Mentor Panel Feedback
Friday, January 16th, 2009Yesterday we presented at the BC Technology Mentorship Program to a panel of industry experts. It is a government sponsored program where 1 company per month is selected to present with the goal of receiving feedback on the investor pitch and the business plan. Organized by Bob De Wit, the group was comprised of:
Basil Peters (Angel Fund Manager)
Doug Blakeway (Angel)
Danny Robinson (Angel, technology expert)
Stas Bekman (Angel , expert in SEO)
Dr. Fred Popwich (SFU Natural Language Processing)
Karam Bayrakal (Fasken Martineau Technology Lawyer)
After I presented the pitch, the members commented on the presentation style, format and then made suggestions on what to include and how to present it. I had done a few dry runs with other knowledgeable people and thought I had covered the bases.
However, I received a different perspective from the panel who offered numerous suggestions of change. Some of the interesting comments were, despite the business idea, companies who get investment are the the ones who are more entertaining presenters!
On the business idea, the group felt it was clear we needed to make some adjustments. Their feedback was a good look in the mirror for us and we will take their recommendations to heart. Although as entrepreneurs we have to decide what and who we listen to, we have to at least listen in order to make things work. The chair Bob De Wit said to me before, most companies who go into these sessions avoid pitfalls because they listened to the panel, to those that didn’t they usually didn’t turn out to well.
On the positive, we have an excellent team of people and have identified a huge weakness in the market, the pain we see is real, things need to change. We just can’t give up.
As the Internet is extremely fluid, original ideas that start, don’t always end up on where you thought you might be in the beginning. We’re going back to the “garage” and find that killer application.
To anyone else who has the opportunity to get feedback from this program or anything similar, my advice is to do it. In 6 months we are able to go back and get feedback on a revised pitch and plan. If we had not gone thru this exercise, perhaps we would have launched as is, and run ourselves into the ground. Now we have great ideas, some priceless marketing tips and at least now we have a better chance of changing the world 