@sandofsky that was a breathtaking read, thank you for putting time and effort into this. It took me 2 hours to read and digest.

I’ve followed lambda’s story on twitter between 2018-2020 and hype around it, especially paulg’s takes, were revolting. I didn’t know what happened to lambda so learning their fate brought me some kind of joy, partly due to being proven right, partly knowing that it was a scam all along (i loved my college, still dearly missing my college days). Fair to say i was one of Allred’s “haters”

If you’d consider, Mighty is another startup that paulg kept tweeting about around the same time, but it didn’t involve scamming people, it was just stupid. It would make a fine story perhaps

Reading about how education requires 1:1 attention made me think “oh my god, someone is going to try lambda school with ChatGPT soon, aren’t they?”. Perhaps they’re waiting to see how Devin will fare (when/if it launches)

@sandofsky Thanks for this comprehensive history.

I felt so disgusted when I read they were selling loans. That creates such perverse incentives, and I think they knew that.

@sandofsky Allred and many of his investors probably read The Unincorporated man
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unincorporated_Man

nothing new under the sun

@sandofsky Paid the full price, went through the whole course, don’t regret it. Never became a full-time software engineer but still use stuff that I’ve learned 5-6 years later.

Never really understood why you’ve wasted so much time on this pursuit when you have so many other (incredible) things to focus on.

This story about the meteoric rise and dramatic fall of Lambda, the for-profit school of Silican Valley reads like a thriller.

From an illustrious founder, deceipt, $100 million + of funding and burning, real villains, criminality and an unexpecting outing, it is all there.

One quote: "It sucks so bad that they are getting away with this, especially when the students are mostly minority or in vulnerable positions."

Reality beats fiction once again.

@sandofsky
#Education #Startup #Burning