Business Idea Competition UT Dallas

1. Team ESB: Ernest Sliter & Steven Borik
Ernest.Sliter@utdallas.edu | Steven.Borik@utdallas.edu

3. Problem
Maintaining a 4-year degree plan is
difficult for students.
• Prerequisite structure & semester
specific classes
• Adding or switching majors
• Time-consuming

4. Problem
On-time graduation
rates
Average student
debt

5. Validation: Underclassmen
42% of
underclassmen
spend less than 1
hour planning
their degree plan
each semester.
44% of
underclassmen
plan 1
semester
ahead.
33% - believe that they don’t have a strong
understanding of their degree plan.

6. Validation: Upperclassmen
63% - Restricted due to lack of
prerequisites.
23% - Unable to take the desired
number of classes per semester.

8. Setup

10. Business Model
SaaS annual subscription model for public 4-year
universities and community colleges.
Direct Sales
Cycle
Pitch to college
Negotiation 4 weeks
Implementation
period
6 weeks
Subscription Types
1 Year $3,500
4 Year $12,600
8 Year $23,800

11. Strengths
Student
◦ Prerequisite structure and
semester-specific classes
◦ Easy setup
◦ Changing major
◦ Visual tool
School
◦ Data collection
◦ Reduced workload for advisors

12. Market Analysis
Primary User:
Undergraduate Student (9 million +)
• 60% - average on-time graduation
rate
• 43% of students designate cost of
attendance as “very important”.
Secondary User:
Advisor
Economic Buyer:
Public & Private 4-Year
Universities in U.S (2474)

13. Marketing
Direct Sales
Academic
Conference
Trade
Shows

14. Competition
Basic Degree Tracking
Simplifies Prereqs
Outlines Degree
Modifications
Automated Setup
Data Collection for
Future Class Planning

15. Team & Advisors
Ernie Sliter | Founder
-OpenSesame, Amazon Associates, MIS Membership Team Lead
- B.S Management Information Systems, Software Engineering Minor
Steven Borik | Co-Founder
-Enversa LLC, Intelemedia Communications, Ultimate Frisbee Club President
-B.S Management Information Systems
Advisors
Eric Fortenberry | CEO of Orgsync
• CEO of Orgsync, provides an online community management system to higher
education institutions in the United States and Canada.
Robert Wright | Senior Lecturer at the University of Texas at Dallas
• Founder of Dallas Social Venture Partners and co-author of “The Little Green Book of
Venture Philanthropy”

16. Financial Projections: 1st Year Expenses
TARGET INVESTMENT OF
$80K
TO DEVELOP DEGREELAB
Salaries
Software Engineer $40,000 + 5% equity vested
Marketing $6,000
Facilities
Rent $7,200
Utilities $1,200
Other
Data Storage $600
Hosting $1,200
Security $600
Accounting Fees $600
Business Formation $2,000
$59,400

17. Financial Projections

18. Current Status & Timeline
Task Description Weeks
1 Product roadmap 1-4
2 Begin search for investors and
developers
4-7
3 Finalize legal structure and business plan 8
4 Finalize product prototype 9-11
5 Gather product feedback 12-15
6 Incorporate product feedback 16-19
7 Begin pitching to universities 20-24
8 Evaluate progress 25-
Completed
Basic business plan Oct 13th
Customer
validation (survey)
Nov 3rd – Nov 15th
Met with Eric
Fortenberry
Nov 7th
Met with advisors Nov 12th