
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
Key Takeaways
- 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
Intro
- Austen (@Austen) is the co-founder and CEO of Lambda School
- Host – Craig Cannon (@CraigCannon)
Books Mentioned
- Secret Sauce: The Ultimate Growth Hacking Guide by Austen Allred
What is Lambda School?
- 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
- The school has both full-time and part-time programs that teach people from all backgrounds how to code
- 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
Should You Take Venture Capital?
- 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
Salaries
- 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
Being an Entrepreneur/CEO
- “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
Additional Notes
- 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.”