Tools

Search

Explore

Videos Channels Figures

Atmrix

About

Tools

Search

Explore

Videos Channels Figures

Atmrix

About

Lv

Luis von Ahn

12/01/23

@ The Logan Bartlett Show

Going public has elevated Duolingo's operations, forcing us to operate at a higher level and maintain a cleaner organizational structure.

Video

TL

The Marketing Formula that Propelled Duolingo to 500M Users

@ The Logan Bartlett Show

The Marketing Formula that Propelled Duolingo to 500M Users

12/01/23

Related Takeaways

Lv

Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

We're not laying off anyone at Duolingo; instead, we're making our operations more scalable while maintaining a strong human element in our work.

Lv

Luis von Ahn

12/01/23

@ The Logan Bartlett Show

We built a culture of iteration and continuous improvement at Duolingo, which has been crucial for our growth.

Lv

Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

At Duolingo, we have a rule that it's better to have a hole in the organization than to hire someone who is not a good fit, which has helped us maintain a positive culture.

SH

Severin Hacker

05/19/25

@ 20VC with Harry Stebbings

Most of our users still use the free tier of Duolingo, which I'm very proud of because it reflects our commitment to inclusivity and purpose.

Lv

Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

We launched Duolingo with a premium model where users can learn for free but see ads, or pay to remove ads, which allows us to fund the platform while keeping it accessible.

Lv

Luis von Ahn

12/01/23

@ The Logan Bartlett Show

Today, more people are learning languages through Duolingo in the US than through the entire education system combined, highlighting our impact on language learning.

SH

Severin Hacker

05/19/25

@ 20VC with Harry Stebbings

We always knew we could grow users first, which was our primary focus in the early days of Duolingo.

SH

Severin Hacker

05/19/25

@ 20VC with Harry Stebbings

We waited too long to take monetization seriously at Duolingo, which was a mistake that delayed our growth.

DH

Drew Houston

02/24/17

@ Y Combinator

Going public introduces operational overhead due to compliance and regulatory requirements, which can distract from focusing on customers and products.