michael bui

Martina, I think you have done a very good job outlining the possibilities that Kenkosei would have as a product and service for teachers in the classroom. I really like the implementation of augmented reality to have students utilizing their phones and having students up and on their feet. This is a great application of the Pokemon Go concept. There are some concerns that I do have. I am not sure if the Pain Point outlined regarding augmented reality is the right pain point your product addresses. Certainly I believe there is a gap with gamifying learning and having students do some exploratory learning which I believe your product does well in but I do not see that so much as a gap within augmented reality. Logistics can be a problem in this case as well. If we were to have every teacher adopt it, I wonder what the chaotic scene around a school hallway might look like which can be distracting to other classes around the same school. Could this be incorporated so you could have students explore a specific area outside of the school like iconic historical sites around the city? I think it has great learning possibilities. Also, I liked that you provided a thorough list of competitors for your product. I do not necessarily believe that this will be something that teachers have the time to necessarily embed on a daily basis but I do think it has a great deal of potential as an additional learning tool used to supplement learning at particular moments in the school year.

Hi Dan, I enjoyed the elevator pitch as it seemed very clear what the idea is and the fact that it provides the viewer with the application of the idea. You have clearly provided the need for this product and the gap in the market that exists for a product such as this. I wonder if there may be a logistical issue with recruiting guides, reliability and functionality of guides when the time differences do not allow for real time guides. Each museum or site may be subject to limited hours of exposure to the public which inhibits this service if it is meant to be paired directly with an individual person. Or is it pre-filmed with a live individual interacting with the viewer? I am a little unclear about the revenue stream explained. Are the institutions paying for all the set up costs entailed with signing up for Telepresence? Will individual students be paying for the tour or will this be marketed as packages to school districts at a reduced cost? Somewhat like choosing a channel package from the cable company. The logistics of coordinating international locations without a base of operations in each city could problematic for the initial roll out of this product. The technology and internet also concern me. I have attempted to do skype chats internationally for students and that posed so many logistical nightmares that I was completely stopped any future attempts at coordinating them again. Also, are students viewing this through simply a screen like Skype or is this going to be attached to a wearable for a more in-depth experience such as the Google Cardboard? This certainly has great potential and opportunity for school classrooms, particularly social studies classrooms. Overall, I still think it is a pretty neat idea and would definitely want to try this service out if it existed.

I think it’s a smart idea to create a very specific and niche product market. I definitely have not heard of any MOOCs that are specific to the mining industry so your venture is able to exercise first mover advantage. I think you have done well in pinpointing the specific gap that exists in the market and have done well in explaining how your product is the solution. The only thing I wonder about is what is proprietary to E-mining that differentiates itself from others, other than offering courses? Is it simply the course selection that makes it different or will the functionality, navigation or learning experience be different in some way for the user? Also, I was a little unclear about the courses offered. It seems to indicate a Canadian mining focus but data is provided about world markets so would the consumer base be open markets outside of Canada? The other thing that concerns me is about the industry as a whole, whether the business has a sustainable model because you indicated a high degree of retirees by 2015 but will the mining industry be as significant in the next 10-15 years with the push away from non-renewable sources. That is more of a future market question. Overall, however, I think your plan was well outlined and well-articulated.

Hi Esther, I think your elevator pitch is really well done as I enjoyed the graphics but the concept was a little unclear to me. As I went through the venture pitch, I was still a little unsure by what is meant by “onboarding?” Is that simply the beginning process of getting acclimated to a new job? I would have liked to see some specific examples as to how CompanyCAVU streamlines this process or sets it apart from other programs that provide a similar process. I wonder if this should be positioned as a training tool or kind of an career achievement planner. With some more information and details, I think the target or focus on the venture would become more clear to us EVAs. I definitely feel there is a need in this area as retention and time and money spent on human resources is plentiful and any successful business is able to bring down the retention rate. So there is definitely a market for this product. This product feels like it would match better with larger and established businesses to craft and tell stories from different employee successes. I feel that in many small businesses or start-ups, your interaction with everyone allows you to see first-hand the successes and challenges people go through and so when there is a larger corporation, this tool becomes a lot more important in terms of disseminating information and crafting what success looks like across the board. I think it is a good idea Esther!

Hi Rob, I think you have put together a very informative venture and elevator pitch. You have been able to express your product idea in a conducive way. I particularly liked that you cited specific ways augmented reality can assist in different subject areas. I think it’s a fantastic idea. I also think to start a company like this would be a tremendous endeavour because you are going to be providing everything that is under the AR umbrella. The idea I am sold on, but the potential logistics of distributing, maintaining, guiding, training and it looks like researching requires a global corporation with unparalleled channels of distribution and resources with an unlimited amount of start-up costs. I am interested in seeing a little more on the revenue model and what the ask is for investors. You may need to make some alterations which I think moving away from distributing hardware and software is a very good idea. The pitch, however, is very well put together with the images, videos and sound really working together to outline your concept.

Hi Yuandi. I think the product idea you have is interesting in targeting entrepreneurs starting out businesses. So I believe it does well in answering that pain point as people who start businesses need to worry about all facets from finances to marketing where their experience level in those areas may be lacking. I find that the potential behind the business is limited to those who are just starting out their companies because most businesses that are looking to scale, they will hire the appropriate accountant or HR person or will attempt to get formal accreditation within that area themselves. The way I view the product is potentially a Wikipedia or Coursera of businesses with a testing component. I believe it does well in probably teaching people about content areas if they are simply looking to expand their knowledge but those who are looking for very specific information – labour laws pertaining to human resources or a specific accounting process may not find a use for it. The idea that there is a diagnostic test is a unique selling point to determine comfortable areas. That is Bizschool’s selling point. I would have liked to see some images to vary up the elevator pitch to make it more engaging but I think your website was pretty clear and answered a lot of questions I had. At this time, I probably would not invest because I would like to see more on how this differentiates itself but it’s a good idea.

Hi Mark, I love the name of your product. I think it’s a great idea and the a natural progression with where the market for 3D printing is at so this is a great fit. You did a really nice job of outlining key reasons to integrate this into the classroom and provided enough proof for me that this could easily become a legitimate application. I particularly liked how you highlighted the specific uses for the product within education and the ease of use is a key selling point to me. It seems that this is something that I could and would use in my classroom if this were available to me so that is worthy of my investment. The only area where I think this is room for growth would be the elevator pitch. It was a bit hard to hear at times and could benefit from some background music to make it a bit more engaging but otherwise, great idea.

Hi Baljeet. This is a very interesting concept and until this point, I had not heard about forest schools prior to this. I feel that you are marketing Redwood as a companion product to forest schools which is a very niche market. I do understand that you are strategically trying to capture first mover advantage within this area but I wonder what is unique about this product that it has to be utilized only for forest schools. My concern here is that there is a greater potential for the market by opening it to all preschools and daycares as a LMS product. It seems that your product streamlines attendance, provides feedback and communication with parents and takes care of administrative tasks which are great, but these are the same tasks that an in-door daycare would still have to do. So why not offer this product to this market as well? The outdoor presence might be a reason why this works particularly well with forest schools but should it be limited to that market only? There are several other LMS products that come to mind that provide some similar functions which include Brightwheels and Seesaw but those have not positioned themselves to be specific to forest schools. I think you have done well in branding the product and molding the correct image and representation for the market you are trying to enter. The website is clear, succinct and to the point. I would have liked a little more information as to why the target was forest schools and a little more about the pricing model. There was a revenue table provided but I was a little unclear if schools purchase this product as a one-time purchase and monthly subscription or is it simply monthly subscription. Overall, I enjoyed learning about this product and forest schools.

You have a wonderful narrating voice in the elevator pitch. It captures my attention. The payment plan distribution is a great concept. I believe offering free services to try out the service is a great way to bring in clientele. This is a great idea combining virtual reality with oral based speech recognition and I can see the potential in using this in an educational classroom or as an individual user. I do wonder, the interaction is based with simply the in-game characters. Could there be some possibility of having users interact with other users within the same world? I think that interaction and collaboration in some manner are important pieces when creating a virtual world environment for learning. In addition to just the game proving them with a score or technical reason as to why they have not answered properly, people can assist one another and point out observations. The idea itself, is very clear and well laid out. I particularly like the way the chart has gone through to evaluate different virtual language learning environments. Great job.

Hi Moumita! I enjoyed going through your venture and I think the website is very succinct and to the point. The price point scenarios in flexible payment is particularly well done. I am not sure if start-ups are the correct target market to focus in on. Most start-ups are usually hard pressed for cash and may consist of just a core group of initial developers. I think if you were to shift the target market to small businesses looking to scale their operations it might be better suited because at that time, they have staffing and a team with which this training could be directed to. As a start-up, considering the business identity and core may be changing at a drastically high rate as the business is in its infancy so a developed curriculum may no longer be relevant unless your service provides an ongoing updating process. This would definitely allow for changes to be incorporated. When you mentioned the differentiation factor, you cited being based in Vancouver. I wonder if your clientele base would all have to be based on Vancouver if you are providing consulting services? That part was not quite clear to me as I believe a LMS based business should not be region specific. That being said, I think the venture pitch does a good job at conveying the ideas, proving a pain point and offering a solution.