GUIDAP – Your driving companion

Hi Agnieszka. Thank you for sharing your unique venture opportunity with us! Your elevator pitch highlights some key statistics that demonstrated the need for something like this. I think that the pitch could have been improved by a voiceover and some other forms of media such as pictures to go along with it. As mentioned below, the price point that you have mentioned seems a little high for the target audience. As well, I was wondering if this AR experience would be best utilized while the individual is driving or something that is done prior to getting in the vehicle. A possibility may be incorporating it into motor vehicle branches where new arrivers to Canada are able to use it before driving themselves. As an investor I would need more clarifications on these questions before I would be able to invest.

Agnieszka, your elevator pitch is in an interesting format. I found it a bit dull having to do so much reading though. An elevator pitch (in my understanding) should have more presence from the venture leader themselves, as this is part of the pitch...you! I’d like to have heard or seen you in this intro. As for your venture pitch, I was impressed with the depth of stats you produced in establishing the need or pain point...clearly you’ve done your research. I wonder if the price point is a little too high? Or perhaps the business model could focus more on integrating these things into cars themselves (at the factory, or at/by the rental company) a consumer may find the price is too high, and this worries me as an investor.

Cool idea indeed! The format of the presentation doesn't show your personality and it's cumbersome to read. The technology portion of this business might prove difficult (where the product be sourced, how will you protect against competitors copying the oslution, how will you address driving areas where wifi is unavailable, etc.) I think trying to address multiple types of customers will be challenging as well to get a company off the ground. The main question I have is what is the business case for customer whether it be rental company or business (meaning if they spend this amount per month, what will they save? insurance dollars? repair dollars? what do those agreements look like?) More discussion information would be great.

Agnieszka, as someone who has driven a car in a foreign country and on the other (wrong!) side of the road, I was very interested in finding out more from your venture pitch. However, I found your information was presented very densely and would have benefited from some visual supports. I understand that you are targeting relocation companies, rental companies and driving schools, but I wonder how those options help support the groups you mentioned in your presentation, such as visitors, tourists and immigrants who, for various reasons, may not have access to those three options. As an investor, I worry about your high price point combined with the fact that you are not accessible to a number of people that are causing the problem you are trying to solve. Perhaps there is an alternative to the VR component or an additional feature, such as an app, that can make this great idea even more marketable.

Hi Agnieszka, this is a great idea and I think there is a market for something like this. With this said I think selling hardware at this price point would be a difficult way to grow. There seems to be a disconnect between the pain point and the solution you are offering. The cost you are suggesting seems to be a high figure even for rental companies. How would the people that you are suggesting like immigrants be able to benefit from this? You are probably better off selling an app than an actual hardware.

REVIEW - Good pitch, Agnieszka! You have clearly found a pain point that affects people on a global scale, and you describe how your app would solve the problem. You are targeting businesses as your market – relocation companies, car rental companies, and driving schools – but not the general driving population. Your pitch does highlight key value propositions to those businesses, potentially saving them exponentially higher costs in maintenance and repairs, but you also recognize that your price point puts your product out of the reach of the masses. I suspect many would argue that they already pay for automobile insurance, as well as with health and travel insurance, so asking them to pay out an additional $3000+ upfront along with a fairly hefty monthly subscription for additional driving safety (especially when most drivers insist that they are ‘good’ drivers) seems unreasonable. Your pitch does paint a clear picture of global immigration and travel trends, showing just how your product fits right in with the current market as well as how it would continue to grow in the future. Without any direct competition, your venture would likely capture your target market of car rental companies, and your plan to move forward seems to be both ambitious and possible. As an EVA, I’m not sure if I would invest in your venture for the main reason that I don’t know how much money you are looking for.

Agnieszka– having crashed a car in a foreign country, I can relate to your venture! Looking at the cost of the product, I wonder if this is something that would be offered as part of a rental car or car share model, or is something that could be integrated directly into the car. Overall, the vision for your product is great, as vehicle safety is something we really shouldn’t put a price on. The pitch seems well researched, as you cite several statistics about the amount of crashes caused by drivers who are not familiar with the area they are driving in. I just have a few key questions as an investor. Reading through the pitch, I’m having a bit of a hard time understanding exactly what the driver does with the product. Is it something they wear for VR? Do they put it in the car? Is it a simulation? I think an overview of what a person does when they get into their car, drive to where they need to go, and then get out of the car, would help to clarify my investment.

Hi Agnieszka, this is a very interesting pitch. Your idea is highly creative and addresses a genuine pain point. I have a few notes on your pitch though, in case you wish to pursue it further. First, about the product. I like parts of it very much, in particular the VR component and the microlessons. In fact, I think all of the parts that don't involve actual driving seem great. For the driving part though, I am very concerned that an app like this with AR functionality would create more distraction and confusion in non-native drivers than anything else. For most of us, AR technology is still quite new, and even I, having driven here all my life, would find it distracting if it was running instructional content while I was trying to drive. I would also be concerned about the related lawsuits that might arise out of distracted driving concerns. I think existing AR driving technologies try to be as non-intrusive as possible and that is probably important. Also, I don't totally understand how the drone part works. When you talk about how customers can actually drive the car on an empty parking lot in total security, do you mean they can virtually drive the car? Or are they really in a parking lot? And where does the drone come in? I found all that part confusing. I like very much how your product is portable from car to car. You are right, this would be a popular selling feature. RE the pitch itself, if you are presenting it for real, consider shortening the statistics section. Could you say enough in half the words? It was a hard slog getting through all of that. Also, the investment info was a little thin. How much do you need to get started? What is the ask? The potential return? Finally, your team: who are they? are they the right people to create this product? This was an incredibly ambitious idea, Agnieszka, and you have utilized design thinking in your approach to great effect. Good luck with this if you intend to carry on!

Hi Agnieska. This is an interesting concept and you’re right that it is difficult trying to navigate in a foreign country. Having worked with adults new to Canada, and seen their struggles, I think this is a good venture with tons of potential. Many adults I have worked with had to take the driving test numerous times before they passed. I do think, however, that investors in this would require some further information. Some questions/concerns I would have as an investor. How realistic is it that you can count on them being able to buy a car with bluetooth? The future of cars...many predictions are that car shares/transit/ etc will be taking over and individual car ownership is on the decline. If I were an investor, I’d want to make sure the need is there for the long term. It would be great if you could include some images or video (visuals) to see how this would work. To conclude, I think this venture holds a great deal of promise and I’m impressed with your information and effort here in these pitches!

Agnieszka, Thank you for your venture pitch. I think that you have picked a really neat venture- it is high tech and combines a few types of technology (AR, VR, and online learning modules) and addressed them for a really specific pain point. Anything that can improve safety and has the promise of keeping people safe and alive on the road would likely get attention from investors. Also, having a product that is adaptable in 15 languages is a huge selling point. I thought it was neat that you included culture/sociological viewpoints of driving- something that is probably often overlooked by driving schools. Because your venture is high tech, it comes with a bit higher of a price point. I don't think it would be targeted to the individual users- but instead the bigger companies (as you have mentioned in your pitch). It would be neat to sell this idea to rental car companies around the world. In the future, perhaps there could be some sort of plug in for those vehicles that you mentioned that already have some of the elements of technology that you describe. Good job! One thing you mention is how many of those accidents take place at the beginning of a driver's journey in a new place- is there a way that you could roll out this app to give users access to the learning modules before they even visit the country? This would ensure you are being proactive and preparing them for their new driving experience. Erin