Float Taipei Feedback
The audio and video quality of this elevator pitch was excellent and I thought it took the right tone. I thought the clean no nonsense approach was the right one for the elevator pitch. I liked that I got to see the person making the pitch face to face. I thought the inclusion of the dog was gimmicky and unnecessary if not a bit unsanitary related to the sparse spa feel invoked in the further presentation and that was probably the point at which I decided I was less interested but perhaps if your investors were dog people it may not be so bad. I wonder if the idea of floating translates well to a Canadian investor audience? I was an elite athlete at one point in my career and I have known many college athletes and although I’ve heard of sensory deprivation tanks, I’ve never heard or anyone who has actually used one so I am having a hard time imagining the market for this type of spa. Perhaps it is one of those things where availability would encourage use and that the reason I have not heard of people using them is simply a problem of access but because there is some doubt in my mind it would be helpful if you would provide some evidence for the market need. You briefly mentioned your competitors, but I wonder if they are not already maximizing what market there might be. I think you might have to make the cultural link for your investor a bit stronger unless you can assume they are coming from the same cultural context. That being said, I thought that you did make it sound appealing to consider and I thought you seemed credible and interesting. I think I would have more interest if I were an investor in the region you’re proposing for your service.
In the expanded pitch I was concerned about the finances. In your operating expenditures you didn’t include any figures for overhead (eg. Internet and web hosting, transaction fees and payment tech equipment, electricity, water, heat, taxes, décor, maintenance, accounting services or other management once you leave the business, laundry, towels etc.) nor did you include the cost to purchase your start up learning materials or the cost of developing further ones that you mention. I was also concerned that compromising on location may result in lower profits. I was not sure how much I, as an investor, was being asked to put up, what shares I would have in the company and what profit margins I could expect from the overall profits of the company. For me, I don’t see a big enough profit margin here once you pay out the overhead and you and your partner to make my investment pay off, although the turnaround time seems quick which is nice. I wish there had been more images in the expanded pitch to give me the feeling of this type of atmosphere.
My biggest concern is that all of the research espousing benefits of the floating technique is related to the sensory deprivation involved. Altering that deprivation to introduce stress through learning materials seems to me that it would actually have a negative impact on the health benefits that floating encourages. I would need to see some evidence that this technique is both effective for producing the same health benefits as non-learning floats and that educational outcomes are improved through this type of learning before I would be willing to invest. I might be willing to invest in one unit within an existing shop as a research initiative in order to conduct testing to see if the benefits pan out.