This is an exception because it doesn't explicitly require SWE experience or not, but instead is asking for super high IQ people (top 2%) who work 80+ hours a week to survive the 'guantlet'. I think that selects for a group of people likely successful at many different jobs.
BREAKING: Gauntlet AI (BloomTech, f/k/a Lambda School) launched Government Training Program, free program to prepare you for government AI/SWE roles.
SOURCE: [https://gfa.gauntletai.com/](https://gfa.gauntletai.com/)
I'm sure this will get a lot of popcorn because BloomTech had some past issues but Gauntlet seems to be a lot clearer on what it does, how it does it, etc... it takes top 2% IQ people, trains them for 80 hours a week for 12 weeks, and gives them $200K job and there aren't really any catches (at this time) and it's free because companies pay hiring fees.
It works because they transparently filter for top 2% IQs, makes sure they have the hustle needed through 80 hour weeks, and there is a huge demand for productive engineers.
They are launching a program to prepare you for government and they have a very transparent explanation for what it is. Four steps, very clear.
Gau…
I hope they are and I hope they thoroughly review all sides, but moderators do have a lot of discretion for removing people. I use my real name on here and I stand firm on fairness and truth, and while that sounds good, it also attracts lots of people who don't agree with this stance, or don't agree with controversial designs made in good faith.
Because of that messiness, Reddit isn't a court system to decide who is write and wrong. Reddit can act on signals like fake accounts from the same fingerprinted computers or networks, suspicious patterns of manipulation, etc...
So they can objectively catch bad actors.
The problem is when people disagree some bad actors do bad behavior and whether they are right or wrong, the ends do not justify the means and the bad behavior might get them banned.
The best thing you can do in here is maintain your integrity.
Updated with new press release from today.
\- Codesmith is a subcontractor under LANTEC
\- The program appears to be training for IRS and Treasury personnel
\- The education is planned to be delivered by Codesmith Alumni who now work at top companies in industry.
I’m consistent in who I am and how I show up, both publicly and privately. Over the years, I’ve received snarky remarks and unprofessional attacks from accounts that identify themselves as part of the Codesmith community, and that kind of dynamic likely contributes to the broader decline we’re seeing.
I’ve said this before, but it’s important context: I’m one account, using my real name. In contrast, many other accounts have appeared, engaged briefly and aggressively, and then disappeared—some of which no longer seem to be active. If more of these conversations were happening between identifiable people using real names, I think the tone and outcomes would be very different.
Transparency matters, especially right now. It’s normal for people to look at the same information and come to different conclusions. What’s not healthy is when discussions feel lopsided or impersonal, with one per…
That blog post presents a one-sided framing and selectively quotes material to support a conclusion I do not agree with.
Claims such as: “Codesmith has proven this thesis true with 5,000+ alumni. 90% of graduates get hired within 12 months, most land leadership roles within big tech & AI labs, and many directly contribute to the world’s largest open source projects” are extraordinary marketing statements. Evaluating them using publicly available sources like LinkedIn and GitHub is both lawful and commonplace when assessing public claims about outcomes.
Reviewing publicly available professional profiles and repositories is not stalking or harassment. It is standard practice in hiring, investing, journalism, and market analysis, and it is often the only way to contextualize broad promotional claims.
I also reviewed summaries of my own comment history using automated tools and reached co…
We'll see when their next CIRR report comes out. I periodically look at OSLabs-Beta and OpenSourceLabs GitHub projects and check if the students have jobs and the number of people with jobs about six months after graduation seems lower than it historically has been.
The next CIRR report though is people who graduated in 2024, not 2025, so the information will already be outdated. It would be really useful to get six month numbers for H1 2025.
The Codesmith Federal website says 90% of the 5000+ graduates get jobs within a year. Their own CIRR reports dispute that so I'm not sure if that's a preview of the 2024 outcomes or if it's just a mistake.
There also appears to be a new Codesmith FULL TIME program from August 7th, 2026 to November 9th, 2027, which is a whole 15 MONTHS!!! I'm very curious about that option.
Launch School though is crushing Codesmith on six month placement data…
If you are in the USA look at veteran opportunities in tech-adjacent roles. Like cyber analyst, or data-related roles. All of these roles involve programming now but have slightly more lower barrier to entry and more veteran opportunities.
I would reframe the premise. The reason bootcamp sentiment has completely tanked is because bootcamps outcomes have tanked generally based on the metrics reported and anecdotal commentary.
But the reason those outcomes have been impacted is because of the market primarily (followed by operational issues and response to the market).
And self taught, bootcamp, or CS degree, the market won't be easy to enter.
So the question isn't bootcamp vs self taught but rather a question of can you take several years to enter the industry and likely in a coding adjacent role and not as a software engineer.
If that sounds good then consider all three of the above.
If you want a job in less than a year, then don't consider any of them.
I personally think everyone benefits from learning to code a bit though! Just not expecting it to become a job.
If an organization chooses to market itself publicly, highlighting metrics like GitHub stars or describing student projects as 'contributions to the largest open-source projects in the world', that choice necessarily invites public evaluation of those claims.
Public scrutiny of public representations is not harassment, stalking, or doxxing when it relies on publicly available information and is conducted lawfully.
Claims either withstand scrutiny or they don’t. If they do, the evidence speaks for itself. If they don’t, criticism is a foreseeable and legitimate response.
Likewise, when security or operational issues become publicly observable or are responsibly disclosed, accountability and remediation, not reframing criticism as misconduct, are the appropriate response.
In the United States, open and lawful critique of public information is a core safeguard for consumers and markets,…
With respect to the staff member referenced, I did not seek out any private or non-public information. While reviewing a Codesmith project for unrelated reasons, I observed the name of an adult child listed in the project materials, alongside a LinkedIn profile that was prominently linked.
In reviewing that publicly available LinkedIn and GitHub information, I noticed two discrepancies:
1. the individual’s listed professional experience appeared overstated relative to the timeline shown, and
2. the GitHub commit history associated with the account appeared to predate the creation date of the GitHub account itself.
Because the staff member in question serves as a career advisor, and because I was already in an ongoing email thread with Codesmith leadership on related matters, I raised these observations in that existing thread for review. I did not contact the individual directly, d…
1. The piece being cited is not an article or investigative report. It is explicitly labeled as a blog post authored by a marketer. A third-party blog post is not primary evidence. I am not aware of any direct evidence in that post showing that I doxxed anyone. If such evidence exists, it should be identified specifically and evaluated on its merits rather than asserted by reference.
2. To my knowledge, my commentary consisted of clearly labeled estimates and opinions regarding Codesmith’s unit economics, expressed in the same analytical manner I have applied to multiple programs across the industry.
3. With respect to allegations of harassment or improper conduct, I again ask for evidence. My understanding is that I was removed from Codesmith sessions and Slack after stating, under my real name during a Zoom call, that a student described as “placed” was no longer employed at the comp…
I tend to take statements at face value. I don’t read into hints or implied messages. If someone tells me something directly, I respond directly.
If, in 2023, Will Sentance had reached out to say, “Your comments are upsetting staff, can we talk about your concerns?” I believe this situation could have unfolded very differently.
Instead, the first direct message I received from Will Sentance was in 2025. It demanded an apology based on allegations that I had “abused” his family, an accusation I categorically reject, and it was signed with promotional metrics: “Will Sentance (CEO, Codesmith — 1M+ taught, 4,000+ full-time graduates).”
1. I did not doxx anyone. I referred only to information that was already publicly available. Doxxing is wrong, against Reddit ToS, and I do not support it.
2. You stated as fact that I “posted the real names and private information of others.” That is a serious allegation. Please identify the specific examples you relied on at the time you made that statement, because I am not aware of any instance in which I did this. In fact, the vast majority of information I refer to I cannot post explicitly because of this, even though Codesmith has the information in public for whatever reason, it would still be inappropriate to post or say anything that would identify anyone.
3. I participated in the Codesmith CSX Slack. I used a single account, under my real name, and I never mentioned my company to individuals. My participation was limited to helping with technical questions on a small number o…
I participated actively on the subreddit from around May 2022 to the present, and I served as a moderator from approximately March 2024 to October 2025.
Someone asked: 'If he’s been doing this for years, why didn’t Codesmith say anything?' That’s a fair question. In March 2024, Eric Kirsten emailed me: “With regards to your posts re Codesmith, I generally don’t have any issue with them.”
If Codesmith’s leadership now believes my conduct was problematic. Responsibility for that breakdown rests beyond me.
Instead, information was later presented publicly in a way that I believe lacks important context and portrays my actions and motives inaccurately. In my view, this approach is unfortunate and unnecessary. I strongly disagree with how this situation has been characterized and with the conclusions drawn from it.
This situation has been presented publicly in a one-sided way that omits material context.
I have been characterized as a competitor who harmed a coding bootcamp. However, months earlier, that bootcamp’s CEO stated to me in writing that she did not consider our companies competitors and that our products were different.
I also raised concerns about security practices and the handling of sensitive personal information. Those concerns required multiple follow-ups, and an audit was discussed. There was later a publicly observable disruption to their AWS access. While I did not cause that disruption; I raised issues related to engineering oversight and security hygiene that were unaddressed flags .
I have been subjected to serious and false accusations, including claims of stalking and other misconduct. My personal email was circulated, and I was subsequently subscribed to unsolicited and…
You don't have to do anything, but if you don't sign your exit paperwork, don't expect to have an easy path back to the company in the future, even 10 years from now.
Yeah the practical matters that have gone very underreported is how a large number of financing companies have pulled out of bootcamps (and sold off, shutdown etc...) and it has accelerated the decline of the industry, even if your provider didn't pull out.
My company has relationships with these companies so I can't comment but I can speak generally that this is one of the things not spoken about enough on here.
People say 'follow the money', well when the money overnight gets pulled out of the bootcamp industry it's a sign that they aren't working. They aren't returning a financial return. And I'm absolutely shocked that some bootcamps still have marketing acting like nothing happened here.
u/GoodnightLondon and u/Leisurely_Creative you both also aren't considering what happens if the financing company goes under or effectively shuts down or re-sells the agreements, and is practically unresponsive.
It’s exhausting to have multiple anonymous accounts, many of which present themselves as part of the Codesmith community, repeatedly targeting me in threads where I’m sharing publicly available news, facts, and sources for open discussion.
As I’ve consistently said, and as the record reflects, I’m participating here as an individual, using a single account, expressing my own views. Over the years, I’ve faced sustained antagonism from numerous anonymous accounts, many of which were later suspended or banned by Reddit.
It’s worth noting that what gets characterized as “hundreds of comments” largely comes from a small number of long-running threads where I’ve declined to disengage simply because the information is uncomfortable. I want to find common ground with people I strongly disagree with. My commentary reflects my interpretation of observable market conditions and operational develo…
I would as a starting point if you haven't done already, try to look into other bootcamps that were sued before and see how they did it and what channels they did and pay a few dollars for court records to see what the outcomes were. Or have AI do the research and fact check every source it finds.
This other person is right even though it's probably not what you want to hear.
But you should talk to a lawyer and have them read the contracts and advise.
I would recommend having ChatGPT give you initial advice after uploading the contract so that when you talk to a lawyer you can be more efficient and bring up a focused and short list of questions or ideas to save on billable hours.
Some lawyers would do a free consultation as well, especially if you have a very solid set of questions and ideas ready and can make it quick.
I was starting to write this out but I have to be more careful about talking about these things but most bootcamps have contracts and fine print that protect them.
Here is the outcomes report: [https://codingtemple.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/codingtemple-outcomes-report-2025.pdf](https://codingtemple.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/codingtemple-outcomes-report-2025.pdf)
Syas 92% placement rate within 180 days for 2023-2024.
Self paced completion rates are very low in the industry so I suspect this includes only 'graduates' and to be a graduate you have to be basically close to placeable, but I'm not sure.
The median salary is $75K which is quite low compared to other bootcamps, so it's possible these roles are more like internships/contracts/etc...
Do they have open source projects? I know for places like Codesmith and Launch School you can just go through the open source projects that every student does and figure out placement rates. Anyone can do this and see raw information - with the caveat that LinkedIns could be out of date. However CIRR and Codesmith's auditor considers LinkedIn "LinkedIn is almost as gospel as anything else" (quote) so if you go off of LinkedIn you can figure out the placement rates.
I can't comment on that right now but encourage people to spend like an hour digging into it themselves and correlating it with public messaging if they are curious about this, and if they don't care then don't! haha.
I have a THEORY, but this is just my person opinion/thoughts and not a fact.
This sub tends to talk about the most expensive bootcamps (including former ones now closed), Launch School, Codesmith, Hack Reactor, App Academy, Lambda School, because these programs are so expensive that it's a huge commitment. When you spend $20K on a bootcamp you are also more included to self-justify that investment. You are also not paying for nothing, and those bootcamps could have more robust communities, more staff, more marketing dollars to pay for "reddit support", etc...
The audience for these programs are people who are seriously committed, put in a lot of effort to choose a bootcamp, and want to make sure they are confident in the decision.
The programs like Triple Ten, NuCamp, Springboard, Coding Temple are: 1) much cheaper, 2) focus on advertising to a large audience, a lot of them have 'X% o…
Coding Temple has been under the radar in this sub.
Some things to note:
- It's much cheaper than the $20K price tag on the "top price tier" programs
- They acquired App Academy's brand last year
- They are Chicago based and not focused on tech cities as much as the more expensive programs.
- Self paced.
Flags to look into or ask about:
- They are discounting the program 65% to $3,500. This could be a sign of struggling enrollment and deep discounts to help boost revenue. Ask them if they can provide enrollment trends or why they are discounting so much.
- Ask how many people start actually finish. With self paced programs that's the missing piece because a lot of people are current and don't finish and also don't withdraw. The on time completion rate for one self paced program in California is a single digit percentage of people. 10% completion rate and 90% of them getting placed migh…
I don't believe in my opinion that in the 4 minutes between the timestamps you actually read all the regulations and guides from all three.
You can ask AI to summarize and I'm curious what you find.
You also don't have all the information on Codesmith and this is what lawyers can look at.
For example, this is from a private email from Codesmith's current CEO from March 21, 2025: "I do not consider Formation a competitor, it is quite clear to me that our products are different." This was well after I started commenting on Reddit.
SOURCES (hopefully you can read them because copy pasting all relevant pieces doesn't fit in a comment):
[https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams)
[https://help.usajobs.gov/working-in-government](https://help.usajobs.gov/working-in-government) (USAJobs is the only OFFICIAL federal government job board, other than USPS).
[https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/employment-laws-and-regulations/](https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/employment-laws-and-regulations/) Federal hiring is governed by **5 U.S.C. § 2301**, which establishes that hiring must be determined solely on the basis of ability, knowledge, and skills, after fair and open competition.
No one can guarantee you a job directly employed as a full time employee by the Federal government.
That statement as a standalone statement is a fact.
I have zero idea of what's being offered. I made a statement that having the public nominate me cannot guarantee me a full time job directly with the federal government (i.e. not a contractor, trainee, apprenticeship, etc...)
I was trying to look a bit and this is one of the companies on the contract, and it doesn't sound like it's a positiion directly with the government; [https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/sol/sol20240710](https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/sol/sol20240710)
Bootcamps work for a lot of people!
Look at CIRR data and the latest for Codesmith showed like 40% of people getting jobs within 6 months of graduating.
Launch School has like a 70% ish placement rate within 6 months.
These are the source of the massive negativity right now;
1. Trends are tanking and down. The trend is more important than the absolute numbers.
2. Salaries are down in these reports, despite inflation and SWE base salaries being up. This indicates more people taking worse jobs or tangential jobs instead of the SWE jobs.
3. Ghosts. Launch School doesn't have this problem but Codesmith's data shows about half the people NOT RESPONDING TO SALARY REQUESTS. Meaning that of the 100% of people who start, 90% graduate, 40% get a job, and 50% actually submitted a salary, so the "median graduate salary" for 6 months includes 18% of students. Historically far more people got pl…
Someone recently nominated me for something, and I received an email from Codesmith as part of that process. It made me wonder whether the security audit they had previously mentioned was ever completed, since the email raised questions for me given past security concerns that were flagged.
If Codesmith is operating as, or pursuing, federal government contracts, I would expect that to involve standard requirements like regular security audits and SOC 2 compliance. There was also a period in the past where issues were identified involving the handling of applicant data, which I believe have since been addressed.
Nominate me for what? I'm not sure what this is haha. If you want a job directly with the Federal Government there are background checks and legal processes and you can't just be nominated and chosen by the public to skip those. So anyone guaranteeing a full time job directly with the federal government is scamming you because there are legal processes to follow and there are fixed public pay-scales based on your education etc.... So I'm not sure what exactly this is. A sub-contractor job?
DEVELOPING: FedStack and Lantec won up to $118M government contract for non-IT training for the Federal Government/IRS - Codesmith will be involved (conflicting reports)
Source: https://app.g2xchange.com/FedCiv/posts/smoothstack-obtains-118m-treasury-ocio-non-it-technical-workforce-development-and-training-bp
FedStack is large government contractor.
Lantec is a training company with three locations in Louisiana.
This is a blanket maximum contract and it's unclear what specific services are provided or expected, and what "non-IT training" means.
Codesmith claims here that they won the contract https://www.codesmith.io/federal and made the following statement
"Codesmith now extends its mission to driving tangible impact across the US economy, with the potential to return billions of tax dollars.
Codesmith has proven this thesis true with 5000+ alumni. 90% of graduates get hired with…
Hi, the sub had sporadic posting, re-sharing over the years, but seems one sided and I would like to take a shot at revitalizing the sub and increasing engagement and generalizing the conversation from being about a handful of bootcamps.
Message: [https://chat.reddit.com/room/!oiqkDy7tSNCt79YIZCPZLg%3Areddit.com](https://chat.reddit.com/room/!oiqkDy7tSNCt79YIZCPZLg%3Areddit.com)
It's here [https://www.appacademy.io/course/app-academy-open/](https://www.appacademy.io/course/app-academy-open/) but App Academy's 'brand' was sold to Coding Temple so App Academy doesn't exist anymore the way it did. All the courses, fine print, FAQs are all just Coding Temple.
So I wouldn't count on Open going anywhere