Shark Tank Project

Table of Contents

I. DESCRIPTION............................................................................................................................................2
II. PROCESS.....................................................................................................................................................2
1. Phase 1: Project Introduction + Topic Brainstorming (Mandatory).............................................................3

2. Phase 2: Project Planning (Mandatory).......................................................................................................3

3. Phase 3: Presentation (Mandatory).............................................................................................................3

4. Phase 4: Reflection (Optional).....................................................................................................................4

III. PRODUCT REQUIREMENTS..................................................................................................................4

5. Format.........................................................................................................................................................4

6. Content........................................................................................................................................................4

7. Language.....................................................................................................................................................4

IV. ASSESSMENT.............................................................................................................................................5
1. Rubric for Level B1.......................................................................................................................................5

2. Rubric for Level B2.......................................................................................................................................7

V. ONLINE BACKUP PLAN..........................................................................................................................9

VI. APPENDIX (PRINTABLE)......................................................................................................................10
1. Brainstorming Guidelines..........................................................................................................................10

2. Business Plan.............................................................................................................................................11

3. Pre-Presentation Checklist........................................................................................................................12

4. Audience Notes.........................................................................................................................................13

5. Self-Reflection...........................................................................................................................................14

6. Shark Tank Checklist - Phase 1...................................................................................................................16

8. Shark Tank Checklist - Phase 2...................................................................................................................17

9. Penalty and Bonus Guidelines...................................................................................................................18

VII. BUSINESS PLAN SAMPLES & ASSESSMENT...................................................................................19

1. SAMPLE 1...................................................................................................................................................19

2. SAMPLE 2...................................................................................................................................................22

3. SAMPLE 3...................................................................................................................................................25

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 I. Description
Shark Tank Project is a project inspired by the Shark Tank Show, where entrepreneurs give business
presentations to a panel of investors, who will later decide whether they will invest in the company.
Similar to what happens on the show, this project requires students to act as entrepreneurs, in groups of
3 to 5, to pitch their business plan to the lecturer and other groups, who will act as investors. After the
business pitch, there will be a Q&A session where “investors” will have some questions for each group
to answer.

The objectives of the project are stated as follows:

 Students are able to identify a business idea that fulfills a want or need that is not being met by
existing businesses in the target language.

 Students are able to describe their target customers and key competitors in the target language.

 Students are able to introduce their company's mission, product, and goals in the target language.

 Students are able to explain why people should invest in their company in the target language.

1. Format
The product must be presented in the following format:

 Presentation (PowerPoint, Prezi, any other creative formats to present are accepted)

 Length of the full presentation: maximum 8-10 minutes

 Length of each member’s talk time: at least 2 minutes/individual

 Length of Q&A session: 2-3 minutes

2. Content
The content of the product must include 4 main components:

 Problem & Solution Statement: identifying a business idea that fulfills a want or need that is not
being met by existing businesses - See

 Market Segment & Competitor Research: describing target customers and key competitors

+ Market segment: a group of customers that share similar characteristics, such as age, income,
interests and social class

 Company & Product Description: introducing the company's mission, product, and goals

 Investment Pitch: explaining why people should invest in the company

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 3. Language
The language used in the product must be:

 Appropriate language (cannot be too informal/inappropriate)

 Vocabulary: appropriate level, preferably a mixture of vocabulary words learned in the textbook.
 Grammar: appropriate level, preferably a mixture of grammatical structures learned in the textbook.

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 Brainstorming Guidelines
Group members: __________________________________

Instructions:
1. Open your textbook and look at the topics for each unit at the beginning of the textbook.
2. Fill in your favorite topics in the boxes below.
3. For each topic, think of a few Business ideas for your performance.
4. Circle the best idea for each box.
5. Choose 1 idea among your circled ideas and state your reasons.

Topic:
Business ideas:

Topic: Topic:
Business ideas: Business ideas:

Brainstorming
Topic: Topic:
Business ideas: Business ideas:

Chosen Topic: ___________________________________________________________________________

Reason: ________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________

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 4. Business Plan

Business Plan
Group members: __________________________________
Work with your group and answer each question below to plan your business presentation.

Problem & Solution Summary

Describe very briefly why your business needs to exist. What problem do you solve for your customers? How
do you solve the problem presented above?

______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Market & Competition

Describe your target customers, market segments, and identify your key competition. Who will your
customers also consider?

______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Company & Product Description

Describe your company’s mission, product(s), and goals. What does your company aim to achieve? What
product does your company have? How can your company achieve the presented goals with that product?

______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Why us?
Write a brief overview of you and your team. Why are you the right people to build this business?
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

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 5. Pre-Presentation Checklist

Pre-Presentation Checklist
1. Format
 Do you have prepared slides (PowerPoint, Prezi, any other creative formats) to present?
 Can the presentation be presented in less than 10 minutes?
 Does each member have at least more than 2 minutes to talk?

2. Content
 Does your presentation have all four of the following components?
o Problem & Solution Statement
o Market Insights & Competitor Research
o Company & Product Description
o Investment Pitch

3. Language
 Is the language in the presentation appropriate language?
 Is the vocabulary in the presentation appropriate for your class level? Do you use any vocabulary
words learned in the textbook?
 Is the grammar in the presentation appropriate for your class level? Do you use any vocabulary
words learned in the textbook?

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Student’s name: ____________________________
Self-reflection

💡 Description: Describe your project experience in detail, including what happened and your
expectations of what would happen next.
**Helpful questions:
What happened? When and where did it happen?
What did you (and the other people) do?
What did you want to happen?

💡 Feelings and thoughts: Describe your feelings and/or thoughts during the project. Then, state how
they might have impacted the experience.
**Helpful questions:
What were you feeling before, during, and after the project?
What do you think other people were feeling about the project? What about now?
What were you thinking during the project? What about now?

💡 Evaluation: Describe something that worked and did not work in the project.
**Helpful questions:
What was good and bad about the project?
What went well? What didn’t go so well?
What did you and other people contribute to the project (positively or negatively)?

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 💡 Analysis: Explain why the project happened in the way you have just described. There is no right
or wrong analysis - just your own analysis.
**Helpful questions:
Why did things go well?
Why didn’t they go well?
Now that you are looking back at the experience. Why do you think things happened the way they
did?

💡 Conclusion: Summarize what you have learned from the project, how you have learned about
it/them, and what you would do differently in the future.
**Helpful questions:
What did I learn from this project?
How did I learn about it/them?
What else could I have done?

💡Action plan: Describe a plan for how you would work on a similar project in the future or general
changes you might find appropriate.
**Helpful questions:
What would I do differently in a similar project in the future?
What skills do I need to develop for me to handle a project like this better?
How will I develop those skills?

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 II. Business Plan Samples & Assessment
1. SAMPLE 1

Business Plan – “WALL-E VIETNAMESE”

Problem Summary
Describe very briefly why your business needs to exist. What problem do you solve for your customers?

Firstly, many people or many households do not classify the types of waste, they just put them all
together in a trash bin or a garbage bag.

The garbage collectors cannot handle the classification of waste, they can just collect all types of waste
and gather them in one place.

Secondly, on public holidays, many tourist attractions, especially beaches, welcome visitors, and at the
end of the day what people leave behind is an ocean of trash.

Finally, in rural areas, there aren’t many places to treat waste.

Solution Summary
Briefly summarize what your company does. How do you solve the problem presented above?

We decided to create a machine called - WALL-E VIETNAMESE which can help:

It can deal with the backlog of unclassified trash and help with the current garbage disposal
process.

With a small and compact size, it is easy to move into small and narrow spaces to collect
garbage.

It helps reduce time and labor in sorting garbage, reduce the amount of garbage to be buried,
and reduce environmental pollution.

People can gain economic benefits from waste since some types of waste can be recycled and
Comments:reused.
Meets expectation
 Clear and engaging description of a want or unmet need in the market.
 Solution is clearly and persuasively described and linked to solving the problem or unmet need.

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Market & Competition
Describe your target customers, market segments, and identify your key competition. Who will your customers
also consider?

I/ Market Insights:
Where?
1/ Residential areas and tourist attractions
In densely populated areas, there is a large amount of waste that is piled in heaps and unclassified
landfills.
The machine is compact, it can work in crowded places like amusement parks or public places without
giving off an unpleasant smell.
Who?
1/ Local waste disposal companies:
The local waste disposal companies are responsible for the machine operation in their areas. They rent
the machine for use; the price depends on many factors.
2/ Owners and managers of residential areas and tourist areas:
There is a large amount of waste in residential and tourist areas, the owners of these places are also
customers because people’s activities there create significant impacts on nature.

II/ Market Competitors:

In high-rise buildings where E-Wall Vietnamese cannot go up to the higher levels, there have been waste
collection pipes. However, instead of being a competitor, the system in those buildings could greatly
assist our garbage collection process by delivering trash down to the ground floor so that E-Wall
Vietnamese can collect the garbage and classify it more quickly and conveniently.

Comments: Meets Expectations

 Clear description of the company's target customers and key competitors.
 The information is relevant to the project.

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 PRODUCT’S DESCRIPTION
Inside the machine, there are 3 different storage compartments for three types of garbage including
recyclable, organic and inorganic.
The machine has to classify the garbage corresponding to the 3 types using AI technology.
Garbage is treated by crushing, squeezing and pushing into the storage compartments.
It makes less noise when operating.
Closed garbage compartments prevent stink from bombing.

Comments: Meets Expectations

 Description of the company's product is clearly stated.

Why us?
Write a brief overview of you and your team. Why are you the right people to build this business?

A $ 500 MILLION INVESTMENT for 25% of the NET PROFIT

Investment Pitch
Builds a good reputation with your public/tourists/citizens.
Reduces the labor cost and helps save the operating time.
Gives mankind a hand to protect our living environment
Has a potential ability

Comments: Meets Expectations

 Clear and compelling description of 3 reasons why investors should pay attention and invest in their
company.

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 2. SAMPLE 2

Business Plan – “LET’S EAT APP”

Problem Summary
Describe very briefly why your business needs to exist. What problem do you solve for your customers?

Health is the most important factor in everyone's life, but not everyone knows how to establish an eating
habit that helps stay healthy. Therefore, Let's Eat app is born to help them.

Solution Summary
Briefly summarize what your company does. How do you solve the problem presented above?

Let’s Eat app is created for everyone.

Let's Eat app helps people with things:
Making meal plans;
Counting calories in diets
Suggesting types of exercise
Serving as a reminder about the meal time or exercise time.

Comments: Meets expectation

 Clear and engaging description of a want or unmet need in the market.
 Solution is clearly and persuasively described and linked to solving the problem or unmet need.

Market & Competition

Describe your target customers, market segments, and identify your key competition. Who will your customers
also consider?

I/ Market Insights:
1/ Target customers
Pregnant women
Weaned babies
Old people
Vegetarians
People who want to have a healthy body
People who want to have a slender body
People who need a special diet
2/ Market segments:
There are 4 main elements:
Geographic: everybody in the world
Demographic: gender or age or race – no matter
Psychographic: people with busy lifestyles and not knowledgeable about healthy diets
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 II/ Market Competitors:
We used the SWOT Analysis Matrix to analyze our competitors.

Comments: Exceeds expectations

 Clear and engaging description of the company's target customers and key competitors using credible
PRODUCT’S
data andDESCRIPTION
resources.

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 COMPANY & PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Comments: Exceeds/Meets expectations

 Detailed descriptions of the company's mission, product, and goals are clearly stated and logically
connected.

Why us?
Write a brief overview of you and your team. Why are you the right people to build this business?

A $ 5000 INVESTMENT for 20% of the NET PROFIT

Investment Pitch
A young company in the technology sector.
Serve different types of customers
A very flexible, new app
A founder team with flexibility and conscientiousness

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Comments: Meets the expectations
 Clear and compelling description of 3 reasons why investors should pay attention and invest in their
company.
3. SAMPLE 3

Business Plan – “MESIK – A MUSIC APP”

Problem Summary
Describe very briefly why your business needs to exist. What problem do you solve for your customers?

Our idea comes from the app called Shazam that helps people identify the song that is currently being
played. However, Shazam has some of the cons as follows:
Interface - a little unfriendly
Floating lyrics window can’t turn off
Lots of pop-up ads; pay a lot for premium pack to be able to turn off pop-up ads

Solution Summary
Briefly summarize what your company does. How do you solve the problem presented above?

Mesik app will be developed to another level

Simple interface
Can hum or sing to search
Compatible with Siri and Google
Discover song charts to see which tracks are popular in your area
Tap on music app icons like Spotify and Google Play Music for listening to entire songs

Comments: Meets expectation

 Clear and engaging description of a want or unmet need in the market.
 Solution is clearly and persuasively described and linked to solving the problem or unmet need.

Market & Product & Financial Plan

Describe your target customers, market segments, and identify your key competition. Who will your customers
also consider?
I/ Market Insights:
1/ Target customers
Individuals above 13 years old
Reasons:
Have access to modern technology
Curious about things around them and learn about them, especially music.

2/ Competitors:
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Other music apps, like Shazam
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 3/ Marketing plan
Invite artists to recommend our app to users and we will support them to promote their newest
singles/albums.
Run commercials on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.

4/ Purchases
Premium: $4.99/month
Student: $2.99/month
Get a 30-day free trial with all benefits.

5/ Financial Plan

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 5/ Financial Plan

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 5/ Financial Plan

Comments: Exceeds Expectations

 Clear and engaging description of the company's target customers and key competitors
 The information is clearly relevant to the project and provides a detailed and unique analysis on the
market.
 Detailed descriptions of the company's mission, product, and goals are clearly stated and logically
connected.
 Detailed financial plans for the capital to be recouped.

Why us?
Write a brief overview of you and your team. Why are you the right people to build this business?

A $ 50.000 MILLION INVESTMENT for 35% of the NET PROFIT

Investment Pitch

Made orally

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 Compiled by Phan Hong Nhu (M.A)

Edited by Chau Thanh Nha (M.A) (Ver. 2)

For Van Lang University, Language Institute

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