Culture matters. Don’t screw it up.

I love the stuff that the First Round Capital guys put on their blog, and their most recent piece about Survey Monkey founder Dave Goldberg is no exception. From the very beginning, we’ve been preaching about a lot of what was said. My favorite quote from that story:

Corporate culture isn’t your company’s ping-pong table.  It’s not your catered lunch.  It’s not the posters you tape onto the office walls.  A real culture is the cumulative effect of productive relationships among employees.

To build a culture like this Goldberg (smart guy) takes folks who are smart, talented, and motivated, and trains them on company time and on the company dime. Sound familiar? He chooses fit over credentials, and even notes that his worst hiring decisions have come from hiring people with the right skills but the wrong personality. He’s not alone. Tony Hsieh hires for culture too, and says that bad hires early on have probably cost his company $100M.

So how can you hire for culture, and more importantly, how can you avoid that terrible hire that costs your company time and money?

Build a network. Then hire from it.

We’ve been involved in the tech careers industry for a few years now, and if there’s one thing we know, it’s that you’ll (always) find your best hires from personal networks and referrals. They’re just perfect. Company employs developer A, who is friends with developer B. Developer A really likes his job, and he thinks developer B would be a great fit, so he encourages the company to hire her. What’s great about all this is that developer A, whom the company already presumably loves, is the screen for developer B, and developer A, as a friend of developer B, is the screen for the company too. Developer A is the best pre-screener imaginable, because he does it from both sides. Perfect.

Since this path is so effective, we recommend you do everything you can to nurture it. Start a referral program if you don’t have one already, and for goodness sake make it easy for employees to use. We’ve seen way too many clients who have a referral program but don’t make it very easy for their employees to use. Consider making landing pages for each of your job openings so that it’s easy for your employees to share on their social networks without too much work. Do stuff to build your network. Send your developers to conferences if they want to go. Host meetups in your office. Buy pizza for the local user groups. All of these things go a long way toward building a network of “known entities” that you can tap into when you’re ready to hire.

Recruiting strangers? Work with them first.

At some point, the networks start to wear a bit thin and you have to recruit folks with whom you’re less familiar. This is risky business. The problem is that the traditional method for hiring these folks–the interview–turns out to be a pretty shitty way to figure out if someone fits culturally. The problem is that it’s just not a genuine environment. Everyone is on their best behavior, and the technical questions are contrived, and the behavioral questions are contrived, and you just can’t get a really feeling for personality.

What beats an interview, hands down, is working with candidates our in the real world. You figure out technical ability, and personality, and fit, and none of it is fake or contrived. So how can you do that? You can hire interns. It’s expensive, but you’ll avoid making the wrong hire decision. You can go to or conduct your own hackathon. Give people the chance to work with your technology, or with their own technology, and work right alongside them for a weekend. Do you have an API? Offer tutorials or have a contest. Get to know the people who are using it. Present at a local meetup. Walk folks through some application, and then follow-up afterward.

All of these things (except maybe hiring interns) help you build a network and give you the chance to work with folks before you hire them. Awesome right?

You knew this was coming, right?

Kufikia lets you do it all. It’s a great way to expand your network. As a cohort sponsor, you’ll work with up to 30 different developers, many with backgrounds that are slightly different than yours. And Kufikia also gives you the chance to work right alongside potential hires. You won’t do it for a long time–just an hour each week–but when you do, it won’t be contrived. It’ll be as close as you can get to the real world without actually hiring someone.

And no, not all participants will be looking for jobs, but enough will, and you’ll get the unique opportunity to work with them and recruit the ones who really fit your organization. It’s early, but so far the vast majority of our program applicants say there’s at least a small chance (25% or better) that they’ll take new jobs in their own region from a company sponsor that they really like. More than 60% say those chances are better than 50/50.

Interested in Kufikia and want to be a sponsor? Sign up here. Want to participate? Sign up here.

Protected: Learn, teach, do good

This content is password-protected. To view it, please enter the password below.

Password:

Kufikia vs. Code School

Tags

developers, learn to code, software school, startups, technology

I’ve had the pleasure of introducing Kufikia to quite a few founders, CTOs, and developers over the past few weeks. Most immediately make a connection between our program and those offered at their local code school. Though the connection is certainly valid, there are some pretty significant differences between the two, both in purpose and methodology. I hope this post illuminates some of them.

Code School

For the uninitiated, the goal of code school is to teach people software development. These schools are typically brick and mortar, the instruction comes from employees (or volunteers) of the school itself, and in person attendance is required. In Nashville, there’s Nashville Software School; in Detroit, it’s Detroit Rails School; in New York and Boston, you can go to Startup Institute; in Chicago, there’s Starter League (backed by 37Signals), and in Silicon Valley there are several, including Coding Dojo.

If you want to learn to code, these are great places to do it. They’re not bogged down by the institutional pace of most universities, they typically charge tuition but not a significant amount by today’s university standards, curriculum is up to date, and they focus on the stuff that will help you get up to speed quickly. If you want to eventually make software development your profession, especially in a startup type environment, then I’d recommend choosing these schools as the place to start vs. self-driven alternatives like Codecademy. In fact, MIT, Stanford and the like notwithstanding, they may even be a better start than university programs.

Code school will not take you from zero to Sr. Developer at Super Hot Startup, Inc. over the course of three months, but if you’re smart and motivated to switch careers, they’re a good place to start.

Code School vs. Kufikia

So Kufikia offers to teach folks Rails or Django, just like code school. What’s different?

Well, a lot actually. Probably the biggest practical difference is that Kufikia is for experienced developers, while most code schools are geared more toward beginners. My list:

1. Our target students are different – Kufikia is built for experienced developers. Our goal is to teach new technology to folks who are already building software for a living. Most of them are driven to learn already. We just enhance the process, and maybe make it a little more fun. 
2. We don’t produce our own materials – With Kufikia, we’re purposefully not re-inventing the wheel. Tons of tremendous resources for learning already exist. We choose the best available and build curriculum around them.
3. Jobs are a side effect, but not the main purpose – Our goal with Kufikia is to enhance the way people learn so that it’s easier for them to learn more and so they are actually motivated to do so. Helping folks find new jobs and helping companies get to know new potential employees are both wonderful side effects, and we wouldn’t be able to exist without them, but we’re perfectly happy to see most students go through our program just to learn something new.
4. We’re distributed, part time, and self-driven – Kufikia is not brick and mortar. We live online, and our courses are self-directed. In fact, most of our curriculum is freely distributed on the web. We want to make our program available to folks who are gainfully employed and have plenty of other stuff to do.
5. “Learning a new skill” isn’t really the main benefit – You can learn exactly what we teach, exactly the way we teach it, without ever signing up for Kufikia. The more important things are the connections you’ll make with fellow students and the relationships you’ll build with our network of mentors. Learning with others helps you to avoid common and uncommon mistakes and being mentored by an expert, even if it’s only fifteen minutes per day, will help you become an expert that much faster. Learning isn’t the main benefit–learning with others is.

Today, everything is knowable. Do you realize how amazing that statement is? Back when I was in high school, that statement wasn’t true. Now, theoretically, anyone with a laptop and a connection to the web can learn whatever he or she wants. This new paradigm has significantly changed the way we learn, and we’re just now getting our feet wet. I personally think there’s plenty of room for both Kufikia and code school in that future.

I look forward to your comments! 

Climbing the Ladder as a Developer

Tags

developers, Education, engineers, professional development, startups

So Matt Makai has been in town the last few days, as Memphis is the latest stop on his Coding Across America tour. He was kind enough to speak at our Python Meetup on Monday, and has been hanging out since. It’s totally awesome what he’s doing, and if he’s stopping by your city you should take the opportunity to meet him and chat.

We had a great conversation yesterday about the nature of achievement and how in some ways it’s completely different for folks I’ll loosely describe as “makers” vs. folks in a more traditionally corporate profession. I spent my pre-startup years in corporate finance–it’s really hard to get too much more corporate than corporate finance–and achievement in that field was mostly measured by how quickly you got promoted, how close you were to managing, and, once there, how high up you got on that management ladder. The whole goal as a “finance guy” was to stop being a finance guy, and the achievement system was almost always inward facing. It was all about moving up inside the company you were working for.

For (most) makers (loosely defined as developers, designers, and other product creators), the difference couldn’t be greater. First of all, most makers don’t ever want to stop being makers. Even if the job also eventually encompasses management duties, the act of developing or designing a product is what’s really exciting to most developers and designers. My cofounder Brad actually left an earlier job because a promotion to management prevented him from being able to make things. That’s anecdotal of course, but I’d bet it’s probably pretty common. Even more interesting is the fact that professional achievement is oftentimes completely unrelated to the work you do inside the company you work for. For makers like Matt and Brad, professional achievement and professional self-worth is tied to things like learning and staying up to date with new technologies, contributing to open source projects, growing blog readership, presenting at conferences and meetups, and gaining respect from the developer community outside of work.

I think this is a big reason Kufikia has gained a lot of interest among developers. As part of the bigger professional development picture, it gives ambitious engineers a chance to learn, to be mentored by folks who know what they’re doing, and to connect with folks who have common interests. Exposure to new opportunities is an after-effect, but it’s a good one too.

As part of the bigger picture, thinking about how makers look at professional development as it relates to career satisfaction is hugely important for companies who hope to hire them and–especially–retain them. One of the biggest differences between developers and the corporate types is that for developers there really isn’t a well-defined “moving up the ladder” process. Sure, things like promotions are still important, but giving developers the kind of work that satisfies their curiosity, and giving them the opportunity to achieve some of the external goals I mentioned earlier are, I think, just as important. They’re certainly much more important than they might be for someone who’s interested in moving into management.

I’m not so sure much real thought about professional development happens very often these days–especially in startups. Granted, in some ways it’s silly to talk about where folks want to be in five years if there’s a good chance the company they work for will be dead or acquired in that time frame, but I think it’s still important to talk about professional development at a high level and at the very least get a feel for whether your employees are motivated by external recognition, internal recognition, a combination of the two, or something else entirely. One of the best ways to retain folks is to make sure they’re continually challenged and stimulated by the work they’re doing.

What are your thoughts? Do these kinds of conversations happen in your company? Would love to know what you think!

Kufikia is where great developers come to get even better. Want to sign up? Go here. Is your company interested in participating? Go here.

Fixing Online Technology Education

Tags

Education, online education, startups, technology

Soon, we’ll be launching Kufikia, a better way to learn tech online. Here’s why:

Online education–especially in technical subjects–is getting better by the week. There are endless combinations of curriculum and delivery methods, many of them absolutely top notch and improving continuously. With no bureaucracy holding them back, alternatives like Udacity, Codecademy, Treehouse, and tons of other independent efforts have the freedom to innovate and evolve. We recommend giving each of them a try.

There are problems though. A recent New York Times article points out that some larger online courses have a 90% attrition rate. Curriculum isn’t the problem, but there are problems nonetheless.

Problem No. 1 – The Effort/Results Ratio is Off

Every January, millions of people join gyms that they won’t go to more than a few times before other things get in the way. The problem? “Getting fit” or “losing weight” aren’t things that happen immediately. Those gym visits require a lot of effort–we lose at least an hour of our day, we wake up with new aches and pains, and we face the embarrassment of public struggle–all for what usually amounts to very small visible results. So, despite our logic telling us that being fit is a long-term win, we quit not long after we start.

The same is true for learning tech (or anything else) online. Logic tells us that expanding our knowledge via that machine learning course is a long-term win, but the lack of immediate results against the weight of “all the other stuff that’s going on” oftentimes causes us to drop out before we really get started.

Problem No. 2 – We’re All Alone

Studies have proven that individuals who agree to work out or lose weight as a group tend to stick with it longer and have greater success. It makes sense. Our partners can help motivate us when we’re feeling down, and can share in our successes when they happen. “Not letting down my friends” is a powerful motivator.

Same is true for education and most anything else that requires some effort. Real, genuine group interaction is a big deal, but it’s absent from many online courses. Individual achievement via group motivation is extremely powerful.

Problem No. 3 – We Don’t Have Help

Trainers are awesome. They help us with technique and help us overcome obstacles along the way. They can sometimes quickly help us find a solution that may have taken us hours of frustration to find on our own. They don’t need to be around every day, but they need to be there.

The lack of mentors are a big reason why so few students actually finish online courses. Students reach a point of frustration, can’t find a way out, and then quit. Learning technology is hard, and we all make mistakes. Sometimes they’re small, and sometimes they’re huge. Mentors help us get past them. They’re sorely needed.

Problem No. 4 – We (Sometimes) Bite Off More Than We Can Chew

Sometimes we get in too deep. Just as a couch potato rarely has any business training for an ultra-marathon (at least in the beginning), someone who has never written a line of html rarely has any business diving right into Ruby on Rails or Node.js. Baby steps and a logical understanding of our capabilities is a key to success.

Our Solution: Don’t Change the Content. Change the Structure.

Our solution is called Kufikia. We think you’ll like it.

We teach Ruby on Rails and/or Django (more courses coming soon) to experienced developers who want to learn in order to improve their employment prospects and/or their skill set. We don’t create our own curriculum–there are too many absolutely wonderful resources out there for us to attempt it. Instead, at Kufikia, we focus on the way the learning is structured.

First, we tackle problem no. 4. Students who sign up for Kufikia go through an application process that determines whether or not they’re likely to be successful graduates. If they’re not quite there, then they don’t get in.

Next, we take on problem no. 2. Students who make it through the application process get assigned to a learning cohort of only ten total students. These students will work together over the next nine weeks, sometimes competing with one another, and sometimes spurring each other on.

Then, we tackle problem no. 3. Each cohort is sponsored by a great company that in turn provides mentors for program participants. The student to mentor ratio is 2:1, and the group agrees on a set time each day to ask questions and talk about issues they might be having. Having the opportunity to work alongside experts is a huge part of what Kufikia is all about.

And finally, we take on problem no. 1. Sponsor companies provide mentors, but they also provide a cash incentive ($1,000 to be split between successful graduates) to those who successfully complete the program. It’s not much in the grand scheme of things, but it’s enough immediate gratification to keep most people motivated.

Our improved structure is a win-win for both students and companies. Companies will no doubt hire some of the job-seeking program grads (at a fraction of the cost and overhead), and students will have the opportunity to make a little money, work alongside experts, and improve their skills.

We’re excited about the program, and we’d love to know what you think! Reach out to us at hi@kufikia.com with feedback, follow us on twitter, and don’t forget to sign up as a student or a sponsor!

 

 

 

Introducing Kufikia

Today we’re introducing Kufikia. It’s a new vision for how we will learn new technology.

The premise is simple: a participant signs up to learn a new technology (right now Rails or Django with more coming soon). The learner gets assigned to a group of nine other students who work through an online course of study that’s designed to take them from experienced beginner to competent developer in just nine weeks. The class is subsidized by sponsor companies, each of which contribute both mentors and a cash incentive for successful course completion.

Kufikia is an experiment of sorts, but we’re excited to see what comes of it. It’s based on a few interesting ideas and maybe one or two assumptions:

1. There are a lot of smart folks who want to learn new technology. Some are finance folks who want to start their own companies, some are enterprise developers who want to learn something a bit more cutting edge, some are developers who are looking for more interesting work, and still others are just curious folks who want to learn something new and advance themselves both personally and professionally.
2. Many of these folks want to learn, and may have even tried it in the past, but many give up due to lack of support, help, or motivation.
3. The combination of schedule and location flexibility, small class size, financial and competitive incentive to succeed, and plenty of help along the way, will lead to an extremely high course completion rate both in general and when compared to other alternatives.
4. (This is the real kicker) Enough of these graduates will be looking for new jobs, and the benefits of hiring graduates from this program will be so significant, that it will be more than worth it for companies to subsidize all of the students.
5. We (Kufikia) and our sponsor companies will work together to teach countless students, the companies will hire a few of them, a few more will go on to found new companies, and the rest will advance their knowledge. Everyone wins, and the world is an amazingly better place.

The key to the program is that it’s extremely valuable to both sides of the party:

For learners, the opportunity to work with a small group and be mentored by experts is something that’s missing from most other programs outside of a university. And the fact that students are actually getting paid to be successful–rather than the other way around–is huge incentive to complete the course. At the very least they will have gained great new experience, and at the very most, they’ll have a brand new career to go with it.

For companies, the ability to find candidates who are skilled and who fit the company culture is the holy grail of recruiting. The opportunity to work closely with potential hires at a fraction of the cost of most other methods is more than enough benefit to offset the fact that not every learner will be looking for new work. Consider this: the average summer internship costs at least $15,000 in wages alone. That $15k is enough to pay for 75 program participants. The odds that a company can find at least one promising candidate from a group that large are pretty darn good.

Best of all, this program actually makes a dent in the universe. It will make it possible for countless individuals to positively contribute to society in the best way we know how–by making things. Now doesn’t that make you feel good?

If you’re interested in taking a course, sign up here.

If you’d like your company to sponsor one or more classes, tell us here.

If you have questions, feedback, or suggestions, you can always email us at hi@kufikia.com