395: What It’s Like to Be CEO of a Computer & Coding Camp for Kids w/ Pete Ingram-Cauchi, iD Tech Camps [Main T4C episode]

Pete Ingram-Cauchi is the CEO of iD Tech, a summer computer and coding camp that specializes in providing computer technology education to kids and children ages 7 through 18. There are iD Tech Camps at more than 150 U.S. college and university campuses focused on coding, game development, robotics, and creative skills.  Every summer iD Tech hires about 2,000 college students, and young professionals, to mentor and teach students. Programs include:  iD Tech Camps, iD Tech Mini, iD Programming Academy, iD Game Design & Development Academy, Alexa Cafe (an all-girl tech camp) and Tech Rocket (an e-learning platform). Pete, his sister Alexa and their mom launched iD Tech from their home in California over 20 years ago, growing it to become the world’s largest summer tech camp.  Pete graduated from the University of Washington with a B.B.A in International Business. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE:  What the mission is of iD Tech camps (4:20) Why you have to be more than tech-savvy to work as a counselor at an iD Tech camp (5:17) How and when to apply to be a summer counselor at iD Tech (7:29) Why Pete characterizes his job as CEO at iD Tech as servant leadership (8:38) How iD Tech summer camps have expanded to reach students around the world (9:53) What are all the tasks that Pete routinely performs as the CEO of iD Tech (11:23) How Pete and his sister worked to grow enrollment of girls at iD Tech camps (12:47) How Pete’s families’ experience as educators helped lead to the creation of iD Tech (16:26) What life was like for Pete as he worked to get iD Tech off the ground (17:55) How Pete used his international business major after he graduated (19:57) How close Pete came to almost giving up on his dream of growing iD Tech (22:45) Why it’s important to adopt the mentality that it’s ok to fail (25:30) Why Pete believes that you should take as diverse a set of classes as possible (26:36)