The inspiring startup story is certainly not uncommon; half of new businesses, it seems, were thought up at a bar between good friends. Aside from the implication that people like to drink a lot, it makes sense that people tell those stories of humble beginnings, and especially about how much passion went into the idea, regardless how casual the setting in which the thing was initially conceived.

Dev Bootcamp is Arguably no different, save for a few minor details, and one bit important one. Sure, it was not at a bar, and according to Shareef’s story, it seems like it was maybe not conceived initially as a business idea. There’s just as much passion in the inception of the place as in so many other successfuly endeavors.

The thing that really stands out to me, and inspires me, is Dev Bootcamp’s focus on both the opportunity, and the ownership. Dev Bootcamp has no problem being straight-forward: this is not a traditional schooling experience, and that is part of what gives it value. Although it can be the case that Dev Bootcamp instructors have a ton of experience in the field, we are not necessarily paying to be served an experience, or guided carefully through the mire. We are paying for the environment:

Shareef references a kitchen vs a restaurant. I’m not in a cooking class, per se. I’m coming together with a bunch of other novice chefs, who have different backgrounds, and different ways of learning, and thus different skills, and a few experiences chefs, and we are cooking together. We’ll be guided with some recipes, and some suggestions, and then we’re left to play with those, and make something spectacular. We get to learn together exactly which combinations of ingredients makes that cake different kinds of fluffy or chewy; does garlic go well in that sauce? If someone already knows that, it saves me some time, and I don’t have to make the dish to find out.

At Dev Bootcamp, we are getting a context. Highly motivated people (like ourselves, ahem) could probably easily learn all of this stuff on their own, but likely not quite this fast, or this well. I won’t have to go back and relearn cultural things, or syntaxy things, etc, that I didn’t pick up right my first time from that stack overflow post. Yeah, I’ll graduate as a beginner. And the speed at which my learning will move forward during DBC and afterward, the bonds I’ll form, the plain old hard and rewarding work I’ll do will be well worth it. It’s funny, but I believe that it’s a special opportunity to get to practice determination, work really really hard, and then get a return equal to or surpassing what you put in.

There’s a part of me, having come from a light training and heavy interest in the music industry, that loves this structure. The people who are giving their time and resources to establish this learning context still get to get paid for their time and resources, despite the situation not necessarily being what we would normally expect as consumers. I’m not getting a product, I’m getting an experience, an opportunity. Just because I’m not guaranteed a specific end product doesn’t mean that the people giving their energy to this context don’t deserve to get paid for their labor.

Likewise, art is hard to quantify. A musician clearly does productive things with their time, and 9 times out of 10, what they produce brings value to the world, whether it sells well, or not. As a musician, I’ve heard plenty of small time bands and artists who have never been able to make a living off of their work, but whose music means plenty to so many people. Coming from that angle, I’m happy to give my money for this thing of value.

This experience is going to be valuable to me, even if I don’t end up getting a high paying job immediately afterwards. These are skills I believe in, and I know my life will be enriched from this experience regardless. That’s worth a financial transaction, and it’s worth my energy, passion, time, commitment.

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