SPECIAL REPORT: Will Sentance

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What led you to start your own business?

I created Codesmith because I wanted to give people a path to fulfill their career goals whatever stage they are at. We’re not interested in what your GPA was, only that you bring total dedication to growing as a software engineer now.

WILL SENTANCE, 27

Codesmith, a coding boot camp in Playa Vista

Employees: 15

Financials: Raised $1.2 million

Where did you get the startup money?

The first time I sat down with our lead investor we talked for four hours about the injustice of the standard college system. Then he made an investment, which was a fascinating exploration into this new field in technology and education.

What’s been the biggest challenge so far?

There are hundreds of coding boot camps in the U.S. giving people a taste of coding, meaning many have a bad reputation. Now various hiring partners have described Codesmith as the master’s program of coding boot camps. We’re steadily redefining what it is to be one.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned?

Our team is everything and every one of them has to be an owner. You must have a rigorous hiring process that looks at people’s potential to own more than school grades.

How many hours a day do you put in?

Running a company does take every moment of your day, so maybe 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday to Sunday. But to call it work wouldn’t describe it; it’s your project and life.

Has your youth led to any awkward situations, such as when you supervise employees who are older than you?

Never. We have two team members significantly older than me – one was the lead trainer at Adobe and the other sold his last company to Disney and headed up product at ESPN. Both of these guys have a deep humility despite their extraordinary achievements – it’s truly a testament to them.

Would you start another company?

I love developing new ways for people to be creative and have autonomy in their lives. So when that time comes to build another venture, it will be exploring that same underlying mission.

Could you ever work for someone else?

The one downside of running a company when young is you don’t get as much time to see how others approach it first. If I were ever to work for someone else directly again, it would be to learn more of those approaches.

What do you do to unwind?

I grew up in England and came to the U.S. for graduate school. Now I live here, in Venice Beach. I walk over to Intelligentsia and Lemonade on Abbot Kinney and I go for drinks with friends at the Other Room.

— Sandro Monetti

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