Jordan

I love the idea of integrating beacons to provide contextually relevant information. I am currently unable to hear any audio for the venture pitch… I have restarted my browser, computer, tried speakers, and nothing will work. I am starting to wonder if there is any audio attached to it? If not, you should consider adding some music. If there is and I just can’t hear it, you could consider attaching the text of your script in the description (which has the added benefit of making it more accessible). It was very impressing seeing the maps and mockups you created for your project. It looks very polished and I would definitely consider investing based on what I’ve seen.

Heather, your elevator pitch paints a picture of a well developed program that is already being widely deployed. My initial concern is that it sounds like it is very focussed on advertising through the app. It adds a lot of weight that you included a document with so much information and real world statistics. My only suggesting there is converting the document to PDF so that is can be more widely accessed and less easily modified. I really appreciate that it is open to anyone, and so easy to become a donor. Once I visited the main website I saw how the promotion aspects work, it started to make a lot of sense. It has some really impressive features such as geo-targeted ad campaigns. For your assignment, I am curious about the type of investor this is aimed at. Mostly smaller community business? Or has this program been used on a larger scale as well? Looks like a great program!

Hi Daniel! We submitted similar types of apps. Take a look at my submission if you get a chance. I’m glad you also planned for your app to be cross platform, that is huge for adoption across markets. You also explain that lessons will be able to be created right from a tablet, which will also drive adoption and make it easy to build a database quickly even in the field. Your emphasis on possible earnings based on current market trends in convincing. I like the idea of giving out free trials to get people involved. I would be curious to see more about the student interface and how they would interact with it. I think it is definitely pushing in the right direction and would interest investors like school boards.

Gary, great idea to improve the use of existing devices through cross platform classroom management app designed for teachers! The video and website layout both make it easy to understand exactly what you are looking to do. As others have mentioned in the comments, there are a lot of other apps out there which perform similar functions (both google and apple have classroom apps now). Emphasizing your apps strengths such as being cross-platform, as well as any other features that distinguish it from the crowd will be keys to success. It is clear that you put time into your PowToon video, it is very easy to understand and uses relevant examples. Your reflections demonstrate that you took a lot away from app creation as a thought exercise. Very interesting model, well done!

Hi Christine! I like the concept you have come up with. I would suggest modifying the formatting on the page slightly to make it easier to read (white on beige is hard on the eyes). Your elevator pitch is visually appealing and has catchy music, but the way it is filmed is a little distracting and it doesn’t tell the viewer how it will save time or what the instructional/collaborative features entail. In the venture pitch, you spent a lot of time discussing the business model and competition. It would strengthen your pitch to add some visual mockups of your user interface or more specific on why your app will return 1 million back to investors. You’ve got a solid idea to build from!

Great presentation Noan! The elevator pitch was concise, easy to follow, and directly addressed the problem with screen time. I like that you share links to blog posts detailing implementations and their challenges as well. It demonstrates your experience as well as your reflections and take aways. The ability to login as a guest to the green school hive is very cool, I’ll be bookmarking that! Quotes from students on your web page are a nice reminder of the direct impact that you can have on individual students in the classroom. I think your growth plan and features such as the marketplace you mention for teachers to sell materials could lead to a successful long term monetization of the app. Well done!

I think you have made a good case for the possibilities of using VR for career simulations for students. It makes sense that you suggest expanding it into more corporate training environments as well. There was a fair amount of feedback on your audio, you may be able to find software to clean that up. You also went a fair bit over time, so you could either cut some of the spaces between slides or cut out a few slides entirely. Practicing through the script a few more times may have also made the time a bit shorter and the overall delivery a bit smoother. I like the idea and think you have a solid plan for rolling it out!

Hi John, This is a really intriguing idea. I can definitely see the benefits for coaches and players. I don’t know much about this field of educational technology. When talking about “The Problem” around 35s, it might add more emphasis to have a video clip of curtsied footage. I would have liked to hear more about how much money the other companies you mentioned were bringing in to get a scale of how large they are and what kind of market share they hold. Will your app be similar to theirs and built for basketball, or will you be building other specific features to distinguish it? I think you very successfully made the point that VR will have great benefits in sports training, and with the major competition not offering an option for basketball you seem to have a great niche market!

Hi Benjamin, Great elevator pitch! I thought that the photos you used represented your venture really well. The quote from Barack Obama is a good way to draw people into the conversation around materials and management. Demonstrating the benefits to teachers, such as recovery of lost time and better prices for materials, made for a convincing argument. I like that you acknowledged the competition readily, though I would have liked to hear more about what distinguishes your app. I felt that your energy and confidence grew over the course of the venture pitch, and became very convincing by the end. It’s an idea with a lot of potential, and maybe could have stretched to 8min with a few more examples of projects in different subjects.

Hi Gordon, I have to say I am very impressed with your presentation. I think both pitches were very well polished and convincing. The platform connected to the venture very well, and your use of graphics made the data easily relatable. I would have liked to hear more about the features that distinguish it from other streaming platforms specifically for teachers. I suspect your emphasis on the numbers would work well with investors though. I think presenting some out of classroom examples of implementation could also add to your pitch. Can librarians use this? Can parents that are already subscribers access the same educational content or pay the educational price? Overall great pitch and very convincing arguments. Very impressive venture work!