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See also Lambda School’s Misleading Promises: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/lambda-schools-job-placement-rate-is-lower-than-claimed.html https://nymag
by sicromoft 5y ago
See also Lambda School’s Misleading Promises: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/lambda-schools-job-placement-rate-is-lower-than-claimed.html https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/lambda-schools-job-p...
- aerosmile 5y agoI would be a lot more inclined to believe anything they said in this article if they didn't show such blatant bias for sensationalist reporting. > His previous work was mostly concerned with “growth hacking,” which is Silicon Valley jargon for finding underappreciated (or, less charitably, underhanded) ways of marketing something. So anyone who put the term "growth hacking" on their resume will now get publicly discredited as being underhanded? If they tried just a little harder to stick to the facts, all of the other research they have done in their reporting would carry a bit more weight.
- akanet 5y agoListen, I wrote underappreciated first and then had the parenthetical second for a reason. You read the entire piece and this is the bit you reacted to? Jesus Christ. The entire piece is completely factual. Name even one bit of the piece not based entirely in fact, I dare you.
- kelnos 5y agoTo me "growth hacking" has for a long time been associated with sketchy, underhanded practices and dark patterns.
- plorkyeran 5y ago> So anyone who put the term "growth hacking" on their resume will now get publicly discredited as being underhanded? Yes? "Growth hacking" has always been basically a euphemism for saying that you're willing to do unethical things for growth.
- dang 5y agoThe term has always made me wince but that is not a fair description.
- plorkyeran 5y agoI think it is an entirely fair description of the overwhelming majority of the times I see it used. I suppose the person using the term does not always think the thing they are describing is unethical and so do not intend it as a euphemism.
- aerosmile 5y agoWhat's missing in your description is the timeline. Note that the term was first introduced by Sean Ellis in 2010, and according to Google Trends it peaked in usage in 2014. At some point (2014?), it became a buzzword and suddenly every marketer started using it. So in 2021, when someone puts "Growth Hacker" on their resume, you draw a very different mental picture than you did in 2010. Is it fair to put the 2010-people into the same bucket as the 2021-people? I have no idea when and why Austen was using this term. But calling him underhanded for that reason alone comes across as biased. Btw, "growth hacker" is not the only term whose perception changed throughout its lifetime. Here's a fun one: PHP. Actually, many other technologies suffer the same fate (Java, Rails, etc). Sort of related: NoSQL. Prediction for a future liability term: AI (what are the chances that in 2030 people will feel about it the same way they feel about it today?).
- rideontime 5y agoWould love to see this acknowledged. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26949343 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26949343
- dang 5y agoThis is a bad way to get in touch with us; it's unreliable. If there's something important that needs responding to, you should email hn@ycombinator.com, as the site guidelines ask: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.
- marvindanig 5y ago> So anyone who put the term "growth hacking" on their resume will now get publicly discredited as being underhanded? That is good thing! These 'growth hacks' people should be viewed in the same light as a 'SEO tricks' people. Both damage the quality of results and bring bad faith actors to the top.
- TameAntelope 5y agoI dunno if "underhanded" is the right word, but it feels like "growth hacking" is something one does only when the higher-than-usual moral cost is worth it.
- sugarwater 5y agoIt's worth mentioning the the CEO Austen had a post on here (now deleted) proclaiming to have creating a bot army via stealing people's pictures on Instagram. I would qualify that as "underhanded"
- wheelie_boy 5y agoLink to the post: https://web.archive.org/web/20190703224616/https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13502774 https://web.archive.org/web/20190703224616/https://news.ycom... It's also weird that the post is still up, but the username was changed from austenallred to another user: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13502774 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13502774
- kelnos 5y agoThe incredibly gross thing is that all but two replies are encouraging of that kind of behavior. The two that are negative and call out the dishonesty are downvoted.
- reducesuffering 5y agoDang, is this a normal feature? Since when are users able to retroactively change the profile that made the comment? This looks like covering up a YC founder's past comment, but the archive still exists. According to snapshots it was modified over 2 years later.
- kelnos 5y agoThe usual best way to get in touch with dang (or another mod) is to email hn@ycombinator.com. Likely to get a better answer via email, or perhaps he'll comment here if you call attention to it that way. If something like this really happened, this is pretty disturbing. The _pecl account that now owns that comment was created on the same day the comment was posted, has 1 karma, and has not posted anything else. Edit: just emailed hn@; hopefully someone there will follow up on this.
- dang 5y ago
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- inopinatus 5y agoIf you put that on your CV, I’ll probably put your CV in the garbage. It’s one of the major red flags. Along with: various flavours of monetization specialist; pimps; politicians; used car sales; basically all the same category of exploitation-oriented narcissists that will poison your brand and your culture, create nothing themselves, and ultimately destroy more intrinsic value than they vampire from others. I’ve been around this industry for decades. Joe MacMillan is an archetype, not a parody character.
- eachro 5y agoNote that the author of this piece was the founder of Coderpad, not some industry entrenched journalist. After watching his interview with Jason Calacanis(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hUT8VZNvm8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hUT8VZNvm8), where they discuss the content of his piece, I'm more inclined to believe what Woo wrote.
- maximilianroos 5y agoTBH this article makes me more confident that Lambda is overall Good. They found a single program that was substantially deficient, some disorganized operations, and some exaggerated marketing claims. It's starting a new form of education! There are going to be operational headaches and a few misses! While the referenced cases aren't good, we can assess Lambda on their overall contribution, not their mistakes alone.
- minimaxir 5y agoLambda School took off PR-wise because their promises made sense on paper. The reality however is more important, especially when humans are adversely impacted if the promises are broken.
- emteycz 5y agoWait until you see the reality in ordinary schools...
- treesrule 5y ago> While the referenced cases aren't good, not their mistakes alone Check notes: "notify students that the bankruptcy dischargeability provision language is not accurate" Just to be clear this isn't a "mistake" this is fraud.