January 3, 2020

A Computer Science Education That’s Free Until You Get a Job – Austen Allred of Lambda School on The Y Combinator Podcast

Check out the Y Combinator podcast Episode Page & Show Notes

A little about Lambda School:
- It’s essentially a trade school for coding
- 85% of students who start, graduate
- Unlike other schools, Lambda School has an incentive to help students succeed – they only get paid once students get a job
Quotes to ponder:
- “Human capital is the most unoptimized asset class we’ve ever had” – Austen Allred
- “Starting a company is by definition saying, ‘I think what I can do is worth more than what other people will pay me for.'” – Austen Allred
- “The highest leverage activity any human can have is inspiring other humans to do what they’re capable of” – Austen Allred

Lambda School is essentially a trade-school for coding
- The school has both full-time and part-time programs that teach people from all backgrounds how to code
  - They’re currently experimenting with providing a living stipend so people short on money can focus more of their time on learning
To get into Lambda school you need two traits: Average intelligence and the will to work really hard
Unlike other schools, Lambda School has an incentive to help students succeed – they only get paid once students get a job
Lambda School has a full-time team that focuses on making connections with companies looking to hire coders
- The school also provides students with a career coach 3 weeks into the program – they teach students skills like interviewing, networking, etc.
More than 85% of students who start graduate Lambda School
All of this said…
- There’s still a stigma with online schools/programs – many people believe the only road to success is a typical university

Austen decided to raise money as it allowed Lambda School to grow faster (to nearly 10x in size)
- To date, they’ve raised $48 million in total
“There are companies who should raise VC, there are companies who shouldn’t raise VC. It’s just dependant on the circumstances and the details and what you’re looking for.” – Austen Allred

There isn’t much of a pay ceiling for top talent – companies will happily pay $1+ million for an incredible individual
- “Human capital is the most unoptimized asset class we’ve ever had” – Austen Allred
🎧 Women, historically, are underpaid and should negotiate for more money
Don’t associate your salary with your intelligence
- Just because you’re from the Midwest and make $20k one year doesn’t mean you can’t become a software engineer and make 6-figures the next

“When you’re CEO of a company, your only job is to make that company successful” – Austen Allred
Starting a business is HARD. When Austen started Lambda School, people said:
- You can’t teach people effectively online
- You can’t teach people without them having skin in the game
- People aren’t going to get jobs if they don’t have a network
What motivated Austen to make Lambda School successful?
- “Really. what I think happens is we don’t have another option. We have to figure it out or we die, and that’s a very powerful motivator.” – Austen Allred
“Starting a company is by definition saying, ‘I think what I can do is worth more than what other people will pay me for.'”– Austen Allred
What keeps Austen up at night?
- Being able to support the company while it’s scaling dramatically
- Hiring key executives who can build 100+ people teams beneath them
- Also hiring for 50+ other positions
🎧 Looking towards the future, Austen still thinks the best high-growth companies will be built in Silicon Valley

At one point in his life, Austen lived out of his car – he wrote about the experience here
Lambda School is considering opening up a school that teaches nursing – there’s a large demand for nurses but schools are at max capacity
“The highest leverage activity any human can have is inspiring other humans to do what they’re capable of” – Austen Allred
“If there’s one thing I’m good at in life, it’s growing something quickly” – Austen Allred
The tech industry is still figuring out the right balance of remote and in-person work
- All of Lambda School’s students, career coaches, and instructors are remote
- “I believe the best schools are remote” – Austen Allred
“Revenue is a very, very trailing indicator of product” – Austen Allred
🎧 “The way I like to think about product is a whole lot of subtlety built up over time to the point where it becomes an advantage. If you build up a lot of those advantages over time, it compounds.”