Focal Ed

I would invest. Setting aside the ethical problems people will inevitably bring up around tracking students whereabouts, the benefits are obvious. I've been joking about microchipping students for years! The interaction function is the real magic of this pitch - I know of teachers who teach their students hand signals to use so that they can tell a cry for help from a bathroom request with a quick visual scan. FocalEd is next-level. I love the idea that students can indicate moments of confusion or a need for help, and the fact that it's digital and would have a timestamp associated with it is super useful. The other benefit of minimized disruption during key points in a lesson/lecture is also compelling. I like that you provided a mockup of the device itself and an image of it being worn, which is more than many other pitches here did 9my own was just an idea described). The "now hiring" section is fun. Market analysis and Investment opportunity could use a bit of work beyond taking 1% of all students, but otherwise an outstanding and well put together project!

REVIEW: This is a very interesting venture for wearable technology. It is a small device and the problems it would be solving are smaller in scale and might be considered trivial but when one thinks about how much time and distraction these little interruptions and distractions that Focal Ed could help with they all add up to a lot!! The venture pitch does an effective job at explaining this and making it apparent and putting things in perspective. When you look at the big picture, you start to see the problem. Focal Ed is extensive in its features and capabilities–all it offered to do quite impressed me. The “silent request” feature really caught my attention. I think that is a feature that could be of great benefit to more shy and introverted students. I wonder though what students would think about this technology and how they would respond to its implementation and so I wonder how that might affect its success and implementation? I agree with how this venture is being positioned and think they have done well with their choice in target market and market analysis. There does not appear to be much competition in this space at present which is encouraging, but although I agree that it is a solid and very intriguing, and ambitious idea, but as the Reflection section mentions, I don’t believe it is quite ready for investment yet. I’m not sure the market is ready for this yet either. Although there is the offer of investment opportunity, I was not clear about the ask for this venture, and so as an EVA I would not invest in this project at the present moment but would for sure keep an eye on it for future consideration as it is quite interesting and innovative.

FEEDBACK: Hi Scott, I really like your elevator pitch with the personal touch of you actually speaking to the audience. That works great. Your elevator pitch is successful in communicating your value proposition. Your venture pitch is good; you covered the problem or pain and how your solution is tackling the problem. You tell a compelling and credible story that every teacher can relate to. Talking about the features of the product and how it can help teachers makes your story more convincing. Your market analysis and discussion of competing products is good. What I am unsure about is your pricing structure; I believe it is a bit of guesswork you are doing at this stage. I think we would agree that there are some implementation challenges to be overcome but I believe you have a genuine original value proposition. When your venture is ready for investment, I would invest.

Hi scott, You have done a great job presenting the problem and the solution in your elevator pitch. I also like how you introduce the market potential of FocalEd. Adding more precise market information in the market forecast and analysis certainly boosts the chance to attract more investors. Great job!

Hi Scott, this was a great pitch and a venture I would wholeheartedly invest in. I was immediately sold by the simplicity but yet practical application of your product. You brilliantly laid out the business plan, the team needed to sell this venture and your market analysis was spot on. Well done!

Scott - Thank you for putting this together and sharing. I, too, share Robert's sentiment about Focal Ed's necessity. I think there are a lot of practical aspects that were not addressed (ie- what happens when a student accidentally loses, or deliberately chooses not to wear this device? Does that cost come at the expense of the student? parent? school?) There are also a number of privacy concerns that arise with devices like this in education, especially when it comes to the location tracking of minors. Moreover, I think that certain features within Focal Ed's capabilities skirt past important socio-emotional learning opportunities (ie- signalling electronic uncomfortability bypasses the human need to recognize and understand one's own emotions). With that being said, I thought the design aspects of this pitch were great. It was incredibly informative, insightfully put together, and full with relevant information and research. It illustrates that you really did put a lot of work into this presentation. Unfortunately and respectfully, however, I would not invest in this venture. It was a pleasure working with you these past months!

FEEDBACK: Hi Scott, I really enjoyed your pitch and had a hard time deciding if it would be one of my reviews. I think the reason at the end I decided not to review (invest) is because I could absolutely see the benefits of FocalEd but didn't feel the need behind it. With so many needs within education this felt like a nice to have not a need to have and therefore made me question if organizations would purchase it with more pressing needs within their school systems.

Focal Ed is an ingenous application of wearables to the educational sector that will allow teachers to spend more time working with students. Focal Ed is almost like a student tracker. While this might sound controversial, with concerns of violence in schools and other safety issues, it will probably be easy to get consumer and parent buy in for a such a tracker. With Focal Eds functionality, it not only can improve student learning experiences with the ability to trigger help requests, but the reporting can also help improve environmental school issues. For example, if the heat maps produce patterns that students avoid a particular area of the school that might be an opportunity to change that area's function and improve so students will use the area. I would definitely consider investing in Focal Ed.