MIT Fintech Certi韌�cate Course: Future Commerce 2016-11-21
Module 1
1.7 Online activity submission: The present state of future commerce (graded activity) [± 60 minutes]
95 95 %
Good adherence to the brief. The submission was within the
word count, well referenced and discussed a single trend in a
single thematic area with future implications provided.
A good understanding of key concepts has been conveyed.
The discussion of blockchain within the Infrastructure fintech
ecosystem was accurate and insightful with an explanation of
the trends and possible opportunities/difficulties.
Writing was organised well, with a clear and logical structure
that made the submission easy to follow. No spelling or
grammatical errors. Well done.
Module 1 total
Weighted mean of grades. Include empty grades.
95 95 %
Module 2
2.5 Assessment quiz: Best practices and challenges concerning innovation (graded activity) [± 45 minutes]
75 75 %
2.10 Pitch activity) [± 180 minutes]
88 88 %
Good adherence to the brief, the written description was
within the word count, however the video went over the time
activity) [± 50 minutes]85 85 %
3.8 Group activity submission: Research and analyze a recent 韌�ntech innovation (graded activity) [± 180 minutes]
88 88 % Well done on what is overall a good assignment group 126.
The key factor that negatively a៚�ected the grade was the structure of the document. It is advisable to not switch between points of
discussion but rather narrow in on what is being discussed before moving to the next point. If you have any further questions about this, please discuss with your Mentor in the small group forums.
Do you think there are additional problems that Ourcrowd is addressing? Access to the booming Israeli startup scene? Do you think to make use of a framework to assess the unique position of the company could have bene韌�tted your analysis?
Module 3 total
Weighted mean of grades. Include empty grades.
88 88 %
Module 4
4.4 Assessment quiz: Strategizing with market leaders (graded activity) [± 30 minutes]
- -
4.7 Group activity submission: Creating a competitive framework for a 韌�ntech venture (graded activity) [± 120 minutes]
87 87 % Including the Doblin Ten types analysis visual representation could have been bene韌�cial to reader comprehension. It is not entirely clear what is meant by "top right quadrant of the Doblin model".
Great work on clarifying the inclusion of FIMI and your group's engagement with the course contents. How was your
recommendations for maintaining a competitive advantage informed by your analysis?
In addition, there would have been value in expressing the rationale for the choice of frameworks (visual and for analysis)
Module 4 total
Weighted mean of grades. Include empty grades.
77 77 %
Module 5
5.4 activity) [± 120 minutes]
85 85 % Hi
Thanks for your submission. A few comments below:
I like your comments on the cross-bordered nature of the OurCrowd o៚�ering
Can you anticipate how its performance might improve or deteriorate in a di៚�erent regulatory environment?
Are there any global statutes, particularly around KYC/AML and client data privacy that need to be complied with?
How would you characterize the US and Australian regimes? I note you have chosen not to focus on the Israeli regulatory environment - given this is the base of the OurCrowd operation/o៚�ering are there Israeli regulatory requirements which impact on their operating ability?
What balance do you believe there should be between consumer protection through regulation and ៎�exibility to allow 韌�ntech innovation?
Consider adding a little more structure to your submission in the clear demarcation of an introduction, body, and conclusion -perhaps through the use of sub-headers
Deeper/ more extensive references would add to the credibility of your content, please consider including for future submissions Tarryn activity) [± 90 minutes]
90 90 %
Good introduction and conclusion, it really helps with tying
together the submission in one coherent answer. The
submission covers all of the recommended topics
discussion points in suퟌ�cient detail. You did well in
identifying that OurCrowd is attacking the traditional VC
market focusing on Israeli opportunities. Do you think that
they break this down even further to focus their target
market even more? You elude to this later in the
submission.
I appreciated the focus on Ourcrowds approach to gaining
traction. It is very well articulated as well.
Nice touch on recommending changing to incorporate a
slightly more 'closer-in' strategy.
How Ourcrowd goes about their 'attack vector' could have
been more comprehensively addressed.
Module 5 total
Weighted mean of grades. Include empty grades.
88 88 %
Module 6
6.6 Group activity submission: Submitting your pitch deck (graded activity) [± 150 minutes]
85 85 % Hi Group 110
Thanks for your pitch deck submission. A few comments below: Appreciate the Star Trek reference, although I might have chosen Jean-Luc Picard . . .
Your analogies in the introduction slide are good, particularly for an audience unfamiliar with the clearing and settlement process Can you substantiate the claim that banks are foregoing $4billion of annual income?
How does blockchain solve the cumbersome settlement and clearing infrastructure? (OK, like how you've proposed this and then o៚�er the anti-solution solution)
I like that you would focus on one market as an initial test case (Canada) - can you give some size/scale to the Canadian market? Would you focus on a particular instrument niche where
problems are severe? i.e. derivatives rather than equity? Good graphical representation in your 韌�nancial slide, but detail speci韌�c to your venture is required - what does the revenue model look like? Who are the customers? The exchange? The clearing banks?
Nice sense of fun injected into your team slide - it does convey a sense of energy/passion within the team
Your investment "ask" needs to be speci韌�ed - someone will need to pay for your team even in the "do nothing" phase, what does this requirement look like? What will trigger the move to phase 2, what capital is required?
In general, a little short on answering the "how" - how will you conduct yourselves in phase 1, how will you start to build your solution, how will blockchain prove to be the answer to the problem, how will you attract customers/garner industry collaboration and participation
Was there some way in which you could circle back to your opening analogy in the conclusion? What call-to-action could you 韌�nish with?
Could you have incorporated elements of strategic
narrative/storytelling to hook the audience a little better - back oퟌ�ce infrastructure tends to fall into the "dull but worthy" bracket - how do you make this exciting?!
Tarryn
Example project peer assessment. (graded activity) [± 30 minutes] activity) [± 300 minutes] grades. Drop 1 lowest values. Include empty grades.
88 88 % Overridden:
Module 8 activity) [± 300 minutes]
82 82 %
Expanding slightly on the aim of the project in the executive summary could assist reader comprehension. EG. “…shorten the duration and eퟌ�ciency of the settlement cycle” at this stage of the report, it is not clear what you mean by settlement cycle.
What have you decided to be out of the scope of this project? Do you think it could be valuable to the audience to know what has been left out and why?
How, and why have you chosen these? A clearly de韌�ned methodology does seem like a hindrance and a check box exercise sometimes, but it explains to your audience the lens through which you view the analyses. You need a methodology to explain where you are coming from and why you want to do the analyses in a particular way. Your audience wants to be assured that your project is worthy of analysis, that your approach will answer your questions or address your hypothesis and that your approach will deliver the outcomes you seek. It is so that others can understand the signi韌�cance of what you have done and make sense of how it all worked.
The use case structure could bene韌�t from being clearer. An accompanying explanation could help to assist reader comprehension.
Please keep in mind that the 韌�nal project deliverable in module 10 has a page limit of 30. So, you could consider including only the relevant work and not all parts of the analysis, or a summary of what you found and the implications.
You might want to make it clear earlier on that you are focused on Canada.
In general, it seems that you understand your project and the macro environment well, however there is a lot of room for improvement to articulate clearer. You must keep in mind that, as the team driving it forward, you are really close to this project and you have a very detailed understanding of the factors involved. However, the
individual(s) you present this too might not have the same mastery of the subject matter. A statement that seems like it is perfectly clear and obvious to you (given you familiarity with the topic) might not be so clear and obvious to the audience. You have to be painstakingly clear in your reasoning to avoid the audience potentially drawing (wrong) conclusions
Additionally, would have liked to see the culmination of your macro environmental and competitive analysis, the implications, and ultimately recommendations
Would you mind revising your document structure to allow for more natural progression of information? Alternatively you could devise a means to guide the audience along the discussion.
Module 8 total
Weighted mean of grades. Drop 1 lowest values. activity) [± 300 minutes]
80 80 %
There is an inadequate demonstration of application of what you have learned in Module 9. What is the market size that would be a៚�ected by improved settlement cycles? What are the key factors that are driving this demand? What are the key factors that underpin the adoption of new 韌�nancial services? Have you considered looking into switching rates (people switching between bank services) as an indicator to understand adoption of new tech enabled banks & 韌�nancial services? What are the demographics of people that make use of CDS? How does the adoption rate a៚�ect viability of your idea? Why are Canadian banks likely able to participate?
Understanding your markets at a more granular level could yield valuable insights. Not only in determining the success in market penetration, but insights into drivers of demand as well.
Determining the size of an identi韌�ed market segment will help you understand how attractive that segment is to a business. Sizing a market segment is not an exact science and the process involves some calculated guess work and estimations. Carefully scrutinise each assumption made and double, and triple, check the logic of these fundamental principles. Furthermore, markets are dynamic and constantly evolving and as new information is uncovered, one should update key assumptions where impacted. Conducting a sensitivity analysis by, for example, making use of ‘good’, ‘neutral’ and ‘bad’ performance scenarios, is a good way of testing assumptions and producing a more rigorous estimation. Although, as with anything in life, there is a trade-o៚� between speed and accuracy. A
comprehensive market analysis can become quite time-consuming and expensive, the trick is to 韌�nd the right middle ground for your capabilities and needs at the time.
Top down analysis looks at the biggest picture 韌�rst and then assesses di៚�erent sub-components of that bigger picture. Start with calculating the total market and then, by cutting away non-serviced market segments, working down to the portion of the market that is targeted by your business value proposition. The bottom up approach arrives at the market size by looking at micro-economic variables: How many
customers willing to pay for a single use of the product/service? How many times, or how frequently, will they purchase the
product/service? The market size can then be calculated, in monetary terms, by multiplying the number of customers, the average price per purchase and the frequency of purchases. This bottom-up approach is more rigorous, but can also be more time consuming and costly. For more on determining a target market visit:
http://blog.marketresearch.com/5-steps-to-estimate-market-size
Why do you think there is a moderate to high likelihood of success? You state that your project is a game changing opportunity, would you mind elaborating on this? What are the potential upsides? What pain does this solve?
Module 9 total
Weighted mean of grades. Drop 1 lowest values. Include empty grades.
80 80 %
Module 10
10.4 Group activity submission
10.4
Well written accompanying description – succinct and straight to the point.
Engaging and insightful metaphor to explain your o៚�ering. Well done for highlighting this upfront.
You have done well to clearly outline the problem you are addressing. There is scope for explaining this in more accessible language. Good focus on bene韌�ts! Well done on an engaging video.
Unfortunately, the video length as prescribed by the assignment brief was exceeded.
10.7 Group activity submission
10.7
Well done team. You have continually learned and iterated on your project.
I am aware that you wish to take this project further, and as such I attempt to give constructive critique so that you can build on the strength of your argument.
Well done for highlighting what is out of scope.
Although there is signi韌�cant improvement, there is still a lot of room for improvement to articulate your project better and guide the reader along.
Have you considered looking into factors that a៚�ect adoption rate of new technology in this industry? This could be a better indicator of market size.
The purpose of the Market Statistics page is not self-evident. How would you choose the “1 big 6 bank” and the “1 top 10 broker”? How would you target which customer would be the most suitable? Which criteria would be best suited to apply?
Would have liked to see the reasons for concluding that you believe there is a moderate-to-high likelihood of success.
Module 10 total
Weighted mean of grades. Include empty grades.
83 83 %
Module 11
Capstone Project peer assessment (graded activity) (submission)
89 89 %
11.4 Online activity submission: Press release (graded activity) [± 120 minutes]
100 100 % Hi
Thanks for your press release submission. A few comments below: Well done on really capturing a sense of the future and for producing a forward-looking submission from the perspective of 2030
A press release should be primarily a sales tool presenting a new product/feature/IPO etc and the introduction of a new service certainly 韌�ts the bill
As a sales tool quotes from "satis韌�ed customers" as well as key employees are often helpful in supporting the message Do you believe we will get to a point where your vision of the future is a reality? By 2030? Will there be a potential backlash against so much personal data collection, monitoring, and analysis?
Tarryn
Module 11 total
Weighted mean of grades. Include empty grades.
94 94 %
Course total Weighted mean of grades. Include empty grades.
86 86 %
