143. Promoting Play for Kids: Maia Haag + DeLonn Crosby

DeLonn Crosby is using technology to get kids off screens. His startup, SayKid, is a voice technology company that has developed a screenless, play-based learning platform in the form of a plush robot called the ToyBot. Equipped with Amazon Alexa voice technology, the ToyBot can play games, do magic tricks, and promote active learning by getting kids to think and move. A former corporate social responsibility officer for Target, Crosby’s career has straddled tech, marketing, and education. He founded SayKid in 2019 and in 2024, launched the current version of ToyBot direct to consumer. Now Crosby is thinking about scaling up and was eager to connect with another Minnesota entrepreneur who has built a business around engaging kids: Maia Haag, the founder and president of I See Me!, personalized books and gifts. Haag started her company before the iPad existed, and her first book, “My Very Own Name,” which uses animals to spell a child’s name in rhyme, quickly became a popular baby gift—and still is. Today, I See Me! Publishes more than 100 titles and sells books and gifts through major retailers and direct to consumers around the world. Haag offers Crosby advice on selling through Amazon, creating a simple marketing message, and the pros and cons of raising investment funds for his bootstrapped company. In Office Hours with College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, assistant professor of history Brittany Merritt Nash takes us to the Bahamas, and reveals the Caribbean island’s surprising relationship with the Minnesota school.