A3 – MeLearn

REVIEW: Matt, i think your pitch was very professional and well done. I appreciated the organization of the clear, concise and informative video. In just over 6 minutes, you were able to pitch a very interesting idea. A service like MeLearn is something that I've never thought of in education. As your pitch explains, the education system has not really changed since the industrial revolution. However, I think there is a good reason why it hasn't ever changed over the years. There is a certain sense of belonging and community when you attend a traditional school. Students wake up everyday, to go to school. There are support systems in schools to help students that are struggling. How will MeLearn hold students accountable? What if students simply choose not to use this service. Just like, some people still choose to stay at a hotel over an air bnb? Although I think you delivered a very good presentation, I think it would serve as a great tutoring service rather than replacing the format of our education systems all together. I completely understand the great costs that are involved and there is definitely bureaucracy and MeLearn cuts down on those costs at a substantial level. However, parents currently send their kids to public school for free. As a consumer, I would want to continue this trend. Yes, we pay out of our tax dollars, however the general public will not be getting taxed less due to this service. Unfortunately, the current system is the only way to ensure consistency of learning amongst students. Again, I thought you delivered one of the best presentations however, I would not invest in a replacement for the current system just yet, however would consider if there were less unknowns. Thanks Matt!

[REVIEW]: Of the ventures I had the pleasure of reviewing, MeLearn had the most intriguing and disruptive idea. Both the elevator pitch and venture pitch were concise, well articulated, and compelling. Your narration and intonation made for a great sales pitch! As for the venture itself, I believe the Venture Pitch could have been more detailed in two areas: 1) explaining how administration would be replaced and on what scale, and 2) identifying and resolving potential counterarguments to your points, such as alternative education programs already in place or how this would be different from hiring tutors. The investment proposition near the end of the video was delivered with great conviction and straightforward numbers and visuals; however, I would suggest providing more information about your company and expertise as well as identifying sources of your data to convince potential investors why they should put their money into this venture. Overall, a dynamic presentation and idea with potential. While this venture is targeted at K-12 and higher education, it reminds me of other web-based companies that connect people who want to learn a particular skill or trade with experts and professionals (e.g., Skill Share: https://www.skillshare.com/?via=header).

I feel like this is among the top venture pitches in this forum. It is well thought out and well presented. I found myself captivated throughout. It felt professional and like it represents a real-world possibility. I do not think that video alone is the best way to deliver this pitch. However, unlike many videos, especially longer form videos presented in the MET, this one held my attention from start to finish. The script is tight and well narrated. I would recommend an accompanying document that a potential investor could further scan and review, however. Overall, this is a really pitch based around a well thought out idea and potential venture.

Hi Matt, I couldn’t agree more with you that the current educational system needs some tweaks to adapt to the global evolving economy. I like your idea to revolutionize the entire system of education. There are many things in education that such a venture could positively change. Being more precise on the problem and the solution will provide potential investors with ideas on how they could contribute to the venture and generate profit from their investment. The value of your venture that is providing users with what they need to learn is very appealing. Your venture is aiming at a very bid market. As regards to your elevator pitch, I like the idea because it has strong value, however, adding incentive information on the market, and precision on the problem MeLearn will solve would attract potential investors to ask for more details. Also, after listening to your pitch, I thought not all learners know what they want to know or learn and how to do so. Young people usually K-12 education are still figuring this out. Or maybe students would learn just about everything in the state's curriculum with teachers that offer the best quality teaching and learning styles? Your venture certainly got me thinking.

Matt, thanks so much for your pitch. I completely agree with Carlo here - your skills as a marketer are impressive. The idea behind finding an 'in' between the funding and the actual delivery is solid, and I see the potential for a return on investment. I also love the idea of the disruption of an industry to drive innovation and progress. With that said, I have some concerns that would likely prevent me from investing in MeLearn. These are primarily ideological or philosophical in nature, as I see the evolution of a system with a tool like MeLearn as one that I'd rather not see happen. I tend to lean socialist and the idea of hyper-privatization doesn't sit well. I also see a lot of soft skills and competencies that are implicit with large group education, and MeLearn might overcome this if it was partnered with a startup like HIVE (Mel's A3) that helped organize group work. I wonder if teachers would be forced to a 'race to the bottom' as they scramble to market themselves as a high-value educator for a low price. This would exacerbate the teacher retention issues by removing any remaining incentives to become a teacher in the first place. Without strict language around class sizes teachers could have limitless classes, thereby turning them into MOOCs; a much less personalized form of learning that hasn't lived up to the hype. Ultimately, your presentation of ideas was really good. Professional and well-constructed. That I don't agree with the philosophical underpinnings doesn't mean I didn't like it. I really appreciated your market projections and other statistics. Shows you did your homework and understand the potential. I wouldn't invest for reasons stated above, but I enjoyed going through your pitch.

Hi all - to hopefully answer Carla and Aziza's questions (which were great!) and clarify for everyone, I thought I'd post here. The target market (in my ideal world) would be a complete shakeup of the K-12 and post-secondary education system that we have today. I'd be aiming for a 100% publicly funded, but 100% privately delivered education system. I should have made that more clear in the video, I can see now. MeLearn would basically be the means of HOW people would connect their students to the type of privately offered education they want for their students (or themselves in post-secondary)....and then it would take a cut (%) of the transaction. But the 'delivery' of the education would be a total free-market. If teachers/experts wanted to get together and form a traditional "school" setting and offer it at a lower rate to attract more students, then they would advertise that on MeLearn. If a teacher wanted to provide one-on-one mentoring, then they could offer that at a higher rate....whatever the market demands. And all this would be communicated through MeLearn profiles. Parents would do some homework and find what works best for their situations. The idea is that competition would drive the education system to improve and not remain stagnant...in all these areas. UDemy is getting closer to the idea I'm proposing....but it is also used as a content delivery system so the instructors are generally limited to the online environment. MeLearn would act more as a commission-taking middle man with no content delivery. I realize the $$'s I used represent the entire education spending of the government each year (including on buildings etc), but what I'm saying is that if the whole delivery system (K through post-secondary) becomes privatized then all that infrastructure would also become privatized (eventually) and those costs would be built into what teachers (and potential "schools") would eventually charge the students....and MeLearn is designed to take a % of all those transactions - hence the huge potential! Sorry to be verbose. Hope that clarifies! :-)

Hi Matt, great professional pitches! You were born for marketing (has anyone ever told you that?). I like the idea of your venture and I agree 100% with you that our current education system is in dire need of a shake up/ disruption. I'm not entirely sure that I completely understood the product/ venture i.e. what the intention would be with MeLearn. Is it there to be used as a replacement for f2f schooling? Or an add-on to it e.g. a student struggles with a concept and seeks additional teacher help through MeLearn? I was also a little puzzled by the calculations you posted in the venture pitch. The quoted government expenditures for education covers much more than teacher salaries... wouldn't physical infrastructure of schools and lunch programs be included in this value too? There might then be a gross over estimation of potential revenue. As an example, AirBnB had a 4 billion dollar revenue for 2019 and you are talking about a potential 26 billion dollars being brought in. Maybe this was just an example and you just wanted to show the potential impact that the app could have on the market which in that case the numbers probably aren't that important. I'd really like to know though what the current landscape looks like in terms of competitors in your market (would UDemy count as as competitor? What distinguishes MeLearn from the rest of the market?) and what expertise are you bringing to the venture that will help it succeed? I am sure though that if this was a f2f pitch and I was able to ask questions before making a call in terms of investment, you would have the answers for me.

Hello Matt, fabulous pitches but...who is the target client exactly? Home schooled students? A function of schools, for many parents, is that their children have a safe place to go while they are working.And for some stay at home parents, they are interested by the social and language skills their child will gain in schools (for the younger kids). Your idea is magnificent and without any doubt I would buy your product...but only if I was homeschooling my child or as an add on (on top of the regular school that my child would still attend if i'm working). What do you think?