What is Our Noble Cause?

In his TEDx San Antonio presentation this fall, Nick Longo, co-founder of Geekdom, talked about finding one’s noble cause as a means of fulfilling an entrepreneurial spirit. I related to this topic because I love to come up with ideas and find ways to solve problems. “Ideation” is my top strength, according to Strengthsfinder. As I reflected on my noble cause, I looked back over the past several months, and it became clear to me that I was only addressing small problems, and I wasn’t considering the larger problems at my doorstep. I accepted certain norms that were problematic as unsolvable, defaulting to solving niche problems. I could have made money solving these niche problems, but that would be a small change on a big scale. I’d be putting out the embers rather than the raging flames in my community. My noble cause then became solving bigger problems to make a big impact, not just make money.The big issueIn my circles, I often engage in the discussion of hiring developers. “I just can’t find any good ones,” I would hear from business leaders. “I am right out of college, but I cannot build a website for the life of me,” university graduates would say. I would hear things like this from companies I have mentored at Geekdom, where we office, from friends running companies large and small, and from students looking for work. The blaring issue that reared its ugly head was “Why does everyone have trouble hiring developers?” Most business owners and managers accept this as a fact of life; I decided to make this my noble cause and make a big impact.Getting busy with itWhen one finds that noble cause, it becomes one’s mission in life to see it come to fruition. As Nick Longo said, “Business is the mindset; entrepreneurship is the heartset.” The Codeup team stepped out of its comfort zone and went on a quest to provide some value to society. We took on the challenge of training new developers, giving people a meaningful second career, and we’re helping companies find great people to do awesome work. Our team, Jason, Chris, Samantha, and myself, are ready to make our corner of the world better by solving this big problem in our town, San Antonio, Texas, and in our country, one person at a time.Our mission continues beyond the classroom too. We’ve partnered with reputable companies who desire knowledgeable programmers to hire. We welcome other businesses in the San Antonio community who want to find great programmers who are anxious to get to work.Do you want to join us in this mission? Do you want to make a difference? We’ll teach you how.