2. Entrepreneur Slides
VISION & SOCIAL VENTURE OVERVIEW
VISION: To develop high-growth career opportunities for individuals on the autism
spectrum. Coding Autism helps autistic individuals reach their highest potential, rather
than continue their trend of being unutilized in our workforce
VALUE PROPOSITION:
All geared towards people with ASD
CURRENT STATUS: Pre-revenue, launching this year
Portfolio Building
& Job Placement
Mentorship &
Advocacy
Training Socialization &
Networking
Oliver Thornton
(310) 705-1794
oliver.thornton@codingautism.com
Industry: Professional Training and Coaching
Date Founded: April 2016
3. Entrepreneur Slides
3OPPORTUNITY & MARKET
40,000 autistic children
turn to adults in the US
each year
80% un/underemployment
rate for adults with autism
Magnitude of Problem: MAJOR
Unmet Need: Employment & job training tailored to people with autism
Market Size: 3.5M Autistic Americans (According to CDC in 2014)
Growth Trends: Autism
prevalence increases
roughly 15% each year
800K autistic adults 2.7M autistic children (1 in 68 children and growing)
Opportunity: By 2020, we are confident we can train & employ at least 1500 students
Establishment of Market: The market for autism services is relatively nascent, having
come into greater prevalence in the last 2 decades
Oliver Thornton
(310) 705-1794
oliver.thornton@codingautism.com
Industry: Professional Training and Coaching
Date Founded: April 2016
4. Entrepreneur Slides
4
PREP
2 Week Prep Course
Cohort of 15 Students
TEACH
15 Week Full-Time
Courses
WORK
Ongoing:
Interviews
Job Training
Job Placement
COMMUNITY
Ongoing networking,
mentorship, support,
socialization opportunities
THE SOLUTION
A full-service professional coaching and training company for adults on the autism
spectrum in professional skills, specifically in software coding/engineering.
Our prototype class will be launching in Summer 2017
Oliver Thornton
(310) 705-1794
oliver.thornton@codingautism.com
Industry: Professional Training and Coaching
Date Founded: April 2016
5. Entrepreneur Slides
5SOCIAL IMPACT
Fill the vacant tech jobs with high
quality autistic employees
who will bring value to a
company/organization
Decrease the exceedingly high
un/underemployment
rates of autistic adults
Un/Unemployment statistics of autistic adults
Job vacancies being filled and satisfied by autistic adults
Employment rates for Coding Autism graduates
THEORY OF CHANGE
KEY METRICS
COMPANY GOAL
To train and employ 1500 adults with autism in the tech industry by 2020
LEGAL FORM: We are a for-profit LLC based out of California. We believe the for-profit model will
provide our cause with more scalability and higher quality talent.
Oliver Thornton
(310) 705-1794
oliver.thornton@codingautism.com
Industry: Professional Training and Coaching
Date Founded: April 2016
6. Entrepreneur Slides
6STAKEHOLDERS
B2C B2B
Autistic Individuals: Children
and Adults
Parents of Autistic
Individuals
Corporations
Government Programs
Non-Profit Organizations
● We are solving the problem concerning the ability for
people with autism to be financially self-sufficient
and fulfilled in their careers
● This is a concern for both individuals with autism,
and their families
● We interact with our B2C stakeholders through in-
person classes, workshops, networking/social
events, and more.
● We are solving the problem of staffing and finding quality
talent for diversity and inclusion hiring initiatives
● Diverse talent improves company culture and provides
different ways of thinking to solve complex problems
● We interact with our B2B stakeholders through talent
recruitment, hosting our own career fairs, meetups, and
job board, and corporate partnerships.
Coding Autism’s value proposition benefits both B2C and B2B stakeholders by providing a specialized program that not
only trains adults with autism in a highly valued skill-set, but also creates quality employees that drive innovation within
established technology companies.
Oliver Thornton
(310) 705-1794
oliver.thornton@codingautism.com
Industry: Professional Training and Coaching
Date Founded: April 2016
7. Entrepreneur Slides
Smaller Classes
Specialized Learning
Networking
Job Placement
Life Long Coaching
Relationship
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
By building our business model based on the advantages above along with our autism
specificity, we are confident that we can defend and grow our market share.
Oliver Thornton
(310) 705-1794
oliver.thornton@codingautism.com
Industry: Professional Training and Coaching
Date Founded: April 2016
8. Entrepreneur Slides
8FINANCIAL IMPACT
Primary Revenue Supplementary Revenue
1 cohort
15 students
$20,000 tuition per student
(comparable to similar programs,
financing options available)
$300,000 per cohort (before
expenses)
Workshops
Social Events
Additional Tutoring
Talent Recruiting
Corporate Partnerships
Equipment Rental
Location Rental
Employee
Salaries
Marketing
Cost Drivers
Counseling
Services
Operating
Expenses
Oliver Thornton
(310) 705-1794
oliver.thornton@codingautism.com
Industry: Professional Training and Coaching
Date Founded: April 2016
For more information on our financial breakdowns, please reference our appendix slides.
9. Entrepreneur Slides
9GO TO MARKET STRATEGY
Product
A 15-week in-person full-time
immersive web development
course specifically designed for
adults with autism
First Customer: Adults with Autism
Ideal Customer: Adults with Autism that are approx. 18-
40 years old that are employable with the proper training
and accommodations. Strong interest in technology.
MARKETING MIX
Price
$20,000
Options for financing
Comparable to competitors’ price
point
Promotion
Social media and content
marketing, online advertising,
event marketing, referrals, email
marketing, SEO, blogger outreach,
traditional PR, and partnerships
Place
In-person classes within the
Greater Los Angeles area, with
expansion to other cities down the
line
Channels Used: Social media, meetups and local
events, speaking engagements, traditional media,
content marketing, referrals
Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC): $300-400 per
student
Necessary Key Partners and
Resources
● Coding Instructors
● Occupational Therapists
● Location
● Career Counselors
● Corporate Partnerships
● PR/Marketing Specialists
● Sales/Business Development
● Funding
Oliver Thornton
(310) 705-1794
oliver.thornton@codingautism.com
Industry: Professional Training and Coaching
Date Founded: April 2016
10. Entrepreneur Slides
10Next Steps
Launch
crowdfunding
campaign
March 2017
Preparation phase
for first program
Jan - May 2017
Launch first
program (cohort of
15 students)
May 2017
Finish first program
and begin to
connect employers
with CA graduate
students
Sep 2017
File for series A funding
through equity
crowdfunding
Oct - Nov 2017
Expand locations
and programs
nationally in major
US cities
Beyond 2018
Potential Risks
1.) Crowdfunding campaign fails to generate necessary money for first program
expenses
2.) Competitors developing similar program as Coding Autism
3.) Failure to partner with mid to large sized technology companies and autism
related organizations
Plans to Mitigate Risk
Resources, Expertise, and Funding Needed
We need approximately $80,000 to
fully finance our first program
We need 1 Coding Instructor and 1
Occupational Therapist for our first class.
Our proposed funding above would finance
their labor.
We have a location for our first class, but
this will not be usable for the long-term. We
need funding to secure a location for future
classes.
1. If we do not fundraise the necessary funding for our first class through our crowdfunding efforts, we will resort to bootstrapping or taking
out a bank loan.
2. Our dedication to small classes, social community centered around autism, and flexibility in accommodating special needs, requires
more attention than our competitors would likely provide
3. Active nurturing of potential partnerships through events, such as meetups and expos.
We need to develop corporate partnerships with
established technology companies with autism
hiring initiatives or the willingness to develop an
autism recruiting initiative.
Oliver Thornton
(310) 705-1794
oliver.thornton@codingautism.com
Industry: Professional Training and Coaching
Date FOunded: April 2016
11. Entrepreneur Slides
11
OLIVER
THORNTON
CEO
Autistic Individual & Autistic
Family Members with
experience in Sales,
Marketing, and Management
AUSTEN
WEINHART
COO
Software Developer and
General Assembly Graduate
with Autistic Family
THE TEAM
Management Team Advisors/Mentors
Team Strengths: Autistic background, ambitious,
resourcefulness, and well educated on start-ups and business
Team Weaknesses: Lack of funding and first-time
entrepreneurs
Jennifer Walske
GSVC Mentor
Alon Goren
805 Start-Ups Founder &
Serial Entrepreneur
Elizabeth Brennan
Co-Director of CLU Autism
and Communication Center
Michael Panesis
Executive Director:
Center of
Entrepreneurship at
CLU
Edlyn Pena
Co-Director of
CLU Autism
and
Communication
Center
Gaurav Soin
Enterprise
Architect at
SAP
Our team is entirely composed of members whose lives have been touched
in one way or another by ASD. Our passion for autism integration in the
workplace is what binds us together and motivates us to create change.
Oliver Thornton
(310) 705-1794
oliver.thornton@codingautism.com
Industry: Professional Training and Coaching
Date Founded: April 2016
13. Entrepreneur Slides
13Appendix #1: 5-Year Financial Breakdown
Link to Financial Projections: goo.gl/hcNYIx
Oliver Thornton
(310) 705-1794
oliver.thornton@codingautism.com
Industry: Professional Training and Coaching
Date Founded: April 2016
14. Entrepreneur Slides
1
4
Appendix #2: Stakeholder Insights: Characteristics of
People with ASD and Technology Companies
Meticulous
Attention to
Detail
The characteristics of the typical high-functioning autistic individual are the exact skill
sets & characteristics needed to be successful in the software and technology industries
Hyper-Focus on
Passions
Extreme
Optimism
Introvert
Personalities
Average Entry Level Salary for Web Developer
is above $50,000.
Oliver Thornton
(310) 705-1794
oliver.thornton@codingautism.com
Industry: Professional Training and Coaching
Date Founded: April 2016
15. Entrepreneur Slides
15Appendix #3: Crowdfunding Plans, Incubator, and Potential
Investors and Funders
aaa,
Rewards-Based Crowdfunding Platform
Incubator
Equity-Based Crowdfunding Platform (Title II)
Potential Accelerator Programs
Potential Investors/VC Firms
Oliver Thornton
(310) 705-1794
oliver.thornton@codingautism.com
Industry: Professional Training and Coaching
Date Founded: April 2016
16. Entrepreneur Slides
16Appendix #4: Technology Company Partnerships
Partnered Companies In Discussion
And over 40+ companies
Oliver Thornton
(310) 705-1794
oliver.thornton@codingautism.com
Industry: Professional Training and Coaching
Date Founded: April 2016
17. Entrepreneur Slides
17Appendix #5: Prototype
Our First Class
● Our first class will a 15-week, full-stack
web development immersive
● We will be operating out of Hub101,
our incubator in Westlake, CA
● Future classes will be located more
centrally in LA
● Crowdfunding efforts are largely going
to this first class
● Funds will be used to pay staff and
subsidize tuition, to better incentivize
students to enroll in our prototype
Oliver Thornton
(310) 705-1794
oliver.thornton@codingautism.com
Industry: Professional Training and Coaching
Date Founded: April 2016