I have completed grading this assignment. Here are some general notes of feedback:
Oral Pitches (2.5%)
- very well done. Top grades to those who were enthusiastic, had some mockups or other props, and who focused on the business opportunity rather than the technology
- you don't need to use all of the time you are allotted, but you do need to stay within the time you are given. I went easy on those who went overtime. All you want from this is to generate excitement about your concept and get an invitation for a more in-depth meeting
- range: 1.9 - 2.3
- average: 2.0
Written Exec Summaries (2.5%)
- How would an investor who was interested in your idea reach you? Always include your company name (or team number in this case) and contact information for at least 1 person on the team
- Spell check. Grammar check.
- Understand the difference between a dream and a plan. A plan is SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based.)
- Keep it short (1-2pp). Avoid plastic covers that come apart from your papers. Always staple papers together
- Think big... BC or Canada is probably not the entire market.
- Appearance matters. A businesslike writing tone matters. It was very apparent who went to the trouble of copying the examples I passed around in class.
- top grades went to the exec summaries that included: a substantiated valuation ("We value our company at $1M based on the fact that we have 3 patents and XYZ Inc., which has 3 patents and no sales recently sold for $1M."), a call-to-action (e.g. "We are looking for $500K for 50% of the company") and some sort of an exit strategy ("We plan to sell to XYZ Inc. in 3 years for $25M providing a 25-times ROI for our investors.")
- range: 1 - 2.3
- average: 1.7
