Destroying Luck: Why I’m Joining CodeNow
TL;DR
My name is Neal Sales-Griffin. I’m joining a Y Combinator backed non-profit as CEO to teach the next generation of young product designers and coders how to make software that helps people. My Starter League co-founder, Mike McGee, and another team member are also joining to make another meteoric dent in the universe.
Here’s how you can help:
- Connect us with a forward thinking company or foundation we should work with.
- Introduce us to a young person who is curious about tech and willing to work hard.
Read on if you’d like the full story…
Growing Up, Finding Meaning
As a mixed-race low-income kid growing up on the Southside of Chicago, I struggled to find my place in society. But with determination and help from a supportive family, I earned acceptance into Northwestern University.
Once I was in, all that mattered was getting a job to make a bunch of money, since I grew up with so little of it. Suffice to say, I discovered my passion for problem solving rather than chasing paychecks. I realized I’d be happier (and just as wealthy) than I would if I took the beaten path.
Once I discovered my raison d’être, I began my pursuit by serving as student body president at Northwestern, and solving problems I was passionate about by starting multiple companies. After I graduated, I found meaning through making useful software while working as an investor and entrepreneur in residence at a venture capital firm. I realized the necessity of a technical skillset to be a successful problem solver and people helper. I quickly jumped ship and devoted myself to learning to code and design apps. I convinced my eventual co-founder, Mike McGee, to join me on the journey. After a year of full-time personal study and practice learning software development, we made it our mission to help others do the same.
Starting The First Coding Bootcamp
We launched a coding bootcamp in Chicago, IL called The Starter League to world-wide demand. The Starter League taught more than 1,500 people from over 40 states and from 15 countries get their start in the tech industry. We inspired dozens of entrepreneurs to follow-suit and teach others with our model. It’s gotten to the point where the notion of a “coding bootcamp” is now cliche nomenclature.
While the growth of this industry has been amazing, it only captures a piece of the problem we wanted to solve. At The Starter League, we taught much more than how to code well enough to get a job that pays well. It was about teaching a holistic approach to making useful software that helps people. We taught our students to use coding, along with product design and entrepreneurial thinking, to solve meaningful problems.
An Acquisition
We recently sold our school to fellow bootcamp Fullstack Academy. We chose to partner with them because they are among the best at teaching adults how to become software engineers. We saw the big opportunity to continue the work we began by teaching even more adults how to get jobs and and start companies.
Not long after we made the announcement, I got restless. I couldn’t sleep. Something amazing had been started, and in a way, had finished.
What do I do now?
Am I done? Have I completed my mission and now I can just take trips to Japan, go snowboarding, and play video games all the time???
No way. There’s still work to be done. This wonderful world will always reveal ways we can make it better. That revelation happened for me right after I signed the dotted line for the Fullstack deal.
Serendipity in the Big Apple
I flew to New York (where Fullstack is headquartered) to make the transition official. In my free time, I caught up with my friend and fellow entrepreneur, Ryan Seashore. He’s the Founder and CEO of CodeNow, a Y Combinator-backed non-profit he started in early 2011, just a month apart from when I started The Starter League. He’s one of the most impassioned and mission-focused people I’ve ever met.
On the rooftop of Soho House in NYC, Ryan explained that CodeNow needs help. He was looking for someone to step in as CEO. With deep humility, he asked if I was interested in teaching the next generation of young people more than just how to code, but also why they should code. A majority of them are from underrepresented backgrounds, people of color, and women. And while his organization has helped nearly 1,900 of them get their start, there are tens of thousands more who need our help to become future coders, designers, and innovative problem solvers.
You just sold your business a few hours ago. You’ve got a new offer on the table to, yet again, take on the humbling mantle of CEO. What do you do?
The Decision
As I considered the pros and cons of the opportunity. I had many a sleepless night wondering…
“What if Starter League could’ve reached me when I was just a teenager? What could I have done with more confidence and motivation for what I loved doing earlier in my life?”
I volunteered at some CodeNow workshops recently. Those experiences made the decision for me. I have to do this. After seeing students’ eyes light up with joy when their code runs successfully, I saw myself. I would’ve given anything to have this level of exposure and support when I was in high school. No one ever took a chance on them, and now that someone has — these kids are going to do amazing things. There’s no better feeling than realizing you’ve had that kind of impact on another person’s life.
Through The Starter League, we’ve partnered with Mayor Rahm Emanuel to train CPS and City College teachers our curriculum. We’ve taught classes at Northwestern University, University of Chicago, The Latin School, and more. We’ve always had a desire to disruptively deliver our work through all layers of the complex, bureacratic educational system. But none of those efforts scaled, and we struggled to balance them with our core mission of teaching adults inside our own classrooms.
Not yet…it’s not over yet!
Our work must continue. Mike and I didn’t sign on to spin up a school, sell it, and let the wind blow us away into mediocrity. We’re here to make dents. And this is an even bigger challenge than before.
So here we are. I’m three weeks into a new CEO role and I’ve been flying all around the country meeting with companies, foundations, and dozens of amazing CodeNow students and alumni. Fundraising for a non-profit has been a major learning curve, but I love it. I’m thankful that CodeNow’s outgoing CEO, Ryan Seashore, is staying on as board chair to help me with this transition. The opportunity and energy around our new model is palpable. We’re on the cusp of starting a new era for software education.
I need you to believe that my story isn’t an outlier.
I’m tired of people telling me I’m lucky. I’m sick of people telling me I’m special, or that “I’m not like the rest of them.”
I’m just a case study we can deconstruct, bottle, and share with thousands of people out there we can reach through our work.
I need you to believe we can provide the resources, pathways, and supportive environments to unlock the potential in every kid who’s willing to show up and give it their all.
Summing it up
- Young people need our support and investment to help them become future coders, designers, product managers, and entrepreneurs.
- We have to do more than arm them with pickaxes and say “go get a job.”
- It’s a disservice to dangle carrots like fancy benefits and fat paychecks.
- Harnessing young people’s intrinsic motivators will reveal how badass they are when they have a real problem they’re passionate about solving.
Now’s your chance to make a real difference.
Think about what you most enjoy doing, and how you discovered that it’s something you love. Now imagine unlocking that moment for someone else when they’re just a teenager.
You can create moments like this for thousands of people. Here’s how:
Email me (neal@codenow.org) if you are willing to…
- Connect me with a forward thinking company or foundation we should work with.
- Introduce me to a young person who is curious about tech and willing to work hard.
I hope you enjoyed this story. Thanks for taking the time to read it. If I’m missing something, or if you’d like to learn more, just hit me up at neal@codenow.org.
Thanks everyone. Here’s to five more years of meaningful work.
Neal Sales-Griffin
