#92: Are universities failing to prepare students for jobs? | Stephen Cognetta (Co-founder @ Exponent, ex-Google)
Supra Insider
Small signals and cultural capital from college
Stephen and Marc debate intangible college benefits like culturalization, social class signaling, and real-world cues.
What is the role of education when AI can explain, generate, and tutor instantly, and what does that mean for how we learn, teach, and evaluate understanding?
In this episode of Supra Insider, Marc Baselga and Ben Erez sit down with Stephen Cognetta to explore how education is evolving in the age of AI, and why many existing learning models are fundamentally misaligned with how people actually develop understanding. The conversation challenges long-held assumptions about credentials, classrooms, and expertise, and digs into what truly matters when information becomes abundant and cheap.
Stephen shares perspectives on how learning really happens, why traditional institutions struggle to adapt, and how AI changes the value of memorization versus intuition, judgment, and synthesis. They discuss the tension between structured education and self-directed learning, how product thinking applies to education systems, and why curiosity and experimentation matter more than polished answers.
This episode is especially relevant for product leaders, builders, and operators who care about learning, not just as students, but as designers of systems that help people grow. It offers a thoughtful look at how AI reshapes education, careers, and what it means to be “qualified” in the future.
All episodes of the podcast are also available on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
New to the pod? Subscribe below to get the next episode in your inbox 👇
Interviewing at Uber, Figma, Stripe, or DoorDash?
If you’re a PM preparing for interviews at Uber, Figma, Stripe, and DoorDash… we think you’re going to love Insider Loops. You can read about it in Ben’s LI post, Marc’s LI post or check out the site directly below.
In this episode, we covered the following topics:
* (2:28) Universities today are shifting from education to job-placement pipelines
* (7:27) Why universities buy tools like Exponent instead of changing curricula
* (12:25) Should you get a degree to become a PM? Ship real things + get real feedback
* (16:55) MBA vs PM bootcamps—and how AI reshapes what bootcamps can actually offer
* (20:23) Stephen’s teaching philosophy: professors as performers and simulation designers
* (25:30) Ben’s finance program example: in placement-driven rigor and rubric-based prep
* (36:10) Self-discovery, contribution, and why time off can accelerate finding your “zone of genius”
* (44:21) Can Exponent help people earlier than interviews—before they know what to pursue?
* (50:14) Interview is a mental game of anxiety, confidence, and social reinforcement
* (59:12) Highest-leverage interview prep: go to the source and maximize simulation fidelity
* (1:10:04) The gold-standard mock with calibrated interviewer + scoring breakdown
* (1:15:31) Gratitude corner: Stephen thanks his co-founder Jacob
* And more!
Links:
* Stephen Cognetta’s Website: https://www.stephencognetta.com/
* Exponent: https://www.tryexponent.com/
* Register a guest lecturer at Open Lecture: https://www.openlecture.com/
* Jacob Simon (Co-founder of Exponent): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobsimon1
* Stephen Cognetta: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephencognetta/
* Marc: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbaselga/
* Ben: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benerez/
Resources Mentioned:
* Enders Game - book mentioned by Stephen
If you’re a new subscriber, we encourage you to check out some of the recent episodes you might have missed:
To support the podcast, please check out the links below:
* Preparing for Meta-style Product Sense & Analytical Thinking interviews? Check out Ben’s AI Practice Copilot for Meta-Style PM Interviews and top-rated Maven course: Product Sense & Analytical Thinking Bootcamp for Meta-Style PM Interviews (selected by Lenny as a top course in product 🔥). Get 25% off the course with promo code `suprainsider` (auto-applied here).
* Supra has teamed up with Maven to bring you something special – courses that our own community members have personally curated. And because you’re part of the Supra family, you can get up to 35% in some of these handpicked selections with code SUPRAxMAVEN.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit suprainsider.substack.com
The AI-powered Podcast Player
