{"674802":{"#nid":"674802","#data":{"type":"news","title":"CREATE-X Alumnus Launches to Acquisition","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EParth Arora is the founder of Third Dimension Fitness, a platform for gamified cardio through mixed reality, which was recently acquired by Elbo, an education-focused company based in Singapore. He began his company as a project in the summer of 2022. Since then, it has gained thousands of users and made thousands in revenue each month. Arora is a senior in computer science. He participated in the Spring 2024 Startup Launch, the first cohort to be held outside of the summer program. Below is a Q\u0026amp;A with Arora.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDid you always want to be an entrepreneur?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI always did. I had my first company, an educational technology app, when I was 16, which ran for about two years. I ended it in my first year of college. I\u0027m from India originally and the vision was to provide resources to the larger mass market of India for extracurricular activities. But, we realized there wasn\u0027t a business model. When we tried to make money, we started serving the rich kids. When we tried to serve the market, we didn\u0027t make money, which doesn\u0027t make investors happy, though we did end up making enough money to repay them.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat didn\u0027t stop me; it just gave me more lessons.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat other experience in entrepreneurship have you had?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI\u0027ve been involved in entrepreneurship communities at Georgia Tech forever. I was co-director of Startup Exchange, which is where I met a lot of really driven people. I got a chance to build their fellowship program and initiate their first pitch competition, which is now called Summit. I\u0027ve collaborated with CREATE-X for different events, and I try to attend any event hosted by CREATE-X, Startup Exchange, or ATDC.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy did you choose to join the spring cohort of Startup Launch this year?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECREATE-X provides everything you need, like legal support, financial support, sales support, mentors, and an introduction to VCs, which is why I decided to join the Launch program. I think all of that boosted our startup\u2019s growth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy did you feel like acquisition was the way to go for your company?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI think because I always knew this wasn\u2019t \u201cthe\u201d thing I was going to do. This summer I\u0027ll be starting to work for Apple on their VisionPro team, and it has a direct conflict-of-interest. They wanted me to stop working on this for a while. So, I felt like this might be a good time to explore the acquisition.\u0026nbsp; We had really rich content, which had proven to work. We had curated that content after hundreds of customer interviews, and we had advisors from Nike, Disney, and Netflix. I knew that was a strong point, so that\u0027s why I knew that acquisition would be a good exit.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat support have you had in taking the acquisition path?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESeth [Radman, who has had multiple exits himself and is a Startup Launch alumnus] has been guiding me professionally for a while. I met him at previous events through Startup Exchange, but then he recently came to a CREATE-X event. Rahul [Saxena, CREATE-X director], has also been a great support for me since day one. He was the one who suggested Startup Launch to me.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn December of last year, we started monetizing. We were testing different things. It was helpful to share the numbers and the data points with Rahul, mentors, and other people in my cohort so that I was not blindsided, and I could take actions based on the educated analysis of a database. It helped me drive down our customer acquisition cost, increase our customer lifetime value, and didn\u0027t keep me in my own bubble.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow were you okay with letting that product go?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt was a tough decision; it was my baby. I\u0027d been working on it 10 to 15 hours a day, at least for the last few months. Rahul and Seth convinced me that if this is not the thing you want to do long-term and you know the market isn\u0027t big enough, you should move on to the next thing and put your time and energy there.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI had to use my brain, and not my heart.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat\u0027s the biggest piece of advice that you\u0027ve received as you developed your company?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETry to never lie to yourself, which is harder than it seems. I\u0027ve built two companies and worked with several others, and I still lie to myself. When you love your product so much, it\u0027s very easy to lie to yourself about how there is a market for it, or people are using it. I think even in the future, I\u2019ll probably be caught doing that, but the best way I\u0027ve found to overcome that is to surround yourself with people who can tell you when you are doing it and help you see your company the way it is instead of the way you want it to be.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow has this decision affected you so far?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMy lifestyle has completely changed, from looking at a dashboard every 10 to 15 minutes, seeing how the product is doing, and burning so many fires every 30 minutes, to being pretty chill. Like, what am I supposed to think about before I go to bed? What am I supposed to do now? Who are the customers I am supposed to be thinking about? It\u0027s been interesting, but I think this gives me space to now work on that next venture and have more time to think about what I want to do next.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDo you think you\u0027ll want to return to entrepreneurship in the future?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYes, for sure. All the money I received from the acquisition will also fuel my next venture. My main goal is to grow in this industry. I\u0027m an entrepreneur at heart, so I will be returning to the space soon or building products that people like.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow are you celebrating this win?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI did celebrate it on our last day with Rahul, my amazing mentor, Margaret [Weniger, who founded Rising Tide], and the other cohort members. I will be celebrating it with a few of my friends because my 21st birthday is coming around, so I\u0027ll be celebrating these occasions together.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut I don\u0027t want to take the money out from the company or for anything else, because it\u2019s for my next venture. It shouldn\u0027t change my lifestyle at all, so I\u0027ve kept all that money in a separate place.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat encouragement would you give to students interested in pursuing a startup?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERelative to other colleges, we have a cushion, a sense of security that we will get good jobs. Entrepreneurship is a riskier and more unpredictable path, which I\u0027ve seen, and I\u0027m personally experiencing right now having to choose between Big Tech versus entrepreneurship. But once you start building it and when you hear from your first customer how you affected the way they live, then there\u0027s no going back. Statistically, you\u0027ll probably fail, but you won\u0027t know until you start building; and if you do fail, it\u2019ll teach you so many valuable lessons that are applicable in whatever career path you choose.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECREATE-X will launch its 12th cohort of Startup Launch on Aug. 29 at 5 p.m. in the Georgia Tech Exhibition Hall. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/gt-demo-day-tickets-888408793617?aff=WebInfoPage\u0022\u003ERegister today\u003C\/a\u003E to secure your spot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInterested in becoming a CREATE-X supporter? Startup Launch is made possible by contributions to Transforming Tomorrow, a $2 billion comprehensive campaign designed to secure resources that will advance the Institute and its impact, and by the continued engagement of our entrepreneurial ecosystem. Learn more about philanthropy at Georgia Tech and donate by visiting \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/transformingtomorrow.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Etransformingtomorrow.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo become a mentor in CREATE-X, visit the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/create-x.gatech.edu\/alumni-and-giving\/mentorship-program\u0022\u003ECREATE-X mentorship page\u003C\/a\u003E. Any other inquiry may be sent to \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:create-x@groups.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ecreate-x@groups.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E. We appreciate your help and commitment to supporting our students in research and innovation.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EParth Arora, a senior in computer science at Georgia Tech and founder of Third Dimension Fitness, has successfully transitioned his startup into an acquisition by Elbo, a Singapore-based educational company. Starting as a summer project in 2022, the platform quickly gained traction, amassing thousands of users and consistent monthly revenue. Arora\u2019s entrepreneurial journey, marked by early ventures and active involvement in Georgia Tech\u2019s entrepreneurial ecosystem, culminated in the strategic acquisition decision, aligning with his upcoming role at Apple.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Parth Arora, Georgia Tech computer science senior and founder of Third Dimension Fitness, leveraged his entrepreneurial skills and CREATE-X\u2019s resources to grow his startup, leading to its acquisition by Elbo as he prepares to join Apple\u2019s VisionPro team."}],"uid":"36436","created_gmt":"2024-05-17 20:30:41","changed_gmt":"2024-05-20 13:58:18","author":"bdurham31","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-05-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-05-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"674037":{"id":"674037","type":"image","title":"Parth Arora Photo","body":null,"created":"1716213408","gmt_created":"2024-05-20 13:56:48","changed":"1716213463","gmt_changed":"2024-05-20 13:57:43","alt":"Parth Arora using headset","file":{"fid":"257503","name":"ParthArora.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/05\/20\/ParthArora.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/05\/20\/ParthArora.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1278828,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/05\/20\/ParthArora.png?itok=5ghXSNMt"}}},"media_ids":["674037"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/gt-demo-day-tickets-888408793617?aff=WebInfoPage","title":"Demo Day Registration"}],"groups":[{"id":"583966","name":"CREATE-X"},{"id":"655285","name":"GT Commercialization"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"143","name":"Digital Media and Entertainment"}],"keywords":[{"id":"166973","name":"startup"},{"id":"137161","name":"CREATE-X"},{"id":"3472","name":"entrepreneurship"},{"id":"1072","name":"Business"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193658","name":"Commercialization"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBreanna Durham\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMarketing Strategist\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["breanna.durham@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}