The archive · Consumer Apps · Product decision · 2015
Livecoding.tv (YC S15) launched Twitch-style coding streams after a 40,000-user beta
YC-backed Livecoding.tv launched June 29, 2015 as Twitch.tv for coding, betting interactive live streams would teach programming better than edited tutorials.
Livecoding.tv
What the business is
A live-streaming platform where developers broadcast themselves coding while viewers watch, ask questions and give feedback in real time — Twitch.tv for coding.
How it started
Livecoding.tv was part of Y Combinator's Summer 2015 class and launched publicly on June 29, 2015, after a beta that opened in February 2015. Co-founder Jamie Green argued that edited tutorials take the most direct route to a solution, while real engineers solve problems messily — so watching someone code live, with questions and feedback in real time, is where the learning happens.
What happened
By launch the free service had 40,000 signups across 162 countries, with streams in Portuguese, Russian, German and other spoken languages and in C#, Python, PHP and other code languages; broadcasters ranged from experts to an 11-year-old building his first Java game. Stephen Wolfram used the platform the week before launch to demonstrate a new programming language to more than 4,000 viewers. On launch day Hacker News commenters objected to being forced to log in just to watch; co-founder Jamie Green replied in the thread and the requirement was removed the same day. Green said the site would never carry ads but might charge a subscription for more structured content, and that live education was the key to the future, with verticals like design as possible next steps.
No ending yet — it is still running.
Background
Livecoding.tv was a live-streaming platform where developers broadcast themselves coding while viewers watched, asked questions and gave feedback in real time. Part of Y Combinator's Summer 2015 class, it launched publicly on June 29, 2015 after a beta that opened in February, by which point 40,000 people had signed up across 162 countries.
Similar to Periscope or Meerkat, users followed individual coders and got notified when a new stream started. Stephen Wolfram demonstrated a new programming language on the platform the week before launch to more than 4,000 viewers. Co-founder Jamie Green argued that edited YouTube tutorials take the most direct route to a solution, while real engineers solve problems messily, so interaction with a live audience was what made the format educational.
The service was free with no advertising; Green said the site would never run ads but might charge a subscription later for more structured content, and called live education the key to the future, with verticals like design as possible expansions. The TechCrunch report stops at launch day, so whether the live-coding habit or its subscription economics would arrive was still unproven.
What has to be true
- 40,000 signups from 162 countries in about four months of beta showed demand for live coding before the public launch.
- Stephen Wolfram's 4,000-viewer demo showed respected practitioners would broadcast real work, broadening the pitch beyond hobbyists.
- Follow-and-notify mechanics copied from Periscope and Meerkat gave the platform a retention loop that edited tutorials lacked.
- Pledging never to run ads while deferring subscriptions bet that live education could become a habit before monetization was needed.
What can be applied
A category-comparison launch can manufacture attention before revenue exists; the real bet is whether the live habit and the deferred subscription economics arrive before novelty fades.
Aftermath
As of June 29, 2015 Livecoding.tv had just gone public: a free, ad-free live-coding platform from Y Combinator's Summer 2015 class, with 40,000 signups from 162 countries since its February beta, a follow-and-notify model like Periscope's, and a stated plan to consider paid subscriptions for structured content and expand live education to fields such as design. The TechCrunch report contains no later milestones; whether coders would keep streaming after launch attention faded and whether anyone would pay were open questions.
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