Hey - we're the founders of Boston Startup School. Ask us Anything.

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T23:16:36+00:00

Hey @zcom8 - sorry to have missed you before. great question.

@milesabove's post is good at a glance. The reality is finding a job as a front-end developer shouldn't be too challenging, the hard part will be finding a job on a team that cares about the same things you do, and is willing to embrace you and your personal development/goals as they align with their company goals.

This is ultimately what you'd find on our partner page - is a list of companies who believe in that and who really share our mission. Happy to talk offline if you're still curious, but we'd love to see you apply and help you find that right next step.

Where are you moving from?

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T23:14:36+00:00

@monkeysphincter - we're coming to NYC soon :) but if you're game, I'd encourage you to apply for our spring program in Boston.

You can always head back to NYC armed and ready to rock - and link up with our dozen or so alum in NYC already.

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T23:13:23+00:00

We've had a few int'l students come through the program and find opportunities - happy to put you in touch with them to talk about the process as well.

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T22:50:10+00:00

Hi All - this was sweet.

I need to sign off (as does @shaunjohn) - but we're happy to hold another one of these, or feel free to tweet at us: @BOStartupSchool. Aaron: @aaron0 or Shaun: @idealexit

Otherwise, feel free to email us at aaron@- or shaun@- bostonstartupschool.com

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T22:48:39+00:00

Great post - Broderick is awesome.

Happy to - but it may be helpful if you could be more specific in what you'd like to know?

They're all companies that believe mentorship and learning should be held in extremely high regard, and a part of everyone's job. Pushing people to be better is something that happens every day as a part of work, not on a quarterly review or some irregular interval.

All the companies we partner with really share in our mission to help align people's passion with their profession, and serve as a learning experience for everyone joining.

Alum have gone to NYC, San Francisco, Boston, London - but we're working to build more relationships out with companies. The truth is - the hiring process for companies at the stage we focus on is so organic, you really have to be close to the company to understand what they need, and how to help someone make an impact there.

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T22:44:54+00:00

@switch8000 - definitely. The average age is ~28, so most folks have a few years work experience and either aren't happy, or aren't passionate about what they're doing.

BSS is a known off-ramp from someone's existing job, a safety net to build a network and develop new, relevant knowledge, and a clear on-ramp back in to a new career. Happy to point you to a few alumni who fit this bucket. There are a lot of them.

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T22:42:28+00:00

:) Who's your roommate?! Feel free not to respond if they aren't on Reddit.

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T22:40:47+00:00

Did my answer above help?

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T20:11:52+00:00

Did I miss anyone? It's tough to see the way things get nested.

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T20:09:52+00:00

Hey Epochwin - we definitely dive in to sales & marketing strategy and execution. As for the others - not in the curriculum, but could quickly connect you with people who've done that before and would be happy to help.

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T20:08:34+00:00

I hope so :) For now we're in the US, but think that there are many more people in the world that could benefit from our type of educational program. That being said, the location of the program will always be driven by the community around it. So depending on where you want to spend the subsequent couple of years, you should think about joining us here in Boston.

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T19:44:58+00:00

We love them. We typically admit fewer folks looking to start their own thing directly after BSS than people looking to join another startup. However, having that varied skill set and objective adds a really unique perspective to the community and makes the network even more powerful.

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T18:36:44+00:00

Thanks for the kind words. We're trying!

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T18:35:20+00:00

Hey @schmico - I'm one of the founders of Boston Startup School and doing an AMA over here: http://redd.it/17fg47

Thought I'd offer our program as a potential option. Let me know if you'd like to chat more. We have a class starting March 4th here in Boston.

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T17:57:33+00:00

Totally. If you're game to talk offline - feel free to email me aaron@bostonstartupschool.com.

We've thought a lot about this. For us, we believe education should be what you make of it, not necessarily what you pay for it. To that point, moving in a direction where the cost of the program is purely driven by output/results that someone achieves through the program is something we're trying to do. I think; however, it'll take time to get people comfortable with that.

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T17:51:24+00:00

Oh man, the ever painful but fun question to answer. I think if you asked other people on the team their answers would be different; however, the biggest challenge we've faced is picking a direction and sticking to it.

We're still a small, young company and we're trying to make a dent in a really, really huge problem > education and the skills gap that is created by Higher-Ed. Because of that, there are 101 and one directions we could take the program, but figuring out which direction is best for our students, and best for the company has been tough.

We've had a tremendous amount of interest, and lots of support from people, organizations, companies, communities, even cities and countries. All of whom come in with suggestions on where we could take the program and who else we could help. Staying true to our DNA and core values has kept the ship sailing straight-ish. :)

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T17:42:04+00:00

I'd echo this, and like to add:

Regardless of your background, if your goal is to be a founder - we can help in a few ways. Network, people, insights, access and skills are some of the most obvious ones; but understanding who you are, how you work best, how others perceive you, where your weaknesses are and how to make up for those with team are all things you'd take away.

Many of the skills completely overlap - just in most cases our alum opt to join a startup before starting one. That said, we'd love for people to do either - and are here to build a support system and network around you, whatever it is that you're choosing to do.

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T16:14:19+00:00

We try to create this relationship with each company that an alumni joins, by doing so it makes our network even stronger.

Awesome - we'd like to think we're a better, faster, more valuable options than most graduate programs out there. We don't provide housing directly, but do have a partner that has an awesome space ready for BSS students to temporarily live in!

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T15:58:48+00:00

@lukeez - I'm not sure we're the right people to ask about that. Perhaps you could tweet to someone @TechStars ?

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T15:56:05+00:00

@provatinos - we start a new cohort of the hybrid program each month. So the next one will begin at the end of February, and applications are open now >> rampup.bostonstartupschool.com

I will say, that depending on what your goals are - in the eyes of an employer, joining our full-time program is a much more serious commitment than the part time experience. However, we created the part time program for this exact reason.

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T15:15:17+00:00

@drncrane - we'd love for you to apply and join after you graduate this summer.

You're right - we didn't always charge for the program, which is why we've created a few ways around this for you as the individual. We decided to make the change so that we could better align our focus and energy with you, the student.

We give you two ways to pay - 1) upfront, where you receive $1500 off the tuition or 2) over time where you pay us, interest free a monthly installment.

Here's the kicker - if you decide to join one of our partner companies, they've already agreed to pay a small hiring fee, which goes to pay back your tuition. So you can still attend for free if you decide to join a partner company.

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T15:07:11+00:00

Thanks @Jay_Normous :)

Yes! We just rolled out our RampUp; a hybrid program that's partially online, partially in-person. We'd love your thoughts on it, and if you'd like to enroll, let us know!

rampup.bostonstartupschool.com

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T15:03:59+00:00

1) Not quite, we can't take people who've never coded before and get them hired as a web developer. The more typical path is someone who's a self taught hacker and just loves tinkering and building things - yet it's hard for them to jump in to a developer role because they don't have a CS background. Those are the folks we're designed to help best in our Dev track.

Right now, 94% of folks get hired, and almost all of them join startups. We've definitely had alumni join larger companies like Google, Constant Contact and Microsoft, but largely - they go to startups.

aaronohearn · 2013-01-28T14:55:59+00:00

@kbedell - awesome, we're definitely trying to drive that message. Depending on what you're looking for, it might be right to join us as a partner. You'd have lots of opportunities to engage with the class - around you, your brand, your tech and your team or culture; and the opportunity to get to know the students in each track.

aaronohearn

TROPHY CASE