Zach Sims
Zach Sims | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth year and age United States |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, CEO |
| Known for | Co-creator of Codecademy |
Zach Sims (born 1990) is a U.S.-based entrepreneur and the co-creator of Codecademy, a digital platform offering hands-on coding tutorials. He held the position of CEO, guiding the company to become a prominent leader in coding education.
Biography
Sims showed an early interest in technology at age 13 by designing a waterproof case for the iPod and pitching it to manufacturers. He pursued political science at Columbia University, graduating with the class of 2012. During his third year, he identified a disconnect between academic skills and industry requirements. After gaining experience at GroupMe, a startup founded by his college associate Jared Hecht, Sims became dissatisfied with the availability of quality programming education. With support from Ryan Bubinski, whom he connected with through Columbia Daily Spectator, Sims self-learned coding and together they developed the initial version of Codecademy.
In 2011, Sims and Bubinski participated in the summer cohort of Y Combinator. That same year, Sims left college to fully commit to launching Codecademy. The company earned second place in TechCrunch’s Best New Startup competition, behind Pinterest. Upon its debut weekend, Codecademy drew over 200,000 users and surpassed 1 million users by the end of 2011. By 2021, its user base had expanded to 45 million.
Sims was recognized as a finalist for the Time 100 in 2013 and took part in the World Economic Forum in 2015. Additionally, he was featured on Inc. Magazine’s 30 Under 30 list.