Zach Sims

Born 1990 · Age 35

American entrepreneur, co-founder and longtime CEO of Codecademy, an online interactive coding education platform.

Total Events

Career Span

31 years

Peak Net Worth

$2,000,000

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Life & Career Timeline

1990Age 0

Born

Birth of Zach Sims (year given as 1990).

1/1/1990Source

Confidence

99%

2003Age 13

Early entrepreneurial experiment — waterproof iPod case idea

At age 13 Sims emailed manufacturers proposing to build a waterproof iPod case, an early sign of technical ambition.

1/1/2003Source

Confidence

90%

2008Age 18

Matriculated at Columbia University (Class of 2012)

Entered Columbia University as a member of the class of 2012; majored in political science.

1/1/2008Source

Confidence

95%

2010Age 20

Decided to teach himself to code

Frustrated by lack of effective programming courses, Sims began teaching himself to program with help from Ryan Bubinski.

1/1/2010Source

Confidence

90%

2010Age 20

Saw GroupMe demo at TechCrunch Disrupt

Attended TechCrunch Disrupt where Jared Hecht demoed GroupMe; this led Sims to later work for GroupMe.

1/1/2010Source

Confidence

90%

2010Age 20

Worked for GroupMe

Worked for GroupMe (founded by college friend Jared Hecht) after encountering the app at TechCrunch Disrupt.

1/1/2010Source

Confidence

90%

2010Age 20

Worked at Columbia Daily Spectator; met Ryan Bubinski

Worked on Columbia's student paper, the Columbia Daily Spectator, where he met Ryan Bubinski (future cofounder).

1/1/2010Source

Confidence

85%

2011Age 21

Dropped out of Columbia to run Codecademy

Sims left Columbia University in summer 2011, a year before graduation, to focus full-time on Codecademy.

1/1/2011Net Worth: $20,000Source

Confidence

98%

2011Age 21

Built the first version of Codecademy in dorm room

Sims and Ryan Bubinski built the initial Codecademy site in Sims' Columbia dorm room to help him learn to program.

1/1/2011Net Worth: $5,000Source

Confidence

90%

2011Age 21

Website briefly crashed due to traffic

Codecademy.com crashed for a short period during the first weekend after launch due to heavy traffic.

1/1/2011Net Worth: $20,000Source

Confidence

95%

2011Age 21

Reached 1 million users by end of 2011

Codecademy achieved approximately 1,000,000 registered users by the end of its launch year.

1/1/2011Net Worth: $50,000Source

Confidence

95%

2011Age 21

Codecademy runner-up: TechCrunch Best New Startup (2011)

Codecademy was the runner-up in TechCrunch's Best New Startup awards in 2011 (lost to Pinterest).

1/1/2011Net Worth: $30,000Source

Confidence

95%

2011Age 21

Initial product: three short JavaScript lessons

At launch Codecademy offered three short lessons in JavaScript as the platform's initial content.

1/1/2011Net Worth: $30,000Source

Confidence

95%

2011Age 21

Accepted into Y Combinator summer program

Codecademy (Sims & Bubinski) was accepted into Y Combinator's summer 2011 program.

6/1/2011Net Worth: $10,000Source

Confidence

95%

2011Age 21

Mass signups in first days (~200,000)

Within days of launch Codecademy attracted over 200,000 signups (and briefly crashed).

8/1/2011Net Worth: $20,000Source

Confidence

98%

2011Age 21

Launched Codecademy.com

Official public launch of Codecademy (Sims and Bubinski pushed live from their dorm room).

8/18/2011Net Worth: $15,000Source

Confidence

99%

2012Age 22

Named to Inc. Magazine's '30 Under 30'

Sims (with Ryan Bubinski) featured in Inc. Magazine's 30 Under 30 (Inc article dated July 2012).

1/1/2012Net Worth: $75,000Source

Confidence

95%

2013Age 23

Finalist in Time 100 poll

Sims (with Ryan Bubinski) was named as a finalist in Time magazine's 2013 Time 100 poll.

1/1/2013Net Worth: $100,000Source

Confidence

90%

2015Age 25

Publicly discussed near-bankruptcy scare

Sims has stated that at one point he was 95% certain Codecademy would go bankrupt — a notable company/leadership moment.

1/1/2015Net Worth: $250,000Source

Confidence

80%

2015Age 25

Attended World Economic Forum

Sims attended the World Economic Forum in 2015 (listed on his World Economic Forum profile).

1/1/2015Net Worth: $300,000Source

Confidence

90%

2015Age 25

Codecademy reported ~26 million learners (BBC coverage)

BBC (2015) referred to Sims as 'The man with 26 million students,' indicating ~26M learners by early 2015.

1/24/2015Net Worth: $200,000Source

Confidence

90%

2021Age 31

Company content milestone (as of 2021)

Codecademy reported nearly 1,000 lessons across 130 courses in 15 languages (stated in Sims' Aug 18, 2021 blog).