Businessmodel of Codecademy

Customer Segments

Codecademy is targeted at users that wish to learn coding and programming skills, catering to a broad range of abilities and interests, primarily those with no or little knowledge of coding.

These could be jobseekers, those seeking to change their career path, hobbyists, people who want to set up their own website and people who wish to expand their skillset.

In 2011, Sims stated that the majority of the Company’s users were aged between 15 and 30. In the intervening years, this may have changed, with the Company now boasting more than 24 million users.

The US is its largest market, accounting for around 30% of the site’s web traffic, followed by the UK with just under 7%, India with around 6%, Canada with 3% and China with just under 3%.

Value Propositions

Codecademy’s most immediate value to users is that its platform and resources are accessible free of charge. The Company provides a broad range of resources and learning content, including a number of courses contributed by leading tech companies, that make coding more accessible to all demographics, including students, professionals and non-technical users.

Codecademy’s resources are available in multiple languages allowing users around the world to utilise the platform. Users are also provided technical and community support from the Company and its user base.

Channels

Codecademy’s learning platform can be accessed through its mobile and desktop websites at www.codecademy.com. The Company also provides an iOS app named Codecademy: Hour of Code, that allows users to start learning programming skills on the go.

Customer Relationships

Codecademy is available to users on a self-service basis. Customers can register via the Company’s homepage and start learning at their own pace. Upgrading to the platform’s premium subscription can also be done via the website with no interaction with Codecademy representatives necessary.

Codecademy provides a range of support resources to its users – including FAQs and guides – through its Knowledge Centre and enables users and Codecademy representatives to discuss and collaborate on issues through its community forum.

Premium customers are provided instant support from one of Codecademy’s technical advisors.

Customers can also interact with the Company through its blog; its YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Medium, LinkedIn and Instagram accounts; and through its own community-led sub-reddit.

Key Activities

Codecademy is an online learning company. It develops and operates a platform that allows users to learn coding and programming skills free of charge. The platform provides a range of courses, including coding classes for ten different languages, as well as for specific tasks such as designing a website or developing an API.

Key Partners

Codecademy partners with a range of companies, including tech firms, software developers, content providers, and other online learning companies such as Galvanize. This includes partners in the US as well as across the UK, France, Estonia, Argentina and Brazil. Codeacademy provides lessons for building APIs contributed by high-profile tech firms including Twitter, Evernote, Box, Microsoft SkyDrive, Github, MailChimp and Gilt. The Company has also partnered with Periscope to provide courses designed to teach SQL.

The Company has also partnered with non-profits and government bodies on various coding initiatives. It collaborated with the Obama Administration as part of the TechHire initiative to bring coding education to underserved groups, partnering in with Libraries Without Borders to help 600 minority students participate in Codecademy Meets. Codecademy has also partnered with Google and DonorsChoose in a scheme to encourage high school girls to study Computer Science.

Codecademy does not currently generate significant revenue. As such, its financial investors remain key partners.

Key Resources

Codecademy’s key resources are its software platform, its IT infrastructure, its learning resources, and its personnel. The Company’s partnerships, in particular its content partners and financial investors, are key to the success of the Codecademy platform. Codecademy does not have any patent applications filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Cost Structure

Codecademy incurs costs relating to the development of its platform, maintenance of its IT infrastructure, the creation of its content, the management of its partnerships and the retention of its personnel. On its website the Company lists a team of 27 staff members working out of a single office in New York, representing costs in the form of salaries, benefits, rent and utilities.

Revenue Streams

Codecademy generates revenue using a freemium business model. The Company provides access to its learning platform free of charge but also offers a more advanced, more feature-laden premium package for which users pay a monthly subscription. The Premium package is currently priced at $19.99 per month or $199.99 for a full year.

Codecademy only relatively recently began to monetise its offerings after a great deal of speculation as to what the Company’s business model would be. Further revenue streams are expected to be added; however, revenue generation is not currently a priority of Codecademy Chief Executive Officer Sims, according to reports.