charkirk

Madeline - this is a really interesting venture and one that I think has a lot of potential. I am still unclear on a couple of things. What kinds of services do you provide? You say that you will teach the skills using virtual tools, and I would need to know a little bit more about how that works. Will the students be working on this at home or in a classroom setting? Who will be your clients? Will it be individuals or will it be established organizations? I think investors would probably like to know how much money you are wanting from them to get this started as well as how you can roll it out. I know that the 9 essential skills are critical for people new to Canada who are seeking employment so I think a program aimed at helping incorporate these skills into their tool kit is a great idea. As an EVA I would need these questions answered before I could advise any investment. Thanks.

Thanks for this great presentation, Scott. I think you’ve got the framework for a solid venture here and as an EVA, I would recommend it to investors. The hook is strong - the fact that the test scores are so low for junior high students is a real eye-opener. You have identified the market and your plan looks strong. A couple of questions I am still left with are mainly to do with the ask. How much are you needing from investors and how will that be put to use? Also, what will be the return on investment and how soon can an investor get his money back. Your projections look strong, and if they hold, it will be a sustainable business venture. I had some difficulty reading and watching and listening to your elevator pitch and would like to hear more about you and your team as well. As I said, I would definitely recommend it to investors if these couple of questions/issues were addressed. Thanks.

Let me start out, Ghassan, by saying I really like the idea of students running their own cafeteria and learning the business skills that go along with it. As Erin said, there are so many directions you could go with this, including growing the food onsite! If I was a teacher in charge of this program, I would hire you in a second to come in and help set up this program for my school. If I was an administrator, I would be asking what you could offer that I couldn’t find online at a lower price point. Your philosophy is great and your objectives noble; however who is going to run this program after your venture has done its consulting? I worry that this would be a lot for a teacher to oversee even though you would’ve worked to get it all organized for them. Does the school have this kind of money in their budget? I wish I could invest in this because I really believe in food security and teaching business skills to kids, but I think this venture needs to be modified and streamlined somewhat before I would recommend investing. I do think you’re onto something though!

Ryan you’ve hit the ball out of the park with this venture. Your elevator and venture presentations are on point. You have presented a very polished document that I know many investors will take a second look at!. I think this venture is timely in terms of the way our current educational system has been working. If the system isn’t ready for this now, it will be soon enough. The only thing I would be recommending is that you start small - give the investor something to latch onto that is attainable. Focusing on specifics - grades, subjects, etc - would make it that much easier to grasp. I would like to know more about the team putting together the resources and be confident they are qualified for the job, especially with respect to the curricular experts.

Albert - As an EVA, this is a great venture and I believe one which I would recommend investment. You are clear in your overall plan and it looks to be well developed. Your hook is strong. A lot of people are dissatisfied with public education and want an alternative. I would like to know a little more about the team and the expertise behind them? Are they educators or business people? What is their background and why would I invest my money with them? I would also like to know more about how much you’d charge. 100 - 1000 is a wide range and I’m not clear on your subscription plan. That could be a big added expense for parents; however, your budget for implementation looks strong and manageable. I like that you’re starting with one location and getting things well established before branching out across the province and country. This might be just me, but I’d like to see a few more images and/or videos in your venture pitch in order to visualize this concept. I’m a big supporter of this concept and I would recommend investment if some of the above issues could be clarified. Thanks!

Ryan - thanks so much for this very informative elevator and venture pitch. Your enthusiasm is evident in both. This seems like a no-brainer to me. If a teacher was setting up a Makerspace, why wouldn’t they want to subscribe to a service such as yours? I think the biggest sell is the ongoing support that you would provide! What media platform would you be thinking of using? The visual layout of your presentation is appealing and the little extra graphics are quite effective. The page with your personal information was really helpful for me - it’s always nice to know that you’re investing with a real person and not just a numbered company! You’ve definitely nailed the concept and the marketability, the only thing I think investors would want to see would be a personal pitch where they could get a stronger sense of your characteristics in order to help them decide in favour of this venture. Very exciting though...I think you've got a great idea.

Janna - I am totally excited about Dogs for a Cause! The hook is great...you had me with the cute puppy picture on your home page! I think it’s a great concept - to be able to bring together all the “players” that are involved in matching a dog with a companion. I’m not quite clear on what you’re looking for though. What is the investment that you are looking for and what is the return on that investment? Also, as an investor, I’d like to know a little more about your team and its qualifications and maybe have some video introductions where you can tell me more about the program and why it’s so great! I’m wondering what kind of technology you are using...is it a mobile app or a number of microlearning modules? I think this has a lot of potential and thanks so much for the pitch, but I will need a little more information before I can recommend an investment here. (Also, I do not see a second video or I'm not sure where to access the information about PIXIO that Ghassan is referring to.)

This is really interesting Ali. I hadn’t heard of Babbel before so did a bit of research on it before I looked at your venture. My question - if Babbel is doing so well, why does it need an investor’s money? Surely it’s already making enough money to put back into the company to develop this 2.0 version? If it was an initial start-up, I could understand the need, but this is an established company, and one that’s doing quite well if there are over 1 million paying customers. As a customer, I’m all in...I can really see how this would be beneficial in schools especially for personalized learning programs. My concerns just come down to the financing and return on investment. As I say, I like the looks of the platform and think it would tie in well with a school based language program! Good work and good luck on this very interesting venture!

Hi Agnieska. This is an interesting concept and you’re right that it is difficult trying to navigate in a foreign country. Having worked with adults new to Canada, and seen their struggles, I think this is a good venture with tons of potential. Many adults I have worked with had to take the driving test numerous times before they passed. I do think, however, that investors in this would require some further information. Some questions/concerns I would have as an investor. How realistic is it that you can count on them being able to buy a car with bluetooth? The future of cars...many predictions are that car shares/transit/ etc will be taking over and individual car ownership is on the decline. If I were an investor, I’d want to make sure the need is there for the long term. It would be great if you could include some images or video (visuals) to see how this would work. To conclude, I think this venture holds a great deal of promise and I’m impressed with your information and effort here in these pitches!

I really enjoyed both your elevator and venture pitches, Eva! You have covered every aspect of the content from pain point to the return on investment! Your enthusiasm comes through loud and clear and that’s important as an EVA! Your team looks very strong and with your many years of experience in this area, I trust you know what you’re talking about! The nursing field is not one I am familiar with so I needed to spend a bit of time to understand all the challenges and complexities that you spoke of. (Embarrassingly, I had to look up exactly what a ‘preceptor’ was!) As I was going through your venture pitch, I was initially thinking it was like SLACK for nurses. I’m wondering what your app would do that a tool like SLACK couldn’t do. When I hear the essence of what you want to do...streamline communication ...what are the drawbacks from other “group” communication tools? My only other question would be about the size of investment you’re seeking. That seems like a lot of money and I’m wondering if you could potentially roll the app out in stages as money comes in. (maybe I just am unaware how much it costs to build an app?) Thanks for this great pitch! I’m impressed!