In this week’s episode, Code Authority CEO Jason Taylor delves into how his team helps business owners by creating custom software developments and digital marketing services, as well as his involvement in the North Texas nonprofit, Mankind.
SHOW NOTES:
[00:15] Introduction[00:45] Give For Frisco
[02:15] Mankind
[03:45] How men get connected with Mankind
[04:30] Where Mankind is based
[05:14] How Mankind raises funds
[05:30] 10th Annual Mankind Charity Classic
[07:33] Code Launch
[09:24] Process of Code Launch
[11:26] Code Authority
[12:40] Give for Frisco
LINKS & RESOURCES:
- Mankind on Lifestyle Frisco
- Code Authority on Lifestyle Frisco
- Mankind Website
- Code Authority Website
- Code Launch Website
Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:
Transcript
Machine-generated.
Welcome to the Frisco podcast. I’m your host, Scott Ellis. And this episode we are joined by Jason Taylor from Code Authority and Jason is the president and founder of Code Authority. You started that about 18 years ago. Welcome to the show. Glad to have you here today.
Thank you Scott.
And we’re going to talk about Code Authority a little bit, but we’re going to start off with Give for Frisco and you guys, Code Authority is the sponsor of Give for Frisco this year. Decided to get involved in stuff behind it, Give for Frisco’s something we’re hugely, hugely passionate about. Um, but what made you want to get involved in and sponsor the Give for Frisco initiative?
Well, um, like you mentioned, I did start Code Authority, um, 18 years ago and um, you know, that’s a technology services business, um, software development, digital marketing. Um, but also 10 years ago I was asked to help get a charity started. And so a close friend of mine asked me to help him, um, everything from legal to forming a board to forming bylaws and try to get the structure going to create a charity that was designed to help men, um, in a way that we hadn’t seen that had been done before. Um, so, um, my last 10 years of, of that effort, which has been all volunteer effort, I’ve learned and surprised to learn that was much more difficult to get a successful charity off the ground that was able to raise money and then distribute money, then, uh, it never was to get a traditional fee for service business off the ground and running healthily. So, um, when I found out about this, I thought, well, I can, uh, I know there’s other small charities here in Frisco that are run by people out of their homes from the passion of their heart and, uh, you know, their desire to help and in some cause it’s important to them. And so I thought, well, I want to support, you know, bringing light to those charities as well as mankind, um, as much as I can.
Okay. Talk a little bit about Mankind, especially for those that are not familiar with, with that organization. What does Mankind do?
Um, Mankind was created to help men who are facing a health crisis. So it’s a, a, a needs based giving, a model where we basically are essentially helping people that are economically challenged and at the same time they’re facing a tremendous uphill battle in some sort of medical crisis. So, um, specifically men, cause we felt like men are less likely to ask for help. Um, when they get in trouble, they usually take an inverse approach. Uh, they, they keep to themselves. Um, and that is they also tend to not take medical news as serious. They try to, they’re, they’re more likely to be in denial for a long time and even avoid medical care to avoid finding out something that they’re afraid might be true. And so oftentimes men finally get face to face with something when it’s taken too long for them to get to that point.And they could have been more proactive. So we try to encourage men to break those kind of patterns of behavior. Um, and then we also get directly involved with financial support for families, uh, of men that are facing some kind of health crisis.
So if, and I completely agree and believe you, when you say that man, we tend to put things off or live in a state of denial about something or not want to get the bad news, but how do you get connected with the men that need your service if they’re not actively looking for it?
Well, that was one of the challenges that we found right off the bat that was very difficult. Um, but in the most recent a few years, we’ve made a lot of progress in the area by introducing ourselves and our cause to case caseworkers at institutions that are helping people like this.
So, um, cancer treatment centers, um, other charities that are designed to help people in need that will encounter, uh, men like the ones that we’re looking for, we’ll bring them to us and say, Hey, you should talk to these mankind people. And so, um, we have a nice funnel of potential beneficiaries coming at us pretty often. Okay, well that’s good to know. And it sounds like a great organization. Is that based here in Frisco or is it nearby? So a, it’s a collection of volunteer board members. Um, I would say about half of us actually live in Frisco proper. The founder has moved a few times since he started it and now he lives in Murphy. Um, and then a couple of other guys are from here and there around North Texas and it’s mostly Collin County. And, um, the people that we help are from all over North Texas.So we’ve helped people better, um, actually outside of DFW proper. But somewhere in our North Texas, our community. And um, yeah, like this last year, um, we helped, uh, 20 people and we have two more in the queue right now that we’re trying to raise funds for.
Okay. Very good. How do you guys go about raising funds for Mankind?
Well, uh, we have events throughout the year. Um, most recently we had a, um, we had a, a beer tasting event at a brewery in McKinney called Tupps brewery. So our next event is, um, the 10th annual Mankind charity classic, which is at the tribute golf course in Frisco on Friday, April 3rd.
Okay. Is that something anybody can participate in?
Anybody can participate and we need, um, we need companies to sponsor holes. So, uh, for 1500 bucks you can sponsor and brand a hole with your company and that includes a force him to come out and play. Um, we also need other types of sponsors like lunch and dinner sponsors. We have a great, um, collectable item, um, and uh, donated item auction after the tournament’s over and lots of great prizes for winners and free gifts and giveaways, just like you have a lot of other charity golf tournaments.
Okay, awesome. So that’s a great way for people to come out and support you. Um, but Mankind is also, if you go to giveforfrisco.com, uh, you guys are also one of our listed nonprofits in Frisco, so people want to make a donation to you guys on, give her first go day on February 14th. They can do that as well. Um, but I would definitely encourage people to come out to the golf tournament. It sounds like a lot of fun.
It is a lot of fun. We like, um, volunteers to come out and help us. So any way that you think you can evolve, we’ll find a way for you to get involved. Mankind’s a great organization that, uh, around 97, 98% of all of our money goes straight to people that need it right in their pockets.
Right.
So, um, we are really excited about this year’s tournament and we’re hoping to sell all 144 players.
Okay. I was gonna ask how many players you get. So that just answered my question. So, all right, very good. We’ll make sure that we, uh, continued to promote that event and try to get as many people out there for you as possible.
Cool.
Um, are there any other nonprofits or things that you’re involved with around Frisco or is that kind of take most of your volunteer time?
That takes all of my time. Um, and you know, I use Code Authority resources quite a bit to, to help it function.We, we do the, uh, digital marketing for Mankind and social activity. Um, my team there at Code Authority. So, um, we’re always working a little bit on, on Mankind projects as well as Code Authority, Code lLunch and other other clients of ours. But, um, yeah, aside from that, that’s my own personal passion.
Okay. Yeah. Tell us about code launch a little bit. I know we’ve, we’ve heard about that and we’ve, we’ve mentioned it, uh, more than a few times on lifestyle Frisco. But, um, for anybody that doesn’t know what is, what is Code Launch?
Code Launch is a crazy idea that, um, a seed accelerator can take the format of professional software development companies building a startups product. So, um, as shorter version, it’s a one day trade show and startup competition. Um, but what we do is we take companies like Code Authority, like Improving and, uh, like some other brands we’ll be announcing soon that our North Texas, uh, dev shops and technology consulting companies, they provide their labor in the hackathon format. Um, like they’re very experienced senior technical people and we pair them with a finalist startup that has applied from anywhere from other countries and continents to other States to right down the street. And they worked for three or four days on their product and then they come and show what they got done on stage and compete for prizes and cash and um, recognition.
Very good. So they kind of help springboard some of those startups forward a little bit with their, with what they’re doing from a technology standpoint.
Yeah. The idea is to get, um, technology startups that are dependent upon software development to get their product to market. Um, some serious momentum toward that goal for a lot of them will come into code launch and have very little or no progress on the product part, but they’ll have a great idea, a great attack plan, a great team, and they just need, um, some solid progress in their product to make fundraising progress.
Okay.
So that’s what we’re trying to do is elevate these startups so they can become fully funded and go to market.
Very good. How, how much I’m in the software business as well. I know how complex and time consuming some of this can be. How much can you get done in three, three, or four days?
Um, what we have noticed is that we can take something from ground zero to an impressive proof of concept. Uh, pretty much every time. Um, or if they already have a proof of concept, we can bolt on the next big feature or achievement they need to make progress.
Okay.
Um, if a company is already at what we call MVP, they’ve already got their minimally viable product in the marketplace. They’re not eligible. So you have to be at a stage where, uh, a little bit of software development can take you a long way.
Gotcha. So, um, yeah, we cannot build a product in three days, but we can build a functioning piece of software that looks impressive and illustrates the idea.
It gives them that proof of concept. So. Okay. Very good. Um, let’s circle back around. And so that’s, uh, an event that you do under Code Authority?
Yeah. Code Authority produces that event. Um, this year we producing it with the help of, uh, of, of our parent company Improving, um, which acquired a Code Authority and Code Launch in October.
Okay. Congratulations.
Thank you. So, um, they’re real excited about Code Launch and um, this year’s event is going to be a template for the same event that we’re going to take on the road all over the United States in 2021. So we’re planning on Code Launches in other major metropolitan areas throughout the year in 2021.
Oh, fantastic. Do you know already know what cities you’re going to?
We do not know yet, but there’ll be cities that have an Improving office. Okay. And there’s about seven of those right now and uh, two or three more under discussions about being bolted on.
All right. Very good. We’ll definitely keep our eyes on that. That sounds like it sounds exhausting and fun all at the same time. I think you’ve got a road show ahead of you.
It’s a lot of fun. It’s a high energy, a space to be in. You know, tech startups, um, are always very, uh, hopeful and positive and energy and attitude. And so sometimes just getting behind them and lifting them up is enough to let them take off.
Yeah. And I’m sure that that energy can be infectious to it probably feels good.
Certainly.
You and the folks that you have that are involved.
Yep.
Okay. So tell us a little bit more now about Code Authority specifically. Um, I know you’re, you do custom software development, you do marketing services, but kind of fill in the gaps for us and what you guys really focus on.
Well companies hire us to build products that they need, um, or tools they need to automate, transform their business? Um, sometimes they, they want to get rid of a software development vendor that they’ve become disenchanted with. Um, other times they’re bringing something back on shore after years of trying to make it work off shore and giving up. Um, cause we’re an all onshore, um, service delivery model and um, and then we do things like digital marketing. So we run websites, social media, search engine optimization and everything that entails. And, uh, so right now, um, we actually are looking for opportunities to do digital marketing for other B2B brands like Code Authority and Code Launch, which is where our expertise lies. Um, so if you are, you’re your business or someone you know, needs full-scale professional digital marketing websites, social, um, search engine optimization, maybe some paper click ads and the whole thing, we can do that all in one office. So, um, and then obviously that software development experience feeds Code Launch and, and that’s what we offer.
Okay. Makes a lot of sense. Um, circling back to, to Give for Frisco, beyond your involvement with Mankind, what made you want to get involved with Give for Frisco? We kind of jumped into Mankind itself, but let’s talk a little bit about that initiative too.
Well, that’s easy. I met Wendi, um, on the volunteer board for Inspire Frisco and got to know her over the past year and um, got to kind of see her energy for Frisco and for, um, all things, um, that Inspire Frisco was trying to do. And also, um, then I got involved in a networking group called Frisco Plano select, which is a exciting new, um, networking group that a colleague of mine, um, put together and she ended up being invited into that with me. So then we got a little tighter. And, um, that’s how I found out about, she was looking for a sponsor for this year’s Give for Frisco. And I already knew about Give for Frisco because last year I just made sure that Mankind was a part of it. Um, I, when I found out about it, you know, they would create a page for your charity. They would let people come visit the, uh, the Lifestyle Frisco, Give for Frisco page, and then like a one click donate to your charity. We made sure that Mankind was on there and represented. So I knew about it and, um, she came back and said, yeah, we need a, we need a presenting sponsor for this year’s whole campaign. To me it was a win-win. Um, a win. Well, like for me as a Frisco resident, I’m big on Frisco. I always have been and I, and I love to do things for Frisco, um, on top of that Code Authority and Code Launch and on top of that, Mankind. I just didn’t think that she’d find a better fit than me.
No, I don’t think so either. And we definitely appreciate you stepping up for that. I know Give for Frisco was something that initially launched last year, so we’re going into the second year with it. And um, it was done on very short notice last year. I think we had maybe 10 days from kind of concept to when, when the 14th hit and we had our kind of a nog year, we’ll Give for Frisco day. Um, so this year, fortunately we’ve had obviously a lot more time to plan for it and start promoting it and to, to get the word out there as much as possible. Um, it took us a while to figure out how we wanted to give back to Frisco. I mean, Lifestyle Frisco itself is a business much as Code Authority is, but we wanted a part of that to support the nonprofits that, that do support Frisco. I think one of the things that we easily overlook or forget is Frisco being such an affluent town and, and growing so, so much and so fast that there are still, there are a lot of people here with different needs, um, and a lot of great nonprofits that are trying to take care of those needs. And so ultimately we, uh, we settled on kind of the model that we’ve done where we’re going to provide our platform to those nonprofits to try to promote them and help drive it. And then eventually that became, we needed, we need a day, we need something where we’re really pushing people to, um, go out there and choose whatever nonprofit, whatever cause they’re most passionate about and, and make a small donation to that nonprofit. And it was, it was especially given the timeline, I thought it was remarkably successful last year. Um, we’re looking to, you know, make that much bigger this year. And we were super excited and, and, and again, I can’t say enough about how appreciative we are of Code Authority for stepping in and being the presenting sponsor.
Well, you’re welcome. I’m really excited to glad to be the second year sponsor and really optimistic about the growth. This’ll bring. Um, all the charities, um, especially Mankind as a, as I mentioned that we have a couple of people that are standing by right now waiting for us to write checks to them. And so we’re in a holding pattern until, um, after the 14th.
Okay, well good.Well we’ll make sure we’re driving as much traffic to you as we can and, and, uh, promoting, you know, all of the charities in Frisco, but you know, Mankind is, is right up there front and center. So Jason, again, thank you very much for, for taking part and for stepping up and filling in that need for us and, and for all of the charities really in Frisco.
Well, you’re welcome and thanks for having me on. Um, if anybody wants to know more about Mankind, the website is foremankind.org. That’s F O R E like golf, uh, F, O R E, mankind.org. We help a lot of men, especially in men, uh, um, especially financially, um, in need men that are facing a health crisis like prostate cancer or other types of cancer.
Okay. Yeah, we’ll definitely link that up in the show notes for this episode. And then if, if anyone’s listening that is also interested in Code Authority, where can they go to learn more about you guys?
Codeauthority.com [and] Codelaunch.com.
Okay. Easy enough. Jason, thank you again, so much. Appreciate your time today. I know you’re busy guys, so thanks for uh, coming out to record the podcast with us and we’ll uh, we’ll be seeing you soon. We’ll let you know how it goes as soon as, uh, soon as the 14th gets here.
Cool. Good luck with the campaign.
Thank you very much. Thanks to all of you for tuning in again to the Frisco podcast. As always, please go out and subscribe. You can catch us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, just about any place you’re listening to a podcast right now. And if you are so inclined, we’d love to get your thoughts and feedback. So leave us a comment or give us a rating. We’ll talk to you next time.
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