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You know I like how it's a fast paced learning track that's better than 4 year degrees - no argument on that if. But this Austin Allred guy is one sketchy moth

You know I like how it's a fast paced learning track that's better than 4 year degrees - no argument on that if. But this Austin Allred guy is one sketchy motherfucker. And seeing PG not reacting about the shitty reviews LambdaSchool is getting is the most hypocrytic thing I've seen at all. Aged like fucking milk.

tetrahedr0n 6y ago
Lol, absolutely. Austin may have been the right guy to start the company, but IMHO, he should've handed it off to someone with a background in education a long time ago.
- aidaman 6y ago
  No. Coding bootcamps should be run by software engineers. Which is the farthest from what Austen is.
5revive 6y ago
why would PG care? His job was to get a bunch of hype for Lambda so their initial investment could be marked up to whatever the last raise put the company at. Austin is probably one of PG's favorite tech guys because he basically took a bootcamp, wrapped it in 1 legal nuance and with a fuck ton of twitter hype made PG/YC probably a 10x return.
prawn 6y ago
I find this very interesting too. Firstly, let's be charitable and assume PG can look beyond any investment he has in judging this. I think he'd look at it then as some potholes on the way to an eventual smooth highway. He likes disruption of old, flawed ways. He likes motivated sorts doing the disrupting. Airbnb and Uber and the like are not without their own bumpy roads. And the potholes here are lay-offs for people who otherwise saw employment for a period with Lambda. Or payments to Lambda that trigger only when you're making money yourself. He might think of those as reasonable downsides en route to a more polished, future Lambda service. The model itself (pay if you earn) isn't outrageous. We had something similar (but government-based) with HECS in Australia, that's evolved a bit since.
mathattack 6y ago
I don’t know Austin, but my general view is investors hunker down with their execs. And if they have to make hard decisions, they do it behind closed doors. Public fights with your holdings likely violates fiduciary duties.

tetrahedr0n 6y ago

Lol, absolutely. Austin may have been the right guy to start the company, but IMHO, he should've handed it off to someone with a background in education a long time ago.

aidaman 6y ago
No. Coding bootcamps should be run by software engineers. Which is the farthest from what Austen is.

5revive 6y ago

why would PG care? His job was to get a bunch of hype for Lambda so their initial investment could be marked up to whatever the last raise put the company at. Austin is probably one of PG's favorite tech guys because he basically took a bootcamp, wrapped it in 1 legal nuance and with a fuck ton of twitter hype made PG/YC probably a 10x return.

prawn 6y ago

I find this very interesting too. Firstly, let's be charitable and assume PG can look beyond any investment he has in judging this. I think he'd look at it then as some potholes on the way to an eventual smooth highway. He likes disruption of old, flawed ways. He likes motivated sorts doing the disrupting. Airbnb and Uber and the like are not without their own bumpy roads. And the potholes here are lay-offs for people who otherwise saw employment for a period with Lambda. Or payments to Lambda that trigger only when you're making money yourself. He might think of those as reasonable downsides en route to a more polished, future Lambda service. The model itself (pay if you earn) isn't outrageous. We had something similar (but government-based) with HECS in Australia, that's evolved a bit since.

mathattack 6y ago

I don’t know Austin, but my general view is investors hunker down with their execs. And if they have to make hard decisions, they do it behind closed doors. Public fights with your holdings likely violates fiduciary duties.