christopher wong

FEEDBACK - Good presentation and pitch Henna. Your elevator pitch clearly articulated a problem and solution. I would agree that it might need to be a little more concise to have maximum impact. I agree that the crowdfunding model has been hugely successful so far (kickstarter, indigogo) to name a couple and I think it is particularly effective for social-enterprises and are attractive for those who want to see change in the world. Great work!

FEEDBACK - Very professional and polished presentation Reg. The elevator pitch was very concise and your prospective investor information package looked like it was made by someone very familiar with investor briefs. You have placed yourself in the perspective of the investor and lined up all of the information that an investor would have wanted in a very attractive package. I could see your product appealing to many industries where training costs are high due to expertise and the high cost of consumables while training. Overall, the proof is in the product and an impressive prototype or proof of concept would need to be demonstrated before any investments are made - but you'd definitely have me lining up to try it with your elevator and venture pitch! Well done!

FEEDBACK: Interesting product and pitch Phillip. You've looked at the market and potential of this product quite in depth. I noticed that you did segment your market into both corporate buyers, higher education as well as K12 customers. It does appear that pixl is a premium product - I know many schools currently use counting cube manipulatives for math and lego blocks for creative design. As a premium product, I sometimes worry that pixl will get squeezed out because of the very price sensitive nature of the K12 education market. Are there any companies doing similar things to estimate the potential market size for a product such as this? Great work on the website!

FEEDBACK: Interesting idea Evan. You presented and articulated your business concept well and I feel I had a good understanding of what your business idea was. One of your selling points was to have the major banks give accreditation for completing the course. I was wondering what value this accreditation would have. Is it something that students would put on their resume? Otherwise - good pitch and I really enjoyed reading your reflection. I felt many of the same thoughts you wrote down as I was making my pitch.

FEEDBACK: Great pitch Ryan. A very interesting solution to a problem that many people have. Your pitch felt very genuine and came from a caring motivation of wanting to help others. I immediately wanted your venture to succeed! You outline your concept well, provide testimonials and I have a good sense where you want to bring your company in the future. I would have liked to have seen a few more statistics regarding market size. Although you provided demographics for age, I wonder out of those 65 and above - what percentage would be ideal candidates for a service like this. This might give me a better understanding of the potential market size. Otherwise, great job!

FEEDBACK: Thanks for the informative presentation Inhee. Your elevator pitch was concise and to the point. However, I would have liked a little more information as to what the problem in the market that Lexia will solve and how using the program will solve it. In your venture pitch, the competition is listed but there isn't any indication how your product is differentiated or different from the competition. It is useful to see how large the potential market is using numbers from the competition though. Overall, it was a little difficult to get a good sense of the product being offered and why an investment should be made. Thanks!

FEEDBACK: Great elevator pitch Molly. Your elevator pitch was well done - you quickly explained an existing need and how your service would fulfill that need. Your mock displays gave me a good understanding of what your product would be like to use. Only suggestion I would have is to offer a case study example so that investors can understand what it would be like to use the product and how it would fit into someone's daily life. Great job!

REVIEW: Very enjoyable presentation Kate. You have demonstrated a strong knack for presenting your idea in a very coherent and beautiful way in a short time. I think for users this would definitely be an engaging way to learn English. It seems that there are many business ideas here centered around a Canadian English mystery. I do have a few questions regarding the concept before investment. (1) Have you found any other ESL schools doing any online book clubs doing a similar thing? Is a book club a supplemental part of their business or their business as a whole? (2) Is there a particular initial target market that you would like to start with? How do you think you would market this concept to this target market? (3) Do you think this concept is expandable to other discussion clubs? TV clubs? Movie clubs? (4) Is an original mystery required for this concept or can currently available content be used? I'm thinking serialized TV shows such as Broadchurch which can be found on Netflix would be great for a whodunit discussion without the need for developing original content. Overall, this is a very well researched and presented idea! Well done!

Hi Bryn, Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I appreciate the insights. I don't see LURNT working as a pay-to-use site either. My ideal scenario is to develop a valuable user base and brand and then exit through an acquisition or IPO. Monetizing services such as Reddit, Quora, or LURNT can be filled with difficulties as the user base would probably not want to be seen as being used to make a profit. I think of how couchsurfing.com became a for-profit corporation and lost much of its member goodwill. However with a strong enough brand or user base, I feel another organization may make an attempt at monetization or brand extension that leads to profitability. Many organizations that have yet to realize profitability such as Kahoot! are still valued in the millions because of the number of users they have accrued. Also, cool to hear that you lived in Burkina Faso as well. I was there about 17 years ago with Cyberjeunes (a former government of Canada program) through Oxfam-quebec. I lived right in Ouagadougou! Wow. I'm having flashbacks!

REVIEW: Very good presentation Dustin. Both your elevator pitch as well as your venture pitch had me extremely engaged. You present yourself very professionally and confidently in both and I think this would be one of those cases where I would choose to invest in the investor more than the investment idea. A few of the things I really appreciated about your presentation: (1) an excellent presentation about who you are and your expertise and knowledge of your market. (2) an understanding of what investors are looking for when evaluating whether or not to invest in a business. Looking at differentiation, market advantage, competitive space shows that you understand investment.  (3) strong numbers to back up your decision to enter to market and valuation.  Although due diligence is required to ensure that the figures add up, it seems as though this is very well thought out.  I would invest in this enterprise knowing that you were on the team.  Overall, really well done! I learned a lot from your presentation and really enjoyed it as well.