Hive Harmonizes Group Work

Review: I thought the whole pitch was well put together. Very tight design scheme. I like the thought put into the rollout, like the Niagara college beta. You went MUCH MORE into detail with startup costs than I confess I did in my pitch. My sentiments on usefulness of the app/service echo those of others below but I'd like to add something new. I WOULD invest, but I have a caveat: One of the benefits of group work is that students have to learn to navigate the problems of group work itself, which is a parallel outcome in addition to the curricular learning AND is prep for the workplace... Is Hive then actually eliminating this facet by “snowplowing” it away by assigning roles etc? Also, what features would Hive include that would make it "scalable" or usable for different demographics? e.g. k-7, 8-12... the university level and international commerce applications are obvious.

(REVIEW): Hive seems like a really fantastic idea, especially in light of the times we are experiencing right now with COVID19 and distance learning. I really enjoyed your elevator pitch. It is polished, professional and visually stunning, demonstrating a high level of creativity. I was impressed by the manner in which you were able to summarize the aims of your venture with just the right amount of detail. Even before I looked through the Venture pitch i was intrigued and wanted to learn more. As a veteran teacher (15 years in the classroom), I can recount numerous times being frustrated in dealing with roup work for students, and as your elevator pitch mentioned, I have found it at times to be inefficient, dysfunctional, and not very productive. The solution that you propose with Hive has a lot of merit, and I think that the way that it the app is positioned as a “one-stop shop” for group work is commendable. I think that the way that you combined the Personality test, Ali chatbot and Text analysis into a seamless product would work very well, especially in the world of online learning that we are in now. You also did a good job of analyzing your target markets, providing a roadmap to launch and delving into the financials, which are all things that i would appreciate as an investor. I think that there is potential for growth here, and I would invest in your venture.

[REVIEW]: It is important to understand the needs and pain points of the target market before developing any kind of product or service, and Hive does just that by targeting the current need for educators to have an integrated system for interacting with students online. Hive has a few interesting features that distinguish it from its competitors, namely the personality test and AI that can assign users recommended tasks and schedules according to the built in analytics in the system. I have personally not been able to find something similar to this feature, other than AI personalizing content for online courses (but not necessarily distributing work within a group). Recommendations to improve and take this venture pitch to the next level would be greater detail in product description (e.g., What does the Personality Test look like? What is Truity and IBM Watson?), a more thorough analysis of competitors, and a financial breakdown for investors on cost of investment and estimated returns. While many competitors were listed (e.g., Microsoft Teams, Google Suite, Mattermost), the three advantages listed did not address what competitors were lacking (or it was not clear). As a potential investor, it would be important to see how much funding the venture is expecting to accrue, what that funding will be used for, and how/ when investors should expect returns. Overall, Hive seems like an intriguing idea that is using the hype of AI technology to its benefit. The elevator pitch was well done, very polished and concise; a more detailed analysis of Hive’s benefits over its competitors and financial breakdown in the venture pitch would instill a greater sense of confidence in investors for this venture.

I think that the quality and graphic presentation of this pitch are relatively high. That commitment to the quality of the presentation pulled me in and made me want to explore further. However, by the time I was finished I still found myself questioning exactly what I was being asked to invest in? A more clear, comprehensive overview of the product at the front would have helped me visualize and absorb what you are pitching. All of the accompanying material is nicely thought out and presented in a concise fashion (problems, solutions, advantages etc) but a more comprehensive overview would have helped me better evaluate the opportunity.

REVIEW: I appreciate how this venture strategically takes into consideration current events and trends. It also addresses a very real-world problem, which is clear from first examination of the pitch–that of “inefficient and dysfunctional group work” which I and I am sure many can relate to in one form or another. The solution of Hive to harmonize group work is attractive. The pitch succinctly makes apparent the problems and clearly presents solutions to address these problems. I think this is a novel concept and the all-in-one solution provided by Hive is one that consumers will appreciate–especially with the target market of post-secondary institutions. With all the different platforms and systems for communication and group work, it definitely can get overwhelming, so having a solution to bring all those pieces together would make a tremendous difference and improve efficiency!! There seems to be accordance between the ventures design, target market and competitive advantages. The only thing I feel I am missing is the ask for investment. As an EVA I would invest in HIVE as I see there is real potential for this technology to make a positive difference in group work efficiency.

Hi Michael, I like how your elevator pitch succinctly presents the problem and a solution. Your skills and interest in Music matters are also clear in your pitch. Something I think would strengthen the pitch would be to briefly present the market too. Potential investors usually check the sale market evaluating how they would benefit from investing in the venture. Your venture pitch shows a market that has lots of potential. The information you provided about the market is useful to decide to invest in the venture.

Hi Mel, Your elevator pitch presents the problem and the solution that Hive offers. It also gives a glance at the market which enables to have an idea of the possible revenue of the venture. Good idea to provide your background that shows your skills. Your venture pitch is brilliant. The way you present your targeted market help to have an idea of the possible revenue that Hive would generate.

Hive is a brilliant and timely idea. As almost everyone is looking to move their work online with the Covid-19 pandemic, collaboration and teamwork at a distance are top of mind. As an experienced leader of remote teams, I have often struggled to get teams to engage and collaborate remotely. So often meetings that should be collaborative turn into presentations or status updates. It is clear that many solutions tackle the operational, not the creative side of working as a team remotely. Hive tackles that creative side balancing the playing field for all workers, not just the ones that can make it to the office. I appreciate that Hive also uses personality metrics to help determine appropriate team roles. While I think it is important to acknowledge different personalities and preferences, it would be nice to see this information also used to stretch and continually improve the skills of the users by challenging them to take on uncomfortable roles. I would definitely invest in Hive, as I see much growth potential both within the educational sector and the corporate world.