{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"START","title":"He Bought a College to Fix Higher Ed — Tade Oyerinde’s $100M Vision","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2137,"description":"Tade Oyerinde is the founder and chancellor of Campus, a revolutionary online community college reimagining access to higher education. Starting with viral dorm-room startups, Tade’s journey took him from building UniRoulette and CampusWire to acquiring an accredited college and launching Campus. Today, Campus serves over 2,000 students, employs 240+ staff, and has raised $100M+ in venture capital, all while helping students graduate debt-free.\nIn this conversation, Tade shares the winding path to building Campus, including:\nBuilding viral products from a college dorm\nPivoting away from unsustainable growth and recognizing false signals\nLearning the limitations of synchronous social platforms\nDiscovering the adjunct professor pay gap—and turning it into a wedge\nThe insight that top professors teach at community colleges too\nWhy he acquired a college instead of starting one from scratch\nBuilding custom education software from the ground up\nRaising capital from Sam Altman, Jason Citron, and General Catalyst\nWhy Campus prioritizes human support over AI\nMuch more\n🔑 Key Takeaways\nViral ≠ Valuable: Tade learned early that virality alone doesn’t lead to retention or sustainable business models.\nAdjuncts are the secret weapon: Many top professors are adjuncts—underpaid and overlooked—yet open to better platforms.\nPerception ≠ quality: Community colleges often offer courses from the same professors as elite schools, but carry social stigma.\nBuild infrastructure, not integrations: Campus runs fully on internally built tools for instruction, administration, and student support.\nDebt-free college is viable: Through Pell Grants and optimized economics, 86% of Campus students pay $0 out-of-pocket.\nSupport at scale is human-powered: Every 50 students are supported by a real advisor, counselor, or coach—not AI.\nRaising was milestone-driven: Capital was unlocked at each inflection point—acquisition, accreditation, first students, scaled cohorts.\nSkepticism is a superpower: Having...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/q-E1hh7K6IS4AfZiNy2p4MYVGcUOO8lQP92h8QbOEOA/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80NzVj/MDEzNjkxNjU1N2Uy/NDFhMDQ3M2ZhNWI3/NWY0MS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}