silver

Hi Laura, To echo my colleagues’ previous comments, your product definitely addresses a serious problem in the Canadian education system. I understand that Allons-Y is not-for-profit; however, as an investor,I would still like to see more details on the business, such as the time needed for return on investment, costs to school districts, the number of French immersion schools in Canada etc. Overall, well organized and presented pitch. Good luck!

Hi Christopher, Your venture pitch is professional and concise. I can see where your tool is helpful but I'm wondering if there is some way that you can also incorporate an adaptive component to it. For example, could Expressions track a teacher's selection over time and then present similarly formatted content when the teacher performs future searches? I use O365 to share lessons and materials with students and I am very picky when it comes to lesson activities. I usually end up creating my own to match my specific teaching style and my students’ needs. As a consumer, I am wondering how much teachers can modify the resources Expressions provides. From the perspective of an investor, I am a little concerned about the originality and versatility of your product. I think that the market if heading towards learning systems that not only organize and present content but also provide assessment capabilities.

Wonderful idea and pitch Victoria! I commend you for the thorough explanation of the product, the competitors, the strengths and the potential challenges. I have a couple of questions around sales and revenue. I found this section particularly difficult to complete in my own project and am eager to hear other people’s thoughts and opinions. I am a little unclear when you say that the app will be free on iTunes with in-app purchases (up to 2 fingerprint logins). When you mention in-app purchases, are you referring to the subscription fees for additional accounts or are there other in-app purchasing option you are considering? Also, while I recognize that you are early in the planning stages, do you have any sale projections? You are expecting a return of investment within 3 years but I am curious to know how many units you will be able to sell within this time. Are there any recent statistics available on, for example, the number of schools who currently supply shared iPads to students? You mention that the iPad has a 90% share of the global ed tech market but how many accounts could this translate into? Overall, I’m very impressed with your product! Good luck!

Hi Laurie, Great idea and wonderful use of student footage to enhance your presentation. I appreciate your in-depth description of the product, its competitors and your team. I would have preferred more details about your revenue model and development plan. How many schools do you think you can target? How much does your product cost? Are you thinking of a one-time purchase or a subscription basis? What additional funding rounds do you anticipate? Have you considered partnering with a 3D printer company? While I love the idea and would want to purchase your product, from an investor’s perspective, I need more information about the business.

To echo my colleagues, this app looks pretty exciting and educationally relevant. I admire the use of actual game play in your pitch and wish that I could have provided a better example of a prototype for my own product. From the perspective of an investor; however, I was hoping for more specific stats rather than general statements like “big return” and “invest heavily”. What would be your recommendations in terms of a revenue model? funding rounds? development timelines etc? How could you convince investors that another “hiatus” will not happen? Overall, I love the concept and your presentation techniques, but felt that the focus was too much on the amazing product and not enough on the business of it.

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. Lane, I agree that GoAnimate is not the most appropriate platform given the audience I am targeting. I'm familiar with it though as a video maker and was hesitant to branch out given the scope of the project. Caleb, I envision caregivers managing the device for younger children and sharing the data with them. I'm also toying with the thought that multiple children can use one biosensor wristband. As I state in the pitch, I'm not concerned about making money on the devices... rather I want to capitalize on subscription fees. The option to share wristbands among students (particularly those at lower risk) would be more appealing to schools (reduce adoption costs); however, I'm not sure how we could prevent customers from also sharing accounts. Do you think this would be an issue? It would violate privacy regulations and take away from the true capabilities of the app, so perhaps that in itself is enough of a deterrence??? tariqrbutt, looking back, I wish that I would have included a few hypothetical partners to give my concept more traction. I made up the ENGAGE social-emotional learning curriculum for the purpose of my pitch but if I pursue this, I would perhaps consider partnering with MindUp or Zones of Regulation.

Hi, I think that your company’s solution is relevant across many industries. Some of the employee training at my husband’s sawmill, for example, is now provided by an outside service and people applying for management positions are required to go complete a personality test that is also conducted by an outside company. Although your elevator pitch clearly defines the problem, I would recommend designating more time to the description of the product and speeding up the narrative to make it more engaging. I had a much better understanding of your concept after reading the magazine and I appreciate your unique presentation platform. Your presentation states that you are willing to share financial details, customer pool stats etc. with serious potential investors. I realize that this is an appropriate response for the media you have chosen (magazine); however, as a reviewer, I would like to be able to critique your estimates. Have you considered how many potential customers you may have in BC? What does your revenue model look like? How much do you charge for services? I found this difficult to do for my pitch (without being able to perform my own market research) but I think that it is important to include in a venture pitch.

Emily, I too live in a northern rural community that struggles with nutrition and healthy living choices. I appreciate that your pitch combined the societal value and the revenue value of your app. My only concern is that your current projected market may be too small for large food producers to invest much into your in-app advertising campaign. I would recommend extending your market reach to make it more appealing to these companies. Also, I agree with my colleagues that a free version may attract more users. Perhaps, in addition to in-app advertising, you could also offer in-app purchasing options, like a platform that a) tracks consumer habits over time, b) provides better alternatives to selected food products, and c) helps families develop a weekly menu.

Building on our colleagues’ comments, I think that your idea is innovative and that it solves a very real problem teachers and parents are facing as students become more engaged in technology. The description of your product is clear and concise. I appreciate that you have included a mini-bio of your team members and that you have specified the investment that you are seeking and how you intend on using the money. The revenue models for apps are evolving. I’m curious to know how you intend on selling your product and profiting from it. Do you anticipate using a subscription model? in-app advertising? in-app purchasing? We did the Opportunity Forecast for Apps a few weeks ago and one of the things that was really emphasized by app developers was the need to have a clear revenue model as you design the app. Overall, fabulous job… I’d definitely be interested in purchasing your product!

Hi Dan, I appreciate that you have incorporated many emerging trends in education technology into your product (big data, personalized learning etc.). I also liked the simple and mature design of your weebly and that you provided an example of the prototype. I felt, however, that your pitch was more of a pitch to consumers rather than a pitch to investors. While I am convinced of the educational value of your product, I am left wondering how you intend to manage your business. How much of an investment are you looking for? What do you intend on using the money for? What are the credentials of your team? What stage are you at in development? What is your business plan? How do you intend on selling the product? Are you going to charge a subscription fee for data storage? What are some of the challenges you are anticipating?