Q&A with Scott Wilson, CEO & Co-Founder of Education Startup Joticle

This post is part of a series where we interview Chisos portfolio company founders. 

Today, we're talking with Scott Wilson, CEO & Co-Founder of education startup Joticle. 

Let’s get started with some fun facts.

Fun Facts about Scott Wilson, Joticle CEO & Co-Founder, BSIT, Newchip Accelerator Graduate & Mentor, and ACA Accelerator Graduate

• Location: Scottsdale, AZ
• How would your friends describe you? Creative, thoughtful and passionate‍
• What did you want to be when you grew up? Rockstar (and I got a good taste of that life!)
• What song are you listening to on repeat? Mountain Song by Jane's Addiction. It's my motivator song for life.
• ‍What app do you use the most, besides texting? Slack‍
• Do you have a favorite book, movie, or podcast? Business or just for fun! Isaac Asimov's Foundation series; it was the inspiration for Joticle. Blade Runner for movie.

Tell us a little bit about Joticle.

Educators juggle too many digital tools, diminishing student engagement. Joticle exists to centralize and automate education tools and place focus on student engagement while incentivizing the educators. We describe it as an educator empowerment ecosystem!

I co-founded Joticle in 2017. Since then, we've won awards and received some very positive recognition:

• Hacknoon Startup of the Year 2021
• LA Music Award 2008
• VELA Education Fund grant recipient
• Merriam-Webster content partner

Joticle is also currently fundraising on WeFunder.

What was the moment when you knew, "I'm ready to take the plunge and pursue my idea?"

The moment is perfectly clear. I was showing my co-founder what I had built, and his response was how much this could be applied to his area of education expertise in golf. The fire caught on quick. Even with a couple pivots, refining the idea has only caught that much more fire in me.

What do you know now that you wish you’d known when starting your own business?

I don't think you can teach rebounding from failure or a bad decision, those are important things that a founder needs to go through. I would ultimately say I wish I had a better grasp at shiny object syndrome early on.

How do you think about success and failure as a founder?

I think about success at a level of the whole team and not myself. I view failure as an inept moment of not leading the team appropriately, but learning from it and move forward, not stepping back and being in fear of next choices.

What is one moment from your founder journey that you're particularly proud of?

Flipping the switch from prototype stage to a production ready platform & the first customer.

Did you receive any advice along the way that would be meaningful to share with other founders?

"Accept constructive criticism, ignore people that tear you down and provide no thoughtful insight or suggestions for improvement."

How did funding from Chisos help you grow?

Chisos funding enabled us to bring to life the feedback from our early adopters and enhance the platform, as well as dramatically improve our messaging for our community round on Wefunder. Chisos has been exceptional at supporting us and our mission and providing excellent feedback.

To learn more about Joticle, follow along on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.