For @Codecademy's first 4yrs, we were in the 📰 every wk. Those weeks, we made $0. The past 4 years, we've been out of the headlines. Now, we've raised $40m, our first raise in ~4yrs.

How'd we go from the center of the hype cycle to the brink of bankruptcy and back? Read on...

We started @Codecademy in 2011. With software eating the world and few ways to learn to create it, we saw a huge opportunity. In YC, we built Codecademy as "the easiest way to learn to code." We posted it to HN as a Hail Mary before Demo Day and got 200,000 signups in 3 days.
We were off: the press loved it, we were on every 30 Under 30 list, won awards, and more. As a founder, all of this felt great...until we had to raise 💵 to stay alive. All the press clippings didn't add up to enough $ to demonstrate we'd built something people would pay for.
With a few months of cash left in 2015, we scrambled to build Codecademy Pro, our first paid product, with new courses and new features for learners.

Going from the center of attention to the brink of bankruptcy was a rude awakening.
We struggled, but hit $1m ARR in ~6 months to raise a successful Series C to keep the company alive.

On the way, we learned an important lesson: hype doesn't pay the bills.
We pledged to do things differently this time: we focused not on vanity metrics, but on real metrics. We stopped tracking press mentions and started tracking how quickly we could get to cash flow positive. It felt impossible, but we made it happen 18 months later. 📈
For the past 4 years, we've built Codecademy to be a generational *and* sustainable company. We've built a $50m+ revenue business, controlling our own destiny, all while avoiding the hype we'd built the first four years of the business.
This time, we raised 💸 not on hype, but on substance, with a business growing nearly 2x/yr scale, with a growing market and a product that helps millions of learners access economic opp. But we know the truth: fundraising doesn't mean much. Here's what does:
Building a sustainable company: raising money doesn't make you sustainable.

Understanding how to make more than you spend does.
Ignoring the hype: I find this one hard myself. Every day, one of your competitors is in the news or goes viral on Twitter.

Don't pay attention. Your Twitter followers don't pay the bills. If someone *really* wants something you've built, they'll pay you for it.
Most startups die of self-inflicted wounds, not because of their competitors. Keep your head down and focus less on competitors and more on product market fit.

Hire the right people and remember that the user is your customer, and your investors and journalists aren't.
We've learned these lessons @Codecademy, but have tons more to learn. One of the hardest things in startups is to be persistent, but it's easier when what you're building makes the lives of tens of millions of learners better.

Come join us: https://t.co/kI6l3eZsVx
To read more about where @Codecademy is going: https://t.co/xnsHEavlPE

You May Also Like

#ज्योतिष_विज्ञान #मंत्र_विज्ञान

ज्योतिषाचार्य अक्सर ग्रहों के दुष्प्रभाव के समाधान के लिए मंत्र जप, अनुष्ठान इत्यादि बताते हैं।

व्यक्ति के जन्म के समय ग्रहों की स्थिति ही उसकी कुंडली बन जाती है जैसे कि फ़ोटो खींच लिया हो और एडिट करना सम्भव नही है। इसे ही "लग्न" कुंडली कहते हैं।


लग्न के समय ग्रहों की इस स्थिति से ही जीवन भर आपको किस ग्रह की ऊर्जा कैसे प्रभावित करेगी का निर्धारिण होता है। साथ साथ दशाएँ, गोचर इत्यादि चलते हैं पर लग्न कुंडली का रोल सबसे महत्वपूर्ण है।


पृथ्वी से अरबों खरबों दूर ये ग्रह अपनी ऊर्जा से पृथ्वी/व्यक्ति को प्रभावित करते हैं जैसे हमारे सबसे निकट ग्रह चंद्रमा जोकि जल का कारक है पृथ्वी और शरीर के जलतत्व पर पूर्ण प्रभाव रखता है।
पूर्णिमा में उछाल मारता समुद्र का जल इसकी ऊर्जा के प्रभाव को दिखाता है।


अमावस्या में ऊर्जा का स्तर कम होने पर वही समुद्र शांत होकर पीछे चला जाता है। जिसे ज्वार-भाटा कहते हैं। इसी तरह अन्य ग्रहों की ऊर्जा के प्रभाव होते हैं जिन्हें यहां समझाना संभव नहीं।
चंद्रमा की ये ऊर्जा शरीर को (अगर खराब है) water retention, बैचेनी, नींद न आना आदि लक्षण दिखाती है


मंत्र क्या हैं-
मंत्र इन ऊर्जाओं के सटीक प्रयोग करने के पासवर्ड हैं। जिनके जप से संबंधित ग्रह की ऊर्जा को जातक की ऊर्जा से कनेक्ट करके उन ग्रहों के दुष्प्रभाव को कम किया और शुभ प्रभाव को बढ़ाया जाता है।
A THREAD ON @SarangSood

Decoded his way of analysis/logics for everyone to easily understand.

Have covered:
1. Analysis of volatility, how to foresee/signs.
2. Workbook
3. When to sell options
4. Diff category of days
5. How movement of option prices tell us what will happen

1. Keeps following volatility super closely.

Makes 7-8 different strategies to give him a sense of what's going on.

Whichever gives highest profit he trades in.


2. Theta falls when market moves.
Falls where market is headed towards not on our original position.


3. If you're an options seller then sell only when volatility is dropping, there is a high probability of you making the right trade and getting profit as a result

He believes in a market operator, if market mover sells volatility Sarang Sir joins him.


4. Theta decay vs Fall in vega

Sell when Vega is falling rather than for theta decay. You won't be trapped and higher probability of making profit.