“In 1910, 90% of America had an eighth grade education. There were no high schools, basically. And over 30% of America is a farmer. … And then in 1910, the Case tractor rolled up on the American farm. And literally, you can go look at the ads. It literally looks like an Anthropic ad. … Does the work of 50 farmhands. And literally, everybody in America realized 30% of the jobs are going away.”
a16z Podcast · Startups & Venture · October 2026
Context
Asked how parents' thinking about school is changing, Liemandt said many now doubt the Ivy League path will prepare their kids. His precedent: farm families who voted to raise their own taxes to fund high schools they had never attended, because they could see the old path was gone.
Transcript
…of those experiences that you had of who you met and, you know, seeing the real world, plus building stuff with my friends, right? That eventually became our company, right? That was what was great about the product to me. And sitting in these lecture classes were, you know, the opposite of that.
…of course, you know, an even more important constitution in terms of where kids go to school is their parents. Yeah. And so talk about how the conversations you're having with parents are evolving whether it relates to early education or higher education and some of the advice that you give them.
Great. So, you know, yeah, so I talk to tens of thousands of parents now, you know, sort of in the K-12, K-12 range. And I've been shocked actually at the switch, which is there's still some families who are like, you know, I'm a kindergarten parent and I want to see the direct path right into the Aggie League. But an equal number, maybe even more, of parents who went to Stanford or Harvard who are like, no, I know I don't want my kid on that path. How are you going to get them ready for a world that's not math? Right. And they absolutely want to see this alternative path because when they look, especially even in kindergarten, they're looking forward 12 years from now. And they're like, you know, what am I going to do? You know, how are you preparing my kid for the world? And my, their vision of the world is, yes, I went to the Ivy League, but that's not going to be for my kid. I don't think that's going to get him ready. And if you're telling me that, I don't, I don't want your school. I don't want your K-12 school. And so that's happening a lot now. And they're looking for what are they? Because I think there's recognition now, you know, versus maybe last 30 or 40 years…
Yeah. And what would you say to the parent who's saying, you know, hey, I'm sending my kid to an Ivy League school. I know it's not perfect, but this is a new institution. You know, why should I take a risk? Why would you consider taking a risk on the academy?
Yeah. So I've been living this actually at the K-12 level now for four years.
Yes.
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