- Home
- >
- Software Development
- >
- ‘Genius Can Be Found Anywhere’ – InApps 2025
‘Genius Can Be Found Anywhere’ – InApps is an article under the topic Software Development Many of you are most interested in today !! Today, let’s InApps.net learn ‘Genius Can Be Found Anywhere’ – InApps in today’s post !
Key Summary
Main Points:
The Core Philosophy: “Genius can come from anywhere” – removing employment barriers reveals that top apprenticeship candidates often come from underrepresented groups in tech.
Diversity as Business Strategy: Techtonic believes diversity creates better products, not just for social reasons. Terenzio cited Apple Watch’s failure to work on darker or tattooed skin as an example of how lack of diversity costs companies millions.
Revolutionary Apprenticeship Program:
- First Department of Labor-registered Software Developer Apprenticeship in the US
- Apprentices are fully paid while learning (unlike expensive college degrees or coding bootcamps)
- Focuses on screening for aptitudes rather than traditional credentials
Hiring Philosophy: Terenzio criticizes hiring for “culture fit” as code for homogeneous workplaces. True culture fit should focus on learning ability, accepting feedback, and teamwork skills.
Background: Techtonic Group was named “2017 Innovative Company of the Year” by Colorado Legislature for this unique outsourced apprenticeship model. The program emerged from Terenzio’s realization that her own transition from civil engineering to coding proved anyone can learn to code with proper screening.Read more about ‘Genius Can Be Found Anywhere’ – InApps at Wikipedia
You can find content about ‘Genius Can Be Found Anywhere’ – InApps from the Wikipedia website
‘Genius Can Be Found Anywhere,’ Techtonic Group’s Heather Terenzio Explains
Also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Overcast, PlayerFM, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn
In this episode of InApps Makers podcast, we speak with Heather Terenzio, co-founder and CEO of Boulder-based development outsourcing company Techtonic Group, which was named “2017 Innovative Company of the Year” by the Colorado Legislature for its unique, outsourced apprenticeship program.
“Genius can come from anywhere,” said Terenzio. It turns out, she said, that once you remove barriers to employment, the top candidates for their apprenticeship program are people who come from groups currently underrepresented in the tech industry.
“We don’t believe in diversity for diversity’s sake,” she said. “We truly believe that diversity helps us build better products.” When you have people from a wide range of backgrounds that contributes to a better product in the end. She cited the recent Apple Watch fiasco that didn’t work on darker skins or skins that are heavily tattooed. The company simply didn’t do any testing on a range of skin tones, losing millions and millions of dollars.
Unlike expensive college degrees or code schools, the Techtonic apprentices are fully paid while they learn. Techtonic’s innovative apprenticeship program is the first-ever, Department of Labor (DOL)-registered Software Developer Apprenticeship program in the United States.
Terenzio started the program because she came into coding from civil engineering. “I realized that people from any background can learn to code. It’s just a matter of screening for the right aptitudes,” she said.
“I hate when companies hire for ‘culture fit’,” she said. It’s code for a homogeneous workplace. Keep your mind open as to what is a fit, she suggested. A culture fit in tech should be things like the ability to always be learning, to take professional criticism well, and knowing how to work in a team environment.
Listen in to find out more about how the program works, what Techtonic Group plans to do with its recently-received venture capital funding and Terenzio’s advice for both people interested in tech as a career and those already in the field.
In this Edition:
0:40: Can you tell me what the Techtonic Group does?
5:15: What did you have to change on the application, though?
10:01: Discussing the barriers that are there for gender minorities and people of colour wanting a career in technology
13:45: What kind of things do you look for in people that want to start your program?
16:51: How many engineers do you have at Techtonic?
18:46: What is the thing that you find most exciting about this program for you personally?
Source: InApps.net
Let’s create the next big thing together!
Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.
