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Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

I learned how to code out of necessity when my mother bought me a computer instead of a Nintendo, so I had to figure out how to use it and eventually create my own games.

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Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

I realized I preferred building things over writing papers while I was a grad student, which led me to understand that being a professor wasn't fulfilling for me.

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Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

I believed that gamification could unlock solutions to real problems, as I noticed people solving crossword puzzles on a flight, which made me think we could harness that human effort through games.

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Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

I wanted to create something related to education that was accessible to everyone, especially after witnessing the disparities in education while growing up in Guatemala.

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Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

We initially aimed to teach math but shifted to teaching languages, particularly English, because we realized it would have a broader impact and reach more people.

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Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

Our first investor didn't believe in the education business model, thinking it was a bad investment, but they were primarily interested because I had previously sold a company to Google.

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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.

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Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

We aim to redefine language proficiency with the Duolingo English Test, which allows users to take the test online, making it more accessible and accepted by top universities.

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Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

AI has transformed our business, enabling us to offer conversation practice through large language models, which was previously impossible without human interaction.

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Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

With AI, we can generate high-quality educational content quickly, allowing us to expand into new subjects like chess, math, and music, enhancing our learning offerings. We started working on the chess course eight months ago, initiated by two people who had no coding or chess experience, and they managed to prototype it successfully before we added engineers to productionize it.

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Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

Duolingo is known for its quirky, mission-driven, and deeply human culture, and I don't foresee that changing as AI takes a bigger role in the company.

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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.

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Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

As CEO, I've transitioned from being a micromanager to learning to delegate, focusing on being a culture carrier and making tough philosophical decisions.

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Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

It's crucial to bring in the right people as you build a company, ensuring they are skilled in their roles and fit well within the culture.

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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.

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Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

I want to be remembered for having a positive impact on education, showing that screen time can be beneficial by helping people learn new languages.

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Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

We spent the first five or six years of Duolingo not monetizing, which I regret; we should have started monetizing after year three to be further ahead today.

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Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

We have a lot of data on how people learn on Duolingo, and while we use it to build models, we can probably do more with it to enhance AI progress.

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Luis von Ahn

05/10/25

@ Stanford Graduate School of Business

Currently, we offer courses in some minority languages like Irish and Welsh, but the challenge is that AI isn't as effective with these languages compared to more popular ones.

View From The Top with Luis Von Ahn, Cofounder and CEO of Duolingo

Takeaways