Came up with a concept for La Hackería

Firstly, Arturo and myself came up with some constraints for our idea:

1 - Needs to be short-term profitable / pay the bills
2 - Needs to grow our coding skills AND our audience to make future projects more feasible
3 - Needs to have a positive impact in the Mexican start-up / grassroots hacker scene.

After a brainstorm, we came up with La Hackería:

Here are some definitions:
NOUN - A Hackería is a place where hackers are made. Tacos may or may not be involved.

VERB? But in Spanglish, 'hackería' is also a peculiar Spanish form of verb. It is the practice of using your social and technical skills (and your determination) to solve an intricate real-world problem. As in - “What are you doing, Nayeli? “I’m here, Joe, chingándole a la hackería”. In this context, a hacker is that obstinate, detail-oriented, socially and technically savvy problem solver. La hackería is what the hacker is doing when they are hustling.

Capisci?

La Hackería can therefore take many forms, in many different places. But its first iteration is a coding bootcamp where students get practice addressing real world problems. This will take the form of a 12-week course where the first 8 weeks we impart industry standard courses in web development and data analysis, taught by world-class staff. The final 4 weeks, we connect our students with local academia and organizations to develop a working application or automated analysis tool.

We plan on bringing both local and international students and faculty together in Mexico, and we will leverage our connections with industry, academics, NGOS and students to do so.

Inputs:
$$ from tuition, industry sponsors, and donors
Amazing teaching talent
Passionate international and local students - no prior coding experience necessary
Arturo and myself’s full-time dedication to the project

Outputs:

• International Hackers - Full-stack web developers and data scientists with a new-found literacy about and engagement with Mexico / Latin America, and some real world experience developing a tool to help an academic or organization have greater impact.
• Local Hackers - Full-stack web developers and data scientists with a greater international perspective, industry connections, and real-world experience developing a tool to help an academic or organization have a greater impact in their country.
• “Hackerxs” Just as the taquero makes tacos, our Hackerx faculty makes hackers. They might be professionals taking a sabbatical, or university faculty wanting to switch things up a bit. Regardless, our “hackerxs” gain a new connections to faculty an industry experts in Mexico, an amazing teaching experience, increase their value as educators and mentors
• A series of innovative MVPs and products that address an existing problem in Mexico.
• A collaborative learning community
• Both Arturo and I live to see another day, grow our skills, and grow our audience for our future boot-strapped projects.

Bienvenido a La Hackería!

Cheers,

Fede