Fall 2020 After School Virtual StartUp Bootcamp
A free, after school program, designed to help HIGH SCHOOLERS with an interest in design, programming, finance, sales,and marketing turn THEIR ideas, passions, and side hustles into functioning digital products AND BUSINESSES
What
From concept to completion. Take an amazing idea for an app or software product and build a minimal viable product (MVP) to bring to market.
How
Each team will evaluate their business idea, research and analyze competitors, define user flows and experience, determine and prioritize necessary features, and finally build, test, and deploy the MVP product.
Students
The program is designed for students in grades 9-12th, living in Middlesex County, and have an interest in collaborating and building a product via a student run startup.
Where
All sessions, meetings, and communications will take place 100% virtually using online collaboration tools.
When
The 2020 fall bootcamp will be 12 weeks long, starting the week of September 27th and ending the week of December 13th.
Cost
To help the community during the current state of the world, the introductory fall 2020 bootcamp will be 100% free.
Approach
Each student is unique. Every team performs differently. Each idea has its own distinctive set of challenges. However, the objective is the same - to build something.
My focus is on embracing and enjoying the process of building something. By adopting this journey-focused approach, students learn lessons through experience and execution. Lessons that can’t be taught in books or courses.
There is no set curriculum or syllabus. No grades or testing. This isn’t a course on how to start a business - it's a customized journey of building something from nothing but an idea.
There are no teachers - only coaches and mentors. I want to focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the student and guide them to work together, as a team, toward their common vision.
I fully anticipate the program to change according to the teams’ and individuals’ objectives and needs.
Program
The primary objective of the bootcamp is to build a minimal viable product (MVP) for a digital product. However, emphasis is placed on the journey - not the final outcome.
Students will be broken up into teams, ideally by interest and skill set.
All students will take part in lessons, tutorials, guest speakers, and discussions that are geared towards entrepreneurship, startups, technology, careers, community, and service.
Every team will be coached separately on their own schedule. Teams will be working together on tasks specific to their project and at their own pace.
Individuals will receive support and mentorship through virtual 1:1s, pair programming, and tutoring as needed or requested.
The Talent Bottle Advantage
Experience
For the past 20 years, I’ve helped launch many products and businesses - some successfully and some that didn’t quite make it. Most recently, I co-founded an internet startup, LiftMetrix, a social analytics provider that helped customers make sense of data to maximize social marketing results. For four years, I led the small engineering team that built this product until it was finally acquired in 2017.
Understanding
I’ve managed and mentored a wide range of people in the last twenty years - from interns who were still in school, junior developers for whom this was their first job, bootcamp graduates, intermediate programmers, and senior software developers. I understand how to challenge each individual to constantly be learning so the team as a whole can succeed.
Knowledge
In 1998, I graduated from the Stevens Institute of Technology with a triple degree - BS, MS Computer Science, BA English Literature. I’ve run Talent Bottle, Inc for over 19 years guiding and building MVPs for clients. I co-founded a startup where I built the product that was later acquired. Now, I’m currently a senior engineering manager leading a remote team.
Dedication
I measure my success by how well my team is doing - their outcomes, engagement, and learnings. If a student has the desire, I will be one hundred percent committed to helping them succeed.
About Me
Hi, I'm Nirav Patel! I'm a proud product of New Jersey - born in Jersey City, grew up in Edison, studied in Hoboken, and now raising a family in Metuchen. I'm excited to offer this experimental startup bootcamp to high schoolers interested in learning and applying skills not found in their standard textbooks.
I'm a JP Stevens High School ('94) and Stevens Institute of Technology ('98) alumni. I graduated from Stevens Tech with triple degree - BS, MS Computer Science, BA English Literature. I ran some Div III Cross Country too.
I'm married to my first love, Melissa. We've been together for the last 22 years. Together, we have a family of three children - a 6th grader, 3rd grader, and a sometimes adorable three year old. We also have a 7 year old golden doodle (Samantha), as well as three cats (Fireball, Billy and Timmy Riggins). They make for decent content on my Instagram @NirPatel
My latest startup adventure began in 2013, when I co-founded LiftMetrix, a social analytics provider that helped customers make sense of data to maximize social marketing results Four years later, In 2017, LiftMetrix was acquired by Hootsuite, the global leader in social media management. Four years later, I'm still at Hootsuite where I’m a Senior Engineering Manager, leading an engineering team based in New York/Toronto on the design, development, testing and deployment of Hootsuite's enterprise analytics product - Impact (previously LiftMetrix). See the full timeline on my LinkedIn Profile.
When I’m not with the family or working, I'm attempting to learn woodworking and gardening. This is the second season of my gardening journey, and looking forward to applying my learnings to my fall garden. Follow my garden adventure on Instagram @NjBackyard
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Is There No Curriculum or Syllabus?
It’s impossible to have a plan ahead of time when you don’t know the capabilities of your team, the business idea, and the requirements to build that product. The time spent in this program is best spent by allowing the students to determine what skills/knowledge are important to them.
Can I Join A Team With People I Already Know?
Yes, you can join a team with people you already know. A registration form will allow you to specify your team.
What’s The Smallest And Largest Sized Team?
To experience collaboration and teamwork the smallest team size can be at the least two students. And there is no maximum number of students on a team.
Is It Really Possible To Build Something In Such A Short Period Of Time?
The honest answer is - nobody knows. It’s not so much the building of the final product - but learning what it takes to build it, as well as the skills and effort involved.
How Much Does This Cost?
The cost for the 2020 Fall session is completely free. Yes, free!
Why Are You Doing This?
I’ve been on the lookout for an entrepreneurial program for kids since my daughter was born eleven years ago - just to be ready when she reached high school. I never quite found a program that was geared to the students doing the work - their specific skills, ideas, and ambitions. With the world in such turmoil, school being virtual, and lack of real world programs for students this seemed like a perfect opportunity to provide a service to the community for those who are interested.
How Can I Track Progress Of My Child?
More than happy to have parents involved in the program. Parents can contact me anytime to discuss the progress of their child via email, phone, or text.
What Technology Stack Are You Using
All depends on what skills the team already knows, what they are willing to learn, and what is the best stack for the job. My standard stack would be PHP using the Laravel Framework, MySql or MongoDB, and VueJS.
Do I Need Skills Before Joining
Although helpful, it is not necessary. All that is required a willingness to learn, passion for the project, and openness to collaborate and be a team player.