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Apr 6, 2018 · 19m · top-founders

986 The College of The Future Just Hit $10m in ARR

Barry Merrick · 11m spoken Nathan Latka · 5m 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 The Top Entrepreneurs, host Nathan Latka interviews Ivy co-founder Barry Merrick on how the asset-light 'social university' scaled to 20,000 members and $10 million in ARR with strong retention and efficient organic customer acquisition.

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 33.5% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.0 Guest teaching 2.8 Guest disagreement 1.5 Nathan pushing back 3.5
05100:0010:000:49–4:27 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Introducing Barry Merrick and the Ivy Model Nathan digs directly into unit pricing and performs rapid mental arithmetic to reconcile grandfathered tiers with Barry's ten-million ARR figure, prompting Barry to compliment his calculation.4:27–8:43 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Unpacking Ivy's Value Proposition and Retention When Barry mentions a one-time joining fee makes churn low, Nathan immediately pushes back that Ivy is not a true SaaS business. Barry clarifies that there is an optional recurring alumni-style renewal that a high percentage of members adopt.8:45–13:13 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Mid-Roll Sponsor Break: TheTopInbox.com Following an ad monologue, Nathan drills Barry on historical ARR doubling, strategic angel backing versus VC, headcount, and member acquisition cost breakdown.13:13–15:24 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Organic Member Acquisition and Community Scouting Nathan probes how Ivy scales with negligible paid ad spend, pressing Barry on whether free events drive conversion until Barry details their word-of-mouth referral loops and proactive scouting.0:49–4:27 · Guest teaching 2/10 Introducing Barry Merrick and the Ivy Model Nathan digs directly into unit pricing and performs rapid mental arithmetic to reconcile grandfathered tiers with Barry's ten-million ARR figure, prompting Barry to compliment his calculation.4:27–8:43 · Guest teaching 4/10 Unpacking Ivy's Value Proposition and Retention When Barry mentions a one-time joining fee makes churn low, Nathan immediately pushes back that Ivy is not a true SaaS business. Barry clarifies that there is an optional recurring alumni-style renewal that a high percentage of members adopt.8:45–13:13 · Guest teaching 2/10 Mid-Roll Sponsor Break: TheTopInbox.com Following an ad monologue, Nathan drills Barry on historical ARR doubling, strategic angel backing versus VC, headcount, and member acquisition cost breakdown.13:13–15:24 · Guest teaching 3/10 Organic Member Acquisition and Community Scouting Nathan probes how Ivy scales with negligible paid ad spend, pressing Barry on whether free events drive conversion until Barry details their word-of-mouth referral loops and proactive scouting.0:49–4:27 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Barry Merrick and the Ivy Model Nathan digs directly into unit pricing and performs rapid mental arithmetic to reconcile grandfathered tiers with Barry's ten-million ARR figure, prompting Barry to compliment his calculation.4:27–8:43 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Unpacking Ivy's Value Proposition and Retention When Barry mentions a one-time joining fee makes churn low, Nathan immediately pushes back that Ivy is not a true SaaS business. Barry clarifies that there is an optional recurring alumni-style renewal that a high percentage of members adopt.8:45–13:13 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Mid-Roll Sponsor Break: TheTopInbox.com Following an ad monologue, Nathan drills Barry on historical ARR doubling, strategic angel backing versus VC, headcount, and member acquisition cost breakdown.13:13–15:24 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Organic Member Acquisition and Community Scouting Nathan probes how Ivy scales with negligible paid ad spend, pressing Barry on whether free events drive conversion until Barry details their word-of-mouth referral loops and proactive scouting.0:49–4:27 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Introducing Barry Merrick and the Ivy Model Nathan digs directly into unit pricing and performs rapid mental arithmetic to reconcile grandfathered tiers with Barry's ten-million ARR figure, prompting Barry to compliment his calculation.4:27–8:43 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Unpacking Ivy's Value Proposition and Retention When Barry mentions a one-time joining fee makes churn low, Nathan immediately pushes back that Ivy is not a true SaaS business. Barry clarifies that there is an optional recurring alumni-style renewal that a high percentage of members adopt.8:45–13:13 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Mid-Roll Sponsor Break: TheTopInbox.com Following an ad monologue, Nathan drills Barry on historical ARR doubling, strategic angel backing versus VC, headcount, and member acquisition cost breakdown.13:13–15:24 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Organic Member Acquisition and Community Scouting Nathan probes how Ivy scales with negligible paid ad spend, pressing Barry on whether free events drive conversion until Barry details their word-of-mouth referral loops and proactive scouting.

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

0:00 · Nathan 42.9% · guest 57.1%0:00 · Nathan 42.9% · guest 57.1%3:00 · Nathan 28.5% · guest 71.5%3:00 · Nathan 28.5% · guest 71.5%6:00 · Nathan 23.7% · guest 76.3%6:00 · Nathan 23.7% · guest 76.3%9:00 · Nathan 57% · guest 43%9:00 · Nathan 57% · guest 43%12:00 · Nathan 17.1% · guest 82.9%12:00 · Nathan 17.1% · guest 82.9%15:00 · Nathan 17.9% · guest 82.1%15:00 · Nathan 17.9% · guest 82.1%18:00 · Nathan 62.6% · guest 37.4%18:00 · Nathan 62.6% · guest 37.4%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 6:49 Barry rejects the non-SaaS label

Barry counter-argues against Nathan's claim that Ivy is not a true recurring revenue business by detailing the optional recurring membership tiers and alumni model.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 6:43 Nathan challenges the recurring revenue model

Nathan bluntly refuses Barry's claim of low churn from a one-time payment, calling out that a single lifetime fee disqualifies it as a true SaaS subscription.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 7:07 Barry reframes Ivy as an alumni community

Barry educates Nathan on why Ivy uses an alumni participation framework rather than forced yearly renewals to maximize long-term member retention and network density.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 4:08 Nathan calculates exact monthly run rate

Nathan demonstrates financial mastery by seamlessly backing into the blended monthly ARPU across 20,000 members to verify the $10 million ARR figure on the fly.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Barry Merrick and the Ivy Model 6212 Nathan digs directly into unit pricing and performs rapid mental arithmetic to reconcile grandfathered tiers with Barry's ten-million ARR figure, prompting Barry to compliment his calculation.
Unpacking Ivy's Value Proposition and Retention 5425 When Barry mentions a one-time joining fee makes churn low, Nathan immediately pushes back that Ivy is not a true SaaS business. Barry clarifies that there is an optional recurring alumni-style renewal that a high percentage of members adopt.
Mid-Roll Sponsor Break: TheTopInbox.com 5213 Following an ad monologue, Nathan drills Barry on historical ARR doubling, strategic angel backing versus VC, headcount, and member acquisition cost breakdown.
Organic Member Acquisition and Community Scouting 4324 Nathan probes how Ivy scales with negligible paid ad spend, pressing Barry on whether free events drive conversion until Barry details their word-of-mouth referral loops and proactive scouting.

Statements from this episode (8)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ivy operates in seven cities with 20,000 members
“We're in seven cities with 20,000 members, as you mentioned.”
Barry Merrick Apr 6, 2018 ▶ 1:55
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ivy hosts over 100 unique events monthly across the US
“So across the country, every single month, we're hosting more than 100 unique experiences focused on entrepreneurship, art and culture, Social impact, policy, and wellness.”
Barry Merrick Apr 6, 2018 ▶ 2:18
Disclosure
Ivy charges members under 35 $1,000 and older members $2,000 yearly
“So it's a thousand dollars a year. And that's evolved over time. So that's the latest where it's at. If you're under 35 and over 35, it's a 2000 dollars.”
Barry Merrick Apr 6, 2018 ▶ 3:07
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ivy claims very low member churn due to lifelong membership model
“Churn actually is we have a lifelong membership, so it's actually very low. So once you pay your joining fee so your first year is, you know, kind of paid up front. So once you pay that, you're a lifelong member, you can decide, you know, whether to be an Ivy …”
Barry Merrick Apr 6, 2018 ▶ 6:20
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Merrick: Ivy grew revenue 100% annually from $2.5M to $10M
“It was basically, so it's going to be exactly a hundred percent growth pretty much for the last two years. So we went from around two and a half million to five million to ten million this year.”
Barry Merrick Apr 6, 2018 ▶ 10:07
Disclosure
Merrick: Ivy has no institutional VC backers, only individual strategic investors
“We don't have any institutions on board. It's all strategic individuals. Many of them are partners at different financial institutions and funds, but it's all individual investments.”
Barry Merrick Apr 6, 2018 ▶ 11:03
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Merrick: Ivy spends about $400 to acquire each member
“Well so the way we really invest about 400 dollars per member to bring them on board.”
Barry Merrick Apr 6, 2018 ▶ 12:01
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Merrick: Ivy achieves instant CAC payback via $1,000 joining fee
“Well these days it's pretty instant because There's a, the thousand dollar joining fee, as I mentioned.”
Barry Merrick Apr 6, 2018 ▶ 13:05
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