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I think a good startup (I might even persue this idea) is a corporate-mentoring program that basically does code reviews w/ junior/mid-level team members esp -

I think a good startup (I might even persue this idea) is a corporate-mentoring program that basically does code reviews w/ junior/mid-level team members esp - ones that maybe are having performance issues to go over code, or maybe even soft skills or productivity skills like communicating better or prioritizing and staying on scope. The mentor would maybe take on 10 people in an org, and every other week go over some of their code 1:1 and offer suggestions, etc.. Basically Uber for Senior Devs (but only as mentors/training purposes). Company could also help businesses build their own internal training systems to make juniors grow faster.

nradov 4y ago
Construx does something like that. https://academy.construx.com/ https://academy.construx.com/ There's probably room in the market for others, so if you want to start a business in that space then go for it. But what you're describing wouldn't really be considered a "startup" because that high-touch model can't scale up rapidly and there are minimal economies of scale. Companies doing training and coaching can only grow slowly because the service can't be automated and consistent quality depends on hiring the right type of employees. There aren't a lot of senior engineers who have the necessary experience and want to be full-time mentors, and those who do exist are expensive.
IanOzsvald 4y ago
I do some of this in data science when I'm giving strategic support to teams. Be aware that managers generally see you as a cost who doesn't bring financial benefit to the team (whilst the team are desperately asking for practical training so they can deliver quicker). Find ways to couch your offering in business benefits - you've helped teams avoid expensive bugs or via pragmatic refactoring they've responded to market change faster. Finding believable examples IMHO is actually quite hard. I've found managers far more open to strategic support (to help the team "go in the right direction"), with things like teaching code reviews and best practices bolted on as secondary benefits.

nradov 4y ago

Construx does something like that. https://academy.construx.com/ https://academy.construx.com/ There's probably room in the market for others, so if you want to start a business in that space then go for it. But what you're describing wouldn't really be considered a "startup" because that high-touch model can't scale up rapidly and there are minimal economies of scale. Companies doing training and coaching can only grow slowly because the service can't be automated and consistent quality depends on hiring the right type of employees. There aren't a lot of senior engineers who have the necessary experience and want to be full-time mentors, and those who do exist are expensive.

IanOzsvald 4y ago

I do some of this in data science when I'm giving strategic support to teams. Be aware that managers generally see you as a cost who doesn't bring financial benefit to the team (whilst the team are desperately asking for practical training so they can deliver quicker). Find ways to couch your offering in business benefits - you've helped teams avoid expensive bugs or via pragmatic refactoring they've responded to market change faster. Finding believable examples IMHO is actually quite hard. I've found managers far more open to strategic support (to help the team "go in the right direction"), with things like teaching code reviews and best practices bolted on as secondary benefits.