A3 – InnerVisions VR

REVIEW: Great pitch, Brian! As a long-time career coach with a bit of experience in using VR to prep interviewees, I was very interested in the InnerVisions VR solution. I also have lots of anecdotal experience that supports your pain point regarding the ineffectiveness of the traditional job interview process. This personal interest might have led me to have a positive bias toward your elevator pitch but I do think it did a good job of articulating the issue and the solution. I also think that it marketed you well as a CEO with 15 years of relevant industry experience and a warm, professional image on the closing slide. In terms of the venture pitch, I appreciated your thorough and concise analysis using the Cube Framework. It effectively addresses many of the questions that are posed by EVAs. I agree with the other comments that have already been mentioned in terms of broadening the market beyond education, and identifying more about the technical expertise that will drive its success. I also wonder about strategies to make InnerVisions VR even more of a time-saving solution for the recruitment process. Could future phases of the business include the provision of a selection of simulations from which buyers could choose, rather than having to engage in a consultancy phase? I imagine that you could do this after developing simulations within a cross-section of industries, and perhaps you could start with education. I also wonder if there could be some way for InnerVisions VR to be marketed as a pre-screening interview tool; something that would help organizations to better utilize the resources involved in the in-person interview process by only interviewing those who have been determined to be appropriate according to their performance in the simulation. Also, given that "fit" is often the piece that is difficult to assess until the new hire is actually on the job, it could also be valuable to include some element of this in this simulation development process. Simulation characters that represent personality types could be a way to address this, although I admit that this would certainly be a complex feature. You can see that you've sparked my thinking, though! If you could open the concept up to markets beyond education, I would consider investing!

[FEEDBACK] Brian, thank you for this pitch. Your ease with producing quality video content is clearly evident. The presentation flowed very well and showed quality design. I am a bit skeptical though – I imagine a very high level of AI would be necessary to make these real-world scenarios lifelike and truly applicable in the hiring process. As such, I would want to know about the brains behind the operation – sell me on the people putting this together, rather than the product (it felt more like a commercial than a pitch to investors). I’m also curious about the market – why focus on educational hires? I know the confines of this assignment mean that we’re ensuring our ventures have an educational spin, but I would think that using this product to test potential hires for jobs involving more skill-based tasks (rather than interpersonal skills) would increase the feasibility of this technology. I like the general idea, and I can envision VR being used in HR hiring practices in the future, but I would shift focus to a different customer base.

REVIEW: This seems a solid venture idea and I thought it was a great pitch. It’s very straightforward and clearly identifies the problem while providing a practical, actionable solution. VR is an emerging market and this venture makes good use of that. I appreciate how the mention of some current uses of VR were made (i.e. for flight attendant training) so it puts in context how this venture is not too far distant from what is currently being done so implementation would be more feasible. The market for VR technology is growing and I could see this company and technology evolving with it to serve other industries and scenarios which means there is even more growth potential for it. As an EVA I would invest in InnerVisions VR.

FEEDBACK: Hi Brian, your elevator pitch is nicely done, convincing and your voice and enthusiasm came through. You clearly identified a problem in the hiring process of schools. You offer a good solution for the problem. Your description of the venture is good. The presentation of your venture pitch is good. The concern for me is differentiation of the product and your target market. As you mentioned, there are already VR solutions on the market so I am not sure what prevents those companies from simply selling to schools, your target market. Also schools have bigger problems to spend money on rather than recruitment, especially if there is low turnover. As you said in your elevator pitch, often hiring of friends happens. In a union environment as it is in Ontario at present, it may be a simple matter of filling the spot from the seniority list. I am not sure why a school would pay such a high subscription fee for a solution when the candidate is already physically present for the interview. I am not sure if your target customer is the right one; I would be interested in this venture if the target market is different. I would recommend the pricing structure be revised.

Hello Brian! I agree with Gregory that this is a great idea that has potential, but perhaps not within the current education market. As a principal looking to reduce some expenses, it is more appealing to have prospective teachers conduct mock lessons (in summer school or extracurricular classes) as opposed to purchasing expensive VR equipment and paying monthly subscription fees. Is a monthly subscription fee necessary? How often do schools hire new teachers? You did mention that InnerVision VR can also recreate simulated environments such as parent-teacher conferences, collaborative staff meetings, etc. which is an attractive feature as these scenarios are functions of a teachers role and it may be beneficial to witness during the decision making process before hiring a new teacher. However, I'm not sure that these features alone would help me truly ensure that I've hired the best candidate for the job. I think if, as Jessica mentioned, the software can also be adapted for professional development then teachers can maintain ongoing training throughout the school year and the monthly subscription fee would make more sense. I can visualize the use and successful integration of this technology for hiring purposes (or otherwise) in certain industries in the future. For example, as VR becomes more affordable for low/middle income families and schools have already acquired VR technology for everyday/teaching purposes, InnerVisions VR could connect out of province/state/country candidates with hiring organizations for virtual interviews and or role-play in simulated environments like classrooms. Perhaps InnerVisions VR could consider a direction of producing the largest database of simulated environments/settings/scenarios for various industries for hiring/training/professional development purposes. Just a thought :) Great job, I really enjoyed digging deeper into your venture.

(Review) Hi Brian, what an interesting idea! I think this would provide a good way for the hiring process to get a good candidate for a job. I think this would also be a useful tool in professional development for teachers. Perhaps in CPI (crisis prevention intervention) training, special education teacher PD. It would provide teachers with situational learning, which would be very valuable. Being able to alter the environment to give different experiences would be great for PD as well. Speaking from experience in my own Province (Newfoundland and Labrador) for teacher hiring, there wouldn’t be such a need for this product. Majority of interviewing that is done in NL is done over the phone because you are often interviewing jobs that are hours away - I have never had an interview for a teaching job in person! - therefore you would not have access to such a tool. There is also a clause in our collective agreement that permanent jobs must be given to the teacher with the highest seniority on the short list, so no interview process is to be done - they just get the job. Because in my own particular Province there would not be a need for this venture, I would not invest. I think perhaps in other employment areas this could however be a useful tool with more research and good marketing. Good work!

Hi Brian, Thank you for this pitch. I think that this can be a strong tool if developed a bit more. There is a clear use for it, but I think it would take a great deal or marketing to really launch it. It is a great idea that has potential.

FEEDBACK: Hi Brian, I really enjoyed your pitch. It was clear to the need, purpose, and benefits. It was almost one of the ones I reviewed (invest in) and the reason I chose not to was because I couldn't picture a large enough market for it.