CodeSignal

How CodeSignal Reached 800K Evaluations Annually for Top Companies

Founded By

Tigran Sloyan

Founders

Monthly Traffic

680K

Profitable

Yes

Year Started

2015

Customer

B2B

Founded By
Tigran Sloyan: Founders
3

Monthly Traffic
680K: Profitable
Yes

Year Started
2015: Customer
B2B

Who is Tigran Sloyan?

Tigran Sloyan is the co-founder and CEO of CodeSignal, holding degrees in Mathematics, Computer Science, and Economics from MIT, and has prior experience in technology management roles at Google. Aram Shatakhtsyan, also a co-founder and the CTO, is from Armenia, where he honed his coding skills and won various programming competitions before studying at Yerevan State University.

What problem does CodeSignal solve?

CodeSignal solves the problem of biased and ineffective hiring by helping companies identify true technical skills, ensuring candidates are evaluated on ability rather than resume prestige.

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How did Tigran come up with the idea for CodeSignal?

Tigran Sloyan's journey with CodeSignal began with his own experiences in tech roles, where he observed how traditional hiring methods often fail to capture a candidate's real abilities, focusing too much on resumes and credentials. This realization was coupled with his personal journey through math competitions, which fueled his passion for skills-based learning. He envisioned a world where assessing technical skills could be as engaging as playing a game, an idea that became the early foundation for CodeSignal.

As Tigran explored the hiring landscape, he noticed that many talented individuals were overlooked due to a lack of prestigious backgrounds, prompting him to create a platform that leveled the playing field by focusing on skill mastery. Together with his co-founder, Aram Shatakhtsyan, who shared similar frustrations from personal experiences in the job market, they set out to develop CodeSignal to help companies objectively evaluate candidates based on their skills rather than their resumes.

Overcoming early challenges, Tigran and Aram utilized their unique insights to refine CodeSignal, ensuring it addressed real-world hiring inequalities. Their key lesson was recognizing the importance of measuring potential employees' skills directly, a shift that would allow talented individuals to be seen by companies regardless of their educational or work history.

How did Tigran build the initial version of CodeSignal?

CodeSignal was developed as a robust platform intended to enhance the hiring process by evaluating candidates based on their technical skills rather than resumes. The initial prototype of CodeSignal involved creating a basic platform where users could engage in coding challenges, leveraging the skills of its founders who had extensive backgrounds in mathematics and computer science. Tigran Sloyan's experience at Google and Aram Shatakhtsyan's programming expertise played pivotal roles in shaping the development process. They utilized modern engineering tools and methodologies, likely involving coding languages such as JavaScript for the front end and Python or similar for back-end processing, along with various software development frameworks for building scalable infrastructure. Developing the first version of the platform took considerable time and involved multiple iterations to refine the user experience and ensure the assessments were accurately measuring candidate skills. Challenges in this phase included overcoming biases in traditional testing methods and achieving reliable scalability and performance of the platform to handle a high volume of users.

What were the initial startup costs for CodeSignal?

Seed Round: CodeSignal raised about $2.5 million in 2015 during its seed round.
Subsequent Funding: The startup has raised over $87 million from venture capital firms in three series rounds following the seed round.

What was the growth strategy for CodeSignal and how did they scale?

SEO

CodeSignal uses SEO to attract tech firms looking for effective hiring tools. They optimized their website for these keywords to ensure they're the top result. Additionally, they create valuable content targeting tech growth areas, which keeps new and repeat users informed and engaged.

Why it worked: By focusing on keywords relevant to their audience, CodeSignal captures interest from businesses needing skills assessment tools. This strategy effectively drives targeted traffic to their platform and converts potential clients searching for hiring solutions.

Partnerships

CodeSignal partners with big companies like Netflix and Dropbox. This exposure not only gives them credibility but also brings in clients looking for established and trusted solutions. This way, potential clients are reassured when considering CodeSignal’s solutions.

Why it worked: By teaming up with well-known companies, CodeSignal solidifies its brand reputation and reliability in the market, attracting more clients. Partnerships share the success story, showing the product’s effectiveness.

Referral Program

While there isn’t specific data about CodeSignal's referral program details available, their emphasis on quality and reliability would make it plausible to encourage current clients to refer others, potentially with incentives or shared success stories to increase their user base consistently.

Why it worked: Referrals from satisfied current users capitalize on word-of-mouth marketing, driving new business from trusted connections. This channel leverages existing client relationships for organic growth.

CodeSignal leverages social media by sharing success stories and insights on evolving hiring trends to engage with their audience. Consistent posting increases visibility and interactions, helping them build a strong social presence.

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Why it worked: Engaging content on social media keeps CodeSignal top of mind for tech companies. By discussing industry trends, they consistently attract inbound interest and engagement from businesses seeking similar services.

What's the pricing strategy for CodeSignal?

CodeSignal primarily prices its services through custom enterprise solutions with free trial exams available, focusing on skills assessments and interview simulations for companies like Meta and Netflix.

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What were the biggest lessons learned from building CodeSignal?

Emphasize Skill Over Credentials: CodeSignal highlights the importance of assessing skills rather than relying on traditional resumes. This approach allows companies to discover talented candidates who might otherwise be overlooked due to non-standard educational or career backgrounds.
Transparent Communication Is Key: A challenge faced during the growth of CodeSignal was the complexity of maintaining effective communication. The lesson learned is to ensure clarity by documenting information and streamlining communication channels as the team expands.
Foster a Strong Company Culture: As CodeSignal scaled, it focused on creating a meaningful workplace culture where openness and dissent are encouraged. This helps maintain a cohesive team environment that supports innovation and adaptation.
Engage with Technology for Efficiency: By integrating AI technology into hiring, CodeSignal has shown that adapting modern tools can significantly enhance the hiring process, making it more objective and efficient. Aspiring founders should embrace tech solutions to stay competitive.
Commit to Continuous Improvement: CodeSignal’s journey reflects the importance of evolving your products and processes based on feedback and market needs. Being adaptable ensures long-term growth and relevance in the market.

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