Ryan Carson’s tech-education company, Treehouse, teaches computer coding as a trade skill, giving students an opportunity to enter the workforce or change careers in nine months, at a fraction of the cost of a four-year degree.
- Ryan considers coding a trade skill, rather than profession that requires a four-year degree.
- Ryan founded Treehouse to help people avoid student debt, get a job sooner and start saving for their 401k sooner.
- There will be 1.4 million new jobs in tech, and only 400,000 will be filled by college graduates.
- A trade job is composed of acquired skills, or “stackable skills”, like a mechanic or electrician.
- Will the future be primarily trade jobs?
- How is Treehouse different from other coding schools?
- How does apprenticeship work in the tech industry?
- What is TalentPath, and how does it help develop young coders?
- For a skilled job, such as coding, landing a job is more dependent on a portfolio than a degree.
- How does apprenticeship impact a person’s retirement savings, compared to earning a college degree?
- Are there any degrees that are more valuable to a new professional than a year of on-the-job experience?
- An apprentice has four more years of experience than a college graduate.
- How can companies create talent, rather than hire talent, in order to compete with big tech companies like Apple, Facebook, Google, etc.?
- How do employers measure a coder’s skill?
- What development language is most in demand?
- Trying out a school – a traditional four-year university, trade school, or treehouse – is important. How does TreeHouse allow students to do that?
- Ryan started a company that facilitated large file sending but ultimately decided to pursue a business that he felt contributed more on a human level.
- TreeHouse originated from a desire to make coding education available and financially accessible to more people.
- Students can try it for free. Basic treehouse course is $25 a month. Full coding school is $200 a month.
- Success in life is mostly related to the ability to keep going when something is hard.
- Most people are going to quit something because their internal “why” isn’t strong enough.
- Coding is hard; it’s like going to the gym. Pursuing coding will require a certain amount of grit – but once you find your “why”, the grit comes.
*Update | on May 15th after the release of this episode we became an affiliate for the Treehouse Code School
Listen to Brad and Jonathan’s thoughts about this episode here.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Treehouse
- TalentPath | How Treehouse is partnering with Boys and Girls Club of America
- How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life
- Basecamp
- Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
- How to Win Friends and Influence People
- Wait But Why
- SpaceX’s Big Freaking Rocket – The Full Story
- Large Rubber Duck
