Tomorrow marks the 15th anniversary of the Recurse Center, a self-directed programming retreat. Co-founders initially pursued "OkCupid for jobs" after YC in Summer 2010, but pivoted after other ideas failed.

They created a retreat for building projects, contributing to open source, and skill development. After initial batches, a launch on Hacker News (HN) led to a significant reception, connecting them with programmers globally. HN became their #2 source of applicants, after word of mouth.

Despite not being a billion-dollar business, the Recurse Center, as predicted by pg's comment, has been a worthwhile endeavor, positively impacting over 3,000 people. The founder expresses gratitude to HN for its support in making the Recurse Center possible and helping them find their life's work.