Announcing Ladderly, Patreon, and More!

• John Vandivier

I recently created Ladderly, which is a career accelerator and coding bootcamp alternative.

Individuals looking for their first job in tech, or experienced programmers looking to level up can leverage this site. The site currently has three components, although more may be added later:

  1. A community or social network, currently implemented as a Discord server.
  2. A self-paced online course.
    1. The course is currently in pre-alpha and free to enroll.
    2. This course will emphasize React, building on an open curriculum I published last year.
    3. The new curriculum is also open sourced and version controlled as code.
    4. This course includes a unique focus on soft skills, which my research shows employers crave.
    5. When the course leaves pre-alpha I plan to begin charging $5 per month.
  3. Optional private coaching.

In addition to Ladderly, I've also launched this Patreon branded around the concept of CoffeeScienceCode. Some highlights:

  1. You can score exclusive merchandise like a t-shirt and a coffee cup featuring stuff I drew by hand in this online MS Paint alternative.
  2. The Patreon funds go towards my open research activities. These activities are targeted at journal publication, the collection and analysis of useful data, and also teaching research to others without the need for a doctoral program.
  3. As an example, I recently presented this paper on the topic of Coding Bootcamps and Gender Equity at the 2021 Southern Economic Association Conference in Houston.
  4. If I obtain sufficient support (1k/year+) I will spin up a podcast where I chat with my friends in the academy.

Other recent news:

  1. I think I've mentioned this before, but I graduated from the GMU doctoral program.
  2. My son just turned 3 and my daughter turned 1.
  3. I now have more followers on TikTok than Twitter. I joined Twitter in July 2012 and I began making programming TikTok content in or about July of 2021.
  4. I am recording my maximum lift weight on Wednesday, but I will mention my prep test numbers which were recorded last week and they are all time highs for me:
    1. Bench: 225 lb
    2. Squat: 275 lb
    3. Deadlift: 345 lb
  5. I have written about CRO in the past as I journey to obtain cash back on my mortgage payments.
    1. CRO recently increased about 5x in value so I cashed out.
    2. I've basically abandoned the strategy of trying to stake a large volume of CRO due to the value fluctuation there.
    3. Instead, I'm currently investing in Stoic, using the Coinbase cash back debit, and very interested in Invictus Capital assets which are currently not available in the USA, but I hear that if I can obtain accredited investor status then I may be able to squeeze in.
    4. It also seems possible to obtain some Invictus Capital tokens through Uniswap, but I'd like to avoid that if possible because it seems easy to lose coins and has limitted offering.