature compared with your peers'. The structure and presentation of your idea is very solid and it is clear that your have had the opportunity to refine the idea over a period of time. My was left with two questions after visiting your site and viewing your pitch: How does the sponsorship model work? Is there a minimum cost to the sponsor? Is there a limit to the size of learners if I am a modest sized sponsor? Just curious how this scales as I'm thinking that a larger sponsor may have much bigger marketing needs and learner reach than a small sponsor. 2. What is the long term vision for this venture? Just curious how you see this evolving - and what will keep this venture afloat is a more sophisticated competitor enters your space. A very inspiring concept. Many thanks for sharing. Regards, Esther

Hi Heather, I too think that you are either part of this venture or have already launched it.:) Great job helping improve children's literacy! Your cost analysis are impeccable and your plan is very detailed and thought-out. I cannot find something to comment on by watching your elevator pitch and reading your document. You must have already spotted problems and improvise along the way! Though it is more like a plan for a philanthropist rather than an EVA.

Hi Heather. This is an interesting and beneficial endeavor. I noticed that you have the same last name as the founder (father, brother, husband?) and I assume you must be related. This must be a project close to your heart. Just like Dan, I found it a bit difficult to have a clear idea of what the project was until I read further in the document. I like the fact that organisations the support the program can “brand” their own version of it. For groups that are looking to promote literacy (and this could include for-profits that want to give something back to the community), this is an excellent opportunity. This could be something that municipalities could consider. I had a bit of difficulty following the format you used for the venture pitch (using the case study) as it deviated from what I was expecting.

Am I wrong in assuming that you’ve already launched this program? If so, and if you have the Rotary Club as a first sponsor, it looks like you’ve had some success! Your elevator pitch was clear and to the point. The pinch point was a little less clear to me, in part because i don’t teach at the public school level. I wasn’t sure whether the reading component of this product was aimed at parents who want to help their children or would schools use it as well? If the product is intended to improve literacy around the world, how do you address the needs of children where there is limited or no wifi? From an EVA perspective, I was enticed by the idea that companies could sponsor this kind of not-for-profit venture and use it to help their brand by doing something benevolent. I suspect this would have an appeal to companies and organizations who are often looking to give back to the community.