Felix Lloyd Featured in TEQ Magazine
Skill-Life President & CEO Felix Lloyd was featured in the June/July issue of TEQ Magazine. TEQ interviews Felix in its “Inter Face” segment. The interview — entitled “Building Skills: Felix Lloyd Launched Skill-Life to Help Tweens Develop Financial Literacy” — can be found here (pg. 26) and is pasted below.
TEQ Magazine June/July Issue
Building Skills: Felix Lloyd Launched Skill-Life to Help Tweens Develop Financial Literacy
You moved to Pittsburgh recently and are running your own company Skill Life. Tell us about how you wound up in Pittsburgh and what you’re up to with your company.
In September 2007, I received a fellowship from the New York based social venture fund Echoing Green. That fellowship would pay me $30,000 per year and health-care benefits to start Skill-Life, Inc. where we build virtual worlds in which tweens earn rewards by playing cool games that teach life skills including financial literacy, nutrition, and citizenship! We are launching the Beta of our first product, CentsCity, in July.
Once I took on Echoing Green’s investment and committed to going at this thing full-time, it didn’t take long for my wife, who works for Google, and I to figure out that $30,000 per year wouldn’t get too far in San Francisco. So, we looked for other cities where Google had offices. We were searching for a place that had a low cost-of-living and, most importantly, significant resources to start an entertainment technology company. Three days after our wedding, we made our second trip to Pittsburgh, in a Uhaul truck.
What’s it been like building your company in a tough economy?
Skill-Life really reached the world in October as we completed our participation in Innovation Works AlphaLab. By that time, the tough economy was already quite clearly upon us. It’s simply been the reality with which my partner, Todd Waits, and I have been confronted. We can’t recall with longing the boom days where investors had deeper pockets and stronger stomachs for early-stage ventures. Rather, we’ve kept down our burn and focused intensely on building a great product and business to ultimately make money while achieving social impact.
On a related note, I couldn’t be more confident that the tough economy has created a unique opportunity for Skill-Life. The first product built on our platform, CentsCity, teaches kids financial skills. The need and demand for such a resource is growing exponentially.
Previously, you were a teacher and were honored as a “Teacher of the Year” in D.C. What made you leave teaching and decide to start your own company?
I often say that I got my first masters degree by teaching 7th graders Civics and Government. My time as a classroom teacher was absolutely invaluable. After five years, however, I no longer saw tremendous opportunities for growth or impact in that role.
Recognition as teacher of the year included my being featured in the Washington Post, Newsweek, and other media. It led to my spearheading Microsoft’s Washington-to-Washington program, which connected my classroom in DC with a classroom in Seattle, Washington. I also became my school’s dean of students and one of its chief administrators. These experience opened my eyes to how much more needed to be done while also giving me the skills and resources to reach higher.
I left teaching to start my own consulting company through which I wrote curriculum and managed GED and summer programs. With a close friend, I started a real-estate company and lost my entire 401K renovating a corner lot in Saint Louis! And I wouldn’t have had any of it any other way. How could I be doing anything other than what I am doing now?
Any advice for those looking to start a company?
Talk about it and be about it. I spend a lot of time meeting people and speaking with them about Skill-Life. Many of the conversations don’t lead to much at all. But, often enough, a simple dialogue leads to someone or someplace else that’s exactly where we need to be. I’ve met one of Skill-Life’s most significant investors, Ron Morris, this way. Also, I always learn more about what we’re doing and need to do by trying to articulate a vision and pin down details to others. The way people hear what you have to say and what they say in return can be golden. For me, the key from there has been to go back into the cave and process it all. We’re constantly revising our pitch, product, and strategy as a result of repeated interactions with customers, investors, strategic partners, and everybody in between.
Best thing about running a company in Pittsburgh and the worst thing.
I’m originally from Washington, DC, where, even as a kid, I had a strong sense that there were people and places close by that would not likely be available to me. In Pittsburgh, I’ve been encouraged by how much access a young entrepreneur like me can gain. Everyone seems one-person removed and, more importantly, willing to give of their time and resources. This willingness has been essential to Skill-Life’s growth thus far.
In some ways, I’m concerned that this small world effect will have its limits. It seems possible that we will in time have exhausted the opportunities to be gained locally. At this point, however, we’ve only just begun digging deeper and Pittsburgh continues to show us its bridges.
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