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Sep 26, 2021 · 16m · top-founders

Quanthub Helps you Hire Engineers, Raised $2m on $8m Valuation, On Track to Break $1m ARR

Matt Cowell · 10m spoken Nathan Latka · 4m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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QuantHub CEO Matt Cowell joins Nathan Latka to discuss scaling a data literacy hiring and upskilling SaaS platform from a consultancy spinout to an enterprise tool on track for $1 million in ARR.

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 28.3% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.0 Guest teaching 2.0 Guest disagreement 1.8 Nathan pushing back 4.2
05100:0010:001:17–4:24 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 QuantHub's Product Model, Assessment, and Upskilling Nathan clarifies the exact scope of QuantHub's offering, making sure it is an assessment and upskilling tool rather than an applicant tracking or recruiting agency. Matt explains their enterprise pricing and product tiers collaboratively.4:25–6:26 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 QuantHub Origins and Spinout from Strategy Wise Nathan digs into the cap table and origins of the spinout from Strategy Wise, expressing confusion over Matt's founder status versus employee CEO status. Matt methodically explains how he was brought in as an effective third co-founder.6:26–9:50 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Revenue Trajectory, Upskilling Pivot, and Year-End Targets Nathan directly challenges Matt on QuantHub's sluggish growth of only adding $50k in ARR over eight months. Matt defends the slowdown by explaining their strategic product pivot to enterprise upskilling and pipeline delays.9:51–12:35 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Funding Rounds, Valuation, and Executive Compensation Nathan calculates the 20x multiple on the $8M valuation and probes why an experienced executive like Matt accepted lower equity in exchange for cash compensation. Matt defends his risk-profile trade-offs and declines to share exact equity percentages.12:35–15:52 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Organizational Structure and Enterprise Sales Pipeline Nathan asks how two quota-carrying reps can close over $550k in new ARR within three months to hit the year-end target. Matt explains enterprise contract lumpiness before smoothly transitioning through the Famous Five questions.1:17–4:24 · Guest teaching 2/10 QuantHub's Product Model, Assessment, and Upskilling Nathan clarifies the exact scope of QuantHub's offering, making sure it is an assessment and upskilling tool rather than an applicant tracking or recruiting agency. Matt explains their enterprise pricing and product tiers collaboratively.4:25–6:26 · Guest teaching 2/10 QuantHub Origins and Spinout from Strategy Wise Nathan digs into the cap table and origins of the spinout from Strategy Wise, expressing confusion over Matt's founder status versus employee CEO status. Matt methodically explains how he was brought in as an effective third co-founder.6:26–9:50 · Guest teaching 3/10 Revenue Trajectory, Upskilling Pivot, and Year-End Targets Nathan directly challenges Matt on QuantHub's sluggish growth of only adding $50k in ARR over eight months. Matt defends the slowdown by explaining their strategic product pivot to enterprise upskilling and pipeline delays.9:51–12:35 · Guest teaching 2/10 Funding Rounds, Valuation, and Executive Compensation Nathan calculates the 20x multiple on the $8M valuation and probes why an experienced executive like Matt accepted lower equity in exchange for cash compensation. Matt defends his risk-profile trade-offs and declines to share exact equity percentages.12:35–15:52 · Guest teaching 1/10 Organizational Structure and Enterprise Sales Pipeline Nathan asks how two quota-carrying reps can close over $550k in new ARR within three months to hit the year-end target. Matt explains enterprise contract lumpiness before smoothly transitioning through the Famous Five questions.1:17–4:24 · Guest disagreement 1/10 QuantHub's Product Model, Assessment, and Upskilling Nathan clarifies the exact scope of QuantHub's offering, making sure it is an assessment and upskilling tool rather than an applicant tracking or recruiting agency. Matt explains their enterprise pricing and product tiers collaboratively.4:25–6:26 · Guest disagreement 2/10 QuantHub Origins and Spinout from Strategy Wise Nathan digs into the cap table and origins of the spinout from Strategy Wise, expressing confusion over Matt's founder status versus employee CEO status. Matt methodically explains how he was brought in as an effective third co-founder.6:26–9:50 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Revenue Trajectory, Upskilling Pivot, and Year-End Targets Nathan directly challenges Matt on QuantHub's sluggish growth of only adding $50k in ARR over eight months. Matt defends the slowdown by explaining their strategic product pivot to enterprise upskilling and pipeline delays.9:51–12:35 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Funding Rounds, Valuation, and Executive Compensation Nathan calculates the 20x multiple on the $8M valuation and probes why an experienced executive like Matt accepted lower equity in exchange for cash compensation. Matt defends his risk-profile trade-offs and declines to share exact equity percentages.12:35–15:52 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Organizational Structure and Enterprise Sales Pipeline Nathan asks how two quota-carrying reps can close over $550k in new ARR within three months to hit the year-end target. Matt explains enterprise contract lumpiness before smoothly transitioning through the Famous Five questions.1:17–4:24 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 QuantHub's Product Model, Assessment, and Upskilling Nathan clarifies the exact scope of QuantHub's offering, making sure it is an assessment and upskilling tool rather than an applicant tracking or recruiting agency. Matt explains their enterprise pricing and product tiers collaboratively.4:25–6:26 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 QuantHub Origins and Spinout from Strategy Wise Nathan digs into the cap table and origins of the spinout from Strategy Wise, expressing confusion over Matt's founder status versus employee CEO status. Matt methodically explains how he was brought in as an effective third co-founder.6:26–9:50 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Revenue Trajectory, Upskilling Pivot, and Year-End Targets Nathan directly challenges Matt on QuantHub's sluggish growth of only adding $50k in ARR over eight months. Matt defends the slowdown by explaining their strategic product pivot to enterprise upskilling and pipeline delays.9:51–12:35 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Funding Rounds, Valuation, and Executive Compensation Nathan calculates the 20x multiple on the $8M valuation and probes why an experienced executive like Matt accepted lower equity in exchange for cash compensation. Matt defends his risk-profile trade-offs and declines to share exact equity percentages.12:35–15:52 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Organizational Structure and Enterprise Sales Pipeline Nathan asks how two quota-carrying reps can close over $550k in new ARR within three months to hit the year-end target. Matt explains enterprise contract lumpiness before smoothly transitioning through the Famous Five questions.

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

0:00 · Nathan 38.6% · guest 61.4%0:00 · Nathan 38.6% · guest 61.4%3:00 · Nathan 30.2% · guest 69.8%3:00 · Nathan 30.2% · guest 69.8%6:00 · Nathan 19.8% · guest 80.2%6:00 · Nathan 19.8% · guest 80.2%9:00 · Nathan 25.8% · guest 74.2%9:00 · Nathan 25.8% · guest 74.2%12:00 · Nathan 17.3% · guest 82.7%12:00 · Nathan 17.3% · guest 82.7%15:00 · Nathan 49% · guest 51%15:00 · Nathan 49% · guest 51%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 12:27 Matt deflects equity ownership percentage question

Matt politely shuts down Nathan's direct probing about whether his equity stake was above or below 10%, maintaining boundary on cap table specifics.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 8:10 Host calls out sluggish revenue additions

Nathan bluntly questions why QuantHub only added $50k in new ARR over an eight-month span despite earlier momentum.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:40 Matt explains enterprise shift to data literacy upskilling

Matt educates Nathan on why macro workforce shifts necessitate enterprise-wide data literacy rather than just technical hiring assessments.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 10:40 Nathan calculates revenue multiple on valuation

Nathan instantly breaks down the $8M pre-money round against the $400k ARR base to point out the generous 20x multiple.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
QuantHub's Product Model, Assessment, and Upskilling 4212 Nathan clarifies the exact scope of QuantHub's offering, making sure it is an assessment and upskilling tool rather than an applicant tracking or recruiting agency. Matt explains their enterprise pricing and product tiers collaboratively.
QuantHub Origins and Spinout from Strategy Wise 5224 Nathan digs into the cap table and origins of the spinout from Strategy Wise, expressing confusion over Matt's founder status versus employee CEO status. Matt methodically explains how he was brought in as an effective third co-founder.
Revenue Trajectory, Upskilling Pivot, and Year-End Targets 6326 Nathan directly challenges Matt on QuantHub's sluggish growth of only adding $50k in ARR over eight months. Matt defends the slowdown by explaining their strategic product pivot to enterprise upskilling and pipeline delays.
Funding Rounds, Valuation, and Executive Compensation 6236 Nathan calculates the 20x multiple on the $8M valuation and probes why an experienced executive like Matt accepted lower equity in exchange for cash compensation. Matt defends his risk-profile trade-offs and declines to share exact equity percentages.
Organizational Structure and Enterprise Sales Pipeline 4113 Nathan asks how two quota-carrying reps can close over $550k in new ARR within three months to hit the year-end target. Matt explains enterprise contract lumpiness before smoothly transitioning through the Famous Five questions.

Statements from this episode (10)

Disclosure
Cowell: HP and JetBlue are among QuantHub's assessment customers
“HP is a customer of ours on that side as well. JetBlue was a customer. We signed them, of course, right before the pandemic.”
Matt Cowell Sep 26, 2021 ▶ 2:12
Disclosure
QuantHub: Average ACV for assessment product is about $22,000
“So on the on the assessment side, on average, our ARR, our ACV is about 22,000. ARR.”
Matt Cowell Sep 26, 2021 ▶ 4:01
Assertion Not checkable as stated
QuantHub grows customer base to 21 clients
“We're now up to 21 customers.”
Matt Cowell Sep 26, 2021 ▶ 6:55
Assertion Not checkable as stated
QuantHub is at $450K ARR
“Yeah, we're at four and 50 K in ARR.”
Matt Cowell Sep 26, 2021 ▶ 7:32
Disclosure
QuantHub launches enterprise pilots with Dell and Axiata
“And so we just started a pilot with Dell in Singapore. We've got a company called Oxyata, who's a big Malaysian Verizon like company they just started the other day.”
Matt Cowell Sep 26, 2021 ▶ 9:26
Prediction Not checkable as stated
QuantHub targets reaching $1M ARR by end of 2021
“Our target is a million in ARR by the end of the year.”
Matt Cowell Sep 26, 2021 ▶ 9:43
Assertion Supported
QuantHub raised a $1.25M convertible note in July 2018
“We raised we raised the note round early on in our existence in July of 18. That was a 1.25 million”
Matt Cowell Sep 26, 2021 ▶ 9:58
Assertion Open · timeframe Dec 2020
QuantHub raised its 2020 priced round at an $8M pre-money valuation
“We raised it an eight million dollar pre.”
Matt Cowell Sep 26, 2021 ▶ 10:25
Disclosure
QuantHub CEO Matt Cowell chose higher cash compensation over equity upside
“I think I could have gone for more equity, but instead I chose some cash compensation just kind of stage, stage of life risk profile, you know, that type of thing.”
Matt Cowell Sep 26, 2021 ▶ 12:01
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Cowell: QuantHub has an enterprise proposal out for $420k ARR
“Yeah, I mean, we've got a proposal out that has it's out for 420 K in ARR, just to give you an idea.”
Matt Cowell Sep 26, 2021 ▶ 13:45
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