Claudia Marchessault

Hi Tomek, As other reviewers have mentioned, your dedication to this difficult cause is admirable. Your pitch certainly conveyed the inspiration for this venture with great sincerity, but it, along with your site, lacked some of the essentials that investors need to know before handing over their money -- product details, marketing and growth plans, for example. How much money do you need to help Bamboo Dan grow? And, what potential is there for generating income? Is it or can it become affiliated with Universities or other institutions where this is a big problem? Who is your competition? Or whose model are you building Bamboo Dan after? From an EVA perspective, a lot of unanswered questions leave me unwilling to invest, but I think you've definitely identified a good concept -- it just needs to be further teased out!

Hi Briar, I found your pitches to be well-researched, informative (without overwhelming), and highly credible. I think you've identified a gap that exists and one which will likely grow in the future -- especially as companies look for ways to provide PD while keeping costs down. Your site clearly conveys how you and your team's experience and expertise have helped you develop ONCON. I have questions about your competition, as well as what technology you need to leverage to get ONCON going, but its certainly a niche that needs to be cornered and your extensive knowledge and experience make me feel confident about investing in ONCON.

Hi Sarah, A very interesting concept behind this venture, to be sure. At my school, we've been talking quite a lot recently about neuroplasticity and how cognitive therapies can, quite literally, change the brain. The science behind it is over my head, but I find your idea of using software to help diagnose and treat LD early on in students' educational careers to be intriguing, and the fact that you've partnered up with McGill University certainly adds credibility to the proposal. Although thorough, your pitches were a bit heavy on text -- a bit overwhelming to follow. And, while I know not everyone is comfortable in front of the camera, I do think that being able to actually see you, even just briefly, would have contributed to the credibility of the product and the sincerity of the product's aim. Otherwise, I think you managed to very clearly articulate the problem EduArrow will "solve", and identify exactly how you're cornering this niche market. As far as investing in this venture, I (and my advisors) would need to further examine existing research results before making an investment decision.

Hi Aaron, Right off the bat -- I was so impressed by the quality and professionalism of both of your pitches. Throughout this experience, I've discovered how insanely difficult is is to convey credibility and trustworthiness in these brief clips, but you made it seem effortless. I think the idea behind Framework -- to reimagine homework so so students can do it on their phones in a more fun and engaging manner. But, as others have noted, the applications seem rather limited, and I would want to see added versatility built into Framework so that students have more options for demonstrating their understanding of concepts. Your marketing strategy, offering free use initially, seems like a smart way to grow and establish a strong user base, but I would have some serious reservations about how well the product would sell -- especially once the novelty has worn off. At this stage, I would need to see Framework build in more student tools before I would consider investing.

Hi Stephen, I like the concept behind E-Bit and was impressed by how professional and comprehensive your pitch and your site were. I see a lot of potential for wearables in schools, but like other reviewers, things like price per student, privacy, and your market projections all went up a little red flags for me, but since I have no business background, I have to couch my thoughts on whether the pricing or projections are appropriate. Sure, privacy is an issue -- but this issue exists for all wearables and all student-carried devices, so it's not a major deterrent in my mind. My biggest concern for E-Bit's success is generating the "buy in" for students and teachers. The E-Bit's competition may not have all the same features or capabilities, but when I think about my sassy, too-cool-for-school Grade 6 students, I just CANNOT imagine any student (or teacher for that matter) that is going to get excited about wearing a device that is purely school-related. The "cool factor" simply isn't there. One thought would be to consider transforming the concept behind E-Bit into an app that can be loaded onto other, more desirable, wearables, but in its current model, I personally wouldn't be interested in investing. i

Hi Cole, Soaring Compass Points presents a very interesting proposition. I do have some concerns after watching your pitches and reading through your content as to why this gap exists in the first place -- is it a matter of it not being a lucrative enough endeavour for other publishing companies? This would be something I'd be curious to know more about before investing. As a teacher in Ontario, I know that we really struggle to find textbooks to meet our needs -- both for Ontario Social Studies and Ontario Science curriculum so I think there is certainly a market here that SCP could expand into, as well. With that in mind, I agree with the others that your ask - $10K - seems very, very low for a venture of this scale. Even if that is enough, as an investor, I'd want to know more about how those funds will be used to get SCP going. Thanks for sharing!

Hi Chris, I use almost all of the other Google products regularly in my classroom, but have never used Google Classroom because it had too many shortcomings -- so I was really was happy to see someone "update" Google Classroom. Certainly the integration of the additional tools (wikis, gradebook, etc.) are welcome and the ability to divide the classroom into separate units is also a huge improvement. I think that these added features make Google Classroom more appealing as a day-to-day course management platform and Google's existing popularity and market saturation is a boon to making the new and improved Google Classroom a success. I did find that your elevator pitch lacked just a little bit of detail about the products improvements / what problems it would be solving, which may have been problematic if I wasn't already well informed on what Google Classroom was and what it could do, but after digging a little deeper into your venture, I'd be keen to invest in the updated product.

Hi Jesse, First off, LOVE the name -- so apt. I thought you did a great job in both pitches presenting the most critical pieces of information in such a way that made it very clear what SchoolBook was aiming to achieve. I understand other reviewers' hesitation about relying on every student having their own device, but if we're not there yet, we will very soon be, so that wouldn't deter me from investing in the venture. I do, however, know that there are other apps, like Edsby, that provide a product very similar to what you're proposing so I would want to see ways that SchoolBook could differentiate itself from its competitors before making a final decision. Overall, a very thorough presentation and examination of SchoolBook's potential. Thanks for sharing!

Hi Michael, Although, as some of the other reviews have mentioned, I found that your pitch didn't really convey the impression that I'd be looking for as an EVA, I do really like the concept behind YourText. Giving educators the power and control to integrate different texts and media forms to create a dynamic, fully customizable, digital "textbook" in a highly cost-effective manner is undeniably an interesting proposal. That said, the "openness" of YourText would present some major challenges with regards to licensing, copyright infringement, and plagarism, and as Gordon noted below, massive, well-rooted publishing companies (especially those who already have their toes in the digital publishing pond) would make it an uphill battle for you every step of the way. At the end of the day, I think YourText has potential as a concept, but think the business plan needs to be reworked for it to work logistically.

Hi Minji, As others have noted, you've come up with a very unique idea to bring together all of the existing career-focused services and products into a single ecosystem. While bold and obviously a very marketable product to those looking to change their career paths, I too would be very apprehensive as an EVA to be jumping into a venture with so many already very established companies. Each would come to the table with demands and expectations that, I imagine, would make it difficult for Mobility to get off the ground. I definitely think Mobility has some potential, but with so many variables beyond your control, there are still some kinks that need to be worked through before I've be willing to invest.