Tech Tunes: The Power of Classroom Ideas

In my first semester at Drexel University's Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship, I took Professor John Wilson's Build-Measure-Learn class. In it, Professor Wilson set a simple challenge: identify a real pain point in our lives.

For me, the answer was easy: I loved playing guitar, but I was paying almost $40 a month across three different apps just to practice. They were scattered, expensive, and honestly frustrating. That's when it clicked: Why wasn't there one app that actually felt fun and structured? And with all the advancements in AI, how come the music industry hasn't caught up?

That class pushed me to dig deeper and realize the problem went way beyond my experience. I discovered that over 3.6 million kids in the U.S. don't even have access to music education, including as many as 51 schools right here in the greater Philadelphia region. For me, music is the only thing that grounds me and clears my mind as an entrepreneur. Every child deserves that choice of a musical outlet.

Tech Tunes began in a Close School classroom, but thanks to the resources and funding, it's grown into a company with the power to give every child the same choice of a musical outlet that once changed my life.

That's when Tech Tunes became more than just a class idea; it became something I had to build to address this creative inequity gap. The Close School experience isn't just theory; it's action. It gave me the confidence to take a leap and apply for the Entrepreneurship Co-op, a program that gives startup founders the opportunity to work on their ideas while receiving co-op credit and funding. Honestly, I was nervous, pitching against student companies that were already established and making profits. But I hit submit, and I won. That $19,000 changed everything.

What started as a pain point discovered in a classroom is now a thriving LLC with trademarks in progress, a small team of employees, and a beta version of Tech Tunes almost ready for A/B testing. Tech Tunes began in a Close School classroom, but thanks to the resources and funding, it's grown into a company with the power to give every child the same choice of a musical outlet that once changed my life.