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Sep 6, 2023 · 16m · top-founders

The Ultimate Challenge: Selling a SaaS to Universities, he hated what his Daughter went through

Dave Hurwit · 9m spoken Nathan Latka · 4m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of Conversations with Nathan Latka, founder Dave Hurwit details how his startup, Truve.me, uses algorithmic matching to solve college retention and modernize higher education admissions. Hurwit explains his transition from corporate product leadership to EdTech entrepreneurship, outlining his B2B SaaS pricing model, angel-backed growth, and product roadmap.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 31.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.0 Guest teaching 3.4 Guest disagreement 1.6 Nathan pushing back 3.2
05100:0010:001:14–4:58 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Welcoming Dave Hurwit and Career Background Dave walks Nathan through the problem space, schooling him on the reality of higher education statistics where acceptance rates average 70% while 4-year graduation sits at 45%. Nathan listens and helps establish the narrative.4:59–8:05 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Monetization Strategy and B2B Higher Ed Pricing Nathan relentlessly pushes Dave to disclose his pricing and challenges his flat-fee monetization strategy. Dave pushes back mildly to protect competitive pricing before giving a range of 10k to 15k per year.8:07–10:44 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Fundraising Status, Team Structure, and Product Mechanics Nathan questions the slow development timeline and challenges Dave's explanation that COVID slowed him down, asserting that remote trends should have aided virtual college matching.10:45–14:51 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Engineering Partnerships and Stakeholder Research The conversation shifts to founder risk profile, equity and development partnerships, and growth targets. Nathan calculates expected ARR run-rates as Dave outlines his 12-month goals.14:51–16:08 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions in a cordial and quick manner.1:14–4:58 · Guest teaching 5/10 Welcoming Dave Hurwit and Career Background Dave walks Nathan through the problem space, schooling him on the reality of higher education statistics where acceptance rates average 70% while 4-year graduation sits at 45%. Nathan listens and helps establish the narrative.4:59–8:05 · Guest teaching 4/10 Monetization Strategy and B2B Higher Ed Pricing Nathan relentlessly pushes Dave to disclose his pricing and challenges his flat-fee monetization strategy. Dave pushes back mildly to protect competitive pricing before giving a range of 10k to 15k per year.8:07–10:44 · Guest teaching 4/10 Fundraising Status, Team Structure, and Product Mechanics Nathan questions the slow development timeline and challenges Dave's explanation that COVID slowed him down, asserting that remote trends should have aided virtual college matching.10:45–14:51 · Guest teaching 3/10 Engineering Partnerships and Stakeholder Research The conversation shifts to founder risk profile, equity and development partnerships, and growth targets. Nathan calculates expected ARR run-rates as Dave outlines his 12-month goals.14:51–16:08 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions in a cordial and quick manner.1:14–4:58 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Welcoming Dave Hurwit and Career Background Dave walks Nathan through the problem space, schooling him on the reality of higher education statistics where acceptance rates average 70% while 4-year graduation sits at 45%. Nathan listens and helps establish the narrative.4:59–8:05 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Monetization Strategy and B2B Higher Ed Pricing Nathan relentlessly pushes Dave to disclose his pricing and challenges his flat-fee monetization strategy. Dave pushes back mildly to protect competitive pricing before giving a range of 10k to 15k per year.8:07–10:44 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Fundraising Status, Team Structure, and Product Mechanics Nathan questions the slow development timeline and challenges Dave's explanation that COVID slowed him down, asserting that remote trends should have aided virtual college matching.10:45–14:51 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Engineering Partnerships and Stakeholder Research The conversation shifts to founder risk profile, equity and development partnerships, and growth targets. Nathan calculates expected ARR run-rates as Dave outlines his 12-month goals.14:51–16:08 · Guest disagreement 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions in a cordial and quick manner.1:14–4:58 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Welcoming Dave Hurwit and Career Background Dave walks Nathan through the problem space, schooling him on the reality of higher education statistics where acceptance rates average 70% while 4-year graduation sits at 45%. Nathan listens and helps establish the narrative.4:59–8:05 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Monetization Strategy and B2B Higher Ed Pricing Nathan relentlessly pushes Dave to disclose his pricing and challenges his flat-fee monetization strategy. Dave pushes back mildly to protect competitive pricing before giving a range of 10k to 15k per year.8:07–10:44 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Fundraising Status, Team Structure, and Product Mechanics Nathan questions the slow development timeline and challenges Dave's explanation that COVID slowed him down, asserting that remote trends should have aided virtual college matching.10:45–14:51 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Engineering Partnerships and Stakeholder Research The conversation shifts to founder risk profile, equity and development partnerships, and growth targets. Nathan calculates expected ARR run-rates as Dave outlines his 12-month goals.14:51–16:08 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions in a cordial and quick manner.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 76.9% · guest 23.1%0:00 · Nathan 76.9% · guest 23.1%3:00 · Nathan 6.1% · guest 93.9%3:00 · Nathan 6.1% · guest 93.9%6:00 · Nathan 24.3% · guest 75.7%6:00 · Nathan 24.3% · guest 75.7%9:00 · Nathan 15.9% · guest 84.1%9:00 · Nathan 15.9% · guest 84.1%12:00 · Nathan 21.4% · guest 78.6%12:00 · Nathan 21.4% · guest 78.6%15:00 · Nathan 57.4% · guest 42.6%15:00 · Nathan 57.4% · guest 42.6%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 6:01 Guest guards pricing numbers

Dave pushes back against revealing exact pricing details citing competitive confidentiality before Nathan forces a range.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 7:17 Host challenges flat pricing strategy

Nathan bluntly challenges Dave on whether he is cutting himself off at the knees by setting a flat fee rather than tiered pricing.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 3:29 Guest reframes the college admissions problem

Dave educates Nathan on macro college metrics, showing that graduation rates rather than elite acceptance rates represent the real industry failure.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 10:00 Host counterargues COVID impact on virtual tool

Nathan quickly catches Dave off guard by arguing that lockdowns should have provided tailwinds rather than headwinds for virtual matching software.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Welcoming Dave Hurwit and Career Background 3511 Dave walks Nathan through the problem space, schooling him on the reality of higher education statistics where acceptance rates average 70% while 4-year graduation sits at 45%. Nathan listens and helps establish the narrative.
Monetization Strategy and B2B Higher Ed Pricing 6437 Nathan relentlessly pushes Dave to disclose his pricing and challenges his flat-fee monetization strategy. Dave pushes back mildly to protect competitive pricing before giving a range of 10k to 15k per year.
Fundraising Status, Team Structure, and Product Mechanics 5425 Nathan questions the slow development timeline and challenges Dave's explanation that COVID slowed him down, asserting that remote trends should have aided virtual college matching.
Engineering Partnerships and Stakeholder Research 4312 The conversation shifts to founder risk profile, equity and development partnerships, and growth targets. Nathan calculates expected ARR run-rates as Dave outlines his 12-month goals.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 2111 Nathan runs through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions in a cordial and quick manner.

Statements from this episode (6)

Insight
Hurwit: The primary challenge in US higher education is retention, not admissions
“The problem in America with college is not getting in. It's getting out.”
Dave Hurwit Sep 6, 2023 ▶ 4:08
Assertion Supported
Hurwit: Average four-year US college acceptance rate is about 70%
“The average four year, the average acceptance rate is about 70%. And I know that the, you know, the Harvard's and MIT's dominate the news at, you know, three percent, but they are a tiny fraction of the total market.”
Dave Hurwit Sep 6, 2023 ▶ 4:14
Assertion Supported
Hurwit: US four-year college graduation rate is only 45%
“If you look at the four-year graduation rate, it's 45%. It's basically half of all students will transfer or drop out from the first school that they attend.”
Dave Hurwit Sep 6, 2023 ▶ 4:29
Assertion Supported
Hurwit: US Colleges Spend $15B Annually on Marketing and Admissions
“Schools are collectively spending about fifteen billion dollars a year on advertising, marketing, and admissions costs, and this is a system that is profoundly unequal, right?”
Dave Hurwit Sep 6, 2023 ▶ 5:04
Assertion Supported
Hurwit: Private Colleges Spend $2,700–$2,800 Per Enrolled Student
“Admissions, you know, typically the average fully loaded cost for one enrolled student at a private college is about 27, 2800 bucks to enroll one student.”
Dave Hurwit Sep 6, 2023 ▶ 6:11
Assertion Supported
Hurwit: Colleges spend 10% of marketing budgets buying student lists for spam
“Most schools spend about 10% of their budget just buying the names of kids and plugging them into their spam models.”
Dave Hurwit Sep 6, 2023 ▶ 6:53
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