Niels Hoven is the founder of Mentava, building software to accelerate kids’ education, starting with teaching two year old’s to read.

We talk about how public education isn’t designed for ambitious kids, the power of hater marketing, product design from zero to one, how too much data leads to Frankenstein products, Seed stage fundraising advice, parenting hacks, why AI won’t have a big impact on education, and the future of elite higher ed.

For full show notes, visit: https://highlightai.com/share/0a0869a7-c345-4974-ba2b-726bacf7a534

Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(03:49) Why schools don’t challenge overachievers
(11:58) How a hater made Mentava go viral
(18:14) The secret that teaches little kids to read
(24:22) How people actually learn to read
(27:35) 2/3 of 4th graders can’t read proficiently
(29:29) The downfall of one-size fits all education
(33:44) How California almost banned middle school algebra
(40:41) SF’s lottery system and how it impacts low income families
(42:41) How COVID changed education
(47:41) Early prototypes and going all-in on Mentava
(50:56) Best practices from gaming in education
(55:10) Raising a party round from lots of angels
(01:03:03) Designing business models in education
(01:13:19) Being pro-tech + anti-screens for kids
(01:18:04) Top parenting hacks
(01:22:53) How data-driven product design leads to Frankenstein products
(01:25:34) Why gaming’s the best industry to learn how to build product
(01:27:46) The trick Niels used to find startup ideas for 20 years
(01:31:03) Why AI won’t be that impactful in education
(01:36:28) What happens to elite higher education over the next decade
(01:43:15) Admiring Stripe

Referenced:
Mentava: https://www.mentava.com/
Ryan Delk podcast episode: https://open.spotify.com/show/3QqtxGHqsPnKTG4CS7NgX5 | https://youtu.be/GTfsMEOIIxQ
How Neils raised Mentava’s Seed round: https://www.mentava.com/blog/how-i-got-50-high-profile-angel-investors-to-join-our-seed-round
Mentava’s Alphabet Book: https://www.mentava.com/alphabet-sounds-book | https://www.amazon.com/Mentavas-Alphabet-Sounds-Niels-Hoven/dp/B0DKTQ9FW4

Follow Niels:
X / Twitter: https://x.com/NielsHoven
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nielshoven

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