Chad Stevens of TinkrWorks on Expanding the Boundaries of Inclusive STEM/STEAM Education

Let's start with your journey. I noticed you began your career as an educator. Can you share how that experience led you to where you are today?

Sure thing. I'll do my best to articulate it. I started back in the late '90s as a teacher in the Clear Creek Independent School District, south of Houston. It's an area that serves NASA, so it was common to have families with engineers or astronauts. It was a fast-growing district with a lot of technology, which made it an exciting place to teach.

After my first year, my principal encouraged me to get my master's and suggested I could become a principal, which wasn’t something I had considered. As educators, you often see yourself staying in the classroom forever. Even now, I still consider myself an educator, though I’m in a different role. Opportunities came quickly. By my late 20s, I was an assistant principal and became a principal before I was 30.

During that time, I started my PhD, got superintendent-certified, and moved into educational administration. A pivotal moment came when my superintendent asked if I’d consider working in technology, as they saw me doing a lot of innovative things with tech as a principal. At that time, technology in schools was evolving—there were some computers in classrooms, but most schools still relied on computer labs, and robotics was just starting. There was no one-to-one computing like we see today.

I moved into instructional technology, where my role was mainly professional development and teacher training. It was a perfect fit. A few months later, the Chief Technology Officer left, and I was asked to step into that role on an interim basis. Suddenly, I found myself as the CTO of a district with 40,000 students. It was a massive shift—from managing an elementary school to overseeing a large tech operation, including 20,000 PCs and a data center. At that time, Clear Creek ISD was the second-largest employer in the area, right behind NASA.

As you can imagine, it was overwhelming at first, but it was also exhilarating because I was learning constantly. I just focused on doing the right thing, one step at a time. A couple of years later, Dell Computers approached me to help schools better use technology. This was when one-to-one computing and Wi-Fi were becoming standard in schools, but many districts weren't ready for it. The shift from computer labs to district-wide data centers and cloud applications was huge.

After some reflection, I decided to take the opportunity with Dell and moved into consulting. Suddenly, I was flying all over the U.S., learning about education in places like Wisconsin and Nebraska, which broadened my perspective. I realized I had a passion for strategy—figuring out how schools could use technology to improve learning, not just to solve technical problems like Wi-Fi. I started working closely with Mark Weston, Dell's strategist, and eventually transitioned into strategy full-time.

That led to an opportunity at CDW, where I became their K12 Strategist, which was my real break into EdTech. CDW is a reseller that partners with a wide range of companies, so I got to meet many people and build a strong community in the EdTech space. We had great success, especially with Google in 2013, bringing Chromebooks to schools before they became widespread. From there, Amazon Web Services called, needing someone to start their K12 cloud business.

Your career seems to be driven by opportunities that others noticed in you. What's your driving force behind doing such impactful work, which then leads to these new opportunities?

My dad gave me some advice early on: "Just keep chopping wood and stacking it neatly, and someone will notice." I've always taken that to heart—you don’t need to constantly promote yourself. Just do the job well, and eventually, the results will speak for themselves. I think that’s harder to do today, but it’s worked for me.

I’ve always been guided by passion. Even when people told me in high school that I should be an engineer because I was good at math and science, I knew from the time I was nine or ten that I wanted to be a teacher. I loved seeing a child’s eyes light up when they learned something new, and that’s what drove me.

When I became a principal, I justified it by saying I could impact more kids—moving from a classroom to a whole school. Then when I became CTO, it was about making decisions that impacted 40,000 students. At CDW, I helped bring Chromebooks and Wi-Fi to schools across the U.S., affecting millions of students. And at AWS, we worked with organizations like code.org to bring coding to multiple countries.

Throughout it all, my passion has been to use technology to improve learning. Whether it was coaching the robotics team as a principal or helping schools save money by moving to the cloud, it’s always been about making a positive impact on students.

When I look back, a lot of people comment on how I’ve taken on roles where I didn’t necessarily know all the answers, but for me, every step of the way has felt like a bonus. I never imagined doing the things I’ve done when I first started out. So why not try something new? Over time, I’ve learned how to build things to scale, and those skills have transferred across different parts of the EdTech world.

Now, as a CEO, my role is more about strategy and go-to-market approaches, but I still love getting out there with kids and mentoring when I can. It's been a fun journey.

One thing we notice, whether with clients or in general product development, is the disconnect between technology and its actual impact on students. Your career path seems to connect those dots well. So, I'd like to dive into two terms I always explore: go-to-market and strategy. What does go-to-market mean to you? And what’s your approach to strategy? 

Go-to-market is about aligning sales and marketing to win business. It's surprising how many companies treat sales and marketing as separate functions, but go-to-market is about bringing those teams together. In my view, it’s a series of A/B tests, short experiments where you track metrics to see what works. You can know your personas and product well, but you have to keep testing to find what resonates in different states and contexts.

In the U.S., K-12 markets vary by state, so you have to adjust your approach. Some states prioritize different organizations, so you tailor your experiments accordingly. Go-to-market, in my mind, is constantly evolving through these small, data-driven experiments.

As for strategy—that’s the part I enjoy more. Strategy is about connecting dots to the future and planting seeds that will grow over time. With TinkRworks, we have 13 different kits kids can build with coding, and they’re all exciting, but strategy means thinking ahead. It’s about deciding what schools might need in the future and getting ahead of that curve. Are we placing the right bets? Are we investing in areas where we see the market heading?

A lot of people overthink strategic planning. While that’s important, in the EdTech world, it’s more about action. You can have a great plan, but you need to execute. TinkRworks is a smaller company, with about 25 people next week, so for us, it’s not about endless meetings. It’s about empowering the team to act. If everyone knows the top three things that need to be done, we’re already aligned.

You’ve worked in big organizations like AWS. How do you get alignment on strategy in a large company like that versus a smaller, more agile company like TinkRworks?

Amazon has a reputation for being fast-moving, but getting alignment there takes time. There’s a lot of writing and iterations to gain consensus. But once you have approval, things move quickly. At AWS, you’re given a lot of autonomy within the agreed strategy. It’s slower to reach consensus, but once you do, execution is fast.

At ParentSquare, we grew from about 40 to over 200 people in a few years. As we scaled, it got harder to align everyone. We had to prioritize—sometimes the hardest decisions were about what not to do.

Now at TinkRworks, we’re small and nimble. If an opportunity comes up, like a conference, I can make a decision with my finance guy on the same day. Speed matters, especially when a competitor could take that opportunity. At a small company, you can move quickly, which is a big advantage.

Let's talk about brand. What does brand mean to you, and how do you approach brand development at TinkRworks?

Brand is underrated, especially in today’s fast-paced, digital world. It's more than just a logo or color scheme—it’s your voice. How you talk about your product, how you present yourself on social media, and how you engage with customers—all of that is part of your brand. Consistency is key.

At TinkRworks, we’ve spent the last few months ensuring we have a unified message. We created a document outlining how we talk about TinkRworks—our highlights, what makes us unique, and why someone should choose us. This consistency is crucial, especially as we scale. If five different sellers pitch our product in five different ways, it confuses customers.

For example, we were recently highlighted in a publication, and we sent the entire sales team sample social media posts and email templates to ensure everyone is on the same page. A few months ago, that might not have been happening, but now we’re making sure our message is clear and aligned.

We’re not a giant company like Apple or Coca-Cola, but that doesn’t make our brand less important. Having a clear, consistent voice matters, especially as we grow.

How does that compare to the brand development processes at larger companies?

At large companies like AWS, brand is everything. There are entire teams managing every detail, from website wording to social media posts. Smaller companies don’t have that luxury, so you have to be more hands-on.

At TinkRworks, while we don’t have a massive branding budget, we ensure the brand we present is consistent and clear. It’s about more than just the logo—it’s making sure everyone understands how to talk about our product and its impact.‍

‍We sometimes notice with clients that a non-top designer logo might reflect a company’s personality more than a well-crafted modern logo. It often resonates more with your audience.

When you visit our office, where only a few employees work remotely, you'll see people tinkering, using hammers and laser cutters. That’s who we are. You can dissect elements of what we do to create cool icons while maintaining your brand. Ultimately, a company runs by its top-line numbers. A brand alone probably won't increase those. For a startup like us, branding is crucial, but focusing on it comes later.

At ParentSquare, where I was the Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, we did some interesting things with branding. For example, we had a PSQ Summit, where we played with logos and experimented with different looks. Yet, the brand maintained a consistent feel and tone, thanks to the solid guidelines set by our original Chief Marketing Officer. We’re doing something similar at TinkRworks, mainly focusing on consistency—ensuring sales decks, pitches, and all materials align.

Right, and for startups, it’s often about staying true to your mission while maintaining clarity and consistency. Let’s dive into the challenges at TinkRworks. Specifically, in STEM/STEAM education, you mentioned earlier that it’s often treated as a niche interest for some students rather than a vital part of the curriculum. How does TinkRworks address that?

Yes, one challenge at TinkRworks is standing out in STEM/STEAM education. After being here four months, I can say we’re not just "robot-in-a-box." A lot of STEM products either involve coding something you pull out of a box, put on a table, and watch, or logging into a portal to code something digitally. But we go beyond that—we immerse students in physical computing.

With TinkRworks, students build kits—lamps, plant sensors, robots—and make them their own through art, decoration, and coding. They bring the projects to life using our portal. One of our standout projects is the TinkerSynth, where students build a synthesizer and learn about sound waves, lights, speakers, and all the components. For instance, at a camp at Rice University, some students programmed their TinkerSynth to play a Taylor Swift song, which was amazing! The real question is, did these students see themselves as coders before this project? Did building a synthesizer spark their interest in coding?

Coding today is like learning another language—it’s a critical skill. Some schools count it as a language requirement because everyone will need to communicate with those who write code. Even though I don’t code, I’ve learned to program our TinkRworks smart lamp, and it’s exciting. Our kits make STEM more inclusive, not just for the kids who dream of working for NASA, but for everyone.

I love the example of the synthesizer. It reminds me of my childhood when I would tear apart electronics and tape recorders, much to the dismay of my parents. I didn’t have access to kits like these, but it sparked my curiosity and led me to pursue a career in computer science. Your kits seem to provide students with that same spark, even if they don’t go into coding or engineering as careers.

Exactly. We’ve had teachers visit us, and they mention how personally students take ownership of these projects. When they add art or personal touches, the project becomes a part of them. People often associate computer science and engineering with math and cold, impersonal tasks. But our projects, like the Smart Lamp, incorporate creativity and emotions.

For example, students build the lamp and program it to reflect emotions—using exciting music and colors. This adds layers of mindfulness and emotional awareness to their learning. It's not just about building confidence in creating and coding but also connecting with feelings.

What excites me most since joining the team is seeing how our products build confidence and creativity in students. We’re working hard to tell these stories through our marketing and social channels. You'll see more real-life stories about how our products impact students, and it's been very rewarding.

Let’s dive into the business side, particularly TinkRworks’ go-to-market strategy. Considering the number of states in the U.S. and their differences in purchasing and policies, what’s it like to face that challenge? You’ve got a K-12 product, there’s complexity, and different states—how do you make it all work?

That’s a great question. For many new companies, one of the first metrics they look at is how many states they’re in. But I think that’s a poor measure. The real question should be: how deep are you in each state? Trying to sell to all 50 states at once is incredibly hard, not impossible, but difficult. Early on, you must identify where your product resonates most. For us, being based in Elmhurst, Illinois, it makes sense that Illinois is one of our largest markets. But even within Illinois, we haven’t fully penetrated it, so there’s still work to be done.

We also look at states like California, where specific legislation—like the funding for extended learning programs (ELOPs)—fits our products well. We focus on states like that and avoid others where entrenched competitors may create headwinds. Our strategy involves picking five or six target states, running A/B tests, and seeing what works. We grow around those districts with successful customer stories, building momentum in states that start to perform better.

Larger companies often make the mistake of applying the same strategy to every state. If you’re fortunate enough to have a large market share, your marketing strategy should shift toward protecting that business, focusing on renewals rather than new sales.

For example, at ParentSquare, if we attended a conference in a state where we had a lot of business, we’d focus more on customer success rather than sales—bringing in happy customers and holding appreciation events. In states where we had little business, we’d focus more on smaller regional events to get our first few customers. Building around customer success stories is key.

As you mature, you can start to influence policy, but that’s an expensive route. At TinkRworks, we don’t have the resources to go after policy directly, unlike larger competitors. When I was at Amazon, I could easily set up meetings with state education committees. Now, we have to be more reactive to policy changes and adapt accordingly.

You mentioned events, which is a big part of our business at 27zero. What’s your approach to events? How do you decide which ones to attend?

That’s something we’re actively working on at TinkRworks. In some areas, you need to attend specific events to reach certain personas, but STEM doesn’t have many national events. STEM is inherently multidisciplinary—science, technology, engineering, art, math—so you get math teacher conferences, art teacher conferences, and so on, making it more fragmented.

Right now, we’re trusting our sales team to attend smaller events where we can have more personal interactions. We’re also launching a customer advisory council in 2025 to get their input on which events we should attend. The key with events is measuring their impact. At ParentSquare, we did hundreds of events, but we knew the exact effect on our bottom line because we did a lot of pre- and post-event marketing.

At TinkRworks, we’re experimenting with high-touch events—those that guarantee meetings and cost more but might yield better results. These events, like RTM and IEI, may offer higher hit rates for sales, but we have to measure their true impact. Trade shows, on the other hand, can be challenging for early-stage startups. For example, at ISTE this year, I didn’t exhibit but used my time for podcasts, media interviews, and by-lined articles, which ended up benefiting us more than a booth might have.

For smaller companies, attending events doesn’t always mean exhibiting. You can create value by building relationships, even if you’re just walking the floor. I noticed that at ISTE, the big players—Google, Microsoft, and AI vendors—sucked up most of the attention. So, my advice is whether you do one event or 100, measure everything. Events are about building community and relationships, which can take time to pay off. We’re attending the National STEM School event in November, and I’m hopeful it will be a good opportunity to connect with schools that care about STEM.

I know it might be sensitive information, but can you share the challenges you face with your sales cycle? How does it work, and who makes the decisions?

At a high level, in big schools, you'll likely have a Director of STEM/STEAM or innovation making decisions. But in the U.S., there are around 18,000 public school districts, and about half of the budget and student population is concentrated in only 150-160 schools. Smaller districts, though, are different. The decision-maker could be a teacher, librarian, gifted and talented educator, or principal, making it more challenging to know who to target. That's why we're improving our CRM to gather more data and focus on who to approach first and which districts may not be worth targeting at the moment.

Beyond public schools, we also sell to organizations like YMCA, Boys & Girls Clubs, community centers, and municipalities, which have completely different buying cycles. Our goal is to be flexible. Ideally, our kits and curriculum would be part of a semester-long engineering class, but we also need to cater to situations where, say, a librarian only has an hour for a STEM activity with kindergarteners. Our curriculum must be adaptable to fit both scenarios.

What’s your vision for TinkRworks? Where do you see the company in the future?

We want to keep pushing the boundaries of STEM/STEAM education and make it more inclusive. We’re not just targeting robotics clubs; we want everyone to experience these opportunities because you never know which kid might love it. Our team is focusing on tools with sensors that gather data, which ties into the emerging world of AI and big data. AI can be intimidating for schools, but my vision is to teach kids how to use AI for good.

Our projects are evolving to let students collect and analyze data, helping them understand data science. Some of our customers, especially in places like India, are already using AI with our tools in ways we hadn't even imagined. The product is great, and we just need to get it into the hands of more kids. That’s where our focus is—marketing, go-to-market strategies, and pipeline generation.

What’s the importance of customer and student feedback?

Sometimes we overthink products, but we should be asking customers what they want the product to do, and how we can support their mission. Even getting feedback from students is crucial. For example, I learned a lot about our coding portal when a third-grader walked me through it at a school visit. It was the perfect way to understand our product from the user's perspective.

When we launch the TinkRworks Advisory Council, we’ll be asking questions about our brand, website, and pricing. Listening to customers provides invaluable insights. I learned this at Amazon, where customer obsession was key. AWS would listen to customer feedback, build what they needed, and deliver it quickly. We need more of that in education. A simple example: a teacher once told us that the spoilers on our robots were helpful because they prevented the robots from rolling off tables in the classroom. It's a small classroom management issue that we wouldn't have considered, but it’s now part of our product design. Listening to customers is invaluable.

‍