WGU C216 Task 1: Complete Investor Presentation Guide + Example (MBA Capstone)

Updated on: Sep 25, 2026

By Dan Palmer, MBA · Academic strategy consultant for working adult learners · LinkedIn

WGU C216 Task 1 asks you to do something most working professionals have never done: stand in front of a camera and pitch venture capitalists for $2.5 million in equity funding, using results from a business simulation you only started a few weeks ago. You play the owner of a start-up that makes 3D-printed, carbon fiber bicycles. You have self-funded the company through Q3, and now you need outside capital to take the product fully to market.

The task has four moving parts: a C216 Task 1 PowerPoint built on WGU’s Presentation Template, detailed C216 Task 1 presenter notes, the C216 Task 1 tactical plan exported from the simulation, and a 20 to 30 minute Panopto recording of you delivering the pitch on camera. This guide walks through each one in the same order the task instructions list them, so you can check your work against the rubric line by line.

It is written for the students who actually take this course: adults finishing a WGU MBA around full-time jobs, families, and late-night simulation rounds. Every section tells you what the requirement is, what evaluators look for, and where students usually lose time.

JGM2 Task 1: Business Plan Presentation Assignment Prompt

Introduction

An important aspect of running a successful start-up business is acquiring funding from potential investors based on information about the business. In this task, you will use the skills you have acquired in the MBA coursework to complete the test market phase in a business simulation. The simulation is accessed through your course. Using data from the test market phase (Q1-Q4) of the simulation, you will create and deliver a multimedia presentation (e.g., PowerPoint, Keynote, OpenOffice) for potential business investors using the attached “Presentation Template” and information from the scenario. The objective of the presentation is to obtain capital to be able to take your product fully to market.

You must complete the simulation through the business’s fourth quarter (Q4) before beginning this task. After working through Q4, including completing the tactical plan through Q6, you’ll work through this task. After submitting Task 1, immediately submit Q4 in the simulation. Once your Task 1 has been passed, you’ll be able to move forward in the simulation.

Scenario

You are the owner of a start-up business that creates 3D-printed, carbon fiber bicycles. Up through the business’s third quarter (Q3), you have used your own money to fund the business. The business model shows promise, but you are now seeking an additional 2.5 million in equity funding to execute your business plan. You will create and deliver a multimedia presentation that showcases your business plan to potential investors and illustrates how the additional funding will be used and will provide a return to your investors.

Requirements

Your submission must be your original work. No more than a combined total of 30% of the submission and no more than a 10% match to any one individual source can be directly quoted or closely paraphrased from sources, even if cited correctly. The originality report that is provided when you submit your task can be used as a guide.

You must use the rubric to direct the creation of your submission because it provides detailed criteria that will be used to evaluate your work. Each requirement below may be evaluated by more than one rubric aspect. The rubric aspect titles may contain hyperlinks to relevant portions of the course.

A. Attach a completed copy of each of the following:

• a copy of the company’s completed tactical plan from the business simulation found in quarter four (Q4)
• your multimedia presentation (e.g., PowerPoint, Keynote, OpenOffice) of your business plan, using the attached “Presentation Template,” including each of the following:

– your presenter notes

– the company’s quarter three cumulative balanced scorecard

– market share or sales report

Note: The company’s completed tactical plan, cumulative balanced scorecard, and market share or sales report must be exported from within the simulation. You may copy and paste the information for the cumulative balanced scorecard and market share or sales report directly into the attached “Presentation Template,” or you may take a screenshot of the information to insert it into the template as an image file. The company’s completed tactical plan must be attached as a separate file, exactly as downloaded from within the simulation.

B. Create a Panopto video recording (suggested length of 20–30 minutes) that includes you presenting the multimedia presentation (e.g., PowerPoint, Keynote, OpenOffice) from part A. You will present your business plan using the attached “Presentation Template” to ask venture capitalists for funding based on the scenario. The slides in your multimedia presentation should include only the main points you wish to make and required financial statements, with more extensive information included in the presenter notes section of the presentation. In the presentation of your business plan, you must do the following:

Note: The audiovisual recording should feature you visibly presenting the material (i.e., not in voice-over or embedded video) and should simultaneously capture both you and your multimedia presentation.

Note: For instructions on how to access and use Panopto, use the “Panopto How-To Videos” web link provided below. To access Panopto’s website, navigate to the web link titled “Panopto Access”, and then choose to log in using the “WGU” option. If prompted, log in using your WGU student portal credentials, and then it will forward you to Panopto’s website.

To submit your recording, upload it to the Panopto drop box titled “C216: MBA Capstone – C216 (Student Creators) (Drop Box).” Once the recording has been uploaded and processed in Panopto’s system, retrieve the URL of the recording from Panopto and copy and paste it into the Links option. Upload the remaining task requirements using the Attachments option.

1. Analyze your company’s market and financial performance from the simulation during the past three quarters (Q1–Q3) as shown in the cumulative balanced scorecard and either the market share or sales performance report provided in the business simulation by doing the following:

a. Explain two decisions that have affected past market performance.

b. Explain two decisions that have affected past financial performance.

2. Complete a SWOT analysis and include the resulting chart.

1. Discuss your company’s greatest strength and biggest weakness.
2. Discuss your company’s best opportunity and greatest threat.

3. Explain each of the following company strategies for the next three quarters (Q4–Q6) based on past performance in the simulation:

• marketing strategy
• sales channel strategy
• human resource strategy
• manufacturing strategy
• financial strategy

a. Discuss two potential benefits that the strategies will yield for your company in the next three quarters of the business.

4. Select two strategies from the following list. Recommend at least two actionable steps for each strategy for the next three quarters (Q4–Q6) using the tactical plan you created:

• marketing strategy
• sales channel strategy
• human resource strategy
• manufacturing strategy
• financial strategy

C. Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.

D. Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission, including an emphasis on objectivity, candor, a business-professional dress code, and an appropriate video background.

C216 Task 1 Example – VeloForge Cycles Investor Presentation

Illustration only. VeloForge Cycles, the student, the instructor, and every figure in the example attached are fictitious. They are meant for illustration purpose only. Need a unique/custom presentation? WhatsApp us: +1 564-544-6924

C216_Task1_VeloForge_Sample_Deck (Click to Download)

C216 Task 1 at a Glance

Always confirm against the task instructions and rubric in your course. WGU revises capstone tasks between terms.

Who This C216 Task 1 Guide Is For

Most students searching for C216 WGU Task 1 help are not struggling with business concepts. They manage budgets, lead teams, and sit in strategy meetings at work. What they are short on is time, and the task punishes students who try to build it in one weekend. The pattern we see most often:

• The Monday-to-Friday professional who can give the capstone 6 to 10 hours a week, mostly in evenings, and needs a sequence that fits into short blocks.
• The confident analyst, nervous presenter who can read a balanced scorecard easily but has never recorded a 25-minute on-camera pitch.
• The accelerator trying to finish the MBA inside one term and wanting to pass the MBA Capstone C216 Task 1 on the first submission.

If that sounds like you, the most valuable thing you can do is follow the order below and resist opening PowerPoint until your analysis is done.

Where Task 1 Sits in the Simulation

Timing matters here, and it confuses a lot of students. The task instructions set this order:

1. Complete the test market phase through Q3.
2. Work through Q4 in the simulation, including the tactical plan that runs through Q6. Do not submit Q4 yet.
3. Build and submit Task 1 using your Q1 to Q3 results and your Q4 to Q6 plan.
4. Immediately after submitting Task 1, submit Q4 in the simulation.
5. Once Task 1 passes, you can move forward in the simulation.

Because your look-back analysis covers Q1 to Q3 and your forward strategy covers Q4 to Q6, your presentation naturally splits into two halves: what happened, and what you will do with the investor’s money.

Part A: What You Must Attach

Part A is a completeness check. Missing one item is enough to send the whole submission back, so treat this as a checklist before anything else.

1. The Q4 tactical plan, exported from the simulation. Download it from within the simulation and attach it as its own file, exactly as downloaded. Do not retype it into a Word document or rebuild it as a table in your slides. You can reference it in your deck, but the export itself must be a separate attachment.

2. Your multimedia presentation on the WGU Presentation Template. It must include:

• Your presenter notes (in the notes pane of each slide, not a separate document)
• The company’s Q3 cumulative balanced scorecard
• A market share report or a sales report (one or the other is enough)

The scorecard and the market share or sales report must come from the simulation. You can paste the data directly into the template or insert screenshots as images. Screenshots are usually faster and avoid formatting errors, but crop them so the numbers are readable on a slide.

Quick tip: export every report you might need as soon as Q3 closes. Pulling them later, after you have moved through Q4, can be confusing because several screens update.

C216 Task 1 PowerPoint: A Slide Map That Follows the Rubric

The instructions are specific about slide content: slides carry only your main points and the required financial statements, and the detail goes in the presenter notes. Think of each slide as what an investor sees across the table, and the notes as what you say.

WGU’s Presentation Template sets the order. Where the template’s slide titles differ from the map below, keep the template’s order and use this map to check that every rubric item has a home.

This lands around 17 slides, which fits comfortably in a 20 to 30 minute C216 Task 1 presentation at roughly 90 seconds per slide.

B1: Analyzing Q1 to Q3 Performance

B1 asks for two decisions that affected past market performance and two that affected past financial performance, based on the cumulative balanced scorecard and either the market share or sales report. Four decisions total. Not five, not a narrative of every quarter.

Start With Your Target Market

Your market performance story is really a target market story. The simulation divides bicycle buyers into customer segments, and the market share report shows how your brand performed in each one. Before you choose your two market decisions, answer three questions from your own reports:

1. Which segment did you set out to win? Name it the way the simulation names it.
2. Did your share in that segment rise, fall, or stall between Q1 and Q3? Pull the actual figures.
3. Which of your decisions most plausibly moved that number? Look at pricing, product design and features, advertising message and media, and where you opened sales offices.

The strongest B1a answers connect a decision to a change in the segment you targeted. A weaker answer describes total market share without saying who was buying.

Use This Chain for Every Decision

Decision → Evidence → Result → Business impact → What it means for Q4 to Q6

If you cannot fill every link for a decision, choose a different decision. The chain keeps your analysis honest and gives your B3 strategies a clear starting point.

Worked Example (Fictitious Company)

This example uses a made-up company, VeloForge, with invented numbers. It shows the level of reasoning evaluators reward. Your analysis must come from your own simulation reports.

Market decision: In Q2, VeloForge shifted its advertising message from price to performance and weight, aimed at its chosen performance-focused segment. Evidence: The Q3 market share report shows its share of that segment rising from 9% to 14%, while share in the price-focused segment it had stopped courting slipped. Impact: The brand is winning the buyers it chose, and that segment tolerates premium pricing. Implication: Keep the performance message and add media reach in Q4 rather than splitting spend across segments.

Financial decision: In Q3, VeloForge opened a second sales office before demand in that region was proven. Evidence: The Q3 cumulative balanced scorecard shows higher sales expense and a weaker cumulative net income figure, with only a small revenue lift from the new office. Impact: Fixed costs grew faster than revenue. Implication: Hold further office openings until the new office reaches a revenue target, and state that discipline in the financial strategy.

The same pattern works for pricing, production volume, and R&D spending decisions. Pick the four that tell the clearest story about your company.

B2: SWOT Analysis and Chart

B2 has three parts: include the SWOT chart, discuss your greatest strength and biggest weakness, and discuss your best opportunity and greatest threat. The superlatives matter. Evaluators want to see you rank, not list.

A simple way to handle it: put three or four items in each quadrant of the chart, then highlight one per quadrant and spend your presenter notes on why that one outranks the others.

Keep Internal and External Straight

• Strengths and weaknesses are internal: your pricing, product design, brand position, cost structure, cash, staffing, or production capacity.
• Opportunities and threats are external: a segment growing faster than others, a competitor’s move, a region with unmet demand, rising material costs.

Mixing these up is one of the most common SWOT errors on the WGU C216 Capstone Task 1.

SWOT Example (Fictitious Company)

Notice that every entry points to something the reader could find in a report. “Strong brand” and “tough competition” would not pass on their own.

SWOT is also a well-established strategic planning tool with a large research base, so a single current, peer-reviewed source on the method makes a good in-text citation here (see Part C below).

B3: Five Strategies for Q4 to Q6

B3 asks you to explain five strategies for the next three quarters, based on past performance in the simulation:

• Marketing strategy
• Sales channel strategy
• Human resource strategy
• Manufacturing strategy
• Financial strategy

Those five, and only those five. Older guides list R&D or operations as separate functions; the current instructions do not.

Each strategy needs a clear link back to what you learned in Q1 to Q3. A useful one-line test: “Because [evidence from B1 or B2], in Q4 to Q6 we will [strategy], which should [expected result].”

B3a: Two Benefits

Then discuss two potential benefits these strategies will produce over Q4 to Q6. Make them measurable and connect them to the investor’s interests, for example a projected rise in target-segment share and a return to positive quarterly net income by Q6. Two clear benefits beat five vague ones.

B4: Two Strategies, Actionable Steps

B4 asks you to pick two of the five strategies and recommend at least two actionable steps for each, using the tactical plan you created in the simulation. That last phrase is the one students miss.

An actionable step names what changes, when, and how you will know it worked. Pull the specifics straight from your Q4 tactical plan so the slide and the attachment tell the same story.

Fictitious example (VeloForge, marketing strategy):

1. In Q4, increase advertising in the media most used by the performance segment, as budgeted in the tactical plan, and track share in that segment each quarter.
2. In Q5, add one performance feature to the flagship model and hold price steady, measuring brand judgment in the Q5 report.

Fictitious example (VeloForge, financial strategy):

1. Allocate the equity raise according to the tactical plan’s spending categories, reserving a working-capital buffer so the company never needs emergency loans.
2. Hold new sales office openings until existing offices hit the revenue targets set in the tactical plan.

Most students find it easiest to choose the two strategies where their tactical plan has the most concrete numbers.

C216 Task 1 Presenter Notes: Where the Grade Lives

The C216 Task 1 presenter notes carry your actual analysis. The instructions say the “more extensive information” belongs in the notes section, so an evaluator reading only your slides should see headlines, and an evaluator reading your notes should see full reasoning.

For each content slide, the notes should cover:

• What the slide shows, in one sentence
• The decision or strategy behind it
• The simulation evidence (which report, which quarter, which figure)
• Why it matters to the business and to an investor
• A one-sentence transition to the next slide

Weak note: “This slide shows our market share. It went up, which is good.”

Strong note (fictitious): “This is our Q3 market share report. Our share of the performance segment rose from 9 to 14 percent after we moved our ad message to performance and weight in Q2. We held price flat that quarter, so the message change is the most likely driver. That tells us this segment rewards the features we already build, which is why our marketing strategy for Q4 to Q6 doubles down on it instead of chasing price buyers.”

Write notes you can speak naturally. They double as your recording script, and a note written for the ear is easier to deliver without sounding like you are reading.

C216 Task 1 Tactical Plan

The C216 Task 1 tactical plan is not something you design from scratch in Word. It is the plan you build inside the simulation during Q4, covering your intended decisions through Q6, and it has two jobs in this task:

1. Part A: attach it as a separate file, exactly as downloaded.
2. Part B4: it is the source of your actionable steps.

Before you export it, check that it matches what you plan to say. If your presentation promises heavier Q5 advertising but the tactical plan shows flat ad spend, an evaluator will notice. Spend 20 minutes reconciling the two, then export.

Keep the plan realistic. Investors, and evaluators playing investors, are more convinced by moderate, well-reasoned numbers than by a plan that doubles revenue every quarter.

Recording Your C216 Task 1 Presentation in Panopto

The recording requirement is where confident analysts often lose time. The instructions require:

• You visibly presenting. No voice-over, no embedded video. The recording must capture you and your slides at the same time.
• A suggested length of 20 to 30 minutes.
• Upload to the Panopto drop box titled “C216: MBA Capstone – C216 (Student Creators) (Drop Box).” Log in to Panopto through the WGU option using your student portal credentials.
• Submit the link, not the file. After Panopto processes the video, copy its URL and paste it into the Links option. Attach everything else using Attachments.

Part D: Professional Communication

Part D grades how you present, not just what you present:

• Objectivity and candor. Say plainly where results were weak. An investor trusts a founder who explains a bad quarter more than one who hides it. Your SWOT weakness slide is the natural place to show this.
• Business-professional dress. Dress as you would for a real investor meeting.
• Appropriate background. A plain wall or tidy office. Avoid busy rooms, bright windows behind you, and virtual backgrounds that flicker around your head.

Practical Tips for Busy Professionals

• Do a two-minute test recording first to check audio, lighting, and that both camera and slides appear.
• Record in one sitting if you can, but Panopto lets you pause if a slide needs a retake.
• Speak from your notes, not from the slide text. Aim for about 90 seconds per slide.
• Book a quiet 45-minute window. Early morning before work often beats evenings for background noise.

Part C: Citations and Originality

Cite any outside source you quote, paraphrase, or summarize, in-text on the slide or in the notes, with a references slide at the end. Frameworks such as SWOT or the balanced scorecard are good candidates for a current, peer-reviewed citation. If you want to frame why the simulation matters, reviews of business simulation games describe them as a way to practice real management decisions and learn from the results (Pejić Bach et al., 2023).

The task also sets originality limits: no more than 30% of the submission, and no more than 10% from any single source, can be quoted or closely paraphrased, even when cited. Write your analysis in your own words from your own simulation data and you will stay well inside those limits.

Common Reasons C216 Task 1 Gets Sent Back

1. Tactical plan retyped instead of exported. It must be attached exactly as downloaded.
2. Missing the Q3 cumulative balanced scorecard or the market share or sales report in the deck.
3. Wrong number of decisions. B1 wants exactly two market and two financial decisions, each explained, not a quarter-by-quarter recap.
4. Describing instead of explaining. “Revenue went up” is a description. Explaining names the decision and the evidence.
5. Ignoring the target market. Market performance discussed only as total share, with no segment named.
6. SWOT without ranking. B2 asks for the greatest, biggest, and best. Pick one per quadrant and say why.
7. Strategy for the wrong functions. B3 covers marketing, sales channel, HR, manufacturing, and financial. Nothing else is required.
8. B4 steps that do not match the tactical plan.
9. Voice-over recording or slides only. You must be visible on camera.
10. Uploading the video file instead of pasting the Panopto link.
11. Casual dress or a distracting background (Part D).

A Realistic Schedule for Working Adults

This sequence assumes about 8 hours a week, in short evening blocks plus one longer weekend session. Adjust to your own pace.

Submission Checklist

• Current task instructions and rubric reviewed
• Q4 tactical plan attached as a separate file, exactly as downloaded
• Presentation built on the WGU Presentation Template
• Presenter notes on every content slide
• Q3 cumulative balanced scorecard included
• Market share or sales report included
• B1: two market decisions and two financial decisions explained, with target segment named
• B2: SWOT chart, greatest strength, biggest weakness, best opportunity, greatest threat
• B3: all five strategies for Q4 to Q6, plus two benefits
• B4: two strategies, two or more actionable steps each, consistent with the tactical plan
• C: in-text citations and a references slide
• D: professional dress, plain background, objective and candid delivery
• Panopto video (20 to 30 minutes) uploaded to the C216 drop box, URL pasted in Links
• Q4 submitted in the simulation right after submitting Task 1

Get Support for Your C216 Task 1

If you are short on time or want confidence before you record, Gradevia offers assignment support for the WGU C216 Capstone Task 1. We can review your draft deck and presenter notes against the rubric, check that your B4 steps line up with your tactical plan, and give feedback on a practice recording. The work, the analysis, and the voice on the video stay yours.

WhatsApp +1 564-544-6924 to get started.

Worked Example: VeloForge Cycles Investor Presentation

Illustration only. VeloForge Cycles, the student, the instructor, and every figure in the example attached are fictitious. Need a unique/custom presentation? WhatsApp us: +1 564-544-6924

C216_Task1_VeloForge_Sample_Deck (Click to Download)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is WGU C216 Task 1?

WGU C216 Task 1 is the first performance assessment in the MBA Capstone. You act as the owner of a 3D-printed carbon fiber bicycle start-up and pitch venture capitalists for $2.5 million in equity, using your Q1 to Q3 simulation results and your Q4 to Q6 tactical plan. You submit a PowerPoint with presenter notes, the exported tactical plan, and a 20 to 30 minute Panopto recording.

What should the C216 Task 1 PowerPoint include?

It must use WGU’s Presentation Template and include presenter notes, the Q3 cumulative balanced scorecard, and a market share or sales report. It should also cover two market and two financial decisions from Q1 to Q3, a SWOT chart, five strategies for Q4 to Q6 with two benefits, and actionable steps for two of those strategies.

How long should the C216 Task 1 presentation be?

The suggested recording length is 20 to 30 minutes. At about 90 seconds per slide, that usually means 15 to 18 slides including the title and references.

Do I submit the C216 Task 1 tactical plan as a separate file?

Yes. The Q4 tactical plan must be exported from the simulation and attached as a separate file, exactly as downloaded. Do not retype it.

Do I have to appear on camera?

Yes. The recording must show you visibly presenting while capturing your slides at the same time. Voice-over and embedded video do not meet the requirement.

When do I submit Q4 in the simulation?

Complete Q4 and the tactical plan first, but do not submit Q4 until right after you submit Task 1. Once Task 1 passes, you can move forward in the simulation.

Which strategies does C216 Task 1 require?

Marketing, sales channel, human resource, manufacturing, and financial strategies for Q4 to Q6. For B4, you choose two of these and give at least two actionable steps each.

Related C216 and WGU MBA Guides

• WGU C216 MBA Capstone: Complete Guide to the Simulation and Tasks, the pillar guide for the whole course
• WGU C216 Task 2: Stockholder Report Guide + Complete Sample, the next step after Task 1 passes
• WGU C219 Task 1 Investor Presentation Guide, for Healthcare Management MBA students
• WGU MBA Course Guides and Examples Hub, every WGU MBA course in one place
• Browse all C216 MBA Capstone guides

References

Ferreira, C. P., González-González, C. S., & Adamatti, D. F. (2021). Business simulation games analysis supported by human-computer interfaces: A systematic review. Sensors, 21(14), 4810. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21144810

Pejić Bach, M., Ćurlin, T., Stjepić, A. M., & Meško, M. (2023). Quo vadis business simulation games in the 21st century? Information, 14(3), 178. https://doi.org/10.3390/info14030178

Vélez, A., Alonso, R. K., & Rico-González, M. (2023). Business simulation games for the development of intrinsic motivation-boosting sustainability: Systematic review. Sustainability, 15(21), 15483. https://doi.org/10.3390/su152115483

Gradevia is an independent study resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Western Governors University. VeloForge is a fictitious company used for illustration only.