Reflection

I found my experience creating Chalkster to be quite illuminating. I benefitted from the practical process of brainstorming, creating and pitching the product. For me the role-playing element as the CEO of my own start-up made me consider things through a different lens: How am I going to lead a company? What are MY strengths in this capacity?

So I played to my strengths. I knew I wanted to be the face of my elevator pitch, so I created a persona – Put on a turtle neck, my long-neglected glasses and a matte lip. I am happy with the elevator pitch that I produced as a result – I think it was convincing and clearly described the need that this product would address. If I were to pursue this venture, I would remake the video, focussing a little more on being concise.

I was dedicated at the beginning of this project to come up with a fake prototype of the design of this tool – in hindsight, I could have focussed my time on other areas of the project. While I am happy with the result and the feedback from my peers confirmed that it was essential in conveying the use cases of the product to my audience, it was extremely time-consuming. I tried out different tools only to find out that not one tool would be able to give me a fully functioning prototype – for instance, I couldn’t get any website to make it appear as if I was incorporating a webcam feed. So, in the end, I did get tangled up in trying to visually present my product by using a multitude of tools: Canva, Genially, PowerPoint, and iMovie. If I could have simplified this, I would have given myself a lot more time to focus on other areas.

If I had some of the time back that I dedicated to creating a prototype of Chalkster, I would have improved my pitch by including more convincing market evidence to bring to potential investors. I could have added more details or numbers to my investment pitch. Based on the feedback of some of my peers, I think pitching a short training program that would accompany Chalkster could be a great addition to the product. Then, as Justine inquired, I could make clearer the relationship of Chalkster to other tools because that could go a long way to convince investors to consider the unique use of my product.

All in all, though, I am happy with the final product and am overall more inspired to consider leaping into the EdTech business with confidence in my capabilities and reflections to push myself forward.