This is an interesting business model. I like it, but am interested to see how you will commit people to paying you $100/month for the next 5 years unless structuring it as a loan (which has it's own headaches)
For those interested in something similar, my understanding is that Code Academy (Different than YC startup codecademy) http://codeacademy.org in Chicago is phenomenal. I met a bunch of their students at the HN meetup in Chicago last week and they were raving about it. From what I understand, the 35 folks in their current batch are going to have multiple job offers, and DHH is a huge supporter, so much so that he's taught a class.
With the rise and popularity of 'teach to code' services, it remains to be seen which model works best.
Taking a person from 0 (or very, very little) knowledge and experience to the point where they can be at all effective as a software developer is difficult. Expecting a matter of weeks to turn someone such as this into hireable material is a dangerous attitude to have.
I'm very curious to see the graduates of these courses and even more curious to see how their skills are represented to possible hiring companies.
It's all about what the needs and expectations of the individual is - and properly setting them. As one of the founders of http://codeacademy.org I can say first-hand that it is possible to get people to a point where they are happy with their progress. But rather than asserting - our students' own perspectives is the actual evidence: http://codeacademy.org/culture
If anyone would like to know more about our experience starting and running this program - I'd love to help you however I can. It's great that there are so many people getting passionate about the issue of educating more people on how to solve problems through software.
You have to be kidding me. How hard is it to distinguish Code Academy from codecademy in Neal's comment? Neal just referenced Code Academy multiple times in this comment, but you put codecademy?
Not only that, but the two companies couldn't be anymore different. If you truly love what Neal is doing, you would know that you have not completed the program, because that would mean that you are a student in Chicago who is currently 8 weeks through the Code Academy program.
We can disagree about what approach is the best to take when teaching people how to code, but we can at get the names of companies and what they do right.
I am a Code Academy Student and it has been an amazing experience. I really don't think that I could have a better atmosphere for learning. The professor is one of the best I have had, the mentors are all very accomplished craftsman, but the atmosphere and student interaction might be the most valuable part. The 35 people devoting all of their time learning rails are unbelievably motivated and passionate. Just about every hour of the day there are people learning, asking questions, and working on projects together. To me, that part alone was worth the price of admission.
When we finish I know that I won't be half as good as most of the people on HN, but I do know that I have a solid base on which to build on. Not only can I read a lot of the technical posts on HN and fully understand them, but can take those and implement them into my projects. Most of the students in Code Academy came with startup ideas, and now not only have the ability to program them ourselves, but we have a solid network to help get it done if we need it.
I'm a Code Academy student, here in Chicago. Obviously I love the concept otherwise I wouldn't invest $ and 12 weeks for this. It's not just the stuff you learn, it's also a lot about the great group of students who have really been helping each other. It's about the mentors and the people who can answer your questions as you learn as well. And Chicago's tech community's response has been outstanding. I'm not a CS major but this will give me a solid foundation to be a programmer and continue to learn.
Isn't this more of a consulting (or contracting) company? At least that's how most of the smaller (20-50 consultants and 1-5 management) companies works around here.
For those interested in something similar, my understanding is that Code Academy (Different than YC startup codecademy) http://codeacademy.org in Chicago is phenomenal. I met a bunch of their students at the HN meetup in Chicago last week and they were raving about it. From what I understand, the 35 folks in their current batch are going to have multiple job offers, and DHH is a huge supporter, so much so that he's taught a class.