i'm going to hold my hot take on the tastelessness of this, because i want to make a point about market behaviors:

this program is a good example of why we shouldn't decouple the capitalist drive for profits from moral questions... https://twitter.com/sandofsky/status/1329116385629245440

Valuable things can be degraded by the way they are presented in the market.

In the quoted example, Lambda School is normalizing an idea about newly-acquired programming talent, treating people (who are already disadvantaged) as commodities. https://twitter.com/operaqueenie/status/1207765432200904704?s=20

A "try before you buy" scenario may work fine for -- I dunno, vacuum cleaners -- but you have to ask yourself:

Is this the kind of idea/marketing you want to cultivate for people who are seeking high-wage work?

By offering this program as it's presented, they are indirectly seeding a perception that new talent (at least those that come from Lambda School) comes with some unspoken but notable amount of risk.

It's one thing for their students to decide to make a name/prove themselves contributing to open source, etc.

It's entirely another thing for the "teacher" of said students to suggest that it's not worth paying for their contributions until you've seen what they can do.

This is exactly the perception they should be trying to undo instead of reinforce. They could just as easily market a paid internship program that talks up the success and caliber of the grads they are pumping out. https://twitter.com/mmkovalcik/status/1329230185456152576?s=20

I want to drop in a slightly related point here.

As a founder of multiple businesses that have had SUPER LEAN budgets, I know what it's like to have to figure out how to get extra hands onboard when you're broke... https://twitter.com/operaqueenie/status/1329234597054349312?s=20

(I don't think that the LS example fits into what I'm about to say next...)

There is a fine line that differentiates a mutually-beneficial agreement and exploitation.

When you're first starting up, bartering is an excellent way to get shit done if you're cash strapped.

Usually, that looks like to people who have aligned goals coming together and exchanging something valuable that they each have which is not actual money (ex: I'll do your branding. You give me some free legal help.)

It's awesome when this stuff works out.

That is NOT the same as asking someone to do something for you with the *possibility* of you giving them something in return.

And no, giving them the privilege to simply mention your name does not count.

An exception to this may be if THEY come to YOU, volunteering to help in some way.

In this case, you may choose to accept their offer, but if it's something immensely valuable to you and you have cash money in the bank, be a decent human and offer to pay them anyway.