Work To Learn

Feedback:  You really found put your thumb on a necessary problem, Derek! In Victoria, the unemployment rate in Victoria, BC was the lowest in Canada, as of December 2017, at 3.3% and the National average was only at 5.9%. My husband, who works in the trades industry, has a heck of a time finding people who are reliable and efficient. Every time his employee leaves, or must be let go, it can take over a year to find another suitable person. I like how your elevator pitch kept funneling us back to your website; should this become an actual venture, paying extra to remove the “weebly” would be a thought. I just checked GoDaddy and good news, “worktolearn.ca” is available! I am not a very fast reader, so I didn’t have enough time to read your slides on your elevator pitch. Putting your Twitter-brain into action would shorten up some of the phrases somewhat. You have clearly identified the problem: demand is vastly outweighing the supply of workers. The infographics and graphs are incredibly telling! The Work to Learn solution seems really great from an employer’s viewpoint. The incentives for students would need to be substantial, I would think, since there is such a high demand already. I think your Money section needs some more assurances for investors: what would the safeguards be that lawyers would draw up? Also, companies who invest in apprentices throughout their schooling, would need safeguards established. A system where students paid up-front but were reimbursed by their employer after a successful apprenticeship and minimum 1 year of employment. Future projections, a solid team and current competitors may wish to be elaborated for your pitch, as well. Your strengths here are the problem and the solution; with a little work, a stronger plan towards your solution would nail this venture! (pun intended)

Feedback - Derek, I feel your venture is sound and while focused at BC, it has many applications that could be brought to Ontario as well as there is an increasing shortfall of trades-related opportunities. In reading your venture, I feel you have presented the problem and solution quite well, but one part I had difficulty with, and some may not have the patience to do what I did, was to read the chart presented with Investment Level 2. I feel the chart could be made larger to that those on smaller screens (ie: my MS Surface) could see it more clearly. I don't feel it distracts too much from your overall piece, however. I felt the elevator pitch was sound and if it were targeted towards real investors the "Powtoon" watermark would be removed. One last suggestion would help with the flow. If I were to click on "Venture Pitch" or "Team" without knowing to press the plus symbol, much like Jess I would have difficulty navigating the page. Perhaps have the first page for each section appear when clicking on the link and then connect to the next ones which could also be accessed using the plus symbol. Overall, a great experience reading your site. Great work.

Feedback - I like the core idea behind your pitch. Make an app that helps companies connect with and prepare (train and educate) individuals for potential work in the future. Will the training be hosted directly though your application? As an investor I wonder who is responsible to create the content for education? Will it be the responsibility of the potential employers? Will there be connections to accredited training institutions? For this to really work I see a need for those details to be clear.

FEEDBACK.... Good work Derek. You have an interesting and practical concept. It requires a little more explaining, in that Work to Learn is a general concept venture, and maybe because of this, verbalizing the information in your elevator pitch may have been more efficient and clear than just the text and animation. I had to pause and rewind your pitch a couple of times to get a clearer sense of your vision; I don't know if you would get that chance in an actual elevator ;-) Nevertheless, well done. I look forward to reading your venture. - Scott

The elevator pitch seems like a promotional video targeted towards employers that would potentially use this service, no talk of investment. On the investment page of the venture pitch, it would have been great to have a total dollar figure to raise, equity given up, and then break down where that money will be spent and the revenue that can be expected, detail how the government programs will be utilized in more detail, and maybe mention who pays for use. I think it's a great idea to make these skills more readily available and I am sure that employers will want to get on board in order to grow their potential workforce. This app could also potentially disrupt training as well, with those seeking a potential job taking the required training before the job starts, with reimbursement for time after being hired. A lot of potential in this idea, in my opinion, but not quite sure if it convinces me to invest.