Marc Tavares
NeighbourhoodAR
By Marc Tavares on July 28, 2019
Recently, I was walking around my favourite neighbourhood and couldn’t believe how much it changed since I was last there. The neighborhood had gentrified. Businesses tied to its cultural identity had vanished. The original people that built and made the neighbourhood thrive are dying, leaving their stories mostly untold. For those that remain, cultural clashes […]
A1 Analyst Report – FutureFit AI
By Marc Tavares on June 16, 2019
FutureFit AI is a venture that wants to reimagine education to address the global skills gaps and prepare people for the future of work. Please view my analyst report. Thanks! Marc
Mike Silagadze: Co-Founder & CEO of Top Hat
By Marc Tavares on May 28, 2019
Mike Silagadze is the Co-Founder & CEO of Top Hat About Top Hat Top Hat is a Toronto based learning technologies venture and cloud-based teaching platform focused on student engagement tools and activities. Top Hat is used by over 750 North American higher education institutions and its tools enable educators to create a more interactive […]
Tech Will Save Us: Dough Universe
By Marc Tavares on May 22, 2019
Tech Will Save Us is a venture founded by Daniel Hirschmann and Bethany Koby that develops “toys to help kids learn about the world through technology and play” and encourages kids as creators, not just consumers and users of technology. The Dough Universe project introduces children to STEAM principles and helps them learn scientific concepts […]
Humans Wanted Report: The Coming Skills Revolution
By Marc Tavares on May 14, 2019
The Humans Wanted Report published by RBC is the result of a year-long research project that predicts the future of work in Canada and describes the state of Canada’s skills gap. A few of the key findings from the research conducted is that the Canadian education system is not properly preparing youth for a new […]
Hello from Toronto!
By Marc Tavares on May 8, 2019
It’s nice to virtually meet you all here! I’m writing to you from Toronto where I live and work, having spent the last 6 years as a Media Technologies Specialist at the University of Guelph-Humber. I’m currently on a secondment focused on leading some edtech projects for our university. I have a media production background […]

FEEDBACK: Great elevator pitch Daniel! It was engaging, convincing, and showed your confidence in the product. The rest of your venture pitch was strong, but could have benefited from being more specific on what differentiates Beyond Disruption from the competition. I also think presenting some specific use cases (i.e, health care) for the product could help highlight its potential and capabilities.
FEEDBACK: Great elevator pitch Daniel! It was engaging, convincing, and showed your confidence in the product. The rest of your venture pitch was strong, but could have benefited from being more specific on what differentiates Beyond Disruption from the competition. I also think presenting some specific use cases (i.e, health care) for the product could help highlight its potential and capabilities.
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- 0 Replies
- in reply to Beyond Disruption

FEEDBACK: Great venture idea and pitch. Your elevator pitch was well written, but definitely missed your presence in the form of narration or seeing you. I think this would really get a potential investor engaged and ready to hear the rest of your pitch. The venture pitch site was easy to follow and was really successful at clearly communicating the problem that Pigzbe strives to solve. Your explanation of cryptocurrency, blockchain, and the related market was very well done.
FEEDBACK: Great venture idea and pitch. Your elevator pitch was well written, but definitely missed your presence in the form of narration or seeing you. I think this would really get a potential investor engaged and ready to hear the rest of your pitch. The venture pitch site was easy to follow and was really successful at clearly communicating the problem that Pigzbe strives to solve. Your explanation of cryptocurrency, blockchain, and the related market was very well done.
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- 0 Replies
- in reply to Pigzbe – educational piggy wallet using cryptocurrency

FEEDBACK: Excellent elevator pitch Jiri. It was clear, concise, and delivered well. I also like how you started it with a story. You outlined the pain points and identified your target market well. Your longer venture pitch is detailed and contains some excellent data in the market opportunity section that is attractive to potential EVAs. An area to strengthen could potentially be the competition analysis. I can see that there are a couple TOEFL prep apps in the App store including TOEFL’s own app that doesn’t seem as advanced or as good as your product, but it might be worth mentioning them and what differentiates your product.
FEEDBACK: Excellent elevator pitch Jiri. It was clear, concise, and delivered well. I also like how you started it with a story. You outlined the pain points and identified your target market well. Your longer venture pitch is detailed and contains some excellent data in the market opportunity section that is attractive to potential EVAs. An area to strengthen could potentially be the competition analysis. I can see that there are a couple TOEFL prep apps in the App store including TOEFL’s own app that doesn’t seem as advanced or as good as your product, but it might be worth mentioning them and what differentiates your product.
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- 0 Replies
- in reply to Write I/T Right

FEEDBACK: I enjoyed watching your elevator pitch, Ian. It was creative and well-done. My biggest piece of feedback is that the pitch felt a bit more like a product demo to me. I think it could be improved by addressing what the problem or pain points are and how PhotoMath helps solve them. Your longer venture pitch contains some excellent information on the product itself and venture opportunities that could be solidified even more with some market stats or data.
FEEDBACK: I enjoyed watching your elevator pitch, Ian. It was creative and well-done. My biggest piece of feedback is that the pitch felt a bit more like a product demo to me. I think it could be improved by addressing what the problem or pain points are and how PhotoMath helps solve them. Your longer venture pitch contains some excellent information on the product itself and venture opportunities that could be solidified even more with some market stats or data.
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- 0 Replies
- in reply to OCR Technology – Photomath

FEEDBACK: Great idea and work Johnny! The first 15 seconds of your elevator pitch hooked me to want to hear more about how Mathlandia could help solve the problem. I think your elevator and longer venture pitch would benefit from us seeing you on screen instead of the text slides and being shortened to a minute or less, but your delivery was quite convincing.
FEEDBACK: Great idea and work Johnny! The first 15 seconds of your elevator pitch hooked me to want to hear more about how Mathlandia could help solve the problem. I think your elevator and longer venture pitch would benefit from us seeing you on screen instead of the text slides and being shortened to a minute or less, but your delivery was quite convincing.
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- 0 Replies
- in reply to A3: Mathlandia

FEEDBACK: Chava, your elevator pitch is great! It’s well-written, clear, and engaging. Your passion, enthusiasm, and expertise are also very evident. My main piece of feedback is to shorten the pitch to a minute or less and perhaps introduce yourself on camera and the product a bit earlier. The rest of your venture pitch is very informative with some excellent market analysis.
FEEDBACK: Chava, your elevator pitch is great! It’s well-written, clear, and engaging. Your passion, enthusiasm, and expertise are also very evident. My main piece of feedback is to shorten the pitch to a minute or less and perhaps introduce yourself on camera and the product a bit earlier. The rest of your venture pitch is very informative with some excellent market analysis.
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- 1 Replies
- in reply to BibleQuest – Bringing the ancient text into 21st C learning

FEEDBACK: Jason, using AI to free up a teacher’s time from the mundane so they can focus more on teaching is a great idea. Kickstarter was also an effective way of presenting your content. The text and graphics on your Kickstarter present the pain points and solution very well, but I don’t think the elevator pitch captured the essence of your venture as well as it could have. I think you could have started at the 20 second point and then had more time to get us excited about AI and what it could do for education. The What Can AI do for Education would be a great script. I think you’ve done some great work that can be been reinforced by an elevator pitch that pulls some of the key points from your page.
FEEDBACK: Jason, using AI to free up a teacher’s time from the mundane so they can focus more on teaching is a great idea. Kickstarter was also an effective way of presenting your content. The text and graphics on your Kickstarter present the pain points and solution very well, but I don’t think the elevator pitch captured the essence of your venture as well as it could have. I think you could have started at the 20 second point and then had more time to get us excited about AI and what it could do for education. The What Can AI do for Education would be a great script. I think you’ve done some great work that can be been reinforced by an elevator pitch that pulls some of the key points from your page.
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- 1 Replies
- in reply to AI Enhanced School Information System (INGSOC)

REVIEW: Great work Charmaine! Your elevator pitch was engaging and I’m glad you spoke from your perspective as an educator. Your mock-ups were also a great addition. The venture pitch provided a well-thought out and thorough description of the Just Right Reading product. It also addresses a real-world issue that educators face in the classroom as evidenced by your reading performance data. I thought your CUBE analysis was clear, concise, and informative. As an EVA, however, I would have liked to see the market status a bit more focused on the e-reading or digital literature market. My other piece of feedback is that I would have liked to learn a little more about you as the founder, especially considering your prestigious nomination for the teaching excellence award (congratulations!). I think it would help solidify your expertise as an educator turned venture founder. The venture has the potential to be quite successful with the right content partnerships. With a little more focus and detail on the market status, in addition to learning a bit more about your drive to lead a venture, I think Just Right Reading is worth funding and investing in.
REVIEW: Great work Charmaine! Your elevator pitch was engaging and I’m glad you spoke from your perspective as an educator. Your mock-ups were also a great addition. The venture pitch provided a well-thought out and thorough description of the Just Right Reading product. It also addresses a real-world issue that educators face in the classroom as evidenced by your reading performance data. I thought your CUBE analysis was clear, concise, and informative. As an EVA, however, I would have liked to see the market status a bit more focused on the e-reading or digital literature market. My other piece of feedback is that I would have liked to learn a little more about you as the founder, especially considering your prestigious nomination for the teaching excellence award (congratulations!). I think it would help solidify your expertise as an educator turned venture founder. The venture has the potential to be quite successful with the right content partnerships. With a little more focus and detail on the market status, in addition to learning a bit more about your drive to lead a venture, I think Just Right Reading is worth funding and investing in.
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- 1 Replies
- in reply to Just Right Reading

REVIEW: Jamie, excellent job on your venture pitch and I was happy to see the exploration of a new market I’m unfamiliar with. At first, I was skeptical about investing, since the co-creation and collaboration market is rather saturated here in Toronto, Canada, but your explanation of the need, and niche The Space will fill, was very promising and convincing. I see tremendous potential to use your model for other emerging markets that successfully blends facilities and services, while also contributing to accessible education for all. You treat growth very cautiously and strategically. Your exit strategy brings me peace of mind knowing that an unsuccessful outcome is not catastrophic. As a potential investor, I could benefit on a little further elaboration on exactly how students that aren’t scholarship recipients would access The Space. For example, would they pay a membership fee? This project contributes original value beyond profitability and I’m glad to see the involvement of some notable philanthropists. Your established partnerships, experience of the team, and commitment to providing educational opportunities in your market has convinced me to invest. Shifting focus a little bit, I think your elevator pitch is spot-on and conveyed your passion for the project. The product video also added some great additional information. The pitch deck was clean, professional, and well-organized. Great work!
REVIEW: Jamie, excellent job on your venture pitch and I was happy to see the exploration of a new market I’m unfamiliar with. At first, I was skeptical about investing, since the co-creation and collaboration market is rather saturated here in Toronto, Canada, but your explanation of the need, and niche The Space will fill, was very promising and convincing. I see tremendous potential to use your model for other emerging markets that successfully blends facilities and services, while also contributing to accessible education for all. You treat growth very cautiously and strategically. Your exit strategy brings me peace of mind knowing that an unsuccessful outcome is not catastrophic. As a potential investor, I could benefit on a little further elaboration on exactly how students that aren’t scholarship recipients would access The Space. For example, would they pay a membership fee? This project contributes original value beyond profitability and I’m glad to see the involvement of some notable philanthropists. Your established partnerships, experience of the team, and commitment to providing educational opportunities in your market has convinced me to invest. Shifting focus a little bit, I think your elevator pitch is spot-on and conveyed your passion for the project. The product video also added some great additional information. The pitch deck was clean, professional, and well-organized. Great work!
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- 1 Replies
- in reply to A3: The Space

REVIEW: Wow! What an awesome pitch, Jennifer. Your elevator pitch was informative and the market potential you described hooked me to want to learn more. Having a deeper look at your entire venture pitch, I learned a lot not only about your venture, but about GBL in general. Your detailed, research-backed responses to pain points and common misconceptions engaged me from the start. I also thought it was incredibly effective to present your pain paints as quotes or perspectives of the doubters. It shows you know your market of educators. Introducing yourself as an educator at the beginning of the venture pitch established your credibility almost immediately. It’s hard to ignore the opportunity for SV:EE given the wide demographic and market potential. You’re building on an already successful market and product with realistic growth targets of 30%. From a presentation perspective, the information was well organized and easy to follow, while your design and use of graphics were spot-on. Great job. Your call to invest now, given the market readiness and landscape, makes me feel as if I can’t wait on this great investment opportunity. Your break-down of exactly how you’ll allocate your investment capital is also well thought-out. As a result, I’d be happy to invest in this product.
REVIEW: Wow! What an awesome pitch, Jennifer. Your elevator pitch was informative and the market potential you described hooked me to want to learn more. Having a deeper look at your entire venture pitch, I learned a lot not only about your venture, but about GBL in general. Your detailed, research-backed responses to pain points and common misconceptions engaged me from the start. I also thought it was incredibly effective to present your pain paints as quotes or perspectives of the doubters. It shows you know your market of educators. Introducing yourself as an educator at the beginning of the venture pitch established your credibility almost immediately. It’s hard to ignore the opportunity for SV:EE given the wide demographic and market potential. You’re building on an already successful market and product with realistic growth targets of 30%. From a presentation perspective, the information was well organized and easy to follow, while your design and use of graphics were spot-on. Great job. Your call to invest now, given the market readiness and landscape, makes me feel as if I can’t wait on this great investment opportunity. Your break-down of exactly how you’ll allocate your investment capital is also well thought-out. As a result, I’d be happy to invest in this product.
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- 1 Replies
- in reply to [A3] Stardew Valley: Education Edition
