TriviaLinked

University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business

Industry: Gaming

MBA Founding Student Name(s): Dody Eid

Brief Description of Solution: TriviaLinked is a competitive daily puzzle with no questions asked.

Funding Dollars: $5,000

What led you to launch this venture? I wanted to turn a passion for trivia into a fresh take on daily puzzling.

What has been your biggest accomplishment so far with the venture? I’m honored to have been named a “Top Mobile Game of 2025” by Pocket Gamer Magazine.

What has been the most significant challenge you’ve faced in creating your company and how did you solve it? I started this endeavor having never coded a full-stack software product before. The learning curve was steep, but with time and mentorship from friends, family, and colleagues, I was able to build a prototype and continuously iterate for 2+ years.

How has your MBA program helped you further this startup venture? Notre Dame has been extremely supportive in my journey. First, I’ve had access to many mentors with a commitment not just to my professional success but also to my personal and spiritual development.  John Henry, director of student startups at the Notre Dame IDEA Center, deserves a particular shoutout. Second, I’ve been blessed to participate in two of Notre Dame’s startup accelerator programs, where I received generous financial support and intern assistance. Third, and perhaps most importantly, my classmates have been gracious enough to test the app and encourage me to keep going in times of difficulty.

Which MBA class has been most valuable in building your startup and what was the biggest lesson you gained from it? The most valuable class for my startup has been Digital Innovation with Professor Sarv Devaraj. Professor Devaraj has experience building and selling software that solved real pain points in senior care management. In his class, we had the opportunity to visit startups and tech companies during a week-long Silicon Valley immersion, which was a highlight of my MBA experience. I learned many lessons, but one that I resonated strongly with is that great products are rarely born of a single stubborn idea – continuous iteration and open-postured brainstorming are among the best tools for creative thinking.

What professor made a significant contribution to your plans and why? John Henry is the Godfather of startups here at Notre Dame. He is accessible, selfless, and bold in his quest to foster a supportive startup ecosystem on campus. He has kept me grounded through this entire process and encourages me to grow into the next steps, whatever they may be.

How has your local startup ecosystem contributed to your venture’s development and success?
This past summer, I had the opportunity to participate in Notre Dame’s “Race to Revenue” summer accelerator program, where I met investors, founders, and seasoned professionals with experience across all functions of a startup. It gave me the opportunity to rigorously improve my product, strategize more effectively, and recruit teammates that have been a tremendous help.

What is your long-term goal with your startup? I would love for TriviaLinked to be the best daily puzzle on mobile and become part of the puzzle ecosystem for a major news outlet.

Looking back, what is the biggest lesson you wished you’d known before launching and scaling your venture? One of the speakers I met with this summer gave some advice that hit close to home: If you aren’t loving what you’re building, find out what would change that, and make that change as soon as possible. Being positive and excited about your product seems natural, but when you get bogged down in the weeds for many months, it is easy to get discouraged and retreat into isolation. So, I took steps this summer to expand the TriviaLinked team, and the result has been a substantially more enjoyable development process. Notre Dame is a place where support, mentorship, and fellowship is never far, and for that I am truly grateful.

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