In 2009, BootUp Academy was piloted as a series of courses taught at Brandeis University. The Academy ran courses on web products, mobile products, games and social media sites. Class sizes were small and there was intense interaction between students and teachers. Our strategy has remained the same; learn how software applications are built in the real world and at the same time, apply this knowledge to the creation of a brand new, original product. In 2011, we decided to bring a new set of programs based on the same philosophy, to a broad audience, and that’s how BootUp Academy was born. While the courses are new, the ideas have been applied and refined over the last three years. The original teachers, Pito Salas and Tim Hickey who pioneered this at Brandeis continue to teach at BootUp today. Our hope is for BootUp to expand and offer similar educational programs to a wide variety of learners in cities around the world.