The Fellowship

The Fellowship came out of a problem we had with our own success.

Dev Weekends was placing 200+ engineers a year. Recruiters were coming to us for talent. But the drop-in model let people drift. They would attend for a few months, learn some things, then disappear. Not because they weren't talented, but because nothing pushed them through the hard parts.

We also didn't have enough data. We knew people were getting jobs, but we couldn't always track it systematically, so we couldn't replicate success consistently. And the mentor pipeline needed work. The senior folks who could guide others were busy with their own careers.

So we didn't kill what was working. We built on top of it. We launched the Fellowship in early 2025.

Three pillars

Before the mechanics, what we believe. The Fellowship isn't just a curriculum. It's built on a philosophy that took us years to articulate.

Purpose, the why. Find your "why" before your "what." We've seen too many talented developers burn out because they were chasing jobs, not meaning. We start with grounding: why are you doing this? What will keep you going when the problem feels impossible and the rejections pile up?

Psychology, the mindset. Your mindset is your most important algorithm. We spend real time on dopamine management, overcoming procrastination, building discipline. This isn't motivational fluff. It's practical: how do you structure your day? How do you handle rejection? How do you stay consistent when motivation fades?

Practice, the skills. World-class engineering through deliberate practice. DSA, system design, tech stacks. But without the first two pillars, the skills don't stick.

We run three types of content, every day. Mindset talks in the morning, tech talks in the afternoon, and talks on purpose and giving back in the evening.

Three tracks

Each track runs 3 months. You start where you are.

Bronze is for people who've never written code, or who've dabbled but never built anything real. We strip away the noise. No "learn 17 frameworks in 30 days" nonsense. Programming logic, web basics, data structures. 30 DSA sessions. 12 engineering deep-dives. 12 major projects. By the end you have a portfolio of things you actually built, and 100 to 200 LeetCode problems solved.

Silver is where most self-taught developers get stuck. You know syntax. You've followed tutorials. But you don't know how to think about systems. We focus on architecture, how pieces fit together, advanced algorithms, and the problem-solving that technical interviews actually test. 300 to 400 LeetCode problems, plus open source contributions.

Gold is for experienced developers. Complex systems. AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD. Industry collaboration on real problems. And you start mentoring the folks behind you. Teaching cements your understanding. It's also how the whole thing sustains itself.

The 12-week sprint

Every fellow runs the same cycle.

Weeks 1 to 4, foundation. Master the development environment, core skills, first projects. This is where beginners usually stall on their own, spending months picking a text editor. We don't let that happen.

Weeks 5 to 8, open source. We push people into the wild. Contributing to real projects. Reading codebases that aren't yours. Applying to programs like Google Summer of Code, LFX Mentorship and Outreachy. Real software is messy and undocumented. This is where you learn that.

Weeks 9 to 12, industry readiness. Mock interviews with real engineers, up to 5 per fellow. Portfolio polish. Remote job applications. Resume work with ATS-friendly templates. This is where it becomes real.

The projects get less structured as the weeks go on. Weeks 1 to 4 are an individual project with deliberately messy requirements. Weeks 5 to 8 are a team project with a git workflow. Weeks 9 to 12 are an open source contribution or a personal project. Each one carries intentional friction: unclear requirements, legacy patterns, performance constraints. That mirrors professional work.

Choose your path

Not everyone wants the same thing, so there are three paths inside the tracks.

The competitive edge is for people who want to compete: algorithms, ICPC regionals, Meta Hacker Cup, Codeforces rating progression, advanced data structures.

The balanced engineer is for both worlds. Build production-grade products while keeping strong DSA skills. Full-stack product work, GSoC, and remote job interview prep.

The open source path goes deep into contribution. GSoC, LFX and Outreachy, proposal writing, contribution workflow, and building relationships with maintainers.

Clans

When you join, you're assigned to a clan, capped at 20 to 25 fellows per cohort so attention stays personal. There are 25+ clans, each led by a direct mentor supported by co-mentors and helpers, many of them former fellows who came back.

Review isn't optional. We look at GitHub activity, LeetCode submissions and project progress weekly. If you're falling behind, we know, and we reach out to unblock you.

Cohorts run 700 to 800 participants. Rather than formal code review at the start, the emphasis is on unblocking people fast inside their clan, through a lot of engineering talks and Q&A.

Around the tracks sit specialised circles: Open Source Alpha and Beta, X-Team for elite performers, an ICPC team, GSoC prep, interview prep, remote job placement, a 2-day startup sprint, co-working sessions, a hackathon circle, and weekend deep-dives.

The mentor cycle

The model works because we closed the loop.

The people who went through Dev Weekends and landed jobs are the ones who understand what actually worked. So we brought them back. Engineers at Microsoft, top-rated freelancers on Upwork, founders, senior developers at Calo, Salla and startups across the world. All volunteering 10 to 15 hours weekly because someone once invested in them.

Mentees become mentors. Gold helps Silver helps Bronze. Not charity. A cycle. You take, then you give back.

That cycle is also what makes the time cost survivable. Running the program is 10 to 15 hours a week: session prep and delivery, unblocking bugs, mock interviews, one-on-ones, admin. That was sustainable alongside a full-time job, but only just. Graduating alumni into mentorship roles is what fixed it.

Results

Scale. 800+ engineers have participated. 74 have completed full certification. The Discord stays active.

Outcomes. 71% career placement rate for active participants. 18% completion rate, which we're working to improve. Average 40% salary increase for job-changers. Several alumni now work at international companies.

Sustainability. No fee, for anyone. Alumni mentorship reduces dependency on the founders.

What worked and what didn't

Starting small worked. We began with 5 people, and getting the format right before scaling prevented a lot of pain. Messy, realistic projects prepared people better than polished exercises. And the peer relationships outlast the program, which is the part I underestimated most.

Passive content did not work. Recorded lectures have low completion rates. We tried it. People watch at 2x speed and retain nothing. Our criteria now is a deployed running project followed by mock interviews, which also catches AI-assisted work that builds no fundamentals.

Unrealistic expectations did not work either. Early on we promised too much. "Land a job in 3 months." Some people did, most didn't. Now we're honest: this is hard work over 4+ months, we don't promise placement, and we focus on helping people grow as engineers rather than guaranteeing an outcome.

We also learned that technical skill doesn't automatically become offers, so portfolio and interview training became explicit parts of the program rather than something we assumed people would pick up.

What's next

Specialisation tracks in cloud security and data engineering. Company partnerships for hiring pipelines. Remote-first cohorts for underserved regions.

The goal is still building something that outlasts direct founder involvement. We're getting closer.

How to join

If you're wondering whether you're ready, you're not. Nobody is. That's the point.

Join the Discord. Complete the kickoff. Get assigned to a clan. Begin.

The program is primarily remote, with some on-site activity. It's open to everyone, not just underserved regions, and there is no fee.

Community building is slow, unglamorous work. The hours are real. But so are the outcomes. Getting a message from someone who landed their first tech job makes it worthwhile.