Interning at Wyncode

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Where Wyncode is located 

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Some of the wonderful speakers Wyncode brings in for students 

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An Average Day

What have you learned this week that has either affirmed or challenged what you thought to be true about startups?

At startups people often wear different hats. This is also true when interning at a startup. Please see an average day’s schedule laid out below. 

9:30 Arrive at The LAB

9:35 – 9:40  Snapchat something in the LAB (students, things, sayings, etc.) 

9:40 – 12:30 Work on creating email blast to hiring partners to highlight graduates looking for employment

12:30 – 1:30 Leadership lunch (discussion of achievements, blockers, and action items using Agile methodology) 

1:30  – 3:00 Snapchat Xavier Gonzalez as he speaks with students about Emerge Americas and the nature of the Miami tech scene

3:00  –  5:00 Call hiring partners in order to check in about completion of a hiring survey recently sent out

5:00 – 5:05 Snapchat students working 

5:05 – 6:00 Research upcoming speakers and create short bios as well as slides with social media information

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Walter, one of the amazing people at Wyncode who makes it such a positive place to be 

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Positive Vibes

What have you learned this week about vision, strategy, team, and leadership that will help you in developing your personal theory of change?

People at Wyncode are just likeable. They are funny, open, kind, and great to work with. I genuinely think that even if I wasn’t getting paid by the Knight Foundation I would still want to be here every day. This has led me to reflect on my classroom. With TFA, I teach 10th and 11th honors English at Norland Senior High. I find that I have trouble motivating kids. In the highschool I attended as a teen the difference between a “B” and an “A” would be enough to really motivate us to do a lot better. But here it was (is) different. My leverage often seems to be only over failing and not failing, if even that. The challenges my students face in their lives are real, and so failing a class is often the least of their worries. Yet failing on such a large scale is really not an option. If they have below a 2.0 GPA they do not graduate, and if I do not have an essay from every student every two weeks I will be fired.

All this makes me wonder if it might be possible to make my classroom as inviting and fun to be at as my current job. If I love working at Wyncode so much that I would come there voluntarily, what might happen to my kids’ grades if I made my classroom so wonderful that they liked to go there of their own accord? Of course, this is a far-reaching goal. As a lowest performing school (formerly ETO), every second of our lessons are dictated to us. No novels, no tests, and no discussion unless put inside exact time frames within the class. And with a lot of students and homework and the strictures of being a teacher making things fun is honestly often not at the top of my to-do list. Yet, the wonderfulness  of working at Wyncode does provide food for thought.

So, to get back to the question that I was looking at, I think that change can happen at a much larger scale and more quickly if the vision, strategy, team, and leadership of an organization are aligned along positive lines. This is what is making me so love interning at Wyncode, and the lessons I am learning here I hope have at least some palpable positive repercussions in my classroom.

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Xavier Gonzalez speaking to students at Wyncode about eMerge Americas 

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Miami - Tech Hub of the Americas?

What have you learned this week and how do you think the new learning(s) will develop your leadership?

This past week Wyncode had guest speaker Xavier Gonzalez come in to speak to our students. Mr. Gonzalez is the Executive Director of eMerge Americas. For those who don’t know, eMerge Americas is a tech conference in Miami. Since its inception in 2014 it has garnered unprecedented interest, attracting big-time investors, companies, entrepreneurs, and hackers . Its overarching goal is to make Miami the technology hub of the Americas.  The official website for the conference states, “eMerge Americas is a global idea exchange focusing on how technology and innovation are disrupting industries. The conference serves as a platform connecting revolutionary startups, cutting-edge ideas, and global industry leaders & investors across North America, Europe, and Latin America.”

Big goals for Miami. When the general public thinks of Miami it is normally the South Beach asthetic – beautiful white sand, gorgeous models, lambos, and endless fruity drinks.  However, there are a few individuals, and an increasing number of companies, that are trying to change that perception. Mr. Gonzalez and eMerge Americas is at the forefront of that effort. Because of what I have seen working at The LAB Miami (where much of the tech and startup culture of the city is located) it seems that this might be possible. 

So, what I have learned this week is that Miami has much more of a tech scene than I had imagined. And how has this developed my leadership? Well, I’m not sure it has, but it has certainly made me think much more about the opportunities that might be available to me after my TFA tenure.

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a recent snap from Wyncode

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Advertising

What excites you most about the work you are doing this week? What challenges did you encounter this week?

Advertising is key to the success of any startup. Wyncode was already active on Instragram, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and GitHub (a coding website) but it lacked a Snapchat account. I asked permission to create one for the company. What resulted has made the last few days incredibly interesting.  

For those who don’t know, Snapchat is a hugely popular app among 15-30 year olds. It allows you to share pictures and videos with others for a duration of a few seconds before they disappear forever. Before beginning the Wyncode snapchat I did some research on how the app might be best used for business. A Forbes article from August 2014  proved especially useful for looking at snapchat-for-marketing. 

Advertisers overall have been slow to catch on to the Snapchat phenomenon and Snapchat slow to cash in on its huge potential.  What this creates is an opportunity for companies like Wyncode to really write the book on how the app can be used to generate buzz and revenue. 

As I have snapped the last few days there are a few things I have found that really seem to work in terms of generating interest and projecting the mission and brand of Wyncode.

 Keep it fun. Snapchat is fun to use socially because it is so informal. Unlike with Instagram, your photos don’t have to be perfectly crafted shots of you and your friends. They can just be a selfie of you making a silly face. While snapping for a business does mean it needs to be a little more serious, you still need to retain a fun vibe.

Have plenty of silly pictures! Show people laughing and goofing off, hanging out,  and generally looking like they like being there. (We had a puppy in the building today which made for a great shot.)

Show off the space. At Wyncode we are housed in an awesome, modern, super startup-oriented building which has free coffee and energy drinks, free trendy bikes to use, and lots of cool art. I try to highlight this in pictures to show people how connected Wyncode is with great things going on in Miami.

Advertise events. People are more likely to attend things if they are personally invited. What we have done is have some of our team leaders speak for just 5-7 seconds on-camera, personally inviting all our snapchat followers to an event. 

To wrap this up, what excites me about what I worked on this week was the potential for innovation. I was able to present an idea, have it accepted, and then have it working within a few minutes. I think this shows a lot not just about the versatility and working style of the Wyncode team, but also the general approach startups have toward getting things done.

And as for challenges this past week, I would say they revolved around making sure I was in the perfect spot anytime something interesting and snap-worthy happened. 

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snapcode 

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Outside of The LAB Miami, where Wyncode is located.

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Day 1

What have you learned this week that has either affirmed or challenged what you thought to be true about startups?

         Yesterday was my first day at Wyncode Academy. I arrived at The LAB Miami around 10:30 per my boss’s request. What looks like an old warehouse from the outside instead houses a number of the up-and-coming tech startups in the city. The space is creatively decorated, with modern, hip architecture and furnishings. Around the perimeter are small offices and meeting rooms and in the center a series of long tables where people from various companies come to work. The design of The LAB was intentional, according to its sponsor, the Knight Foundation. The intent was to create a “… campus for entrepreneurs and innovators…..It is a collision point for Miami’s forward-thinking minds.” That is, it is a place where innovators and entrepreneurs can collaborate to help ensure the success of Miami’s startup scene.           I had heard before beginning at Wyncode that startups are often hectic places. People running around everywhere trying to do a hundred jobs at once, no one with specific roles, a hodge-podge of confusion and action. This to some degree is true at Wyncode, but with important exceptions. Yes, everyone is very very busy. But there is a clear point to what they are doing. Important things are getting done in quick order, despite there being so much to do.           I think this attention to completion of tasks is what has really helped Wyncode to accelerate so fast. It has already churned out over 100 graduates and opened a new campus in Ft. Lauderdale, despite only having opened in 2014.           Another thing that Wyncode’s success could be attributed to is its clarity of vision. It is sometimes said that startups seem to change mission, name, even product on an almost daily basis. This is not true of Wyncode, which remains committed to providing a cutting-edge education experience to its students. It does this by employing the agile methodology. With this methodology, the teaching practices of the academy are constantly monitored. If something doesn’t work or could be done better it is changed immediately. This ensures the company will continue to remain on the cutting edge of the coding bootcamp movement.            So based on my first day at Wyncode I would have to say that many of my assumptions about startups have already been challenged. This is an excellently run organization filled with passionate, interesting people all united by a clear vision for the future. In the weeks to come I look forward to exploring just how exactly Wyncode manages to operate at such a high level, and what lessons can be learned from this.