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Thanks HN for 15 years of support and helping me find my life's work
Tomorrow is the 15th anniversary of the first day of the Recurse Center (https://www.recurse.com/ https://www.recurse.com/)
My cofounders and I did YC all the way back in the Summer of 2010, with the initial idea of building "OkCupid for jobs." That idea quickly fizzled, and we spent the better part of a year pivoting between other ideas that also failed.
Finally, we made something that we wanted ourselves: a self-directed programming retreat, where people built fun projects, contributed to open source, and helped each other become better programmers.
After running two small batches, we launched on HN[1] and got an incredible reception.
That post on HN helped us reach beyond our personal networks and meet programmers from around the world, many of whom have since become friends. HN brought us the majority of people who came to our next few batches, and in the years since, HN has remained our #2 source of applicants (after word of mouth).
Alas, pg's comment[2] on HN when we launched turned out to be prescient: Running free programming retreats isn't a billion-dollar business, but it's still a worthwhile thing to do, and has positively impacted over 3,000 people so far. And 15 years on I still wake up every day excited to keep working on it.
So, thanks HN, for helping make the Recurse Center possible, and for helping me find my life's work.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3435183 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3435183
[2] "This sounds like a crazy plan for a startup, I realize, but this is the right sort of crazy. In fact, the way the Hackruiters think about Hacker School is a lot like the way we initially thought about YC: if it doesn't make money, it will at least have been a benevolent thing to do."
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- dgellow 3mo agoI had the chance to work with a bunch of Recurse alumni over the past 4 years, they have all been amazing, brilliant engineers and overall great people :)
- andrew_eu 3mo agoI like the definition of social rules [0]. I also wonder whether the roof rule was written preemptively or retrospectively -- I hope the former. I have my own thanks to give to HN. It's connected me to interesting people, online and IRL. It's led to some very strong friendships. It's led me to multiple job opportunities, and usually the better ones. It's changing of course, but I've had a great time in this community so far, and that deserves thanks. 0: https://www.recurse.com/social-rules https://www.recurse.com/social-rules
- ghostly_s 3mo ago> I also wonder whether the roof rule was written preemptively or retrospectively -- I hope the former. Presume you're referring to [1], not the page you linked, and one might be inclined to accuse you of __feigning surprise__ but if not: using the roof is a quite common expectation in mid-rise buildings in big cities like NY, though not usually in a building you don't yourself own/lease in. 1. https://www.recurse.com/code-of-conduct https://www.recurse.com/code-of-conduct
- golly_ned 3mo agoWhy would you think they are talking about an entirely different page and topic?
- sincerely 3mo agoWell there is no “roof rule” on the page they linked
- serial_dev 3mo agoIt might have been AutoCorrect, and the “social rules” the original comment makes hundred times more sense that way
- dxdm 3mo agoThe social rules page links to the code of conduct, which contains a rule about the roof. The most sensible interpretation to me is that OP wanted to comment on both, possibly forgetting that they had to follow a link to the roof rule, or maybe actively considering both pages to be a single unit. That would be the"strongest interpretation" of OPs comment, which the local guidelines prefer us to respond to.
- andrew_eu 3mo agoI'm honestly surprised how controversial this sub thread became. To put it to rest -- this is indeed correct. I commented on the roof rule but didn't link to the code of conduct because doing so didn't really seem to add anything that a reader couldn't find on their own.
- thierrydamiba 3mo agoAwesome story, thanks for sharing!
- kuanbutts 3mo agoThanks RC! I went back when it was Hacker School! Grateful that period of my life - grew so much!
- NetOpWibby 3mo agoI wish something like Recurse existed in Cupertino, I've always admired the program. Congrats on this milestone, most HN alumni don't make it past a decade.
- fragmede 3mo agoIt's very far from the same thing, but there's Hacker Dojo in Mountain View if you're looking for people irl to meet up with.
- NetOpWibby 3mo agoI’ll check it out!
- joao 3mo agoCongratulations! From time to time I visit your website and consider applying when between jobs but never did. Might try this year :)
- shalom1112 3mo ago[dead]
- saulpw 3mo agoRC is a great community and I will be forever grateful to them for introducing me to several good friends that are still in my life 10 years later.
- ThePhysicist 3mo agoCongrats Sonali, Nick, Dave & everyone else! I had an incredible time with you all in NY more than 10 years ago, it was so cool, and I'm still thinking of it very fondly. Spent my days hacking away in the space near Canal Street and the nights and weekends exploring NYC with other Recursers, visiting museums, parks and venturing out to buy cheap dumplings by the dozen. I was quite poor back then but I enjoyed my life so much, had a tiny room at the Kolping house on the Upper East Side which was very run down and tiny but also very cheap, basically just went there for sleeping and spent every other minute in the space and outside. No distractions, no possessions beyond my laptop, no responsibilities, simple but happy times. And then in 2021 I found my dream job at DuckDuckGo through RC, been working there for almost five years now! Thanks for everything and great to see it's still going strong!
- guessmyname 3mo agoI attended a Recurse Center batch, and while I understand that others had amazing experiences, mine was quite bland. I can't blame anyone but myself for this. Most of the other attendees were intelligent or highly self-motivated, or both. Many people seemed to connect instantly, forming small work groups, sharing project ideas, and even going out for lunch or dinner together. They were constantly talking about how awesome Zulip was (is?) [*] and engaged in a constant stick-measuring contest to see whose weekly project would make it to Hacker News’ top 30. At times, it felt like I had joined some sort of mini-cult. I know it wasn’t like that at all; it was just the visuals from an outsider in a completely different culture. As far as I can remember, people were very friendly, willing to help others whenever they were stuck, and happy to study and tackle challenging problems together. There were lots of learnings floating around the working space. Sadly, it didn’t work for me at all, and years later, I still don’t know why exactly. Perhaps it was the fast pace of New York City and SoHo itself? Or the rudeness of passersby, especially the police officers who couldn’t be bothered even if I just wanted to ask for directions? Or the dirtiness of the streets? The constant noise from cars honking all the time? The strange people in the Subway? The ubiquitous unhealthy food at every corner? Healthy food was difficult to find, at least for someone new to the city, and when accessible, it was unaffordable. Multiple times, I found myself working in the Recurse Center workspace with an empty stomach, which obviously exacerbated the bad experiences, but I can’t even complain about that because they often had free pizza (once, twice a week?) but obviously, pizza is unhealthy, so I never accepted. Overall, I had a very bad experience, but I believe nothing was Recurse Center’s fault; it was mine. I’m not entirely sure what I expected when I joined, but I hope this serves as a warning to future attendees to prepare themselves before joining, especially if you are not familiar with American culture, and particularly with New York. [*] https://zulip.com https://zulip.com (years later, I still don’t understand why people love Zulip so much)
- namanyayg 3mo agoI respect your opinion and experience, but FWIW for the readers, I had the completely opposite experience. The batch did divide into groups. Some people were learning functional programming, others focused on Transformers architecture, while yet others on dynamic programming. But I quickly found a small group of people who were building things that I was interested in, games and AI applications. In the unstructured time I was able to set my own goals, ship a lot, write a lot, and give a lot of talks on topics that are very interesting to me. I didn't expect or get any free food from the Recurse Centre -- I was in New York, I had the world's cuisines available to me. I often went on lunch along with other RC members to reasonably affordable places within walking distance. RC is not a college course with exams and a fixed syllabus -- It was unstructured and self-directed -- and that's what made it so special.
- shepherdjerred 3mo agoAh! I so wanted to go to the recurse center when I was between jobs, but I was too nervous to push my start date back a significant amount. I really hope I can do it one day. It sounds so awesome!
- namanyayg 3mo agoThanks for making Recurse so awesome Nick, and it was great running into you at demo day. I learned so much and made great friends at my six weeks in Brooklyn. Without Recurse Center I probably wouldn't have made it into YC with a startup of my own today. Long live RC!
- Uptrenda 3mo agoNever heard of recurse before but what a charming idea. Seems like you've found something amazing to do in life. Wholesome posts like OP are much welcome in tech. Updooted.
- flockonus 3mo agoAt first i found odd that pricing is nowhere in the website, but then i found it burried under FAQ (free!) - is it to weed out people who are focusing on free rather than going deeper into the experience? > How much does attending the Recurse Center cost? > RC is free for everyone. You will never receive a bill from RC. > How can you afford to make RC free? > RC has a built in recruiting agency. Companies pay to hire RC alumni. This payment never comes out of your salary.
- nicholasjbs 3mo agoYes, we want people to be making an intentional choice to come to RC, and not just to do it because it's free, so we don't lead with that. Our hope is that people will get excited about the idea, and then be pleasantly surprised when they discover that it's completely free. (While we don't like to lead with being free, we also don't mean to completely bury that fact -- e.g., we do have it on the front page, albeit at the very bottom. Perhaps we should make this a little more prominent. Thanks for the feedback!)
- flockonus 2mo agoAh yes, i missed it because i cmd+F for "pric" & "cost" - but now i read more carefully, it makes sense. It also speaks about the biz model. Personally i wouldn't change a thing, other than perhaps add one of those words (if at all).
- tracerbulletx 3mo agoHadn't heard of this before but its a cool idea. I often take my own little "programming retreats" and go to another city for a week and work out of a nice coworking space for a sense of focus and engagement with my work.
- pm90 3mo agoSome of the best engineers I worked at got their start in programming at the recurse center... thank you for the good you've done in this world!
- j45 3mo agoCongrats, helping people improve their lives and for their loved ones has its own return.
- jdorfman 3mo agoHN wouldn’t be HN without Dang. Thank you Dang.
- zallarak 3mo agoYou guys changed many lives including my own.
- voidsnax 3mo agoWhile I'm still waiting for the right moment in my own life to do my own Recurse Center retreat, I have had the pleasure of hiring and working with several RC alums over the years and in every instance have found them to be high-quality developers and interesting people to boot. Big congrats to RC for 15 years!
- atherton94027 3mo agoCongrats! I'd be curious to hear what changed (and what didn't) with applicants over the last 15 years. I feel like the programming community is very different than in the early 2010s – when's the last time you've seen a coworker brag about using vim – but I can't really put my finger on what changed exactly.
- wxw 3mo agoRecurse is an incredible community. Thanks for everything you’ve done for the NYC and broader tech ecosystem!
- mnky9800n 3mo agoI loved my time at RC. It changed me a lot. I wrote several blog posts about different projects and my time during my batch. I would strongly suggest applying if you like computers and want to talk about them constantly while building cool stuff. https://www.lowimpactfruit.com/p/rainy-citycom-a-side-project-i-have https://www.lowimpactfruit.com/p/rainy-citycom-a-side-projec... https://www.lowimpactfruit.com/p/zork-bench-an-llm-reasoning-eval https://www.lowimpactfruit.com/p/zork-bench-an-llm-reasoning... https://www.lowimpactfruit.com/p/my-return-statement https://www.lowimpactfruit.com/p/my-return-statement
- fcjr 3mo agoMy time at RC has genuinely changed my life. I joined my first batch expecting to dust some rust off after being in management at my last gig, and found a community I will cherish for the rest of my life! If you looking for community in tech I can't think of a better place. To 15 more!
- FanaHOVA 3mo agoCongrats!! I remember growing up in Italy and really really wanting to attend Hacker School but couldn’t afford to. It resonated a lot with me and make me want to keep learning; I am sure you are still having that impact on others today, it’s great to see it’s still around!
- bubulovegod 3mo agocongratulation! i first time know this. and i am curious what RC is like for remote participant? also, i would like to apply!
- pjg1 3mo agoThe Recurse website has a page that describes the remote experience - https://www.recurse.com/virtual-rc https://www.recurse.com/virtual-rc I've also attended RC remotely, so happy to answer any specific questions
- hack1312 3mo agoI really like this idea, but I’m not clear how the logistics work out. It’s “free” but 1.5 - 3 months in NYC is not cheap and would mean carrying double rent for that period of time on top of living expenses. Is there financial assistance or are participants expected to cover all of their own costs? If so doesn’t that make this only accessible to those quite well off already? That is, those who can afford to take off 1.5-3 months while covering the cost of living in one of the most expensive cities in the world. I see there’s a remote option but the in-person aspect of this really feels key to the experience. Really not trying to be a spoil sport because the idea is incredible and worthwhile but I couldn’t find the answers looking at your website.
- kraken_cult 3mo agoI think it's more for folks who were making ~150k starting in 2012-2018. Most of them can afford to keep a place in new york and take a sabbatical.
- larodi 3mo agoSo, tis for leets, not for folks…
- nullbyte808 3mo agohttps://www.recurse.com/virtual-rc https://www.recurse.com/virtual-rc
- izzygonzalez 3mo agour welcome
- kaikai 3mo agoI’m really grateful for the time I spent at the recurse center! Thank you for all the work that goes into making such a special community.
- hahahaa 3mo agoWill you consider franchising or expanding to other countries?
- vnce 3mo agoI just love that this exists. Learning about it for the first time here, it was such a joy reading the website, watching the videos and understanding the school’s philosophy. Even how they define what a successful applicant looks like, and commitment to diversity brought a smile to my face. Maybe one day…
- z0ltan 3mo ago[dead]
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- imantaba 3mo agoCongrats
- vugar82 3mo agoCongratulations on 15 years! Recurse Center has had an incredible impact on the programming community. Thanks for investing in people instead of just chasing growth. Here's to many more years!
- inferhaven 3mo agoLove to see someone having success and fulfilling their dreams, congratz!
- Abishek_Muthian 3mo agoCan you tell us what why "OkCupid for jobs" failed? I run a problem validation platform and 'OkCupid for jobs'[1] is consistently the most visited need-gap in the platform. Congratulations on 15 years of Recurse Center! [1] https://needgap.com/problems/363?gift=Z2lmdHwzNjN8MTc4NDQ1Mzc2NQ.ZALv7618EhVWAoCE3q4W4YXSVBu64rYybZI70drYlHk https://needgap.com/problems/363?gift=Z2lmdHwzNjN8MTc4NDQ1Mz... (gift pass link valid for 24 hours).
- f6v 3mo agoNot OP, but I was an early employee at a startup that pivoted into this market. The short answer is that you need to do what large-scale enterprise customers want you to do (because that's where the money is). To do that, you need a predictable pipeline that delivers X applications for Y money. One way to achieve that is to get into managing traffic from the big job boards. What we did in the early days was figure out how we can optimize client's sourcing budget to get the most applicants. We tried "Tinder for jobs" or some bs like that and just couldn't build business around that. Because in the end of the day, you'll end up building a platform that has to compete with Indeed and other established players.
- Abishek_Muthian 3mo agoI appreciate the comment. It's like jobseekers want OkCupid for jobs but the employers are not really interested in such a thing.
- nonameiguess 3mo agoBeats me what it's become, but OkCupid at the outset and probably still by 2010 was about estimating compatibility based on the results of quizzes taken by both parties. To improve results beyond OkCupid's built-in romantic personality types, you could submit your own quizzes or general questions, with results expected to get better the more questions in common both parties had answered. I don't completely remember, but I think you could even specify your own answer and an ideal match's answer separately. To me, the problems here are reasonably obvious. It works well enough provided the applicant pools are sufficiently small and both parties are honest. Even then, the point of OkCupid or any other dating service is just to get people to meet. Whether they end up in any kind of multi-year contractual relationship akin to getting a job is going to be extremely rare. You'd have to ask them if they even tracked it, but 1 marriage in 10,000 90%+ matches wouldn't surprise me as even an upper bound. Jobs aren't quite as serious as marriage, but still more serious than agreeing to meet for drinks. It's hard to see how you'd improve on the existing system of posting requisitions and applications. monster.com, indeed.com, whatever else has ever existed are seemingly already a dating service for jobs. Making it specifically "OkCupid for jobs" implies you have some kind of questionnaire-based compatibility estimator that is based on at least as much research as romantic compatibility, and I don't think that kind of research exists, and that the parties be at least as honest as those on OkCupid, which I also don't think will happen. I know the popular imagination is everyone lies on a dating service, but I don't think that's true. They exaggerate, but people will place in their search filters that they really do prefer a particular race, age range, socio-economic status, things that employers aren't legally allowed to admit to. That's aside from the principal/agent split in job requisitions that doesn't exist in dating. At least messaging someone on a dating service you can be reasonably well-assured the person who is claiming to know what they want is the person you'll be matching with. For a job, the requisitions are generic, not matched to a specific team or manager, so compatibility is even more spotty. A job seeker may be perfectly compatible with most teams in an organization, but still not appear to be with the organization itself, which usually expects to be able to move candidates between teams. Imagine a dating service where instead of having to convince a girl to go to prom with you, you have to instead match against her parents first, who have six daughters, might pair you with any of them, and base their own evaluations on a mix of what they believe is required and a stereotype of what they think teenage girls like. The problems aren't as alike as they superficially appear.
- knuckleheads 3mo agoCongrats! I very much enjoyed my time at Recurse Center back when it was Hacker School and idly daydream about returning some time. Thanks for making something so great!
- anonu 3mo agoFirst off, congrats. This sounds incredibly fulfilling on many levels. Second, I'm curious how your business changes with AI coding tools. I would wager humans will seek out your offering in greater numbers.
- zahlman 3mo agoBy my read of the intended culture, it shouldn't really change anything within the RC experience itself. The "social rules" are such that enthusiasts and skeptics should be able to work side by side, and show each other things they can learn from. Just like with any other technology. Edit: Looks like there was better discussion of this already (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48956925 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48956925).
- jagged-chisel 3mo agoI’m not sure I understand Recurse. Self-directed self-improvement. “Attending remotely” is even more self-directed. Ok, so Recurse is providing accountability partners or something similar? How is Recurse making money? I don’t see a pricing or tuition page.
- solomonb 3mo agoThey offer recruiting services.
- maxmynter95 3mo agoThanks Nick and Sonali (and Dave, though I didn’t meet you), I did RC last year and it was easily one of the Most influential periods of my life! I can‘t find words to do my gratitude justice for the work you‘re doing. Best wishes and Happy Birthday RC — max, Sp2 25
- ralphlarry 3mo ago[flagged]
- pietroppeter 3mo agoCongrats! I had a great time doing a batch remotely from Italy (2.5 years ago), there is a lot of investment in making sure the remote experience is great and it shows!
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- shykes 3mo agoCongrats from a fellow YCS10 founder :)
- solomonb 3mo agoThank you for creating Recurse! I had an incredible experience at RC in 2019. I still have friends from my batch. I deeply wish I had time to do it again.
- EagleEdge 3mo agoThis sentence "And 15 years on I still wake up every day excited to keep working on it." stuck with me. Wow, that is true passion on what you do.
- oskarth 3mo agoI had an amazing time at RC more than a decade ago. It had a massive impact on my life, and I'm very grateful for the experience. I always like running into RCers in the most random places, even after all this time. Congrats Nick, Sonali, Dave and everyone else! Would definitely recommend you go if you get a chance :)
- woshihouzi2026 2mo agoHN has a way of quietly shaping careers. Reading this made me reflect on my own years here. Wishing you the best in whatever comes next.
- woshihouzi2026 2mo ago[dead]
- eadesola 2mo agoWhat ended up being your life’s work?