Starter League

Start careers. Launch products. Build companies.

Jenn started a career.

Jenn joined The Starter League as a product manager. Now she codes as much as she manages at Belly.
Scott launched a product.

Scott is a lawyer. He noticed the inefficiencies he faced at work, and decided to fix them with WarRoom.
Nate built a company.

Nate came into The Starter League as an idea guy. He learned enough to bootstrap his startup LeaseMaid.

We’ve partnered with

We’re working with 37signals to train and empower aspiring problem solvers.

Over the past decade, they’ve taught thousands how to build successful web applications.

Joining their expertise with our immersive training creates a perfect storm for starter education.

1
Teaching

Mig Reyes is one of the lead designers at 37signals. He also teaches Visual Design at The Starter League.
3
Workshops

37signals will host events and workshops in their classroom throughout the quarter.
2
Mentorship

Team members from 37signals will serve as mentors and advisors for students.
4
Product development

37signals is helping us build web apps to improve learning outcomes at The Starter League and beyond.

Get trained by passionate practitioners.

Jeff Cohen

A PragProg author, Jeff's passion is to help beginners unlock the joy of building web applications. His friendly style, expertise, and industry experience combine for a dynamic learning environment.
Raghu Betina

Raghu is an experienced starter and was one of our first students. Now his mission is to share the skills he gained with other aspiring builders. Learn more about Raghu by watching his TEDx talk.
Brian Eng

PragProg co-author with Jeff, Brian has 16 years of experience building software businesses and working as a developer, designer, and consultant for some of the world's largest progressive companies.
Mig Reyes

Mig spends his days as a designer at 37signals, where he focuses on crafting clear, beautiful websites. By night, he writes, teaches, mentors, and organizes events for the Chicago design community.
Carolyn Chandler

User Experience director at Manifest Digital, Carolyn co-wrote the book A Project Guide to UX Design, speaks at design conferences year-round, and is an active member of the Chicago design community.
Sandor Weisz

Sandy has been building websites for as long as there has been a Web. He practices a holistic approach to the craft of web design. When he's not designing, he's writing puzzles.
Scott Robbin

Scott is the principal at Robbin & Co. and a member of Weightshift. He is a JavaScript plugin developer, open government enthusiast, and teaches HTML and CSS at The Starter League.
Mike Gibson

After running his own design studio for 7 years, Mike sold the practice and joined Table XI's design team in the Spring of 2013. He is excitedly teaching the next wave of HTML & CSS crafters at The Starter League.
Arjun Venkataswamy

Arjun is a former high school teacher who brings research experience in human-computer interaction together with practical experience from the classroom. He teaches Web Development at The Starter League.

World Class.

“If flying 8,167 miles across the world (yes, I checked my Expedia ticket) to pursue a passion isn’t hungry, foolish and crazy, then I don’t know what is.”

– Luis Vega, Manila, Philippines

“The challenge with online tutorials for me was that I couldn’t ask for further explanation from someone with more knowledge than myself to explain something. If I don’t understand a principle about what we are learning I can simply ask for it to be explained.”

– Matt Duff, Provo, Utah

“There were students here at 9:30 last Friday working. Have a question? 35 people probably want to help you figure it out. Can’t say it enough, it’s awesome.”

– Geoff Massanek, Raleigh, North Carolina

Work in the best space.

1871

We are located in Chicago's new 50,000 sq ft. startup hub located inside the Merchandise Mart. 1871 is a co-working center for Chicago's brightest digital designers, engineers and entrepreneurs.
The Starter League

Located in 1871, students have 24/7 access, 2 classrooms, Intelligentsia, phone and conference rooms, and plenty of open co-working space. Bring a toothbrush, you might not be leaving for awhile.
37signals

Located in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood, the 37signals office offers a unique and inspiring learning environment where they will host workshops, lectures and events throughout the quarter.

What we stand for.

1
Solving meaningful problems

We believe having the motivation to build something you care about is the best way to learn. Being a starter means you have a penchant to make the world a better place through technology, design and business.
4
Passion and persistence

This is our primary acceptance criteria for The Starter League. You need to be driven by a problem you want to solve or an idea you want to make real, but also have the tenacity to persist when times get tough.
2
Diverse collaboration

The Starter League is comprised of mothers, lawyers, MBAs, CEOs, realtors, teachers, engineers, journalists and much more. Our diversity and emphasis on working with others is what makes our program special.
5
Learning enough to take a step

Practical, applicable, hands-on learning is at the core of our teaching philosophy. You won’t find any fluff in our programs, we’ll teach you what's necessary to take the next step towards actualizing your idea.
3
Investing in yourself

Rather than begging around town in search of a “maker co-founder”, put yourself through the fire and flames to prototype your ideas. With The Starter League you’ll realize you have what it takes to ship an MVP yourself.
6
Quality over quantity

Our people and our programs come first. We aren’t looking to scale to 20 cities and pump out cubicle workers. We’re committed to creating the best learning experience you’ve ever had, we won’t compromise that for anything.

Meet your mentors.

Hands-on Mentorship

Entrepreneurs, developers and designers are volunteering their time to mentor you. Learning requires support, and thanks to our mentors, everyone in The Starter League can pair one-to-one with a mentor from a passionate community of industry professionals and initiated Starter League members.

The wealth of knowledge and experience from our mentors is vast. Outside of our dedicated mentors who meet with students individually, we have at-large mentors and alumni who assist our students in entrepreneurship, law, and many other domains.

The leadership team.

Neal Sales-Griffin

Neal is the co-founder and CEO of The Starter League (formerly Code Academy), his sworn purpose is to solve meaningful problems through technology, and empower everyone he can. Learn more about Neal directly by reaching out to him through twitter...@nealsales.
Mike McGee

Co-founder of The Starter League with Neal, Mike likes designing products with purpose, and motivating others to exceed their potential. Learn more about why he and Neal decided to create a school teaching people how to code in his interview with Tastytrade.
Jason Fried

Jason is the co-founder and President of 37signals. Jason believes there’s real value and beauty in the basics. Jason co-wrote Rework and Getting Real, and is invited to speak around the world on entrepreneurship, design, management, and software.
David Heinemeier Hansson

David is a partner of 37signals. He created Ruby on Rails, the framework used to build 37signals' apps and thousands of popular sites. He's worked in the fields of game journalism, marketing, design, and development.