This is one the few places on the web that happens. You can still disagree with him if you want, but coming here to talk with us directly is respectable IMO. Focus on the arguments and not ad hominem.
- Requirement to register with the BPPE. A physical classroom has not been a threshold requirement for registration with the BPPE since at least 2009. The relevant statutes are available online. Also note that online classrooms were not "novel" in 2017 as you claim, so that's an additional misrepresentation. If you claim that your lawyer advised you contrary to the explicit written language of the relevant statutes, you would have clear grounds to sue them for malpractice, and even if you chose not to sue them, the Bar would be interested in disciplining them.
- Claim of unique regulation burden. No, you're dealing with the same regulations that apply to all private schools in the jurisdictions in which they operate.
- ISA. It was found to be illegal. By itself it could be innocuous, but combined with the other deliberate misrepresentations there is evidence of exploitative intent.
And that's just your statements on HN. Don't get people started on the misrepresentations you've made elsewhere.
What is meant by "this is fair" if not a tacit admission that you lied about launching an unpaid intern program?
If you define a lie as any stated falsehood that you have not tried to explain away, then of course we will not be able to find one that satisfies — you've made sure of it!
It's the same method you use to reach your "86% making over $50k within 6 months" number.
When we were a much smaller company I would take a lot of time to respond to communicate with folks directly, and I learned a lot from it, and think everyone benefited from that level of direct communication.
As we got bigger we got an expensive PR firm who built a big wall around me and put everything I said through review 8 times to massage it for _just the right tone_. There are too many other variables to know whether that was the right move or not, but it always felt wrong to me.
I now regard that as a mistake, as I do many other "big company" things we did. (Broadly, my mental model for success was that we needed to grow up and become a "big company." Now I'm of the opinion that to be a successful company should actively fight against everything that feels "big company." Fewer meetings, more focus on the little details, etc.)
So I don't know that it will work, but I'm intentionally carving out time to keep my ear to the ground and be responsive directly.