Startup Institute

Many reviews below were most likely created by former employers & students who were incentivized to or coerced into leaving positive content. Don't dare to give a negative review as you'll be targeted by the employees.

As a former "student", none of the candidates in our Web Dev program were able to get a job within their field. Less than 50% of our group as a whole were able to get a job, which includes jobs outside of our field.

You will not find any hard-skills in this program, only some subjective "soft-skills". Although SI advertises themselves as having a significant reach in terms of networking, it mostly consists of being connected via LinkedIn, without any true substance between the connected. 

Although we had 2 significantly impressive instructors, we only saw them a couple times for lecture. Some came in without a curriculum or even after a night of drinking. 

We did have individual/group meetings with various employees, but unfortunately, we were immediately dropped after "graduating" and we had to fight hard for our continuous support, which was promised upon starting the program. Even still, we were constantly starting from Day 1 as the employee never remembered our status during our application processes.

Although they offered help with resumes, it would take a month to finally get a final resume ready. For example, it took an employee a full week to read the first draft with the only constructive comment, "I don't like the font of your title", despite other issues clear & present on the document.
 

With all of the issues we were having, we decided to try and have a private meeting which was then crashed by one of their employees. The fear is real as we feel isolated and caged from SI's "network" & use of unethical power.

Although they're all smiles up front, there is no real substance nor support, and it becomes incredibly cliquey in the end with sub-groups distancing each other.

Startup Institute will supply you with extremely useful resources and an amazing network. These will allow you to get a spot in the tech industry. But SI isn't just concerned with getting you the next job. It's concerned with getting you the job after that, and the job after that, etc. After going to Startup Institute, you WILL have a permanent spot in the tech industry so long as you put in the effort.

For the web development program - if you're a Ruby on Rails novice, don't expect to be an expert once you get out of the program. It's not about learning the technology from the ground up. Instead, focus on completing a tangible project that demonstrates your skills. This would typically come in the form of a Ruby on Rails webapp. As such, you should come into Startup Institute with some preliminary knowledge. If you don't have that, you should at least complete an online course (I believe SI gives you a One Month subscription).

You will work with your instructors and mentors in order to develop said project. At the same time, you will make use of the network in order to set up coffee chats and interviews. This is a TON of work, so you should expect to be putting in 60-70 hours a week.

One thing - Startup Institute assigns you to an existing startup company in which you will be doing a project for them. If that project is sufficiently technical (it may not), that can be your dedicated project that was mentioned above. I wouldn't suggest working on more than one project throughout the program.

I attended the full-time Digital Marketing program. I left SI in a much better place to find a job in marketing than when I started the program -- so overall, my experience was a success. SI does a great job of connecting you with professionals (and just basically really good people) in the startup scene. If you take your leaders' advice and work your connections, you will be able to find a job coming out of the program. In terms of technical skills/curriculum, you need to put the work in yourself to develop those skills that are most important to you. Talk to your team and instructors and ask for help and/or direction when you need it. 

The StartUp Institute prioritizes acquainting students with and ultimately preparing students for employment in the Start Up world.  It is not a place only to learn to program.  The philosophy at SIB was that coding skills (or marketing skills) are not the only thing companies look for and are not the only thing that land people a job.  The other facets of the program had to do with those other skills (social, personal, networking skills) that contribute to finding employment that you enjoy.  Even beyond that though, the institute wanted to prepare you for life in the Start Up world once you find a position.  And also how to look for positions that suit your specific personality type and preferences.  The other huge aspect was community (social events etc.) because there was a sense that you would carry your SIB connections with you as you looked for a job and then as you continued your career.  The only thing I did not entirely vibe with was the sort of inspirational stuff (hearing CEO's tell their stories) but even that had an element of accounting for useful connections.    

It is what you make it - so the real hustlers stood above the rest. I had some digital marketing experience beforehand (and signed up for the marketing track) so for me the blend of hard skills and soft skills was just right. 

The best thing, however, was definitely the networking. Industry leaders and startup leaders who are currently in the trenches came in to mentor us - and left their contact info wth the offer to grab coffee. If you put in the hustle, SI and rocket launch you into a career and network in the NYC tech/innovation scene.

I was hired by Ladder.io before the program finished, and I'm currently enjoying my dream job.

Before I ended up at StartUp Insitute, I had a variety of odd jobs all related to the startup tech scene, but I was unhappy as I wasn't able to convert into the developer world (mostly stuck as an intern or entry level employee). I had signed up into the product track (which became webdesign) - which was a mix of front-end development, UIUX design, and product development/management. Over the course of two months, the staff and team at SI Boston helped tremendously in advancing the knowledge of myself and other classmates. After graduating, within a month - I had landing a frontend developer role and first employee at a financial technology startup and ended up developing the complete frontend of their application in AngualrJS. I stayed their for a while but since then, I've advanced my developer skillset to include Angular 1.5/2, React-Redux, and Python... I just started a company with 2 of my colleagues and have fundraised and am now Co-founder & VP of Product and will be looking for SI alumni in the future for hiring! 
 

I'd heard about the Start Up Institute from previous students who were also alumaes of my college, and recommended that I attend.  As I was working at the time, I did a part time night course.   The course was an intro to coding, with a focus on Ruby.  All in all, the syllabus was very inclusive, setting up a good foundation for anyone who would want a basis in coding or an introduction to coding without having to commit a large amount of time and money to doing so.  

The course began; the building was beautiful and as I mentioned earlier, I really appreaciated the night class, as most of the people in my class seemed to be young professionals (like me) who wouldn't have been able to take the class otherwise.  

That being so, it wasn't the most enjoyable course.  This was mainly due to the aggressive sales approach, which made me partially dread coming to the course.  When I began, I had interviewed with someone from the Boston location and then received a tour of the building in the NYC location from  an NYC coordinator/sales person.  From the second class, the latter began to talk about me signing up for the full-time course or the part-time course.  I also received emails/calls about doing so while taking the course.  

I eventually told her that I couldn't sign up (aka lay off) as work was too hard and my schedule was not predictable. In fact, I ended up dropping out of the part time course, due to my work schedule.  I then switched to a job in consulting (which means far worse hours).  

After I did so, both Startup Institute contacts reached out to me.  I made it pretty clear that my hours would make it impossible for me to take a course.  The Boston representative seemed fine with this, but a couple of weeks later I received a phone call from the NYC rep saying that I needed to "get back on track."  Okay.  I ignored it.  Then, I began to get email after email.  Since I had already stated multiple times that I could not take a course, I ignored them.  No worries, because she then texted me on my personal cell.  I emailed once again stating I had no interest and then I blocked her number/email.   

All in all, it left me with a bad taste in my mouth.  Not only was she more invasive than any other sales person I have encountered but it became very stressful, since apparently everything I said was ignored in favor of her getting more sales or a bonus.  After hearing about friends who had such life-changing experiences at the school, it was a letdown.  Had it not been for that sales approach, I would have tried harder to make it work, to take another course, and to recommend the school to friends.