Reflection

Weaknesses:

• Not having actually developed the software for the VR program proposed, I think I lacked insight on how long the R&D process actually takes, and how much funding it would require. Perhaps with some feedback and more research I would be able to adjust the numbers and roadmap to a more realistic plan.

• Similarly, perhaps more research could be done on the potential risks of the investment because I did not have any to offer due to my limited knowledge scope. I do think that a any investor would appreciate a detailed risk assessment even if it is minimal because then they can see that it is evidently a low-risk investment.

• I feel that I could have incorporated more of the "business" side of things in my elevator pitch, however I was exceeding the time limit and found it difficult to incorporate it. Perhaps with some feedback and revision it could be stronger.

• It was important to me that ASD was adequately highlighted in both the video and the pitch deck, but due to the word and time restraints on each I found that I had to take out a lot of information that I had originally wanted to include. I hope that even with the information cut out, my commitment to ASD education is just as clear.

Strengths:

• From an earlier assignment (A1) I learned what is important to an investor, so I made those points as my top priority when designing my pitch deck. Here are some of the ways that I tried to maximize the appeal to my venture:

• Background/ introduction: I made sure to highlight my experience as a teacher and as a person who is passionate about special education in the very beginning so that I would gain more credibility in the eyes of a potential investor.

• Problem and Solution: I focused on making the points for these sections as clear (visually and conceptually) as possible to show my potential investor that the answer is not complex or volatile, it is solid.

• Market opportunity: I provided the projected statistics for VR both in the general market and in the education market. I think that having presented both markets (which both had CAGR of over 35% for the projected timeline) was a strong point to convince investors that my venture is indeed profitable.

• Target customers: I decided to make my product for the individual rather than the masses because ASD is very a individualized condition. In addition, special education programs are also relatively small so group rates would not be a common request.

• Having no background in business whatsoever, I am overall happy of what I did for this assignment, as almost everything was new to me- creating a video from scratch, editing, voicing over, creating a pitch deck, and trying out a new platform for the pitch deck. I spent more time on making both the pitch deck and elevator pitch than I had anticipated, but I am proud to say that this was the steepest learning curve I've had in a while!