Austen Allred is the founder and CEO of Lambda School, an online coding school that doesn’t charge students tuition until they get hired. Growing up Mormon, Austen worked as a missionary and lived out of a car before applying to Y-Combinator. These experiences taught him about resilience, which kept him laser focused on candidate success through media praise and controversy. 
 
Austen’s mission to democratize education really resonates with me. In this episode, we discuss moving to the Valley, going through Y-Combinator and being caught in the political tensions surrounding free education. We dive into the concepts of ISAs, the future of education and American Dream as a service.
 
You can follow Austen on his Twitter, and check out Lambda School here.
The Quest x Universe Site-Building Contest (until 17th August):
 
The Quest Pod is partnering with Universe App to give away $1000 in cash, plus a chance to pitch me your worst startup ideas (and get roasted ) in a YouTube video! The rules are simple:
- Come up with the worst startup/product idea ever - the more unethical, inefficient, or useless it is, the better,
- Download the Universe app and build a basic landing page for your idea. Must clearly state what the product/company is, and its purpose,
- Follow me on Twitter, and submit your site URL and basic details on the attached entry form
- Keep an eye on your Twitter DM’s - I’ll contact you if you win.
 
The entry form is available here.
 
Enjoyed this episode? The incredible stories on this podcast are made possible by our sponsors, check them out to support The Quest Pod:
Universe | The best mobile command centre for building your online business and content.
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