Matthew Keasling, a developer at Code Science, works on a computer at their office in Chattanooga, Tenn. on Wednesday. The company, which is a cloud computing and online business software company, recently established its headquarters in Chattanooga.Name: Code Science
Location: The company is based in the Business Development Center on 100 Cherokee Blvd. and has an office in California.
Contact information: 423-954-7400, CodeScience.com
Age: Two years. Code Science has been based in Chattanooga since the beginning of the year.
Products/services: Custom platform development for businesses that use SalesForce.com. The popular SalesForce.com system can be customized to meet specific business needs, and Code Science specializes in that customization. "It gives a lot smaller businesses an ability to grow at a faster pace," said Cassie Courtney, who manages the company's Chattanooga office.
Top projects: Founder Tim Youngblood describes Code Science as a boutique-type development group focused on solving difficult problems specific to companies. He's worked with major companies such as Apple and Constant Contact, but is particularly proud of his work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The nonprofit receives tens of thousands of children's wishes. Code Science developed a platform for the foundation to collect those wishes and organize that huge volume of requests.
Getting started: Youngblood has been fascinated with computers since the age of 12. "I kind of got sucked into it," he said. "It was a hobby that just took over my life." Since then, Youngblood has worked in technology for most of his life, starting up a business that became part of Intuit, before starting Code Science.
Lessons learned: When starting a business, it's best to do it cheap. "Go as low as you can. Don't spend money frivolously," Youngblood said. "That's the formula for success. It's not very sexy, but it definitely works."