Cassy Weber

Dana, Jessica, Zain -- this is fantastic! This project, I'm certain will live on. Great idea and great execution!

Stephen, thanks for your comment, and I appreciate your feedback re: uniqueness of offering. Also, appreciate the question you pose regarding how teachers will earn back. Regarding payback, you’ve identified a key issue specific to transaction fees (which we incur using Stripe). The thoughts around TeacherPayBack include both cashback and tokens. Question for you: How straight forward is it to use TeacherPayTeacher? Also, remember to assign a star rating. My dashboard shows only 3 have participated! thanks,

Hi Jess. Sigh -- just watching your video has given me a highly restorative zen moment! I love anything that gets kids outside and into nature. This is so critical for so many reasons that I know we all know. I like that you have a crisp definition of the problem and solution, and also that you've thought through your monetization with a B2C pricing model for trials/promotions/conversion. I like that you've put your own 'skin in the game' with your personal investment of $23,000 (that means you believe in the product and potential). Your ask of $88,000 is quite reasonable just in terms of total dollars. What I'd like more information on is the competition and differentiators as I know many LBS game makers have nature oriented offerings incorporating GPS/AR/VR. Also, have no doubt that the market size is huge. Insight into your use of proceeds and team, and how this team is going to get the product to market and monetized. I think you're on to something here and with some more information, you will likely succeed in your efforts to raise capital.

Hi Kat, reading and literacy are so important and top of mind for educators, teachers and parents alike! You have identified a problem and solution, outlined your team and provided some insight into competition. What would get my full attention is a breakdown of budget allocation/use of proceeds on the the $1M ask. In addition, listing competitors is a good start, but since I know the market is hot, and will be highly competitive, I'm wondering how I Love Reading will differentiate itself and specifically what are the competitive strengths that can be translated into barriers to entry. With thanks,

Jonathan, I really like the premise of your venture, and think there is significant market potential here. Edustream has the potential to incorporate many of the key elements of a 21st century classroom, and I think teachers/students would welcome this innovation into the classroom with open arms. Your problem statement is clear, and the solution is well grounded. You've created an easy to navigate website, that is visually compelling from a branding perspective. Some areas where I need more information include getting a more solid grasp of what you have identified as your target market, financials with detailed use of proceeds, and also note that the messaging can be tightened up (ie.too many words). I'm a word lover but I've learned that you must be ruthless when it comes to word reduction, cut, cut, cut and simplify. Overall, I quite enjoyed learning about your venture opportunity. with thanks!

WOW -- I'm reposting -- it was midnight or later when I posted and I see lots of typos.... here's my repost: Hi Brian, you should create a venture pitch on how to 'bottle and sell' your energy! I really enjoyed the elevator pitch and venture picture in terms of use of media and combining real time camera with narrated images. I think the format is very creative. The positives include your succinct assessment of how to evolve an existing market segment, by leveraging a massive and existing user base. You address the problem very clearly (education + games (but games that kids actually like)) and present a compelling statement of 'what should be done' to incentivize sharing. You also generate a new system of rewards -- STEAM points for sharing. This is great. But, here's the but .... I was excitedly anticipating an ask for investment $$ to spin off a joint venture or mega industry alliance, strategic partnership etc, and then... no ask for capital, but rather ask for sharing the story, which falls more into the camp of a marketing plan. I think if you rethought the ending, i.e. the ask, then you'd hit a home-run -- raise capital to set up a J.V.. With thanks.

supposed to be why, what, how.... not why, why, how.... : )

Scott -- thanks for your positive feedback and improvement insights. I just listed in my reply to Robert that yes I'm a numbers, details person so love the fact that you appreciate this. And yes, here is URL/link. (www.wonderville.org. and visit real time activity board showing real time usage of wonderville.org at http://www.sciencehappenshere.com). Re: elevator pitch -- thanks for the insights. It's an ongoing initiative which I've found in every company I've been in -- the pitch is tweaked, revised, overhauled and takes a long time to nail it. I'm still working on it. With thanks for your insights and feedback.

Hi Robert -- thanks for your positive feedback and insights. I'm a numbers person! And thanks for sharing your preference regarding wanting to know earlier on what the ROI is. Also, I'm not sure what you mean re: pieces of pie? Do you mean equity stake? This particular venture pitch is for debt-based financing so ROI is interest on principal. In this case estimated to be a couple points above prime (typical for social impact investments). Anyway, let me know what your mean re: pie, and I'll be happy to further clarify. With thanks for your insights and feedback.

Hi Scott. Where can I sign up!! (as investor, that is). You've outlined a compelling value proposition in Step-by-Step with well articulated problem and solution identification. Also, provided a product demo. And, you've outlined the team and skills/talent mix and fit, given thought and explanation to the competitive landscape, pricing and path to profit. This is not your first rodeo!! I liked the information and flow, and have a clear understanding of the venture. Though, I would like to have more information beyond just the competitors, and specifically, more detail into Step-by-Step's differentiators. Anytime Google is in the same space, the plan has to consider what an exit might look like (with Google, for instance), otherwise the venture is at risk of becoming irrelevant. However, given that one of the team members is from Google, I suspect these points have been discussed. You identify the why, why, how. The only negative I see is the executive summary style of presentation versus succinct presentation of critical points, bulleted where necessary. This could be a stylistic thing but I know from experience, for instance at Banff Venture Forum, they are ruthless with keeping time on the clock, and if you exceed the time limit (10 mins), too bad, so sad! You are abruptly called off the presentation forum. In any case, this isn't BVF, and I like this opportunity! With thanks.