[Portfolio Demo]Quietshift Academy is a fictional cohort academy created byUpstate Web Co.— enrollment numbers, revenue figures, and quotes are illustrative.
J

Your instructor

Hi, I'm Jordan.

I taught myself
data engineering.
Then I taught it for a living.

Twelve years ago I was a backend engineer at a logistics startup who'd never written a real SQL query. I learned dbt by breaking my company's warehouse twice. By year four I was Senior Data Engineer; by year seven I led the data org at a Series-D SaaS. In 2022, I started teaching the path I'd walked, in cohorts of 120 at a time.

Operator background

Before teaching, three startups.

  • Senior Data Engineer

    A Series-D logistics SaaS · 4 years

    Built the warehouse + first dbt project. Hired three engineers under me.

  • Staff Data Engineer

    A Series-C analytics startup · 3 years

    Migration from Redshift to Snowflake. Authored the data-quality framework.

  • Data Engineering Lead

    A late-Series-B fintech · 2 years

    Built the data org from 1 to 6. Left to teach full-time.

Why teach?

Because the path is hard.

Career-pivot resources for data engineering are split between two extremes — free YouTube content that's disorganized, and $15K bootcamps that treat you like a junior. Neither serves a mid-career engineer who already knows Python and just needs the structured intro to dbt + warehousing + orchestration plus realistic interview prep.

Quietshift is what I wish I had: a focused 8-week curriculum, taught live by someone who actually did the pivot, capped at 120 students so the instructor is reachable.

I run this as my full-time work. Four cohorts a year keeps me sharp on the curriculum; the self-paced version reaches students who can't commit to a live cadence; the alumni community keeps me honest on outcomes.

The team

One instructor, two TAs.

Two part-time teaching assistants — both former Quietshift alumni who pivoted into data engineering from the cohort. They handle office hours and assignment grading. They never see payment data, future cohort planning, or alumni roster. Roles matter.

P

Priya, TA — office hours

Fall 2023 alum · now a Senior DE

Twice-weekly office hours during cohort weeks. Scoped to current-cohort student questions only.

A

Akira, TA — assignment review

Spring 2024 alum · now an Analytics Engineer

Reviews assignment submissions Mon-Wed. Scoped to current-cohort grading only — never sees payment data.

Email me.

If you have questions before applying — or you're not sure whether the cohort fits your background — reach out directly.

instructor@quietshift →