scott pike

Hi All, I just wanted to say a quick thank you for all of your encouraging and thoughtful comments. I have enjoyed very much learning with all of you, and hope to do so again in the near future. I would have posted earlier, but I just got back from a school trip to the Grand Canyon. It has been a busy Spring Break to say the least. Thank you again, and all the best for the rest of your courses! Scott

REVIEW: Hi Jon. Great work on the site. I have been meaning to check out Spark for a while, and it does seem to have a distinct design edge over other site builders. EduStream 360 is a fantastic idea. Your rationale is well grounded in research, and this shows in the venture pitch. It would be worth it to include hard numbers (if any are out there), that could back up the claim that VR and live streaming technology is on the rise in education. You could include Google Expedition as part of this, though VR is not the same as live-streaming. In addition, it would be effective to include a description of the team (besides yourself, though you are certainly more than qualified) that is already working on this venture. It is always difficult to break the inertia of venture in the beginning. Giving potential investors/ supporters the benefit of knowing they are contributing to an already popular and inspiring venture will probably increase your support more quickly than if you gave the impression that EduStream360 was still in its infant stage of conception. From your site, I get the sense that you are pitching more than just a service; I sense that you are pitching for the more widespread support of VR experiences within the classroom. As a potential supporter, or investor, I would first be asking what the likelihood that the hardware required for your services is already in place in schools. That might be a more immediate concern before you get to how you are going to make your vision grow. Just like in Brian's pitch, I questioned whether equity in access to requisite hardware was a kink to iron-out or at least consider more specifically as part of the venture. You could offer class sets of the hardware, in addition to subscriptions for your live stream service, but that might require a rethinking of your business model and non-profit nature. Regardless, if I was to invest in this, I would want to know how we could make it as easy as possible to get consumers the tech they need, so they could start using our product. My second concern as an investor/ advocate would be how we could eventually move away from grants as a model for revenue. If we want this company to thrive and be self-sufficient, there should be other ways besides asking for money. Robert's suggestion below of sponsorship plans seems like a perfectly suitable way to make sure that revenue continues to come in. Overall, EduStream 360 is a great concept, and your work of presenting your vision was effective and engaging. Well done!

REVIEW: A great elevator and venture pitch, Brian. Engaging and informative, and your revisioning of the ask and was an interesting twist. Your rationale and structure for enticing users to adopt the platform is solid and specific, and in linking your venture to Steam, you are able to provide ample credible support to your cause. Some specific cited research into video games in education might have been useful, as would any kind of research that looked at the phenomenon you presented: why educational games flounder while non-educational games don't. As an investor, I would be interested in a couple of things: what are these agreements with the developers? If the success of your company is dependent on your partnerships with other companies, I would like to know a little bit more about them. As well, if the success of your company is dependant on the perceived value of the content generated by users, what sort of strategies would you use to ensure that the content is good? My final question would be that of hardware. In order for gameified learning to thrive in classrooms, that technology needs to be ubiquitous and accessible to every student. Would Steam EDU take steps to ensure that happens? You could restructure your product and pricing, and pitch to school districts to offer memberships to the site that would include a class set of computers? That way the seed has been planted for whatever type of growth you envision down the road. Could something like this be incorporated into your marketing plan? All in all, I really enjoyed the venture and elevator pitch, Brian. You have convinced me to invest in your venture, and to treat myself to a PS4 (with Subnautica) once I am finished with my MET. - Scott

FEEDBACK: Hi JoAnna. Great work on the presentation. You helped me to see the potential for blockchain and how it can benefit various industries, not just the accreditation. Your research was thorough, and like Robert said below, the focus towards one particular investor was unique. I also agree with Robert in that having some figures in the elevator pitch would help raise investor's eyebrows. Still, a great, promising concept, well expressed! - Scott

FEEDBACK: Great work, Shannon! Both of your pitches were very well produced and presented. You have a very strong rationale for the development of the product, and outline well the plan to implement development, including research, pricing plans, target markets, and investment schedules. My one question would be: why would paying for this service be a preferred alternative to just having students make up a pseudonym when they create a dummy email account? A reason might be in your explanation, as I am not quite hip to some of the terminology you use, but as an investor, that would be the largest single question I would be looking for an answer to.

FEEDBACK: Well done, Tanya. A very polished and professional pitch, and the concept appears to be a shoe-in for commercialization. In fact, I am more than a little surprised it hasn't happened already. A couple of things to suggest: as a potential investor, I might need a little bit of research to help me see that VR is growing as an effective training option in the fields you are presenting. As well, information on product pricing and a description of what exactly the product is would help. Are we talking just software, or hardware and software? You market the immersive simulator, which sounds big and complicated, so do clients purchase this as well, or will you be opening up training facilities to accommodate this hardware? If the latter is the case, then you need to consider purchasing commercial space, and how you are going to offer your product and services nationwide when the customer needs to come to you. -Scott

FEEDBACK: Hi Marshall, good work. My comments echo Robert and Brian's below. As an investor, I would be primarily concerned with how the company would make money, given that the cost of travel and low class sizes would limit your revenue considerably. Another thing I was wondering was whether or not seniors would even have access to the tech in the first place. If yes, then your instructors would have to tailor lessons to a large variety of hardware and software. Maybe there could be an opportunity to partner your venture with a larger company like Amazon, Best Buy, or another retailer, where the seniors order the product, and Mobile Seniors delivers the product AND offers the classes? That would make scheduling a beast, but at least you would have the strength of the backing of a big retailer in your pitch. P.S. I couldn't get any audio on your animation. I tried with other videos and the audio is ok. Is it just my issue?

FEEDBACK: Hahaha... that Support Padlet at the end is great. Good work all around, Kat! You hit all the key areas; probably the biggest wish would be in seeing more details, and as an investor, I would be interested in seeing how I Love Reading exists as its own venture exclusive of Raz Kids or Remind. What happens if they want to back out of the partnership, or create a similar product or service on their own? Also, it would be worth explaining how this partnership would affect I Love Reading's revenue. Do the other companies get a cut of that revenue? - Scott

REVIEW: I wish I had watched your venture pitch before I started working on mine, Cassy. I am not a numbers person, but your numbers, facts, and research in your venture pitch were beautiful. You have clearly defined revenue goals, and the fact that those goals are diversified into three different streams makes the pitch more appealing. There are clearly established needs and description of how Wonderville meets those needs, and the market adoption strategy is specific and well-designed. Your Competitive Differentiation slide is impressive, in that it summarizes quickly and effectively a good deal of critical information on competitors. Similarly, the Competitive Advantage slide offers excellent insight on how Wonderville is above the competition. Finally the breakdown of cash flow and funding intentions is specific and reasonable. Based on this data rich venture deck, I could be convinced to invest. A wish throughout the overall presentation would be an inclusion of testimonial endorsements. Part of your pitch relies on highlighting seemingly intangible commodities like ah-ha moments, student engagement, and teaching efficiency and optimization. Some potential investors might look for more than just the numbers when considering the product. This is not to say you should flood your pitch with glowing quotable recommendations, but offering a link to those resources would help. Lastly, the elevator pitch was certainly creative, but for me it felt a little like a bait and switch. Instead of the big inspirational build-up that took half the pitch, you could have easily incorporated more data (clearly the strength to the pitches) in making your case. - Scott

FEEDBACK... I really like this concept, Ebru. It is a simple (not so simple) combination of technologies that appears to address a legitimate pain point relevant to your industry. I felt you informed me of all of the areas (numbers, projections, suitable background, etc.) I would expect in an elevator pitch, but for the sake of brevity, a quick reference to the venture pitch may have sufficed for some areas. Your background and pain point explanation could have been shortened (or eliminated) in the elevator pitch, and expanded on in the venture pitch. You really hooked me when you began to describe TeachArch specifically. I am looking forward to reading your venture pitch. - Scott