Codementor, which lets developers get coding advice from vetted experts, was created to help people finish building projects. Successfully launching an app involves more than just coding it, however, so the founders of the startup have created Makers Year to help get more projects off the ground.
The year-long initiative aims to hook developers up with design and marketing resources, as well as organize online office hours with people including David Cohen, the founder of Techstars, a Codementor backer.
Weiting Liu, co-founder of Codementor, says he was inspired by projects like Codecademy’s Code Year and non-profit campaign Year Of Code, as well as his experiences in Techstars and Y Combinator (which Liu participated in as a co-founder of SocialPicks).
“YC and Techstars are great accelerators, but can only afford to help one percent of startups,” says Liu. “Makers Year wants to help the rest and create a movement that will help get more projects launched this year. The bigger the funnel is, the better it is for the ecosystem.”
After signing up for Makers Year, participants will get access to free trials and discounts from Codementor, which currently has 2,000 coding experts on its platform, Designlab, UXPin, marketing companies Moz and PressFriendly, DigitalOcean and Make School. Liu says he chose those companies because Codementor has worked with them before.
Makers Year members will also be emailed invitations to office hours with Cohen and other experts. The sessions are limited to 10 to 20 participants on Google Hangouts, but other people can watch them live and ask questions by text. They will also be recorded and posted on the Makers Year site.
Liu says the site will also host a community for Makers Year participants where developers can post their projects for feedback. The projects upvoted the most by other members will get various offers and prizes.
To find out more, visit the Makers Year site.