20VC: Lambda School Founder, Austen Allred on How To Assess Your Relationship To Risk and Money, Why San Francisco Is A Case Study For The Greatest Squandering of Wealth in History & Why Complexity Increases Exponentially with Scale
Austen Allred, Founder and CEO of Lambda School, shares his incredible journey from homelessness to successful entrepreneur. He delves into his unique approach to risk and money, highlighting how his viewpoint has evolved. Austen also discusses the complexities of scaling his rapidly growing team and the vital role of a COO. He reflects on the importance of choosing the right investors and how post-COVID dynamics are reshaping the educational landscape. Plus, he shares insights on the digital growth of Lambda School amidst changing tech environments.
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From Homeless to Founder
Austen Allred dropped out of college, slept in his car, and taught himself to code.
A founder funded his first company after reading Allred's blog about his experience.
insights INSIGHT
Downside Risk Focus
People with less money prioritize downside risk more heavily.
Any small issue can have significant consequences, requiring careful consideration of potential problems.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Car Trouble and Kindness
Allred's car broke down while living in it, and a police officer told him it would be impounded due to Obama's visit.
A tow truck driver, inspired by his story, let Allred stay at his place and now works at Tesla.
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Les Misérables is a novel written by Victor Hugo, published in 1862. It explores themes of justice, morality, and the struggle between good and evil through the lives of its characters. The novel is set from 1815 to the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris and focuses on Jean Valjean, who transforms from a thief into an honest man while being pursued by the zealous police officer Javert. The story also involves the plight of Fantine, her daughter Cosette, and the young student Marius, all intertwined with broader social issues of the time, including poverty, social injustice, and the long-term effects of the French Revolution on French society.
Austen Allred is the Founder & CEO @ Lambda School, the startup that remotely trains people to become a web developer or data scientist and the students pay no tuition until they are hired. Just last month, Lambda's $74M Series C was announced led by Gigafund bringing their total funding to date to over $129M with prior investors including Stripe, Bedrock, GV, Gigafund and GGV to name a few. Prior to founding Lambda, Austen was Senior Manager for Growth @ LendUp and before that co-founded Grasswire.
In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How Austen made his way into startups having slept in a Honda Civic and how he went from homeless to rockstar founder @ Lambda?
2.) How does Austen evaluate his own attitude to risk? How does Austen think about downside protection today? How has this changed over time? How does Austen feel about founders taking secondaries? How does Austen think about his own relationship to money?
3.) Having raised his Series C last month, why did Austen choose the investors he did? How did the round progress? What made Gigafund different to alternate options? What makes the best board members in Austen's mind? What makes the worst?
4.) What have been the most challenging elements for Austen of scaling the team? How does complexity change with time in team scaling? Why did Austen bring in a COO? What did he look for in the role? How does Austen advise others on bringing in a COO?
5.) Why does Austen believe that post-COVID we will never go back to the valley as we knew it? Why does Austen believe the valley represents the biggest potential squandering of wealth in history? How does Austen evaluate the government intervention we have seen?
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch 