Josh Ballem

REVIEW: Great work Rupi!! Your elevator pitch quickly identified the pain point and got to your solution. I bought in right away to your idea and was picturing myself presenting with this product, however that was as a customer. I think you could add some market or potential revenue figures at the end of the elevator pitch to keep the investor in mind. When looking at your venture pitch, you did a great job outlining the problem, your solution in great detail, the market, and the competition. As a few others have outlined, tackling SMART boards could be a challenge as they are already entrenched in the market. I have a few suggestions for this. First off, I would do some research into the lifespan of the SMART boards to give you an idea of how many will need to be replaced on an on-going basis. This would be your opportunity to jump in. As mchristian suggested, you could look at building a software add-on to the SMART board or why do you need a “board” at all? The whole reason for the SMART board is that it is a touch screen, but your product does not need to touch anything, so why have a board. You could focus on a product or software that could run on any projector. This would provide a huge portability advantage over the SMART boards, especially in the business market, where most presentations take place outside of the company offices. Sorry, if I got off track in my investor review, but I think you have the beginnings of a great idea with many different options to choose.

FEEDBACK: I think you did a great job of outlining the pain point and then identifying how your solution would solve the problem. I also thought your elevator pitch was easy to follow and covered many of the key points. I believe an investor would like to see a few more details in two areas. The first is how you will develop the 15,000 comments and what will be the review process? The second area would be related to the partnership with the current companies offering this service. Would this add-on be seen as a valuable contribution or threat by these companies? If something of value, then would they be possible investors?

REVIEW:  Great work!! I think you have presented a great idea that includes both a financial and social benefits. Your venture pitch contained a detailed explanation of the pain point and how your product can solve the problem. You also outlined the extensive market potential for this device; however I would like to see a little more information on how you plan to penetrate the market. As an investor, I really like the extensive research and testing that has been completed. It is much easier to invest in a product that has already been successful. A couple points to firm up your pitch would be to include a few more details on financial projections and the investment $$ ask and potential returns. With the expanded financial information, I would highly recommend investing in this product.

REVIEW: I really liked your simple, but effective elevator pitch. Your passion combined with enough detail had me interested enough to review your venture pitch. Within your pitch you outlined the pain point or opportunity and how your solution was a fit. You effectively covered your team and how you would market to the specific area. Although I found your pitch provided a lot of information needed to sell the business viability, I was left with one question, what is the potential upside for the investor? While this does seem like a great way for you and your partner to make a nice profit on the side, it does not appear as though the company would be a full time passion for you. To improve your pitch for investors, I would add some information and projections on how this business model can be replicated easily and how you could expand or offer franchise opportunities. As an investor, this would get me a lot more excited about the potential long term returns on my investment. Finally, as others have stated, I would firm up some of the research about how the sound and light will affect the results in the tank. At this point, although it is really low risk, it also low return, so I would not recommend an investment. However, with some information on potential replication, I would recommend it.

FEEDBACK: Great idea and delivery. You were very thorough with your presentation, covering the paint point, your solution, and the competition in the market. A few things I would like to see as an investor would be a little more information on the potential market and how you plan to penetrate it. I would also suggest a second round of funding after 2 years. If the product is working well and you have positive reviews, an infusion of cash would be timely to help with a major marketing campaign to increase usage.

FEEDBACK: This is a great idea and I agree that there is a real problem in the area of professional development. Every company wants to develop their employees, but often do not find the time to do it. Organization and logistical issues seem to get in the way. As you have a solid idea and product, as an investor I would like to see some information on a revenue model, projections, and what kind of investment you are seeking.

FEEDBACK: I think you have identified a problem with a significant market and provided a solid solution. As you outlined in your obstacles and threats, the crowd-sourcing of educators does add an element of risk for a bad experience by the user. You have identified some good practices to avoid this and it should become less of a problem after the rating system starts to take effect. As an investor, I would like to see a few financial projections and the investment opportunity.

FEEDBACK: I think you have a pretty good idea. You have identified a problem and I think you have come up with an ideal solution. I found it a little difficult to fully understand the specifics of how the app would work. Maybe an example scenario of how it would work in practice would help someone who does not have prior understanding of the product. Finally, if the ask is $1M, then as an investor, I would need to see how that money was being spent.

FEEDBACK: As others have stated, I think you are on to something and have developed a solid idea and plan for the app. You covered the overall education app market, but as an investor, I would like to see how your app fits into that market and what type of revenue or share we could be looking at. As others mentioned the timing in the elevator pitch could use some work as it was a little frustrating as slides would move before I finished reading.

FEEDBACK: I think you have developed a great idea and have outlined the pain point you are addressing. You covered the potential market really well and how your product fits into it. As others have asked, information on competition would be helpful. As an investor, I would also like to see more information on what kind of development costs might be associated with this product and some financial projections. I realize advanced forecasting is probably a little bit outside of the scope for this assignment, but a true investor would want to see information on profit margins and how many users you would need to be viable. Great work.