In this presentation, which was originally given at the Maastricht Week of Global Entrepreneurship in 2014, you will hear the story of how pivoting can lead you in new directions. First, when you begin to think of creating your own startup or small business, you will want to find what dissatisfies you. For me, that was access to learning computer programming for all children. Through hosting workshops for kids in coding, I learned from parents and teachers that they, too, wanted to know more about technology, but didn't know where to get started. That's when I decided to test out a new idea, which was a workshop series for adults to learn computer programming in an easy and non-threatening way. Coding and Cocktails is now looking to expand to other cities throughout the world in order to teach HTML and CSS in fun-filled workshop settings. If you're interested in working with us, please email me!

1. Startup Stories:
Embracing the pivot
Katie Williams, M.Ed.
Founder Coding & Cocktails
and RISE OF //CODE

2. Innovation comes
from dissatisfaction
with the way things
are.

3. I am very dissatisfied
with the number of
women and people of
color in the tech
sector.

4. What are you
dissatisfied with?
Tweet me!
@fiberopticnow

5. “If your plan is for 1
year, plant rice.”

6. “If your plan is for
10 years, plant trees.”

7. “If your plan is for 100
years, educate children”
-Confucius

8. All kids love tech

9. Everyone loves tech.

10. How many people actually
know how technology works?

11. The future job growth in
the tech sector is
exponential.

13. But, the number of women
who graduate with
Computer Science
degrees is startlingly low.

14. Women

15. Additionally, the number
of people of color working
in tech startups is also
very low.

17. There is a gap between
the jobs of tomorrow,
and the skills we teach
in school today.

18. There is a system of
privilege that benefits
white people and
especially white men in
tech.

19. How can we change
this trend so all
people have access
to a career in tech?

20. Many initiatives are
teaching coding online.

22. But, MOOCs have
a 93% or higher
dropout rate.

23. That’s why I started a
grassroots initiative in the
Netherlands to teach kids
tech.

25. EMPOWERMENT

26. DESIGN THINKING

27. WE ARE NOT
A SEXY APP.

28. We offer a variety of in-person 8-
week courses.
● HTML/CSS
● Circuits
● Graphic Design
● Videography
● 3D Printing
● Python
● Drones

29. We design hands-on
workshops with tangible
goals

30. Employ university students
studying tech-related fields to
teach our courses to kids.

31. Develop rigorous teacher trainings
in classroom management,
pedagogy and practice.

32. But we realized
that adults want to
learn coding, too!

34. How did a grassroots initiative to
teach kids coding spawn a sexy-
networking workshop series for
adults?

35. EMBRACE
THE PIVOT

36. Takeaways
● Find your dissatisfaction & act on it!
● Test your ideas quickly.
● Embrace the pivot!
● You never know how your original
idea will morph & change!

37. Are you interested to start
coding workshops in your
area of the world?
Email me!
katie.elizabeth.williams@gmail.com

38. @fiberopticnow

39. **This presentation was
originally a speech given
at the Maastricht Week of
Global Entrepreneurship
in 2014 by Katie Williams

40. Bibliography
1. "The Hour of Code Is Coming." Code.org. Web. 20 Nov. 2014. <http://www.code.org>.
2. Yang, Diyi, Tanmay Sinha, David Adamson, and Carolyn Penstein Rose. "“Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out”:
Anticipating Student Dropouts in Massive Open Online Courses."
3. "Eight Charts That Put Tech Companies' Diversity Stats into Perspective." Gigaom. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
<https://gigaom.com/2014/08/21/eight-charts-that-put-tech-companies-diversity-stats-into-perspective/>.