Ben Crockett '25 began the IDEA Center's Race to Revenue program this past summer, eager to gain experience in entrepreneurship and develop a startup from the experienced team at the IDEA Center. Crockett is the chief growth officer of TD3 Innovative Gaming, an EdTech event services company that offers engaging and educational programs for children and teens. TD3 Innovative Gaming provides an inviting environment to harness problem-solving, communication and collaborate skills in unique and customized experiences. Students founded the company for students to link interactive games and curated content with an educational mission.
Founder of TD3 Innovative Gaming, Thomas Daly '22, began the company in February 2021 by selling TD3 to libraries across the northeast. Seeing the potential to scale the company, Daly worked to establish a strong executive team and support the business across various deals and milestones.
TD3 Innovative Gaming provides enriching and affordable opportunities for users primarily through partnerships within libraries and the Boys & Girls Club of America. Some sessions offered for its users include Python coding, engineering, physics, personal finance, history and ancient Egypt exploration. According to Crockett, most sessions are run through Minecraft - games kids know and love.
Compared to their competitors, TD3 Innovative Gaming has developed content. There are more educational programs, better pricing, flexibility in product format and a larger team of students. "We know how to reach children through kindergarten through eighth grade. We grew up with the games these children are playing and understand how to utilize the games better than a large organization or adults," said Crockett.
Throughout the 10-week program, Race to Revenue has helped the Racers learn more about the startup world and entrepreneurship. The Racers have gained knowledge from mentors, other entrepreneurs and accredited investors. Crockett had the opportunity to work full-time on his startup and reimagine and improve many aspects of the business while growing revenue across multiple projects, including geographic expansion and revenue sharing agreements.
On Thursday, July 28, the Race to Revenue summer internship program concluded with a Demo Day, when Racers were given the opportunity to pitch their company to judges, receive feedback and compete for cash prizes. The teams were batched into groups based on the amount of their financial ask. Watch the Demo Day pitches here.
When asked to explain the benefits of his experience this past summer, Daly stated that Race to Revenue pursued his interest in working on a startup full-time. He values the intelligent and motivated team willing to learn from experienced entrepreneurs about the success of a startup.
In the future, the company wants to continue selling to libraries in a smaller capacity as he transitions to working on renewals and product development for a company, Code In Class, with whom they just closed a revenue sharing agreement.
Long-term, Crockett wants to scale efficiently and build a sales team while reworking our business model to decrease customer acquisition costs. His vision is to rely less on hosts and give greater selectivity and experiences to a geographically diverse customer base regarding content delivery and selection.
"In the future, I want to work in new markets, support TD3 Innovative Gaming from a logistics perspective and keep a close relationship with the IDEA Center," said Crockett.