harshpatel/thankyouaustin

## thankyouaustin
# Thank you Austin!

When we first came to Austin to start [MakerSquare](www.themakersquare.com), we were excited to dive into a growing tech scene with an entrepreneurial spirit. Austin is one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. and we were happy to be in a position to help it grow. Over the past ten months we’ve graduated over 50 developers and currently have an additional 40 students learning Ruby on Rails & JavaScript. People have come from all over the world to take part in MakerSquare, and are leaving with a solid start to their development careers.

Looking back and reflecting on what got us here, we realized we would be nowhere without the support of the Austin community, and for that, we thank you. Austin is a special place to start a company. On behalf of the 56 alumni, 40 students and 16 staff members at MakerSquare, thank you, Austin.

Thank you, [Josh](http://www.twitter.com/joshbaer) and [Capital Factory](http://capitalfactory.com/), for hosting a meetup literally every day of the week. You provide a place for developers to come together, share ideas, and grow. You've played a huge role in making both Career Days a huge success.

Thank you [Matt](https://twitter.com/techpeace), for meeting us early on and truly believing in us. Your genuine passion for helping people learn how to code through orgs such as Rails Bridge is inspiring. You've spent countless nights making sure students had an extraordinary experience, and they love you for it.

Thanks [Brandon](http://www.twitter.com/tehviking), [Nick](http://www.twitter.com/ozmox), [Austin](https://twitter.com/jaustinhughey), and [Keith](http://www.twitter.com/karmajunkie) for meeting with us way, way early on, and offering help by connecting us with other awesome people in the  Ruby community. Your guidance from the beginning has been awesome, and you may not think it, but you've played a big role in us getting MakerSquare off the ground.

Thank you [Schneems](http://schneems.com/), [Scott Belware](http://blog.scottbellware.com/), [Tony Lewis](https://twitter.com/AnthonyLewis), and dozens of other developers who took out time to meet us, just because they wanted to see others succeed.

Thank you [Damon](http://damonc.com/) for bringing together a community of developers in Austin on Rails and truly uniting everyone. Thank you for believing in us and backing us up from the beginning.

[Cindy](http://www.twitter.com/cindyroyal), thank you for always spreading the word about MakerSquare. You're always show us some love on twitter, and we really appreciate it :)

Thank you [Nathaniel](http://nthj.me/) for putting yourself out there at Austin on Rails and running that session on caching. That session ultimately caused us to meet and you eventually became our first instructor. For that, we'll forever be greatful :)

Thank you [Elyse](http://www.elyseholladay.com/) and the other Girl Develop It TAs for conducting multiple multi-night seminars for students. They love you for doing so, and we do too!

Thanks [Aaron](http://www.twitter.com/techscruggs) for helping prepare students for the job hunt and interviews through your late-night and weekend interview-prep sessions, for being an amazing mentor, and sending cookies on behalf of AcademicWorks for our first graduation :)

Thank you [Paul](http://www.twitter.com/seobrien) for introducing us to so many people around Austin!

Thanks [Andy](http://www.twitter.com/alwaysunday) for having confidence in us from the start. You expanded your network to us without hesitation; You provided valuable guidance to students as a mentor, and you always  always introducing us to great people like yourself.

Thank you Jay, for guiding us early on. You’re an incredibly busy man running uShip, but you still find time to give back to young startups.

Thank you [uShip](www.uship.com), [Mass Relevance](www.massrelevance.com) and [Return Path](www.returnpath.com) for becoming our hiring partners and believing in the quality of our curriculum.

Thank you to all the amazing [mentors](http://www.themakersquare.com/team) who have supported students throughout their journey to become developers, and for believeing in us.

As you can see, we wouldn't be anywhere without the amazing group of people that were already a part of the Austin tech scene. You've welcomed us with open arms, and we can't thank you enough. To the city of Austin and the people that define it: Thank you, you’ve been great to us, and we hope we can give back to you as much as you’ve given to us.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/97776653@N02/11069661105/" title="IMG_3060 by makersquare, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3799/11069661105_451b3849d0.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_3060"></a>

Cheers,

Harsh, Ravi, Shehzan and Shaan

MakerSquare Founders
	# Thank you Austin!

	When we first came to Austin to start [MakerSquare](www.themakersquare.com), we were excited to dive into a growing tech scene with an entrepreneurial spirit. Austin is one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. and we were happy to be in a position to help it grow. Over the past ten months we’ve graduated over 50 developers and currently have an additional 40 students learning Ruby on Rails & JavaScript. People have come from all over the world to take part in MakerSquare, and are leaving with a solid start to their development careers.

	Looking back and reflecting on what got us here, we realized we would be nowhere without the support of the Austin community, and for that, we thank you. Austin is a special place to start a company. On behalf of the 56 alumni, 40 students and 16 staff members at MakerSquare, thank you, Austin.

	Thank you, [Josh](http://www.twitter.com/joshbaer) and [Capital Factory](http://capitalfactory.com/), for hosting a meetup literally every day of the week. You provide a place for developers to come together, share ideas, and grow. You've played a huge role in making both Career Days a huge success.

	Thank you [Matt](https://twitter.com/techpeace), for meeting us early on and truly believing in us. Your genuine passion for helping people learn how to code through orgs such as Rails Bridge is inspiring. You've spent countless nights making sure students had an extraordinary experience, and they love you for it.

	Thanks [Brandon](http://www.twitter.com/tehviking), [Nick](http://www.twitter.com/ozmox), [Austin](https://twitter.com/jaustinhughey), and [Keith](http://www.twitter.com/karmajunkie) for meeting with us way, way early on, and offering help by connecting us with other awesome people in the Ruby community. Your guidance from the beginning has been awesome, and you may not think it, but you've played a big role in us getting MakerSquare off the ground.

	Thank you [Schneems](http://schneems.com/), [Scott Belware](http://blog.scottbellware.com/), [Tony Lewis](https://twitter.com/AnthonyLewis), and dozens of other developers who took out time to meet us, just because they wanted to see others succeed.

	Thank you [Damon](http://damonc.com/) for bringing together a community of developers in Austin on Rails and truly uniting everyone. Thank you for believing in us and backing us up from the beginning.

	[Cindy](http://www.twitter.com/cindyroyal), thank you for always spreading the word about MakerSquare. You're always show us some love on twitter, and we really appreciate it :)

	Thank you [Nathaniel](http://nthj.me/) for putting yourself out there at Austin on Rails and running that session on caching. That session ultimately caused us to meet and you eventually became our first instructor. For that, we'll forever be greatful :)

	Thank you [Elyse](http://www.elyseholladay.com/) and the other Girl Develop It TAs for conducting multiple multi-night seminars for students. They love you for doing so, and we do too!

	Thanks [Aaron](http://www.twitter.com/techscruggs) for helping prepare students for the job hunt and interviews through your late-night and weekend interview-prep sessions, for being an amazing mentor, and sending cookies on behalf of AcademicWorks for our first graduation :)

	Thank you [Paul](http://www.twitter.com/seobrien) for introducing us to so many people around Austin!

	Thanks [Andy](http://www.twitter.com/alwaysunday) for having confidence in us from the start. You expanded your network to us without hesitation; You provided valuable guidance to students as a mentor, and you always always introducing us to great people like yourself.

	Thank you Jay, for guiding us early on. You’re an incredibly busy man running uShip, but you still find time to give back to young startups.

	Thank you [uShip](www.uship.com), [Mass Relevance](www.massrelevance.com) and [Return Path](www.returnpath.com) for becoming our hiring partners and believing in the quality of our curriculum.

	Thank you to all the amazing [mentors](http://www.themakersquare.com/team) who have supported students throughout their journey to become developers, and for believeing in us.

	As you can see, we wouldn't be anywhere without the amazing group of people that were already a part of the Austin tech scene. You've welcomed us with open arms, and we can't thank you enough. To the city of Austin and the people that define it: Thank you, you’ve been great to us, and we hope we can give back to you as much as you’ve given to us.

	<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/97776653@N02/11069661105/" title="IMG_3060 by makersquare, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3799/11069661105_451b3849d0.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_3060"></a>

	Cheers,

	Harsh, Ravi, Shehzan and Shaan

	MakerSquare Founders