Ariane

Hi Mark, What a professional, clean and well put together pitch! As a parent of a first grader, I feel like I'm always searching for school related information and not knowing where to find it, so I definately see the need for a product like this. Here is some constructive feedback: the pace of both pitches is a bit slow, I felt like your message could have been conveyed in half the time. By presenting the product a bit more quickly, I believe you would have been able to generate a bit more excitement and show more enthusiasm about your idea. In regards to the actual product, I think there may be some work to do in regards to reviewing what type of information should be included in the app. I'm not sure about the public transportation routes tab; how many of your users actually take the city bus? And how many of those actually need to look up bus routes/schedules to get to school everyday? Wouldn't they be better off accessing the public transportation apps specific to their city? Instead of this kind of information, wouldn't informatiion school specific information/dates/announcements be more useful to your users? For example, we just missed my daughters "uniform free" day at school yesterday, wouldn't it be great to have this app send us a reminder? Otherwise, great job!

Hi Lindsay, Interesting concept. I like that you thought outside the box and proposed a product that would completement existing products on the market. I wasn't fully convinced of the solution you are proposing after viewing your elevator pitch; I would recommend spending more time driving that "painpoint" for investors who know less about the K-12 realities (like me). You propose an inventory of 15000 comments, which is high. The number actually seems a bit daunting in terms of number of comments the system provides; although it may make sense and work well once they are categorized, it may be nice to show your audience what using this product might look and feel like. Your website looks great and your math on the return on investment seems credible. Good job!

Hi Kristy, I love the concept you are pitching. New technologies provide affordances for the tracking of health & fitness metrics, what a great idea to integrate these in the Phys Ed field. Similar to others, I cannot find your venture pitch and must therefore evaluate you on an incomplete assignement.

Hi etower, please send your project to ariane.montcalm@sodexo.com so that I can review. Thanks!

Hi Marcia, This is an incredibly strong pitch! Your elevator pitch is really good. It's simple, but your ability to establish credibility and demonstrate passion is really apparent! I love your use of media in your venture pitch, what a great website, and well combined with video/audio. I think you've indentified a really promising market and have developped a good concept for addressing the needs of this market. Overall, not much to say in the way of constructive feedback; the only comment I would make is that you may want to be more explicit about who your audience is (GED instructors) as certain aspects of your pitch are a bit contradictory (for example, the name of your product which seems like the product would be geared towards the learner, and the e-learning modules you are offering, are these for the instructors or the learners? If they are for the learners, you would have to explain how you intend to provide access to these users. Overall, FANTASTIC JOB! One of the best I've reviewed so far!

Hi Bassam, Your business case for your product is very strong and supported by convincing and credible data. Your choice and use of media is great. That being said, it sounds like the venture is off to a good start with already many users. If you are to seek investment which is the purpose of this pitch, your pitch does not clearly explain what the investment would be used for. Also, I know that Edtech is a broad field, but in some ways I fail to see how relevant this product is to the learning and education field. Perhaps you may want to spend a bit less time explaining the "painpoint", as many of us are already convinced and spend more time showing what this product is capable of, and show ways in which it can improve someone’s health

Hi Daniel, Your venture seems to have a good concept, it's simple but it would really help schools access technologies they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford. As a potential investor, I would want to know more about what other ventures out there are doing that sort of thing, and how your idea is different/better. Also, in regards to your financial strategy, you've created a clear case that investors could get their returns quickly, but you may want to be more careful not to blur the lines between actual bottom line profit this company can bring in and the revenue that will serve as overhead to keep the business running (your 5 employees, their benefits, your warehouse, shipping costs, marketing, product insurance (?), cost of replacement, maintenance and upkeep of your inventory, to name a few). Good job!

As you mention, this market is particularly ripe and I believe there is tremendous opportunities for investors to make money, so your choice of market is spot on. I believe your venture pitch is well put together, your business plan makes sense and you've clearly taken the time to plan out many details on how you would run this venture. That being said, the way the product is portrayed does not make it seem particularly innovative, which is compounded by the fact that you clearly identify some key threats/competitors that would impact your ability to make this venture successful. Overall, the pitch is good, my main recommendation would be to tweak your message to focus on how it is different then what is currently out there and where the value of the venture lies. Well done!

Hi Sarah, Great pitch! Having a 6 year old and currently managing her home reading assignments, your product would definitely address one of my important "pain points"! I think both the elevator pitch and venture pitch are presented in a very polished, professional and credible manner. You used the media well although the 2 pieces appear similar. One point, (and something I'm embarrassed to admit I learned on Dragon's den) is that if you claim to already be running a "profitable" business, investors would want to know more about the figures. Finally, the profit structure for your investors seems very high (which is great for them) but wouldn't you be losing out, especially if you already put so many resources in getting this product off the ground? Overall, fantastic pitch! Best of luck!

Hi Jenelle, Great job, looks like there is a lot of passion behind this venture! The way you brand this product using crossfit as a reference is really smart, crossfit is very trendy and marketable. You mention that that market size is considerable, but as I look at the demographics (Koreans, in their 20-30s, working in firms competing globally) I find the market size to becomes more restricted (although I'm miles away so I don't have a specific idea about the numbers). One point I would present more explicitly and earlier on in your venture pitch is the sales model, up until a certain point, I was under the impression it was B2C (offering free versions to individuals) but later you mention that you would be selling your services to businesses directly (B2B). Whatever the structure might be, I recommend that you explain it a bit more clearly. Otherwise, great job and good luck in your potential launch of this venture!