Desi McAdam
CTO at Nanno
Last week, Code Talent caught up with startup co-founder and tech community leader, Desi McAdam. With 16 years of experience as a software developer, Desi has done it all, from product management to building and managing highly successful teams. We got the scoop on her new startup, passion for Denver, and home office specializations.
What's your involvement in the Denver Tech community?
I try to stay active in the Ruby community as much as I can. I'm one of the co-organizers for Denver.rb, as well as a co-organizer for the CTO school meetup here in Denver. I do general mentoring and volunteering, and I get involved as much as I can with Denver Startup Week every year.
What are you currently doing in Denver?
Up until August, I was the Development Director at thoughtbot, however, we decided to close the Denver office for a plethora of reasons. But, when I was still at thoughtbot I started working on an idea for a company called Nanno, which facilitates last minute childcare for parents—a problem that many have tried to solve but no one has gotten it quite right yet. So, when thoughtbot decided to close in August, I took that as I sign that I should be doing Nanno.
I also currently work with a company called Flexjobs, which is completely remote, allowing me to work from where I want or need to. The set up is great, and I really enjoy working with a team that understands and can navigate the industry-disrupting trend of remote work.
What makes Nanno different than those before it?
Well, the companies that have tried to tackle the childcare solution have only gotten aspects of it correct. For example, Care.com is one of the biggest ones out there—everyone knows about them, lots of people use them, but nobody likes them. They take money from everyone, for everything, and at the end of the day it's hardly better than searching Craigslist for a caregiver. More recent startups have tried different things, but none of them seem to be coming at it from the point of view of what parents actually need, which is why I think a lot of them aren't succeeding.
The other issue is that there's an interesting balance you have to strike between trust and efficiency that no one has gotten quite right. I don't know if we'll get it right either, but that's what we're trying to do.
Why did you choose Denver?
I moved out to Boulder about 4 or 5 years ago for a company that doesn't exist anymore. I ran into Chad, the CEO of thoughtbot, at a Ruby conference, and then a few months later we opened the Boulder thoughtbot office. We later decided that it would be better to move the office to the Denver area, due to the major upswing the Denver tech community was having at the time. I wanted to part of that upswing, I wanted to help create the Denver tech community rather than insert myself into an already built community. I though that Denver would be better for both the company, and for me, personally, because I could be part of molding the community I wanted to see.
What's your favorite thing about the Denver tech community?
Well, I'm very involved in the Ruby community here, and, for the most part, Ruby people are so kind—they always volunteer their time and are always willing to help others, which I really connect with. I also like the different code schools here, like Turing and G School. Places like Turing are affecting the community's diversity as far as attracting programmers from different nationalities, ethnicities, gender—or non-gender. They're helping our community become more diverse, which is creating a community I want to be a part of.
I also love how big Startup Week is here. I try to do as much as I can during that week, to give back to the community. But, I have to say, one of my favorite aspects of Denver Startup Week is the vast range of different technology topics. We've got everything from financial tech to health tech to marijuana tech. It's crazy how many different opportunities are within the context of just one week.
Finish the interview HERE on the Code Talent blog.
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