Austen Allred (Co-Founder of Lambda School) & James Currier (NFX) on The New American Dream

Apr 22, 2021

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In this episode, James Currier, Austen Allred, and Kristen O'Brien discuss the societal pressures of higher education and the American Dream. They explore Lambda School's role in reshaping education, and the importance of aligning school incentives with student success. The trio compares international education systems, particularly Germany's, and the history and future of online education. They delve into the role of community in education, misunderstood aspects of startup success, and future educational decisions for today's five-year-olds. They wrap up by predicting future job markets.

The new American dream is underway. The current US educational industrial complex is not serving young people anymore, and entrepreneurs outside the system are creating new alternatives.

Austen Allred, Co-Founder/CEO of Lambda School earned this perspective by dropping out of college, setting his own path, and now building a successful company and movement to change education in our country. Austen sees our educational past, present, and future in ways few others do.

In this conversation, James Currier (NFX) and Austen break down traditional and contrarian thinking on how we are educated, challenging what has gone unquestioned for decades:

- The Psychology of Traditional College: Why “Normal is a hell of a drug”
- Faulty Mechanics: The problem with America’s “Single Model” education system
- The New American Dream: How “permissionless learning” unlocks opportunity
- & 2 Trends to Watch

Read the NFX Essay here - https://www.nfx.com/post/the-new-american-dream/

(0:00) Introduction to the episode and guest, Austin Allred (3:46) The societal pressure of higher education and the American Dream (7:26) The role of Lambda School in reshaping education (11:19) Aligning the incentives of the school with the student's success (14:29) Comparison of international education systems, focusing on Germany (17:54) Online education: Its history, future, and importance of community (23:39) The role of community in education and trends in educational space (25:08) Misunderstood aspects of startup success and the challenges startups face (28:51) Future educational decisions for today's five-year-olds (31:20) Predicting the future job market and wrap-up of the conversation (32:23) Outro by Kristen O'Brien