How FEV Tutor Went from Free Pilots to $50M in ARR (with Ryan Patenaude)

Why One-and-Done EdTech Dies in the Classroom (with David Platt, CUSD)

Most vendors approach Compton Unified assuming three things: that the money is there, that David Platt controls it, and that he's already interested. Usually none of the three is true. As EdTech Coordinator at the Southern California district, Platt sits between Ed Services, IT, CTE, and curriculum, and he's the one deciding whether a STEAM tool earns a place in classrooms or quietly dies on a shelf. This episode digs into what that decision actually hinges on. Platt makes the case against "one and done" products: the windmill kit that gets built once and forgotten. The tools he keeps are the ones students can build, modify, and rebuild into something new, the ones that interface with Lego, Arduinos, and micro:bits, and that keep getting upgraded. He also gets candid about the vendor video that showed a student population that doesn't match his own, and the AI-written emails with the instructions still pasted in. For vendors, the lesson is blunt: a Title I label tells you nothing about a district's budget, and a demo tells you nothing about whether a product will last.

Two Buyers, Two Systems: Public vs. Private Tech Purchasing (with Chris Bell, HBCSD)

Chris Bell runs technology for Huntington Beach City School District, a K-8 public district with about 4,700 students. John runs tech at a K-8 private school in DC. Same grade levels, completely different procurement realities. We put them side by side to show vendors what actually changes when you're selling into public vs. private. Budget cycles, approval chains, decision speed, and who holds the checkbook — almost none of it transfers cleanly. Chris needs cabinet approval and board consent. John can buy overnight from an innovations fund. Where they align is what matters most: both dislike cold outreach and pressure tactics, both talk to other tech directors behind the scenes, and both want vendors who lead with the problem, not the product. Chris shares a story about an AI startup that never pitched — just asked for feedback — and earned his trust. John wants self-serve content so he can evaluate on his own terms before ever scheduling a demo.

How FEV Tutor Went from Free Pilots to $50M in ARR (with Ryan Patenaude)

Our first guest episode. Ryan Patenaude co-founded FEV Tutor, built it from zero to $50 million in revenue with no outside funding, and scaled to 5,000 employees before the company was acquired in 2022. He now runs RP Impact Partners, helping mission-aligned EdTech companies accelerate growth. Ryan tells the story of an early Zoom call with the CEO of a 200,000-student district where he led with a 15-slide feature deck and learned the hard way: in K-12, you sell results, not features. We dig into why free pilots train districts to invest nothing, and how FEV's ICP evolved from "anyone who would buy" to a disciplined filter on district size, Title I status, and decision-making speed. Ryan walks through a pricing journey that took 15 years, from pay-as-you-go tutoring hours to a subscription model that finally cleaned up their books. He also reframes the "we don't have budget" objection: a former chancellor of NYC schools told him that if a superintendent sees value, they can find any money they want.

When Your K12 Prospect Goes Dark

You had a great demo. They said they'd follow up. Then... nothing. We open with two ghost stories. John's: a CEO who demoed three times over 18 months and never sent a quote. Peter's: an executive who over-communicated so aggressively that he drove an internal champion to ghosting and lost a six-figure renewal. Then we dig into the real reasons buyers disappear: shifting priorities, budget reallocations, comparing vendors, or just the awkwardness of saying no to someone who spent an hour demoing. What makes John hit delete? "Just checking in" emails and guilt trips. What makes him respond? Useful content, acknowledgment that timing might be off, and the "permission to close the file" email—Peter's favorite tactic that removes pressure and often triggers a reply. The uncomfortable truth: K-12 sales cycles run 6-18 months. Silence after one demo usually means "not yet," not "never." The question is whether you'll still be top of mind when the timing is right.

Creating Touchpoints with K-12 Buying Committees

Most EdTech vendors either blast the same generic message to everyone, talk to only one person, or try to leapfrog the tech director straight to the superintendent. All three approaches fail. K-12 purchases aren't made by a single buyer—they're made by informal coalitions. Curriculum directors, tech directors, teacher champions, principals, and sometimes counselors all have to align before anything moves forward. And here's the uncomfortable truth: "Every vendor feels like a stalker," says John, "unless their brand building has piqued my interest to the point where I reach out to them." We break down which channels actually reach which personas, why your touchpoint strategy might look like an incomplete charcuterie board (all cheese, no meat), and the expensive mistakes we keep seeing—like the higher ed vendor who sponsored an after-hours event at a K-12 conference. Great for free drinks. Terrible for pipeline. We also cover what signals you should actually be capturing, why awards don't mean much in 2026, and why John hasn't had a single salesperson reach out after changing companies in 15 years.