'Founders Who Fundraise' is a new blog series highlighting founders in the Bowery portfolio and their origin stories. Have you ever wondered how founders come up with their ideas, how they approach testing and validating, as well as their approach to fundraising? This series will share stories from the founder’s POV and provide insight on the inner workings of starting a VC backed business.
Codecademy is a platform used by millions to learn to code. In this interview, we sit down with Zach Sims, the Co-Founder, and CEO of Codecademy, to discuss how the platform was started and his journey as an entrepreneur.
How did you come up with the idea for Codecademy?
I started Codecademy when I was a junior at Columbia. After taking my first computer science class, I knew I wanted to become an engineer myself. I found the process frustrating and the CS classes challenging. When I looked at the tech job market, I realized there were millions of software engineering-oriented jobs available and ultimately that technology companies would run the future job markets. Connecting the fact that learning CS was difficult, along with the fact that the future would be technology-driven, I knew there needed to be an institution to teach the important skills of tomorrow. At the time, data institutions didn't exist, so I wanted to create one!
Can you share how you approached the idea of starting with your co-founder?
My co-founder and I worked on the Columbia Spectator (college newspaper) together. We grew up in college together. While working on the newspaper, Ryan and I spent a lot of time discussing the problem that Codecademy would solve. Ryan took on addressing the problem while I focused on application development. We spent a lot of time thinking about how to teach people programming and fixing the gaps in current programming programs.
While studying, I started spending time working with other startups in NYC, including GroupMe (pre-acquisition by Skype). By senior year, I had to decide between staying in school or working with Ryan on a project I thought was important. We started with a few ideas, so we didn't initially start with Codecademy. It began with interviewing people and helping them find jobs and ended with the idea of Codecademy. We spent many nights and weekends together and then applied to YCombinator, and that's when it became a real company. We acquired funding from other people to start building it as a product.
What was your process for testing market validation before raising money?
We got into YCombinator with a completely different idea, and over the summer, we worked on that idea. What was really frustrating was trying to teach myself different coding languages to contribute to the product. Ryan was already an engineer, and everything I tried to learn during nights and weekends in order to contribute was much harder than I thought. So, I was really the first user that we were designing for, and once we realized that, a couple of friends became users as well. We also spent a lot of time with the community we built at Columbia, spoke to lots of members, and tried to build something to solve their problems - namely interactivity and learning by doing. That was the biggest insight for us. So we built the first personal product with that insight, and when we launched, it was 3-4 weeks after we started working on the first version of the product. We were getting quick user feedback which we shared with partners at YCombinator. It was a very quick period from idea to first iteration to launch. We were lucky to have early versions of the product reach product-market fit right after launch.
What was your approach to fundraising?
We were lucky to get into Y Combinator, as it solved a lot of early financing woes. After the first round, we became the fastest-growing YC company ever. In the next round, we spent 4-6 weeks raising a round of financing, which was over pretty quickly because of the success we had with the product early on.
What is it like balancing the fundraising process but also the day-to-day operations/responsibilities of your role?
When it came down to final pitches, we were doing those together. However, I would take early/first meetings, and then Ryan would take second and third meetings.
What have you learned that you wish you knew during the fundraising process?
A lot of what I learned was on the job and learning with YC. At YC, we got lots of feedback from partners (for example, design partners) who coached us for fundraising and taking accountability. So all across the board, YC was really helpful in working through what to build, who to build it for, hiring, and then how to raise money and take advantage of what we were building. It was a lot of hands-on advice.
Reflecting on your journey so far, what is something that has changed in your life since starting Codecademy?
Codecademy is basically my life. I started as a junior in college, so a lot of things have changed. Professionally, there is nothing more fulfilling than creating a great place to work for hundreds of people. I think the most important thing for me is making a better life for the people who use the product. At this point, more than 59 million people have taken lessons on Codecademy, the vast majority of whom have learned a meaningful skill and progressed in their careers as a result.
General advice for young entrepreneurs?
I think the most important thing is to get started. Everyone waits for the right time to start a company, but there isn't one. What I realized in my sophomore year is that there is never a better time to start a company than in college. Because if you fail, you just go back to college. Whereas for the rest of your life, it matters a lot more if you fail.
Conclusion
Zach Sims is a successful entrepreneur who has created a platform that has impacted millions of people around the world. His story is one of determination, hard work, and a willingness to learn from others. His advice to young entrepreneurs is to get started and not wait for the perfect time. With Codecademy, he has created a platform that has helped millions of people learn valuable skills and progress in their careers.
If you liked “Founders Who Fundraise - Zach Sims (Codecademy)” and want to read more content from the Bowery Capital Team, check out other relevant posts from the Bowery Capital Blog.
