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Good on you man! You: 1. Dodged a bullet (booo on any company that would reject someone with this level of passion). 2. Created your own product (which you se

Good on you man! You: 1. Dodged a bullet (booo on any company that would reject someone with this level of passion). 2. Created your own product (which you seem even more passionate about) 3. Did all the heavy lifting to make it interesting out of the gate (provided content). Wishing you all the success!

q-big 5y ago
> 1. Dodged a bullet (booo on any company that would reject someone with this level of passion). Considering what he writes on https://docs.codeamigo.dev/blog/why-codeamigo https://docs.codeamigo.dev/blog/why-codeamigo, I would assume that he has a somewhat different vision on the product than Codeacademy.
- codingdave 5y ago
  Agreed - passion is great when aligned with the business direction, but can be downright toxic when in conflict.
  - masklinn 5y ago
    I can only concur, having someone who's extremely passionate about a project but whose vision diverges drastically from the project's leads is hell all around. Given GP seems to indeed have quite divergent opinions about the product's focus: > What bothered me about the platform was that I didn't know or connect with my teachers. I wanted to connect with members of my community and learn from them, instead of just digesting information from a black box. then it's probably a better thing that they went and created their own version focused on what they think is important.
  - samstave 5y ago
    Its where "mac fanbois" or "BOFHs" come from... I worked with a guy who was so mac focused he was blind to other tools/perspectives and it was often a friction point between team-members...
    - rpmisms 5y ago
      So many people like this just need a little dose of pragmatism. It helped my worldview immensely.
      - q-big 5y ago
        The problem is that this kind of idealism is often what kindles the passion for various programmings topics in quite some people.
PragmaticPulp 5y ago
> 1. Dodged a bullet (booo on any company that would reject someone with this level of passion). Passion is a double-edged sword: When a person's passions align closely with the company's needs, it's wonderful. But if a person's passions conflict with what the founders want, the passion can amplify the conflict. That's why it's important to understand exactly what the candidate is passionate about. If they're passionate about helping the company wherever necessary, that's one thing. If they're passionate about something tangential and they expect the shift the company in that direction by joining, that's something else. Codeamigo appears distinctly different than Codeacademy in some key areas, as the author explains, so I wouldn't assume that his passions aligned exactly with what Codeacademy was hiring fire. I think it's best to give the benefit of the doubt to Codeacademy in this case. Remember: Being rejected from a job doesn't mean someone is unqualified or a bad developer. There's more to matching candidates to a team and not every candidate is a good match for every team.
- beepbooptheory 5y ago
  Is there any room left for someone to just be good at something and a company pays them to do that thing.
- mylons 5y ago
  Why is it best to give Codeacademy the benefit of the doubt? They likely hire by committee, like any tech company. In that scenario it's entirely dependent on who the committee is. It's not like Codeacademy, or any company for that matter, has some idempotent interviewing process. If you changed the interview panels, or some of the questions, the candidate may likely have received an offer.
  - pkrotich 5y ago
    Have you hired anyone? Asking because your comment make it sounds like there's science to it. I don't like the committee hiring as well but team or manager level hiring can segment the company culture. Also individuals can be biased and hire based on vibes or who is like them etc. - committee brings a check to that, that's why it's common. The truth is - you'll miss some great candidates because they simply interview poorly and of the flip side sometimes get a professional interviewee that cannot deliver once hired. You can also get a brilliant 10x candidate but a complete asshole (e.g CEO wanna be) that will destroy your team once hired.
0xFACEFEED 5y ago
> 1. Dodged a bullet I'd argue that Codecademy dodged a bullet. Calling them out by name is in really bad taste IMO. Let's be honest: if he had launched a coding tutorial website thing and it didn't have the "comeback story" marketing narrative then no one would care.
- jgwil2 5y ago
  If it's so easy to build a coding tutorial website, then what advantage does Codecademy have beyond name recognition? So you're not competing with their tech, you're competing with their marketing. You say bad taste, I say good marketing.
  - splistud 5y ago
    Content? Seems like a good advantage to have for a tutorial website.
  - 0xFACEFEED 5y ago
    I don't think it's objectively good marketing. But then I guess it depends on what your philosophical stance is on "succès de scandale" (a logical extreme; there isn't much controversy here). My stance on the ethics of marketing is that "anything goes" until you start tarnishing the names of others to get ahead. This is why trash talking past employers/coworkers has always been an insta-no-hire in my book for example. Now I don't know to overstate what this guy did. Obviously he's not outright trash talking here. But I think once you form a company and start marketing then you should be held to some ethical standard. If you mention other people or companies by name then consider how what you're saying could be perceived.
- ironmagma 5y ago
  What kind of harm does this actually do to Codecademy? I would argue none. There is no downside to calling them out.
  - 0xFACEFEED 5y ago
    Just look at the comment above mine: "booo on any company that". Some people will perceive his rejection as bad hiring practices on Codecademy's part. Every comeback story needs a bad guy that rejects or pushes down the hero before they rise. That's what makes this post interesting. It's certainly not the content; creating a web app of stitched together NPM packages isn't exactly a major challenge these days. Especially if you're copying something else feature-by-feature.
hellbannedguy 5y ago
I sometimes think the most brilliant/creative people are often overlooked in hiring, and admittance to programs. Whomever you are--you will do well in life. I've know some brilliant people who seem to suffer from anxiety, and depression. Don't push yourself to hard. I love the simplicity of your site. I will now signup.

q-big 5y ago

> 1. Dodged a bullet (booo on any company that would reject someone with this level of passion). Considering what he writes on https://docs.codeamigo.dev/blog/why-codeamigo https://docs.codeamigo.dev/blog/why-codeamigo, I would assume that he has a somewhat different vision on the product than Codeacademy.

codingdave 5y ago
Agreed - passion is great when aligned with the business direction, but can be downright toxic when in conflict.
- masklinn 5y ago
  I can only concur, having someone who's extremely passionate about a project but whose vision diverges drastically from the project's leads is hell all around. Given GP seems to indeed have quite divergent opinions about the product's focus: > What bothered me about the platform was that I didn't know or connect with my teachers. I wanted to connect with members of my community and learn from them, instead of just digesting information from a black box. then it's probably a better thing that they went and created their own version focused on what they think is important.
- samstave 5y ago
  Its where "mac fanbois" or "BOFHs" come from... I worked with a guy who was so mac focused he was blind to other tools/perspectives and it was often a friction point between team-members...
  - rpmisms 5y ago
    So many people like this just need a little dose of pragmatism. It helped my worldview immensely.
    - q-big 5y ago
      The problem is that this kind of idealism is often what kindles the passion for various programmings topics in quite some people.

PragmaticPulp 5y ago

> 1. Dodged a bullet (booo on any company that would reject someone with this level of passion). Passion is a double-edged sword: When a person's passions align closely with the company's needs, it's wonderful. But if a person's passions conflict with what the founders want, the passion can amplify the conflict. That's why it's important to understand exactly what the candidate is passionate about. If they're passionate about helping the company wherever necessary, that's one thing. If they're passionate about something tangential and they expect the shift the company in that direction by joining, that's something else. Codeamigo appears distinctly different than Codeacademy in some key areas, as the author explains, so I wouldn't assume that his passions aligned exactly with what Codeacademy was hiring fire. I think it's best to give the benefit of the doubt to Codeacademy in this case. Remember: Being rejected from a job doesn't mean someone is unqualified or a bad developer. There's more to matching candidates to a team and not every candidate is a good match for every team.

beepbooptheory 5y ago
Is there any room left for someone to just be good at something and a company pays them to do that thing.
mylons 5y ago
Why is it best to give Codeacademy the benefit of the doubt? They likely hire by committee, like any tech company. In that scenario it's entirely dependent on who the committee is. It's not like Codeacademy, or any company for that matter, has some idempotent interviewing process. If you changed the interview panels, or some of the questions, the candidate may likely have received an offer.
- pkrotich 5y ago
  Have you hired anyone? Asking because your comment make it sounds like there's science to it. I don't like the committee hiring as well but team or manager level hiring can segment the company culture. Also individuals can be biased and hire based on vibes or who is like them etc. - committee brings a check to that, that's why it's common. The truth is - you'll miss some great candidates because they simply interview poorly and of the flip side sometimes get a professional interviewee that cannot deliver once hired. You can also get a brilliant 10x candidate but a complete asshole (e.g CEO wanna be) that will destroy your team once hired.

0xFACEFEED 5y ago

> 1. Dodged a bullet I'd argue that Codecademy dodged a bullet. Calling them out by name is in really bad taste IMO. Let's be honest: if he had launched a coding tutorial website thing and it didn't have the "comeback story" marketing narrative then no one would care.

jgwil2 5y ago
If it's so easy to build a coding tutorial website, then what advantage does Codecademy have beyond name recognition? So you're not competing with their tech, you're competing with their marketing. You say bad taste, I say good marketing.
- splistud 5y ago
  Content? Seems like a good advantage to have for a tutorial website.
- 0xFACEFEED 5y ago
  I don't think it's objectively good marketing. But then I guess it depends on what your philosophical stance is on "succès de scandale" (a logical extreme; there isn't much controversy here). My stance on the ethics of marketing is that "anything goes" until you start tarnishing the names of others to get ahead. This is why trash talking past employers/coworkers has always been an insta-no-hire in my book for example. Now I don't know to overstate what this guy did. Obviously he's not outright trash talking here. But I think once you form a company and start marketing then you should be held to some ethical standard. If you mention other people or companies by name then consider how what you're saying could be perceived.
ironmagma 5y ago
What kind of harm does this actually do to Codecademy? I would argue none. There is no downside to calling them out.
- 0xFACEFEED 5y ago
  Just look at the comment above mine: "booo on any company that". Some people will perceive his rejection as bad hiring practices on Codecademy's part. Every comeback story needs a bad guy that rejects or pushes down the hero before they rise. That's what makes this post interesting. It's certainly not the content; creating a web app of stitched together NPM packages isn't exactly a major challenge these days. Especially if you're copying something else feature-by-feature.

hellbannedguy 5y ago

I sometimes think the most brilliant/creative people are often overlooked in hiring, and admittance to programs. Whomever you are--you will do well in life. I've know some brilliant people who seem to suffer from anxiety, and depression. Don't push yourself to hard. I love the simplicity of your site. I will now signup.