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    No one’s too young to have an impact: Zach Sims, co-founder, Codeacademy

    Synopsis

    Zach Sims, co-founder of Codecademy, on how he went from a political science student to a successful coding startup

    ET Bureau
    It used to be that only the most ardent tech enthusiasts concerned themselves with computer coding. Over the last two years, the coding craze has gone mainstream with even the likes of will.i.am singing its praises. With over 24 million users around the world, Codecademy, co-founded by Americans Zach Sims, 24, and his college mate Ryan Bubinski, is among the most successful of learn-to-code platforms. Sims started Codecademy to make ordinary people conversant in computer languages (for free) because he believes that “programming and algorithm are a fundamental part of 21st century literacy”.

    Even more crucially, he says, it will bridge the gap between theoretical education and the practical skills required to land a job. In a conversation from Connecticut, Sims discusses Codecademy, its origins and its impact:

    From Columbia to Codecademy

    Before I started this venture, I was a political science major at Columbia University. But the skills that I was learning in school was not necessarily relevant or applicable to what I wanted to do after graduation. There is a gap between what we are teaching in schools and what labour really needs. So my co-founder Ryan and I created the first version of Codecademy, essentially to teach myself how to program.

    Trying to stay the course

    Before Codecademy, we tried out a couple of ideas. One of the ideas was a product that would test people — kind of a quiz for software developers. That didn’t work. It’s always difficult when you are starting something. The real challenge is staying the course. Working with good people is important, as is having great mentors.

    His favourite coding success story

    There have been many but the one that is amazing to me is a girl named Martha, who lives in Nairobi, Kenya. She didn’t know how to program at all before she began with Codecademy. After her stint, she started something called the Nairobi Dev School that, in turn, does what we do. She really got the ethos of what we do.

    Famous people learning to code

    I think it was great that people have been independently learning to code without us seeking out their endorsements. People like Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, and the actor-rapper Childish Gambino (Donald Glover of Community).

    Succeeding young

    With the internet, you don’t have to wait till you are of a certain age to be successful. I believe that no one’s too young to make an impact. Anyone can start something and make a big difference. You have to simply trust in yourself.

    When he is not coding...

    He is an athlete: I love running and cycling. I have run a few half-marathons and am hoping this year to do a full marathon.

    He reads: Some of my favourite books are High Output Management by Andrew Grove of Intel, Ben Horowitz’s new one The Hard Thing About Hard Things and The PayPal Wars.

    He enjoys his gadgets: I love all gizmos but I carry my Kindle wherever I go.
    ( Originally published on Aug 06, 2014 )

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