Mission

At stāge.dev, we believe in the boundless power of shared knowledge and experience. We strive to bridge the gap between software developers and organizations by fostering an environment of learning and growth. Through stāges, brief contribution engagements, we connect passionate engineers with forward-thinking companies, promoting a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continual growth.

Vision

We envision a world where every software engineer, regardless of their background or expertise, has access to unparalleled learning opportunities. Imagine that exclusive mentorship experiences could be booked instantly on demand. By facilitating unique stāges, we aim to cultivate an industry that thrives on diverse perspectives, fosters meaningful connections, and is fueled by shared triumphs.

Services We Offer

1. 1. A marketplace for access to short-term highly-coveted developer placements.
2. 3. A toolkit that makes it easy for organizations find and onboard great contributors.
3. 4. Coordination of engagements and stipends.
4. 5. Promoting knowledge exchange and mentorship between engineers and teams.

Target Audience

Stāge.dev exists to broaden horizons in software development. While we aim to serve all skill levels, we especially target experienced software developers and leaders. We welcome participants in startups, large corporations, tech companies, and everything in between.

Impact + Benefit

Stāge.dev is revolutionizing the software development industry, one stāge at a time. By providing a platform that promotes cross-collaboration and mutual growth, we are paving the way for engineers to expand their horizons and companies to benefit from fresh insights. The ripple effect of each stāge extends beyond the duration of the engagement, leading to a more informed, inclusive, diverse, and dynamic tech ecosystem.

Marketing + Outreach

Prior to platform launch, we will source premier teams to be founding partners in our program. Our founding partners will be key advisors in guiding the platform to maximize value to participants. Announcements will be funneled to relevant social channels such as Hacker News and Reddit.

Product Plan

1. 1. Host organizations use the platform to post their availability for stāges, including dates, seniority levels, and booking terms (open booking or by request only).
2. 2. Contributors browse stāge opportunities and book them.
3. 3. Host organizations are provided with a toolkit to facilitate productive and beneficial stāge experiences, navigating issues such as data security and privacy.

Operational Plan

The organizational structure for stāge.dev includes a Principal responsible for overall direction, an advisory board for guidance, and a Development Director responsible for fundraising activities. As the organization grows, roles will be introduced for product development, developer relations, and financial management.

Operational objectives for the first year are to:

1. 1. Secure a launch sponsor to fund our MVP program development.
2. 2. Secure 10 prestigious development teams as launch partners.
3. 3. Onboard at least 50 organizational hosts in total.
4. 4. Deliver at least 300 stāge placements.

Our vision is quality over quantity, so delivery will depend on providing the platform and tools to support high quality engagements.

Financial Plan

1. 1. Stāge.dev leverages open source software for booking and welcomes open source contributions to advance the platform, keeping operational costs low and value high.
2. 2. Our goal is to deliver sufficient value to produce a groundswell that covers our operational costs.
3. 3. We will collect donations from sponsors, partners, and contributors, as well as seeking service donations from platform providers such as AWS.
4. 4. Donations will go strictly towards the operation of the platform in perpetuity.

Monitoring + Evaluation

We will implement bidirectional measures of success for stāge outcomes, including qualitative and quantitative measures. These evaluations will be used to inform the further development of our program and organizational toolkit.

1. 1. Number of stāges and associated evaluation metrics.
2. 2. Repeat engagements.
3. 3. Partnership community involvement.

Sustainability + Growth

1. 1. Partnerships with larger organizations will bolster the program and funding.
2. 2. Case studies with notable organizations will increase the visibility and reputation of the program.
3. 3. Establishing a campus program will expand our early career exposure.

Roadmap

Conclusion

Stāge.dev addresses the prior gaps in the technology industry for both engineers and organizations. It reduces the risk of bringing on new talent to development teams and provides contributors of all levels with deeply enriching exposure to new ways of working. We envision a future where every engineer has a chance to contribute and those contributions eclipse resumes and traditional ways of thinking.

FAQ

What is the difference between a stāge and an internship?

Internships are typically 3–6 month placements for those just starting a new career. Stāges are intended to be shorter term placements of 1–4 weeks for those at any point in their career. Since different development teams can work in vastly different ways, stāges provide an opportunity to rapidly learn different techniques and ways of working. The short duration means they are especially useful for contributors and leaders who aready have some experience to build upon.

How do host organizations get value out of the stāge process?

Stāge host organizations gain an incredible set of benefits! The stāge.dev platform and host toolkit provide turnkey, effortless access to a new pipeline of talent and ideas. Stāges present a diverse set of contributors to work with free from risk allowing teams to break out of the constraints of cautious hiring processes that have become overly reliant on a narrow set of signals. Stāges allow your team to experience first-hand what people have to offer. They allow you to circumvent traditional hiring processes by building connections that can lead to future hires. Host organizations are in complete control of their stāge engagement specifics and level of involvement in the selection process.

Why is stāge.dev a non-profit instead of a VC backed for-profit company?

Our mission is to proliferate knowledge and organic connections, eliminating needless barriers. We believe this is best accomplished by an independent organization that can focus on this mission without the necessity of turning a profit.