I’m a huge fan of the folks at Code Academy because they’re builders, and on top of that, their mission is to empower others to create. It makes perfect sense then that after they heard about the concept of Google snippets, their first instinct was the build the product themselves. They went from the thought, “man, I wish there was an app for that,” straight into action.
Code Academy is a rapidly growing company, and that means that it becomes more and more difficult to get perspective on the company as a whole. Individuals within the company add tons of value every day, but with limited information of those accomplishments, it can be difficult to realize that value and get comfortable on how to move forward.
In some companies, that means that an individual’s daily wins can go unacknowledged and the company’s decision making amounts to guesswork. I’m reminded of what artist Tom Sachs has said: “Half of your job in this studio is doing your work, the other half of your job is communicating that it’s been done.”
To fill this need, the team spent a day rolling their own solution, but the next day, Code Academy CEO Neal Sales-Griffin did a little bit of googling and found iDoneThis to use for Google snippets. We’re especially flattered, knowing full well the Code Academy team’s ability to create awesome software, that they found that iDoneThis was “exactly what they needed.”
After using us for a few weeks, Neal described the impact of getting his team’s daily status updates in stark terms. He put it simply: “I sleep better at night.”
The toughest part of doing a startup is the emotional roller coaster. When you have a great team that gets stuff done like the guys at Code Academy do, then daily status updates turn into an affirmation and celebration of the team’s progress. Just as Code Academy exists to help people create, we exist to help companies create — and we’re thrilled to help them work toward their vision as a cohesive team.