Comstock's magazine 1018 - October 2018 | Page 110

n SEED ROUND: MEET THE FOUNDER
AARON WATKINS
Parents need only look at their children’s old toys to recall the law of inertia — that an
object not played with will sit on a shelf collecting dust.
In 2017, Aaron Watkins launched a rental service called STEMtrunk because he doesn’t
believe educational toys should be left behind. He calls his Yuba City-based startup “Netflix
for learning toys” because it works with the same subscription-based concept: Parents select
a STEM toy (LEGO Mindstorms, Parrot Minidrones, etc.) from a catalog, the toy comes in a
trunk and the child can play as long as she or he wants, then parents ship it back and wait for
the next one in the queue. STEMtrunk currently delivers across the U.S.
With subscriptions starting at $39 a month, STEMtrunk gives children a chance to ex-
periment with toys and technologies for the jobs of tomorrow without parents paying
the hefty price, Watkins says. In addition to the home deliveries, STEMtrunk also
offers afterschool STEM classes (taught by the company’s staff in the Sacra-
mento region, Boston and soon Miami and Portland) and subscriptions for
schools with classroom kits and lesson plans.
customers
A startup can’t be successful without. . ...................................................................
The book that best represents my approach to business is....................
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
.............................................................................................................................................................
a series of opportunities
i believe life is ..............................................................................................................................
trying to manage two
My biggest fear about launching was . . ...........................................................................
businesses at once (Watkins is the co-founder of Ap-
. . ...................................................................................................................................................................
pency, a local marketing service for app developers)
. . .................................................................................................................................................................
consider a
If I could give my younger self advice, it would be to. . ...................................
different major (than physiology and neuroscience)
................................................................................................................................................................
in college!
..................................................................................................................................................................
Why would this rental model appeal to parents? “Robotics kits and
computer kits can easily cost $150-plus per item. As a parent, you
want your kids to have the best educational materials to prepare them
for the jobs of the future. But what if they don’t like it? That’s a lot of
money to spend in a tough economy.”
What if a customer sees a product in a store they want but you don’t
offer? “If you’re out there and you see a product and you say, ‘I want
this, but it’s expensive,’ and if it fits in with what we do, we’ll go buy it.
Then instead of you buying it, you can use your subscription.”
For more on Watkins and STEMtrunk read Russell Nichols’ “Startup of
the Month” column at comstocksmag.com.
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comstocksmag.com | October 2018
STEMTRUNK