Check out why the Founders of Spotify, TheNextWeb and Tuenti think you should start coding!

Publication date: October 10, 2014

We asked Daniel Ek, Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten and Zaryn Dentzel – founders of Spotify, TheNextWeb.com and Tuenti respectively and part of the Leaders’ Club why coding is important?

 

Daniel Ek, CEO and Founder, Spotify:

“When I was growing up in a suburb of Stockholm, my family didn’t have much money, but my mother and step-father always encouraged my passion for learning. They encouraged me to foster my love for music by learning the guitar and the drums and when my step-father saw how fascinated I was by computers, he brought me a very old one home from work that we re-built together. That was the beginning of my love for coding and programming and it soon progressed to me starting my own company building websites when I was 14. Coding helped me to expand my mind as I was growing up –and to channel my insatiable curiosity. It’s my hope that every child should have the same chance that I did to fall in love with coding.”

 

Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, co-founder and CEO TheNextWeb.com:

“Hacking code together is one of the most exhilarating and empowering things you can do. As a kid you’ll feel powerful and part of a grownups world, and as an adult you’ll experience a thrill you haven’t felt since you were a kid. Taking those first steps is exciting and maybe even scary at times, but it will be totally worth it when you suddenly understand how programming works and how the world around you can be controlled and manipulated, in a good way”

 

Zaryn Dentzel, CEO & founder Tuenti

“Coding skills report a huge competitive advantage in the new digital era. In addition to the required technical skills and knowledge, new tech projects and companies like us look for professionals that fit into a new culture: passionate about technology, organized, fun-loving, and with a desire to learn.”

“The fact is mobile connectivity is bringing about a new revolution. The future will be shaped by innovation converging with the impact of mobility. This applies not just to social media but to the Internet in general, particularly in the mobile and social communications field. It is precisely the most disruptive innovations that require radical changes in approach and product, which might not even find a market yet ready for them. If you think creatively, if you find a different angle, if you innovate with a positive attitude and without fear of failure, then you can change things for the better. The future is brimming with opportunities, and the future of the Internet has only just begun.”