Launch School Podcast artwork

Launch School Podcast

49 episodes - English - Latest episode: 10 days ago - ★★★★★ - 62 ratings

A podcast about coding, education, and mastery. We'll interview current Launch School students, employers in the tech sector, and industry veterans to talk about how to succeed on a journey to mastery and becoming a professional software engineer. Conversations will revolve around learning, programming, expertise, study habits and many other topics related to mastery based learning.

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Episodes

S5E10: Felicia Bacon - A Lifelong Learner Thriving at Starbucks

March 18, 2024 09:00 - 1 hour - 79.2 MB

In this episode, Chris has a conversation with Felicia Bacon, a Capstone grad and Software Engineer at Starbucks. Felicia made a trajectory change after studying to be an architect for several years. Her core curriculum journey was one of perseverance, spanning three and a half years. She shares candidly about her experience receiving a 'not yet' on the first Launch School assessment and her all-in approach to mastery-based learning. Working at a corporate giant like Starbucks, Felicia is in...

S5E9: Student Spotlight - Climbing the Learning Curve as a New Student, with Katelyn

March 04, 2024 10:00 - 40 minutes - 53.3 MB

In this episode, Brandi interviews Katelyn, a current student finding her footing in the first few courses of the core curriculum. Katelyn is in a career transition, with a background in project and construction management, having majored in civil engineering in college. We reached out to Katelyn to see if she wanted to share her story after she wrote and shared an article about her experience receiving a 'Not Yet' on an assessment. Every student has a different approach when they don't pass ...

S5E8: Alex Strick van Linschoten - Open Source Machine Learning, based in Europe

February 19, 2024 10:00 - 55 minutes - 50.9 MB

In this episode, Chris interviews Alex Strick van Linschoten, a Capstone grad working in machine learning. They spend the first part of the interview discussing his background and Capstone experience, and later on discuss the field of machine learning. Alex had a full career before he transitioned into machine learning. He has a PhD in history and spent over 15 years doing research in Afghanistan. When he was ready for a change, he found Launch School and spent over three years going through ...

S5E7: Launch School Explained with Chris Lee

February 05, 2024 10:00 - 1 hour - 76.3 MB

In this episode, recorded at the end of 2023, Brandi asks Chris the most frequently asked questions that current and potential students have. Chris starts the episode with a recap of the story of Launch School, and how his journey into teaching software over 10 years ago led to the Launch School curriculum as we know it now. This story explains how the curriculum is chosen and why adding assessments was a necessary step in the evolution of his teaching platform. The story of Launch School gi...

S5E6: Julia Martin - The Journey from JS101 to Databricks

January 22, 2024 10:00 - 52 minutes - 72 MB

In this episode, Chris interviews Julia Martin, a Capstone graduate and software engineer working at Databricks. Julia shares her story about deciding to make a career transition from business to software. Her interest in software was piqued during her work as a business analyst, where working with SQL was part of her role. She spent some time considering various bootcamps before finding Launch School, and ended up quitting her job to study full-time. Now, she's working on the Delta Live Tabl...

S5E5: Student Spotlight - Imposter Syndrome and Recovering From a 'Not Yet', with Trisha

January 08, 2024 10:00 - 35 minutes - 48.7 MB

In this episode, Brandi interviews Trisha, a current student who is about two-thirds finished with the core curriculum. Trisha opens up about receiving a 'Not Yet', a non-passing grade, on her first assessment over a year ago. She talks about the aftermath of doubt and insecurity. Trisha's trajectory changed drastically when she immersed herself into the community, finding a supportive group of peers to help her stay motivated, push her technically, and gauge her readiness for assessments. Th...

S5E4: Jon Kulton - From Software Engineering to SRE

December 25, 2023 10:00 - 57 minutes - 39.8 MB

In this episode, Chris interviews Captsone Graduate Jon Kulton, a software engineer at Datadog. Before Launch School, Jon was a UX designer in a role that included some programming. Ultimately, Jon decided he wanted to transition into a more software-centric role. Jon was part of the 2019 fall cohort and began his job hunt at the start of Covid. Between being based in Ohio and the challenges that came with Covid, Jon had a tough job hunt. He shares insight into the experience of landing his f...

S5E3: Student Resources - The SPOT & GatherTown

December 11, 2023 10:00 - 54 minutes - 74.9 MB

In this episode, Chris meets with JD and Daniel, two SPOT Admins and current students. They chat about what the SPOT is, who it's for, and how it can complement your Launch School studies, both technically, but also as a jumping-off point for joining the community. The SPOT, which stands for Study, Practice, Overlearn, Teach, is a student-led community within Launch School that facilitates virtual study sessions for every course in the Core Curriculum. They discuss the deterrents that often s...

S5E2: Student Spotlight - ADHD and Parenthood with Benjamin

November 27, 2023 10:00 - 37 minutes - 17.2 MB

In this episode, Brandi has a conversation with Benjamin Walker, a current student, nearing the end of the back-end portion of the curriculum. They discuss Benjamin's approach to balancing full-time parenthood and his journey as a neurodivergent student. Benjamin was a high school math teacher for 12 years. After becoming a father, he decided he was ready for a career change. He talks about how he decided to study at Launch School and the considerations this involved, given his prioritization...

S5E1: Ginni Pinckert - Ancient Greek to AI

November 13, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 31.6 MB

In this episode, Chris interviews Ginni Pinckert, a software engineer at Sudowrite. Ginni is a recent capstone graduate, finishing in early 2023. She has a diverse background pre-Launch School, having studied classical languages, literature, and linguistics with a mild obsession with Greek mythology and Sci-Fi. She worked in the fashion industry for several years and then worked as a small business owner creating organization systems to help clients with productivity. Her Launch School journe...

S5E0: Welcome to Season 5!

November 10, 2023 10:00 - 1 minute - 3.31 MB

A quick introduction to this season with a peek at what's to come.

S4E8: Capstone Salary Reflections

December 19, 2022 13:00 - 27 minutes - 12.7 MB

In this episode Chris and Karis discuss the latest Capstone Salaries page update. Chris shares important data to look out for on the new salaries page, and provides advice when comparing other career-launching programs out there on the market. This discussion is to be used as a companion guide to the salaries page, and is especially helpful for those looking to have more clarity on Capstone. The episode finishes with some announcements and upcoming events. Because the Capstone Salaries page i...

S4E7 Bytes: Biggest Takeaways This Year

December 08, 2022 00:00 - 30 minutes - 13.8 MB

In this bytes episode Karis asks Chris and the Launch School community "What was some of their biggest takeaways this year at Launch School?" After the students and staff share their takeways, Karis closes with some Launch School announcements and upcoming events. to listen to the podcast click on the play button above the RSS and SHARE buttons Introduction (https://podcast.launchschool.com/biggest-takeaways-this-year?t=0) Chris' Takeaways (https://podcast.launchschool.com/biggest-takeaways-t...

S4E6: Programming Essentials Workshops Q&A and Catchup with UK Capstone Graduate Kelvin

September 28, 2022 05:00 - 56 minutes - 25.8 MB

In this episode Chris and Karis conduct a Q&A session about Launch School's new Programming Essentials Workshops, what they are why new programmers would want to attend. Karis then catches up with Launch School Alumnus Kelvin, who shares his experiences as a UK Capstone student and what it's like working as a software engineer based in the UK. The episode comes to a close with some Launch School announcements and upcoming events. to listen to the podcast click on the play button above the RSS...

S4E5: Transforming at Launch School

August 22, 2022 23:00 - 1 hour - 36.6 MB

In this episode Chris and Karis discuss a recent inspirational talk given by Core graduate student Jake. Chris answers some additional Launch School-related questions including how ISAs work. Karis interviews Capstone graduate and Launch School Alumna Catherine, who shares what life has been like as a software engineer a year and a half on from her studies at Launch School. The episode ends with a few announcements about the latest events. Introduction (https://podcast.launchschool.com/transf...

S4E4: Capstone Salaries, Recession & The Younger Students of Launch School

July 19, 2022 22:00 - 1 hour - 51.3 MB

In this episode Chris discusses the latest 2021 Capstone salaries, and provides some advice for students that have concerns about the recession. Karis catches up with younger students, Ethan and Tyler, and learns how their Launch School studies are already making an impact on their software engineering journey. Karis ends the episode with a few announcements about the latest events at Launch School. Introduction (https://podcast.launchschool.com/capstone-salaries-recession-young-launch-school...

S4E3: The Story of Launch School

May 05, 2022 23:00 - 2 hours - 56.6 MB

In this episode Launch School Student Felicia interviews Chris as he shares the origin story of how Launch School came to be. He also offers his unique perspective on how Launch School approaches learning, coding education and software engineering. The show includes several new announcements that students should be aware of. Show Notes - LS181 Assessment Update (https://launchschool.com/posts/0d4cdede) - Launch School Exercises Update (https://launchschool.com/exercises) - Capstone Video Rec...

S4E2: Latest News, Interviews and Catch-up with Mandy

April 14, 2022 21:30 - 1 hour - 58 MB

This episode Karis and Chris discuss the all the latest Launch School interviews and presentations. Karis also catches up with the co-host from last season Mandy who now works at Mozilla. Finally they leave you with a number of new announcements that students should be aware of. Intro (https://podcast.launchschool.com/latest-news-interviews-mandy?t=0) Agenda (https://podcast.launchschool.com/latest-news-interviews-mandy?t=19) Felicia's Interview with Chris (https://podcast.launchschool.com/l...

S4E1: Welcome to Season 4!

March 22, 2022 05:00 - 51 minutes - 41.2 MB

This season Chris kicks off our first episode by introducing Launch Schools new podcast format and new co-host Karis. Together they discuss the latest events happening at Launch School and some quick reminders students should be aware of. Karis also catches up with previous host Callie in a 1 on 1 interview. Introduction - 0:00 (https://podcast.launchschool.com/welcome-to-season-4) Agenda - 4:33 (https://podcast.launchschool.com/welcome-to-season-4?t=273) Buddy System for Female Students - 5:...

S3E10: Season 3 Final Episode

December 20, 2021 17:00 - 26 minutes - 21.5 MB

In today's episode, our podcast hosts Chris, Callie, and Mandy share their end of the year reflections on Season 3, new updates on where Mandy and Callie are going, upcoming ideas for season 4, and ambitious goals for Launch School in the New Year and beyond. Chris, Callie, and Mandy wishes everyone a joyous and wonderful holiday season! You can listen from your favorite podcast app by searching for “Launch School”, or listen directly from your browser.

S3E9: Getting to Know Pete

December 15, 2021 17:00 - 32 minutes - 25.7 MB

In today's episode, Callie chats with Launch School TA Pete about his journey to and through Launch School. He shares about his beloved cats we see glimpses of, what brought him to Launch School, and why he enjoys being a part of this community. He also sheds light on what makes a good Core student and talks about someone who made a lasting impact on his career. You can listen from your favorite podcast app by searching for “Launch School”, or listen directly from your browser.

S3E8: Bytes — Gratitude

November 25, 2021 13:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MB

In this Thanksgiving episode, Mandy talks to students who have been at Launch School for over a year. These students share what they are grateful for and how the community has helped them throughout their journey at Launch School. Special thanks to the stories shared by the wonderful students: Alfonso Gonzalez, Felicia Bacon, Charles Hartman, Anne Tiotuico, Natalie Thompson, Rona Hsu, and Austin Miller. You can listen from your favorite podcast app by searching for “Launch School”, or listen ...

S3E7: Bytes — Life Stages

October 28, 2021 16:00 - 42 minutes - 34.3 MB

In today's episode, Callie chats with three Launch School students in three very different life stages. They share how they came to Launch School, what seemed to come easy to them, and what was harder. Without hearing one another's interviews, they paint similar pictures that are still unique. Whether you've been here awhile or have just joined the community, their stories will encourage you and help you see, a little clearer, the wonderful community you're a part of. You can listen from you...

S3E6: Getting to Know Srdjan

September 27, 2021 16:00 - 55 minutes - 25.5 MB

In today's episode, Callie chats with Launch School TA Srdjan as he shares his journey to and through Launch School. He generously shares about a wide range of experiences, from how his cats lovingly torture him to what scared him the most as a student/TA at Launch School. He shares lessons learned from being a student, and what he believes makes a genuinely good Capstone student (it's probably not what you think). There's also plenty of jokes and laughter — and who knew Srdjan could laugh ? ...

S3E5: Women Who Code (WWCode) at Launch School

September 01, 2021 16:00 - 21 minutes - 19.7 MB

In today's episode, students from Women Who Code share what the group is, what the meet-ups are like, and how they've found a sense of belonging and community. These students talk about the importance of having a supportive community while going through the ups and downs of online learning at Launch School. They generously share their thoughts and experiences through their time spent in wwcode: Elizabeth talks about how and why wwcode started Dana and Bernardette share insights on what it's l...

S3E4: John and Adam Isom -- Skipping College, CS Degree vs Launch School, and Making Six Figures Together

August 13, 2021 17:00 - 57 minutes - 52.8 MB

In this episode, siblings John and Adam Isom come chat about their journeys working together through Launch School. Adam had completed a different coding bootcamp and was in the midst of completing his CS degree when he switched to focus on Launch School. John walked away from a college scholarship to study CS to do Launch School. Why did they do that? How did it work out? Give this episode a listen to find out! In this conversation, we chatted about: * Attending college vs getting a job stra...

S3E3: Bytes — Why Did You Choose Launch School?

August 05, 2021 12:00 - 16 minutes - 15.5 MB

Today's episode is the first of a new series called Bytes: a collection of sound-bites from the Launch School community that answer a focused question. A question we've all asked at some point or another is why should I go to Launch School? Maybe you're past that point, or maybe you're still trying to figure it out. Either way, listen in to hear the voices of eleven different people from the Launch School community share their answers to that very question. There's also something new at the...

S3E2: An update from Gabe, Arthur, and Ben on friendship and teamwork through Capstone, the Job Hunt, and as professional Software Engineers

July 20, 2021 02:15 - 56 minutes - 51.8 MB

Previously in Season 2, Chris talked with Gabe, Ben, and Arthur to share their story on how they, as a group, supported one another through the Core curriculum. That episode highlighted the importance of community and friendship. In this episode, Gabe, Ben, and Arthur are back with us to share more! They update us about their journey through Capstone, the job hunt, working as software engineers and meeting each other in person for the very first time. Gabe, Ben, and Arthur take us through ...

S3E1: Barbara Oakley on Learning How to Learn & How Fundamentals Make All the Difference

June 15, 2021 04:00 - 1 hour - 61.4 MB

In today's episode, Launch School students Jenae and Mandy interviewed Barbara Oakley. Dr. Oakley is no stranger to Launch School students — her Learning How to Learn course is a required part of the preparation to being a student! The conversation has many gems, including what it’s like being a woman in STEM and how programming is a form of art. She generously shared her own journey of learning how to learn, why “follow your passion” is actually not great advice, why taking your time greatly...

S2E11: Q&A Capstone, Assessments, DPP, & 2020 Salaries with Chris

May 15, 2021 04:00 - 1 hour - 61.4 MB

In this episode, Staacy and I held a Zoom Q & A. I was happily surprised by the wide-range of topics that we got to dive into. Questions ranged from knowing if you’re on track for Capstone, when and how to get a job, how your age affects a career in tech, how to know if Launch School is for you, and how the Deferred Payment Program works. Whether you’re new to Launch School, been here for awhile, or trying to figure out if you should try it, I shared a lot about why we do what we do and how i...

S2E10: Conference on Study Habits by The Social Network with Liz, Jesse, and Katarina

February 14, 2021 21:00 - 1 hour - 55.2 MB

In this episode, I caught up with Liz, Jesse, and Katarina to chat about another peer-led community group at Launch School called "The Social Network". We previously chatted with The SPOT community leads here on the podcast, but The Social Network differs in that its mission is geared towards social events and having fun. Last month, The Social Network put on an amazing Conference on Study Habits. I have never heard of a conference on studying before, even though studiousness is the primary a...

S2E9: Student Panel Discussion

November 19, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 56.1 MB

Welcome to another episode of the Launch School podcast. This is a slightly different episode in that it’s a recording of a webinar we did a few weeks ago about our Deferred Payment Program (https://medium.com/launch-school/announcing-our-deferred-payment-program-f29eb08e64fb). Now why would we include a webinar in the podcast? Well, the reason is because this webinar is actually a panel of Launch School students and the conversation is mostly about their journey through Launch School, so I t...

S2E8: Community Learning at The Spot with Leena, Rodney, and Christian

November 01, 2020 02:00 - 44 minutes - 40.6 MB

In this episode, I caught up with Leena, Rodney, and Christian who started a peer-based study group within the Launch School community called SPOT, which stands for Study, Practice, Overlearn, and Teach. This is, arguably, one of the most important topics for us as a mastery-based learning program. I’ve been observing this group for a few months and have been blown away by their organization, professionalism, quality of the study sessions, quality of the session leads, and in general the cul...

S2E7: Sunny Beatteay on Landing a Dream Job and Getting Promoted

July 23, 2020 07:00 - 1 hour - 62.7 MB

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 7 of the Launch School podcast. In this episode, I had a chance to chat with Sunny Beatteay, a senior software engineer at Digital Ocean and Capstone alum. This conversation was recorded a few months ago back in March, 2020. Many of you who hang out in the Launch School chat room have probably seen his name there. Sunny is always amazing to speak with because he’s so open and willing to share. Despite all his achievements, he has no ego and I hope through this co...

S2E6: Michael Mentele - From Launch School to making $250k at Facebook

May 17, 2020 09:00 - 42 minutes - 39.1 MB

In this episode, I asked one of our very first Capstone graduates to share with us what’s been going on a few years removed from graduating Capstone. Michael joined Launch School in 2016, finished Capstone in 2017, and is now making a “quarter of a million” at Facebook working on the Oculus VR team. We always talk about Launch School being a long-term investment, so now we get to see what the returns on that investment can look like years down the road. I loved this conversation because despi...

S2E5: Nick Calibey on landing a six-figure remote Software Engineer role

April 18, 2020 06:00 - 47 minutes - 43.7 MB

In this episode I got a chance to speak with Nick Calibey, a Capstone graduate and software engineer at TimescaleDB. We talked about how he went from getting his Masters in Theological Studies to now working on Cloud Infrastructure making 6 figures all working remotely from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Nick is one of the first remote people we took into Capstone, so the remote job hunt is a topic we focused on in this conversation. Now this episode was recorded late 2019; it is now April, 2020. At the t...

S2E4: Gabe, Arthur, and Ben on the importance of studying together and community

March 28, 2020 04:00 - 44 minutes - 41.2 MB

I asked Gabe, Ben, and Arthur to come on the podcast today to share their story about how they, as a group, are supporting and helping each other through the Core curriculum and talk about the importance of community. To me, they’ve cracked the code with regards to mastery-based learning. There are so many positives to mastery-based learning and if you’ve been listening to the podcast and following what we’re doing at Launch School, you know the results we’re seeing and how employers are res...

S2E3: Sasha Prodan - 3 year journey to software engineering

March 09, 2020 08:00 - 55 minutes - 50.5 MB

I catch up with Sasha Prodan, who describes her multi-year journey to her high-paying software engineering role. Sasha arrived in the US as an immigrant, worked retail jobs to support herself, and spent 3 years completing her transition to a software engineering role in San Francisco.

S2E2: Julius Zerwick - Path to Software Engineer, Published Author, and Comparing Coding Bootcamps

February 07, 2020 08:00 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MB

Capstone graduate and frequent Launch School Tech Talk speaker, Julius Zerwick comes on the podcast to chat about his Software Engineer job at DigitalOcean, software salaries in NYC, the importance of soft skills, pros/cons of coding bootcamp vs Launch School, and his upcoming book Make Sense of Distributed Systems from Manning.

S2E2: Julius Zerwick on path to Software Engineer at DigitalOcean, writing a book, and comparing coding bootcamps

February 07, 2020 08:00 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MB

Capstone graduate and frequent Launch School Tech Talk speaker, Julius Zerwick comes on the podcast to chat about his Software Engineer job at DigitalOcean, software salaries in NYC, the importance of soft skills, pros/cons of coding bootcamp vs Launch School, and his upcoming book Make Sense of Distributed Systems from Manning.

S2E1: Tannr Allard - $120k job first, college after

January 20, 2020 00:00 - 42 minutes - 39.1 MB

In this first episode of Season 2 of the Launch School podcast, I chat with Capstone graduate Tannr Allard about his reflections on going from leaving college to a $120K job to working in blockchain development.

Meet a Student: Letladi Sebesho

May 07, 2017 23:00 - 22 minutes - 10.3 MB

In this episode, we speak with Letladi Sebesho, a South African developer who recently completed all (well, most) of the Launch School courses. He talks about how Launch School compares with his computer science courses, his job hunt process, and also how he's been doing now that he's been working for a few months. 

Meet a Student: Jay Shenk

April 02, 2017 02:00 - 29 minutes - 13.3 MB

In this episode, Jay Shenk talks about changing career goals from an aspiring clarinetist to a programmer and how he applies what he learned as a trained musician to programming. Jay’s been at Launch School for around a year and shares some advice and tips around how to make the most out of your Launch School experience.

Meet a Student: Terry Lee

March 15, 2017 03:00 - 26 minutes - 11.9 MB

Terry Lee came on the podcast today to talk about her experience so far at Launch School. Terry has been at Launch School for about a year and has aced every assessment so far. She talks about her previous career as a product manager, getting laid off, and then doubling down on her own education. We also talked about her recent participation at a hackathon and how she contributed despite not knowing the technology stack being used.

Meet a Student: Naveed Fida

February 27, 2017 21:00 - 37 minutes - 17 MB

Naveed is has been learning at Launch School for around a year and has been an outstanding student so far. He's nearing the end of the curriculum and stopped by the podcast today to share his story. We talked about the unique challenges of Mastery-based Learning from a remote village in Pakistan. He has to deal with issues ranging from consistent internet connectivity to pricing -- you won't believe what he's had to do to pay for his subscription to Launch School. 

Meet a Student: Darren Burgess

February 13, 2017 23:00 - 33 minutes - 15.3 MB

Darren Burgess stopped by the podcast to talk about his experience at Launch School. Before starting at Launch School, he spent many years as a Filemaker Pro developer and even attended a different coding “bootcamp”. We talked about the learning process he’s been on and why he almost left Launch School.

Meet a Student: Rachel Minto

January 24, 2017 17:00 - 30 minutes - 14 MB

Rachel is currently in the "Advanced" phase of the program, having completed all back end and front end courses. She stopped by to share her experience so far at Launch School. We talked about:  her art and philosophy background and how that's affected her programming journey balancing Launch School with a fulltime job Women Who Code and women in tech her experience going through the Advanced courses the importance of gaining confidence in what you do

Meet a Student: Tommy Caruso

January 09, 2017 17:00 - 47 minutes - 21.6 MB

In this interview, Tommy Caruso shares with us his strategy of balancing a family, kids, finishing up his Computer Science degree, and Launch School all at the same time. Oh, and he’s also interning in his spare time. We had a great time chatting about time management, study habits, and the sacrifice it takes to really learn things to depth. Listeners may also be interested in his take on comparing his Computer Sciences courses with that of Launch School.

Meet a Student: Karl Lingiah

January 04, 2017 17:00 - 35 minutes - 16.3 MB

One of our students, Karl Lingiah, took time to answer some questions and talk about his journey so far at Launch School. He shares his ideas on learning in general, and specifically what his experience has been so far at Launch School. Note: we had a sub-optimal internet connection, so the audio is not the best, but the full talk is still worth a listen.