Bold Business Model Levels the Playing Field (Trevor Page)

Course Lab: Lessons from Successful Online Course Creators

When Trevor Page, founder of Crafty Codr Inc. and course creator at Coders Campus, discovered he had a knack for teaching, he decided to venture into entrepreneurship, leaving his coding job. He founded his company and launched the website, Coders Campus, where he offers the free 4-week course, The Java Beginner’s Course, as a prerequisite for his main course, Full Stack Java Bootcamp. In this episode of Course Lab, Danny and Abe discuss Trevor’s courses, his bold business model, and his intention to engage every one of his students.

In this episode we discuss:

• Trevor’s use of avatars to describe the students of Coders Campus.
• The very intense and hands-on, immersive six-month Java Bootcamp experience.
• Trevor’s biggest problem—the approximately 20% of students who struggle in the course—and ideas on how to fix it.
• How his passion for coding and his podcast allow him to compete with much bigger players.
• His income share agreement, which he and students love.
• Danny and Abe’s debrief after the interview.

“When I'm talking about the boot camp, or when I'm talking about code in general, to a student or a group of students, my love for coding comes through, and they pick up on that very quickly.”

“The goal of the Bootcamp is to get them a job as a coder. So our values and our goals together are very much in alignment. If I can't do it, if I can't get them a job, I don't get paid. So students love it. And I love it too.” – Trevor Page

Guest bio: Trevor Page is the director and content creator for Coders Campus, a digital giant which teaches every level of the programming language, Java. He’s the founder of Crafty Codr Inc. and author of the How to Program with Java ebook, a Java expert, podcaster, blogger, teacher, and entrepreneur.

Programming is a passion of his, and he absolutely loves to teach others this skill set. He’s an expert in turning complicated Java programming talk into easy-to-follow English and bite-sized tutorials. After receiving his bachelor's degree in computer science and working his way up the ranks to the title of Senior Software Engineer, he decided to make a shift in his career path and become a teacher in 2012. In the time since he has developed a following of people who are just as passionate about his teaching methods as he is about creating courses.

The Java Beginner’s Course is his free, 4-week prerequisite for his main course, the Full Stack Java Bootcamp, which:

• teaches everything you need to know to enter junior developer roles in the workforce.
• provides career preparation, portfolio development, and help with resumes and the interview process.
• guarantees a job offer within 6 months of graduating from the Bootcamp.

• Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:

1. Mirasee
2. Trevor’s website
3. Trevor’s Udemy courses page
4. Trevor’s LinkedIn

Credits:

• Guest: Trevor Page
• Hosts: Danny Iny & Abe Crystal
• Producer: Cynthia Lamb
• Executive producer: Danny Iny
• Assembled by: Geoff Govertsen
• Audio Post Supervisor: Evan Miles, Christopher Martin
• Audio Post Production: Post Office Sound
• Music soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely

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Music and SFX credits:

• Track Title: Bossa BB

Artist Name(s): Marie

Writer Name: Chelsea McGough

Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

• Track Title: Grace

Artist Name(s): Shimmer

Writer Name: Matthew Wigton

Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS

• Track Title: Carousel Lights

Artist Name(s): Chelsea McGough

Writer Name: Chelsea McGough

Writer Name: Matthew Wigton

Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS

• Track Title: Coo Coos

Artist Name(s): Dresden, The Flamingo

Writer Name: Matthew Wigton

Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

Episode transcript: Bold Business Model Levels the Playing Field (Trevor Page): coming soon

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