I call our seventh principle Pathways for Our Learners, but its internal motto is much simpler: "Eat your own dog food." This philosophy comes from hard-earned lessons in both software development and education.
The Perfect System Nobody Used
Of the many systems I've built, one stands out in my memory the most—not for its success, but for what it taught me. It was an in-house system, and on paper, it was perfect. The development team met every business requirement, we finished quickly, and we were proud of our work. There was just one problem: the users didn't openly refuse to use it; they just... didn't. They were unwilling and did everything they could to avoid it.
We had made a classic mistake: we left the most important stakeholder—the end-user—out of the process and then forced a system onto them. Unsurprisingly, when we tried to sell this "successful" system to external customers, it failed completely.
The Education Disconnect
I see this same disconnect happening constantly in education. I've hired many developers from so-called bootcamps and even universities who are a testament to this gap. They often know plenty of things they don't need to, and very little of what is actually most important for the job. In one extreme case, a graduate from a prestigious college admitted to me that he had bribed a professor to pass.
The common theme is clear: many institutions teach a curriculum and then leave the learners on their own after graduation, with little accountability for their actual success.
I once enrolled in an online university that promised internships with its related companies after completing half the subjects. It was a compelling idea. But the university eventually had to abandon this model, buckling under financial pressures and flaws in its own educational methods. However, it taught me a valuable lesson: if you truly believe in the quality of what you produce, you must be willing to use it yourself.
The Core Philosophy
"Eat Your Own Dog Food"
If you truly believe in what you create, you must be willing to use it yourself.
The Self-Reinforcing Loop
This is the very soul of our Pathways for Our Learners principle.
I envision an organization where we create pathways for the people we educate to join our own team. This is our ultimate proof of quality and our method for building our own successors. The e-learning platform we build will also become the main educational platform for our own future staff, creating a powerful, self-reinforcing loop.
I understand this is a long-term vision. In our early phase, with limited course offerings and the challenges of a rough start, direct hiring opportunities will be few. But by building our organization on a foundation of quality and using our financial model (Principle #12) to serve our mission without pressure for short-term profit, we are confident this principle is not just a dream, but an achievable and essential part of our future.
It's our promise to our learners: we are so committed to your success that our goal is to one day be your colleagues.