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#121October 7, 20201:01:08

#117 Austen Allred - Lambda School's Founder Brings His Best Ide…

About This Episode

Sam and Shaan interview Austen Allred, founder of Lambda School, to discuss how incentive-aligned education models like Income Share Agreements (ISAs) are disrupting traditional universities. They explore Austen's background as a Mormon missionary and brainstorm business opportunities in standardized testing, college admissions, and workforce productivity software.

Episode Description

Sam Parr (@theSamParr) and Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) are joined by Austen Allred (@Austen) on the pod today. Austen is the founder of Lambda School (@LambdaSchool). In today’s episode you’ll hear: Austen gives background on Lambda School and explains the challenges and opportunities in the education space (1:05) Shaan asks Austen to explain his rise from sleeping in a car in San Francisco to running Lambda School (14:00), Austen talks about how his Mormon mission prepared him for a life in business (20:28), Austen breaks down how colleges make money off of application fees (28:35), The guys talk about the big business of college entrance exams (36:35) Austen pitches his idea of increasing productivity at companies by reducing the slack from employees (47:20), the guys discuss the pros and cons of employee tracking software in the age of COVID and mass remote work (50:33), Shaan asks Austen to predict ways different “Lambda School’s for X” are going to grow into the future (58:00). Thank you to our sponsor Square! Square makes it easy for your business to accept payment, and so much more! Check out this week's sponsor at square.com/go/hustle! Joined our private FB group yet? It's a page where people share each others million dollar ideas or what they're already working on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Check Out this week's sponsor at square.com/go/hustle! Joined our private FB group yet? It's a page where people share each others million dollar ideas or what they're already working on

Key Takeaways

1

Incentive alignment via ISAs transforms education from a commodity sale into a partnership where the school only profits if the student succeeds.

2

The 'missionary training model' of extreme immersion—where students learn high-level skills like foreign languages or coding in weeks—is significantly more effective than traditional academic pacing.

3

Universities pay massive premiums for leads; there is a significant business opportunity in creating alternative testing frameworks that surface high-potential students from diverse or low-income backgrounds.

Business Ideas Mentioned

Diversity Talent Identification Engine

Marketplace

Remote Workforce Efficiency Auditor

SaaS

Modern Professional Aptitude Testing

SaaS

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Quick Stats

Duration1:01:08
Guests1
Ideas Discussed3
Topics4