Viola
heard an experienced airline pilot say to a new student that if they wanted to fly commercially with an airline to go solo in a reasonable amount of hours.
Depends what he means by "reasonable" - I really wouldn't worry too much about hours to solo ( because the time taken is dependant on many variables, not just a student's ability). OTOH if someone takes dozens of hours despite having had plenty of continuity and having given it their all it might be an indication that they need to consider an alternative career.