We were lucky to catch up with Steven Jiang recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Steven, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Our mission at Overture Games is to teach K-8 students the most human skills—creativity, expression, collaboration—in a digital and AI-driven world, preparing them to be the creative leaders of the future. This mission is deeply personal to me. I’ve played the clarinet since fourth grade, studied music performance and economics at Northwestern, and I know firsthand the transformative power of music education. But I also saw how traditional methods are outdated and uninspiring to today’s students. Music is a fundamentally human skill that AI can’t replicate, and yet the way we teach it hasn’t changed for centuries. That’s why we created Overture Games: to make learning music fun, social, and meaningful again, using video games and gamified lessons that resonate with this generation. It’s a way to preserve creativity and emotional intelligence in a world racing toward automation.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m Steven Jiang, co-founder of Overture Games. I’ve always been deeply connected to music—growing up as a clarinetist and eventually studying music and economics at Northwestern. My co-founder and I met at Northwestern’s startup incubator, The Garage, and we both wanted to build something that made learning music as fun as playing a game. That’s exactly what we do at Overture Games.

We build web-based video games that help kids learn music composition. Our flagship titles like Intervallic® and Rocket Race™ blend audio-responsive gameplay with incremental music theory. Students perform, improvise, and write music as they unlock new levels. We run these games through live afterschool “game labs” and supplement it with an at-home subscription platform.

We solve two major problems: (1) Students are bored with traditional music education, and (2) Parents and schools don’t have scalable, fun, and modern ways to keep kids engaged in creative learning. What sets us apart is that we blend the energy of live teaching with game design that keeps kids motivated.

I’m most proud of how fast we’ve grown—doubling revenue every quarter and reaching 30+ schools in under a year. And I’m proud that we’re not just building for kids—we’re also creating jobs for musicians. Our team includes seven active music instructors, and we’re growing fast.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Last fall, we experienced a rapid surge in school partnerships—but didn’t yet have enough trained teachers to meet the demand. So I stepped in and taught the programs myself, even in schools located two hours away by public transit. I’d leave at 12:30 p.m. to arrive by 3, teach until 6, and often return home close to 9 p.m. I did this multiple times a week in areas like Waukegan and Elgin. It was physically exhausting and logistically difficult, especially without a car. But it was necessary—and worth it. It kept our commitments to schools intact, allowed us to gather live product feedback, and reminded me of the real reason we’re doing this: to help kids feel proud of the music they create.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Overture Games actually started as a mobile app for piano practice, aimed at consumer markets. But early on, we realized it wasn’t working—distribution was hard, and users weren’t sticking around. The product tried to do too many things at once, and engagement dropped. So we pivoted hard: we shifted from a self-led mobile app to a school-based, afterschool program model. This let us integrate directly into students’ routines, add live teaching support, and offer a structured curriculum in a fun, group environment. That pivot transformed our business. We’ve been doubling every quarter since, and kids are not only learning—they’re excited to keep learning.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.overture.games/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steviejayoung/