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For people who don’t understand what he’s talking about, this is a reference to Lambda School. In the last few weeks, folks have been coming out of the woodwork

For people who don’t understand what he’s talking about, this is a reference to Lambda School. In the last few weeks, folks have been coming out of the woodwork with stories of illegal, negligent, and abusive behavior. https://twitter.com/brokenimageheap/status/1213208953754202113 https://twitter.com/brokenimageheap/status/12132089537542021...

mannykannot 7y ago
If this allegation about the intent of Graham's article is correct, then that article comes across as disingenuous and passive-aggressive, regardless of its validity with respect to haters in general.
- japhyr 7y ago
  The CEO of Lambda School is one of the reviewers of this article.
  - OnlineGladiator 7y ago
    Wow, I didn't even notice that. Good catch.
  - JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago
    If that's the case, PG's piece does across as an intellectual's attack on the media. A more refined brand of populism, using his platform to vaguely defend an investment. The "haters", in this case, would be those publishing unflattering truths about certain tech companies.
- whatever_dude 7y ago
  I've admired PG and his essays for a while, but I've started paying more attention, and thus I'm starting to realize he's somewhat thin skinned like that; this is exactly the feeling I got after reading this new one. Similarly, he's been passive aggressively "responding" to VC criticism by subtweeting and deflecting, and never directly addressing, some of the points raised by @DHH and others. I take everything he writes with a grain of salt now. As a result, I started to realize his essays tend to be can defensive or just contain a lot of bias, rather than being truly introspective.
danso 7y ago
When I saw Austen quote that PG post, I thought it read like a cleaned-up dignified version of Elizabeth Holmes' "This is what happens when you work to change things. First they think you're crazy, then they fight you, then you change the world.". More context about the accusation about California regulations and Lambda: https://twitter.com/sandofsky/status/1211717254712135680 https://twitter.com/sandofsky/status/1211717254712135680 tl;dr: 2 weeks ago, Sandofsky emailed the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education and asked for an update on Lambda School's license to operate. He was told that Lambda "does not have an active license or approval to operate", nor has Lambda "yet to apply for approval to operate as required by law" (see edit-2 below; turns out Lambda recently applied) AFAIK, Austen has not specifically addressed this. Even though a vague, "We're still going through the process. We did [something] on [x date] and are waiting for the next step around [y date]" would be (initially) sufficient. Certainly better than channeling Elizabeth Holmes in the Lambda slack channel. edit: just re-read the thread and saw that someone just replied (as of an hour ago) with purported screenshots of Austen's detailed explanation in the Lambda slack "in December": https://twitter.com/SimulationBarbe/status/1216041415110807552 https://twitter.com/SimulationBarbe/status/12160414151108075... edit-2: Another reply from Sandofsky, saying BPPE followed up and said Lambda has recently applied: https://twitter.com/sandofsky/status/1216075710818766848 https://twitter.com/sandofsky/status/1216075710818766848
- sandofsky 7y ago
  In another follow up from the BPPE, they told me it is not legally possible for a program offering an ISA to be approved. This matters because when a school operates illegally, the BPPE has no legal jurisdiction when a student has an issue. This means student only have the option of hiring a lawyer. Given who ISAs target, many students don’t have the resources to do this.

mannykannot 7y ago

If this allegation about the intent of Graham's article is correct, then that article comes across as disingenuous and passive-aggressive, regardless of its validity with respect to haters in general.

japhyr 7y ago
The CEO of Lambda School is one of the reviewers of this article.
- OnlineGladiator 7y ago
  Wow, I didn't even notice that. Good catch.
- JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago
  If that's the case, PG's piece does across as an intellectual's attack on the media. A more refined brand of populism, using his platform to vaguely defend an investment. The "haters", in this case, would be those publishing unflattering truths about certain tech companies.
whatever_dude 7y ago
I've admired PG and his essays for a while, but I've started paying more attention, and thus I'm starting to realize he's somewhat thin skinned like that; this is exactly the feeling I got after reading this new one. Similarly, he's been passive aggressively "responding" to VC criticism by subtweeting and deflecting, and never directly addressing, some of the points raised by @DHH and others. I take everything he writes with a grain of salt now. As a result, I started to realize his essays tend to be can defensive or just contain a lot of bias, rather than being truly introspective.

danso 7y ago

When I saw Austen quote that PG post, I thought it read like a cleaned-up dignified version of Elizabeth Holmes' "This is what happens when you work to change things. First they think you're crazy, then they fight you, then you change the world.". More context about the accusation about California regulations and Lambda: https://twitter.com/sandofsky/status/1211717254712135680 https://twitter.com/sandofsky/status/1211717254712135680 tl;dr: 2 weeks ago, Sandofsky emailed the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education and asked for an update on Lambda School's license to operate. He was told that Lambda "does not have an active license or approval to operate", nor has Lambda "yet to apply for approval to operate as required by law" (see edit-2 below; turns out Lambda recently applied) AFAIK, Austen has not specifically addressed this. Even though a vague, "We're still going through the process. We did [something] on [x date] and are waiting for the next step around [y date]" would be (initially) sufficient. Certainly better than channeling Elizabeth Holmes in the Lambda slack channel. edit: just re-read the thread and saw that someone just replied (as of an hour ago) with purported screenshots of Austen's detailed explanation in the Lambda slack "in December": https://twitter.com/SimulationBarbe/status/1216041415110807552 https://twitter.com/SimulationBarbe/status/12160414151108075... edit-2: Another reply from Sandofsky, saying BPPE followed up and said Lambda has recently applied: https://twitter.com/sandofsky/status/1216075710818766848 https://twitter.com/sandofsky/status/1216075710818766848

sandofsky 7y ago
In another follow up from the BPPE, they told me it is not legally possible for a program offering an ISA to be approved. This matters because when a school operates illegally, the BPPE has no legal jurisdiction when a student has an issue. This means student only have the option of hiring a lawyer. Given who ISAs target, many students don’t have the resources to do this.