Quora Answer: How Can I Convince Venture Capital to Invest in an Original Accelerated Language Teaching Method?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How can I convince a venture capitalist to invest in an original accelerated language teaching method?” 

Venture capital invests in startups that can scale easily, and capture market share.  They are generally looking for a quick exit, or opportunities to cash cow through multiple rounds of funding.  Your pitch needs to address these conditions.  Can you demonstrate that there is such a market to be exploited, which does not have heavy competition?  Can you demonstrate that your product is scalable?  Can you demonstrate that there is potential for revenue growth over an extended period of time, thus justifying further rounds of funding? 

You are pitching an original accelerated language teaching method.  Which language or languages are you offering for a start?  What is the market, and why would they use your product as opposed to established alternatives?  What is the growth potential of that market?  When we consider these, the numbers are not enough to attract most venture capital.  You need to think outside the box.  Who would need to learn languages quickly?  Your market is not tourists, or casual students.  Your market is people who need to be in a country quickly, and knowing the rudiments of the language is very useful.  This would be negotiators of any kind, foreign service staff, and the intelligence services.  You are better off repackaging it, and offering it to the government, either by yourself, or in partnership with an established plater through some sort of licensing agreement.  Once you have established yourself firmly in this niche market, and that would take around three to five years, you can consider some form of expansion.