Interviewing the CEO of Nucamp Coding Bootcamp

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Күн бұрын

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I invited on Nucamp’s CEO, Ludo, to address much of the feedback from my previous video where I brought on 3 graduates to share their experiences at Nucamp. Given that it’s such a cheap coding bootcamp, we dove into many of the tradeoffs he chose to make when forming Nucamp. I think this is an interesting window into a coding bootcamp CEO's philosophy on curating and managing a coding bootcamp.
Feel free to check out his coding bootcamp for yourself:
www.nucamp.co
Previous episode where 3 graduates reviewed Nucamp:
www.buzzsprout.com/948958/675...
Questions/Topics:
0:00 - About the CEO and why the coding bootcamp is the way it is
4:04 - What have you sacrificed in your coding bootcamp to keep your tuition so low?
9:00 - If you don't have a sales department, how do you bring in new students?
11:17 - Pros and cons of a coding bootcamp not having a strict application process
14:55 - You focus too little on the fundamentals and students need to supplement outside the program (Student feedback #1)
18:16 - Is your coding bootcamp too short? (Student feedback #2)
23:01 - What he feels people are really looking for in a coding bootcamp, even if they don’t know it
27:32 - Is your coding bootcamp lacking in teaching people CSS? (Student feedback #3)
33:41 - Why are you considering introducing React Native into the curriculum?
36:43 - Here’s the big question - do you teach React hooks?
37:49 - Your students wish they had gotten more comfortable with git in the program. Why did you make it optional? (Student feedback #4)
41:43 - Why don’t your students have a portfolio to show employers once they graduate? (Student feedback #5)
51:03 - Some of your instructors have taken too long to reply to students. (Student feedback #6)
1:00:47 - Philosophy on career coaching in coding bootcamps (Student feedback #7)
1:07:02 - Final piece of advice for aspiring developers
1:11:47 - Outro

Пікірлер: 143

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

It looks like people found this type of podcast episode helpful. I'd like to do more of these types of episodes. If you went through a coding bootcamp (or other educational software engineering program), and are still in touch with the staff there, please share the episode, and encourage them to reach out to me. My email address is on the About page.

@Pookia89 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you Don! You are the best!

@D_gonesayit 3 жыл бұрын

Not gonna lie, the CEO gives me the warm & fuzzies. Seems like a genuine, nice, really all around intelligent and good guy. This should make people more interested in the bootcamp. Nothing "scammy" about this guy whatsoever. Thanks Don. You may have got Nucamp a new student out of me in a few months!

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

I got that feeling as well from him. IMO, he handled this well. One of the quickest ways for someone to disarm me in an interview is to be humble and transparent. From the beginning, he was willing to have a real conversation about both the pros and cons of how he structured Nucamp.

@fu2201 2 жыл бұрын

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@robinnovak7457 3 жыл бұрын

I just graduated from Nucamp's full-stack bootcamp. It's such a supportive community. So glad to be a part of it!

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

Congrats!

@AdrIanRuiz_92 3 жыл бұрын

Starting the React course just wondering 💭 what’s the graduation process??

@robinnovak7457 3 жыл бұрын

@@AdrIanRuiz_92 If I understand your question correctly, to graduate, you need to complete all of the Saturday workshop assignments for Bootstrap, React and React Native. Is that what you are asking?

@AdrIanRuiz_92 3 жыл бұрын

@@robinnovak7457 yes thank you 🙏🏻

@top_louie8304 3 жыл бұрын

Hey I have a question How many days Are the class and how many hours per day or week PLzz.

@jeffj3072 3 жыл бұрын

Great interview! Top Bootcamp checklist: affordability and a CEO thats very involve in the curriculum.

@CharlesSipe1 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Don, these interviews on NuCamp are great.

@AngelaFox777 Жыл бұрын

I have watched tons of your interviews, but this was, by far, one of the best. Thanks for the info!

@randyjackson1026 3 жыл бұрын

Hi Don I love your podcast. This is a great interview. I’m considering going to Nucamp. I also like how you ask very honest and open ended questions. I also like the fact that the students give pros and cons of the boot camps, and it’s not all perfect, because nothing is perfect. I’m looking forward to you interviewing me some day when I start my company. Keep up the great work!

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Randy. It sounds like you really understand what the essence of my podcast is. I'm looking forward to seeing you launch a successful company as well!

@genoTrades 3 жыл бұрын

It was the authenticity of the guest that sold me... THEN, after creating an account and signing up I saw that they are hiring in my city for instructors as private contractors to help educate and further train students. They offer $1000 per class on a part time basis. I'm loving this!

@lyreparadox 3 жыл бұрын

He's absolutely right. The only reason I started looking at a bootcamp was because I needed feedback on what I was learning. I needed accountability for getting the work done, support to know what order to learn things in, and where to find resources. The curriculum is secondary - in part because I don't know what I _need_ to learn to be competitive in the market.

@claraharmonson2181 3 жыл бұрын

Just started React. Nucamp has great instructors who are very supportive, the Slack community is amazing too!. Still learning at my own pace, started with NO CODING knowledge with the fundamentals , might not feel 100% ready at the end but it's OK, might have to retake, repeat, revise some classes mainly because it's a lot to take in, but overall it has been a great experience! If you are thinking about it just be realistic and honest about how much you DON'T KNOW and be ok with that. Still have tons to learn but I also try to remember that I started from 0...

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

That sounds like a great, yet realistic experience. I'm glad to hear that things seem to be going well for you. Thanks for sharing.

@suheibahmed3697 2 жыл бұрын

Please can you share the slack community link it will be great

@kfreedom470 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this man, im definitely looking into this bootcamp for the fact that it's hybrid. I like to self learn but also with an instructor is helpful. This is good now especially because of the fact that college is now remote learning which is not helpful at all.

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

For sure! Yeah, when I was trying to become a developer, I was at that point too. I had the drive to self-learn, but really just needed some guidance.

@nathankoolguy 3 жыл бұрын

this is really great info!! THANK YOU for sharing and getting great people to to always share there experiences and reasons why they did what they did or are doing for others. I am learning html css and js right now and love creating. I cant wait to get really clean and quick at making Websites an all.

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

You're welcome! I love it - keep building. You will in time.

@patricias9866 Жыл бұрын

Hi Don. I just started watching your channel. I'm really loving all of your content. This video was especially helpful to me. I have been so stressed about which bootcamp to choose. I had recently came across Nucamp and have been researching them. I don't have the money to attend an expensive bootcamp and I also need part-time so I can continue to work. I will be taking supplemental courses first prior to attending Nucamp. I'm transitioning from healthcare. Thanks for mentioning that some people may need supplemental courses first. Great content! Thank you.

@kairoswave 2 жыл бұрын

I just completed week 1 of the new Python course. I am impressed with Nucamp, great curriculum and support.

@ninisantrax 3 жыл бұрын

SOLD!! What a great interview!

@joenaples5472 3 жыл бұрын

100% joining this what an amazing opportunity !

@BoutDatFitLife Жыл бұрын

His passion definitely shows through his excitement in hearing out the critiques. He seems to truly desire to make it better for everyone.

@twismfamily 2 жыл бұрын

I just entered into the November 2021 class for Backend, SQL and DevOps with Python course with NuCamp. Watching this podcast after my purchase made me even more excited to get started. You asked all the right questions and so far I have not regretted making my decision. Thank you for re-affirming my career change.

@qadirgreg 2 жыл бұрын

Hello Thomas, I will be starting NuCamp in January 2022. If you have any advice to share I would appreciate the advice.

@mongojrttv 2 жыл бұрын

@@qadirgreg woah we might all be in the same class then

@user-nq4hw5eb9d 2 жыл бұрын

How was your experience? I was thinking of joining this course

@twismfamily 2 жыл бұрын

@J The experience is awesome. I'm on the second segment of the bootcamp learning SQL. 3 weeks to go until DevOps, can't wait.

@gerardomoralesrico3353 2 жыл бұрын

Hey Thomas, I'm thinking of starting the Backend, SQL and DevOps course. What are your comments on it? Do you recommend it? I appreciate your answer!

@cynthiav.johnsen5557 3 жыл бұрын

Starting next Monday! I actually watched your last review on Nucamp & enrolled a few days after!

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

Nice! I'm curious, did you make your decision based on the video?

@cynthiav.johnsen5557 3 жыл бұрын

@@DonTheDeveloper Yes, after doing much researches on many bootcamps, the video helped me narrow down to Nucamp!

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

@@cynthiav.johnsen5557 Alright, thanks for letting me know.

@KingQAT 3 жыл бұрын

Same!

@JohnDoe-ef3nv 3 жыл бұрын

how is it going?

@jmeihuber 3 жыл бұрын

I just have interviewed with one of the staff and I’m considering to start my boot camp at Nucamp. It’s affordable and fits my schedule while I’m working full time. I met one student in Career Karma who’s doing her boot camp at Nucamp.

@Trucho1996 3 жыл бұрын

Loved this vid, great open and honest discussion. I am currently a nucamp student. I watched your first video with the students and it helped me make my decision. So far it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made for my career so far.

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

I'm glad to hear it's going well. Everyone deserves to know what they're signing up for before they commit. Good luck with the program!

@RyanTipps 3 жыл бұрын

@DonTheDeveloper you are good at your job - great interview

@omega42587 Жыл бұрын

your podcast is gold!

@monicav.6702 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you. Really enjoyed it. 👍 finally found the right school.

@LeoNelBuilds 2 жыл бұрын

After watching this interview, I signed up for Nucamp. I’ve been researching lots of different boot camps but this one sold me for a lot of great reasons. I’m super excited to start the fundamentals course next month!

@DonTheDeveloper 2 жыл бұрын

Good luck Leo!

@andrewlall7817 2 жыл бұрын

how's it going?

@LeoNelBuilds 2 жыл бұрын

@@andrewlall7817 I am scheduled to start the front-end bootcamp on July 4th

@Friz-B Жыл бұрын

@@LeoNelBuilds How did it go?

@LeoNelBuilds Жыл бұрын

@@Friz-B it didn't... I decided to do Scrimba instead and the rest is history... I was recently on the Scrimba podcast telling my story

@millertime6 3 жыл бұрын

I finished this bootcamp last March. It was the 1st cohort in Baltimore but I believe it’s been growing. I liked the material and the slack channel was fantastic! I’ve actually been working in analytics with limited web exposure so with that curriculum change, I’d even do it again as a refresher.

@chefalbert223 3 жыл бұрын

how long did it take you to find a job after? did this bootcamp prepare you enough?

@millertime6 3 жыл бұрын

@@chefalbert223 I actually don't work as a web developer, although that skillset does help me in what I do. So, I would be a bad example of whether the Bootcamp would be successful for someone in a different situation. Can I say that I liked the program? Yes! The best part was being in a real class with real people and a real practitioner teaching. Covid has since changed that but it was fun at the time!

@chefalbert223 3 жыл бұрын

@@millertime6 awesome, i appreciate the reply!

@vibecheck2650 3 жыл бұрын

watched the whole thing and im glad i did! really gave me insight into what nucamp offers & im really considering it as the one i want to join. please do more videos like this!

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

I'm glad it really helped you.

@dsertile 3 жыл бұрын

@donthedeveloper I LOVE your channel I’m working on going to a boot camp. I have a good job but what to transition and you are giving me a lot of good videos to follow. If you have a specific one I should check out feel free to respond me. Either way I love the channel

@pauldunaway5113 3 жыл бұрын

The reason the feedback scores are high is that you have to give feedback in order to unlock the next week. I'd normally have all my classwork and the weekend assignment done by Wednesday night, so my classmates and I would kinda work ahead. Recent Full Stack Grad. Great place to get started! Worth every penny.

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

I didn't know that about the feedback request. Thanks for sharing.

@Nucamp 3 жыл бұрын

Hi Paul, how are you doing! Giving a low rating would also unlock the next week, and actually any rating would since the condition is just to answer the weekly survey, so I'm not sure that explains the high instructor rating scores?

@enriquerenteria6089 3 жыл бұрын

How was getting a job after? Did you have prior experience??

@JohnVandivier 3 жыл бұрын

Ludo's humility is more impressive than his already obvious intelligence. After watching this video, I am now a huge fan of Nucamp and this channel. Well done hosting the interview as well. Cheers!

@PatrickCumiskey 3 жыл бұрын

Just Signed for this programme before I found this video, still very happy with my choice. I think the view on GIT and introducing too early is very good.

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

Nice. I hope you have a great experience.

@auroramothergoddess 3 жыл бұрын

How’s it going today ?

@GusMontoyadaisosasen02 3 жыл бұрын

I wish you asked more about job placement or career coaching. The main reason why anyone tries to learn programming by in large either via free or paid routes is to get a good paying job. Maybe suggested a segment of the course at additional cost.

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

This conversation really was just about bringing up the student feedback. Maybe I should expand interviews like this with more questions like those though. Thanks for the feedback.

@WithHeroes 2 жыл бұрын

I’m excited

@eukelarTV 3 жыл бұрын

Should just open a KZfaq page and make some short videos for supplemental learning there. A quick tutorial on git they can check out a week or two before the second half and maybe some supplemental for css then your linking them to an external source but it’s your source and it’s exposure for people that search for those things and find them independently and potentially check out your boot camp itself

@Gentlemen-bt3ru Жыл бұрын

I was doing research here in Dallas tx for a bootcamp and something affordable I don’t have any experience at all coming from a factory job and delivery driver experience I am definitely going to give this bootcamp a try and it’s affordable even if I don’t land a job I have experience but hopefully I will end up with something I finish

@EstebanInTech Жыл бұрын

hey im in Dallas Texas as well. How are your experience been with Nucamp? im planning to start the fullstack next month.

@Gentlemen-bt3ru Жыл бұрын

@@EstebanInTech did some more research decided to start my own business

@Gentlemen-bt3ru Жыл бұрын

The best way is to start a business for yourself and family

@xLuisGarcia 3 жыл бұрын

Today is my first day of Nucamp’s bootcamp. We’ll see how it goes! I’m excited tho.

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

Good luck!

@mccflo99 3 жыл бұрын

How'd it go?

@xLuisGarcia 3 жыл бұрын

It’s good for the people that doesn’t have the discipline to learn on their own. This bootcamp was great for me because I needed to do “homework” and I felt like I Had to do it you know? Then you put on practice what you learned during the week on their workshops which are every Saturday as you may know. If you think you need that little “pressure” to learn go ahead and do it, If you have that discipline to push yourself then it’s not worth it to pay for it.

@nolajenkins6213 Жыл бұрын

Have you found a job?

@mrawesome1821 2 жыл бұрын

Best video so far.

@DonTheDeveloper 2 жыл бұрын

Just curious, what makes this your favorite video?

@angeloszaimis6917 2 жыл бұрын

Do you know if I can do the Coding bootcamp as European , online ?

@seek2imagine423 2 жыл бұрын

I'm planning on attending Nucamp in March. The 4 week beginner web development. I'm very excited at the cost. My only concern is will I have support If I run into problems. 😞

@LovelyG769 2 жыл бұрын

Yes. I just finished that one

@eukelarTV 3 жыл бұрын

14:00 I kind of like this idea of putting that on them and they trust you to not cheat on the test because really it’s ultimately o my going to cheat yourself when You get in and realize you are not ready.

@winwi000 2 жыл бұрын

Are they still not doing in site classes on saturday?

@nielslostaunau5104 3 жыл бұрын

How's My amp different from treehouse

@xXLARzXx 2 жыл бұрын

I love my Google Pixelbook. My understanding after looking at the nucamp website is that a laptop is required. I do have a Windows PC and a laptop. My laptop although a Pixelbook Chromebook does have 16GB of RAM, an Intel i7 processor, plenty of storage and has Microsoft Visual Studio Code installed via an enabled Linux session through the ChromeOS. It runs pretty fast and I can write some code using VS Code but if the nucamp course requires any Windows forms, DotNet, or SQL code then the Chromebook will not work of course. My first question is, can I use my current laptop for the full stack web development course or will I need to purchase another? Windows Forms or DotNet learning? Looking at the website description of the course material it appears that we would be learning mostly javascript, and database type material. My second question is, during the COVID pandemic is the course remote learning or in person? My girlfriend is interested in the course as well. Thanks ahead of time.

@DonTheDeveloper 2 жыл бұрын

I would just reach out to Nucamp directly with these questions.

@dandelionsbeauty Жыл бұрын

Ludo cares, and wants students to learn. Not everyone can spend thousands and go full-time. I want to join his Nucamp

@noahbanks9209 3 жыл бұрын

I don’t know anything about coding I am looking at different boot camps. I want to change my career. I am a little hesitant to jump on something I might not be good at. But I know I want jump on tech. I don’t want fail

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

Being afraid to fail is one of the biggest things that holds people back from achieving anything substantial in this life.

@qadirgreg 2 жыл бұрын

So my question is, should a person take the fundamentals of Web development with JavaScript before taking the Complete Software Engineering course?

@griegBrew 2 жыл бұрын

they have an assessment/quiz you can take bro

@EricRamz 2 жыл бұрын

The Complete Software Engineering includes the Web Dev Fundamentals, check the website

@benjamingarcia8730 3 жыл бұрын

I would like to join but the no job guarantee/ placement is holding me back.

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

As you'll see in other videos of mine, as well as future videos, a "job guarantee" is never a guarantee when you look at the terms of service for each coding bootcamp. I have a new highlight video coming out this Thursday regarding this as well.

@glenasare 3 жыл бұрын

I'm Starting the full stack in March

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

Good luck!

@onerebelgun 3 жыл бұрын

How’s it going so far?

@mccflo99 3 жыл бұрын

How'd it go?

@jserr3739 2 жыл бұрын

Any updates?

@glencodes6964 2 жыл бұрын

Hey guys I graduated and already got a Job as a software engineer

@millertime6 3 жыл бұрын

Regarding the instructor feedback, students generally skew higher for fear that the instructors will find out and retaliate in some way. In my case, when we only graduated 2 students, them finding out was a definite likelihood.

@DonTheDeveloper 3 жыл бұрын

I can definitely see that. As Ludo and I talked about, I really think it just comes down to the instructors really encouraging students that they really want to hear to hear the constructive feedback.

@millertime6 3 жыл бұрын

@@DonTheDeveloper true. I actually had decent instructors but just my thoughts.